Notes and Study material for Exams
The literal meaning of Mahajanapadas is great kingdoms. They flourished in the north/north western parts of India before the rise of Megasthenes. Whereas Avantipura who was the king of Surasena was one of the first desciples of Buddha, and it gained prominence evr since then in Mathura. The geographical locattion of this kingdom among the sixteen … Read more
The Bhakti Movement in Indian history represents a movement that popularized devotional surrender to a personally conceived supreme God. Its origins are traced to the Brahamanical and Buddhist traditions of ancient India. It was in south India that it grew from a religious tradition into a popular movement based on religious Equality and broad based … Read more
Emancipation of the Depressed class Liberal Discourse of Emancipation The use of ‘Liberty’ to describe the physical ‘ability to do what I want’, the power to satisfy our wishes, or the extent of the choice of alternatives open to us has been deliberately fostered as part of the socialist argument. Once this identification of freedom … Read more
Raja Rammohan Roy: RRM Roy was a social reformer and intellectual in the early nineteenth century Bengal. He is most widely known for founding the Brahmo Samaj and his relentless campaign against the practice of Sati and child marriage. Debendranath Tagore: Brahmo Samaj: BS was founded in 1828 by Raja Ram Mohan Roy with … Read more
Philosophy of Samkhya Samkhya, also spelled Sankhya, one of the six systems (darshans) of Indian philosophy. Samkhya adopts a consistent dualism of matter (prakriti) and the eternal spirit (purusha). The two are originally separate, but in the course of evolution purusha mistakenly identifies itself with aspects of prakriti. Right knowledge consists of the ability of … Read more
Buddhism. Self-Respect Movement The anti-Brahmin crusade got a further impetus when E. V. Ramaswamy Naicker, popularly known as Periyar, joined the anti-Brahmin movement. Naicker, who actively participated in the Non-Cooperation movement, broke with the Congress in 1924 to develop an anti-Brahmin, anti-caste populist and radical alternative to Justice elitism. He had been with the Congress … Read more
‘Sufism’ is a term used to refer to mystical religious ideas in Islam. It had evolved into a well developed movement by the 11 century. Sufis, Stress on the importance of traversing the path of the Sufi pir enabling one to establish a direct communion with the divine. Sufism or mysticism emerged in the 8 … Read more
Philosophical and social thoughts of Acharya Shankaracharya Adi Shankaracharya, the great Philosopher was born in 788 CE, Kaladi, Present in Kerala. He died in 820 CE at the early age of 32 only in Kedarnath, Pala Empire, Present in Uttarakhand. Shankaracharya was a noted Philosopher and theologiser from India. He reformed the rituals and doctrines … Read more
Unity and universality of religions, religious Tolerance and Hinduism and
Struggle for emancipation of Dalits and their Empowerment Dalit empowerment Dalit empowerment may be defined as a process of gaining control by Dalits as a community over self, ideology, material and knowledge Resources, which determine power relationship in a Society. As a political process, Dalit empowerment challenges the prevailing power structure of subordination … Read more