Class 11th

Class 11 Political Science Notes Chapter 3 Election and Representation

• The modem period is considered as the age of democracy where participation of people ensured at every level of government. In the words of Abraham Lincoln. “Democracy the government of the people, for the people and by the people”.
• mocracy can be classified into two types, i.e. Direct Democracy and Indirect Democracy.
• ancient times, the direct democracy was prominent due to small sizes of kingdoms but , iow the states are vast alongwith higher population.
• In an indirect democracy, the people do not participate directly but they participate indirectly through their elected representatives who act in accordance with the wishes of the people.
• Indian Electoral System experiences some unique features as Universal Adult Franchise, Joint Electorate, Combination of direct and indirect elections, secret Ballot system, Election petition, etc.
• By Universal Adult Franchise, we mean every person above the age of maturity (18 years and above) is entitled to enjoy the right to vote in elections irrespective of caste, creed , colour, race, language, religion, etc.
• The age of attaining maturity is fixed by the state. In India, England and Russia, it is 18 years, in Switzerland 20 years and in America 21 years and in Norway it is 23 years.
• Adult franchise has many merits. It provides political training and education as well as creates the feelings of self-respect among the people. It ensures participation of people in governance.
• The constitution of India appoints our Election Commission also to perform election related activities, i.e. to prepare voters’ list, provide recognition to political parties, declares constituencies and control over the machinery of election.
• The election process begins with the election notification issued by the president under section 14 of the People’s Representation Act, 1951, which is followed by the announcement of election dates by the Election Commission.
• Though Election Commission performs its duties very well, despite the following discrepancies have been observed during elections:
  • Use of money and use of power by candidates has become dominant.
  • In actual, voters do not create much interest in the elections.
  • Misuse of public funds and facilities.
  • Even the candidate less than majority of votes becomes victorious.
• The following suggestions might be there to remove the drawbacks mentioned above:
  • To control money and muscle power
  • The participation of women should be encouraged.
  • The persons from criminal background should be prohibited.
  • During election campaign, the candidates should not use words related to any caste, religion, language, etc.

Important terms:

• First Past the Post System (FPTP): In this system whoever has more votes than all other candidates is declared elected.
• Proportional Representation (PR): Large geographical areas are demarcated as constituencies.
• Universal Adult Franchise: Every person above the age of maturity enjoys the right to vote without any discrimination.
• Democracy: A rule or government of the people, for the people and by the people.

Class 11 Political Science Notes Chapter 2 Rights and Duties in the Indian Constitution

• Rights are the favorable conditions and guarantees to be provided by a state to its citizens to live up a dignified life.
• These rights can be categorized as Social Rights, Political Rights and Fundamental Rights to procure equality, liberty and social justice into society.
• Fundamental Rights are specially protected to ensure that they are not violated even by the government. Because these are protected by the constitution of the country.
• There are 6 Fundamental Rights guaranteed by Indian Constitution to its citizens:
  • Right to Equality
  • Right to Freedom
  • Right to Freedom of Religion
  • Right against Exploitation
  • Cultural and Educational Rights
  • Right to Constitutional Remedies
• Fundamental Rights except the Right to Life and personal liberty may be suspended only during the emergencies like foreign attacks or internal disturbances.
• South African Constitution grants most extensive range of rights to its citizens including even right to dignity, privacy, fair labour practices, healthy environment, adequate housing, information, etc.
• Indian Constitution contains Directive Principles of State Policy also to establish a welfare state along with the Fundamental Rights.
• The judiciary has the power to enforce the Fundamental Rights but the Directive Principles of State are not enforceable by law.
• By the 42nd amendment, in 1976, the Fundamental Duties have also been inserted which are ten in numbers to defend our country, promote harmony and protect the environment.
• The inclusion of fundamental duties has not changed the status of our fundamental rights.

Important terms:

• Rights: These are guarantees to citizens to live up a social life in a dignified manner.
• Duties: A performance towards others or society to enjoy rights.
• Constitutional Remedies: Protective arrangements to citizens by the Constitution against any exploitation.
• Exploitation: The act of doing injustice with others in any manner.
• Begar: A forced labour without payment.
• Minorities: These are the groups having common language or religion and in a particular part of the country or in a country as a whole, these are out-numbered by some other social sections.
• Marginalized Communities: Communities left ignored like Dalits, OBCs, Weaker sections,, etc.

Notes of Ch 1 Constitution: Why and How? | Class 11th Political Science

What is a Constitution?

• A constitution is a body of fundamental principles according to which a state is constituted or governed. 

Why do we need a Constitution?

• We need a constitution to provide a set of basic rules that allow for minimal coordination amongst members of a society which are legally enforceable.

Who can decide which rules are the best to suite for a society?

• The constitution specifies the basic allocation of power in a society.

• It decides who gets to decide what the laws will be.

• In the Indian Constitution, it is specified that in most instances, Parliament gets to decide laws and policies, and that Parliament itself be organized in a particular manner.

Functions of Constitution:

• The first function of a constitution is to provide a set of basic rules that allow for minimal coordination amongst members of a society.

• The second function of a constitution is to specify who has the power to make decisions in a society. It decides how the government will be constituted.

• The third function of a constitution is to set some limits on what a government can impose on its citizens. These limits are fundamental in the sense that government may never trespass them.

• The fourth function of a constitution is to enable the government to fulfil the aspirations of a society and create conditions for a just society.

Fundamental identity of a people:

• Constitution expresses the fundamental identity of a people.

• The people as a collective entity come into being only through the basic constitution. 

• Constitutional norms are the overarching framework within which one pursues individual aspirations, goals and freedoms.

• The constitution sets authoritative constraints upon what one may or may not do.

• It defines the fundamental values that we may not trespass. So the constitution also gives one a moral identity.

• Many basic political and moral values are now shared across different constitutional traditions.

Mode of promulgation

This refers to how a constitution comes into being. Who crafted the constitution and how much authority did they have?

In many countries constitutions remain defunct why?

• Crafted by military leaders
• Leaders who are not popular
• Do not have the ability to carry the people with them.

Why Countries like India, South Africa and the United States are the most successful constitutions?

• Created in the aftermath of popular national movements.

Indian Constitution overview:

• Formally created by a Constituent Assembly between December 1946 and November 1949.

• Drew upon a long history of the nationalist movement that had a remarkable ability to take along different sections of Indian society together.

• Drew enormous legitimacy from the fact that it was drawn up by people who enjoyed:
→ Immense public credibility

→ Who had the capacity to negotiate and command the respect of a wide cross-section of society,
→ Who were able to convince the people that the constitution was not an instrument for the aggrandizement of their personal power.

Provision of the Constitution:

• It gives everyone in society some reason to go along with its provisions.

• Allowed permanent majorities to oppress minority groups within society.

• Systematically privileged some members at the expense of others, or that systematically entrenched the power of small groups in society, would cease to command allegiance.

• The more a constitution preserves the freedom and equality of all its members, the more likely it is to succeed.

Balanced Institutional Design:

• Designing of a constitution is to ensure that no single institution acquires monopoly of power.

• For E.g. The Indian Constitution horizontally fragments power across different institutions like the Legislature, Executive and the Judiciary and even independent statutory bodies like the Election Commission.

• This ensures that even if one institution wants to subvert the Constitution, others can check its transgressions.

• An intelligent system of checks and balances has facilitated the success of the Indian Constitution.

• A constitution must strike the right balance between certain values, norms and procedures as authoritative, and at the same time allow enough flexibility in its operations to adapt to changing needs and circumstances.

• Too rigid a constitution is likely to break under the weight of change; a constitution that is, on the other hand, too flexible, will give no security, predictability or identity to a people.

How was the Indian Constitution made?

• Constitution was made by the Constituent Assembly which had been elected for undivided India.

• First sitting on 9 December 1946 and re-assembled as Constituent Assembly for divided India on 14 August 1947.

• Members were elected by indirect election by the members of the Provisional Legislative Assemblies that had been established in 1935.

• The Constituent Assembly was composed roughly along the lines suggested by the plan proposed by the committee of the British cabinet, known as the Cabinet Mission.

According to Cabinet Mission Plan:

• Each Province and each Princely State or group of States were allotted seats proportional to their respective population roughly in the ratio of 1:10,00,000.

• The seats in each Province were distributed among the three main communities, Muslims, Sikhs and General, in proportion to their respective populations.

• Members of each community in the Provisional Legislative Assembly elected their own representatives by the method of proportional representation with single transferable vote.

• The method of selection in the case of representatives of Princely States was to be determined by consultation.

Procedures

• The Constituent Assembly had eight major Committees on different subjects. Usually, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Patel, Maulana Azad or Ambedkar chaired these Committees.

• Each Committee usually drafted particular provisions of the Constitution which were then subjected to debate by the entire Assembly. ✓ Some provisions were subject to the vote.

• An Assembly as diverse as the Constituent Assembly of India could not have functioned if there was no background consensus on the main principles the Constitution should enshrine.

Objective Resolutions

• It defined the aims of the Assembly.

• Moved by Nehru in 1946.

• This resolution encapsulated the aspirations and values behind the Constitution. Based on this resolution, our Constitution gave institutional expression to these fundamental commitments: equality, liberty, democracy, sovereignty and a cosmopolitan identity.

Main points of the Obiectives Resolution

• India is an independent, sovereign, republic.

• India shall be a Union of erstwhile British Indian territories, Indian States, and other parts outside British India and Indian States as are willing to be a part of the Union.

• Territories forming the Union shall be autonomous units and exercise all powers and functions of the Government and administration, except those assigned to or vested in the Union.

• All powers and authority of sovereign and independent India and its constitution shall flow from the people.

• All people of India shall be guaranteed and secured social, economic and political justice; equality of status and opportunities and equality before law; and fundamental freedoms – of speech, expression, belief, faith, worship, vocation, association and action – subject to law and public morality.

• The minorities, backward and tribal areas, depressed and other backward classes shall be provided adequate safeguards.

• The territorial integrity of the Republic and its sovereign rights on land, sea and air shall be maintained according to justice and law of civilized nations.

• The land would make full and willing contribution to the promotion of world peace and welfare of mankind.

Institutional arrangements

• The Constituent Assembly spent a lot of time on evolving the right balance among the various institutions like the executive, the legislature and the judiciary.

• Adoption of the parliamentary form and the federal arrangement, which would distribute governmental powers between the legislature and the executive on the one hand and between the States and the central government on the other hand.

Borrowed Constitution

From British Constitution

• Nominal Head – President (like Queen)
• Cabinet System of Ministers
• Post of PM
• Parliamentary Type of Govt.
• Bicameral Parliament
• Lower House more powerful
• Council of Ministers responsible to Lower House
• Speaker in Lok Sabha
• First past the Post
• Law Making Procedure
• The idea of the rule of law

From US Constitution

• Nominal Head – President (like Queen)
• Cabinet System of Ministers
• Post of PM

• Parliamentary Type of Govt.

• Bicameral Parliament
• Lower House more powerful
• Council of Ministers responsible to Lowe House

• Speaker in Lok Sabha

From USSR
• Fundamental Duties
• Five year Plan

• From Australia

• Concurrent list

• Language of the preamble
• Provision regarding trade, commerce and intercourse

From Australia

• Concurrent list

• Language of the preamble
• Provision regarding trade, commerce and intercourse

From Japan

• Law on which the Supreme Court function.

From Weimar Constitution of Germany

• Suspension of Fundamental Rights during the emergency.

From Canada

• Scheme of federation with a strong centre
• Distribution of powers between centre and the states and placing.
• Residuary Powers with the centre

From Ireland

• Concept of Directive Principles of States Policy(Ireland borrowed it from Spain)
• Method of election of President

• Nomination of members in the Rajya Sabha by the President

Class 11 History Notes Chapter 11 Paths to Modernization

• China and Japan present a marked physical contrast.
• China is a vast continental country with many climatic zones.
• China and Japan are situated in far East Asia.
• China dominated the East in the beginning of the 19th century.
• China is dominated by three major rivers. These rivers are Huang He, the Yangtse and the Pearl river.
• A large part of China is mountainous.
• The most dominant ethnic group of China is ‘Han’ and the major language is Chinese ‘Putonghua’.
• Chinese foods reflect the regional diversity. The best known is southern or cantonese cuisine.
• Japan was divided into more than 250 domains under the rule of lords called daimyo.
• Japan is situated in the Pacific ocean.
• Japan is a string of islands. It is an archipelago consisting of more than 3,000 islands. Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku and Hokkaido are the four largest islands of Japan.
• Japan is also known as the ‘Land of Rising Sun’.
• The Shoguns made Edo, the capital of Japan.
• The tradition of animal rearing is not prevalent.
• Edo is modem Tokyo.
• Japanese emperor was known as Mikado.
• Uighur, Hui, Manchu and Tibetan are the other nationalities of the Chinese.
• The Samurai were warriors and helped the Shogun in running the administration.
• Printing was done with wood blocks in Japan. The Japanese were not interested in European printing.
• Edo, the capital city of Japan became the most populated city in the middle of the 17th century.
• The Meiji restoration is termed as one of the most momentous events in the Japanese history.
• In 1871, under Meiji’s rule feudalism was abolished.
• Tokyo University was established under the rule of Meiji in 1877.
• Military reforms were also introduced during Meiji rule.
• In 1872, modem banking institutions were launched.
• Under Meiji’s rule new constitution was introduced.
• In 1889, Japan adopted the new constitution.
• Miyake Setsurei was a well-known Japanese philosopher.
• Miyake Setsurei believed that every nation must develop its special talent in the interest of the world civilization.
• In Sino-Japanese War in 1894-95, China faced a humiliating defeat at the hands of Japanese.
• On April 17,1895, Treaty of Shimoneski was signed between China and Japan.
• Defeat of China at the hands of Japan made China vulnerable.
• The Chinese declared after the war that both China and Japan needed reforms for modernization.
• Sino-Japanese war served the basis for the Anglo-Japanese alliance in 1902.
• Two opium wars were fought between China and England between 1839-42 and 1856-60 respectively.
• After the decline of Manchu empire, a republic was established in 1911 in China.
• In 1912, Dr. Sun Yat-sen formed a national party of China. It was known as Guomindang.
• The People’s Republic of China came into existence in 1949.
• In 1949, Communist Government was established in China and began a new age in the history of China.

Important terms:

• Soviet: Elected council of peasants and workers
• Daimyo: Lords of the domain under their possession.
• Shogun: Official title of sell-Taishogun.
• Zaibastu: Large business houses controlled by individual families.
• Triangular trade: Trade carried out among three countries.
• Comintern: Communist International
• Meiji: Enlightened rule
• Fukoku Kyohei: Government slogan given during Meiji period, which means rich country and strong army.
• Dim sum: Touch your heart.

Timeline
1603	Tokugawa Ieyasu establishes the Edo Shogunate.
1630	Japan closes country to Western powers except for restricted trade with the Dutch.
1839 – 60	Two Opium Wars. These wars were fought between China and Britain.
1868	Restoration of Meiji
1872	Compulsory education system. First railway line between Tokyo and Yokohama
1889	Meiji Constitution was enacted.
1894 – 95	War between Japan and China
1904 – 05	War between Japan and Russia
1912	Sun Yat-sen found Guomingdang
1914 – 18	The period of First World War
1921	CCP was founded.
1925	Universal male suffrage was granted.
1926 – 49	Civil Wars in China
1931	Japan’s invasion on China
1934	Long March
1945	Atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were dropped.
1949	People’s Republic of China Chiang Kai- shek found Republic of China in Taiwan
1956	Japan becomes a member of the United Nations.
1962	China attacks on India over border dispute

Displacing Indigenous People class 11 Notes History  chapter 10

SNIPPETS FROM THE CHAPTER

Sources

• Oral History of natives
• Historical and fiction work written by natives
• Galleries and Museums of native art
• Why Weren’t We Told? by Henry Reynolds

EUROPEAN IMPARTATION 

• The American empires of Spain and Portugal did not expand after the seventeenth century.
• During that time other countries like France, Holland and Britain began to extend trade activities and establish colonies in America, Africa and Asia.
• Ireland also was virtually a colony of England, as the landowners there were mostly English settlers.
• Prospect of profit drove people to establish colonies.
• Nature of the control on the colonies varied.
• Trading companies became political power in South Asia, defeated rulers, retained administrative system.
• Collected taxes and built railway to make trade easier, excavated mines and established big plantation.
• Africa was divided as colonies among Europeans.

Settlers & Natives

The word ‘Settler‘ is used for Dutch in South Africa, the British in Ireland. New Zealand and Australia and Europeans in America.
The native people led a simple life. They did not clam their rights over land.

NORTH AMERICA: The Native Peoples

• The inhabitants might have come from Asia through a land bridge across the Bering straits, 30000 years before.
• They used to live in groups along river valley before the advent of Europeans.
• They ate fish and meat, and cultivated vegetables and maize.
•  Goods were obtained not by buying, but by gifts. They believed in subsistence economy.
• They spoke numerous language but those are not available in written form.
• They were friendly and welcoming to Europeans.
• The Europeans gave the them blankets, iron vessels, guns, which was a useful supplement for bows and arrows to kill animals, and alcohol in exchange of local products.
• The natives had not known alcohol earlier, and they became addicted to it, which suited the Europeans, because it enabled them to dictate terms of trade. (The Europeans acquired from the natives an addiction to tobacco.)

Comparative Study between American natives and Europeans

(a) Natives

• They were uncivilized ‘noble savage’.
• To the natives, the goods they exchanged with the Europeans were gifts, given in friendship.
• They were not aware of the market.
• They were not happy with the greed of the Europeans.
• The natives were afraid that the animals would take revenge for this destruction as  the Europeans slaughtered hundreds of beavers for fur.
• They identified forest tracks invisible to the Europeans.
• Accounts of historical anecdotes were recorded by each tribe.

(b) Europeans

• They were civilized in terms of literacy, an organised religion and urbanism.
• Gift, were commodities which they would sell for a profit.
• They assessed everything with the value in the market.
• To get furs, they had slaughtered hundreds of beavers.
• They killed wild animals to protect farms.
• European imagined the forest to be converted into green cornfields.

THE GOLD RUSH AND GROWTH OF INDUSTRIES

• In the 1840s, traces of gold were found in the USA, in California. This led to the ‘Gold Rush’, when thousands of eager Europeans hurried to America in the hope of making a quick fortune.
• This led to building of railway lines across the continent.
• Industries developed to manufacture railway equipment.
• To produce machinery which would make large-scale farming easier
• Employment generation led to growth of towns and factories.
• In 1860, the USA was an undeveloped economy, but within 30 years, in 1890 it was the leading industrial power in the world.

 Natives Constitutional Rights in North America

**British colonies in America declared a war against England in 1776 to gain independence.The War of Independence of the colonies continued till 1783.

• Democratic Rights: The ‘democratic spirit’ which had been the rallying cry of the settlers in their fight for independence in the 1770s, came to define the identity of the USA against the monarchies and aristocracies of the Old World. The natives were denied the democratic rights (the right to vote for representatives to Congress and for the President), because it was only for white men.
• Right to Property: The concept of private property emerged and people wanted that their constitution included the individual’s ‘right to property’, which the state could not override. But this right was exclusive only to the Whites.

Winds of change

• From 1920s, things began to improve for the native peoples of the USA and Canada.
• White Americans felt sympathy for the natives. In the USA, the Indian Reorganisation Act of 1934, which gave natives in reservations the right to buy land and take loans.
• In the 1950s and 1960s, the US and Canadian governments thought of ending all special provisions for the natives in the hope that they would ‘join the mainstream’.
• In 1954, in the ‘Declaration of Indian Rights’ prepared by them, a number of native peoples accepted citizenship of the USA.
• In Canada, the Constitution Act of 1982 accepted the existing aboriginal and treaty rights of the natives.
• American President Abraham LIncoln played a key role in the abolition of the slavery.

AUSTRALIA

Backgroud:

• Dutch explorer Williem Jansz reached Australia in 1606.
• A.J Tasman followed the route of Jansz and found New Zealand. The Tasmanian islands are named after him.
•  British explorer, James Cook, reached the island of Botany Bay in 1770 and named it New South Wales.
• The ‘aborigines’ (a general name given to a number of different societies) began to arrive from New Guinea, which was connected to Australia by a land-bridge on the continent, over 40,000 years ago.
• In the late eighteenth century, there were between 350 and 750 native communities in Australia each with its own language.
• There is another large group of indigenous people living in the north, called the Torres Strait Islanders. The term ‘Aborigine’ is not used for these as they are believed to have migrated from elsewhere and belong to a different race.

Early Settlers:

• Early settlers were convicts deported from England.
• When their jail term ended, were allowed to live as free people in Australia on condition that they did not return to Britain.
• Since they had no other alternative but to stay there, they felt no hesitation about ejecting natives from land they took over for cultivation.
• Natives were employed in farms under conditions of work so harsh that it was little different from slavery.
• Later, Chinese immigrants provided cheap labour but they did not want to depend on non-whites for they banned Chinese immigration.
• Till 1974, such was the popular fear that ‘dark’ people from South Asia or Southeast Asia might migrate to Australia in large numbers that there was a government policy to keep ‘non-white’ people out.

Things changed

• In 1968, people were electrified by a lecture by the anthropologist W.E.H. Stanner, entitled ‘The Great Australian Silence’ – the silence of historians about the aborigines.
• From 1974, White Australia’ policy ends, Asian immigrants allowed entry. Since then a ‘multiculturalism’ has been official policy in Australia, which gave equal respect to native cultures and to the different cultures of the immigrants from Europe and Asia
• In 1992,  the Australian High Court declares that terra nullius was legally invalid, and recognised native claims to land from before 1770
• In 1995, the National Enquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families.
• Agitations led to a public apology for the injustice done to children in an attempt to keep ‘white’ and ‘coloured’ people apart. On 26 May, 1999  ‘a National Sorry Day’ was observed as an apology for the children ‘lost’ from the 1820s to the 1970s.

chapter 9 Industrial Revolution class 11 Notes History

Meaning & Background

• The term ‘Industrial Revolution’ was used by European scholars – George Michelet in France and Friedrich Engles in Germany.
• It refers to the great change in the field of industries when the production of goods by hand in the houses were replaced with the help of machines in factories.
• The transformation of industry and the economy in Britain between the 1780s and the 1850s is called the ‘first industrial revolution’.
• It was used for the first time in English by the philosopher and economist Arnold Toynbee (1852-83), to describe the changes that occurred in British industrial development between 1760 and 1820. These dates coincided with those of the reign of George III.
• It revolutionised the techniques and organisation of production in the later half of the eighteenth century.

CAUSES

(i) Economic – There was remarkable economic growth from the 1780s to 1820 in the cotton and iron industries, in coal mining, in the building of roads and canals and in foreign trade.

(ii) Political – The series of incidents occurred in British industrial development between 1760 and 1820. These dates coincided with those of the reign of George III.

** Why Britain?:

It had been politically stable since the seventeenth century, with England, Wales and Scotland unified under a monarchy. This meant that the kingdom had common laws, a single currency and a market that was not fragmented by local authorities. Besides, England had great domestic and international market under its control which helped in the growth of Industrial Revolution.

• Towns – From the eighteenth century, many towns in Europe were growing in area and in population. Population of most of the European cities doubled between 1750 and 1800. The largest of them was London, which served as the hub of the country’s markets, with the next largest ones located close to it. London had also acquired a global significance.
• Finance – The Bank of England was founded in 1694.
• Coal & Iron – Coal and Iron ore were important raw materials. Abraham Darby invented the blast furnace in 1709. World’s first iron bridge was built during this period
• Agricultural Revolution – In the eighteenth century, England had been through a major economic change, later described as the ‘agricultural revolution’. This was the process by which bigger landlords had bought up small farms near their own properties and enclosed the village common lands. The agricultural revolution laid down the foundation of the Industrial Revolution.

(iii) Geographical –

• In the seventeenth century, Wales and Scotland were unified. London was the largest city as well as a city of global trade. England had a number of colonies in Asia, Africa and Europe. These helped in obtaining the raw material for industries.
• By the eighteenth century, the centre of global trade had shifted from the Mediterranean ports of Italy and France to the Atlantic ports of Holland and Britain.

CONSEQUENCES

(i) Positive Effects

The onset of textile industry also helped in the emergence of Industrial Revolution.

(a) Invention of Machines in Cotton Industry:

•  The flying shuttle loom invented by John Kay in 1733 revolutionsed the textile industry.
•  The spinning jenny
•  The water frame
•  The mule
•  Powerloom

Road Map of Industrial Revolution

(b) Increase in Production

(c) Introduction of Railways & Canals

Railways took the industrialization to the second stage.

• Thomas Savery built a model steam engine the Miner’s Friend in 1698.
• Another steam engine was built by Thomas Newcomen in 1712. The steam engine had been used only in coal mines until James Watt developed a perfect steam engine in 1769 and established the Soho Foundry in Birmingham.
• James Brindley built the First English Canal in 1761. The ‘canal mania’ prevailed from 1788 to 1796.
• The first steam locomotive, Stephenson’s Rocket, appeared in 1814.
• Richard Trevithick devised an engine – the ‘Puffing Devil’ in 1801 and a locomotive – ‘The Blutcher’ in 1814.
• The First railway line ran between Stockton and Darlington..
• The ‘little railway mania’ prevailed from 1833 to 1837 and the bigger ‘mania’ from 1844 to 1847.

Advantages and Disadvantages  – In the 1830s, the use of canals revealed several problems. The congestion of vessels made movement slow on certain stretches of canals, and frost, flood or drought limited the time of their use. The railways now appeared as a convenient alternative. About 6,000 miles of railway was opened in Britain between 1830 and 1850, most of it in two short bursts. During the ‘little railway mania’ of 1833-37, 1400 miles of line was built, and during the bigger ‘mania’ of 1844-47, another 9,500 miles of line was sanctioned.

(d) Changed life

• Profits: Some rich individuals who took risks and invested money in industries in the hope that profits could be made, and that their money would ‘multiply’. In most cases this money – capital – did multiply. Wealth, in the form of goods, incomes, services, knowledge and productive efficiency, did increase dramatically.
• Huge population: The number of cities in England with a population of over 50,000 grew from two in 1750 to 29 in 1850. This pace of growth was not matched with the provision of adequate housing, sanitation or clean water for the rapidly growing urban population.

(ii) Negative Effects

(a) Condition of workers: There was, at the same time, a massive negative human cost. This was evident in broken families, new addresses, degraded cities and appalling working conditions in factories. The condition of workers was quite miserable. They became victims of restlessness, epidemics and diseases.

(b) Employment of Women and Children in industries: The Industrial Revolution was a time of important changes in the way that children and women worked. The earnings of women and children were necessary to supplement men’s meagre wages. Factory managers considered child labour to be important training for future factory work

(c) Protest Movement

• Meaning: Industrialisation led to greater prosperity for some, but in the initial stages it was linked with poor living and working conditions of millions of people, including women and children. This sparked off protests, which forced the government to enact laws for regulating conditions of work.
• Luddism – Luddism (1811-17) fought for the workers affected by new machines. It was led by the charismatic General Ned Ludd. Its participants demanded a minimum wage, control over the labour of women and children, work for those who had lost their jobs because of the coming of machinery, and the right to form trade unions so that they could legally present these demands.
• Result: The government reacted by repression and by new laws that denied people the right to protest. For this reason they passed two Combination Acts and supported Corn Laws. Through the Act of 1833 more children were put to work in coal mines.

Reform laws

• Laws were passed in 1819 prohibiting the employment of children under the age of nine in factories and limiting the hours of work of those between the ages of nine and sixteen to 12 hours a day
• The Mines and Collieries Act of 1842 banned children under 10 and women from working underground.
• The Ten Hours’ Bill was introduced in 1847, after more than 30 years of agitation. It limited the hours of work for women and young people, and secured a 10-hour day for male workers.
• Fielder’s Factory Act in 1847 prohibited children and women from working more than 10 hours a day.
• In eighteenth century, England witnessed the “Agricultural Revolution and the process of ‘enclosure’.

THE DEBATE

• Until the 1970s, historians used the term ‘industrial revolution’ for the changes that occurred in Britain from the 1780s to the 1820s. From then, it was challenged, on various grounds. Industrialisation had actually been too gradual to be considered a ‘revolution’. It carried processes that already existed towards new levels. England had changed in a regional manner, prominently around the cities of London, Manchester, Birmingham or Newcastle, rather than throughout the country.
• Indicators of economic change occurring before and after 1815-20 suggest that sustained industrialisation was to be seen after rather than before these dates.
• The word ‘industrial’ used with the word ‘revolution’ is too limited. The transformation extended beyond the economic or industrial sphere and into society and gave prominence to two classes: the bourgeoisie and the new class of proletarian labourers in towns and in the countryside

Confrontation of Cultures class 11 Notes History

SNIPPETS FROM THE CHAPTER:

It reflects the encounters between European and the people of the America between fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. The fifteenth century was the age of geographical discoveries mainly influenced by new scientific inventions, travellers’ accounts, political and religious motives, etc.

Reasons:

• In 1942, a Spanish sailor Christopher Columbus discovered America. Later on, Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci came to South America in 1499 and called it a New World.
• Economic motives spurred the European voyages and discoveries.
• The invention of compass in 1380 helped the sailors to sail independently in different directions.
• Astrolabe was invented which helped the sailors to look beyond the normal vision and helped them to avoid the marine danger.
• The Americas are home to many native tribes; the world’s largest river – the Amazon flows here. There were communities of the natives such as the Arawakian Lucayos and the Caribs.

1. Native American Culture

(a) Small Subsistence Economies

(i) Arawaks (Bahamas)

(b) Developed Culture

(i) Aztecs (Mexico)

(ii) Mayas (Central America)

(iii) Incas (West Coast & South America)

THE ARAWAKS (BAHAMAS)

The Arawakian Lucayos lived on a cluster of hundreds of small islands in the Caribbean Sea, today known as the Bahamas, and the Greater Antilles.

Economic activities of Arawaks (Bahamas)

(a) They produced food collectively to feed everyone in the community.
(b) They had self-sufficient economy.
(c) They were skilled boat-buildiers, they sailed the o.pen sea in dugout canoes (canoes made from hollow tree trunks).
(d) They lived by hunting, fishing and agriculture
(e) They grew food products like- corn, sweet potatoes, tubers and cassava.

Religious & social life of Arawaks (Bahamas)

(a) Polygamy was common in their society.
(b) They were animist (they believe that even objects regarded by modern science as ‘inanimate’ may have life or a soul).
(c) Shamans played an important role as healers and intermediaries between this world and that of the supernatural
(d) They were superstitions.

Cultural & Features of Arawaks (Bahamas)

(a) They preferred negotiations to conflict.
(b)  They were very generous host.
(c) The art of weaving was highly developed – the hammock was one of their specialties.

** People called the Tupinamba lived on the east coast of South America, and in villages in the forests (the name ‘Brazil’ is derived from the brazilwood tree).

Political Features of Arawaks (Bahamas)

(a) They were governed by oligarchy as they were organised under clan elders.
(b)  They had no army.
(c) There existed no religious institution.

THE AZTECS (of Mexico)

In the twelfth century, the Aztecs had migrated from the north into the central valley of Mexico (named after their god Mexitli).

Social life of Aztecs

(a) They had hierarchical society.
(b) Nobility was dominant as the nobles chose from among them a supreme leader who ruled until his death.
(c) The king was regarded as the representative of the sun on earth.
(d) Warriors, priests and nobles were the most respected groups, but traders also enjoyed many privileges and often served the government as ambassadors and spies.
(e) They engaged in war.
(f) Aztec women were given special status in the society.

 Economic Activities of Aztecs

(a) The Aztecs undertook reclamations. They made chinampas, artificial islands, in Lake Mexico.
(b) They made canals between fertile lands.
(c) They cultivated food products like – Corns, beans, pumpkin, potatoes, etc.
(d) They had agrarian economy. Land was owned not by individuals but by clans.

Cultural Activities of Aztecs 

(a) They gave special attention the schooling of their children.
(b) Children of the nobility attended the calmecac and were trained to become military and religious leaders.
(c) Others went to the tepochcalli in their neighbourhood, which was the center of learning.

 Political Activity of Aztecs 

(a) In 1325 the capital city Tenochtitlan was built.
(b) The king was their sole leader.
(c) The made conquests and reclaimed territories as land was limited.
(d) They conquered people.
(e) In the early sixteenth century, the Aztec empire was showing signs of strain due to discontent among recently conquered peoples.

THE MAYAS (of Central America)

The Mayan culture of Mexico developed remarkably between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries, but in the sixteenth century they had less political power than the Aztecs. The important Mayan civilisation were Mexico, Honduras, EI-Slavador and Guatemala.

Social life of Mayas 

(a) Their religious ceremonies were based on agriculture.
(b) Their social relation was based on agrarian system.

Economic Activities of Mayas 

(a) They were engaged in corn cultivation.
(b) Efficient agricultural production generated surplus, which helped the ruling classes, priests and chiefs to invest in architecture and in the development of astronomy and mathematics
(c) This surplus helped ruling classes priests and chiefs to invest in architecture and in the development of astronomy and mathematics.

Cultural Activities of Mayas

(a) Made significant development of architecture.
(b) They progressed of astronomy and mathematics.
(c) They devised a pictographic form of writing.
(d) They made Maya Calendar

 Political Activity of Mayas

(a) They had less political power.
(b) Their ruling class was strong.

The Incas were also known as the Quechuas. The capital city – Cuzco was established by the first Inca emperor, Manco Capac in the twelfth century. They spoke Quechan language. The Aztecs and the Incas shared some common feature, e.g, hierarchical societies with no private ownership of resources, and were very different from European culture.

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATION (by Europeans)

• The voyages of discovery were pioneered by explorers from Spain and Portugal.
• The magnetic compass was used by Europeans for the voyages.
• The printed version of Ptolemy’s Geography was available in 1477.
• The Vikings of Norway had reached North America in the eleventh century.
• Portugal gained independence from Spain in 1139.
• Christopher Columbus had reached South America. He also reached the Guanahani Island in the Bahamas in 1492. The two continents were named after Amerigo Vespucci, a geographer from Florence.
• Francisco Pizarro captured the Inca emperor from the ruler, Atahualpa in 1532.
• Brazil was occupied by the Portuguese under command of Pedro Alvares Cabral. They exploited Brazilwood. In 1601, King Philip II of Spain publicly banned forced labour.

Conquest, Colonies and the Slave-Trade

• The uncertain voyages had a lasting consequences for Europe, the Americas and Africa. From the fifteenth century, European maritime projects produced knowledge of continuous sea passages from ocean to ocean. Before this, most of these passages had been unknown to Europeans. In the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, all these feats were accomplished.
• For Europe, the ‘discovery’ of the Americas had consequences for others besides the initial voyagers. Europe became familiar with new crops from America, notably potatoes and chillies. These were then taken by Europeans to other countries like India.
• For the native people of the Americas, the immediate consequences were the physical decimation of local populations, the destruction of their way of life and their enslavement in mines, plantations and mills.
• The sudden destruction of the two major civilisations – those of the Aztecs and the Incas – in America highlights the contrasts between the two cultures in combat. Both with the Aztecs and the Incas, the nature of warfare played a crucial role in terrorizing local inhabitants psychologically and physically.
• The enslavement of the population was a sharp reminder of the brutality of the encounter. Slavery was not a new idea, but the South American experience was new in that it accompanied the emerging capitalist system of production. Working conditions were horrific, but the Spanish regarded the exploitation as essential to their economic gain.

Conclusion

In the early nineteenth century, European settlers in the South American colonies were to rebel against Spain and Portugal and become independent countries, just as in 1776 the thirteen North American colonies rebelled against Britain and formed the United States of America.

Latin America:  South America today is also called ‘Latin America’. This is because Spanish and Portuguese, two of the main languages of the continent, are part of the Latin family of languages. The inhabitants are mostly native European (called Creole), European, and African by origin. Most of them are Catholics. Their culture has many elements of native traditions mixed with European ones.

Class 11 History Notes Chapter 7 Changing Cultural Traditions

• Many significant changes took place in cultural traditions of Europe between 14th to 17th centuries.
• The church mainly influenced the life of people a lot. ‘
• Renaissance is a French word.
• Fall of feudalism, the religious wars between Christians and Muslims, commercial properties, etc. were the main reasons for the rise of Renaissance in Europe.
• Renaissance at first started in Italy. Then it started in Rome, Venice and Florence.
• In 1455, printing press was invented by Gutenberg.
• First printing press was set up by Caxton in 1477 in Europe.
• The invention of printing press increased the volume of books. It also helped in the spread of education.
• Milan, Naples, Venice and Florence gained the status of trade centers because of flourishing of trades.
• Humanism was one of the movements that started in Italy in 14th century.
• Petrarch is known as the ‘Father of Humanism’. He vehemently criticized the superstitions and lifestyle of clergy.
• Dante was an eminent poet and philosopher of Italy.
• Dante is known for his classics, The Divine Comedy.
• William Tyndale (1494-1536) translated the Bible into English in 1506.
• Boccaccio was the greatest writer and humanist.
• Decameron is a classic work of Giovanni Boccaccio. It is the collection of 180 stories.
• Leonardo-da-Vinci was one of the greatest painters. He was born in Florence in the year 1452.
• Mona Lisa’ and ‘The Last Supper’ were the most famous paintings of Leonardo-da-Vinci.
• Michelangelo was another great painter. His greatest painting was ‘The Last Judgement’.
• Nicholas Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler and Issac Newton were well-known scientists of the Renaissance period.
• The theory of the earth as a part of the sun centered system was made popular by Kepler’s Cosmographical Mystery.
• The revolution in science reached at its climax with Newton’s theory of gravitation.
• Aristocratic families dominated the way of life during 14th century medieval Europe.
• Social, political and economic life of people were deeply affected by Renaissance.
• Renaissance aroused the spirit of equality among the people and attacked on the superstitions and rituals prevailing in the society.
• Literature of Renaissance period brought about a great change in political thinking of the people.
• Reformation movement was a protest movement that took place in the 16th century against the church and the pope.
• Martin Luther wrote Ninety-Five Theses challenging the authority of the church.
• Nation-state received new power and vigour from Reformation.
• The Society of Jesus was founded by Ignatius Loyala in 1540. It made an attempt to combat Protestantism.

Important terms:

• Renaissance: A French word meaning rebirth.
• Renaissance man: A person with many interests and skills.
• Document of Indulgences: A document issued by the church which guaranteed a written promise to absolve the holder of all his sins.
• Humanism: A movement which gave priority to present life rather than life thereafter.

Timeline
The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries
1300	Humanism taught at Padua University in Italy
1341	Petrarch given title of ‘Poet Laureate’ in Rome
1349	University established in Florence
1390	Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales published
1436	Brunelleschi designs the Duomo in Florence
1453	Ottoman Turks defeat the Byzantine ruler of Constantinople
1454	Gutenberg prints the Bible with movable type
1484	Portuguese mathematicians calculate latitude by observing the sun
1492	Columbus reaches America
1495	Leonardo da Vinci paints The Last Supper
1512	Michelangelo paints the Sistine Chapel ceiling
The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
1516	Thomas More’s Utopia published
1517	Martin Luther writes the Ninety-Five Theses
1522	Luther translates the Bible into German
1525	Peasant uprising in Germany
1543	Andreas Vesalius writes On Anatomy
1559	Anglican Church established in England, with the king/queen as its head
1569	Gerhardus Mercator prepares cylindrical map of the earth
1582	Gregorian calendar introduced by Pope Gregory XIII
1628	William Harvey links the heart with blood circulation
1673	Academy of Sciences set up in Paris
1687	Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica published

Class 11 History Notes Chapter 6 The Three Orders

• Western European society was divided into three orders between the ninth and the sixteenth centuries.
• The three orders of the western society include:
  • The Clergy
  • The Nobility and
  • The Peasantry.
• Clergy enjoyed special status. They were exempted from paying taxes.
• The nobility also enjoyed a respectable position in the society. People belonging to the nobility were appointed on higher posts in administration, army and the church. They were also exempted from paying certain taxes.
• The peasantry had to pay heavy taxes and had to work very hard to meet their both ends.
• The most important characteristics of the middle age Western European society was the emergence of feudalism.
• Two sections of the third order were:
  • Free Peasants
  • Serfs.
• Free peasants had to deposit a fixed land revenue to the lords.
• Most of the Western European society belonged to the serfs. A lot of restrictions were imposed on them while the peasants were free from such restrictions.
• Serfs were denied to offer prayers in the church. They were ill-treated and forced to work nearly 12 to 16 hours a day.• Feudalism is a German word. It stands for land or an estate. It was regarded as the main the pillar of the Medieval European society.
• Under feudalism, lords were granted their land in exchange for military services and personal loyalty.
• Feudalism originated in France. Later on it spread over to many other countries of Europe like England, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, etc.
• The church played a major role in influencing the Medieval European society.
• Pope was the supreme authority in the church’s institution.
• Some of the famous towns that came into prominence were Venice, Florence, Paris, London, Frankfurt, Milan, Amsterdam, etc.
• The word ‘monastery’ is derived from the Greek word ‘monos’ that means someone who lives alone.
• The drawbacks of the barter system were solved by the use of money.
• St. Benedict Monastery was established in 529 CE in Italy. St. Benedict laid the foundation of this monastery.
• Decline of feudalism in the 16 century paved the way for the rise of nation-state in Europe. French, German and Russian Revolutions occurred in 1789, 1848 and 1917 CE respectively. These revolutions inspired the people of the world also and gave a new way to the world.

Important terms:

• Tithe: A kind of tax collected by the church from the peasants in France. It was l/10th of the total produce.
• Manor: Dwelling area of the landlord.
• Fief: The land given by the lord to the knight.
• Pope: The supreme authority of the church
•  Friars: A group of monks who moved from place to place, preaching to the people and living on charity.

Timeline: Early History of France
481	Clovis becomes king of the Franks.
486	Clovis and the Franks begin the conquest of northern Gaul.
496	Clovis and the Franks convert to Christianity.
714	Charles Martel becomes Mayor of the palace.
751	Martel’s son Pepin deposes the Frankish ruler, becomes king and establishes a dynasty. Wars of conquest double the size of his kingdom.
768	Pepin succeeded by his son Charlemagne \ Charles the Great.
800	Pope Leo III crowns Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor.
840 on wards	Raids by Vikings from Norway.
Eleventh to Fourteenth Centuries
1066	Normans defeat Anglo-Saxons and conquer England
1100 on wards	Cathedrals being built in France
1315-17	Great famine in Europe
1347-50	Black Death
1338-1461	Hundred Years War between England and France
1381	Peasants’ revolts
The New Monarchies
1461-1559	New monarchs in France
1474-1556	New monarchs in Spain
1485-1547	New monarchs in England

Nomadic Empires class 11 Notes History

Nomadic Empires can be said to be an imperial formation constructed by nomadic groups. The Mongols, under the leadership of Genghis Khan, established a transcontinental empire straddling Europe and Asia during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.

Sources: 

• The steppe dwellers themselves usually produced no literature, so our knowledge of nomadic societies comes mainly from chronicles, travelogues and documents produced by city-based litterateurs. These authors often produced extremely ignorant and biased reports of nomadic life.
• The imperial success of the Mongols attracted many travelers. These individuals came from a variety of backgrounds – Buddhist,Confucian, Christian, Turkish and Muslim. Many of them produced sympathetic accounts and others hostile.
• The most outstanding sources of Mongols are Igor de Rachewiltz’s ‘The Secret History of Mongol’ and ‘the Travelogues of Marco Polo’.

Rise of Mongol tribe: 

In the early decades of the thirteenth century the great empires of the Euro-Asian continent realised the dangers posed to them by the arrival of a new political power in the steppes of Central Asia: Genghis Khan (d. 1227) had united the Mongol people.

Background:

• The Mongols were a diverse body of tribal people, spoke similar languages.
• Some of the Mongols were pastoralists while others were hunter-gatherers.The pastoralists tended horses, sheep and cattle, goats and camels.
• They lived nomadic life in the steppes of Central Asia in a tract of land in the area of the modern state of Mongolia. This was a majestic landscape with wide horizons, rolling plains, ringed by the snow-capped mountains, Gobi desert and drained by rivers and springs.
• Agriculture was possible in the pastoral regions but the Mongols did not take to agriculture.The Mongols lived in tents and travelled with their herds from their winter to summer pasture lands.
• These groups were constantly engaged in war with each other.
• Mongol society was patriarchal in nature.

Life and Career of Genghis Khan:

• Genghis Khan was born in 1162 CE, near the Onon Riverin the north of present-day Mongolia.
• His original name was Temujin, he was the son of Yesugei, the chieftain of the Kiyat clan.
• His father was murdered by a tribe at an early age and his mother, Oelun-eke, raised Temujin, his brothers and step-brothers in great hardship.
• Genghis Khan faced many problems in his childhood. Temujin was captured and enslaved for many years.
• Soon after his marriage, his wife, Borte, was kidnapped, and he had to fight to recover her.
• During these years of hardship he also managed to make important friends. The young Boghurchu was his first ally and remained a trusted friend; Jamuqa,his blood-brother was another.
• Temujin became the dominant personality in the politics of the steppe lands, a position that was recognised at an assembly of Mongol chieftains, where he was proclaimed the ‘Great Khan of the Mongols’ with the title Genghis Khan, the ‘Oceanic Khan’or ‘Universal Ruler’.

His conquests: China, Transoxiana, Khwarazm, Samarqand, Herat, Azerbaijan Russia between 1219 to 1222 CE

• The first of his concerns was to conquer China, divided at this time into three realms:the Hsi Hsia dynasty in the north-western provinces,Chin dynasty ruled north China and the Sung dynasty in south China.
• By 1209, the Hsi Hsia were defeated, the ‘Great Wall of China’ was breached in 1213 and long drawn-out battles against the Chin continued until 1234 but Genghis Khan was satisfied enough with the progress of his campaigns to return to his Mongolia
•  Sultan Muhammad, the ruler of Khwarazm, executed Mongol envoys worried of Mongol invasion. In the campaigns between 1219 and 1221 the great cities – Otrar, Bukhara, Samarqand, Balkh, Gurganj, Merv, Nishapur and Herat – surrendered to the Mongol forces.
•  Towns that resisted were devastated by Mongols. A Mongol prince was killed during the siege operation at Nishapur.
• Mongol forces in pursuit of Sultan Muhammad pushed into Azerbaijan and defeated Russian forces. Another wing followed the Sultan’s son, Jalaluddin, into Afghanistan and the Sindh province.

Why did Genghis Khan return to Mongolia without touching India?

At the banks of the Indus, Genghis Khan considered returning to Mongolia through North India and Assam, but the heat, the natural habitat and the ill portents reported by his Shaman soothsayer made him change his mind.

Genghis Khan died in 1227.

His Achievements:

His ability to innovate and transform different aspects of steppe combat into extremely effective military strategies was the most important reason behind his astounding success.

• Organised the army: He made great efforts to organise the army. Strict discipline was maintained in the army. He improved and restructured the army to blend the typical skills of the tribe with the army. The horse-riding skills of the Mongols and the Turks provided speed and mobility to the army. Their abilities as rapid-shooting archers from horseback were further perfected during regular hunting expeditions which doubled chance of victory over the enemies.
• Rigorous training & prepartion:  The steppe cavalry had always travelled light and moved quickly, but now it brought all its knowledge of the terrain. They carried out campaigns in the depths of winter, treating frozen rivers as highways to enemy cities and camps.. He learnt the importance of siege. His engineers prepared light portable equipment, which was used against opponents with devastating effect.

The Mongols after Genghis Khan

The Mongol expansion after Genghis Khan’s death can be divided into two distinct phases –

(i) The first which spanned the years 1236-42 when the major gains were in the Russian steppes, Bulgaria, Poland and Hungary.

(ii) The second phase including the years 1255-1300 led to the conquest of all of China, Iran, Iraq and Syria.

The Mongol military forces met with few reversals in the decades after the 1260s the original impetus of campaigns could not be sustained in the West.

Social, Political and Military Organisation

Social Organisation

• Among the Mongols all the able-bodied, adult males of the tribe bore arms: they constituted the armed forces when the occasion demanded.
• The unification of the different Mongol tribes and subsequent campaigns against diverse people introduced new members into Genghis Khan’s army. It included groups like theTurks, Chinese and Arabs who had accepted his authority willingly.
• The society included groups like the Turkic Uighurs, the defeated people like – the Kereyits. It was a body of heterogeneous mass of people.

Military Organisation

• Genghis Khan worked to systematically erase the old tribal identities of the different groups who joined his confederacy. His army was organised according to the old steppe system of decimal units. Any individual who tried to move from his allotted group without permission received harsh punishment.
• He divided the army into four units and they were required to serve under his four sons and specially chosen captains of his army units called noyan.
•  The soldiers who had served Genghis Khan loyally through grave adversity for many years were publicly honoured some of these individuals as his ‘blood brothers’ and  others were given special ranking as his bondsmen, a title that marked their close relationship with their master.

Political Organisation

The civil system was based on Ulus system. Genghis Khan assigned the responsibility of governing the newly-conquered people to his four sons. These comprised the four ulus.

• The eldest son, Jochi, received the Russian steppes and it extended as far west as his horses could roam.
• The second son, Chaghatai, was given the Transoxanian steppe and lands north of the Pamir Mountain adjacent to those of his brother.
• Genghis Khan had indicated that his third son, Ogodei, would succeed him as the Great Khan and on accession the Prince established his capital at Karakorum.
• The youngest son, Toluy, received the ancestral lands of Mongolia. Genghis Khan envisaged that his sons would rule the empire collectively, and to underline this point, military contingents of the individual princes were placed in each ulus.
• The sense of a dominion shared by the members of the family was underlined at the assembly of chieftains, quriltais, where all decisions relating to the family or the state for the forthcoming season campaigns, distribution of plunder, pasture lands and succession were collectively taken.

Development in Trade & communication in Mongolia

• Yam:  Genghis Khan had already fashioned a rapid courier system called yam that connected the distant areas of his regime.
• Qubcur tax: For the maintenance of this communication systemthe Mongol nomads contributed a tenth of their herd – either horses or livestock – as provisions. This was called the qubcur tax, a levy that the nomads paid willingly for the multiple benefits that it brought.
• Territory linking: Once the campaigns had settled, Europe and China were territorially linked with Mongolia. Commerce and travel along the Silk Route reached its peak under the Mongols but, the trade route extended up to Mongolia.
• Baj tax:  Communication and ease of travel was vital to retain the coherence of the Mongol regime and travellers were given a pass for safe conduct. Traders paid the baj tax for the same purpose, all acknowledging thereby the authority of the Mongol Khan.
• Pressure groups: Mongols waged their successful wars against China, Persia, Russia etc there was a strong pressure group within the Mongol leadership that advocated the massacre of all peasantry and the conversion of their fields into pasture lands.

But by the 1270s, Genghis Khan’s grandson, Qubilai Khan appeared as the protector of the peasants and the cities.

The legal code of law – Yasa

• Genghis Khan promulgated Yasa (the code of law) at the Assembly of Mongol Chieftains (quriltai) of 1206. It has elaborated on the complex ways in which the memory of the Great Khan was fashioned by his successors.
• In its earliest formulation the term was written as yasa which meant ‘law’,‘decree’ or ‘order’. Yasa concern administrative regulations: the organisation of the hunt,the army and the postal system.

By the middle of the thirteenth century the Mongols had emerged as a unified people and just created the largest empire the world had ever seen. They ruled over very sophisticated urban societies, with their respective histories, cultures and laws. Although the Mongols dominated the region politically, they were a numerical minority. The one way in which they could protect their identity and distinctiveness was through a claim to a sacred law given to them by their ancestor. The yasa was in all probability a compilation of the customary traditions of the Mongol tribes but in referring to it as Genghis Khan’s code of law.

Conclusion

• For the Mongols, Genghis Khan was the greatest leader of all time: he united the Mongol people. He freed them from interminable tribal wars and Chinese exploitation.He brought them prosperity, fashioned a grand transcontinental empire and restored trade routes and markets that attracted distant travelers and traders.
• Genghis Khan ruled the diverse body of people and faiths.  Although the Mongol Khans themselves belonged to a variety of different faiths – Shaman, Buddhist, Christian and eventually Islam, they never let their personal beliefs dictate public policy.
• The Mongol administration was a multi-ethnic,multilingual, multi-religious regime that did not feel threatened by its pluralistic constitution.
• Today, after decades of Soviet control, the country of Mongolia is recreating its identity as an independent nation. Genghis Khan appeared as an iconic figure for the Mongol People, mobilising memories of a great past in the forging of national identity that can carry the nation into the future.
•  Comparison with the Mongol Empire.Mongols provided ideological models for the Mughals of India.Timur, another monarch who aspired to universal dominion, hesitated to declare himself monarch because he was not of Genghis Khanid descent.