Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon – March 30, 2020

After their arrival in India, the Dutch founded their first factory in Masulipatnam (in Andhra) in 1605. They went on to establish trading centres at different parts of India and thus became a threat to the Portuguese. They captured Nagapatam near Madras (Chennai) from the Portuguese and made it their main stronghold in South India. The Dutch established factories on the Coromandel Coast, in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bengal and Bihar. In 1609, they opened a factory in Pulicat, north of Madras.

The French position in India was badly affected with the outbreak of war between the Dutch and the French. Bolstered by their alliance with the English since the Revolution of 1688, the Dutch captured Pondicherry in 1693. Although the Treaty of Ryswick concluded in September 1697 restored Pondicherry to the French, the Dutch garrison held on to it for two more years.

As per the Queen’s proclamation, the era of annexations and expansion had ended and the British promised to respect the dignity and rights of the native princes. The Indian states were henceforth to recognise the paramountcy of the British Crown and were to be treated as parts of a single charge. The people of India were promised freedom of religion without interference from British officials. The proclamation also promised equal and impartial protection under law to all Indians, besides equal opportunities in government services irrespective of race or creed. It was also promised that old Indian rights, customs and practices would be given due regarded while framing and administering the law. The Army, which was at the forefront of the outbreak, was thoroughly re-organised and British military policy came to be dominated by the idea of “division and counterpoise”. The British could no longer depend on Indian loyalty, so the number of Indian soldiers was drastically reduced even as the number of European soldiers was increased.

Deep in the jungles of Cambodia, the world’s largest Hindu temple – the Angkor Vat is situated. However, it is just one of the many Hindu temples in South East Asia. The sea-faring activities of the Chola Empire, Kaling Empire etc. brought the religion in these parts and gave rise to many Hindu dynasties – the Champa civilisation in Vietnam, the Khmer empire in Indochina and the Majapahit Empire in Java.

The first of the revolutionary activities in Maharashtra was the organisation of the Ramosi Peasant Force by Vasudev Balwant Phadke in 1879, which aimed to rid the country of the British by instigating an armed revolt by disrupting communication lines. It hoped to raise funds for its activities through dacoities. It was suppressed prematurely. During the 1890s, Tilak propagated a spirit of militant nationalism, including use of violence, through Ganapati and Shivaji festivals and his journals Kesari and Maharatta. Two of his disciples—the Chapekar brothers, Damodar and Balkrishna-murdered the Plague Commissioner of Poona, Rand, and one Lt. Ayerst in 1897. Savarkar and his brother organised Mitra Mela, a secret society, in 1899 which merged with Abhinav Bharat (after Mazzinni’s ‘Young Italy’) in 1904. Soon Nasik, Poona and Bombay emerged as centres of bomb manufacture. In 1909, A.M.T. Jackson, the Collector of Nasik, who was also a well-known indologist, was killed by Anant Lakshman Kanhere, a member of Abhinav Bharat.