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Period: 130 BCE to 1453
Silk Route Trade
The Silk Road was a network of trade routes connecting China and the Far East with the ME and Europe. Established when the Han Dynasty in China officially opened trade with the West in 130 BC the Routes remained in use until 1453 AD, when the Ottoman Empire boycotted trade with China and closed them. Although its been 600 years since the silk Road has been used for international trade, the routes had a lasting impact on commerce, culture and history that resonates even today :):):):):):):):):):) -
1275
Marco Polo
Marco Polo returned to Venice, again via the Silk Road Routes, in 1295 just as the Mongolian Empire was in decline. HIs journeys across the Silk Road became the basis for his book, The Travels of Marco Polo, which gave Europeans a better understanding of Asian commerce and culture -
1453
Fall of Constantinople
The closing of the Silk Road force merchants to take to the sea thus initiating the Ge of Discovery which led to world-wide interaction and the beginnings of a global community. Its closure would propel Europeans across the ocean to explore, and eventually conquer, the so-called New World of the Americas, IN this way, the Silk Road can be said to have established the groundwork for the development of the modern world. -
1497
Vasco De Gama Landing in India
Vasco De Gama was a Portuguese sailor who became the first European to reach India through the Atlantic. He sailed from Lisbon Portugal and around the Cape of Good Hope. He set across the Indian Ocean to Calicut, where he was not greeted well by the Muslim merchants. Fighting his way back home, he led a squadron to Calicut to avenge the massacre and succeeded in calming the people. He was sent as an authority to India, but fell ill and died in Cochin. -
British East India Company
The BEIC was one of the first joint-stock companies and its primary goal was trade and financial gain. Corruption and abuse in the early days of the company's rule of India but the British did not totally conquer but let the kingdoms divided (divide and conquer)
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7 Years War/ French and Indian War
The Seven Years' War was a global conflict fought between the years 1756 and 1763. It involved every European power at the time. The conflict split Europe into two coalitions, led by the Kingdom of Great Britain on one side and the Kingdom of France (including the Austrian-led Holy Roman Empire), the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Spain, and the Swedish Empire on the other. In the end, the British led a victory in taking control of Canada and India. -
Black Hole of Calcutta
The Black Hole of Calcutta was a scene of an incident that happened, in which a number of Europeans were imprisoned in Calcutta and many died. East India Company failed to stop fortifying the city as a defense against the rivals in anticipation of the seven years war. Following their surrender. Other Europeans were placed at night in the company's lookup for offenders, which was known as the Black Hole. It was evidence of British heroism. -
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The Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Rev. introduced new technologies that increased the European military advantage over the rest of the world.
Technologies such as the steam powered boats, machine gun, were invented. The great empires of Asia and North Africa all had several internal problems at the same time when European power was rising, because they feared that they would be colonized.
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Governor-General Warren Hastings gains control
In 1773, Warren Hastings became the first Governor-General of India, a position he held until 1784. Hastings worked quickly to control the East India Company over India, by removing power from the Nawab of Bengal and crippling the Mughal Empire. He also waged war and formed alliances to increase British control. Soon his successors would launch 'reforms' to westernize the subcontinent. -
Ram Mohun Roy sparks Indian Nationalism
Ram Mohun Roy was a scholar educated in both western and eastern classics. he believed that India could learn from the West, but that there is room for a revitalization of Indian culture. In other words, he believed in the best of both worlds. Through 1822, he set up educational societies that helped revive pride in Indian culture and soon his influences would place him as the founder of Indian nationalism -
Seapoy Mutiny: Indian Revolt
The spark that led to a mutiny in several sepoy companies was the issue of new gunpowder cartridges for the Enfield rifle in February, 1857. A grim feature of the mutiny was the ferocity that accompanied it. The mutineers commonly shot their British officers on rising. The aftermath of the mutiny was an immediate abolition of the East India Company.
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Indian Civil Service
The Indian Civil Service, also known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the elite civil service of the British empire in India. They took on administrative responsibilities, after the end of the East India Company rule. The members of the service were responsible for overlooking all government activity over 250 districts. This would soon expand the British's control through military force and threatened force. Later, after independence, many members left, and the service was divided. -
Parliament puts India under control of British crown
After the Sepoy Mutiny, the Parliament ended the rule of East India Company and placed India under the direct control of the British crown. India is now governed by colonial rule with British officials ruling and taking top positions. Although this slowed the reforms that angered the Hindus and Muslims, The British continued to develop India for their own economic benefits. -
The Suez Canal opens
On November 17, 1869, the Suez Canal opened and the British trade with India drastically increased. This system of trade greatly favoured the British, who flooded India with inexpensive, machine-made textiles. On the other hand, the system also destroyed India's once-prosperous hand-weaving industry.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7Zp1Q7GVGA -
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Muhammad Ali Jinnah
A. Middle Class lawyer educated in Britain
B. First supported Hindu-Muslim Unity- called “Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity”
C. Proposed Lucknow Pact
D. Disagreement with Gandhi led to Muslim- Congress split
E. Jinnah began to fear Hindu domination of Congress- A “Hindu Raj”
F. Began to support the idea for an independent Muslim homeland, Pakistan or “land of the pure” -
Queen Victoria becomes Empress of India
In 1877, Benjamin Disraeli, Conservative Prime Minister, had Queen Victoria announced as the Empress of India. Although India was already under British control after 1858, this title was a gesture to link the monarchy with the empire further and bind India more closely with Britain. -
Indian National Congress
Nationalist leaders organize the new Indian National Congress. It is a call for greater democracy to empower professional Indians like themselves. The group hopes to use peaceful protests in order to achieve its goals. They support modernization based on western models, but ultimately want to achieve Indian self-rule. -
Muslim League
Its goals were to protect the interests liberties and rights of Muslims and to promote an understanding between the Muslim community and other Indians- discourage violence. Muslim League led the struggle for the partition of British India into separate Hindu and Muslim states, and after the formation of Pakistan in 1947 the league became Pakistan’s dominant political party.By the late 1960s the party had split into various factions, and by the 1970s it had disappeared altogether. -
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WWI
Britain promises India self-rule if they help fight in the war. Gandhi supports war effort in hopes of achieving self-rule for India. When war ends, Britain made a few reforms and refused to grant India self-government.
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Lucknow Pact
The Lucknow Pact was an agreement created between the Muslim League and the Indian National Congress in Lucknow in 1916. Muhammad Ali Jinnah was apart of both parties and set a goal to pressure the British government into giving the Indians more political power. The pact also dealt with the relation of the Hindu and Muslim communities. With the pact, they were able to reach the peak of Hindu-Muslim relations/unity and the greatest effort by Muhammad Ali Jinnah. -
Rowlatt Acts
On February 1919, the Imperial Legislative Council passed the Rowlatt Acts. These acts allowed certain political cases to be tried without juries and permitted internment of suspects without trial. Their sole purpose was to replace the Defence of India Act with a permanent law. This was opposed by the Indian public and many members opposed it. Soon Gandhi would organize a movement, leading to the Amritsar Massacre. The acts were never actually implemented. -
The Amritsar Massacre of 1919
On April 13, the day of the Sikh Baisakhi festival, tens of thousands of Indian nationalists came around to protest against the British government for their forced conscription on Indian soldiers and war taxes. General Reginald Dyer, who banned all public meetings and gatherings, told his troops to fire into the crowd (without warning), killing at least 379 unarmed citizens. This massacred stirred nationalist feelings and showed how India should target for independence. -
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Noncooperation Movement
Following the Amritsar Massacre, Mahatma Gandhi launched a two-year campaign of noncooperation. Throughout this campaign, he encouraged Indians to leave British institutions, return British honors, and practice self-reliance. Although Gandhi was forced to stop the campaign upon his arrest and imprisonment in 1922, he became of the most recognized leaders of the Indian movement. This was also his first organized acts of civil disobedience. -
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Salt March
The Salt March, which took place from 3/4 in India, was an act of civil disobedience led by Mohandas Gandhi to protest British rule in India. During the march, thousands of Indians followed Gandhi from his religious retreat near Ahmedabad to the Arabian Sea coast, a distance of some 240 miles. The march resulted in the arrest of nearly 60,000 people, including Gandhi himself.Gandhi and his supporters defied British policy by making salt Link text -
Germany Invades Poland (start of WWII)
In an attempt to regain territory, Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. This invasion lasted until October 6, which in the end was a success for the Germans. They were able to use their blitzkrieg strategy and surprise attacks to take over the Polish army. On September 3, Britain and France declared war on Germany. This was the spark and start of WWII> -
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Kashmir conflict
Not all border issues were settled at partition. One of these issues included the region of Kashmir, near the northern border of India and Pakistan. After the partition, India and Pakistan began to fight over the control of Kashmir. This conflict continued until a cease-fire in 1949 divided the region into two parts. One controlled by Indian and the other by Pakistan China also claimed to have some part too. -
India Independence and Partition
India was granted full independence in 1947. However, instead of focusing on their similarities of being Indian, the people began to fight because of their differences. East and West Pakistan in order to avoid conflict partitioned themselves, which Gandhi was not happy with. 12.5 million people were displaced, and 500,000 were killed or injured in riots and religious attacks. Muslims moved north and the Hindus moved south -
Jawaharlal Nehru
Nehru was the first prime minister of India. Nehru led the developing nations I practicing Non-Alignment with the Superpowers and thus, received enormous aid from both the US and the USSR. Religious and political conflict remained a problem. In the 1980s, Sikhs demanded an independent state of Punjab and assassinated Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi (Nehru’s Daughter) in 1984. -
The Death of Gandhi
On January 30, 1948, Gandhi was with his grandnieces in the garden of the former Birla House in New Delhi. He was getting ready to go to his daily prayer meeting. Among the crowd, Nathuram Godse, a Hindu man, came out and bowed to Gandhi, then shot him three times with a pistol. When Gandhi was announced that he had died, it left people of India subdued and wrenched India from the grip of madness and violence. Over a million people attended darshan to honour Gandhi. -
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Operation Blue Star
Operation Blue Star was a codename of an Indian military action carried out. In 1984, a small group of militant Sikhs occupied the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab. Indira Gandhi ordered Indian troops to drive the militants out of the temple. When they attacked the shrine, it resulted in the killings of hundreds of people, damaging the temple and holy scriptures. Because this outraged many Sikhs, Indira was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards. (Start of anti-Sikh violence)
