[GS1] Freedom Struggle Indian History: Answerkey & Analysis of Mains-2013 Questions Dalhousie, Women, Foreigners & Studyplan, Booklist forUPSC Mains-2014

1. Prologue

1. Q. Dalhousie the founder of Modern India

2. Q. Maulana Azad

3. Q. Foreigners in Freedom struggle

4. Q. Women in Freedom Struggle

2. Difficulty level and BackbreakingTM

3. Evenly Spread Questions

4. The Nature of History questions

5. Studyplan/Approach/Strategy for Mains-2014 (GS History)

Prologue

In the last article we saw the Indian Culture related questions in GS Mains paper 1-their answers, analysis and future strategy for Mains 2014. click me

Now let’s move to next section: The freedom struggle / Indian history. Followingquestions came for 10 marks and 200 words each (In Mains-2013):

1. Defying the barriers of age, gender and religion, the Indian women becamethe torch bearer during the struggle for freedom in India. Discuss.

2. Several foreigners made India their homeland and participated in variousmovements. Analyze their role in the Indian struggle for freedom.

3. In many ways, Lord Dalhousie was the founder of modern India. Elaborate.4. Discuss the contribution of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad to pre-and post-

independent India.

Any analysis/observation/commentary is shallow without solving the questions so let’sdo that first:

Sources/Books used

Typr Book DALHOUSIE FOREIGNER WOMEN M.AZAD

SchoolTextbooks

New NCERT No No No No

old NCERT(10,12)

Yes No No No

Yes,

TN State BoardClass12

Verbatim No No No

Competitive

TMH GeneralStudies Manual

No No No No

SpectrumFreedomFighters

No Yes Yes Yes

Spectrum BriefhistoryModern India

Yes No Yes No

Krishna Reddy:Indian History

Yes No Yes Yes

Academic

Bipin Chandra,India ‘sstruggle forindependence

No No Yes No

Sumit Sarkar:Modern India

No No Yes No

“Yes” means at least 60% content available to write the answer. “Yes” doesn’tautomatically mean 100% content available.“No” means any of the three things:

A. Book has insufficient Content to write decent 200 words. You’ve to re-phrase and rewrite the same sentence over and over dragging the pointswith flowery English like a chewing gum to reach 200 words limit.

B. Answer did not exist at all.C. I did not check the book carefully.

Q. Dalhousie the founder of Modern India

Q. In many ways, Lord Dalhousie was the founder of modern India. Elaborate.(10m | 200 words)

Can be solved using any one of these:

1. (TNT) Tamilnadu Textbook History Class 12, Chapter 6.2. Spectrum: A brief history of Modern India, Rajiv Ahir. In the last part of the

book under Ready reference data section.3. Krishna Reddy: Indian History. Chapter 15 British Expansion.4. Old NCERT Class 12 (Bipin Chandra, History of Modern India) chapter on The

structure of government and economic policies.

First let’s collect the points, then we compress:

Transformed the map of India

Annexed Punjab, Lower Burma, Central Provinces and Oudh.

Applied Doctrine of Lapse Satara, Jhansi and Nagpur

Dalhousie did it for following reasons:

Strategic: Imperial defense, ending the misrule of Princes to win goodwill ofpeople.Commercial: source of raw material, new market manufactured goods

Anyhow, Dalhousie increased the extent of British India. His territorial acquisitiontransformed the map of India. Had he not acquired these territories then many moreHyderabad, Jamnagar and Kashmir like crisis would have happened in those areas,immediately after freedom.

Administrative reforms @District and State level

Dalhousie was laying down the seeds of district administration / IAS under his “Non-regulation system”. Observe: After annexing Punjab, Dalhousie did following

1. Organized Punjab province into small districts.2. Each district under control of an Administrative officer called “Deputy

Commissioner”.3. Combined Revenue and Judicial departments.4. The laws and procedure were simplified in accordance with the custom of the

people.5. The overall administration of Punjab in the hands of a Chief Commissioner.

Thus, Dalhousie had started molding the provinces into a modern centralized states.

Railways

Dalhousie introduced railways in India, with three fold objectives:

1. Commercial- exploitation of raw material from interior parts of India2. Administrative- maintaining connectivity with all regions.3. Defense- for quickly transporting troops from one location to another, during

rebellions.

1853 Bombay to thane

1854 Calcutta to the Raniganj coal-fields

1856 Madras to Arakkonam

Communication

Dalhousie = father of Post + telegraph because:

Telegraph

1853: First telegraph line from Calcutta to Agra.Overall, Dalhousie laid more than 4000 miles long telegraph lineconnecting Peshawar, Bombay, Madras, Calcutta and many otherparts of India.

Postal

Founded modern postal system in India.Introduced postal stamps for the first time. Reduced the postalrates.Uniform postal charge throughout India (half anna), irrespectiveof the distance between two places.

Education

1854: Charles Woods prepared a dispatch on educational system in India.

He recommended following

1. government should assume responsibility of spreading education to masses2. hierarchy of educational institutes

a. Primary schools @Villages (Vernacular medium)b. High schools and an affiliated college @district (English medium)c. Universities @presidency towns of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. (English

medium)3. Stress on female education, vocational education and teachers’ training.4. Education should be secular in nature.5. Grant-in-aids to private educational institutions.

Dalhousie fully accepted the views of Charles Wood and took steps to carry out thenew scheme.

Public Works Department

Before Dalhousie, the job of the Public Works Department was done by theMilitary Board.But Dalhousie created a separate Public Works Department and allotted morefunds for cutting canals and roads- and thus, laid foundation of the Engineeringservice in India.Completed Upper Ganges Canal.Constructed many bridges.

Others

1. Passed the Widow remarriage act (1856)2. Dalhousie shifted the headquarters of Bengal Artillery from Calcutta to Meerut.3. Simla was made the permanent headquarters of the army.

–but this is ~500 words. Have to compress—

Answer Keypoints

Q. In many ways, Lord Dalhousie was the founder of modern India. Elaborate.(10m | 200 words)

During his term, Dalhousie increased the extent of British India to Punjab, Oudh,Satara, Jhansi and other parts of India. His territorial acquisition transformed the mapof India. He was not only a conqueror but also a great administrator.

1. He started molding the medieval provinces into modern centralized states- withhis “non-regulation system”. Punjab was divided into smaller district supervisedby Deputy Commissioners, who were in turn supervised by a ChiefCommissioner.

2. Introduced railways in India for commercial, strategic and Administrativepurpose.

3. Introduced postal stamps, uniform charges and modern Postal System.4. Laid more than 4000 miles of telegraph line.5. Created separate Public Works department, allotted more funds for roads-canal

construction.6. Implemented Woods Dispatch, assumed the responsibility of educating the

masses, created hierarchy of educational institutes from primary schools atvillages, high schools and collages at district level and universities in presidencytowns.

The Modern India stands on the pillars of state-district administration, Rail-Post-Telecom infrastructure and three tier education system. Dalhousie directly involved inall of them, hence aptly called the founder of Modern India.

~180 words.

Q. Maulana Azad

Q. Discuss the contribution of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad to pre-and post-independent India. (10m | 200 words)

Can be easily assembled from any of the following sources:

Spectrum’s freedom fighter book: Page 251-252

PIB news release in November 2013 for his 125th Anniversary.

Let’s directly frame the answer:

During freedom struggle:

Ran Al Hilal and Al Balagh weeklies.Head of Khilafat CommitteeSupported Gandhi during Non-cooperation movementpresided over congress sessionsArrested during Quit India movement.Negotiated with British Cabinet mission for India’s independence.Opposed two-nation theory of Jinnah. Advocated Hindu-Muslim unity.Wrote a book “India Wins freedom”, to give firsthand account of the events.

Post-independence:

Member of Constitution assemblyFirst Union minister of education, later held portfolios of Natural resources andscientific research.Pivotal role in foundation of IIT, UGC, AICTE, CSIR, Sahitya Academy, LalitKala Academy, Sangeet Natak Academy and many other educational andscientific research laboratories in India.For his service to the nation, he was posthumously awarded country’s highestcivilian award, the Bharat Ratna.

~130 words, but when you elaborate the statements and expand the abbreviations, itautomatically covers the remaining gap of 70 words.

Q. Foreigners in Freedom struggle

Q. Several foreigners made India their homeland and participated in variousmovements. Analyze their role in the Indian struggle for freedom. (10m |200words)

In most of the books, this answer is not available directly. (Except Annie Besant part)

The Quickest reference source I can think of, is Spectrum’s freedom fighter book.(Gandhi Nehru Tagore and other eminent personalities of Modern India.)

first let’s gather the points:

AOHume

Debatable because he did not make India his ‘homeland’. He had leftIndia in 1894 and died in London (1912).

DavidHare

Doesn’t count because he is related to introduction of western education,rationalism and liberal thinking. Besides he died in 1842, before themutiny of 1857.

HenryVivianDerozio

Doesn’t count, because he’s not foreigner. He was an Anglo-Indian bornin Calcutta.

WilliamDoesn’t count because he died in 1746, way before even the firststruggle of independence (1857). Besides his main interest was

Jones translation of Sanskrit scripts.

Anyways, let’s check the foreigners who contributed in Freedom struggle:

Annie Besant

Irish woman, came to India as a part of Theosophical society.Central Hindu School @Benaras, later became Benaras Hindu universitySurat Split had weakened the Congress, Gandhi was yet to come. During thistime Besant’s political entry provided the much needed momentum to freedomstruggle.Demanded self-rule for India, without waiting for the end of WW1.Setup a Home rule league in 1915.Spread her ideas through New India and CommonwealMoved the congress resolution against Jaliawalla massacre.Also served as President of Congress sessionShe and Gandhi had difference of opinion on Montague- chelmsford reforms,Non-cooperation movement and boycott of foreign goods. In the last 10 years ofher life, Ms. Beasant quit active politics and freedom struggle altogether.

Charles Freer “Dinbandhu” Andrews

English missionary philanthropist.Extended his wholehearted support to the freedom struggle and criticized theBritish for their unjust and racial policies.Took part in political and social movements launched by Indian leaders.championed the rights of labourers, railway workers and cotton weaversactively worked with BR Ambedkar for Harijan demands, campaigned againstuntouchabilityGandhi gave the title of “Dinbandhu” for his compassion for poor.Advocated the rights of Indian settler in South Africa, East Africa, West Indies,Fiji and the English colonies in other parts of the world.used his influence in England to arouse public opinion against colonialexploitation.Even negotiated with the government in England for Gandhi’s release fromprison.

Miraben (Madelein Slade)

From aristocratic English family.Influenced by Gandhian philosophy, joined Sabarmati Ashram, took part inGandhi’s socio-political campaigns.toured throughout India to promote Khadi and SatyagrahaWrote many articles in Young India, Harijan, The Stateman, Times of India andHindustan Times.Major role in setting up Seva gram near Wardha.Accompanied Gandhi to Round table conference in London.During WW2, asked Orissa people to oppose Japanese invasion non-violently.Placed under detention during Quit India movement.

Satyanand Stokes

Not given in any books but TheHindu ran a story on him (August 2013).

Samuel Evans Stokes Jr. was scion of a Wealthy American family. Came to Indiato work in a leaper home in Himachal.fought relentlessly against labour exploitation in the Shimla hillsOnly American to attend Congress session in Nagpur (1920)Only foreigner to sign Congress manifesto in 1921 that called upon Indians togive up government service and join the freedom movement.Arrested on charges of Sedition, jailed for six months.Died in ’46 in Shimla.

Sarala Ben

-Originally Katherine Mary Heilaman, disciple of Gandhi.Social worker, setup ashram in Uttarakhand, helped the families of politicalprisoners.

Margaret Elizabeth Noble (Sister Nivedita)

From Ireland. Joined Swami Vivekananda’s Ramakrishna Mission.Criticized the racial policies of the British, helped during Bengal famine andplague epidemics, worked for upliftment of Women.

Mira Alphonse (Mother)

French woman, associated of Shri Aurobindo,role in setting up Auroville town near Pondicherry.Motivated Annie Beasant, Nalini Sengupta and many other women to fight forIndia.

Nalini Sengupta

Born in Cambridge to Fredrick and Edith Grey. Came to India after marryingJatindra Mohan Sengupta.Actively participated in boycott and non-cooperation movements, arrestedseveral times.President of Indian National Congress- notable achievement for a woman fromBritain.Elected unopposed to Bengal legislative assembly.

Verrier Elwin

British by birth, came to India in ’27. associated with Seva Sangh of Puna.On Gandhi’s advice, worked for tribal upliftment, setup Gond Seva Mandal.

More names can be dug through google, but in a real life scenario, an aspirant cannotafford to do Ph.D on every topic. So let’s just assemble the answer from the

information available so far.

– ~650 words. Have to compress –

Answer keypoints

Q. Several foreigners made India their homeland and participated in variousmovements. Analyze their role in the Indian struggle for freedom. (10m |200words)

[Side note: since this is an ‘analyse’ question, multiple answers and interpretationspossible.]

While many Americans and Europeans empathized with India’s struggle forIndependence, few of them came to India and actively participated. Notable are: AnnieBeasant, Katherine Heilaman (Sarala ben), Mira Alphonse (Mother), Madelin Slade(Miraben), Nalini Sengupta CF, “Dinbandhu” Andrews, Satyanand Stokes and VerrierAlvin.

Overall their role can be summarized as following:

Most of them came to India with primary aim of social service. But their heartswere moved by the brutal exploitation of the British-raj, hence joined India’sstruggle for Independence.None advocated revolutionary terrorism or violent methods.Almost all associated with Congress. Annie Beasant and Nalini Sengupta evenpresided over the Congress sessions despite their foreign nationality.Most of them not imprisoned for long time, because they were white.focused on different areas:

Religion: Sister Nivedita, Mother Mira AlphonseEducation and culture: BeasantSocial work: Nalini Sengupta, Miraben, Sarla benLabor rights: Dinbandhu, Satyananda StokeTribal rights: V.Alvin

Some closely associated with Gandhi-Miraben, Sarlaben and Dinbandhu.Some influenced by Gandhi – V.Alvin, N.Sengupta, Satyanand Stokes.Some even had differences with Gandhi- Annie Besant.

But all of them fought against the tyranny of British Imperialism and helped Indiaattain her independence.

~200 words.

Q. Women in Freedom Struggle

Q. Defying the barriers of age, gender and religion, the Indian women became

the torch bearer during the struggle for freedom in India. Discuss. (10 marks |200 words)

Answer can be assembled from any of the following sources:

1. Spectrum Freedom fighters (Gandhi Nehru Tagore and Other personalities)

2. Spectrum Brief History of Modern India by Rajiv Ahir

3. Bipin Chandra: India’s struggle for Independence. Points scattered throughout thebook.

4. Krishna Reddy. Chapter Gandhi and his thoughts: subtopic “Role of women innationalist movement”.

NCERT, TN Textbook, GS Manual= hardly useful because their content is too small/too generic/ too scattered to serve the purpose. Anyways, first let’s make a table ofnotable women freedom fighters, to see a pattern / trend.

Abbreviations used in following table:

R=rich, M=middle class, P=poor, “?”=not mentioned in book, and I did notbother googling (Because in real life preparation, a candidate wouldn’t have thatmuch time to do Ph.D on everything.)NV=non-violent. R=Revolutionary / violent methods.

Aruna AsafAli

M NV

Breaking the social conventions, married to a MuslimCongressman Asaf Ali. Went to prison during CDMand Individual Satyagraha. Hoisted tricolor @Gowaliatank after Maulana Azad’s arrest.Editor of ‘Inquilab’ a monthly journal of Congress

Begum SafiaAbdul Wajid

R NVRich Muslim Family, Post graduate from AllahabadUniv. Lost government lecturer job because of herparticipation in Quit India movement.

DurgabaiDeshmukh

M NV

Middle class family, initially couldn’t afford educationbut graduated from Andhra.Studied law, practiced in Madras High court.Jailed for salt satyagrahaAndhra Mahila sabha for welfare of women.

JyotirmoyeeGanguli

? NV

left Government job during civil disobediencemovement.took part in the British demonstrationsDemanded the release of jailed INA soldiers. Killed

by the British during a procession.

Kasturba ? NVTook part in all the programs of Gandhi, jailed duringQuit India movement and died in Poona jail two yearslater.

MadamBhikaijiCama

NV

herself influenced by Dadabhai Naoroji, she InspiredIndian youth in UK, ran newsletter “Bande Mataram”and organization “free India society”.Unfurled first national flag of India in Germany.

MatanginiHajra

P NV

born in a poor peasant family of Bengal- exploited byboth Zamindars and the British.Dandi March,campaigned for non-payment of Chowkidari tax-arrested.During Quit India movement, planned an Attack onpolice station but killed while hoisting the nationalflag.

Nehru R NV

Jawaharlal’s mom: Swarup Rani Nehru, provided moralsupport and fought for freedom struggle.His sister Vijay Laxmi Pandit: jailed thrice duringCDMWife Kamala Nehru: participated in CDM and No-taxcampaign.

RajkumariAmritaKaur

R NVRoyal family from PunjabGrad. from England, influenced by GandhiJailed for quit India movement

RehanaTyabjee

R NV

Affluent family, her father was a Judge.influenced by Gandhi, joined Sabarmati Ashram, NCM,opposed Untouchability + child marriagePresident of Youth congressJailed for QIMFirst muslim lady to sing Vandemataram in Congresssession

Graduated from London

SarojiniNaidu

? NV

one of the first women to participate in Freedomstruggleunder mentorship of G.K.Gokhalelater participated in all programs of Gandhi, includingDandi Marchserved as President of Indian national congress.Even her daughter Padmaja Naidu, 21, was arrested forQuit India movement.

Cpt. LaxmiSahgal

? R

young medical studentBecame Captain of all-woman Rani of Jhansi regimentof the Indian National Army (INA) under SubhashChandra Bose.Led the troops in Burma during WW2, but caught bythe British army.

KalpanaDutt Joshi ? R

Revolutionary from Bengal.part of Surya Sen’s Chittagong republication army.Caught and transported for life, later released.

Nanibaladevi

? R

Brahmin family. Widowed @the tender age of 16Joined Jugandhar party, associated with revolutionarymovements.Arrested for transporting weapons and ammunitionwas the first and only woman to be tortured by thepolice under Regulation III of 1818Calcutta jail’s first woman prisoner.

PreetilataWaddedar

? R

Part of Chittagaong revolutionaries of Surya Sen.Organized attacks on British establishments in Bengal.Consumed Postassium cyanide to evade detention andinterrogation.

RaniGaidinliu

? R

Naga Tribal, who organized rebellion to overthrowBritish from Manipur.Jailed for 14 years, freed after independence. Giventitle “Rani of Nagas”

~1000 words. Even more can be gathered if we refer each book word by word and diggoogle. But in real life preparation, that is impractical. So let’s just try to assemble an

answer from the data gathered so far.

Key points- Women in Freedom struggle

Q. Defying the barriers of age, gender and religion, the Indian women becamethe torch bearer during the struggle for freedom in India. Discuss. (10 marks |200 words)

[Side note: Since this is a “Discuss” question, multiple answers possible.]

For the first struggle in 1857 to the last struggle in 1942, Women have played aninstrumental role in India’s struggle for independence.

Women were not mere foot-soldiers, they provided leadership and direction aswell. Be it Sarojini Naidu in Salt March, Vijaya Laxmi in CDM, Kasturba in QIM,Madam Bhikaiji Cama among Indians in UK, Rehana Tyabjee as President ofYouth Congress, Captain Laxmi Sahgal in INA or Rani Gidinliu during Manipurrebellion.Kalpana Dutt, Nanibala Devi and Preetilata Waddedar even joined revolutionarymovements, disregarding the threat of police brutality, deportation and death.Many like Jyotirmoyee Ganguli even left government jobs to boycott the Britishoppression.Matangini Hajra, Durgabai Deshmukh and many others from poor and middleclass families participated. Begum Safia Wajid, Rehana Tyabjee and RajkumariAmrita Kaur and many other from affluent Muslim families and royal lineagecame out.

From liberal homes to conservative families, urban centers to rural hamlets, Hindu andMuslim, single and married, young and old, mothers and daughters, wives and sisters-all women came forward to help India attain its independence.

~210 words.

Question-Answer finished. Now time for analysis/observation/commentary/ramblings.

Difficulty level and BackbreakingTM

From mid 90s to mid-2000, the GS Mains (History) trend was as following:

7,10 or 15 freedom fighters for two marks each = 20-30 marks.Two to three long questions on freedom struggle for around 15-20-25 markseach. and within this:

they Provided alternatives e.g. write any one of two or any two amonggiven three.sometimes the focus would be on the initial phase (from 1857 to GandhiIrwin)

Sometimes the focus would be on the end phase (from Gandhi Irwin tovarious offers and missions for India’s partition.)

In that era, you could easily sail through the questions by relying on just two books(Spectrum’s freedom Fighter + Rajiv Ahir), and at most Bipin Chandra.

But in the recent years, UPSC chairman has been running a campaign to break thebacks of coaching classes, rot learners (and senior players). Hence the complexity ofGS history has kept increasing with each year. Observe:

2009“quotes” based questions. You were given some random statements and youhad to comment on them.

2010 Only two freedom fighters (4 marks) and a tough question on Dalhousie.

2011RIN munity (a topic that almost nobody prepares) + women’s org. + a fewrandom terms that were hard to recall.

2012Drastically reduced the history portion. More focus on Culture. No freedomfighters. Even the 25 marker required you to make significant brainstormingfor ideas before attempting the answer.

Same type of complexity-unpredictability has prevailed in 2013 as well.

Players had hoped that just like in 2012, UPSC will ask more from culture and lessfrom freedom struggle in 2013. But UPSC did the reverse: more questions fromFreedom struggle (12%) and less questions from Culture (8%).

Evenly Spread Questions

In the past exams, the question focus would be on a particular block of freedomstruggle only:

2010: Dalhousie Before freedom struggle.

2011: RIN Mutiny last part of Freedom struggle

Compared to that, 2012’s had a more even / balance coverage of entire freedomstruggle. Observe the question:

Q. “The Indian independence movement was a mass—based movement thatencompassed various sections of society. It also underwent the process of constantideological evolution? Critically examine.

2013 continued on that pattern of testing you understanding entire freedom struggleperiod. Observe:

DalhousieBeforefreedomstruggle

Tested your memory/recalling power. (you just had toreproduce the points from your brain to the piece ofpaper)

role ofwomen

Duringfreedomstruggle

Tested your understanding. You had to brainstorm forideas, arrange them in an order to frame theanalysis/discussion.

role offoreigners

Duringfreedomstruggle

Same as above.

MaulanaAzad

During andafter freedomstruggle.

Same as Dalhousie question.

Thus for 40 marks, you had to cover almost entire struggle for India’s independence-with both your memory power and your understanding/analysis power.

The Nature of History questions

Dalhousie:

Dalhousie is not a totally new guy for Mains. In past, UPSC has asked about him but ina different context:

1. “Dalhousie’s predecessors had acted on the general principles of avoidingannexations, if these could be avoided. Dalhousie acted on the principles ofannexation, if he could do so legitimately. His annexations were both of warand peace.” Analyze. (12 marks | GS1 Mains-2010)

2. “Dalhousie changed the map of India with speed and thoroughness nocampaign could equal.” (20 marks | History optional 2001)

But difficult to solve in actual exam hall of 2013 because:

In the recent times, for most aspirants, freedom struggle syllabus meant = 1857and afterwards. So, no one has ever paid much attention to Dalhousie for mainsbecause he left in 1856.Bipin Chandra and NCERT don’t talk about him much.Besides, there are 50 dozen other names, places and events to be memorized sowho has time for things before 1856?Even in CSAT Prelims, UPSC has ceased asking Governor-General/Viceroyrelated GK MCQs. So most people couldn’t recall anything except a few basicpoints about Dalhousie=railways, telegraph, Satara and Jhansi= high qualityanswer difficult.

Maulana Azad

I’ve counted Maulana Azad question for Post-Independence India topic. Because in theoriginal 2013 question paper, this question was asked after Bhoodan and Jai-Jawan,JaiKisan questions. (Meaning whoever arranged the questions, he was in the mood for“post-independence”.)

Anyways, Azad cannot be counted as a BackbreakingTM question because:

1. 2013= 125th anniversary of Azad. and if someone / somebody’s birth or deathanniversary is in the multiple of 25 then it is automatically important for UPSC– for both GS as well as literature.

2. in November 2013, he was in news because :a. Government launched a new webportal maulanaazadheritage.orgb. Modi blogging that Rahulbaba’s family has erased all heroes from public

memory including Maulana Azad and Kriplani.

All this was in news during second week of November 2013. Some candidates may notbe aware of this development because in November they would have stopped readingnewspaper because Mains-2013 was just a few days away in the first week ofDecember.

Lesson: A player must not stop following newspapers when exam is near.

Role of women in Freedom struggle:

UPSC has asked Women and Freedom struggle questions in past, but in a littledifferent context:

1. How did the movement for liberation of women receive a great stimulus fromthe rise and growth of nationalist movement in India? 15 marks 2001 GSMains

2. Evaluate the influence of three important women’s organizations of early

20th Century in India on the country’s society and politics. 10 marks 2011 GSMains

As such this 2013 question has not fell from sky. In various books, essays, andcolumns, you’ve read about the role of women during freedom struggle. But in the reallife exam it becomes difficult because:

Question Paper started with culture questions and they’re tough because you hadto 100-200 words. No alternatives were given= Mind already filled with fear andstress.So, even for this women role answer, Candidate cannot immediately recall all thepoints. Have to brainstorm for ideas, what to write, what to skip= takes moretime and energy (compared to something direct non-analytical like “role ofMaulana Azad.”)

Role of Foreigners in Freedom struggle:

I did not find this question in any of the previous GS mains paper, except AnnieBesant/Home rule specific questions. (or maybe I did not look carefully)As such, the standard books for history preparation (Bipin, Rajiv Ahir or GSManual) don’t have much on foreigners, except Annie Besant. Even Miraben andDinbandhu get only passing mention= difficult to recollect points for ‘analysis’type question.Although in August 2013, TheHindu did run a story on Satyanand Stokes.But then one couldn’t have anticipated that a full blown question on all foreignfreedom fighters could be asked. Besides even if you could anticipate it- therewere dozens of other things to be prepared for four papers of new GS syllabus=hardly much time left to cover all freedom fighters.

Observe this MCQ from CSAT-2013:

The Chinese traveller Yuan Chwang (Hiuen Tsang) who visited India recordedthe general conditions and culture of India at that time. In this context, which ofthe following statements is/are correct?

1. The roads and river-routes were completely immune from robbery.2. As regards punishment for offences, ordeals by fire, water and poison were the

instruments for determining the innocence or guilt of a person.3. The tradesmen had to pay duties at ferries and barrier stations.

Select the correct answer using the codes given below.

a. 1 onlyb. 2 and 3 onlyc. 1 and 3 only

d. 1, 2 and 3

Now the user comments posted on its answerkey article:

User1

The Question on Huan Tsang was current affairs related. A Report came onHindu that a temple related to Huan Tsang was being demolished inChina….UPSC rocks!!

User2

(responds) And a candidate is expected to dig out the archives and framepoints about what Huan Tsang said and what he left unsaid. UPSC rocks withyou sir.

Lesson: sometimes it is not humanly possible to cover everything even if the topic ishinted in TheHindu.

Anyways, what should be the

Studyplan/Approach/Strategy for Mains-2014 (GSHistory)

GS preparation is like Kung-fu, every master develops his own style. you don’t haveto read all of these following books, just mix-match-tweak as per yourrequirements.

Source detailsfor GS(Mains)History?

(new)NCERT

Quite good for geography and science theory basedMCQs.But freedom struggle related coverage is not givenin a detailed way that would help inMCQs/Descriptive.

Uselessforfreedomstruggle.

(old)NCERT

(class 10 and 12).Help in only three (women, Dalhousie, Azad). Butcontent scattered.Useful but TNT better alternative (in terms of eyecandy fonts, bullets, bold effects on importantterms).besides, Bipin Chandra wrote Class 12’s oldNCERT, so many ideas repeat when you read hisother book on “India’s struggle for independence”

useful

The History coverage is both useful in MCQ and

TamilNaduTextbooks(TNT)

descriptive coverage for competitive exams.Detailing is Similar to Old NCERT but with eyecandy fonts and pictures.available for free: Click ME

for freedom struggle: use Class 12 textbook.

useful

GS ManualHas its utilities in static MCQs in prelims (CSAT) butinsufficient content to tackle these 100-200 worddescriptive questions on History.

not much

NIOS History course not uploaded –

IGNOU Site stopped working. –

Bipin Chandra: India‘s struggle for independence (Penguin Publication)

It still has utilities in prelims (CSAT) MCQs, particularly the “2 statementtrue/false” type questions.In Mains-2013 as such did not help much directly, but Bipin’s fodder materialhas indirect uses in Essay and interviews, including the Mains-2013 essay onGandhi.For Mains 2014? Useful, should be read. It’ll be a mistake to throw it off tooquicky just because UPSC did not ask direct questions in one mains exams.

Spectrum’s Freedom fighter book

After observing the last two mains, I had given up hope on this book.But Luck by chance three questions in Mains-2013 could be solved from thisbook (Azad, women, foreigners)So, will it be helpful in Mains-2014? Well that depends on the question: willUPSC continue ask similar group/category based questions in 2014? e.g.“analyse the role of Parsi/South Indian poets/xyz group in freedom struggle.”As such a good tool because if you know the contribution of a few dozenfreedom fighters from various area/religion/ideology, you can pretty much coverup the remaining gap in a 100-200 words question on most freedom fightingquestion by citing them as examples.

Rajiv Ahir: A brief history of Modern India (Spectrum Publication)

He has written the book like a ‘note’ similar to Laxmikanth’s Polity. Onlydifference is Laxmikanth helps very much in MCQs, Rajiv not that much.After last two mains, I had given up hope on this book as well. But Helped in twoquestions (Dalhousie, women).Will it help in Mains-2014? well that Depends

1. If you’re appearing in some State service exam then yes because Rajiv’s good forthose generic static direct question because of its ‘ready revision note’ type ofcoverage.

2. Otherwise, you’re better off with other combos involving (TNT/Old NCERT) +(Bipin/Sumit). etc.

Sumit Sarkar: Modern India (1885-1947)

As such this book is meant for History optional, but some senior players evenuse it for General studies.Directly it did not help much in Mains-2013 but has its utilities in essay,interview (even MCQs).If you’re already a senior player with already good grip over Bipin, then you mayuse it to gain additional fodder points, wisdom and enlightenment about freedomstruggle. otherwise, not recommended for new players.

Krishna Reddy, Indian History (TMH Publication)

Directly helped in three questions (Except foreigners) but it’s a very bulky booksolely written for history optional subject (for prelims in pre-CSAT era).Not recommended for players without history optional.

Coaching/Postal/Correspondence material

Usually assembled by copy pasting passages from standard reference books andmaking fancy bullets, numbering, tables, bold/italic effects and a very darkwatermark to prevent xeroxing.It doesn’t help beyond GK and very easy static type questions.For the analyse/discuss/evaluate/examine/comment/essay-ish type questions,they don’t help much.In short, too expensive for what it is worth. So don’t bother even Xeroxing suchreadymade material. Better stick to standard reference books.

Jholacchap NGOs Publication houses

2014: Election year = many state service vacancies will come, before the modelcode of conduct comes into effect.So this also means Diwali year for Jholacchap publication houses, they’ll floodmarket with lot of new books on history, polity, geography everything.Atmost just use them for getting terminologies of polity/geography/economicsin your mother tongue. or at most some specific topics like GK/geography ofyour state.Otherwise, always rely on standard reference books. Avoid jholachhap publisherslike hell.

Overall

Table only for illustration, multiple combos possible otherwise:

LEVEL combo #1 combo #2

NEWGUY

Only TNT until he clears prelims. (Use allthe remaining time and energy to masterother static areas of prelims- i.e. polity,science, economy, geography andaptitude.) if he has mastered all of them,then he should bother with Bipin etc.

TNT + Rajiv Ahir (ifhe’s planning for state service in 2014)

INTERN*

TNT + Bipin Chandra. Bipin should be readwith highlighters and make keywordnotes on its margins. (that way afterprelims, it doesn’t take much time insecond-third revision.)Until prelim is over, he should not botherwith Mains answer writing- instead pour allthat energy in the aptitude (Paper II)preparation- comprehension, Maths andreasoning + all the static areas of GSprelims where he faulted last time +maintaining current notes fromnewspapers.

If you are taking a‘break’ in 2014, tofocus on stateservices preparation:

1. ReligiouslyMug up Rajiv

Ahir + whateverbook goes foryour staterelated history.

2. Spectrum’s

freedom fighters

+ dig net to getlist of allfreedomfighters fromyour state.

3. Write answer toall static-descriptivemains Qs. ofStatePSC byyourself. If youcan’t find themonline/inmarket, thenfile RTI.

SENIORPLAYER

Anyone Class 12 textbook: Old NCERTor TNTAnyone academic book: Bipin Chandra /Sumit Sarkar. (or both) Use highlightersand make keyword notes on its margins.Ignore Rajiv Ahir, because it has nothingnew that you don’t know already for UPSClevel questions. (especially after goingthrough one textbook and one academicbook)Answer writing of maximum number ofstatic history questions from previous papers-particularly those similar to 2012 and2013 (i.e. questions demanding yourknowledge of entire struggle).

In a movie called “Snake in the Eagle’s shadow”, Jackie Chan first learns “Eagle” stylekungfu. But the main villain easily defeats him with Snake style. Then Jackie observeshow a cat kills the snake. So, He develops a new style: EagleCAT kungfu and wins thelast fight. Point being, if you want to defeat the main villain (UPSC) you’ve to developyour own combos.

New guy= complete rookie player. Never appeared in any prelims.*Intern: someone who has appeared in one or more prelims but failed by asmall margin.Senior player: Has cleared one or more prelims.

Other points/analysis/observations are same as from Culture analysis:

1. Causal revision = #Epicfail

2. Focus on Dramatic part = also #EPICFAIL

3. Working professionals don’t waste salary

4. Mains-2013 players don’t cry over the spilled milk

In the next article, we’ll World History questions from GS1 paper, their answers,analysis and plan for 2014.

URL to article: http://mrunal.org/2014/01/gs1-freedom-struggle-indian-history-answerkey-analysis-of-mains-2013-questions-dalhousie-women-foreigners-studyplan-booklist-for-upsc-mains-2014.html

Posted By Mrunal On 06/01/2014 @ 22:30 In the category History