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Category: History

  • Notes of Peasants and Farmers Class 9th History chapter 6

    • This chapter deals with the lives of peasants and farmers of three locations:
    → the small cottagers in England.
    → the wheat farmers of the USA.
    → the opium producers of Bengal.

    The Coming of Modern Agriculture in England

    • Before sixteenth century, in large parts of England, the countryside was open.
    • The common land was there which is accessible to all villagers where they can graze their animals, collect forest products, catch fish and hunt animals.
    • With the rise in population, the demand for food grains also increased.
    → Rich farmers began dividing and enclosing common land

    • After the mid-eighteenth century, this enclosure process expanded through the countryside.

    • British Parliament passed 4000 Acts legalizing these enclosures.

    New Demands for Grain

    • After mid-eighteenth century, the demand of foodgrains increased in England because:
    → Rise in Population
    → People began to live and work in urban areas
    → War between France and England

    The Age of Enclosures

    • In the nineteenth century grain production in England grew as quickly as population by
    (i) bringing new land under cultivation
    (ii) growing turnip and clover, these crops improved the soil and made it more fertile.

    What Happened To the Poor?

    • Enclosures found their customary rights gradually disappearing
    → Now everything was available on payment basis only

    • By 1800, labourers were being paid wages and employed only during harvest time.

    The Introduction of Threshing Machines

    • During the Napoleonic Wars, farmers began buying the new threshing machines that had come into the market, fearing a shortage of labour.
    • After the war, soldiers returned to the villages and needed alternative jobs to survive.
    • As their jobs were taken over by the machines, people were not able to find jobs.
    • Thus, they started threatening farmers through letters urging them to stop using machines that deprived workmen of their livelihood.
    → Most of these letters were signed in the name of Captain Swing.

    Bread Basket and Dust Bowl – Case Study of US

    • Till the 1780s, white American settlements were confined to a small narrow strip of coastal land in the east.
    • White Americans lived in a narrow strip of coastal land in the east.
    • Native American groups survived by hunting, gathering, fishing or by doing shifting cultivation.
    The Westward move and Wheat Cultivation
    • After the formation of USA, white settlers started moving towards west, America seemed to be a land of promise.
    • White settlers drove American Indians westwards and settled in the Applachian, than in Mississippi valley, cleared land and sowed corn and wheat.

    The Wheat Farmers

    • Rise in the urban population increased the demand for wheat and encouraged farmers to produce wheat.
    • Spread of Railways and First World War created more demand.

    The Coming of New Technology

    • Through the nineteenth century, the farmers entered the mid-western prairies and they needed new types of implements to break the sod and the soil.

    • Before the 1830s, to harvest crop they initially used cradle or sickle.
    → In 1831 Cyrus McCormick invented the first Mechanical reaper.

    • By early twentieth century, most farmers were using combined harvesters to cut grain.

    What Happened to the Poor?

    • Many of them bought these machines on loans, however, many were not able to pay back their debts, deserted their farms and looked jobs elsewhere

    • Unsold foodgrains stocks piled up.
    → Wheat prices fell and export markets collapsed.
    → This created the grounds for the Great Agrarian Depression of the 1930s.

    Dust Bowl

    • In the 1930s terrifying duststorms rolled in.

    • People were blinded and choked, cattle were suffocated to death.

    • Sand buried fences, covered fields and coated the surfaces of rivers till the fish died.
    → Machines were logged with dust, damaged beyond repair.

    • The entire landscape was ploughed, stripped of all grass, tractors had turned the soil over and broken the sod into dust.

    • They came because the early 1930s were years of persistent drought.


    The Indian Farmer and Opium Production

    • The British imposed a regular system of land revenue, increase revenue rates, and expand the area under cultivation.

    • By the end of the nineteenth century, India became a major center for the production of sugarcane, cotton, jute, wheat and several other crops for export.

    A Taste for Tea: The Trade with China

    • The English East India Company was buying tea and silk from China.

    • The Confucian rulers of China, the Manchus were not willing to allow the entry of foreign goods. → English could buy tea only by paying in silver coins or bullion which meant an outflow of treasure from England.

    • The English traders wanted a community which could be easily sold in China so that the import of tea could be financed in a profitable way.

    • Western merchants began an illegal trade in opium in the mid-eighteenth century.


    Where did Opium come from?

    • When the British conquered Bengal, they made a ffort to produce opium in the lands under their control.

    • With the growth of the market for opium in China, export from Bengal ports increased.

    • The Indian farmers were not willing to produce opium because:
    → They were not willing to divert their best fields for opium cultivation because it would have resulted in poor production cereals and pulses.
    → Many cultivators did not own land. For opium cultivation, they had to lease land from landlords and pay rent.
    → The cultivation of opium was a difficult process and time-consuming.
    → The government paid a very low price for the opium which made it an unprofitable proposition.

    How Were Unwilling Cultivators Made to Produce Opium?

    • By giving advance loan, the cultivator was forced to grow opium on a specified area of land and hand over the produce to the agents once the crop had been harvested.

    • The cultivator also had to accept the low price offered for the produce.

    • British wanted to buy very cheap and sell at high premium to the opium agents in Calcutta. Thus, the British wanted to earn huge profit in the opium trade.

    • By the early eighteenth century, the cultivators began to refuse the advances.
    → Many cultivators sold their crop to traveling traders who offered higher prices.

    • By 1773, the British government in Bengal had established a monopoly to trade in opium.

    • By the 1820s, the British found that there was a drastic fall in opium production in their territories.

    • The production of opium was increasing outside the British territories.
    → It was produced in Central India and Rajasthan which were not under British control. The local traders in these regions were offering much higher prices to peasants.

    • The Government instructed its agents in those princely states to confiscate all opium and destroy the crops.

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  • Notes of Pastoralists in the Modern World Class 9th History Chapter 5

    Who are Pastoralists?

    The goats, sheep or cattle farmers are known as Pastoralists.

    Pastoral Nomads and their Movements

    In the Mountains
    The Gujjar Bakarwals of Jammu and Kashmir

    • They are pastoral nomads who move in groups called ‘Kafila’.

    • Their movements are governed by the cold and snow.

    • In winters when the high mountains are covered with snow these  Gujjars move down to the low hills of the Sivalik range.

    • On the onset of summer, when the snow melts and the mountains become lush and green, these pastoralists move back to the mountains.


     The Gaddi Shepherds of Himachal Pradesh

    • They also spend the winter on the low Sivalik hills and the summers in Lahul and Spiti.

    The Gujjar cattle herders of Kumaon and Garhwal

    • They spend their summers in the ‘bugyals’ and their winters in the ‘bhabar’.

    The Bhotias, Sherpas and Kinnauri

    • They follow the cyclic movement which helps them to adjust to seasonal changes and make best use of pastures.


     On the plateaus, plains and deserts
    The Dhangars of Maharashtra

    • The Dhangars stay in the central plateau of Maharashtra during the monsoon.

    • This is a semi-arid region.

    • By October they begin their movement towards Konkan.

    → Here their cattle help to manure the fields and hence they are welcomed by the Konkani peasant. → As soon as the monsoon sets in, they retreat back to the semi-arid land of Maharashtra.


     The Gollas and Kurumas and Kurubas of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh

    • The Gollas herded cattle.

    • The Kurumas and Kurubas reared sheep and goats and sold woven blankets.

    • They live near the woods and in the dry periods they move to the coastal tracts.

    The Banjaras of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra

    • They moved over long distances in search of good pastureland for their cattle.


     Raikas in the deserts of Rajasthan

    • The rainfall in the region was meagre and uncertain.

    • They combine cultivation with pastoralism.

    → When their grazing grounds become dry they move to new and greener pastures.

    Pastoral life was sustained by:

    • Their sense of judgement to know how long one must stay in an area

    • To know where they could find food and water

    • To assess and calculate the timings of their movement

    • Their ability to set up a relationship with the farmers so that the herds could graze on the harvested fields.


     Colonial Rule and Pastoral Life

    • Under colonial rule the life of the pastoralists changed completely.

    How?

    • All grazing lands became cultivated farms

    • Forests Act restricted movements of pastoralists in the forests

    → Some customary rights were granted to them.

    → Forests were marked as protected and reserved.

    → British officials were suspicious of these pastoral groups.

    → The Criminal Tribes Acts was passed in 1871.

    • Taxes were imposed on cattle which went up rapidly.

    How Did these Changes Affect the Lives of Pastoralists?

    • Natural restoration of pastoral growth stopped.

    • Cattle died due to the scarcity of fodder.

    • A serious shortage of pastures.

    How Did the Pastoralists Cope with these Changes?

    • Some reduced the number of cattle in their herds.

    • Some discovered new pastures when movement to old grazing grounds became difficult.

    • Over the years, some richer pastoralists began buying land and settling down, giving up their nomadic life.

    Pastoralism in Africa

    • Over half the world’s pastoral population lives in Africa.

    The Maasai – Changes in their way of life

    • Maasai live primarily in east Africa.

    • Before colonial times, Maasailand stretched over a vast area from north Kenya to the steppes of northern Tanzania.

    • In the late nineteenth century, European imperial powers cut Maasailand into half.

    • The best grazing lands were gradually taken over for white settlement and the Maasai were pushed into arid zone with uncertain rainfall and poor pastures.

    Land Cultivation

    • In pre-colonial period the Massai pastoralists dominated the agriculturalist both economically and politically, the British colonial government encouraged local peasants to cultivate land.

    The Borders are Closed

    • From the late nineteenth century, the colonial government began imposing various restrictions on the mobility of African pastoralists.

    Not All were Equally Affected

    • The Maasai society was divided into two social categories- elders and warriors.

    → The elders formed the ruling group while warriors consisted of younger people, who defended the community and organised cattle raids.

    • British appointed chiefs of different sub-groups of Maasai, who were made responsible for the affairs of the tribe.

    • The chiefs appointed by the colonial government often accumulated wealth over time.

    → They had both pastoral and non-pastoral income, and could buy animals when their stock was depleted.

    • However, the poor pastoralists who depended only on their livestock did not have the resources to tide over bad times.

    → In times of war and famine, they lost nearly everything.

  • Notes of Forest Society and Colonialism Class 9th History Chapter 4

    • Forest provide us many products which are of great importance.

    • It supports a large variety of flora and fauna such as in Amazon forests or in the Western Ghats.


     Why Deforestation?

    • The disappearance of forests is referred to as deforestation.

    Causes of deforestation in India


     Land to be Improved

    • Forests were unproductive, therefore British brought them under cultivation so that they could increase the income of the state.


     Building Ships

    • By the 1830s, In India, trees were cut down and exported to England for building royal ships.


     Railway Tracks

    • Wood was needed for Railways as:

    → Fuel for Trains

    → Railway lines sleepers which were essential to hold the tracks together.

    Plantations

    • Large areas of natural forests were also cleared for tea, coffee and rubber plantations to meet Europe’s growing need for these commodities.

    The Rise of Commercial Forestry

    • British made a German expert, Dietrich Brandis, the first Inspector General of Forests in India.

    • Brandis set up the Indian Forest Service in 1864 and helped formulate the Indian Forest Act of

    1865.

    • The Imperial Forest Research Institute was set up in Dehradun in 1906.

    → Scientific forestry was taught there.

    → In the scientific forestry system, forests with different kinds of trees were replaced by plantations.

    → Forest management plans were made by forest officials. They planned how much of the forest had to be cut and how much had to be replanted.

    • The Forest Acts divided forests into:

    → Reserved Forests – these were the best forests. Villagers could not enter these forests

    → Protected Forests – villagers can enter these forests but with permission

    → Village Forests: The villagers were dissatisfied with the Forest Acts. They were now forced to steal wood from the forests. If they were caught, they were punished.

    How were the Lives of People Affected?
    What is Shifting Cultivation?

    • An area is cleared for cultivation for a period of time after that it left uncultivated so it could gain fertility.

    • The colonial foresters did not favour this system as it made it difficult for the government to calculate taxes, there is a danger of fire and also that no trees could grow on this kind of land.

    Consequences of banning shifting cultivation

    • Some people changed occupations

    • Some people resisted through large and small rebellions.

    Who could Hunt?

    • The forest laws forbade the villagers from hunting in the forests but encouraged hunting as a big sport.

    • They felt that the wild animals were savage, wild and primitive, just like the Indian society and that it was their duty to civilise them.

    New Trades, New Employments and New Services

    • Forest communities rebelled against the changes imposed upon them.

    The People of Bastar

    • Bastar is located in the southernmost part of Chhattisgarh.

    • The initiative was taken by the Dhurwas of the Kanger forest where reservation first took place.

    • The new law of Forest Act introduced by the Colonial government reserved two-thirds of the forest in 1905.

    • The British sent troops to suppress the rebellion.

    • It took them three months to regain control.

    • A victory for the people of Bastar was that the work on reservation was suspended and the area was reduced to half of that planned before 1910.

    Changes in Java

    The Kalangs

    • They rose in rebellion against the Dutch in 1770 but their uprising was suppressed.

    Scientific Forestry in Java

    • Forest laws were enacted in Java.

    • The villagers resisted these laws.

    • Forest timber was used for ships and railway sleepers.

    • The Dutch government used the ‘balandongdiensten’ system for extracting free labour from the villagers.

    Samin’s Movement

    • Around 1890, Samin of Randublatung village (a teak forest village) questioned the state ownership of forests.

    • A widespread movement spread.

    • They protested by lying on the ground when the Dutch came to survey it and refusing to pay taxes and perform labour.

    World Wars and Deforestation 

    • The world wars had a major impact on forests.

    • The forest department cut freely to meet the British demands.

    • In Indonesia, the Dutch destroyed sawmills and burnt huge piles of teak logs.

    • The Japanese after occupying Indonesia exploited the forests recklessly for their war needs.

    New Developments

    • The government realised that if forests are to survive, the local community needs to be involved.

    • There are many such examples in India where communities are conserving forests in sacred groves. This looking after is done by each member of the village and everyone is involved.

  • History Class 9th Notes & Study Materials With PDf Download

    India and the Contemporary World II is the history book that read by the 9th class students. This book deals with the history of India, and how its interconnected with other countries. A small change in a state how to affect another country. The chapters of this history book are too long; no one can cover all the sections. So we are providing the notes of these chapters, notes of the History of Class 9th. We are also offering records of the of History for Class 9th PDF so that you can use it anytime in offline mode too. Just click on the link of each chapter to access the notes of the History for Class 9th widely.

     

     

    9th class history textbook deals with modern part of the history. In the book, both Indian and foreign history were discussed. CBSE took many countries in a list and researched on the case study and came to know that India is connected with all of them somewhere. Then the shaped the book with the real incident, facts, cultural changes ideas and economy of India.

    That textbook also contains many information about many communities and many dynasties.

     

    The whole book is shaped in eight chapters, more on all the eight sections are later subdivided it into three parts. In this book, the last past, named  ‘Everyday Life, Culture, and Politics.’ then that divided into two sections but in the syllabus, they are not included. As it is not contained within the curriculum, we don’t need to study that portion.  ‘Everyday Life, Culture, and Politics’ is the first chapter of this book, which deals with  ‘Everyday Life, Culture, and Politics.’  In the second chapter, we learn about the lives of people living in forests, pastoralists and the peasants and farmers, and the chapter is named as ‘ Livelihoods, Economies and Societies’

    Chapter 1- French Revolution

    In the book of India and the Contemporary World II, in the first chapter, we learn about liberty, freedom, and equality came in the human history. In this section, we will go through a revolution happened in France, 1789 which ended the monarchy in France. After the revolution freedom and peace granted to its citizens. These rights are set as the benchmark of humankind and human history.

    Get Notes of french revolution Now

    Chapter 2- Socialism in Europe and Russian Revolution

    This chapter entirely describes the socialism and the revolution of Europe and Russian. How socialism comes to Europe. We will see those events which forced the ruling monarch, Tsar Nicholas II, to give up power. Also, the idea of socialism also inspired many colonial countries.

    Get Notes Of Socialism in Europe and Russian Revolution

    Chapter 3- Nazism and the Rise of Hitler

    This chapter is entirely dedicated to the happenings and events after the first world war. Especially in Germany, how Hitler came to the ruler position, and he did. There are many stories, which are horrifying of the massacre and the philosophy of Nazism.

    Get Notes Of Nazism and the Rise of Hitler

     

    Chapter 4- Forest Society and Colonialism

    In this chapter, you will get a wide range of idea, what happened to the forest of the India and Indonesia in the 19th century.  That time both of the countries are colonized country; later they used their colonizers and adopted many ways to use their forest lands for their benefits.

    Get Notes Of Forest Society and Colonialism

    Chapter 5-  Pastoralists in the Modern World

    This chapter indicates to the movements in India and the African country of the pastoralists in the mountains and deserts. Also, it shows how their life changes later on.

    Get Notes Of Pastoralists in the Modern World

    Chapter 6-  Peasants and Farmers

    This chapter is consist of many facts about the changes in the lives of peasants and farmer. We also came across how technology and globalization impacts on it.

    Get Notes Of Peasants and Farmers

  • Notes of Nazism and the Rise of Hitler Class 9th History Chapter 3

    Birth of the Weimar Republic

    First World War

    • Germany was defeated in the First World war.

    • After the war was over, the monarchy in Germany quits.

    The Weimar Republic

    A National Assembly met at Weimar to wrote a constitution.

    Working

    • Deputies were elected to the German Parliament or Reichstag.

    Structure

    • Democratic constitution with a federal structure. Universal Adult Franchise (all adults have right to vote including women).

    Defects

    • Proportional representation: Made achieving a majority by any one party a near impossible task, which led to a rule by coalitions.

    • Article 48:  Gave the President the powers to impose emergency, suspend civil rights and rule by decree.

    • The republic was not received well by its own people largely because of it had to accept the peace treaty of Versailles after Germany’s defeat at the end of the First World War.

    Treaty of Versailles

    → Germany lost its overseas colonies.

    → 13 percent of its territories.

    → 75 percent of its iron.

    → 26 percent of its coal.

    → Allied Powers demilitarised Germany.

    → Pay compensation of £6 billion.

    Lost resource-rich Rhineland.

    • Many Germans held the new Weimer Republic responsible for not only the defeat in the war but the disgrace at Versailles.

    The Effects of the War

    • The war had a  devastating impact on Europe both psychologically and financially.

    • From being a creditor, Europe became a debtor.

    • The supporters of the Weimer Republic were criticised and became easy targets of attack in the conservative nationalist circles.

    • Soldiers came to be placed above civilians.

    • Aggressive war propaganda and national honour became important.

    Political Radicalism and Economic Crisis

    • The Spartacist League was established on the pattern of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia.

    • The Spartacists founded the Communist Party of Germany.

    • The Weimar Republic crushed the uprising with the help of a war veterans organisation called Free

    Corps.

    • In 1923, Germany refused to pay the war compensations so, France occupied its leading industrial area, Ruhr.

    • To counter this, Germany started printing paper currency recklessly.

    → The value of the mark collapsed and the prices of goods rose. There was hyperinflation.

    The Years of Depression

    • Wall Street Exchange crashed in 1929.

    • Between 1929 and 1932, the national income of the USA fell by half.

    • The effects of this recession in the US economy were felt worldwide.

    Effects on Germany

    • Germany received short-term loans largely from the US.

    • Industrial production reduced.

    • Workers lost their jobs.

    • Youth took to criminal activities.

    • Small businessmen and self-employed suffered as their businesses got ruined.

    • People lost confidence in the democratic parliamentary system, which seemed to offer no solutions.

    Hitler’s Rise to Power

    • Hitler was born in Austria in 1889.

    • He acted as a messenger, corporal in the First World War.

    • He joined the German Workers Party and renamed it National Socialist German Workers’ Party.

    → This later came to be known as the Nazi Party.

    → By 1932, it had become the largest party with 37 percent votes.

    • Nazism became a mass movement only during the Great Depression.

    • By 1932, it had become the largest party with 37 percent votes.

    The Destruction of  Democracy 

    • On 30 January 1933, Hitler achieved the highest position in the cabinet of ministries.

    • Hitler now set out to dismantle the structures of democratic rule.

    • The Fire Decree of 28 February 1933 suspended civic rights like freedom of speech, press and assembly.

    • Communists were hurriedly packed off to newly established concentration camps.

    • All political parties were banned.

    • Special surveillance and security forces were created to control the people and rule with impunity.

    Reconstruction

    • Hjalmar Schacht took over the responsibility of economic recover.

    • The state funded project produced the famous German superhighways and the people’s car, the Volkswagen.

    • Hitler reoccupied the Rhineland in 1936.

    • He integrated Austria and Germany in 1938.

    • Acquired German-speaking Sudentenland.

    • Hitler chose war to recover from economic crisis.

    World War II

    • On September 1939, Germany invaded Poland

    • Started a war with France and England.

    • In September 1940, a Tripartite Pact was signed between Germany, Italy and Japan.

    • In June 1941, Germany attacked Soviet Union.

    • Germany exposed through both sides.

    → From the western front – to Britishers.

    → From the eastern front – to Soviet Armies.

    • Soviet Army defeated Germany at Stalingrad.

    • Japan bombed the US base at Pearl Harbor.

    • US entered the war.

    • US drops atom bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan.

    • The war ended in May 1945 with Hitler’s defeat.

    The Nazi World View

    • According to Nazi ideology there was no equality between people, but only racial hierarchy.

    → Nordic German Aryans were at the top, while Jews were at the lowest while all other races are between them.

    • New territories had to be acquired for settlement of Nordic German Aryans race.

    The Racial Utopia

    • Hitler divided and occupied north-western Poland.

    • Poles were forced to leave their homes.

    • Educated Polish classes were murdered.

    Youth in Nazi Germany

    • All schools were cleansed and purified means Jews teachers were dismissed.

    • Jews, the physically handicapped and Gypsies were thrown out of schools and later sent to the gas chambers.

    • A prolonged period of ideological training for good German students.

    • School textbooks were rewritten.

    • Racial science was introduced to justify Nazi ideas of race.

    • Children were taught to be loyal and submissive, hate Jews, and worship Hitler.

    • Ten-year-olds had to enter Jungvolk.

    • At 14, all boys had to join the Nazi youth organisation – Hitler Youth.

    • They joined the Labour Service at 18.

    The Nazi Cult of Motherhood

    • Boys were taught to be aggressive, masculine and steel hearted.

    • Girls had to become good mothers and rear pure-blooded Aryan children.

    • All mothers were not treated equally.

    • Women who bore racially undesirable children were punished.

    • Women who produced racially desirable children were awarded.

    • Honour Crosses were awarded to encourage women to produce many children.

    • Women who didn’t follow prescribed code of conduct were publicly condemned, and severely punished.

    The Art of Propaganda

    • Mass killings were termed special treatment, final solution, euthanasia, selection and disinfection.

    • Nazi ideas were spread through visual images, films, radio, posters, catchy slogans and leaflets.

    • In posters, enemies of Germans such as Jews were shown as evil.

    Crimes against Humanity

    • Many people were influence by the idea of Nazi.

    • They believed Nazism would bring prosperity and improve general well-being.

    • Every German was not a Nazi.

    • Large majority of Germans were passive onlookers.

    The Holocaust

    • Jews collected and preserved documents wrote diaries, kept notebooks, and created archives which

    are called the Holocaust.

    • Jews wanted the world to remember the atrocities and sufferings they had endured during the Nazi killing operations.

  • Notes of Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution Class 9th History

    The Age of Social Change

    • The French Revolution opened up the possibility of creating a dramatic change in the way in which society was structured.

    • Not everyone in Europe, however, wanted a complete transformation.

    • Some were ‘conservatives’, while others were ‘liberals’ or ‘radicals’.

    Who were Conservatives?

    •  They resisted change.

    • After the revolution, they started accepting change provided it was slow and had links and respected the past.

    Who were Liberals?

    • They wanted a nation which tolerated all religions.

    • They argued for an elected parliamentary government, subject to laws interpreted by a well trained judiciary that was independent of rulers and officials.

    • They were not Democrats.

    Who were Radicals?

    • They wanted a  nation in which government was based on the majority of a  country’s population.

    • They disliked concentration of property in hands of a few, not the existence of private property.

    Industrial Society and Social Change

    • This was the time of economic and social change.

    • Men, women and children were pushed into factories for low wages.

    • Most of the factory owners were often liberals and radicals and they felt that workers’ efforts must be encouraged.

    The Coming of Socialism to Europe

    • Socialists were against private property.

    • They had different visions of the future.

    • Some believed in cooperatives.

    • Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels added that industrial society was capitalist.


    Support for Socialism

    • By the 1870s, socialist ideas spread through Europe.

    • Workers in England and Germany began forming associations to fight for better living and working conditions.

    The Russian Revolution

    • In 1914, Nicholas II ruled the Russian empire.

    • The Russian Empire included territory around Moscow, current-day Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, parts of Poland, Ukraine and Belarus.

    Economy and Society during Russian Empire

    • About 85 percent of the Russian empire’s population earned their living from agriculture.

    • The industry was limited in number.

    • Workers were divided into groups but they did unite to strike work when they were dissatisfied.

    • Peasants had no respect for nobility, very unlike the French peasant.

    • Russian peasants were the only peasant community which pooled their land and their commune divided it.

    Socialism in Russia

    • All political parties were illegal in Russia before 1914.

    • In 1900, the Russian Socialist Democratic Labour Party was formed.

    → It struggled to give peasants their rights over land that belonged to nobles.

    → As land was divided among peasants periodically and it was felt that peasants and not workers would be the main source of the revolution.

    • But Lenin did not agree with this as he felt that peasants were not one social group.

    → The party was divided into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks.

    → Lenin led Bolshevik group.

    A Turbulent Time: The 1905 Revolution

    • Liberals wanted to end of the autocracy of the Tsar.

    • They worked towards demanding a constitution during the Revolution of 1905.

    Bloody Sunday

    • In 1904, Prices of essential goods rose so quickly that real wages declined by 20 percent.

    • When four members of the Putilov Iron Works were dismissed, there was a call for industrial action.

    • Over 110,000 workers in St. Petersburg went on strike demanding a  reduction in working hours and increase in wages.

    → This procession was attacked by the police and Cossacks.

    → Over 100 workers were killed.

    → Strikes took place as a reaction.

    → People demanded a constituent assembly.

    • The Tsar allowed the creation of an elected consultative Parliament or Duma.

    → The Tsar dismissed the first Duma within 75 days and announced the election of a second Duma.

    → Tsar constituted the third Duma with conservative politicians.

    The First World War and the Russian Empire

    • In Russia, the first world war was initially very popular but later the support grew thin.

    • Anti-German sentiments ran high.

    • Russian armies lost badly in Germany and Austria.

    • The war also affected the industry.

    • There was labour shortage.

    • By 1916, railway lines began to break down.

    • The small workshops were closed down.

    • There was shortage of grain and hence of bread.

    The February Revolution in Petrograd

    Events

    • In the winter of 1917, Petrograd was grim.

    → There was a food shortage in the quarters of workers.

    • On 22th February, a lockout took place at a factory.

    → Workers of 50 other factories joined in sympathy.

    → Women also led and participated in the strikes. This came to be called the International Women’s Day.

    • The government imposed a curfew.

    • On the 24th and 25th, the government called out the cavalry and police to keep an eye on them.

    • On 25th February, the government suspended the Duma and politicians spoke against this measure.

    • On 27th February, the police headquarters were ransacked.

    → Cavalry was called out again.

    → An officer was shot at the barracks of a regiment and other regiments mutinied, voting to join the striking workers gathered to form a Soviet or council. This was the Petrograd Soviet.

    • A delegation went to meet the Tsar, military commanders advised him to abdicate.

    • On 2nd March, the Tsar abdicated.

    • Soviet leaders and Duma leaders formed a Provisional Government to run the country.

    Effects

    • Restrictions on public meetings and associations were removed.

    • Soviets were set up everywhere.

    • In individual areas, factory committees were formed which began questioning the way industrialists ran their factories.

    → Soldiers’ committees were formed in the army.

    • The provisional government saw its power declining and Bolshevik influence grow.

    → Therefore, it decided to take stern measures against the spreading discontent.

    • It resisted attempts by workers to run factories and arrested leaders.

    • Peasants and the socialist revolutionary leaders pressed for a redistribution of land.

    → Land committees were formed and peasants seized land between July and September 1917.

    The Revolution of October 1917

    Events

    • On 16th October 1917, Lenin persuaded the Petrograd Soviet and Bolshevik Party to agree to a socialist seizure of power.

    → A Military Revolutionary Committee was appointed by the Soviet to organise seizure.

    • Uprising began on 24th October.

    → Prime Minister Kerenskii left the city to summon troops.

    → Pro-government troops were sent to take over telephone and telegraph offices and protect the Winter Palace.

    • In response, Military Revolutionary Committee ordered to seize government offices and arrest the ministers.

    → The ‘Aurora’ ship shelled the Winter Palace.

    → Other ships took over strategic points.

    → By night the city had been taken over and ministers had surrendered.

    • All Russian Congress of Soviets in Petrograd approved the Bolshevik action.

    • By December, the Bolsheviks controlled the Moscow – Petrograd area.

    Effects

    • Most industry and banks were nationalised in November 1917.

    • The land was declared social property and peasants were allowed to seize the land of the nobility.

    • Use of old titles was banned.

    • New uniforms were designed for the army and officials.

    • Russia became a one-party state.

    • Trade unions were kept under party control.

    The Civil War

    • When the Bolsheviks ordered land redistribution, the Russian army began to break up.

    • Non-Bolshevik socialists, liberals and supporters of autocracy condemned the Bolshevik uprising. → They were supported by French, American, British and Japanese troops.

    → All these fought a war with the Bolsheviks.

    Making a Socialist Society

    • The Bolsheviks kept industries and banks nationalised during the civil war.

    • Rapid construction and industrialisation started.

    • An extended schooling system developed.

    Stalin and Collective Farming

    • Stalin believed that rich peasants and traders stocked supplies to create shortage of grains. Hence, collectivisation was the need of the hour.

    • Those farmers who resisted collectivisation were punished, deported or exiled.


     Global Influence

    • In many countries, communist parties were formed.

    • By the time of the outbreak of the Second World War, the USSR had given socialism a global face and world stature.

    • By the end of the twentieth century, the international reputation of the USSR as a socialist country had declined.

     

  • Notes of French Revolution Class 9th History Chapter 1

    Introduction

    French revolution started in 1789. The series of events started by the middle class shaken the upper classes. The people revolted against the cruel regime of monarchy. This revolution put forward the ideas of liberty, fraternity, and equality.

    • The revolution began on 14th July, 1789 with the storming of the fortress-prison, the Bastille.

    →The Bastille, the fortress prison was hated by all, because it stood for the despotic power of the king.

    → The fortress was demolished.

    Causes of the French Revolution:

    Social Cause

    French Society During the Late Eighteenth Century

    The term ‘Old Regime’ is usually used to describe the society and institutions of France before 1789.

    The society was divided into three estates.

    1. 1st Estate: Clergy (Group of persons involved in church matters)

    2. 2nd Estate: Nobility (Persons who have high rank in state administration)

    3. 3rd Estate: (Comprises of Big businessmen, merchants, court officials, lawyers, Peasants and artisans, landless labour, servants)

    • First two classes were exempted from paying taxes. They enjoyed privileges by birth. Nobility classes also enjoyed feudal privileges.

    • Only the members of the third estate had to pay taxes to the state.

    → Direct tax called taille and also a number of indirect taxes which were charged on articles of everyday consumption like salt or tobacco.

    • A tax called Tithe was also collected by the church from the peasants.

    • Clergy and Nobility were 10% of the population but possessed 60% of lands. Third Estate was 90% of the population but possessed 40% of the lands.

    Economic Cause

    Subsistence Crisis

    • The population of France rose from about 23 million in 1715 to 28 million in 1789.

    • This increased the demand for the foodgrains. However, production could not keep pace with the demand which ultimately increased the prices of the foodgrains.

    • Most workers work as labourers in the workshops and they didn’t see increase in their wages.

    • Situation became worse whenever drought or hail reduced the harvest.

    • This led to the scarcity of foodgrains or Subsistence Crisis which started occurring frequently during old regime.

    Political Cause

    • Louis XVI came into the power in 1774 and found empty treasury.

    • Long years of war had drained the financial resources of France.

    • Under Louis XVI, France helped the thirteen American colonies to gain their independence from the common enemy, Britain which added more than a billion livres to a debt that had already risen to more than 2 billion livres.

    • An extravagant court at the immense palace of Versailles also cost a lot.

    • To meet its regular expenses, such as the cost of maintaining an army, the court, running government offices or universities, the state was forced to increase taxes.

    Growing Middle Class

    • The eighteenth century witnessed the emergence of social groups, termed the middle class, who earned their wealth through overseas trade, from manufacturing of goods and professions.

    • This class was educated believed that no group in society should be privileged by birth.

    • They were inspired by the ideas put forward by the various philosophers and became a matter of talk intensively for these classes in salons and coffee-houses and spread among people through books and newspapers.

    • The American constitution and its guarantee of individual rights was an important example for political thinkers in France.

    Philosophers and their contribution in revolution

    • John Locke: (written a book named ‘Two Treatises of Government’) in which he criticized the doctrine of the divine and absolute right of the monarch.

    • Jean Jacques Rousseau (written a book named ‘Social Contract’) in which he proposed a form of government based on a social contract between people and their representatives.

    • Montesquieu (written a book named ‘The Spirit of the Laws’) in which he proposed a division of power within the government between the legislative, the executive and the judiciary.

    The Outbreak of the Revolution

    • Louis XVI called an assembly of the Estates General to pass his proposals to increase taxes on 5th May 1789.

    • The first and second estates sent 300 representatives each, who were seated in rows facing each other on two sides, while the 600 members of the third estate had to stand at the back.

    • The third estate was represented by its more prosperous and educated members only while peasants, artisans and women were denied entry to the assembly.

    • Voting in the Estates General in the past had been conducted according to the principle that each estate had one vote and same practice to be continued this time. But members of the third estate demanded individual voting right, where each member would have one vote.

    • After rejection of this proposal by the king, members of the third estate walked out of the assembly in protest.

    • On 20th June, the representatives of the third estate assembled in the hall of an indoor tennis court in the grounds of Versailles where they declared themselves a National Assembly and vowed to draft a constitution for France that would limit the powers of the monarch.

    • Mirabeau, a noble and Abbé Sieyès, a priest led the third estate.

    • While the National Assembly was busy at Versailles drafting a constitution, the rest of France was in trouble.

    • Severe winter destroyed the food crops which resulted in increase in the prices. The bakers also hoarded supplies of breads for making greater profit.

    • After spending hours in long queues at the bakery, crowds of angry women stormed into the shops.

    • At the same time, the king ordered troops to move into Paris. On 14 July, the agitated crowd stormed and destroyed the Bastille.

    • In the countryside rumours spread from village to village that the lords of the manor were on their way to destroy the ripe crops through their hired gangs.

    • Due to fear, peasants in several districts attacked the castle of nobles, looted hoarded grain and burnt down documents containing records of manorial dues.

    • Large numbers of noble fled from their homes and many migrated to neighbouring countries.

    • Louis XVI finally recognised the National Assembly and accepted the constitution.

    • On 4th August, 1789, France passed the law for abolishing the feudal system of obligations and taxes.

    • The member of clergy were also forced to give up their privileges.

    • Tithes were abolished and lands owned by the Church were confiscated.

    France Becomes a Constitutional Monarchy

    • The National Assembly completed the draft of the constitution in 1791 which main object was to limit the powers of the monarch.

    • The powers were now separated and assigned to different institutions – the legislature, executive and judiciary which made France a constitutional monarchy.

    • The Constitution of 1791 gave the power of making laws in the hands of National Assembly, which was indirectly elected.

    • The National Assembly was elected by a group of electors, which were chosen by active citizens.

    • Active Citizens comprises of only men above 25 years of age who paid taxes equal to at least 3 days of a labourer’s wage.

    • The remaining men and all women were classed as passive citizens who had no voting rights.

    France Constitution at that time

    • The Constitution began with a Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.

    • Rights such as the right to life, freedom of speech, freedom of opinion, equality before law, were given to each human being by birth and could not be taken away.

    • It was the duty of the state to protect each citizen’s natural rights.

    • Various Political Symbols:

    → The broken chain: stands for the act of becoming free.

    → The bundle of rods or fasces: Show strength lies in unity.

    → The eye within a triangle radiating light: The all-seeing eye stands for knowledge.

    → Sceptre: Symbol of royal power.

    → Snake biting its tail to form a ring: Symbol of Eternity.

    → Red Phrygian cap: Cap worn by a slave upon becoming free.

    → Blue-white-red: The national colours of France.

    → The winged woman: Personification of the law.

    → The Law Tablet: The law is the same for all, and all are equal before it.

    France Abolishes Monarchy and Becomes a Republic

    • Louis XVI had signed the Constitution, but he entered into secret negotiations with the King of Prussia.

    • Rulers of other neighbouring countries too were worried by the developments in France and made plans to send troops to stop the revolutionary events taking place.

    • Before this could happen, the National Assembly voted in April 1792 to declare war against Prussia and Austria.

    • Thousands of volunteers joined the army from the provinces to join the army.

    • People saw this war as a war of the people against kings and aristocracies all over Europe.

    • The patriotic song Marseillaise, composed by the poet Roget de L’Isle was sung for the first time by volunteers from Marseilles as they marched into Paris which is now the national anthem of France.

    • The revolutionary wars brought losses and economic difficulties to the people.

    • The Constitution of 1791 gave political rights only to the richer sections of society.

    • Political clubs were established by the people who wished to discuss government policies and plan their own forms of action.

    • The most successful of these clubs was that of the Jacobins.

    • The members of the Jacobin club belonged mainly to the less prosperous sections of society such as small shopkeepers, artisans as well as servants and daily-wage workers. Their leader was Maximilian Robespierre.

    • Jacobins start wearing long striped trousers and came to be known as the sans-culottes, literally meaning those without knee breeches.

    • In the summer of 1792 the Jacobins planned a revolt of a large number of the people of Paris who were angered by the short supplies and high prices of food.

    • On August 10, they stormed the Palace of the Tuileries, massacred the king’s guards and held the king himself as hostage for several hours.

    • Later the Assembly voted to imprison the royal family. Elections were held.

    • From now on all men of 21 years and above, regardless of wealth, got the right to vote.

    • The newly elected assembly was called the Convention.

    • On 21st September 1792, it abolished the monarchy and declared France a republic.

    • Louis XVI was sentenced to death by a court on the charge of treason.

    • The queen Marie Antoinette met with the same fate shortly after.

    The Reign of Terror

    • The period from 1793 to 1794 is referred to as the Reign of Terror as Robespierre followed a policy of severe control and punishment.

    • All his enemies, Ex-nobles, clergy, members of other political parties, even members of his own party who did not agree with his methods were arrested, imprisoned and guillotined.

    • Robespierre’s government issued laws placing a maximum ceiling on wages and prices.

    → Meat and bread were rationed.

    → Peasants were forced to transport their grain to the cities and sell it at prices fixed by the government.

    → The use of more expensive white flour was forbidden and all citizens were required to eat the equality bread, a loaf made of whole wheat.

    • Instead of the traditional Monsieur (Sir) and Madame (Madam) all French men and women were addressed as Citoyen and Citoyenne (Citizen).

    • Churches were shut down and their buildings converted into barracks or offices.

    • Robespierre pursued his policies so harshly that even his supporters began to demand moderation.

    • Finally, he was convicted by a court in July 1794, arrested and on the next day sent to the guillotine.

    (The guillotine is a device consisting of two poles and a blade with which a person is beheaded. It was named after Dr. Guillotin who invented it.)

    A Directory Rules France

    • A new constitution was introduced which denied the vote to non-propertied sections of society.

    • It provided for two elected legislative councils which then appointed a Directory, an executive made up of five members.

    • The Directors often clashed with the legislative councils, who then sought to dismiss them.

    • The political instability of the Directory paved the way for the rise of a military dictator, Napoleon Bonaparte.

    Women Revolution

    • From the very beginning women were active participants in revolution.

    • They hoped that their involvement would pressurise the revolutionary government to introduce measures to improve their lives.

    • Most women of the third estate had to work for a living as laundresses, sellers, domestic servants in the houses of prosperous people.

    • Most women did not have access to education or job training.

    • To discuss and voice their interests women started their own political clubs and newspapers.

    → The Society of Revolutionary and Republican Women was the most famous of them.

    • Women were disappointed that the Constitution of 1791 reduced them to passive citizens.

    • They demanded the right to vote, to be elected to the Assembly and to hold political office.

    • The revolutionary government did introduce laws that helped improve the lives of women.

    → By creation of state schools, schooling was made compulsory for all girls.

    → Their fathers could no longer force them into marriage against their will.

    → Marriage was made into a contract entered into freely and registered under civil law.

    → Divorce was made legal, and could be applied for by both women and men.

    → Women could now train for jobs, could become artists or run small businesses.

    • During the Reign of Terror, the new government issued laws ordering closure of women’s clubs and banning their political activities.

    → Many prominent women were arrested and a number of them executed.

    • It was finally in 1946 that women in France won the right to vote.

    The Abolition of Slavery

    • The unwillingness of Europeans to go and work in the colonies in the Caribbean which were important suppliers of commodities such as tobacco, indigo, sugar and coffee created a shortage of labour on the plantations. Thus, the slave trade began in the seventeenth century.

    → French merchants sailed from their ports to the African coast, where they bought slaves from local chieftains.

    → Branded and shackled, the slaves were packed tightly into ships for the three-month long voyage across the Atlantic to the Caribbean.

    • There they were sold to plantation owners. The exploitation of slave labour made it possible to meet the growing demand in European markets for sugar, coffee, and indigo.

    • Port cities like Bordeaux and Nantes owed their economic prosperity to the flourishing slave trade.

    • The National Assembly held long debates for about whether the rights of man should be extended to all French subjects including those in the colonies.

    • But it did not pass any laws, fearing opposition from businessmen whose incomes depended on the slave trade.

    • Jacobin regime in 1794, abolished slavery in the French colonies.

    • However, ten years later, Napoleon reintroduced slavery.

    • Slavery was finally abolished in French colonies in 1848.

    The Revolution and Everyday Life

    • After the storming of the Bastille in the summer of 1789 was the abolition of censorship.

    • The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen proclaimed freedom of speech and expression to be a natural right.

    • Newspapers, pamphlets, books and printed pictures flooded the towns of France from where they travelled rapidly into the countryside and described and discussed the events and changes taking place in France.

    • Plays, songs and festive processions attracted large numbers of people which was one way they could grasp and identify with ideas such as liberty or justice.

    Rise of Napoleon Bonaparte

    • After the end of reign of terror, directory created political instability.

    • In 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of France.

    • He conquered many neighbouring countries and placed members of his family on the crown

    • Napoleon saw his role as a moderniser of Europe.

    • He introduced many laws such as the protection of private property and a uniform system of weights and measures provided by the decimal system.

    • Initially, many welcomed Napoleon as a liberator who would bring freedom for the people. But soon the Napoleonic armies came to be viewed everywhere as an invading force.

    • He was finally defeated at Waterloo in 1815.

    Legacy of the French Revolution

    • The ideas of liberty and democratic rights were the most important legacy of the French Revolution.

    • These spread from France to the rest of Europe during the nineteenth century, where feudal systems were abolished.

    • Later, these ideas were adopted by Indian revolutionary strugglers, Tipu Sultan and Rammohan Roy also.

  • Construction Solutions for RD Sharma Class 9 Chapter 17

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  • NCERT Solutions Of Novels, Society And History Class 10th History

    Page No: 200

    Write in Brief

    1. Explain the following:
    (a) Social changes in Britain which led to an increase in women readers
    (b) What actions of Robinson Crusoe make us see him as a typical coloniser.
    (c) After 1740, the readership of novels began to include poorer people.
    (d) Novelists in colonial India wrote for a political cause.

    Answer

    (a) As the middle classes became more affluent, women got more leisure time to read and write novels. Also, novels began to explore the world of women, their emotions, identities, experiences and problems. Domestic life became an essential subject of novels- a field women had an authority to speak about.

    (b) Robinson Crusoe’s actions that make us see him as a typical coloniser are many. Shipwrecked on an island inhabited by coloured people, Crusoe treats them as inferior beings. He is portrayed as “rescuing” a native and then making him a slave. He gives him the name Friday, without even caring to ask for his name. Colonised people were seen as barbaric and primitive, and colonialism became their self-professed civiliser. Crusoe was a direct representation of this ideology of colonisers.

    (c) After 1740, the readership of novels began to include poorer people because of the introduction of circulating libraries, low-priced books, and also because of the system of hiring out of books by the hour. This made books easily available to the poor people, who could not afford books earlier due to high costs and absence of lending libraries.

    (d) Novelists in colonial India wrote for a political cause because the novel was a powerful medium for expressing social defects and suggesting remedies for the same. It also helped establish a relationship with the past. Since people from all walks of life could read novels, it was an easy way to popularise anti-colonial ideas. It also helped bring about a sense of national unity among the people.

    2. Outline the changes in technology and society which led to an increase in readers of the novel in eighteenth-century Europe.

    Answer

    → Print made novels to be read widely and become popular quickly.
    → Novels produced a number of common interests and a variety of readers.
    → Readers were drawn into the story and identified themselves with the lives of fictitious characters. They now could think about issues like love and marriage, proper conduct for men and women.
    → Prosperity, due to industrialisation, made new groups join the readership for novels. Besides the aristocratic and gentlemanly classes, new groups of lower-middle-class people such as shopkeepers and clerks joined in.
    → The rise in the earnings of authors freed them the from the patronage of aristocrats. They could now experiment with different literary styles. Epistolary novel – Samuel Richardson’s Pamela – written in the 18th century was the first of its kind. It was a story told through letters.
    → Books became cheap and even the poor could buy them. Circulating libraries made books easily accessible. Publishers also started hiring out novels. Books could now be read in private or could be heard by more people, while one of them read it out.
    →  Magazines serialised stories (Charles Dickens’ Pickwick Papers was the first), illustrated them and sold them cheap.
    All these changes increased the number of readers.

    3. Write a note on:
    (a) The Oriya novel
    (b) Jane Austen’s portrayal of women
    (c) The picture of the new middle class which the novel Pariksha-Guru portrays.

    Answer

    (a) In 1877-78, Ramashankar Ray started to serialise the first Oriya novel, “Saudamini”; but it remained incomplete. Orissa’s first major novelist was Fakir Mohon Senapati. He wrote “Chaa Mana Atha Guntha” that deals with land and its possession. This novel illustrated that rural issues could be an important part of urban concerns.

    (b) The novels of Jane Austen give us a glimpse of the world of women in genteel rural society in midnineteenth century Britain. Women, at that time, were encouraged to look for a good marriage and find a wealthy and propertied husband. Her famous novel ‘Pride and Prejudice’ depicts this well. It writes ‘it is the truth, universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of good fortune must be in want of a good wife’. The main characters are shown to be pre-occupied with marriage and money.

    (c) The novel “Pariksha-Guru” portrays the difficulties of the new middle class in adapting to colonised society while preserving its cultural identity. It emphasises that Western ideals must be inculcated, but without sacrificing the traditional values of middle-class households. The characters in this Hindi novel by Srinivas Das are seen endeavouring to bridge the two different worlds of modern education and traditional ethics.

    Discuss

    1. Discuss some of the social changes in nineteenth-century Britain which Thomas Hardy and Charles Dickens wrote about.

    Answer

    Social changes in 19th century Britain highlighted by Thomas Hardy

    → The breaking up of rural communities because of industrialization. Due to industrialization, peasants who toiled with their lands were disappearing as large or big farmers enclosed lands, bought machines and employed labourers to produce for the market.
    → In his novel ‘Mayor of Casterbridge’, Hardy mourns the loss of the more personalized world which is being replaced by a more efficiently managed urban culture.

    Social Changes Highlighted by Charles Dickens
    → Charles Dickens wrote mainly about the emergence of the industrial age and it’s effects on society and the common people.
    → Growth of factories and expanded cities led to the growth of business and economy and increased the profits of capitalists.
    (iii) At the same time workers faced immense problems. Use of machines resulted in unemployment of ordinary labour; they became homeless, creating a problem of housing. Pursuit of profit became the goal of factory owners while the workers were undervalued and almost lost their identity Human beings were reduced to being mere instruments of production.

    2. Summarise the concern in both nineteenth-century Europe and India about women reading novels. What does this suggest about how women were viewed?

    Answer

    The concern in both nineteenth-century Europe and India about women reading novels bore more or less similar fears. Women were seen as easily corruptible and an imaginary world that the novel provided was seen as a dangerous opening for the imaginations of its readers. In certain Indian communities, it was felt that women who read novels would leave their domestic environments and aspire to be part of the outside world- the male domain.
    This suggests that women were viewed as delicate and incapable of being independent. They were merely expected to marry a man who could take care of their financial needs while they maintained his household and remained subservient to him.

    3. In what ways was the novel in colonial India useful for both the colonisers as well as the nationalists?

    Answer

    The novel in colonial India was useful for both the colonisers as well as the nationalists on account of a variety of reasons. Colonial rulers found “vernacular” novels illuminating for the information they provided on native customs and life. It was useful in the governance of this diverse country. Indian nationalists used the form of the novel to criticise colonial rule and instill a sense of national pride and unity amongst the people.

    4. Describe how the issue of caste was included in novels in India. By referring to any two novels, discuss the ways in which they tried to make readers think about existing social issues.
    Answer

    Indians used the novel as a powerful medium to criticise what they considered defects in their society and to suggest remedies. The issue of caste was included in Indian novels for this same purpose. Novels like Indirabai and Indulekha were written by members of the uppercastes with upper-caste characters.
    → Potheri Kunjambu, a lower-caste writer from north Kerala, wrote a novel called Saraswativijayam in 1892. It was a direct attack on caste oppression. The novel’s hero, an ‘untouchable’ leaves his village to escape from cruelty of a Brahmin overlord. He converts to Christianity, receives modern education and returns to his village a judge of a local court. In the meantime, the villagers bring the landlord to his court, they believe the landlord’s men had killed the hero. The judge reveals himself and the Nambuthri landlord repents and promises to reform. The novel emphasises the role of education in uplifting the lower classes.
    → In 1920, a Bengali novel Titash Ekti Nadir Naam (1956) written by Advaita Malla Burman takes up the cause of ‘low castes’. The people described are the Mallas – community of fishermen. The story covers three generations and describes the oppression of the upper castes. The lives of the Mallas is tied with river Titash. As the river dries, the community dies too. This novel is special because the author himself a ‘low caste’ describing the anguish of low-caste people.

    5. Describe the ways in which the novel in India attempted to create a sense of pan-Indian belonging.
    Answer
    The ways in which the novel in India attempted to create a sense of pan-Indian belonging were:
    → Many historical novels were about Marathas and the Rajputs which produced a sense of a pan—Indian belonging in Bengal. They imagined the nation to be full of adventure, heroism, romance and sacrifice. The novel allowed the colonized to give a shape to their desires.
    → Bankim’s Anandmath is a novel about a secret Hindu militia that fight Muslims to establish a  Hindu kingdom. It was a novel that inspired many kinds of freedom fighters.
    → Shivaji, the hero of the novel Anguriya Binimoy (1857) written by Budhadeb Mukhopadhyaya’s (1827-94) engages in many battles against clever and treacherous Aurangzeb, what gives him courage and grit is his belief that he is a nationalist fighting for the freedom of Hindus.
    → Imagining a heroic past was one way in which the novel helped in popularising the sense of belonging to a common nation. It was another way to include various classes in the novel so that they could be seen as belonging to a shared world. Premchand’s novels, for instance, are filled with all kinds of powerful characters drawn from all levels of society.

  • Important Terms Of Novels Society And History Class 10, SST (History)

    SECTION A — THE RISE OF THE NOVEL

    1. The Novel : A new form of literature in printed style, very closely related to the development of print culture/technology. Improved communications produced a number of common interests among the readers of the novel, they identified themselves with the lives and stories of the characters.
    2. 17th Century : Novels take firm root in England and France.
    3. 18th Century : Novels really develop from this period.
      Readership expands, includes shopkeepers, clerks, along with aristocratic and gentlemanly classes. (people of high birth and social status)

      Authors : As their earnings increased, they experimented with different literary styles.

      Styles : Henry Fielding, a novelist of the early 18th century, claimed he was ‘the founder of a new province of writing’ where he could make his own laws.
      – Tom Jones.

      Walter Scott wrote historical novels about wars between Scottish clans, collected Scottish ballads, which he used in his novels.

      Samual Richardson wrote Pamela in 18th century in the form of letters.
      The first epistolary novel.

      The publishing market was costly at the beginning. Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones (1749) was sold at three shillings for each of its six volumes – more than a labourer’s earnings in a week.

      In 1836, first novel to be serialised in a magazine – Charles Dickens’ The Pickwick Papers. The suspense and discussion reminds you of the TV serials today.

      Novels become one of the first mass-produced items to be sold.

      The World of the Novel : In the 19th century was about ordinary people, reflected the industrial age of the 19th century, problems created by factories, unemployed poor, homeless people living in workhouses.

      Examples :

      A. Charles Dickens’ novel Hard Times described the terrible conditions of urban life under capitalism.
      Novel Oliver Twist – tale of a poor orphan caught up in a world of petty criminals.

      B. Emile Zola’s Germinal (1885) – Life of French miners, grim life led by them ends on a note of despair.

      Community and Society : Thomas Hardy’s novels e.g., Mayor of Casterbridge (1886) brought the vast majority of urban readers closer to the rural community through his stories.

      Women writers explored the world of women, their emotions, identities, experiences and problems.
      (i) Jane Austen’s (1775–1817) Pride and Prejudice portrays life of women in genteel rural society in the early 19th century England.
      (ii) Charlotte Bronte’s (1816–1855) Jane Eyre portrayed an independent and assertive girl who protests against hypocrisy and cruelty.
      (iii) George Eliot (1819–1880), Mill on the Floss, wrote about freedom given by novels to women to express themselves freely.

      Novels for the young were written by R.L. Stevenson, e.g., Treasure Island (1883) which idealised a new type of man, powerful, assertive, daring and independent, novels full of adventure.

      Rudyard Kipling wrote Jungle Book (1894). Colonisers were portrayed as heroic and honourable, confronting ‘Natives’, adapting themselves to strange places, colonising territories and developing nations.

      G.A. Henty (1832–1902) wrote popular, historical adventure novels for boys during the height of the British Empire – (Under Drake’s Flag).

      Helen Hunt Jackson (Ramona – 1884), Sarah Wolsey (What Katy Did – 1872) wrote love stories for girls.

      Colonialism and after novels appeared in Europe which portrayed colonialists as a superior community. Colonised people were seen as primitive, barbaric and less than human.

      Joseph Conrad (1857–1924) showed the darker side of colonial occupation only in later 20th century.

      Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719) portrayed an adventurer who treats coloured people as inferior creatures. He rescues a ‘native’ and makes him his slave. Colonial rule was portrayed as necessary to civilise the natives, to make them human.

    SECTION B — THE NOVEL COMES TO INDIA

    Novels in prose unknown to India till the 19th century. Great epics written in verses. Fourth century AD stories written in Sanskrit, e.g., the Panchtantra and Kadambari. Earliest novels in Marathi and Bengali.

    Baba Padmanji’s Yamuna Paryatan (1857), a simple story about the plight of widows.

    Lakshman Moreshwar Halbe’s Muktamala (1861) – an imaginary ‘romance’ with a moral purpose.

    Hari Narayan Apte wrote historical novels (1864-1919). His Ushakala is famous. Naro Sadashiv Rishud wrote Manju Ghosha, a novel full of amazing events. The writer found life dull and uninspiring, so wrote about the marvellous.

    The Novel in South India
    (i) Kerala : Many novels were translations of English novels. Chandu Menon’s translation of Benjamin Disraeli’s Henrietta Temple. Gave up as he realised English culture was difficult for people of Kerala to grasp. Published a delightful novel in Malayalam. Indulekha (1889) – First modern novel in Malayalam.

    (ii) Andhra Pradesh : Kandukuri Viresalingam (1848–1919) began by translating Oliver Goldsmith’s Vicar of Wakefield into Telugu, abandoned it and wrote Rajashekhara Caritamu in 1878 in Telugu.
    The Novel in Hindi : Bharatendu Harishchandra was the pioneer of modern Hindi literature. The first modern novel was written by Srinivas Das of Delhi – Pariksha-Guru (1882). Paariksha-Guru portrayed the inner conflict and outer struggles of the newly emerging middle-class. They had to preserve their own culture and yet adapt to the new colonial society. Novel – a bit too moralising – was not very popular.

    Chandrakanta by Devaki Nandan Khatri made Hindi really popular and attracted hundreds of readers. Writer for “the pleasure of reading,” it also gave insight into the fears and desires of people who read it.

    Premchand wrote in popular Urdu, then shifted to Hindi. His Sevasadan, (1916) written in simple style, was influenced by Gandhiji and his ideas dealt with the position of women, dowry and child marriage.

    Novels in Bengal were love stories based on historical or past events. Domestic novels portrayed the romantic relations between men and women, and social problems.

    Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya – His first novel Durgeshnandini (1865) started a new trend, portrayed ordinary people with the strength and weaknesses of ordinary people.

    Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyaya (1876–1938) was the most popular novelist in Bengal.

    The Oriya Novel : First novel, Saudamani by Ramashankar Ray (1877-1918). Incomplete

    Fakir Mohan Senapati (1843–1918) wrote Chha Man Atha Guntha (1902). It means six acres and their two decimals of land. The novel deals with the question of land and its possessions.

    The Novels in Assam
    The first novels in Assam were written by missionaries. Two of them were translations of Bengali including Phulmoni and Karuna. In 1888, Assamese students in Kolkata formed the ‘Asamya Bhasar Unnatisadhan’ that brought out a journal called Jonaki. This journal opened up the opportunities for new authors to develop the novel. Rajanikanta Bardoloi wrote the first major historical novel in Assam called Manomati (1900). It is set in the Burmase invasion, stories of which the author had probably heard from old soldiers who had fought\in the 1819 campaign. It is a tale of two lovers belonging to two hostile families who are separated by the war and finally reunited.

    SECTION C — NOVELS IN THE COLONIAL WORLD

    1. Uses of Novels
      (a) Proved useful to colonial administrators. Vernacular novels, a valuable source of information on native customs and life.
      They could govern a large variety of communities and castes, with their help missionaries translated novels into English.
      (b) The novel was used by Indians to depict and criticise the defects of their society and how to remove them.
      (c) Novels established a link with the past. A sense of national pride was created among readers by glorified accounts of the past.
      (d) A sense of collective belonging created on the basis of one’s language.
      (e) Language of the novel became contemporary. Characters spoke in a manner that revealed their caste, class, region. Readers became familiar with different ways, the same language was spoken in other parts of India.

    The Problem of Being Modern : The novels tried to portray how to be modern in a colonial world without losing dignity, tradition and identity.

    Example : Chandu Menon’s Indulekha.

    The heroine Indulekha is portrayed as highly intelligent, artistic and educated in Sanskrit and English. She is very beautiful too. Madhavan, the hero is equally ideal – member of educated class of Nayars from the University of Madras, first-rate Sanskrit scholar. He dressed in Western clothes but kept a long tuft of hair, according to the Nayar tradition.

    They both represented characters who had taken the best of the colonial West without giving up the traditions of their own culture.
    Pleasures of Reading :
    (i) New form of entertainment.
    (ii) Novels spread silent reading – at home while travelling in trains.
    (iii) In Tamil flood of popular novels, detective mystery novels. ‘Kalki’ wrote popular historical novels.
    (iv) Kathanjali, a Kannada magazine, published short stories regularly. Indirabai, a Kannada
    novel, written by Gulawadi Venkata Rao (1899), told the story of women’s education,
    widow’s plight and problems created by early marriages of girls.

     

    SECTION D — WOMEN AND THE NOVEL

    1. Everyone did not approve of the novel. It was blamed for having an immoral influence on the readers.
    2. Women and children were specially warned as they could be easily corrupted.
      Effect on Women : They did not remain only readers, started writing novels themselves, novels became a loot of expressing a new woman, they could control their own lives. They wrote about women who influenced world affairs.
      Examples : (a) Rokeya Hossein (1880–1932), a widow who started a girl’s school in Calcutta, wrote two books :
      (i) A fantasy in English – Sultana’s Dream (1905), which shows a world where women take place of men.
      ii) Padmarag – which exhorted women to improve their position by their own actions.

      (b) Hannah Mullens, a Christian missionary wrote Karuna o Phulmonir Bibaran (1852), in secret.
      (c) Sailabala Ghosh Jaya, a 20th century popular writer could write because her husband supported her.

    3. Caste Practices, ‘Lower Castes’ and Minorities
      Novels like Indirabai (Kannada), and Indulekha (Malayalam) were written by members of the upper-castes and had upper-caste characters.
    4. Potheri Kunjambu wrote Saraswativijayam that made a strong attack on the oppression suffered by the lower castes, to which he himself belonged.
    5. In Bengal from 1920, a new trend of novel emerged. It portrayed lives of poor peasants and ‘low castes’.
      Advait Mulla Burman (1914-51) wrote Titash Ekti Nadir Naam (1956) is an epic about a community of fisherfolk – the Mallas, who live by the river.
      Vaikkom Muhammad Basheer (1908-96), a famous Muslim writer in Malayalam, had very little formal education, took part in Salt Satyagraha, travelled all over India, even up to Arabia, working in ship, living with sufis and saniyasis.
      He wrote about poverty, insanity and life in prisons, never written before in Malayalam.

     

    SECTION E — THE NATION AND ITS HISTORY

    1. History in colonial times depicted Indians a weak, divided and totally dependent on the British.
    2. Historical Novels of Bengal were about Marathas and Rajputs, depicted a nation full of adventure, heroism, romance and sacrifice.
    3. Bhudeb Mukhopadhyay’s (1827-94), Anguriya Binimoy (1857), was the first historical novel written in Bengal.
    4. Bankim Chandra’s Anandamath (1882) is a novel about a Hindu militia that fought Muslims to establish a Hindu kingdom.
    5. The Novel and Nation Making – The novels brought a sense of belongingness by imagining the past. This they achieved by including various classes in the novel. For example : Premchand drew characters from all sections of society. In his novel
    6. Rangbhumi, Surdas – a visually impaired beggar – is the hero. In Godan, Hori and Dhania, a peasant couple, fight the oppression of the landlords, moneylenders, colonial rulers. In short, (i) Novels produce a sense of sharing, (ii) promote understanding of different people (iii) portray different values and communities.
      Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) was the great Bengali writer after Bankim Chandra. He started with writing historical novels and later wrote novels about domestic relationships. The  themes of his novels were mainly condition of women and nationalism.