Chapter Overview | अध्याय का सारांश|
“Glimpses of the Past” is a pictorial story that traces India’s journey
from the arrival of the British to the Revolt of 1857. It uses comic-strip
style illustrations to show how British policies exploited Indians, weakened
local industries, and sparked resistance.
“अतीत की एक झलक” एक चित्रात्मक कहानी है जो
भारत में ब्रिटिशों के आगमन से लेकर 1857 की क्रांति तक की यात्रा को
दर्शाती है। इसमें चित्रों और संवादों के माध्यम से बताया गया है कि कैसे
अंग्रेजों की नीतियों ने भारतीयों का शोषण किया, स्थानीय उद्योगों को कमजोर किया
और विद्रोह की चिंगारी भड़काई।
Key Themes | प्रमुख विषय
Ø Colonial Exploitation | औपनिवेशिक शोषण|
British imposed heavy taxes
and destroyed Indian cottage industries.
अंग्रेजों
ने भारी कर लगाए और भारतीय हस्तशिल्प उद्योगों को नष्ट किया।
Ø
Social Reform | सामाजिक सुधार|
Raja Ram Mohan Roy advocated for education and religious harmony.
राजा राम
मोहन राय ने शिक्षा और धार्मिक सद्भाव की वकालत की।
Ø
Unity and Resistance | एकता और प्रतिरोध|
The Revolt of 1857 was a result of growing unrest and patriotic spirit.
1857 का विद्रोह बढ़ते असंतोष और देशभक्ति की भावना का परिणाम
था।
Picture Highlights | चित्रों की झलक|
|
चित्र संख्या |
विवरण (English) |
विवरण (हिन्दी) |
|
1 |
Arrival of East India
Company |
ईस्ट
इंडिया कंपनी का आगमन |
|
3 |
Artisans suffer due to
British goods |
कारीगरों
को ब्रिटिश माल के कारण नुकसान |
|
5 |
Raja Ram Mohan Roy’s reform
efforts |
राजा
राम मोहन राय के सुधार प्रयास |
|
7 |
Sparks of the 1857 Revolt |
1857 की क्रांति की चिंगारी |
💬 Memorable Quote | यादगार उद्धरण|
“Cows are of
different colours, but the colour of their milk is the same.”
— Raja Ram Mohan Roy
“गायों के रंग अलग-अलग होते हैं, लेकिन उनके दूध का रंग एक जैसा होता है।”
— राजा राम मोहन
राय
📚 Part-Wise Explanation
Part 1: The
Beginning of British Rule (1757)
The
East India Company came to India for trade but gradually took control by
exploiting divisions among Indian rulers. Their superior weapons and diplomacy
helped them dominate.
ईस्ट इंडिया कंपनी व्यापार के लिए आई थी,
लेकिन
भारतीय राजाओं के बीच फूट का फायदा उठाकर धीरे-धीरे शासन करने लगी। उनके पास बेहतर
हथियार और कूटनीति थी जिससे वे हावी हो गए।
Part 2: Economic Exploitation
British
policies ruined Indian artisans and farmers. They imposed heavy taxes and
flooded the market with British goods, destroying local industries.
अंग्रेजों की नीतियों ने भारतीय कारीगरों और किसानों को बर्बाद कर
दिया। उन्होंने भारी कर लगाए और ब्रिटिश माल से बाजार भर दिया,
जिससे
स्थानीय उद्योग नष्ट हो गए।
Part 3: Social
Reformers Rise (1772–1833)
Raja
Ram Mohan Roy emerged as a reformer. He opposed social evils like Sati and
child marriage and promoted modern education and science.
राजा राम मोहन राय एक समाज सुधारक के रूप में उभरे। उन्होंने सती
प्रथा और बाल विवाह का विरोध किया और आधुनिक शिक्षा व विज्ञान को बढ़ावा दिया।
Part 4: British Laws and Oppression
(1818–1835)
British
laws allowed jailing Indians without trial. English education began spreading,
making Indians aware of British injustice.
अंग्रेजों के कानूनों ने भारतीयों को बिना मुकदमे के जेल में डालने
की अनुमति दी। अंग्रेजी शिक्षा फैलने लगी जिससे भारतीयों को अन्याय का एहसास हुआ।
Part 5:
Sparks of Revolt (1855–1857)
Oppression
led to revolts like the Santhal Rebellion and the Sepoy Mutiny. Symbols like
chapatis and lotus flowers were used to spread messages of resistance.
अत्याचारों के कारण संथाल विद्रोह और सिपाही विद्रोह जैसे आंदोलन
हुए। चपाती (Roti) और कमल जैसे प्रतीकों
से विद्रोह का संदेश फैलाया गया।
Part 6: The
First War of Independence (1857)
The
revolt of 1857 marked the beginning of India’s fight for freedom. Though it was
suppressed, it ignited the spirit of nationalism.
1857 का विद्रोह भारत की
स्वतंत्रता की लड़ाई की शुरुआत थी। भले ही इसे दबा दिया गया,
लेकिन
इसने राष्ट्रवाद की भावना को जगा दिया।
1.
THE MARTYRS
Explanation – The scene represents a function
that took place in Delhi. Lata Mangeshkar can be seen singing “Ae mere watan ke
logon”. Alongside her, Indira Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur
Shastri can also be seen.
2. THE COMPANY’S CONQUESTS
(1757-1857)
Explanation – The year 1757 bears the mark of being an important year in
Indian History. The Company Rule, also known as the Company Raj refers to the
rule of British East India Company over parts of the Indian Subcontinent. The
East India Company was a private company owned by stockholders and reporting to
the administration in London. The company came to India and set-up a few
factories at different places. However, the company’s beginnings on Coastal
India offered no clues to what would become of a lengthy presence on the Indian
Subcontinent.
Slowly
and gradually, they began expanding and extending their dominance in India. One
of the reasons they were able to do so is that they possessed superior weapons.
Secondly, they took advantage of the prevailing disturbed circumstances among
the Indian rulers. The Indian princes were not at peace amongst themselves.
Indian princes, however, were “short-sighted” which means they only considered
immediate benefits but ignored its long-term consequences. So, they took help
from the English merchants to be able to defeat their rivals. This helped the
British East India Company in successfully taking over control from the Indian
rulers. The British adopted the “Divide and Rule” policy.
Amongst
all the short-sighted Indian rulers, there was one ruler of Mysore, Tipu Sultan
who understood their policy and fought against them till his last moment. The
Indians, however, had varied opinions and reactions. The first set of people
were very happy with the Britishers and were also grateful because they thought
peace could finally prevail. They thought it put an end to war and looting by
thugs. On the other hand, people saw what was actually happening. They knew
that even if some of the princes were cruel, they were at least of their land.
They had realised that they were now slaves of the Englishmen.
3.
BRITISH RULE (1765- 1836)
Explanation – These years led to the rise of widespread myths and taboos
like untouchability, child marriage, inferiority of women, etc. Our own
religion leaders taught everyone the idea of Untouchability. Untouchability
refers to the practice of ostracising (excluding) a minority group by
segregating them from the mainstream by social custom or legal mandate (now
outlawed in India). They were not allowed to come near those who considered
themselves superior, not allowed in temples and thelist of how they were discriminated
against and deprived of the basic rights goes on. The religious leaders even
preached that people who “cross the seas” will no longer belong to their
religion. Women were considered the root cause of a lot of problems like
poverty and other miseries. This is the reason why teenage girls were forced to
marry, thereby leading to Child Marriage (now outlawed in India). These
practices were not only being done, but were also being promoted.
The
Britishers started looking down upon Indians and initiated brain-washing the
rulers against them. They alleged that Indians were not worthy of trust and
“incapable of honesty”. This was a way of making the natives slaves and getting
control over them.
Not only
this, the British merchants levied heavy taxes on the poor farmers in greed of
immediate profits. As a result, the farmers had to give up their lands. If this
was not enough, they even threatened the farmers to imprison them if they did
not clear their arrears. They continuously found ways to exploit the people and
earn profits. For example, the goods manufactured in England were being
imported to India and no import duty was levied on them. The England product was
sold at high prices whereas here Indian product was taken away at much less
prices, increasing poverty and the misery of farmers. Not only this, such
policies of the British East India Company destroyed the Indian industries.
Small businesses and individual artisans were ruined.
All this
resulted in famines or extreme scarcity of food. Approximately fifteen lakh
Indians starved to death between 1822 and 1836.
4.
Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833)
Explanation –
Raja Ram
Mohan Roy was a well-educated man from Bengal. He was one of the first to
realise that there was something wrong with our country. He was of the belief
that Indians must not consider themselves inferior or look down upon
themselves. He believed that our ancient culture was great and the people were
destined for greater achievements. According to him, the first step was to
change the society by abandoning the prevailing superstitions. It was the root
cause of all the problems.
Once,
while having a conversation with his wife, he told her “Cows are of different
colours but the colour of their milk is the same.” This means that different
teachers might have different opinions but the essence of each religion is the
same.
He took
keen interest in science and modern knowledge. According to him, knowledge
should be practical and scientific. He even published newspapers which the
Britishers stopped out of suspicion in 1823.
He was
inquisitive to know what made the Britishers so powerful, so he crossed the
seas and travelled to England. There, he is known to tell Britishers that “we”
as a nation, accept their rule. He added that they must accept Indians as
subjects and not forget their responsibility and duty towards their subjects.
Raja Ram
Mohan Roy is known for his efforts to abolish the practice of Sati and child
marriage.
5.
Oppression (1765- 1835)
Explanation –
The
Britishers continued to find new ways to bring misery and suffering to Indians.
For instance, they passed unfair regulations that kept them at an advantage
like Regulation III in 1818 under which an Indian could be jailed without a
proper trial in court.
As they
continued to suppress Indians, they created all sorts of favourable
circumstances to uplift their officers. The British officers drew huge amounts
of salaries and could deepen their pockets by making a fortune out of their
private businesses.
The
Britishers were exporting goods in huge quantities from Britain. By 1829, they
were importing goods worth seven crore rupees to India. As a result, the
Britishers grew richer and richer leaving the Indian industries high and dry.
Governor-general
Bentink had conveyed to Britain that “The bones of cotton weavers are bleaching
the plains of India” to highlight the plights and misery of the traditional
cotton weavers in India. This means that the cotton weavers were forced to
starve because of the cotton mills set up by the Britishers. They produced much
cheaper cloth with the help of machines that led the traditional Indian
handicrafts to extinction.
6.
Dissatisfaction (1835-56)
Explanation – Back then, all the teachings
were in the form of Persian and Sanskrit. So, in 1835, a British officer named
Macaulay suggested that they must translate all of it in English so that the
education is delivered in their language.
They did
so to produce clerks to get their unimportant clerical tasks and administrative
duties like answering the phone, typing documents, filing and liaising with
clients done. In the process of doing so, they manufactured a whole new
generation of masterminds who wanted to uplift their brothers too, by educating
them. They wanted to strengthen their financial prospects that could lead to a
promising future. But they needed to convey this to the British Parliament.
Britishers, on the other hand, couldn’t care less about the needs of the Indian
people.
By this
time, Indian people had become more worried. Their Kings were now being treated
as puppets. They had lost their old jobs and land. Britishers were forcing some
of them to change their religion. Indians were tired of talking and wanted to
do something.
By 1856,
the Britishers had acquired all parts India.
7.
The Sparks (1855- 57)
Explanation – The ever-increasing taxes
levied on the peasants continued to pressurise them and worsen their financial
situation. The Santhals in Bengal became disheartened and hopeless after they
lost their land to the Britishers under the new land rules. In 1855, they
launched a rebellion and massacred Europeans and all those who supported them.
The people working under the East India Company were highly dissatisfied too.
The fact that they gave Englishmen good pay, mansions and other help while they
gave Indians only inadequate pay and slow promotions, further agitated Indians.
They felt bad that the Britishers urged them to move out of their land to cross
the sea and work for them which was even against their religion. They were
motivated to drive the Britishers out. An Indian soldier serving under British
or European orders, named Mangal Pande, even attacked the adjutant of his
regiment but was later executed.
Around thousands of other Sepoys like Mangal Pande took violent
action against the British but were only robbed of their uniform in turn to
make the Sepoys feel humiliated.
Some of
the Englishmen even began to understand how Indians thought, how their mind
works and their customs. They told Brahmin soldiers that the bullet they were
supposed to bite, is covered with grease made of cow and pig fat.
Next,
chapatis were being sent to each home in every village conveying that their
services could be required to fight the Englishmen. People agreed. Lotus
flowers were circulated among the Indian soldiers. The nation stood against
them with the support of the masses in the form of shelter and other help to
the patriots.
8.
Revolt (1857)
Explanation – The urge to free the nation of
the Britishers continued to grow. The city of Meerut also experienced a violent
outbreak. The Sepoys marched and moved to Delhi to support their Emperors like
Bahadur Shah. The revolt continued to spread and grow. They even got the
support of the landlords that had also lost their land due to the new land
rules. People were angry and wanted to fight the Britishers.
9. The Fight for Freedom (1857)
Explanation –
Many former rulers were bitter too because the Englishmen had
taken control of their kingdoms. Leaders like Maulvi
Ahmedulla of Faridabad motivated people to free the country of all the
Englishmen. People of Bareilly, Kanpur and Allahabad rose forward too. Former
rulers like Begum Hazrat Mahal of Lucknow
joined them because her kingdom had been taken by the British, thereby
strengthening their power.
Entire
North India came together in large numbers to fight a pitched battle against
the Britishers. In the light of this, Azimulla Khan
expressed his thoughts to Tatya Tope that
they should have Peshwa Nana Saheb as their
leader in this war of Independence against the English.
In this
revolt against the British, eighty-years-old Kunwar
Singh of Bihar was hit by a bullet in the wrist which he dedicated to
Mother Ganga as an offering.