History and Political Science
This domain tests Maharashtra SSC candidates on Indian history from the nineteenth century, the national movement, the Constitution, and basic political science. Maharashtra connections - Tilak’s newspapers, the Satyashodhak Samaj, and the Bombay Presidency - are fair game.
Chronology you must anchor
- 1857 revolt; Indian National Congress founded in 1885; Partition of Bengal 1905 and Swadeshi movement.
- Home Rule Leagues 1916; Gandhi’s Champaran satyagraha 1917; Non-Cooperation 1920; Civil Disobedience 1930 (Dandi); Quit India 1942.
- Constituent Assembly first met 9 December 1946; Constitution adopted 26 November 1949; enforced 26 January 1950.
- Part III Fundamental Rights; Part IV Directive Principles; parliamentary federal democracy; universal adult franchise at 18.
Worked example
Question: Which Congress session declared Purna Swaraj? Reasoning: the demand was adopted at the Lahore session in December 1929 under Jawaharlal Nehru; 26 January 1930 was observed as Independence Day. Answer: Lahore session, 1929.
Traps that cost marks
Do not swap “adopted” (26 November 1949) with “enforced” (26 January 1950). Remember Tilak’s Kesari and Maratha; Jyotiba Phule founded Satyashodhak Samaj in 1873. The Simon Commission arrived in 1928 and was boycotted because it had no Indian member. The Gandhi–Irwin Pact was 1931, not 1930. In political science, fundamental rights are justiciable; Directive Principles are not directly enforceable.