Last post I think

The Revolt of 1857, as mentioned earlier, was a turning point in the history. The period after the revolt witnessed major changes. India came directly under the British Crown. The British introduced the divide and

rule policy to prevent the occurrence of another such revolt. The English educated classes had not participated in the revolt. After the revolt, they realised that the British had no intentions of giving them government jobs as they had hoped for. This class took a lead in forming political associations to create awareness between 1850s and 1870s. Some of these political associations were:

(a) Indian Association (b) Madras Mahajan Sabha

(c) Bombay Presidency Association

(d) Poona Sarvajanik Sabha These associations had an all India character though they often had

regional names. Dissatisfaction with British rule had been brewing for a

long time. The passing of the

1. Arms Act (1878) - prevented Indians from carrying arms. 2. Vernacular Press Act (1878)- curbed freedom of the press.

3. Ilbert Bill (1883) According to which British and European people could be tried by Indian judges. The bill had to be withdrawn

because of widespread opposition to it The withdrawal of the Bill exposed the racist attitude of the British in India. was formed with the

In 1885, the Indian National Congress (INC) port of A.O. Hume, a retired British civil servant. The INC held its first meeting at Bombay in December 1885 with 72 delegates from different parts of India. Some of the leaders of the early nationalist movement were Dadabhai Naoroji, Pherozeshah Mehta, Badruddin Tyabji, W.C. Banerjee, Romesh Chandra Dutt, Surendranath Banerjee, S. Subramania Iyer among others.

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Social Reforms in India

rationalist and a reformist leader, born in a conservative Brahmin Camily in Bengal in 1772, Raja Rammohun Roy was a great scholar in

Persian, Arabic And English, He knemany other languages like Sanskrit Greek, Hebrew, French and Latin, He did the translation of Upanishads in Bengali, English and Hindi and wrote commentaries on Vedic Sutras The Mughals gave him the title of 'Raja He established close contacts Truth the Christian missionaries and entered into the service of the East India Company. In 1828, he founded the Brahmo Sabha which later came to be known as the Brahmo Samaj. He started two newspapers, one in Bengali and another in Persian. The Brahmo Samaj believed in the equality of all religions

The greatest achievement of Raja Rammohun Roy in the field of social reform were the abolition of sati in 1829 and a ban on early child marriage in 1872. The Samaj opened various schools for education of girls and many other vocational institutions for boys. Soon, thereafter, Raja Rammohun Roy passed away at Bristol in

Raja Ram Mohan Roy

England in 1833. Two prominent leaders of the Brahmo Movement were

Shri Debendranath Tagore and Keshab Chandra Sen who carried on its

work after Raja Ram Mohan Roy's death.

Derozio and Young Bengal Movement

Henry Louis Vivian Derozio (1809-1831), a young man of Bengal, was just 17 when he joined Hindu College of Calcutta as a teacher and taught English literature. He formed a group of young students called Young Bengal. As a teacher, he inspired the students to live by truth and shun all the vices. The youth also held radical views. They defied many existing social practices and idol worship. His love for truth had a magnetic impact on anyone who came in contact with him. The Young Bengal Movement continued even after Derozio's dismissal from the college for his radical ideas, He died in 1831.

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was born in a poor Brahmin family in

1820. He became the Principal of the Sanskrit College in Calcutta. The title 'Vidyasagar' was conferred upon him in recognition of his services to the college. Until then, Sanskrit was the monopoly of Brahmins but Vidyasagar made every effort to help people of so-called lower castes to learn Sanskrit. He also made outstanding contribution to Bengali literature. His greatest achievement was the work he did for women education and widow upliftment. In cooperation with many other volunteers and leaders, he started a number of girls'