SOCIAL SCIENCE – KEY POINTS GRADE X

The Rise of Nationalism in Europe

1. Who was Frederic Sorrieu

Frederic Sorrieu
 He was a French artist
 He prepared four prints in the year 1848
 He visualized the dream of a world consisting of Democratic and Social Republics.
2. What do you mean by Nationalism?

Nationalism
 A feeling of oneness with the society or the state, love and devotion for the motherland
and belief in the political identity of one’s country are the basic attributes of nationalism.
3. Define National State

Nation State
 A state that establishes itself as a separate political and geographical entity and functions as
a complete and sovereign territorial unit.
 This concept emerged in 19th century Europe as a result of the growth of nationalism.
4. Define Modern State

Modern State
 A state in which sovereignty is exercised by a centralized power over a specific territory and
population.
5. What is an absolutist?

Absolutist Government
 A system of government wherein limitless powers are vested in a single person or body.
 It is a monarchical form of government in which the ruler is the absolute authority and is not
answerable to anybody.
6. When did the clear cut expression of nationalism come to France?

1.French Revolution (1789) and the idea of nation (Sense of collective belongings)
 Ideas of La patrie (the fatherhood) and Le citoyen (the citizen) adopted.
 New French Flag, the tricolour, adopted replacing the royal standard.
 Estates General elected by citizens and renamed the National Assembly.

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  A centralized political system established.
 Internal custom dues abolished.
 Uniform weights and measures adopted.
7. What was the Civil Code / Napoleonic Code ?

Civil Code / Napoleonic Code (1804)

 Established equality before law.
 Abolished all privileges based on birth.
 Granted the right to property to French citizens.
 Simplified administrative divisions.
 Abolished feudal system and freed peasants from serfdom.
 Removed restrictions on guilds in towns.
 Improved transport and communication.

8. Explain the major political features in mid-18th century.

Europe in the mid-18th Century

 No nation states because Europeans never saw themselves as sharing a common identity or
culture.
 E.g., The Habsburg Empire of Austria–Hungary comprised French, Italian and German-
speaking people.
Europe was broadly divided into two classes during this period namely:
Aristocracy
 The land owning class.
 Numerically small, but dominated Europe, both socially and politically.
 Spoke French which was considered the language of the high society.
 Families were connected through marriage.
Peasantry
 Tenants and small land owners who worked as serfs.
 Cultivated the lands of the aristocratic lords.
9. What did Liberal Nationalism stand for ?

Liberal Nationalism Means :

 Individual freedom
 Equality before law
 Government by consent
 Freedom of markets
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Liberalism became the main concern in Europe after the French Revolution because:
 Universal Adult Suffrage was not granted to the people by the Napoleonic Code.
 Men without property and women were denied the right to vote.
 Women were made subject to the authority of men.
Liberalism fused with the French Revolution
 End of autocracy and clerical privileges
 Introduction of a constitution and representative government
 Inviolability of private property
 Removal of trade restrictions
 Freedom of markets
10. What was the Zollverein ?

Zollverein
 A customs union formed in 1834 at the initiative of Prussia.
 It abolished tariff barriers and reduced the number of currencies to two from over thirty.
11. What type of conservative regimes were set up in 1815 in Europe?

The conservative regimes

 Were autocratic
 Were intolerant to criticism and dissent
 Adopted the censorship of press for curbing the liberal ideals
 Discouraged any questions that challenged their legitimacy
12. When was the congress of Vienna held?

Congress of Vienna (1815)

The salient features of the treaty were as follows:
 The Bourbon dynasty restored to power in France.
 France was disposed of its conquered territories.
 Kingdom of Netherlands, which included Belgium, was set up in the North
 Genoa was set up in the South for preventing French expansion in future.
 Prussia was given new territories, including a portion of Saxony.
 Austria got control over Northern Italy.
 Russia got Poland.
 Napoleon‟s confederation of 39 states was not changed.

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 13. How did revolutionaries spread their ideas in many Europeans states after 1815?

The Revolutionaries
Upholders of the idea of liberalism and against the conservative regimes of the 19th century. Many
secret societies were formed whose main aims were:
 Training the revolutionaries and spreading their ideas throughout Europe.
 Opposing monarchical governments established after the Vienna Congress of 1815.
 Fighting for liberty and freedom from autocratic rule.
Giuseppe Mazzini
 Italian revolutionary
 Born in 1807.
 Became a member of the secret society of the Carbonari.
 1831: Sent into exile for attempting an upsurge in Liguria.
 Founder of Young Italy at Marseilles and Young Europe at Berne, the two secret societies.
 Believed in the unification of Italy into a republic.
 Most dangerous enemy of monarchical form of government and conservative regimes.
 Metternich described him as “The most dangerous enemy of our social order”.
The Age of Revolutions (1830-1848)
 The consolidation of power by the conservative regime made liberalism and nationalism
associated with revolution in many regions of Europe.
 Italian and German states, the provinces of the Ottoman Empire, Ireland and Poland
experienced such revolutions.
 The revolutionaries comprised professors, school teachers, clerks and members of the
commercial middle class.
14. What were the immediate results of the July 1830 revolution?

July Revolution, France (1830)

 The Bourbon Kings, coronated after the Vienna Congress of 1815 were overthrown by
liberal revolutionaries.
 Louis Philippe was installed as a constitutional monarch.
 Belgium broke away from the United Kingdom of Netherlands.
15. Write a note on the Greek War of Independence.

Greek Revolution (1830)

 Greek War of Independence
 Greece was part of the Ottoman Empire since 15th century.
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  Growth of nationalism in Europe started Greek‟s struggle for independence from the
Ottoman rule in 1821.
 Support from West European countries.
 Poets and artists, who were inspired by the ancient Greek culture and literature, also
supported the revolution. E.g., Lord Byron, the famous English Poet.
 1832: The Treaty of Constantinople recognized Greece as an independent nation.
16. What do you mean by Romanticism?

Romanticism (1830s)
 A cultural movement that rejected science and reason
 German philosopher and romanticist Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803) believed that true
German culture can be discovered only among common people (das volk) through their
practice of flock traditions.
 Emphasized on vernacular languages and folklore for conveying their ideas to illiterate
masses.
Nationalistic Feeling (1830s)
 The sense of recognizing the society and nation as “we” and the sharing of many traits by its
members.
 Culture with art and poetry, stories and music played a major role in the shaping and
expression of nationalistic feelings and nation.
17. What were the factors responsible for economic hardships in Europe during 1830s?

Economic Condition of Europe after 1830

 Great economic hardships were experienced in Europe.
 The ratio of the rise of population was larger than that of employment generation.
 Migration of rural population to cities led to overcrowded slums.
 Small producers in towns (especially textile producing industries) were often ousted by the
import of cheap machine-made goods from England.
 Peasants still suffered under the burden of feudal dues and obligations in some regions of
Europe.
 Rise in food prices or a year of bad harvest left the country poorer.
18. What were the consequences of bad harvest, hunger and hardship in France in 1848?

1848, France
 Widespread food shortages and widespread unemployment experienced in Paris.
 Barricades were made and Louis Philippe was forced to flee.
 National Assembly proclaimed a Republic.
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  Suffrage to all males above 21 was granted.
 The right to work was guaranteed.
 National workshops for providing employment were set up.
1845, Silesia
 Weavers revolted against contractors for the drastic reduction in their payments.
 This revolution received scorns and threats alternately and resulted in the death of eleven
weavers.
19. Explain the German Liberal movement of 1848.

1848: The Revolution of the Liberals

A revolution led by the educated middle classes.
Germany, 1848
 Large number of political associations whose members were professionals, businessmen and
prosperous artisans decided to vote for an all-German National Assembly in Frankfurt.
 18th May 1848: 831 elected representatives marched to take their places in the Frankfurt
Parliament.
 They drafted a Constitution for a German nation based on constitutional monarchy.
 Their demands were rejected by the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV as he opposed
the elected assembly along with the other monarchs.
 The parliament functioned to evade the larger interests of the workers and artisans as it was
largely dominated by middle class members.
 Ultimately, troops forcibly disbanded the assembly.
20. Explain the German Liberal Movement of 1848.

Liberal Movement and Women Rights

 In spite of all these efforts by the women, they still were only allowed to observe the
functioning of the Frankfurt parliament.
 Women opposed this by founding newspapers, forming political associations and organizing
public meetings and organizations.
 They were denied the right to vote.

21. What were the consequences of the Liberal Revolution of 1848?

Consequences of Liberal Movement

 Liberal movements were crushed by the powerful conservative forces. However, old order
could not be restored.

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  Monarchs realized the importance of granting concessions to the liberal nationalist
revolutionaries for preventing unrest in the society.
 Serfdom and bonded labour were abolished both in Habsburg dominions and in Russia.
 Hungarians were granted more autonomy in 1867.
22. Briefly trace the process of German Unification.

Unification Of Germany (1866-1871)

 In 1848, middle-class Germans tried to unite the different regions of the German confederation
into a nation state under an elected parliament.
 In Prussia, nation building acts were repressed by the combined forces of the monarchy and the
military and were supported by the landowners (“Junkers”).
 Prussia took over the leadership of the movement for national unification.
 Otto Von Bismark, chief minister of Prussia, was the architect of the leading role of Prussia in
the process of nation-building.
 Prussia emerged victorious after fighting three wars over seven years against the combined
forces of Austria, Denmark and France and the process of unification of Germany was
completed.
 18th January 1871: The new German empire headed by the German Emperor Kaiser William
I was declared in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles.
 The unification of Germany established Prussian dominance in Europe.
 The New German Empire focused on modernizing the currency, banking, legal and judicial
systems.
23. Describe the background and execution of the process of Italian unification

Unification Of Italy
A long history of political fragmentation was experienced in Italy.
Italy during the middle of the nineteenth century
 Was divided into seven states.
 Only Sardinia-Piedmont was ruled by an Italian princely house.
 The North was under Austrian Habsburgs.
 The centre was under Pope.
 The South was under the Bourbon Kings of Spain.
Italian language had varieties of dialects; therefore, it was not stable in its form.
DURING THE 1830S
 Giuseppe Mazzini formed a coherent program for uniting the Italian Republic.
 Also, formed a secret society called Young Italy.
 Failure of the 1831 and 1848 revolutionary uprisings prompted King Victor Emmanuel II from
Sardinia-Piedmont to unify the Italian states.
 Chief Minister of Sardinia-Piedmont, Count Cavour, led the movement for the unification of
Italy.
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 1859: Sardinia-Piedmont with an alliance with France defeated the Austrian forces. Large
number of people under the leadership of Giuseppe Garibaldi joined the movement.
 1860: Sardinia-Piedmont‟s forces marched into south Italy and the Kingdom of the Two
Scillies and drove out the Spanish rulers.
 1861: Victor Emanuel was declared as the king of united Italy and Rome was declared the
capital of Italy.
24. When and how were United Kingdom and Ireland united?

Britain As A Nation
 Britain was not a nation state prior to 18th century. The primary identities were based on
ethnicity such as English, Welsh, Scot or Irish.
 The steady growth of power made the English nation extend its influence over the other nations
and islands.
 1688: England established as a nation state. English parliament seized power from the
monarchy.
 1707: The United Kingdom of Great Britain formed with the Act of the Union between England
and Scotland.
 England dominated Scotland and Ireland in all spheres. British Parliament was dominated by
English members.
 1801: Ireland was forcibly taken by the British after the failed revolution led by Wolfe and his
United Irishmen (1798).
 A new “British Nation‟ was formed with her various symbols such as the British flag (Union
Jack), the national anthem (“God Save Our Noble King”) and the English language.
25. Explain the meaning of allegory with an example.
Visualising The Nation
 Nation was personified in the female form by the artists of the 19th century.
 Female allegories such as that of liberty, justice and republic were invented.
 In France, the idea of a people’s nation was the christened Marianne. She was characterized
by the ideas of liberty and republic.
 In Germany, Germania became the allegory of the nation.
Symbols Significance
Broken chains Liberty
Breastplate with eagle Strength
Crown of oak leaves Heroism
Sword Readiness to fight
Olive branch around the sword Willingness to make peace
Rays of the rising sun Beginning of a new era
Black, red and gold tricolour Flag of the liberal nationalists

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NATIONALISM AND IMPERIALISM
Nationalism culminated into imperialism in the last quarter of the 19th century.
26. Explain by giving detailed account of Balkans region which was the most serious
source of nationalist tension in Europe after 1871.
(Narrow creed / Nationalist tension / WWI )

THE BALKANS IN EUROPE AFTER 1871

 The Balkans comprised modern-day Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Croatia,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro.
 The disintegration of the ruling Ottoman Empire and the spread of the ideas of romantic
nationalism made this area explosive.
 The European subject nationalities started breaking from its control to declare independence.
 The Balkan revolutionaries‟ acts were directed to gain back the long-lost independence.
 The Balkan States were fiercely jealous of each other and wanted to gain more territory at the
expense of the other.
 There was intense rivalry among the European powers over trade, colonies, naval might and
military might. European powers such as Russia, Germany, England and Austro-Hungary were
keen on opposing the hold of other powers over the Balkans for extending their own area of
control.
 All these events ultimately triggered the First World War (1914).
 Nationalism stained with imperialism led Europe to disaster.
 Many colonized countries in the world started to oppose imperial domination.
 The anti-imperialist movements developed as nationalist movements.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………..
NATIONALISM IN INDIA
Nationalism
 It involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national
terms, i.e., a nation.
1. What was the impact of the First World War on the economic condition in India?

The First World War, Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movement

The war played an important role in shaping India‟s freedom struggle.
 Increase in defence expenditure due to the war led to the increase in taxes, custom duties,
prices and the introduction of war loans.
 Extreme hardships, poverty and forced recruitments in the army made people hostile to the
British rule.

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  During 1918–19 and 1920–21, food shortages due to the failure of crops and famines and
epidemics, that took a heavy toll of life, created resentment among the people of India
against the foreign rule.
2. What is meant by the idea of Satyagraha?

Satyagraha
 Satyagraha means appeal for truth. Mahatma Gandhi introduced this concept during his stay
in South Africa. It is based on the ideals of truth and non- violence.
3. How did Gandhi successfully organize satyagraha movements in various places just
after arriving in India?

January, 1915:
 Mahatma Gandhi returned to India from South Africa.
Champaran Satyagraha, 1917:
 First Gandhian mass-movement in India against the oppressive plantation system in
Champaran (Bihar).
Kheda Satyagraha, 1917:
 Gandhiji led the movement in Kheda district of Gujarat, demanding relaxation of the
revenue tax owing to the poverty experienced by the farmers because of the outbreak of
plague and crop failure.
Ahmedabad Mill Strike, 1918:
 Gandhiji organised a Satyagraha against the cotton mill owners demanding an increase in the
workers‟ wages and bonus.
4. Why did Gandhiji decide to launch a natiowide satyagraha against the proposed
Rowlatt Act 1919?
The Rowlatt Act (1919)
 Passed by the British Government.
 The Act gave the government enormous powers for repressing political activities and
allowed detention of political prisoners for two years without any trail.
 On 6th April, 1919, Gandhi started the non-violent civil disobedience movement for
opposing the Rowlatt Act with a nation-wide hartal.
 Shops were closed down, rallies were organised and rail workshop workers went on strike.
Widespread attacks on banks, post offices and railway stations took place.
 Martial law was imposed and General Dyer took command.

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 5. Describe the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in brief.

Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, 13th April, 1919

 A number of people had assembled at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar for attending the annual
Baisakhi fair.
 General Dyer surrounded the park and opened fire on the crowd, killing hundreds of people.
Aftermath of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
 Crowds took to the streets in many north Indian towns. Strikes, clashes with the police and
attacks on government buildings were extensively witnessed.
 The British used brutal repression, seeking to humiliate and terrorise people.
 People were flogged and villages were bombed.
 This violence forced Gandhi to stop the movement.
 The Rowlatt Satyagraha was limited mostly to cities and towns.
6. What was the Khilafat movement ?

Non-Cooperation Movement
Began in January 1921
Causes
Khilafat issue:
 After the First World War, the British sought to overthrow the Khalifa, the spiritual head of
the Islamic world and the Turkish Emperor.
 This was deeply resented by Muslims all over the world, including the Indian Muslims.
Rowlatt Act:
The dissatisfaction from the Rowlatt Act and the failure of the Rowlatt Satyagraha.
Jallianwala Bagh:
 The atrocious killing of hundreds of innocent people by the British at Jallianwala Bagh had
made the Indian masses resentful towards the British rule.
 Gandhiji wanted to launch a mass movement encompassing the entire nation and all
communities.
7. Describe the stages of the NCM.

Methods:
Surrendering of government titles, boycott of civil services, army, police, courts and legislative
councils, school, and foreign goods; and a full civil disobedience campaign.
Disagreements
 Few Congress members were not in support of the idea of boycotting the council elections as
they wanted to bring about changes in the system by being in power.

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  C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru formed the Swaraj Party within the Congress to argue for a
return to council politics.
 Some leaders feared the movement to turn violent.
Events
March, 1919 (Bombay):
 Khilafat Committee was formed with leaders such as Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali.
September, 1920:
 Gandhi, in the Calcutta session of the Congress, convinced other leaders of the need to start
a non-cooperation movement in support of Khilafat as well as for Swaraj
December, 1920 (Nagpur):
 Non-cooperation programme adopted by the Congress.
8. How did the NCM become popular in cities ?

The Movement in the Towns:

 The students left government schools and colleges, headmasters and teachers resigned,
lawyers gave up their legal practices and the council elections were boycotted in most
provinces except Madras.
 Foreign goods were boycotted, liquor shops picketed and foreign cloth burnt in huge
bonfires.
1921 and 1922:
 The import of foreign cloth dropped. Merchants and traders refused to trade in foreign goods
or finance foreign trade.
 Production of Indian textile mills and handlooms went up.
9. How Awadh people participated in NCM ?

Rebellion in the Countryside:

 The peasants had to do begar and work without pay in the farms of oppressive landlords.
 The peasant movement demanded reduction of revenue, abolition of begar and social
boycott of oppressive landlords.
 In Awadh, the peasants were led by Baba Ramchandra.
 The houses of talukdars and merchants were attacked, bazaars were looted and grain hoards
were taken over in many places.
 Local leaders told the peasants that Gandhiji had declared that no taxes were to be paid and
land was to be redistributed among the poor.
 Nai-dhobi bands were organised by the panchayats for depriving landlords of the services of
even barbers and washer men.
October, 1920:
 The Oudh Kisan Sabha was set up headed by Jawaharlal Nehru, Baba Ramchandra and few
others.

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 10. Why did the tribal peasants participate in the NCM?

Revolt by Tribals:
 The government had closed large forest areas, preventing people from entering the forest to
graze their cattle or to collect fuel wood and fruits.
 Alluri Sitaram Raju led the guerrilla warfare in the Gudem Hills of Andhra Pradesh.
 The rebels attacked police stations, attempted to kill British officials and carried on guerrilla
warfare for achieving swaraj.
11. What was the notion of Swaraj for the plantation workers in Assam?

Swaraj in the Plantations:

 Under the Inland Emigration Act of 1859, the plantation workers were not allowed to leave
the tea gardens without permission.
 Thousands of workers defied the authorities, left the plantations and headed home.
 They believed that Gandhi raj was coming and everyone would be given land in their own
villages.
Impediments
 Movement slowed because khadi cloth was often more expensive than mass- produced mill
cloth and therefore, expensive for the poor people.
 Indian educational institutions were slow to come in place of the boycotted British ones.
February, 1922:
Mahatma Gandhi decided to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement because of its violent face
in many places.
12. Why was the Simon commission constituted ?

Simon Commission
Constituted by the Tory government of Britain under pressure of mass movements in India.
 Sir John Simon was the Chairman.
 Sought to look into the demands of the nationalists and suggest changes in the constitutional
structure of India.
 Arrived in India in 1928.Congress and the Muslim League along with the other parties
received the commission with black flags and slogans such as “Go back Simon”.
 October, 1929: The Commission recommended a dominion status’ for India in coming
future and a Round Table Conference for discussing a future constitution for India.
Effects of Simon Commission
December, 1929:
Under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru, the Lahore session of Congress formalized the demand
of “Purna Swaraj”. 26th January, 1930 was celebrated as the Independence Day.
1930:
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar established the Depressed Classes Association.
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 13. How did Gandhiji start CDM?

Civil Disobedience Movement

 Gandhiji chose salt as the medium for protesting against the British rule.
 31st January, 1930: Gandhi sent a letter to Viceroy Irwin stating eleven demands ranging
from industrialists to peasants.
 The most important of the demands was the abolition of salt tax as salt was the most
essential commodity for the common man.
 The government was asked to accept the demands by 11th march, failing which a civil
disobedience movement would be started.
Salt March
 Marked the beginning of the Civil Disobedience Movement.
 Started from Gandhi’s ashram in Sabarmati to the Gujarati coastal town of Dandi, spanning
a distance of 240 miles.
 6th April, 1930: Gandhi reached Dandi with thousands of followers and ceremonially
violated the law by manufacturing salt from sea water.
Spread
 Soon, the movement spread to the entire nation.
 Colonial laws were violated, salt was manufactured in numerous places, foreign clothes were
burnt and liquor shops were picketed.
 Peasants refused to pay revenue and chaukidari taxes.
 Village officials resigned and at many places people violated forest laws by going into
reserved forests for collecting wood.
Government’s Response
 April, 1930: Abdul Ghaffar Khan was arrested
 May, 1930: Gandhiji was arrested
 Women and children were beaten by the government and peaceful satyagrahis were
attacked.
 About 100,000 people were arrested.
14. When was Gandhi-Irwin Pact signed ? What was Gandhi-Irwin Pact?

Gandhi-Irwin Pact and End of Movement

5th March, 1931:
 Gandhiji called off the movement entering into a pact with Viceroy Lord Irwin.
 He consented to participate in the Round Table Conference and the government agreed to
release the political prisoners.
December, 1931:
 Gandhiji went to London for the Second Round Table Conference.
 The conference was a futile exercise as nothing fruitful came out of it for India.
 The Civil disobedience movement was re-launched but by 1934 it lost momentum.
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 15. Why the Rich peasant communities took part in the CDM?

Participation by People
Rich peasant communities
 Rich peasant communities such as the Patidars of Gujarat and the Jats of Uttar Pradesh took
part in the movement.
 Trade depression and falling prices caused a decrease in the cash income of these rich
peasant communities.
 They decided to oppose the high revenue demands of the government through their
participation in the Civil Disobedience Movement.
16. Why did the poor peasants join the CDM?

The poorer peasantry

 The poorer peasantry found difficulties in paying their rent due to the depression and the
decrease in the cash income.
 They wanted the unpaid rent to the landlord to be remitted.
17. Why did the business class participate in the CDM?

The business class

 The business class wanted protection against imports of foreign goods and a rupee-sterling
foreign exchange ratio that would discourage imports.
 They also opposed the colonial policies that restricted business activities.
 The business class, under the leadership of prominent industrialists such as Purshottamdas
Thakurdas and G.D. Birla, attacked colonial control over the Indian economy, gave financial
assistance and refused to buy or sell imported goods.
18. Why did the initial enthusiasm of the merchants and industrialists fade during the
later stages of the CDM?

Causes of Failure
 The Civil Disobedience Movement was called off without the fulfilment of the demand of
the rich peasant communities.
 Many rich peasant communities decided not to join the restarted Civil Disobedience
Movement.
 The Congress was unwilling to support the no rent campaigns due to the fear of upsetting the
rich peasants and landlords.
 The spread of militant activities, worries of prolonged business disruptions, growing
influences of socialism amongst the young Congress members and the failure of the Round
Table Conference led to the withdrawal of support to the movement by the business class.
 Industrial workers did not participate in the Civil Disobedience Movement except in Nagpur.

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  The dalits (untouchables) did not participate as the Congress sided with the conservative
high-caste Hindus.
 Muslim organizations and communities also sparsely participated in the movement.
 The Muslims alienated from the movement due to the fear of the dominance of the Hindu
majority.
1920: Formation of the Indian Industrial and Commercial Congress
1927: Formation of the Federation of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FICCI).
19. Why did Dr.B.R.Ambedkar clash with Gandhi at the second round table conference?

Demands of Dalits
 During the course of the civil- disobedience movement, many dalit leaders separately
demanded reservation of seats in the educational institutions and separate electorate for the
legislative council elections.
 1930: Dr B.R. Ambedkar organised the dalits into the Depressed Classes Association
 Gandhiji began a fast unto death for opposing the demand of separate electorates for dalits
because he believed that this would disunite the Indian masses.
20. Poona pact was signed between which two distinguished personalities?

Poona Pact (September, 1932)

 Signed between Ambedkar and Gandhiji.
 It gave the depressed classes reserved seats in provincial and central legislative councils,
which were to be voted in by the general electorate.
Upsurge of Nationalism
 A sense of unity and nationalism was inspired by history and fiction, folklore and songs,
popular prints and symbols.
 Abanindranath Tagores image of Bharat Mata and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay?s song
Vande Mataram united many people and communities.
Swadeshi Movement
 During the Swadeshi Movement, a tri-colour (red, green and yellow) flag was designed.
 It had eight lotuses representing eight provinces of British India and a crescent moon,
representing Hindus and Muslims.
Swaraj flag
 1921: Gandhiji had designed the tri-colour Swaraj flag (red, green and yellow) with the
spinning wheel at the centre.
 This flag represented the Gandhian ideal of self- help
 The glorious developments in the ancient times when art and architecture, science and
mathematics, religion and culture, law and philosophy, and crafts and trade flourished were
discovered with the help of history.
 This instilled pride and united the Indians.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………..
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 THE MAKING OF A GLOBAL WORLD
 Globalisation is Interaction and Interlinking between peoples and Countries in the world.
Speaking About Ancient Times:
 From ancient times travellers, Traders, Priests and Pilgrims (person who make journey for
religious reasons) travelled longer distances for various reasons such as Knowledge, Trade
Opportunities, Spiritual Fulfilment and to escape from Cruel Treatment based on race or
religion.
 When they travelled they carried goods, money, skills, ideas, innovations and sometimes
Germs & Diseases too.
 Early in 3000 BCE Coastal Trade linked Indus Valley Civilization with present day West
Asia. Cowries i.e. Cowdi or Seashell got its way from Maldives to China and East Africa.
The Silk Routes Link In the World
 Chinese Silk was transported to the western countries mainly with the help of Silk Routes
thus the silk routes link connected Trade and Cultures of distant places of the world.
 Silk routes that were identified on land as well as in sea connected not only the vast regions
of Asia but also linked Asia with Europe and Northern Africa.
 These routes were existing before Christian Era and grown well till fifteenth Century.
 On the same route Chinese Pottery, Clothes and Spices of India and Southeast Asia also
travelled to Europe bringing back precious metals like gold and silver.
The silk route link not only enable the opportunities of trade but also it helped to spread the
culture too.
 Christian Missionaries, Muslim Preachers and Buddhist Missionaries used the same silk
route link for Conveying their message to the World.
Food Travel Spaghetti and Potato
 Traders and travellers introduced new crops to the land where they travelled.
 Noodles travelled to west from China and became Spaghetti.
 Pasta was travelled to Sicily and island in Italy, all these suggest long distance cultural
contacts.
 Our ancestors were not know about foods such as potatoes, soya, groundnuts, maize,
tomatoes, chillies, sweet potatoes before five centuries.
 Christopher Columbus found these foods in America and carried these for production in
Asia and Europe.
 Introduction of humble potato led to better life of Europe’s poor, while extensive
dependency on potato crop in Ireland caused death of hundreds of thousands when the crop
failed due to disease.
Conquest, Disease and Trade
 From centuries Indian ocean had known for Busy trade because of movement of goods,
people, knowledge, and customers.
 With this India was a central point of the routes.
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  With the entry of Europeans the routes are grown towards Europe.
 The discovery of America enhanced the trade as America being rich in crops, minerals and
abundant land.
 Precious metals majorly silver located in present day Peru and Mexico enhanced Europe’s
wealth and financed the trade with Asia.
 Portuguese and Spanish win and colonised America.
 They won because of firepower and the germs of the diseases such as smallpox.
 Europeans transferred the deadly diseases to Americans.
 The bodies of Europeans had developed immunity against such diseases but isolated
 Americans could not be able to do so and hence these get defeated without use of weapon.
Emerging of Europe as Center of world Trade
 During nineteenth century there were poverty, hunger and diseases all over in Europe.
 The religious opposers dissenters i.e. people who do not believe existing beliefs and
practices, were harassed.
 So thousands of the people left Europe and went to America.
 Here they started growing cotton and sugar with the help of African slaves for the European
Markets.
 Previously China and India were among the world’s richest countries and were most
important of world trade but after China started isolating from the world, gradually Europe
was emerged as Center of World Trade.
………………………………………..
THE PRINT CULTURE AND THE MODERN WORLD
1. How were the books printed in China before AD 594?

Print in China :-
 The earliest kind of print technology was developed in China, Japan and Korea.
 From AD 594 onwards books in china were printed by rubbing paper against the inked
surface of woodblocks. Earliest Chinese books were made in ‘accordion’ style.
 Textbooks for the recruitment in civil service examinations were the major producer of this
printed material.
 By the seventeenth century, as urban culture bloomed in China, the uses of print diversified.
 Merchants used printed material in their everyday life.
 Shanghai became the hub of the new print culture.
2. Describe the progress of print in Japan.

Print in Japan :-
 Buddhist missionaries of China introduced hand -printing technology into Japan around AD
768-770.
 The oldest Japanese book printed in AD 868 is the Buddhist ‘Diamond Sutra’.
Calligraphy :-
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  the art of beautiful and stylised writing is called Calligraphy.
3. How did paper reach Europe?
Print comes to Europe :-
 In the eleventh century Chinese paper reached Europe through silk route.
 In 1295 Marco polo brought the knowledge of woodblock printing technology to Italy.
 To meet the increasing demand of books booksellers started giving employement to scribs
and skilled handwriters.
 But the production of handwritten manuscripts could not satisfy the ever increasing demand
for books.
Reasons for the arrival of wood block printing in Europe after 1295 :-
Wood Block Printing came to Europe after 1295 because :-
 This technique was with China first.
 Marco Polo returned to Italy and brought this knowledge with himself.
 Now Italian began producing books with Wood Block.
 Soon the technology spread in other parts of world.
Vellum :-
 A parchment made from the skin of animals.
4. What is manuscript? Write any three shortcomings of manuscripts?

Manuscript :-
 Manuscripts were copied on palm leaves or on handmade paper.
Limitations of manuscript :-
 Manuscripts were highly expensive and fragile.
 They have to be handle carefully.
 They could not be read easily.
❇ Reasons Why couldn’t the production of handwritten manuscripts satisfy the ever
increasing demand for books :-
 copying was an expensive,laborious and time consuming business.
 Manuscripts were fragile and difficult to handle.
 Not easily carried around or read easily.
5. Why did the woodblock method become popular in Europe?

❇ Factors that helped in the rise of print culture in Europe :-

 Handwritten manuscripts could not satisfy the ever increasing demand for books.
 copying was an expensive, laborious and time consuming business.
 manuscripts were fragile that’s why circulation was limited.
 Woodblock were used for printing by early 15″ century but this couldn’t cater to the ever
increasing demand for print materials.

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  Need for quicker and cheaper reproduction of books.
6. Explain the role of Gutenberg in the history of printing ?

❇ Gutenberg and the Printing Press :-

Gutenberg :-
 Gutenberg was the son of a merchant and grew up on a large agricultural estate.
 From his childhood he had seen wine and olive presses.
 Subsequently he learnt the art of polishing stones became a master goldsmith and also
acquired the expertise to create lead moulds used for making trinkets.
 Drawing on this knowledge he used to design his new innovation.
The Printing Press :-
 The olive press provided the model for the printing press and the moulds were used
 for casting the metal types for the letters of the alphabet.
 By 1448 he perfected this system and the first book he printed was the Bible.
 Printed books at first closely resembled the written manuscripts in appearance and layout.
 Between 1450- 1550 printing presses were setup in most countries of Europe.
❇ Platen :-
 It is a board which is pressed onto the back of paper to get the impression from the type.
❇ The Print Revolution and Its Impact :-
7. How did a new reading public emerge with the printing press ?
A New Reading Public :-
 With the printing press a new reading public emerged.
 The time and labour required to produce each book came down.
 Cost of books also reduced. Books flooded the market reaching out to an ever growing
reader- ship.
 Due to print technique a new reading public emerged in place of hearing public.
 Now books could reach out to wider sections of people.
8. Describe the implications of development of print in Europe in the field of religion.

Religious Debates and the fear of Print :-

 Many feared that if there was no control over what was printed and reading then rebellious
and irreligious thoughts might spread.
 Religious reformer Martin Luther King criticised many practices and rituals of the Roman
Catholic Church,
 Luther’s translation of the New Testament lead to the division within the church and to the
beginning of the Protestant reformation.
 Roman Church began Inquisition to repress heretical ideas.
 In 1558 Roman Church began to maintain an index of Prohibited Books.
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❇ Effect of Print Revolution :-
 Printing reduces the cost of books, the time and labour required to produce each book came
down.
 Multiple copies could be produce easily.
 circulation of ideas and open new world of debate and discussion.
 Brought new intellectual atmosphere, helped spread the new ideas that led to reformation.
 Individual interpretation of faith even among little educated people.
 The writing of enlightened thinkers helped in French revolution.
❇ Ballad :-
 A historical account or folk tale in verse, usually sung or recited.
❇ Taverns :-
 Places where people gathered to drink alcohol, to be served food, and to meet friends
and exchange news.
❇ Protestant Reformation :-
 A sixteenth-century movement to reform the Catholic Church dominated by Rome.
 Martin Luther was one of the main Protestant reformers. Several traditions of anti- Catholic
Christianity developed out of the movement.
❇ Reason of printed books became popular among less literate people :-
 Those who could not read at least can listen and enjoy.
 Folk songs and folk lore were published.
 Illustrated books were published.
 These were read out at rural meetings pubs etc.
9. Discuss the new forms of literature that targeted new audiences in 17th and 18th
centuries.

❇ The Reading Mania :-

 Churches of different denominations set up schools in villages carrying literacy to peasants
and artisans.
 In some parts of Europe literacy rate were as high as 60-80%.
 In England, penny chapbooks were carried by petty paddlers known as Chapman.
 In France there was ‘Biliotheque bleue’ which were low priced small books printed on poor
quality paper and bound in cheap blue covers.
 Newspapers and journals carried information about wars and trade, as well as news of
developments in other places.

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 10. Why do some historians think that print culture created the basis for the French
revolution?

❇ Role of print culture in bringing about the French Revolution :-

 Print popularized the ideas of the Enlightenment thinkers .
 Print created a new culture of dialogue and debate.
 By the 1780 there was on outpouring of literature that mocked the royalty and criticized their
morality.
❇ Denominations :-
Sub groups within a religion.
❇ Almanac :-
An annual publication giving astronomical data, information about the movements of
the sun and moon, timing of full tides and eclipses, and much else that was of importance
in the everyday life of people.
❇ Chapbook :-
A term used to describe pocketsize books that are sold by travelling pedlars called
chapmen. These became popular from the time of the sixteenth-century print revolution published
❇ Despotism :-
A system of governance in which absolute power is exercised by an individual, unregulated by
legal and constitutional checks.
11. What did the spread of Print culture in the 19th century Europe mean to
a) Children b) Women c) Workers

❇ Children, Women and Workers :-

 A children Press, devoted to literature for children alone, was setup in France in 1857.
 The Grimm Brothers in Germany spent many years compiling traditional folktales gathered
from peasants.
 Lending libraries had been in existence from the seventeenth century onwards.
 In nineteenth century lending libraries in England became instrument for educating white
collar workers, artisans and lower middle class people.
12. Give some innovations of the 19th and 20th centuries which gave an impetus to the
printing industry.
❇ Further Innovations :-
 By the late eighteenth century, the press came to be made out of metal. Through the
nineteenth century, there were a series of further innovations in printing technology.
 By the mid-nineteenth century, Richard M. Hoe of New York had perfected the power-
driven cylindrical press. This was capable of printing 8,000 sheets per hour.
 In the 1920s in England, popular works were sold in cheap series called the Shilling Series.
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  With the onset of the Great Depression in the 1930s, publishers feared a decline in book
purchases. To sustain buying, they brought out cheap paperback editions.
13. Explain the features of handwritten manuscripts before the age of print in India.

❇ India and the World of Print :-

 India had a very rich and old tradition of handwritten manuscripts- in Sanskrit, Arabic, and
Persian as well as in various vernacular languages.
 Manuscripts were copied on palm leaves or on handmade paper.
 They would be either pressed between wooden covers or sewn together to ensure
preservation.
 Even though pre colonial Bengal had developed an extensive network of village primary
schools, students very often did not read text.
 They only learnt to write. Teachers dictated portions of texts from memory and students
wrote them down.
 Many of them became literate without ever actually reading any kind of texts.
14. How did the printing technique begin in India? Explain

❇ Print Comes to India :-

 The printing press first came to Goa with Portuguese missionaries in the mid sixteenth
century.
 By 1674, about 50 books had been printed in the Konkani and in kanara language.
 Catholic priests printed the first tamil book in 1579 at Cochin and in 1713 the first
Malayalam book was printed by them.
 From 1780 James Augustus Hicky began to edit a weekly magazine-The Bengal Gazette.
 Gangadhar Bhattacharya began to publish Bengal Gazatte.
❇ Ulama :-
 Legal scholars of Islam and the sharia (a body of Islamic law)
❇ Fatwa :-
 A legal pronouncement on Islamic law usually given by a mufti (legal scholar) to clarify
issues on which the law is uncertain.
15. How did religious communities in India make use of printing technology to spread
their ideas?

❇ Religious Reform and Public Debates :-

 From the early nineteenth century, there were intense debates around religious issues.
 Different groups offered a variety of new interpretations of the beliefs of different religions.
 Ram Mohan Roy published the Sambad Kaumudi from 1821 and the orthodoxy
commissioned the Samachar Chandrika to oppose his opinion.
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  From 1822, two Persian newspapers: Jam-i-Jahan Noma and Shamsul Akhbar were
published.
 The Deoband Seminari, founded in 1867 published thousands upon thousands of fatwas
telling Muslim readers how to conduct themselves in everyday lives and explaining the
meaning of Islamic doctrines.
 The first printed edition of the Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas, a sixteenth-century text, came
out from Calcutta in 1810.
16. Explain the impacts of printed books on women in India in the 19th century.

❇ Women and Print :-

 The status of women improved in the Indian society. Women’s reading, increased in middle-
class homes.
 Liberal husbands and fathers began educating their womenfolk at home, and sent them to
schools when women’s schools were set up.
 In 1876 Rashsundari Debi published her autobiography-Amar Jiban.
 In the 1880s Tarabai Shinde and Pandita Ramabai wrote with pas- sionate anger about the
miserable lives of upper caste Hindu women, especially widows.
 Many journals began carrying writings by women, and explained why women should be
educated. They also carried a syllabus and attached suitable reading matter, which could be
used for home-based schooling.
 Ram Chaddha published the fast selling Istri Dharm Vichar to teach women how to be
obedient wives.
 Printed books helped women to emerge as rebels. Many women began writing and tried to
highlight the poor condition of women.
17. Briefly discuss women and print in India with examples.

❇ Impact of print culture on Indian women :-

 Print enabled women to read in silence,discuss and debate among the like minded persons.
 Women express themselves and shape their ideas.
 It connects women across caste religion or class.
 many women writes their experiances and stories .
 Many liberal husband and fathers allowed their wife and daughters to study.
18. What were the effects of spread of print culture for the poor people in 19th century
India?

❇ Print and the Poor People :-

 In the 19th century, very cheap and small books were brought to markets.
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  Cheap books were being sold at Madras so that poor people were also buy read.
 Lending library were setup.
 Paperback edition of novels were printed to make them affordable to the masses.
 Literacy Rate was increased in Labour Class.
 It helps to send the message of Nationalism to masses.
 From the late nineteenth century, issues of caste discrimination began to be written about in
many printed tracts and essays.
 In 1871 Jyotiba Phule wrote about the injustice of the caste system in his book Gulamgiri.
 Kashibaba, a Kanpur Mill worker, wrote and published Chote aur Bade ka Saval in 1938 to
show the links between caste and class exploitation.
19. How did printing work to connect communities and people living in different parts of
India?

❇ How did printing work to connect communities and people living in different parts of India?
 It created new platform for expression of ideas.
 It is the cheapest and most simplest way of communication.
 It brought about the problems of Indian Masses.
 A large number of religious book were being transmitted to Indian Masses.
❇ The role of print culture in encouraging the role of Nationalism in India :-
 Despite repression nationalist newspaper were reaching every nook and corner of the
country.
 They brought to light the misrule of the British.
 Revolutionary Bal Gangadhar Tilak started the newspaper named Kesari.
 Bal Gangadhar Tilak was imprisoned in 1908 which led to widespread protest all over India.
20. Why was the Vernacular Press Act passed in 1878? How did this empower the
government to impose restrictions on the press?

❇ Reason of Vernacular Press Act passed in India :-

 As Vernacular newspaper became more assertive the colonial government sought to crush it.
 In 1878, Vernacular Press Act was passed.
 From now on the government can track the vernacular newspapers.
❇ Steps taken by the British to curb the freedom of press in India :-
 After the revolt of 1857 ,enraged Englishmen demanded a clamp down on the native press.
 The Venacular Press Act, 1878 was passed. it provided the government with extensive rights
to censor reports in the vernacular press.
 Government kept regular track of the vernacular newspapers.
 when a report was judged as seditious, newspaper was warned and if the warning was
ignored the press was liable to be seized and the printing machinery confiscated.

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…………………………………

26
 Power Sharing
1.Describe the ethnic composition of Belgium.

• Belgium is a small country in Europe.

• Division of Population
 Flemish (Dutch speaking): 59%
 Wallonia (French speaking): 40%
 Remaining 1 % speak German.
 In the capital city Brussels, 80% people speak French, while the rest speak Dutch.
• The minority French-speaking community is economically and educationally well-to-do in
comparison to the Dutch-speaking majority.
• For accommodating the interests of the minority and the majority, Belgium adopted a unique
system of power sharing.
The Belgian Model of Governance
 The French and Dutch-speaking ministers are in the central government.
 Some special laws require the support of majority of members from each linguistic group.
 Many powers of the central government have been given to state governments of the two
regions of the country.
 Brussels has a separate government in which both the communities (French and Dutch) have
equal representation.
 A ‘community government’ exists. It is elected by people belonging to one language
community. This government engages with the cultural, educational and language- related
issues.
 This kind of governance has prevented a civil strife between the two different linguistic
communities.

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 2.What is Majoritarianism? Name the country which has lost its peace due to this.
Power Sharing in Sri Lanka
• Sri Lanka has a diverse population with 74% Sinhala speakers and 18% Tamil speakers. Among
Tamils, 13% are called ‘Sri Lankan Tamils’ and the rest ‘Indian Tamils’.
• Most of the Sinhala-speaking people are Buddhist, while most of the Tamils are Hindus or
Muslims. There are about 7 % Christians, who are both Tamil and Sinhala.
• Sri Lanka emerged as an independent country in 1948.
• In 1956, Sinhala was recognised as the only official language of Sri Lanka; thus, disregarding
Tamil.
• The governments followed preferential policies that favoured Sinhala applicants for university
positions and government jobs. A new constitution stipulated that the state shall protect and foster
Buddhism.
• A feeling of alienation was seen among the Sri Lankan Tamils.
•The Sri Lankan Tamils launched parties and struggles for the recognition of Tamil as an official
language, for regional autonomy and equality of opportunity in securing education and jobs. This
was denied by the Sinhala dominated government.
•By 1980s, several political organizations were formed demanding an independent Tamil Eelam
(state) in northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka.
•These differences in the two different communities pushed Sri Lanka into the state of civil war.
•In Sri Lanka, the idea of majoritarianism crumbled the country in a civil war.
3. Why Power Sharing is Desirable?

•Power sharing helps reduce the possibility of conflict between social groups and brings about
stability in political order.
•Power sharing is the very essence of a democracy as participation of citizens is an essential factor.
•An intelligent sharing of power among legislature, executive and judiciary is very important to the
design of a democracy.

28
(i) Prudential reasons:
(a) It helps to reduce the possibility of conflict between social groups. Since social conflict often
leads to violence and political instability.
(b) It is a good way to ensure the stability of political order. (c) Imposing the will of majority,
community over others may look like an attractive option in the short run, but in the long run it
undermines the unity of the nation.
(ii) Moral reasons:
(a) Power sharing is the very spirit of democracy. A democratic rule involves sharing power with
those affected by its exercise and who have to live with its effect.
(b) People have a right to be consulted on how they are to be governed.
(c) A legitimate government is one where citizens through participation, acquire a stake in the
system.
4. How has the idea of power sharing emerged? Explain the concept of separation of powers.

Forms of Power Sharing

•The idea of power sharing has emerged in opposition to the notions of undivided political power.
•In modern sharing democracies, power sharing arrangements can take many forms such as:
1. Organs of Government:
 In democracy, power shared among Legislature, Executive and Juduciary.
 This is known as distribution of power, it allows different organs of government
placed at the same level to excercise different powers.
 No organ can excercise unlimited power as each organ checks the others.
2. Governments at different levels:
 In federal form of government, power is shared between the central and state
governments.
 In India there is another lower level of government -local self government.This is
called vertical division of government.
3. Social Groups:
 Power may also be shared among different social groups such as religious and
linguistic groups.
 In India there are constitutional and legal arrangements whereby socially weaker
sections and women are represented in the legislatures and administration.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

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 Federalism
1. Write a short note on Federalism
 Federalism
• Federalism is a system of government in which the power is divided between a central authority
and various constituent units of the country.
• Two Levels of Government
 Government for the entire country that is responsible for national issues.
 Governments at the state level that function for the everyday concerns.
• Both of these governments enjoy their power independent of the other.
2. What are the key features of Federalism?
 Features of Federalism
• There are two or more levels of government.
• Different tiers of government govern the same citizens, but each tier has its own jurisdiction in
specific matters of legislation, taxation and administration.
• The existence and authority of each tier of government is constitutionally guaranteed.
• The fundamental provisions of the constitution can be changed only with the mutual consent of
both the levels of government.
• Courts have the power of interpreting the constitution and the powers of different levels of
government. The highest court acts as an adjudicator of disputes between different levels of
government.
• Sources of revenue for each level of government are clearly specified for ensuring smooth
functioning and financial autonomy.
• The federal system safeguards and promotes the unity of the country and also accommodates
regional diversity.
3. Explain the two kinds of routes or basis or types through which federation have been
formed.
 Types of Federation
• Coming Together Federations: Independent states come together on their own to form a bigger
unit, so that by pooling sovereignty and retaining identity they can increase their security. E.g. The
USA, Switzerland and Australia. All the constituent states usually have equal powers vis-à-vis the
federal government.
• Holding Together Federations: A large country decides to divide its power between the
constituent states and the national government. Very often, different constituent units of the
federation have unequal powers. Some units are granted special powers.

30
 4. What makes India a federal country?
What are the power sharing arrangements in India?

 Federalism in India
• India is a ‘holding together’ type of federation in which powers are vested in the state
governments that function under the overall supervision of the union government.
• Three Tier System of Government
 Union government
 State governments
 Local self government in the form of panchayats and municipalities.
Distribution of Powers between the Union and States:
The Constitution of India provides for the distribution of powers on the basis of three lists.
1. Union List
2. State List
3. Concurrent List
• Union List includes subjects of national importance such as defence, foreign affairs, banking,
communications and currency. The union government alone can make laws relating to the subjects
mentioned in the Union List.
• State List includes subjects of state and local importance such as police, trade, commerce,
agriculture and irrigation. The state governments alone can make laws relating to the subjects
mentioned in the State List.
• Concurrent List includes subjects of common interest to both the union government as well as
the state governments, such as education, forest, trade unions, marriage, adoption and succession.
Both the union and the state governments can make laws on the subjects mentioned in this list. In
case of conflict, the law made by the union government shall have primacy over the state law.
• The union government has the power to make laws for the subjects that are not included in any of
the three lists. These are termed as ‘residuary subjects’.
• Union territories do not have the powers of a State. The central government has special powers of
governing the union territories.
• The power sharing arrangement provided by the Constitution is difficult to change. Any change
to it has to be first passed by both the Houses of Parliament with at least two- thirds majority. Then
it has to be ratified by the legislatures of at least half of the total states.
5. Which institution helps in solving the disputes between different tiers of governments in
India?
• Role of Judiciary: It plays an important role in overseeing the implementation of constitutional
provisions and procedures. In case of any dispute between the centre and the states regarding the
division of powers, the High Courts and the Supreme Court have the right of adjudication.
• The union and the state governments have the power to raise resources by levying taxes in order
to carry on the government and the responsibilities assigned to each of them.
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 6. How is Federalism practiced in India?

Linguistic States
• New states were created on linguistic basis in 1947 for recognizing the linguistic and cultural
differences of various parts of the country.
• The formation of linguistic states has united the country and has made administration easier.
Language Policy
• Hindi is the official language of the Union of India.
• 21 languages are recognized as Scheduled Languages by the Constitution.
• Examinations for the central government posts may be taken by the candidates in any of the
scheduled languages.
• Each state has its own official language.
• According to the Constitution, English as an official language was supposed to be discontinued in
1965. However, due to opposition by non-Hindi speaking states, both English and Hindi are being
continued for official purposes.
Centre-State Relations
• The central government in India has the power to dissolve the state government on grounds of
inefficiency and impose the President’s rule in the state.
• Before 1990, the central government often misused the Constitution to dismiss the state
governments that were controlled by rival parties.
• After 1990, the era of coalition governments at the centre started. The major national parties had
to enter into alliances with many regional parties for forming the government. This led to a new
culture of power sharing and respect for the autonomy of state governments.
7. Explain the basic concept of Decentralization

Decentralisation in India
• It refers to the delegation of power to the local governments.
• Decentralisation makes the government more responsive to people’s demands.
• It ensures people’s direct participation in decision making.
• In 1992, the Indian Constitution was amended to make the third-tier of democracy more powerful
and effective.
• It is constitutionally mandatory to hold regular elections for local government bodies.
• Seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes and Tribes and Other Backward Classes.
• At least one-third of all positions are reserved for women.
• The State Election Commission of every state conducts panchayat and municipal elections.
• The state governments are required to share some powers and revenue with local government
bodies. The nature of sharing varies from state to state.
• Rural local government is known as Panchayati Raj.
 Each village, or a group of villages in some States, has a gram panchayat which is a council
consisting of several ward members, often called, panch and a president or sarpanch. They
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 are directly elected by all the adult population living in that ward or village. It is the decision
making body for the entire village.
 The panchayat works under the overall supervision of the gram sabha. All the voters are its
members. It has to meet at least twice or thrice in a year to approve the annual budget of the
gram panchayat and to review its performance.
 A few gram panchayats are grouped together to form a panchayat samiti or block or
mandal. The members of this representative body are elected by all the panchayat members
in that area.
 All the panchayat samitis and mandals in a district together constitute the zilla (district)
parishad. Most of the zilla parishad members are elected. Members of the Lok Sabha and
MLAs of that district level body are also its members.
• Local bodies that exist for the urban areas are known as municipalities. Big cities are constituted
into municipal corporations. Both municipalities and municipal corporations are controlled by
elected bodies consisting of people’s representatives. Municipal Chairperson is the political head of
the municipality. In a municipal corporation, such an officer is called the Mayor.
• Constitutional status for local self government has helped deepen democracy in India. However,
the functioning hasn’t reached perfection.

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Gender, Religion and Caste
1. “Gender division is not based on biology but on social expectation and stereotypes.”
Support the statement.
Gender and Politics
 Gender Division refers to the discrimination against women that considers women as inferior
to men and incapable of doing certain tasks considered to be the preserve of men.
 A sexual division of labour is experienced in human society. Very little contribution
ofwomen is seen in public life, especially politics.
 Political expression of gender division and political mobilisation has helped improve
women’s role in public life.
 Women in India face disadvantage, discrimination and oppression in various ways.
 The literacy rate among women is only 54% compared to 76% among men. Similarly, a
smaller proportion of girl students go for higher studies.
 The proportion of women among the highly paid and valued jobs is still very small.
 The Equal Wages Act provides that equal wages should be paid for equal work.
However, in most areas of work, women are paid less than men, even when both do
exactly the same work.
 Sex-selective abortion in India has led to a decline in child sex ratio (number of girl
children per thousand boys) in the country to merely 927.
 Various kinds of harassment, exploitation and violence against women is reported in both
the public and the private sphere.
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 2. Discuss the status of Women’s participation in Indian legislative bodies.

Women’s Political Representation

 In India, the proportion of women in legislature has been very low. The percentage of
elected women members in the Lok Sabha is 10 % of its total strength. Their share in the
state assemblies is less than 5 %.
 Under the Panchayati Raj system, one-third of seats in panchayats and municipalities are
now reserved for women.
 Women organizations and activists have been demanding a similar reservation of at
leastone-third seats in the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies for women. This proposal has
been pending before the government for more than a decade.
3. How does religion influence politics?

Religion and Politics

 Religious differences are often expressed in the field of politics.
 Gandhi believed that religion can never be separated from politics. Most victims of
communal riots in our country are people from religious minorities. They have
demandedthat the government take special steps for protecting religious minorities.
 Women’s movement demands that the family laws of all religions should not discriminate
against women.
 People should be able to express in politics their needs, interests and demands as a member
of a religious community.
4. What is Communalism?
What are the features of communal politics?
Communalism
 Is based on the idea that religion is the principal basis of social community.
 Followers of a particular religion must belong to one community with the same fundamental
interests.
 Communalism can take many forms in politics.
 Religious prejudices, stereotypes of religious communities and belief in the superiority of
one’s religion over other religions are commonly experienced.
 Communalism demands dominance of one’s own religious community. For those
belonging to majority community, this takes the form of majoritarian dominance.For
those belonging to the minority community, it can take the form of a desire toform a
separate political unit.
 Political mobilization on religious lines that involves special appeal to the interestsor
emotions of voters of one religion in preference to others.
 Communalism can take the form of communal violence, riots and massacre.

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 5. State any four reasons of the Indian constitution which makes it a secular state.

Secular State
India is a secular state because:
 There is no official religion of the Indian State
 The Constitution provides to all individuals and communities freedom to profess,practice
and propagate any religion, or not to follow any
 The Constitution prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion
 The Constitution allows the state to intervene in the matters of religion in orderto ensure
equality within religious communities

6. What are the features of the caste system?

Caste Inequalities
 Caste division is special to India. Caste system was based on exclusion of and
discrimination
against the ‘outcaste’ groups. They were subjected to the inhuman practice of untouchability.
 With economic development, large scale urbanisation, growth of literacy and education,
occupational mobility and the weakening of the position of landlords in the villages, the old
notions of caste hierarchy are breaking down.
 The Constitution of India prohibited any caste-based discrimination and laid the foundations
of policies for reversing the injustices of the caste system.
 Even now most people marry within their own caste or tribe. Untouchability has not ended
completely, despite constitutional prohibition.

7. How does caste affects politics in India?

Caste in Politics
Caste can take various forms in politics.
 When parties choose candidates in elections, they keep in mind the castecomposition of the
electorate and nominate candidates from different castes so asto muster necessary support
for winning elections.
 When governments are formed, political parties usually take care about the representatives
of different castes and tribes to find a place in it.
 During elections, political parties and candidates make appeals to caste sentiment to muster
support. Some political parties are known to favour some castes and areseen as their
representatives.

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  Universal adult franchise and the principle of one-person-one-vote compelled political
leaders to gear up for the task of mobilising and securing political support. It also brought
new consciousness among the low caste people
The Indian Constitution is however not caste biased. (Caste in Politics)
 No parliamentary constituency in the country has a clear majority of one single caste.
Hence, every candidate and party needs to win the confidence of more than one caste and
community to win elections.
 No party wins the votes of all the voters of a caste or community. Caste as a ‘vote bank’
of one party usually means that a large proportion of the voters from that caste vote for
that party.
 Many political parties may put up candidates from the same caste (if that caste is believed
to dominate the electorate in a particular constituency). Some voters have more than one
candidate from their caste, while many voters have no candidate from their caste.
 The ruling party and the sitting MP or MLA frequently lose elections in our country. That
could not have happened if all castes and communities were frozen in their political
preferences.

8. How far is it correct to say that it is not the politics that gets caste ridden but it is the
caste that get politicized? Explain
Politics in Caste
 Each caste group tries to become bigger by incorporating within it neighbouring castes
or sub-castes which were earlier excluded from it.
 Various caste groups enter into coalitions with other castes or communities and thus
enter into a dialogue and negotiation.
 New kinds of caste groups have come up in the political arena such as the
‘backward’ and ‘forward’ caste groups

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POLITICAL PARTIES
What is a Political Party?
A political party is an organized group of people who have the same ideology or who otherwise
have the same political positions, and who field candidates for elections, to get them elected and
thereby implement their agenda. Political parties are a defining element of representative
democracy.

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 1. Why do we need political parties? Explain

Need for Political Parties

 They are one of the most visible institutions in a democracy and are responsible for how a
country is run.
 They take decisions for collective good and are representative of its citizens.
 This also involves Partisanship.
 Therefore, a party is known by which part it stands for, which policies it supports and whose
interests it upholds.
2. What are the components of the political parties?

A political party has three components:

 The leaders
 The active members
 The followers
3. What are the major functions / role / Characteristics of political parties?

Functions of Political Parties

 Parties contest elections. In India, top party leaders choose candidates for contesting
elections.
 Parties put forward different policies and programmes and the voters choose from them.
 A Party reduces multiple views and formulates plans according to common good.
 Parties play a decisive role in making laws for a country.
 Parties form and run governments.
 Parties that lose in the elections play the role of opposition by voicing different views and
criticizing the government for its failures or wrong policies.
 Parties also shape public opinion by raising and highlighting issues.
 Parties provide people access to government machinery and welfare schemes implemented
by governments.

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 4. Why are political parties necessary for a democracy?

Necessity of Political Parties

 They are needed as they help perform all the above functions.
 Besides these, they help in representing different views on various issues to the government.
 They bring various representatives together so that a responsible government could be
formed.
 They fulfill the needs of a representative government in a democratic setup.
How many Parties should we have?
In a democracy any group of citizens is free to form a political party.
Any democratic system must allow at least two parties to compete in elections and provide a fair
chance for the competing parties to come to power.
5. What are the different kinds of party system?

Different Party Systems

1. One-party systems- In some countries, only one party can control and run the government.
These are called one-party systems. Ex- China. This system however does not allow for choices
and is not ideal for a democracy.
2. Two- Party Systems- Under this system, several parties may exist but only two of these have a
serious chance of winning a majority of seats and forming the government. Ex- USA and UK.
3. Multi Party System- Under this, more than two parties have a reasonable chance of coming to
power either on their own strength or in alliance with others. Ex- India.

Which Party System is better?

 Party system is not something any country can choose.
 It evolves over a long time, depending on the nature of society, its social and regional
divisions, its history of politics and its system of elections.
 These cannot be changed very quickly.
 Each country develops a party system that is conditioned by its special circumstances.
 No system is ideal for all countries and all situations.
 Therefore, a Party System has to be chosen as per own needs and circumstances.
6. What do you understand by a national political party ? Name the national parties along
with their symbols at present.
National Political Parties
 Every party in the country registers with the Election Commission.
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  While the Commission treats all parties equally, it offers some special facilities to large and
established parties such as providing them a unique symbol.
 Parties that get this privilege and some other special facilities are ‘recognized’ by the
Election Commission and are called ‘recognized political parties’.
 There are criteria that need to be fulfilled for a party to qualify as a State or National Party.
National Parties in India
1) All India Trinamool Congress (AITC)
 Launched on 1 January 1998 under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee.
 Received recognition as a national party in 2016.
 The party’s symbol is flowers and grass.
 Committed to secularism and federalism.
 Has been in power in West Bengal since 2011 and has a presence in Arunachal Pradesh,
Manipur and Tripura.
 In the General Elections held in 2014, it got 3.84% votes and won 34 seats, making it the
fourth-largest party in the Lok Sabha.
2) Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP):
 Formed in 1984 under the leadership of Kanshi Ram.
 Seeks to represent and secure power for the Bahujan samaj which includes the Dalits,
Adivasis, OBCs and religious minorities.
 Stands for the cause of securing the interests and welfare of the Dalits and oppressed people.
 It has its main base in the state of Uttar Pradesh and substantial presence in neighbouring
states like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Punjab.
 Formed the government in UP several times by taking the support of different parties at
different times.
3) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
 Founded in 1980, formed by Syama Prasad Mukherjee in 1951.
 Wants to build a strong and modern India by drawing inspiration from India’s ancient
culture and values and Deendayal Upadhyaya’s ideas of integral humanism and Antyodaya.
 Cultural nationalism (or ‘Hindutva’) is an important element in its conception of Indian
nationhood and politics.
 Earlier limited to north and west and to urban areas, the party expanded its support in the
south, east, the north-east and to rural areas.
 Emerged as the largest party with 282 members in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
4) Communist Party of India (CPI):
 Formed in 1925. Believes in Marxism-Leninism, secularism and democracy.
 Opposed to the forces of secessionism and communalism.

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  Accepts parliamentary democracy as a means of promoting the interests of the working
class, farmers and the poor.
 Significant presence in the states of Kerala, West Bengal, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil
Nadu.
5) Communist Party of India – Marxist (CPI-M):
 Founded in 1964. Believes in Marxism-Leninism. Supports socialism, secularism and
democracy and opposes imperialism and communalism.
 Accepts democratic elections as a useful and helpful means for securing the objective of
socio-economic justice in India.
 Enjoys strong support in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura.
 The party was in power in West Bengal without a break for 34 years.
 In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, it won about 3% of votes and 9 seats.
6) Indian National Congress (INC):
 Popularly known as the Congress Party. One of the oldest parties of the world. Founded in
1885 and has experienced many splits.
 Under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru, the party sought to build a modern secular
democratic republic in India.
 The ruling party at the centre till 1977 and then from 1980 to 1989. After 1989, its support
declined, but it continues to be present throughout the country.
 The party’s main idea is to promote secularism and welfare of weaker sections and
minorities.
7) Nationalist Congress Party (NCP):
 Formed in 1999 following a split in the Congress party.
 Supports democracy, Gandhian secularism, equity, social justice and federalism.
 A major party in Maharashtra and has a significant presence in Meghalaya, Manipur and
Assam.
State Parties / Regional Parties
Similarly, in the states, there exist region wise parties that are known as State Parties. Some of
these parties are:
 Biju Janata Dal
 Sikkim Democratic Front
 Mizo National Front
 Telangana Rashtra Samithi
Over the last three decades, the number and strength of these parties has expanded. This made the
Parliament of India politically more and more diverse. This has contributed to the strengthening of
federalism and democracy in India.

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 7. What are the various challenges faced by political parties ?

Challenges to Political Parties

Since parties are the most visible face of democracy, it is natural that people blame parties for
whatever goes wrong within a country. All over the world, people express strong dissatisfaction
with the failure of political parties to perform their functions well. Popular dissatisfaction and
criticism have focused on four problem areas. The challenges include are-
 The first challenge is lack of internal democracy within parties.
 The second challenge is of dynastic succession.
 The third challenge is about the growing role of money and muscle power in parties,
especially during elections.
 The fourth challenge is that very often parties do not seem to offer a meaningful choice to
the voters. This is on account of lack of ideological differences between different parties.
In order to face these challenges, political parties need to be reformed.
8. How can parties be reformed?

How can Parties be reformed?

Recent efforts and suggestions in our country to reform political parties and its leaders include-
 The Constitution was amended to prevent elected MLAs and MPs from changing parties.
This was done because many elected representatives were indulging in Defection in order to
become ministers or for cash rewards and hence an Anti-Defection Law was included.
 It is mandatory for every candidate who contests elections to file an Affidavit giving details
of his property and criminal cases pending against him.
 The Election Commission passed an order making it necessary for political parties to hold
their elections and file their income tax returns.
9. Suggest some more reforms to strengthen parties so that they perform their functions well

Other suggestions to reform political parties include-

 A law should be made to regulate the internal affairs of political parties.
 It should be made mandatory for political parties to give a minimum number of tickets, about one-
third, to women candidates.
 There should be state funding of elections. The government should give parties money to support
their election expenses.
These suggestions require quick incorporation and pressure must be created on political parties to ensure
that they function with a vision of betterment of the nation and not for their selfish motives. Apart from
this, the quality of democracy depends on the degree of public participation. It is difficult to reform politics
if ordinary citizens do not take part in it and simply criticize the government or political parties from
outside.
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 Outcomes of Democracy
The Expected and Actual Outcomes of Democracy in various respects such as:
• quality of government,
• economic well-being,
• inequality
• social differences and conflict and
• freedom and dignity.
Let’s have a look at Important topics under the Outcomes of Democracy.
1. Why is democracy better than other forms of government?

• Democracy is a better form of government than dictatorship, monarchy, or any other form
of government.
The reasons behind it are:
• Promotes equality in public:
Democracy is a form of government that promotes equality in public. Every citizen has equal rights
and weightage and freedom to live and act.
• Dignity enhancement in individuals:
Democracy is a form of government that provides equal Dignity to all country citizens, whether
they are poor or rich.
• Improvement in the quality of Decision Making:
Democracy is a form of government where a decision is passed through various procedures and
reviewed with different opinions, which results in improved decision making.
• Provides a way to resolve conflicts:
Democracy is a form of government where every citizen has an equal right to speak and opinion.
This provides a way to resolve conflicts.
• Provides a way to Rectify or Correct Mistakes:
Democracy is a kind of government where it provides a way to correct mistakes through fair and
transparent communication, feedback, etc.
Dilemma of Democracy:
Democracy is seen as good but felt to be not so good in practical aspects.
• Most people blame democracy. Their fascination is that democracy can address and solve all
Socio-economic and Political Problems. They start blaming Democracy. Democracy is a form of
government that can create favorable conditions for citizens to achieve something. But, citizens
would have to step forward to achieve their goals by using such conditions’ advantages. This is the
way people Access Democracy’s Outcomes.
Basic Outcome of Democracy: It produces a government that is:
• Accountable to the citizens
• Responsive to the needs & expectations of the citizens.
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People will have the right to choose their rulers and have control over rulers. Citizens can also
participate in decision making whenever need or necessity arises.
Efficiency and effectiveness of Democracy: Democracy is based on the idea of Deliberation and
Negotiation, unlike non-democratic rulers who do not bother about deliberation or public opinion.
So something this might lead to some delays.
• This delay is worthwhile as it leads to maximum chances of acceptance by the people as every
decision is deliberately(with norms & procedures) taken with public opinions. So, it’s
2. What is transparency in democracy?

• Transparency:
It’s a right to examine the process of decision making.
Accountable government:
 Democracy produces an accountable governments, as the people have the right in choosing
their representatives through the electoral process.
 These elected representatives form the government and participate in the decision-making
process on behalf of the people.
 If these elected representatives do not work properly, people have a chance to not elect them
in the next election.
Responsive Government:
 Democratic governments are elected by the people and are responsible towards the people
and Parliament.
 These governments promote the formation of public opinion and take care of the needs and
expectations of the people.
3. What does a legitimate government mean?

Legitimate Government:
 A democratic government is people’s own government. People wish to be ruled by
representatives elected by them.
 They also believe that democracy is suitable for their country.
 Democracy’s ability to generate its own support is itself an outcome that cannot be ignored.
• A democratic form of government also provides the following practices and institutions:
• regular, free, and fair elections;
• open public debate on major policies and legislation;
• citizens’ right to information about the government and its functioning, etc.
• In conclusion, one can say that Democracy is overall comparatively good & better with a non-
democratic form of government.

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 4.Explain the consequences on which democracy has failed.

The record of Democracies is not good at the following points:

• Not Attentive to the needs and demands of the people.
• Not Free of Corruption.
Often, it is seen that Democracy is ignoring the demands of people. As per the Recorded outline
tales of corruption, it can’t be said that Democracy is not free of this evil. But, it can’t be said that
non-democracies are less Corrupt or more sensitive to the people.
Democratic Government is Legitimate Government: The Democratic government may be slow,
less efficient, not responsive, always or clean, but people’s own government. A Government by the
People. That’s the reason behind the overwhelming support for the idea of Democracy across the
world.
5. “ In actual life, democracies do not appear to be very successful in reducing economic
inequalities”. Explain

Are Democracies leads to economic growth and development?

It is greatly expected that a good Democratic Government will lead to great economic growth and
development in a country. But, as per the past pieces of evidence, it’s not as per the expectations.
• While comparing Democracy with Dictatorship from 1950-2000, it has been derived that
dictatorship has given a higher economic growth rate.
• We can’t reject the Democratic Form of Government as economic growth and development
depend upon several factors such as:
• country’s population & size,
• global situation,
• cooperation from other countries,
• economic priorities adopted by the country, etc.
Reduction of inequality and poverty:
Democracies are based on Political equality. Every citizen has an equal right to elect their
representatives. Generally, it is seen that ultra-rich people enjoy a highly disproportionate share of
wealth and income. And on the other side, Poors have struggles even to meet their necessities of
life, such as food, clothing, shelter, etc. In Actual Life, Democracies are not successful in reducing
economic inequalities.
• The poor constitute a majority of voters, and no party would like to lose its vote bank. Generally,
Political Parties address their problems at a superficial level (at the times of elections) only. After
Winning Elections, they don’t address situations seriously.
For Example, Bangladesh is a country where half of the population survives in poverty, but
nothing satisfactory has been done yet, but the government to get them out of it.

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 Accommodation of Social Diversity: It’s fairly expected that Democracy would lead to a
harmonious social life. Managing social differences, conflicts, and divisions is always a plus point
in the Democratic Regimes. Usually, Democracy creates a variety of options among citizens to
choose their representatives. That’s why it is also a wide range of competition, which leads to the
minimum possibilities of becoming explosive & violent.
For Example, Belgium’s Democratic government has successfully negotiated differences amongst
ethnic populations.
6. What two conditions should be fulfilled by democracy to solve the problem of
majoritism?
Democracy Must Fulfill Two Conditions:
• Democracy is a rule by majority opinion but has to coordinate with the minority opinion.
• Democracy is a rule by the majority but should not influence religion, race, or linguistics.
Dignity and Freedom of Citizens:
 Democracy is known for promoting the dignity and freedom of the citizens.
 Every citizen wants to get treated with due respect. Sometimes conflicts arise when they are
not treated with it.
 The principle of Individual Freedom and Dignity is the basic principle of Democracy.
 Every citizen has a Democratic right to live life with Dignity, equal status, and equal
opportunity.
Expectations from Democracy also functions as the Criteria for judging any Democratic
Country:
 The reason behind this statement is that Democracy is a form of government which is ‘Of
the People, For the People and By the people.’
 It’s Examination never ends.
 As it clears one examination, the Next one is waiting to be cleared.
 As people get any benefit, they come up with more expectations, complaints and start
demanding more benefits.
 This also creates awareness on the part of citizens.
 Eventually, This makes the functionality of Democracy more Better day by day.

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