26 January 2011

Waves of Modernisation/Industrialisation

Different parts of the world have modernised/industrialised at different times. These are the three major "waves" of industrialisation/modernisation:

Period
YearsRegion
Countries
1. 19th century1800–1900the WestEurope, America, Japan
2. Post-World War 21950–1990East AsiaJapan*, Korea, Taiwan
3. 21st centuryc1980–AsiaChina (1979–), India (1991–)

*Japan had to industrialise a second time as it was bombed back to the stone age in World War 2.

25 January 2011

Society in India and Indian Social System

Here are a couple of good books on Indian society:

A. Society in India – Prof Ram Ahuja (1999)
Contents:
1. History of Indian society
2. Caste system
3. Family and women
4. Economic system
5. Political system
6. Education
7. Religion
8. Tribal society
9. Rural society
10. Urban society
11. Population growth
12. Social change

B. Indian Social System – Prof Ram Ahuja (1993)
Contents:
1. Caste system
2. History of caste system
3. Caste relations and conflicts
4. Caste politics
5. Sanskritisation
6. Scheduled castes

17 January 2011

The Most Important Battles in India's History

Which were the most important battles in India's history?

Year
Place
Winner
Loser
.
712Raor
Muhammad bin Qasim
Dahir
Result: Arabs won Sindh
.
1001Peshawar
Mahmud of Ghazni
Jayapala
Result: Turks won Punjab
.
1192Tarain
Muhammad of Ghor
Prithviraj Chauhan
Result: Turks won north India
.
1527Khanua
Babur
Rana Sanga
Result: Mughals won north India
.
1556Panipat
Akbar
Hemu
Result: Mughals retook north India
.
1565Talikote
Bahmani sultanates
Vijayanagara Empire
Result: Last great Hindu kingdom was destroyed
.
1746Madras
French
Anwar-ud-din (Carnatic)
Result: Showed Europe's military superiority over India
.
1757Plassey
East India Company
Siraj-ud-daula (Bengal)
Result: British won east India
.
1761Panipat
Ahmed Shah Abdali
Marathas
Result: Maratha power was shattered
.
1764Buxar
East India Company
Mir Qasim (Bengal)
Shuja-ud-daula (Awadh)
Shah Alam (Delhi)
Result: British became the most powerful force in India

16 January 2011

The Best Books on India's History

Which are the best books on India's history?

1. India: A History – John Keay

2. Ancient India – Ram Sharan Sharma

3. Medieval India – Satish Chandra

4. Modern India – Bipan Chandra

5. Advanced History of India – Raychaudhuri, Datta & Majumdar

Please let me know about other good books on Indian history.

04 January 2011

The Greatest Men/Leaders of the 20th Century

Who were the greatest men/leaders of the 20th century? For better or worse, these were the men who shaped the world of the 20th century:

1. Vladimir Lenin
2. Adolf Hitler
3. Winston Churchill
4. Franklin Roosevelt
5. Joseph Stalin
6. Mohandas Gandhi
7. Vallabhbhai Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru
8. Mao Zedong
9. Deng Xiaoping
10. Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan

1. Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924)
- For creating a new political and economic system, and imposing it over a sixth of the world's area.
- For creating a system that eventually covered a third of mankind, and lasted for seventy years.

2. Adolf Hitler (1889–1945)
- For starting the most destructive war in human history.
- For taking hatred, cruelty and barbarism to depths never seen before.

3. Winston Churchill (1874–1965)
- For standing alone in the war against Fascism.
- For his inspiring leadership of his country in the fight against Fascism.

4. Franklin Roosevelt (1882–1945)
- For his courageous leadership of the fight against Fascism.
- For saving capitalism and economic freedom from the Great Depression.

5. Joseph Stalin (1878–1953)
- For defeating Fascism with his brave and patriotic people.
- For turning his country into an industrial giant and the world's second superpower.

6. Mohandas Gandhi (1869–1948)
- For defeating the world's largest empire, and freeing the world's second largest country.
- For his saintly leadership of history's only non-violent freedom struggle.

7. Vallabhbhai Patel (1875–1950) and Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964)
- For uniting the world's second largest country from 565 pieces.
- For helping it survive as a united, stable and peaceful democracy.

8. Mao Zedong (1893–1976)
- For bringing the world's largest country under Communism.
- For being the supreme leader of a fifth of mankind for thirty years.

9. Deng Xiaoping (1904–1997)
- For bringing a fifth of humanity into the Modern Age.
- For building the second most powerful nation in the world.

10. Mikhail Gorbachev (1931– ) and Ronald Reagan (1911–2004)
- For ending the Cold War with their vision and statesmanship.
- For bringing an end to Communism with his glasnost and perestroika.

Here is TIME magazine's list of the 20th century's "greatest leaders and revolutionaries".

03 January 2011

Eric Hobsbawm: History of the Modern World

British historian Eric Hobsbawm has written a two-part (four-volume) history of the modern world:

A. 19th century

1. Age of Revolution: 1789–1848

2. Age of Capital: 1848–1875

3. Age of Empire: 1875–1914

B. 20th century

4. Age of Extremes: 1914–1991

Special thanks to Pub (Deepak B) for lending me these books.