BCS Written History flashcards

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Harappan script status

The Indus Valley script remains undeciphered. Chronology of the civilisation relies on radiocarbon dates, stratigraphy, and trade-linked artefacts such as Mesopotamian seals found at Harappan sites.

Ashokan edicts

Inscriptions of Ashoka carved on rocks and pillars, mostly in Prakrit using Brahmi and Kharoshthi scripts. They record his dhamma policy, welfare measures, and missionary activity after the Kalinga war.

Mansabdari system

Akbar's system grading Mughal nobles by zat (personal rank) and sawar (cavalry obligation). Jagir assignments paid salaries, and the system linked military service to revenue administration.

Zabt revenue system

Todar Mal's Mughal land revenue method fixing cash rates from ten-year average produce and prices. The Ain-i-Akbari preserves detailed statistics of these assessments across provinces.

Battle of Plassey

1757 battle in which the East India Company under Robert Clive defeated the Bengal nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah with the help of Mir Jafar. It opened the way to Company control of Bengal's revenues.

Permanent Settlement

Cornwallis's 1793 Bengal land revenue arrangement making zamindars permanent proprietors in exchange for fixed revenue. It contrasted with the Ryotwari and Mahalwari systems used elsewhere in India.

Dandi March

Gandhi's 1930 march to the sea to make salt in defiance of the salt tax. It launched the Civil Disobedience Movement and led to mass arrests across British India.

States Reorganisation Act 1956

Indian legislation redrawing state boundaries largely along linguistic lines after the 1953 creation of Andhra. It followed the recommendations of the States Reorganisation Commission.

Green Revolution

From the mid-1960s, adoption of high-yielding wheat and rice varieties with irrigation, fertiliser and credit support. It made India self-sufficient in food grains, especially in Punjab and Haryana.

Non-Aligned Movement

A grouping of states refusing Cold War blocs, shaped by the 1955 Bandung Conference and the 1961 Belgrade summit. India under Nehru was a leading founder-member.

Rosetta Stone

A stone bearing the same text in hieroglyphic, demotic and Greek scripts. Jean-François Champollion used it in 1822 to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs, unlocking Egyptian written history.

Magna Carta

English charter of 1215 forced on King John by rebellious barons. It limited arbitrary royal power and became a symbol of legal rights and constitutional government.

Fall of Constantinople

The Ottoman capture of the Byzantine capital in 1453 ended the eastern Roman Empire. It pushed Greek scholars westward and shifted trade routes, encouraging Atlantic exploration.

Treaty of Versailles

The 1919 settlement ending World War I with Germany, imposing territorial losses, disarmament, reparations and war-guilt clauses. Its terms fuelled resentment exploited later by the Nazis.

Cold War

Rivalry between the United States and Soviet Union and their allies from the late 1940s to 1991. It featured nuclear deterrence, proxy wars and alliances such as NATO and the Warsaw Pact.

Battle of Buxar

1764 battle in which Company forces under Hector Munro defeated the combined armies of Mir Qasim, Shuja-ud-Daulah and Shah Alam II. It confirmed British dominance in northern India.

Revolt of 1857

A widespread uprising against Company rule beginning at Meerut and spreading across northern and central India. Its suppression ended Company rule and transferred power to the British Crown in 1858.

Pala dynasty

Rulers of Bengal and Bihar from the eighth to twelfth centuries, patrons of Buddhism. They founded monasteries such as Vikramashila and Odantapuri and supported scholars and artists.

Battle of Panipat 1526

Babur's victory over Ibrahim Lodi, using artillery and flanking tactics against a larger army. It ended Lodi rule and founded the Mughal empire in northern India.

Ain-i-Akbari

The third volume of Abul Fazl's Akbarnama, describing Mughal administration, revenue statistics, provinces, and social and cultural life under Akbar. It is a central source for Mughal history.

Language Movement 1952

A campaign in East Pakistan demanding Bengali as a state language. Police firing on 21 February 1952 killed protesters, and the date is now UNESCO's International Mother Language Day.

Six-Point Demand

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's 1966 programme seeking greater autonomy for East Pakistan, including separate fiscal policy and militia. It became a rallying point before the 1971 Liberation War.

Primary source

Material produced contemporaneously with the event studied, such as inscriptions, coins, letters, chronicles or photographs. Historians subject it to external and internal criticism before use.

External criticism

Historical method testing a source's authenticity: date, provenance, authorship, handwriting, seals and physical condition. It precedes internal criticism, which assesses credibility and bias.

Subaltern studies

A school of historiography, associated with Ranajit Guha, that foregrounds peasants and marginal groups rather than elites. It draws on Gramsci's concept of subaltern classes.

Numismatics

The study of coins as historical evidence. Coins reveal rulers' titles, mint locations, metal purity and trade contacts, and help fix chronology through their inscriptions and typology.

Annales school

A French historiographical movement associated with Bloch and Braudel, emphasising long-term structures, geography and social history over political events. It introduced the longue durée perspective.

Gupta empire

North Indian dynasty from the fourth to sixth centuries CE, noted for Sanskrit literature, temple architecture and mathematics. The Allahabad pillar inscription records Samudragupta's conquests.

Chola local assemblies

South Indian village bodies: ur for general villages and sabha for Brahmin settlements, with nagaram for merchant towns. Temple inscriptions record their decisions on land and taxation.

Quit India Movement

Gandhi's 1942 call for British withdrawal, launched after the Cripps Mission failed. The government arrested Congress leaders, and the movement became leaderless and often violent.

Hyderabad integration

The 1948 Indian army operation that ended the Nizam's resistance to accession. It followed the Instrument of Accession policy applied to most princely states after independence.

Opium Wars

Mid-nineteenth-century conflicts in which Britain defeated Qing China, forcing treaty ports, indemnities and ceded Hong Kong. They began the period of unequal treaties and foreign spheres of influence.