Foundation of Jammu & Kashmir State by Maharaja Gulab Singh

Zahir al-Din Muhammad Babur was a founder of India’s Mughal Empire; furthermore, he was a Chaghatai-Turkish prince and a direct descendant not only of Timur but also of Chinggis Khan (Balabanlilar 2). There was an effective centralized rule that was provided by the Mughal dynasty to the Indian subcontinent during the first half of the Mughal period (Stearns 32).

Although the Ottoman and Mughal empires had two different reasons for decline, both were because of the leaders currently in power at the time. Even though Suleyman, the ruler of the Ottomans, accomplished social and cultural achievements, the empire was losing ground. Suleyman made a mistake by killing two of his sons. His third son, the incompetent Selim II, inherited the throne. Suleyman set the pattern for the future sultans to gain and hold power. It became customary for each new sultan to kill his brother. This practice produced a long line of weak sultans who eventually brought ruin on the empire. Since India was mainly a land of the Hindus, The stability of the Emperor, in this case Aurangzeb, depended on the support of the people. Without their loyalty and cooperation, stability was impossible. When Aurangzeb came into power, he departed from the tradition of religious tolerance and persecuted the other

“Afghanistan was a monarchy ruled by King Zahir Shah. On July 17, 1973, when the king was on away on vacation, a man by the name of Mohammad Daoud Khan attained power. The military takeover did not cause any bloodshed, but as we see through Amir's story, it was still a frightening time for the people of Kabul who heard rioting and shooting in the streets. For six years, Mohammad Daoud Khan was President and Prime Minister of Afghanistan. Then, on April 27, 1978, he was violently overthrown by the PDPA, People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan. Daoud was killed in

The general cause of the Indian Independence Movement was India’s desire for independence from British, French and Portuguese Rule. The aim of the movement was “Swaraj, a self-governing India” (Sharma, 2005, p. 22). One, more specific, cause of the Indian Independence Movement took place in 1905 when the province of Bengal was divided into two provinces,

Before its modern state, India had only been united once. This time was under the rule of the Mauryan Empire in the 300s-200s BCE. The Mauryan Empire was started by Chandragupta Maurya after overthrowing and conquering the Magadha government. He proceeded to conquer more than half of the Indian subcontinent. After some time, Chandragupta’s grandson Asoka came to power. Asoka was a leader who ruled with feelings of remorse for decisions he had made in the past yet still ruled with great, imposing power. He also was mindful of his people and made sure to always rule in favor of them.

In the Mughal Empire, Hindus had been allowed to build new temples despite the fact the empire had Muslim origins. To further gain the people’s loyalty, Akbar the leader of Mughal Empire eliminated tax on the non Muslims which would attract the Hindus and also the Christians into the empire creating a universal religion which a mix of Islam, Christians and Hindus.. Akbar had also secured the support and the allegiance of the different Hindus who existed in the region through the negotiation of the peace treaties. Akbar had endured that the local governors would be given grants rather than the salaries. Being dependent on the central government for their income, such a strategy helped them develop increased loyalty enhancing military operations of the army and the general government structure in the empire. On the other hand, Ottoman’s emperor enhanced social integration through striking the high levels of peoples’ loyalty (Gingeras 13).

Throughout the years, the colonized inhabitants of a conquered nation have responded to the threat of imperialism by encouraging violence and rebelling against their captors. This behavior is shown when Moulavy Syad Kutb Shah Sahib writes about the Sepoy Mutiny in India and when he states in Document 2 that, “We must unite in their slaughter for by this alone will the lives and faith of us both be saved.” [..] Perhaps the English may try to assure the Hindus that they have consented to give up killing cows from respect for the Hindu religion. But no sensible man will be gulled by such deceit, for the promises of the English are deceitful.” This passage demonstrates how Sahib promotes violence through a letter and encourages the Muslims and

The Mughal Empire: Zahir al-Din, also known as Babur, was a Chagatai Turk that, unlike the Ottoman and Safavids, was just a soldier of fortune not fighting on behalf of Islam. He wanted to use his fortune to transform a glorious central Asian empire. Although, he did not succeed at that goal he then focused on India. Babur took Delhi in 1526. He did not like the land that he had conquered, it was a hot and humid climate but, Babur decided to stay. By the time of his death he had embraced most of the Indian subcontinent. The height of the Mughal power and influence came from Babur’s grandson Akbar. He gained power in Gujarat and Bengal, destroyed the Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagar in order to later expand in southern India. He was a thoughtful man who tolerated the religious differences in

Throughout the years many historians have compilated and examined why Indian people were so desperate to gain back their independence from the British Empire during their rule over India, from 1612 to 1947. The reasoning can most definitely be found as the British discriminated against Indian people as they believe that they were inferior; it is no surprise that Indian people fought so hard for their independence. Throughout the British Raj, they placed and put forward unbelievably racist acts and laws which discriminated against Indian people. Which of course led to Indians to rebel against the British rule and which the British reacted with causing massacres. Explaining the nationalistic many India’s felt during the British Raj.

In 1978, a communist government gained control of Afghanistan. The Soviet Union supported the new government, but the unrest of Afghan citizens with this regime was so great it prompted a “Jihad” or holy war(Jacobson, 31).

The purpose of this historical inquiry is to analyze to what extent did British Imperialism have an effect on shaping modern India? The main source that will be discussed in this paper is the seventh book of the Spotlight on History Series called The British Raj, which explains the reasons behind the conflicts between the British Empire and Indian nationalism and assess the achievements of a memorable relationship.

al-Afghani continued to preach his anti-British feelings as he felt that Britain had exploited Indians, as they exported the spoils of India to Britain. Some argued with al-Afghani as they thought that the telegraph and railways benefitted India. al-Afghani however stuck with his belief of exploitation. He believed that they were put in place, "in order to drain the substance of our wealth and facilitate the means of trade for the inhabitants of the British Isles and extend their sphere of riches…" (59). He also believed that Britain unfairly targeted Indian Muslims. In 1885, al-Afghani expressed the Indian Muslims' hatred towards the British Empire. He explained, "You [Britain] destroyed the Empire of Delhi; secondly because you give no salaries to the imams and muezzins and keepers of the mosques. And you have resigned the Wakf property and do not repair the sacred buildings" (Mishra 58).

The Ruling Congress party organized a careful plan and put it into action with their local followers to kill the Sikhs of Delhi on the night of 31st October and early morning of 1st November. Congress leaders held assemblies with the purpose of rallying local supporters to start the massacre against the Sikhs. It is also revealed that massacre of Sikhs did not start the day of the murder of Prime Minister. Congress leaders cleverly assembled a network of planned gangs for rallies and those same people were responsible for the Sikh riots, according to Rajni Kothari.

Afzal’s death further infuriated the Kashmiri people. Yet again not only were curfews put in place by the police, but violators executed. At this point, the Kasmiri people have been subjected to 20 years of military occupation. Strides had been made – in 2014 India was going to give Kashmir and Jammu back some of their rights by allowing elections. Executing Afzal Guru seemed to reverse all of their efforts.

The land that comprises today’s Afghanistan was the frontier zone of competing empires, namely, Moghuls and Saffavids from the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries. Persia and the subcontinent enjoyed two centuries of stability and prosperity, but their frontier zone (Afghanistan) was a bone of contention. With the downfall of the Moghul and Saffavid Empires, Afghanistan became a torn political entity between Sikh Empire, Persia and the Emirate of Bukhara in the early nineteenth century. Afghanistan, then became the buffer zone between Tsarist Russia and British India with the fall of the Sikh Empire in 1845. Tsarist Russia constantly intervened in Afghanistan while British India continually meddled in Afghanistan to keep it under its orbit.