Modern History

While preparing for the UPSC Civil Services examination, one cannot ignore Indian History notes, especially Modern History notes. Various notes are being scattered over the internet for Indian Modern History UPSC. We have complied and arranged such notes from the internet as well as various competitive books being recommended for UPSC Prelims preparation. The world is suffering due to this COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in various other tragedies. As coaching centers are closed, we have decided that we will reach out to all UPSC aspirants with our notes and will help them in preparation. We hope that our notes are going to help and improve your preparation to some extent.

In History, we will discuss various historical events in the three different sections of Ancient HistoryMedieval History, and Modern History. These sections are further divided into many chapters and topics. We have tried to cover every topic related to history notes for the UPSC Prelims examination. Despite that, there are possibilities that some of the topics may be incomplete or being left behind. We assure you that we will cover all those topics a few times and if still thinks that those topics are missing and we request you to notify us about the same.

In Medieval history, we will learn about the early medieval period kingdoms such as Pushyabhutismaukharies, Cholas, Chalukyas, etc. The Medieval period starts with the invasion of Islamic attackers on the Indian subcontinent, in which our subcontinent saw the invasion of Mahmud Ghazni, Muhammad Ghori. Attacks from Ghazni were purely based on looting India’s riches and resources. Whereas Ghori’s intention was to control the territory so that riches can be looted for a long period.

Mughal Empire's Emperor: Aurangzeb
Mughal Empire’s Emperor: Aurangzeb

The modern history of India was marked by the death of Aurangzeb and the decline of the Mughal empire. The advent of Europeans will be discussed in this part of Indian Modern History. In Modern history, we will know about some famous revolts and the longest struggle for Freedom by Indians.

Modern History and the Rise of Indian Nationalism

Modern History starts after the downfall of Aurangzeb, the cruelest of Mughal rulers and after that, we will notice once again a foreign invasion of the Indian Subcontinent. This foreign invasion comes from European countries who fought and tried to establish their ruling in the Indian subcontinent. Only British (Britain) got success in establishing their empire and they ruled the region for almost 190 years starting from 1757 to 1947.

In Dec 1600, the English trading company was farmed it reached in India in 1608 & established the 1st factory at Surat. In 1611, 1st English factory in the South was setup at Masulipattnam.  In 1639, the company got the site of Madras from Raja Chandragiri, gradually it became the main English center in the south. In 1651, the 1st English factory in Bengal was established at Hugli in 1698, the company purchased Jamindari returns of Sutanuti, Calicut & Govindpur. These villages were merged to create Calcutta & Fort William was built here.

dual Government, Robert Clive
Robert Clive

The victory in the Carnatic war prepared the ground for the British to establish their supremacy in India and the French dream of an Indian empire disappeared forever. With the victory of Wandiwash, the British East India Company had no European rival left in India. The British became the master of this great country. Besides having skilled leaders like Sir Eyre Coote, Major Stringer Lawrence, Robert Clive on their side the British were also a strong naval power which was a decisive factor with them to become credible rulers of India.

The victory of the East India Company in the Battle of Plassey marks the establishment of British Rule in Bengal. However the British were already enjoying the many monopolistic businesses as well as local administration rights. But victory in this decisive battle made the East India Company of one the strongest contenders who can replace Mughals from the Central power of Hindustan.

The Indians native soon realized that the British were exploiting them heavily. many revolts took place including the revolt of 1857. The Rise of nationalism after 1860 lead to the longest struggle by Indians in Modern history, which is famously called the Indian National Movement. We will know about the rise of the Indian National Congress and its participation in the Indian freedom struggle against the British Government.

Mahatma Gandhi was the foremost leader of the Indian National Movement. It landed masses from front till the time he was alive. He was like the “One man army” & left a listening impact on entire humanity. The rise of Gandhiji as the supreme leader of the National Movement marked the beginning of a new phase in the history of Indian’s struggle against British Rule. It was the pressure built by the Gandhian movement that forced the British to leave India in 1947. We have tried to come up with all important historical important for UPSC prelims and mains. So what you are waiting for!! Grab your notes and start preparing.

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