1. Santhals were settled in the Damin-i-koh area. 2. Moneylenders charged a high rate of interest and took over their land when they were unable to pay the money. 3. The state was levying heavy taxes on them. The Zamindars also had begun to increase their hold over their Damin area. So, the Santhals revolted against the exploitations of the zamindars, moneylenders and the state.
John Marshall is a famous archaeologist who studied Harappan civilization. Marshall tended to excavate along regular horizontal units, measured uniformly through the mound, ignoring the straight lines of the site. This meant that all the artifacts recovered from the same unit were grouped together, even though they are found at different layers. As a result valuable information about the contexts of these findings have been found. There is also evidence of seals, toys, games and stringed musical instruments in Indus valley This shows that society at that time was civilized.
One of the most important pillars of the Mughal state was its corps or officers, known as nobility. Nobility was created from diverse ethnic and religious groups which ensured that no faction was large enough to challenge the authority of state. People from many races (Arabs, Iranians, Turks, Tajiks, Kurds, Tatars, Russians, Abyssinians, people from Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Arabia, Iran, Khurasan, Turan) have sought refuge in the imperial court. They were as one bouquet of flowers held together by loyalty to the Emperor. Aurangzeb appointed Rajputs to high positions, and under him the Marathas accounted for a sizable number within the body of officers. All holders to the government offices held ranks or mansabs having the designation of ‘Zat’. It was the indication of the position in the imperial hierarchy and the salary of Mansabdar, and the second one was of Sawar indicating the number of horse men required to maintain in service.
The Chishtis in the subcontinent adapted to local environment and adopted features of Indian devotional traditions : Life in the Chishti Khanqah is similar to Ashram— 1. The khanqah was the center of social life. It comprised several small rooms and a big hall where inmates and visitors lived and prayed. 2. The Shaikh lived in a small room on the roof of the hall where he met visitors in the morning and evening. 3. Hindus, Jogis and qalandars travelers came seeking discipleship from the Shaikh.Visitors, poets such as Amir Hassan, Amir Khusrau and the court historian Ziyauddin Barani wrote about the Shaikh. 4. They received the patronage of royal visitors. Verses of Baba Farid were incorporated in the Guru Granth Sahib. Short and long poems like “PremAkhyan “were attributed to Chishti Sufis. 5. The Chishtis accepted donations in cash and kind.
“Quit India Movement” was started in 1942 because : 1. Failure of Cripps Mission led to the launch of Quit India Movement in August 1942 for the liquidation of British imperialism. 2. It was a mass movement bringing into the ambit, hundreds of thousands ordinary Indians. Younger activists organized strikes and acts of sabotage all over the country. 3. Particularly active in the underground resistance were socialist members of the Congress, such as Jayaprakash Narayan. In several districts, such as Satara in the west and Medinipur in the east, “independent” governments were proclaimed. 4. It especially energized the young who in large numbers left their colleges and joined the Congress, whose leaders were captivated in jails. 5. Jinnah and his colleagues worked patiently to expand their influence. 6. In June 1944, Gandhiji was released from jail.
Oral narratives and memories are the important sources for constructing the history of partition of India. (i) Millions of people viewed partition in terms of the suffering and challenges of times. For them it was no more constitutional divisions or just the party politics of the Muslim League, Congress and others. For them, it meant the unexpected alterations in life as it unfolded between 1946 and 1950 and beyond requiring psychological, emotional and social adjustments. Memories and experiences shape the reality of an event. (ii) Oral history allows historians to broaden the boundaries of their discipline by rescuing from oblivion, the lived experience of the poor and the powerless. The oral history of partition has succeeded in exploring the experiences of those men and women whose experience has hitherto been ignored, taken for granted or mentioned only in passing in mainstream history. Oral testimonies become more important because official reports lack personal experiences.