...India, or Bharat, the fifth largest and the second populated country in the world, is one of the few countries which can boast of an ancient, deep-rooted and diverse culture, which stretches back to 5000 years. In ancient times, India was known as 'Bharata Varsha', the country of the legendary king of Puranic times called Bharat, and was believed to be a part of the island continent called 'Jambu Dvipa'. Geologically speaking, India formed part of the Gondwana land and was attached to Antarctica and Australia, before it was liberated from the Antarctica complex about 135 million years ago and started drifting towards the north and finally joining South Asia about 45 million years ago. The Siwalik foothills of the north-western Himalayas served as home to the fossil primate genus known as Ramapithecus, which lived some 14 million years ago. Researches have also found that a species resembling the Australopithecus lived in India some 2 million years ago. Some anthropologists believe that the Chotanagpur region witnessed the transformation of Homo Erectus to Homo Sapiens. This claim is based on the findings of hand axes and blades in the region of Pathalgarwa and the discovery of Harappan pottery in the nearby areas. Early Civilisations Extensive archaeological excavations carried out at Mohenjodaro in the present Pakistan in 1922 brought to light the existence of a highly sophisticated and urbanized culture known as the Harappan Civilization in India, which dominated the north-western...
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...The history of India begins with evidence of human activity of Homo sapiens, as long as 75,000 years ago, or with earlier hominids including Homo erectus from about 500,000 years ago.[1] The Indus Valley Civilisation, which spread and flourished in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent from c. 3300 to 1300 BCE in present-day Pakistan and northwest India, was the first major civilisation in South Asia.[2] A sophisticated and technologically advanced urban culture developed in the Mature Harappan period, from 2600 to 1900 BCE.[3] This Bronze Age civilisation collapsed before the end of the second millennium BCE and was followed by the Iron Age Vedic Civilisation, which extended over much of the Indo-Gangetic plain and which witnessed the rise of major polities known as the Mahajanapadas. In one of these kingdoms, (Magadha), Mahavira and Gautama Buddha were born in the 6th or 5th century BCE and propagated their Shramanic philosophies. Most of the subcontinent was conquered by the Maurya Empire during the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE. After the collapse of the Maurya Empire the Satavahana dynasty of south India and the Sunga Empire of eastern India ruled the major part of India in the 2nd century BC. Various parts of India ruled by numerous Middle kingdoms for the next 1,500 years, among which the Gupta Empire stands out. Southern India saw the rule of the Chalukyas, Cholas, Pallavas, and Pandyas. This period, witnessing a Hindu religious and intellectual resurgence, ...
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...BOOKS FOR GENERAL STUDIES I. INDIAN ECONOMY: 1. Economic Development of India NCERT XI standard 2. Indian Economy – Mishra and Puri or Dutt and Sundaram 3. Indian Economy – PK Dhar 4. Economics – Samuel Son 5. India Year Book & Economic Survey (Government Pub.) 6. For the current aspects of Indian economy students have to depend on news papers and periodicals. II. INDIAN POLITY: 1. Our Constitution – Subhash Kashyap 2. Our Parliament - Subhash Kashyap 3. An Introduction to Indian Constitution – DD Basu 4. Perspectives on Indian Constitution – Subash Kashyap III INDIAN HISTORY: 1. NCERT History books for Classes XI & XII 2. Freedom Struggle – Bipan Chandra (NBT Publication) 3. India’s Struggle for Independence – Bipan Chandra and Others 4. The Gazetteer of India, Volume 2: History and Culture 5. Indian History for General Studies – K Krishna Reddy (Wizard Pub.) IV. GENERAL SCIENCE: 1. NCERT Books on Biology, Physics and Chemistry, Standard IX & X 2. Anatomy & Physiology for Nurses Courses – Evelyn Pearce 3. Know Your Body – Reader's Digest 4. For current S & T issues, latest Magazines and News Papers can be referred. V. INDIAN GEOGRAPHY: 1. NCERT Geography books for Classes XI & XII 2. Indian Geography 3. Principles of Geography 4. World Geography 5. Atlas of World and India. VI. MENTAL ABILITY: 1. Objective Arithmetic – R.S.Agarwal 2. Numerical...
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...Ashoka The Well Appreciated Buddhist and King Ashoka was one of the greatest rulers of ancient India. He was the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya of Magadha who established the first Indian empire. Chandragupta wore the crown for twenty-four years before surrendering his throne in favor of his son, Bundusara (Ashoka’s father), who left no noticeable mark upon the empire. Ashoka was born in 304 B.C. and was known in his younger teen years as Canda Ashoka (the fierce Ashoka) because of his very aggressive nature. Ashoka came to the throne in 270 B.C. after a power struggle that ended in the death of one of his brothers. He was at first disposed to follow the example of his father and grandfather and complete the conquest of the Indian peninsula. In about 256 B.C. Ashoka attacked Kalinga, a country on the east coast of Madras, in order to expand his empire, which he ruled as a tyrant at the time. The plan he pursued about Kalinga was forceful and all standing in his way of the throne were killed. Ashoka succeeded in conquering Kalinga in the fatal war in which 100,000 men were killed, 150,000 injured, and thousands were captured and retained as slaves. The sight of the massacre involved in his conquest deeply distressed Ashoka and deeply affected his mind. Overwhelmed by the carnage, he changed his way of life. Brahmanism was the practiced religion of Ashoka, as he abstained from war forever and sought peace in Buddha’s preaching of love and ahimsa...
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...Fiction Assignment Midnight’s Children is written by Salman Rashied, who was born in Bombay, India but lives in England. This is an English novel written in the first person narrative that is from the perspective of Saleem Sinia. Reading the passage it is quite clear that the theme here is Saleem Sinia’s attitude towards and the significance of India’s independence on the day of his birth.The distress and dismay of being born on this day is clearly established: ‘Oh spell it out, spell it out: at the precise moment of India’s arrival at independence, I tumbled forth into the world.’ (Rushdie, 1982). Repition is used to reflect Saleem’s irritation of having to specify his birth date. The protagonist and narrator of the story is Saleem Sinia, born at the exact moment India became an independent country. Saleem was born with telepathic powers and had an enormous and constantly runny nose with an extremely sensitive sense of smell gifts Saleem did not ask for, as he states, ‘For the next three decades, there was to be no escape.’ (Rushdie, 1982) The way the writer plunges the reader into the situation without a contrived introduction and writing from personal experience could be referred to as a poetic technique. The metaphorical emotional connotations portray Saleem’s conflicting emotions towards his country - not really accepting his fate or his country. ‘I had mysteriously been hand-cuffed to history,’ (Rushdie, 1982) in lines four and five (are exaggerated emotion of irony),...
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...feature ciphers or metaphors for qualities, sins, behaviors, and specifically historical events which are materialised through character actions, appearances, and speech. The synchronized birth of Saleem Sinai and the nation of India, sets off a relation between the two, as the events that proceed are concurrent to both. Saleem’s encounters are magnified at a larger scale to re-enact post-colonial Indian history. Rushdie's allegory is not of the country as that might be imagined to subsist beyond the world of texts, but of the nation as already mediated by the pretext of national history. This is Indian history in its canonical form. Significant Indian historical events which shaped the nation’s cultural, political, and social position are all materialised, such as the violent process of secularization/partition, India’s genealogy, and the national emergency of 1975. To clearly understand the topical and historical references embedded in text, it is essential to be familiar with pre/post-colonial and post-partition history of the Indian sub-continent. The novel is in first-person past tense unreliable narration, as Saleem reflects upon the details of his life, in his account of the Free Islam Convocation opposed to the Muslim League and the Partition of India;...
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...PR No.: PR13033 Madrid 15 May 13 Receipts from international tourism in destinations around the world grew by 4% in 2012 reaching US$ 1075 billion. This growth is equal to the 4% increase in international tourist arrivals which reached 1035 million in 2012. An additional US$ 219 billion was recorded in receipts from international passenger transport, bringing total exports generated by international tourism in 2012 to US$ 1.3 trillion. Among the emerging economy destinations highest receipts growth was reported by Thailand (+25%), India (+22%), Poland (+13%), South Africa (+18%), Egypt (+14%), Vietnam (+18%) and Ukraine (+13%). An extra 12 million international tourists in the first four months of 2013 PR No.: PR13046 Madrid 17 Jul 13 A total of 298 million international tourists travelled worldwide between January and April 2013, 12 million more than in the same period last year according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. Prospects for the current tourism peak season remain positive with some 435 million tourists expected to travel abroad in the May-August period. International tourist arrivals grew by 4.3% in the first four months of 2013 to reach a total of 298 million, up from 286 million, despite a challenging global economic environment. Results were positive in all regions, with the strongest growth in Asia and the Pacific (+6%), Europe (+5%) and the Middle East (+5%) and weaker growth in the Americas (+1%) and Africa (+2%). By subregion...
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...Orientalism and India Introduction ”Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.” (Rudyard Kipling, The Ballad of East and West) In his much quoted verse above Rudyard Kipling revealed something of the nucleus of the long-lived tradition of Orientalist thought. According to J. J. Clarke, the ambivalence of the West [1] towards the East is age-old. The ”rich cultures,” ”superior civilizations” and ”ancient wisdom” of the Orient have inspired many Westerners, but on the other hand, the threats of its ”monstrous mysteries” and ”absurd religions” hailing from its ”stagnant past” have abhorred at least as many. For many, the Orient has been a dominion of hordes and despots or spiritual mystics and exotic sensuality. Exaggeration and imagination together with a range of both positive and negative stereotypes connected to popular prejudices have been essential to these views. Encountering the East has been significant for the self-image of the West producing identities ranging from decadent European modernity to concepts of cultural, racial and moral superiority. (Clarke 1997, 3–4. See also Pieterse 1992 and Hottola 1999.) In his highly celebrated but also provoking book Orientalism [2], Edward Said (1935– 2003) embarks on describing a long European tradition ”of coming to terms with the Orient that is based on the Orient’s special place in European Western experience.” This tradition Said calls Orientalism [3]. Said concentrates mainly on...
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...PERIOD TO 712 A.D. HISTORY Submitted by: Suyogaya Awasthy 2014127 ------------------------------------------------- SEMESTER I DAMODARAM SANJIVAYYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY Visakhapatnam ------------------------------------------------- OCTOBER 2014 TABLE OF CONTENT TITTLE | PAGE NO. | ACKNOWLEDGMENT | 4 | INTRODUCTION | 5 | SECTION TITLE * Economy: During Early Vedic Age * Economy: During Later Vedic Age * Economy: During Gupta Period * Economy: During Mauryan Period * Guild System:The base of Ancient Economic India | 7891012 | CONCLUSION | 19 | BIBLIOGRAPHY | 20 | | ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I have endeavored to attempt this project. However, it would not have been feasible without the valuable support and guidance of Dr.Vishwachandra Madasu. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to her. I am also highly indebted to Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University Library Staff, for their patient co-operation as well as for providing necessary information & also for their support in completing this project. My thanks and appreciations also go to my classmates who gave their valuable insight and help in developing this project. INTRODUCTION Condition of Economy: Early Vedic to later Vedic period The agriculture was the main economic activity of the people in the Vedic age but with the second urbanization a number of urban centers grew in North India. This gave a major...
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...In 326 BCE, Chandragupta Maurya was just a teenager when Alexander the Great of Macedonia invaded India. Facing stiff resistance all through what is now Pakistan, and hampered by the high Hindu-Kush Mountains, Alexander’s army lost its will to conquer India at the Battle of Jhelum (or Hydaspes River). Although the Macedonians made it through the Khyber Pass and defeated Raja Puru (King Poros) near modern-day Bhera, Pakistan, the fighting was almost too much for Alexander’s troops. Worst of all, Raja Puru’s army included 30 war elephants, who spooked the Macedonian cavalry’s horses (and probably the men, as well). When the victorious Macedonians heard that their next target - the Nanda Empire - could muster 6,000 war elephants, the soldiers revolted. Alexander the Great would not conquer the far side of the Ganges. Although the world’s greatest tactician could not convince his troops to take on the Nanda Empire, five years after Alexander turned away, a 20-year-old Chandragupta Maurya would accomplish that feat, and go on to unite almost all of what is nowIndia. The young Indian emperor would also take on Alexander’s successors - and win. Chandragupta Maurya’s Birth and Ancestry: Chandragupta Maurya was born sometime around 340 BCE, reportedly in Patna, now in the Bihar state of India. Given the vast span of time since his birth, it is unsurprising that scholars are uncertain of many details. For example, some texts claim that both of Chandragupta’s parents were of the Kshatriya...
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...*About the Novel Raja Rae’s novel Kanthapura (1938) is the first major Indian novel in English. It is text of the Civil Disobedience movement of the 1930s that takes for its central concern the participation of a small village of South India in the national struggle called for by Mahatma Gandhi. Imbued with nationalism, the villagers sacrifice all their material possessions in a triumph of the spirit, showing how in the Gandhian movement people shed their narrow prejudices and united in the common cause of the non-violent civil resistance to the British Raj. Paradoxically, given its concerns, Kanthapura was first published in London in 1938 and was written when Rao was in France: “I wrote Kanthapura in a thirteenth century castle in the French Alps belonging to the Dauphins of France and I slept and worked on the novel in the room of the Queen”. Narrated by Achakka., an old village woman, the plot centres on Kanthapura, a village in South India. This village is a microcosm of the traditional Indian society with its entrenched caste hierarchy. In Kanthapura there are Brahmin quarters, Sudra quarters and Pariah quarters. Despite stratification into castes, however, the villagers are mutually bound in various economic and social functions which maintain social harmony. The enduring quality of the Indian village is represented as ensuring an internal tenacity that resists external crises, its relationship to past contributing a sense of unity and continuity between the present...
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...History and Development of Hinduism * Hinduism is the oldest and perhaps the most complex of religious systems. It is difficult to provide adequate history of Hinduism because it has no specific founder or theology. * The earliest product of Indian literature, the Rig Veda, contains the songs of the Aryan invaders who were beginning to make a home in India. Thus, Hinduism is commonly regarded as the offspring of an Aryan religion, brought into India by invaders from the north and modified by contact with Dravidian civilization. (Elliot, 1921) * The literature of Vedic Aryans is relatively ancient and full and there is no available information about old Dravidians comparable with it. Yet, some argue that it is more correct to describe Indian religion as Dravidian religion modified by the ideas of the Aryan invaders. * This is accentuated by the fact that major deities of Hinduism (Siva, Krishna, Rama, Durga), and some of its core doctrines, are either totally unknown to the Veda or obscurely indicated in it. * The chief characteristics of mature Indian religion are characteristics of an area, not of a race, and they differ from those of other ancient religions in Persia, Greece, Egypt or other Aryan lands. (Mamandram.Org, 2011) * The word “Hindu” is an incorrect term given to a follower of the Vedas. The true name of the religion is “Sanatana Dharma”, meaning “the eternal religion”. * Ancient Arabians gave rise to the term as they were...
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...History 46 Fall 2014 MW 3:00-4:15 pm Ayesha Jalal Modern South Asia: History, Culture, Political Economy Bounded by the Himalayas and the Indian Ocean the vast South Asian subcontinent contains a teeming population that constitutes a fifth of humanity. Boasting one of the world's oldest civilizations it has had a tumultuous modern history. In the living museum of the subcontinent's history there are paradoxes galore. A common heritage and environment notwithstanding, South Asia presents a picture of social complexity, economic disparity, cultural diversity and political heterogeneity. This course will examine the formation and the shifting contours of the rich mosaic of modern South Asia. A semester's study permits an analytical rather than a comprehensive survey of the society, economy and politics of the subcontinent. Beginning with a rapid overview of India's premodern and early modern history, the bulk of the course will concentrate on the changes and continuities during two centuries of British rule from the mideighteenth to the midtwentieth centuries. A short concluding segment will be devoted to postindependence developments. Primarily a lecture course, time will be available at the end of each class for questions and discussion. It is important to read ahead in order to participate in some of the major debates in South Asian history and historiography. The following books have been ordered for purchase at the College Bookstore: Required: ...
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...Information Technology in India 1 Information Technology in India: A look into how the Information Technology in India has come about over the Years Jessica Majeski, Lindsey Pavilonis, Mantsane Rantekoa, Long Nguyen, Miriam Moore DeVry University Online February 13, 2011 Information Technology in India 2 Contents Introduction to Information Technology in India………………………………………………...4 The Culture of India….....................................................................................................................5 Government……………………………………………………………………………….....5 Political Structure Government structure Economy……………………………………………………………………………………..6 Economic situation post Independence Economic crisis and impact of introduced reforms Education and Religious System of India……………………………………………….......7 History of Information Technology In India and it’s Development….........................................7 Four Periods of Information Technology…...........................................................................7-9 Pre-mechanical Mechanical Electromechanical Electronic Information Technology history in India..............................................................................9-10 No separate IT industry in 60’s and 70’s Tata Consulting Services (TCS) Indian IT professionals in U.S. Corporations sourcing IT services to India IT companies Leading growth engine for India The Specific Impact That Technology Has Had Upon the Culture of India…………………...10 The Impact...
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...Ancient India The civilizations of the Indus River Valley were a very unique group for a number of reasons. As with most ancient civilizations, the social, political and economic systems were guided by religious beliefs. For ancient Indians; however, religious practice literally dictated most levels of social organization and political direction. Also, the same basic religious beliefs are still practiced today, giving researchers a deep understanding of this religious tradition. Another unique aspect of ancient India is the nature of its ruins. There are a number of urban centers that appear to be abandoned, yet not destroyed. The intact nature of these sites creates an intriguing picture of an advanced society set in the ancient world; with nuance and details usually lost to time still available for study. One of the earliest cities of ancient India is Mohenjo-Daro. Located on the Western edge of the subcontinent, Mohenjo-Daro was a walled city built along the Indus River, which was typical of the time. It was a particularly large city, with approximately 50,000 residents. For purposes of illustrating the social structure and lifestyle of early Indians, it serves as the perfect example. Constructed of mud and bricks, the city had two distinct areas; the citadel and the city proper. The citadel served as a meeting area for military operations and as a hide out for citizens during attacks. Its location on a hill, high above the town proper suggests both its importance...
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