• Fundamental Rights Why Does a Country Need a Constitution?
• A Constitution helps serve as a set of rules and principles that all persons in a country can agree upon as the basis of the way in which they want the country to be governed.
• The constitution also defines the nature of a country’s political system. For example, Nepal’s earlier Constitution stated that the country was to be ruled by the King and his council of ministers.
• The Constitution often lays down rules that guard against this misuse of power by our political leaders. For examples: In the Indian Constitution, many laws contained in the section on Fundamental Rights.
• In a democracy, the Constitution also ensures that a dominant group does not use its power against other, less powerful people or groups.
• The Constitution helps to protect us against certain decisions that we might take that could have an
adverse effect on the larger principles that the country believes in. For example, it is possible that many people who live in a democracy might come to strongly feel that party politics has become so harsh that we need a strong dictator to set this right however, in the long run, dictatorial rule will be not fit.
Key Features of Indian Constitution
Introduction
• The long experience of oppressive rule under the colonial state convinced Indians that free India should be a democracy in which everyone should be treated equally and be allowed to participate in government.
• The Constituent Assembly was formed in 1946 which comprised of 300 members who met periodically for the next three years to write India’s Constitution.
→ Various things are kept in mind while drawing up Constitution as the country was made up of several different communities who spoke different languages, belonged to different religions, and had distinct cultures.
Various Key features of India Constitution
1. Federalism: It means existence of more than one level of government in the country. In India, there are three level of government – centre, state and Panchayati Raj. The Constitution defines the power of each government.
2. Parliamentary Form of Government: Constitution of India guarantees universal adult suffrage
for all citizens means that the people of India have a direct role in electing their representatives. Also,
every citizen of the country, irrespective of his/her social background, can also contest in elections.
3. Separation of Powers: According to the Constitution, there are three organs of the State – the legislature, the executive and the judiciary.
→ The legislature refers to our elected representatives.
→ The executive are group of people who are responsible for implementing laws and running the government.
→ The judiciary refers to the system of courts in this country.
• Each organ check other acts as a check on the other organs of the State which ensures the balance of
power between all three.
4. Fundamental Rights: These rights protect citizens against the arbitrary and absolute exercise of power by the State. These rights are given to individuals against the State as well as against other individuals.
→ The Constitution also guarantees the rights of minorities against the majority.
5. Secularism: A secular state is one in which the state does not officially promote any one religion as the state religion. India, officially do not have any religion.Directive Principles of State Policy
Directive Principles of State Policy: This section ensure greater social and economic reform. It serve as a guide to the independent Indian State to institute laws and policies that help reduce the poverty of the masses.
The Fundamental Rights in the Indian Constitution include:
• Right to Equality: All persons are equal before the law. This means that all persons shall be equally protected by the laws of the country.
→ It also states that no citizen can be discriminated against on the basis of their religion, caste or sex.
• Right to Freedom: This includes the right to freedom of speech and expression, the right to form
associations, the right to move freely and reside in any part of the country, and the right to practise any profession, occupation or business.
• Right against Exploitation: The Constitution prohibits trafficking, forced labour, and children working under 14 years of age.
• Right to Freedom of Religion: Every person has the right to practise, profess and propagate the religion of their choice.
• Cultural and Educational Rights: The Constitution states that all minorities, religious or linguistic, can set up their own educational institutions in order to preserve and develop their own culture.
• Right to Constitutional Remedies: This allows citizens to move the court if they believe that any of their Fundamental Rights have been violated by the State.
• People with their demands and abilities are considered as Human Resources.
• Human resources like other resources are not equally distributed over the world. → They differ in their educational levels, age and sex. Their numbers and characteristics also keep changing. Distribution of Population
• The way in which people are spread across the earth surface is known as the pattern of population distribution.
• The distribution of population in the world is extremely uneven. → More than 90 per cent of the world’s population lives in about 30 percent of the land surface.
• Crowded areas: South and south east Asia, Europe and north eastern North America.
• Almost three-quarters of the world’s people live in two continents Asia and Africa.
• Sixty percent of the world’s people live in just 10 countries.→ These are China, India, USA, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Russian Fed. and Japan. Density of Population
• Population density is the number of people living in a unit area of the earth’s surface. → It is normally expressed as per square km.
• The average density of population in the whole world is 51 persons per square km.
• South Central Asia has the highest density of population.
Factors affecting distribution of Population
Geographical Factors
• Topography: People always prefer to live on plains rather than mountains and plateaus because these areas are suitable for farming, manufacturing and service activities.
→ Example: The Ganga plains are the most densely populated areas of the world while mountains like Andes, Alps and Himalayas are sparsely populated.
• Climate: People usually avoid extreme climates that are very hot or very cold. → Example: Sahara desert is very hot and polar regions of Russia, Canada and Antarctica are cold are sparsely populated.
• Soil: Fertile soils provide suitable land for agriculture. → Example: Fertile plains such as Ganga and Brahmaputra in India, Hwang-He, Chang Jiang in China and the Nile in Egypt are densely populated.
• Water: People prefer to live in the areas where fresh water is easily available. → Example: The river valleys of the world are densely populated while deserts have spare population.
• Minerals: Areas with mineral deposits are more populated. → Example: Diamond mines of South Africa and discovery of oil in the Middle east lead to settling of people in these areas.
Social, Cultural and Economic Factors
• Social: Areas of better housing, education and health facilities are more densely populated. → Example: Pune.
• Cultural: Places with religion or cultural significance attract people. → Example: Varanasi, Jerusalem and Vatican city.
• Economic: Industrial areas attract large number of people as it provide employment opportunities. → Example: Osaka in Japan and Mumbai in India.
Population Change
• Population change refers to change in the number of people during a specific time.
• The change happens due to changes in the number of births and deaths.
• Until the 1800s, the world’s population grew steadily but slowly
→ Large numbers of babies were born, but they died early too as there were no proper health facilities.
→ Also, Sufficient food was not available for all the people.
• In 1804, the world’s population reached one billion.
• In 1959, the world’s population reached 3 billion which is often called population explosion.
• In 1999, 40 years later, the population doubled to 6 billion.
→ The main reason for this growth was that with better food supplies and medicine, deaths were reducing, while the number of births still remained fairly high.
Natural Growth Rate
• Birth rate: The number of live births per 1,000 people.
• Death rate: The number of deaths per 1,000 people.
• Migrations is the movement of people in and out of an area.
• The difference between the birth rate and the death rate of a country is called the natural growth rate.
• The population increase in the world is mainly due to rapid increase in natural growth rate.
Migration
• Migration is another way by which population size changes.
• Emigrants are people who leave a country. → Countries like the United States of America and Australia have gained in-numbers by in-migration or immigration.
• Immigrants are those who arrive in a country. → Sudan is an example of a country that has experienced a loss in population numbers due to out-migration or emigration.
Patterns of Population Change
• Rates of population growth vary across the world.
• Countries like Kenya have high population growth rates as they had both high birth rates and death rates.
• Countries like United Kingdom, population growth is slowing because of both low death and low birth rates.
Population Composition
• Population composition refers to the structure of the population.
→ It tells about age, sex, literacy level, health condition, occupation and income level of population.
• Population pyramid, also called an age-sex pyramid is a way to study the population composition of a country.
• A population pyramid shows → The total population divided into various age groups, example: 5 to 9 years, 10 to 14 years.
→ The percentage of the total population, subdivided into males and females, in each of those groups.
• There are two groups of dependents
→ Young dependents (aged below 15 years) → Elderly dependents (aged over 65 years)
• Those between the age of 15 years and 65 years are working age and are the economically active.
• The population pyramid tells us how many dependents there are in a country.
• The population pyramid of a country in which birth and death rates both are high is broad at the base and rapidly narrows towards the top because although, many children are born, a large percentage of them die in their infancy, relatively few become adults and there are very few old people.
→ Example: Kenya.
• The countries where death rates (especially amongst the very young) are decreasing, the pyramid is broad in the younger age groups, because more infants survive to adulthood.
→ These countries contain a relatively large number of young people and which means a strong and expanding labour force.
→ Example: India.
• The countries where death rates are decreasing allow numbers of people to reach old age.
• Secondary activities or manufacturing change raw materials into products of more value to people. → Example: Pulp changed into paper and paper into a note book.
• Industry refers to an economic activity that is concerned with production of goods, extraction of minerals or the provision of services.
→ Example: Iron and steel industry (production of goods), coal mining industry (extraction of coal) and tourism industry (service provider).
Classification of Industries
• Industries can be classified on the basis:
→ Raw materials
→ Size
→ Ownership
• On the Basis of Raw Materials:
→ Agro based industries: Use plant and animal based products as their raw materials. Examples: Food processing, vegetable oil, cotton textile, dairy products and leather industries.
→ Mineral based industries: Use mineral ores as their raw materials. The products of these industries feed other industries. Example: Iron made from iron ore.
→ Marine based industries: Use products from the sea and oceans as raw materials. Examples: Industries processing sea food or manufacturing fish oil.
→ Forest based industries: Use forest produce as raw materials. Examples: pulp and paper, pharmaceuticals, furniture and buildings.
• On the Basis of Size (refers to the amount of capital invested, number of people employed and the volume of production):
→ Small Scale industries: Use lesser amount of capital and technology. Example: Cottage or household industries where the products are manufactured by hand, by the artisans. Basket weaving, pottery and other handicrafts are products of cottage industry.
→ LargeScale industries: Use higher capital is higher and superior technology. Examples: Silk weaving and food processing industries.
• On the basis of Ownership:
→ Private Sector industries: Owned and operated by individuals or a group of individuals. Examples: Reliance Industries Limited and ITC Limited.
→ Public sector industries: Owned and operated by the government. Examples: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Steel Authority of India Limited.
→ Joint sector industries: Owned and operated by the state and individuals or a group of individuals. Example: Maruti Udyog Limited.
→ Co-operative sector industries: Owned and operated by the producers or suppliers of raw materials, workers or both. Examples: Anand Milk Union Limited and Sudha Dairy.
Factors affecting location of Industries • The factors affecting the location of industries areavailability of: → Raw material → Land → Water → Labour → Power → Capital → Transport → Market
• Sometimes, the government provides incentives like subsidised power, lower transport cost and other infrastructure so that industries may be located in backward areas.
Industrial System
• An industrial system consists of inputs, processes and outputs.
→ Inputs include raw materials, labour and costs of land, transport, power and other infrastructure.
→ The processes include a wide range of activities that convert the raw material into finished products.
→ The outputs are the end product and the income earned from it.
Industrial Regions
• When a number of industries locate close to each other and share the benefits of their closeness, they make a Industrial regions.
• Industrial regions of the world: eastern North America, western and central Europe, eastern Europe and eastern Asia.
• Industrial regions in India: Mumbai- Pune cluster, Bangalore-Tamil Nadu region, Hugli region, Ahmedabad-Baroda region, Chottanagpur industrial belt, Vishakhapatnam-Guntur belt, Gurgaon-Delhi-Meerut region and the Kollam-Thiruvanathapuram industrial cluster.
Distribution of Major Industries
• The world’s major industries are the iron and steel industry, the textile industry and the information technology industry.
• The iron and steel and textile industry are the older industries while information technology is an emerging industry.
Iron and Steel Industry
• This is a feeder industry whose products are used as raw material for other industries.
• The inputs for this industry include raw materials such as iron ore, coal and limestone, along with labour, capital, site and other infrastructure.
• The process of converting iron ore into steel involves many stages. → The raw material is put in the blast furnace where it undergoes smelting. → It is then refined.
• The output obtained is steel which may be used by other industries as raw material. Iron and Steel
• Steel is often called the backbone of modern industry. → Daily use tools, Ships, trains, trucks, and autos are made largely of iron or steel.
• Features of Steel: → Steel is tough and it can easily be shaped, cut, or made into wire. → Special alloys of steel can be made by adding small amounts of other metals such as aluminium, nickel, and copper. → Alloys give steel unusual hardness, toughness, or ability to resist rust.
Timeline of Iron and Steel industry’s location
• Before 1800 A.D. iron and steel industry was located where raw materials, power supply and running water were easily available.
• Between 1850 to 1900 A.D., the ideal location for the industry was near coal fields and close to canals and railways.
• After 1950, iron and steel industry began to be located on large areas of flat land near sea ports because by this time steel works had become very large and iron ore had to be imported from overseas.
• Location of iron and steel industry in the world: Germany, USA, China, Japan and Russia.
• Location of iron and steel industry in India: Bhilai (Chhattisgarh), Durgapur, Burnpur (West Bengal), Rourkela (Odisha), Bokaro, Jamshedpur (Jharkhand).
• Other important steel centres: Bhadravati and Vijay Nagar in Karnataka, Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, Salem in Tamil Nadu. Jamshedpur
• Before independence, Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited (TISCO) was only one iron and steel plant in the country which was privately owned.
• After Independence, the government set up several iron and steel plants. → TISCO was started in 1907 at Sakchi, near the confluence of the rivers Subarnarekha and Kharkai in Jharkhand. Later on, Sakchi was renamed as Jamshedpur.
Why Sakchi was chosen to set up the steel plant
• This place was only 32 km away from Kalimati station on the Bengal-Nagpur railway line.
• It was close to the iron ore, coal and manganese deposits as well as to Kolkata, which provided a large market.
• TISCO, gets coal from Jharia coalfields, and iron ore, limestone, dolomite and manganese from Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
• The Kharkai and Subarnarekha rivers ensured sufficient water supply. Government initiatives provided adequate capital for its later development.
Pittsburgh
• It is an important steel city of the United States of America.
Why iron and steel industry developed in Pittsburgh
• The raw material such as coal is available locally, while the iron ore comes from the iron mines at Minnesota, about 1500 km from Pittsburgh.
→ Between these mines and Pittsburgh, Great Lakes waterway is present which is one of the world’s best routes for shipping ore cheaply.
→ Trains carry the ore from the Great Lakes to the Pittsburgh area.
→ The Ohio, the Monogahela and Allegheny rivers provide adequate water supply.
• Today,, Large steel mills are located in the valleys of the Monogahela and Allegheny rivers above Pittsburgh and along the Ohio River below it.
• Finished steel is transported to the market by both land and water routes.
• Other factories present in Pittsburgh area use steel as their raw material to make many different products such as railroad equipment, heavy machinery and rails.
Cotton Textile Industry
• The textile industry can be divided on the basis of raw materials i.e., fibres used in them.
• Fibres can be of two types:
→ Natural: Obtained from wool, silk, cotton, linen and jute.
→ Man-made: It includes nylon, polyester, acrylic and rayon.
• Till the industrial revolution, cotton cloth was made using hand spinning techniques (wheels) and looms.
• In 18th century, power looms facilitated the development of cotton textile industry, first in Britain and later spread to other parts of the world.
• Important producers of cotton textiles: India, China, Japan and the USA.
• Before the British rule, Indian hand spun and hand woven cloth popular worldwide for their quality and design but the production of hand woven cotton textile was expensive and time consuming.
→ However, the traditional cotton textile industry could not face the competition from the new textile mills of the West, which produced cheap and good quality fabrics through mechanized industrial units.
• The first successful mechanized textile mill was established in Mumbai in 1854.
• Location of cotton textile industry in India:
→ Initially this industry flourished in the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat because of favourable humid climate.
→ But today, humidity can be created artificially, and raw cotton is a pure and not weight losing raw material, so this industry has spread to other parts of the country such as Coimbatore, Kanpur, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ludhiana, Puducherry and Panipat.
Ahmedabad
• It is located in Gujarat on the banks of the Sabarmati river.
• The first mill was established in 1859 after Mumbai.
• It soon became the second largest textile city of India, after Mumbai and was therefore often referred to as the ‘Manchester of India’.
Why textile industry developed in Ahmedabad
• Ahmedabad is situated very close to cotton growing area which ensures easy availability of raw material.
• The climate is ideal for spinning and weaving.
• The flat terrain and easy availability of land is suitable for the establishment of the mills.
• The densely populated states of Gujarat and Maharashtra provide both skilled and semi-skilled
labour.
• Well developed road and railway network permits easy transportation of textiles to different parts of the country, thus providing easy access to the market.
• Mumbai port nearby facilitates import of machinery and export of cotton textiles.
• But in the recent years, Ahmedabad textile mills facing problems.
→ Several textile mills have closed down due to the emergence of new textile centres in the country as well as non-upgradation of machines and technology in the mills of Ahmedabad.
Osaka
• It is an important textile centre of Japan, also known as the ‘Manchester of Japan’.
Why textile industry developed in Osaka
• The extensive plain around Osaka ensured that land was easily available for the growth of cotton mills.
• Warm humid climate is well suited to spinning and weaving.
• The river Yodo provides sufficient water for the mills.
• Labour is easily available.
• Location of port facilitates import of raw cotton and for exporting textiles.
• The textile industry at Osaka depends completely upon imported raw materials.
→ Cotton is imported from Egypt, India, China and USA.
• The finished product is mostly exported and has a good market due to good quality and low price.
• Recently, the cotton textile industry of Osaka has been replaced by other industries, such as iron and steel, machinery, shipbuilding, automobiles, electrical equipment and cement.
Information Technology (IT)
• The information technology industry deals in the storage, processing and distribution of information.
• This industry has become global due to a series of technological, political, and socio-economic events.
• Major hubs of the IT industry of the world: Silicon Valley, California and Bangalore, India.
• There are other emerging information technology hubs in metropolitan centres of India such as Mumbai, New Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai.
→ Other cities such as Gurgaon, Pune, Thiruvanthapuram, Kochi and Chandigarh re also important centres of the IT industry.
Locational advantages Silicon plateau – Bangalore
• Bangalore has the largest number of educational institutions and IT colleges in India.
• The city was considered dust free with low rents and low cost of living.
• The state government of Karnataka was the first to announce an IT Policy in 1992.
• The city has the largest and widest availability of skilled managers with work experience.
Locational advantages of Silicon valley – California
• Close to some of the most advanced scientific and technological centres in the world
• Pleasant climate with an attractive and a clean environment.
• Plenty of space for development and future expansion.
• India is an agriculturally important country as two-thirds of its population is engaged in agricultural activities.
Types of Farming
• There are various types of farming systems in different parts of India are:
→ Primitive Subsistence Farming: It is a ‘slash and burn’ agriculture. It is done with the help of primitive tools like hoe, dao and digging sticks, and family/community labour. The farming depends upon monsoon, natural fertility of the soil and suitability of other environmental conditions to the crops grown.
→ Intensive Subsistence Farming: This type of farming is labour-intensive farming, where high doses of biochemical inputs and irrigation are used for obtaining higher production.This method is commonly done where less land holding is available.
→ Commercial Farming: This type of farming is done using higher doses of modern inputs, e.g. high yielding variety (HYV) seeds, chemical fertilisers, insecticides and pesticides in order to obtain higher productivity.
• Plantation is also a type of commercial farming.
→ In this type of farming, a single crop is grown on a large area.
Cropping Pattern
• India has three cropping seasons
→ Rabi – Rabi crops are sown in winter from October to December and harvested in summer from April to June. Important rabi crops are wheat, barley, peas, gram and mustard.
→ Kharif – Kharif crops are grown with the onset of monsoon in different parts of the country and these are harvested in September-October. Important crops grown during this season are paddy, maize, jowar, bajra, tur (arhar), moong, urad, cotton, jute, groundnut and soyabean.
→ Zaid – In between the rabi and the kharif seasons, there is a short season during the summer months known as the Zaid season. Important crops grown are watermelon, muskmelon, cucumber,
vegetables and fodder crops.
Major Crops
• Major crops grown in India are rice, wheat, millets, pulses, tea, coffee, sugarcane, oil seeds, cotton and jute, etc.
• Rice:
→ Staple food crop
→ Our country is the second largest producer of rice in the world after China.
→ It is a kharif crop which requires high temperature, (above 25°C) and high humidity with annual rainfall above 100 cm.
→ It is grown in the plains of north and north-eastern India, coastal areas and the deltaic regions.
• Wheat:
→ The second most important cereal crop. → It is the main food crop, in north and north-western part of the country.
→ This rabi crop requires a cool growing season with 50 to 75 cm of annual rainfall and a bright sunshine at the time of ripening.
→ Wheat growing regions are the Ganga-Satluj plains in the north- west and black soil region of the Deccan.
• Millets: → Jowar, bajra and ragi are the important millets grown in India.
→ These have very high nutritional value.
• Pulses:
→ India is the largest producer as well as the consumer of pulses in the world.
→ Major source of protein in a vegetarian diet. → These need less moisture and survive even in dry conditions. → Major producing states in India are Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Food Crops other than Grains
• Sugarcane:
→ It is a tropical as well as a subtropical crop.
→ It grows well in hot and humid climate with a temperature of 21°C to 27°C and an annual rainfall between 75 cm. and 100 cm.
→ Major producing states are Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab and Haryana.
• Oil Seeds:
→ The oil seeds covers approximately 12 percent of the total cropped area of the country.
→ These are used as cooking mediums as well as used as raw material in the production of soap, cosmetics and ointments.
• Tea:
→ Tea cultivation is an example of plantation agriculture.
→ It is an important beverage crop introduced in India initially by the British.
→ It requires warm and moist frost-free climate with frequent showers all through the year.
→ Major producing states are Assam, hills of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
• Coffee:
→ Indian coffee is known in the world for its good quality.
→ Its cultivation is confined to the Nilgiri in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
• Horticulture Crops:
→ India is a producer of tropical as well as temperate fruits.
→ India produces about 13 percent of the world’s vegetables.
Non-Food Crops
• Rubber:
→ It is an equatorial crop, but under special conditions, it is also grown in tropical and sub-tropical areas.
→ It requires moist and humid climate with rainfall of more than 200 cm. and temperature above 25°C.
→ It is mainly grown in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andaman and Nicobar islands and Garo hills of Meghalaya.
• Fibre Crops:
→ Cotton, jute, hemp and natural silk are the four major fibre crops grown in India.
→ Rearing of silk worms for the production of silk fibre is known as sericulture.
• Cotton:
→ It is a kharif crop grows well in drier parts of the black cotton soil of the Deccan plateau.
→ It requires high temperature, light rainfall or irrigation, 210 frost-free days and bright sun-shine for its growth.
→ Major producing states are – Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
• Jute:
→ It grows well on well-drained fertile soils in the flood plains where soils are renewed every year.
→ Major jute-producing states West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Odisha and Meghalaya.
→ It is used in making gunny bags, mats, ropes, yarn, carpets and other artefacts.
Technological and Institutional Reforms
• More than 60 percent of India’s population depends on agriculture.
• After independence, major institutional reforms such as Collectivisation, consolidation of holdings, cooperation and abolition of zamindari, etc. were given priority.
• In 1960s and 1970s, technical reforms such as Green Revolution and White Revolution also introduced to improved the condition of agriculture.
• In 1980s and 1990s, various provisions for crop insurance, establishment of Grameen banks, cooperative societies and banks for providing loan facilities to the farmers at lower rates of interest.
• Kissan Credit Card (KCC), Personal Accident Insurance Scheme (PAIS) are some other schemes introduced by the Government of India for the benefit of the farmers.
• Special weather bulletins and agricultural programmes for farmers were introduced on the radio and television.
• Minimum support price, remunerative and procurement prices for important crops to check the exploitation of farmers by speculators and middlemen.
Contribution of agriculture to the national economy, employment and output
• In 2010-11 about 52 percent of the total workforce of India was employed by the farm sector.
• India’s GDP growth rate is increasing over the years but it is not generating sufficient employment opportunities in the country.
Food Security
• The government designed national food security system to ensure the food security to every citizen:
→ It consists of two components
(a) buffer stock and
(b) public distribution system (PDS)
• Food Corporation of India (FCI) is responsible for procuring and stocking foodgrains, whereas
distribution is ensured by public distribution system (PDS).
• PDS is a programme which provides food grains and other essential commodities at subsidised prices in rural and urban areas.
• The primary objective of national food security are:
→ Ensure availability of foodgrains to the common people at an affordable price.
→ The poor should have access to food.
→ Growth in agriculture production
→ Fixing the support price for procurement of wheat and rice, to maintain their stocks.
Impact of Globalisation on Agriculture
• Globalisation is present at the time of colonisation.
→ During the British period, cotton was exported to Britain as a raw material for their textile industries.
• After 1990, the farmers in India have been exposed to new challenges under globalisation.
→ The agricultural products of India are not able to compete with the developed countries because of the highly subsidised agriculture in those countries.
• Genetic engineering is revolutionising the agricultural production now a days.
• Organic farming is also in fashion these days because it is practised without factory made chemicals such as fertilisers and pesticides. Hence, it does not affect environment in a negative manner.
• Indian farmers should diversify their cropping pattern from cereals to high-value crops which will increase incomes and reduce environmental degradation simultaneously.
• A naturally occurring substance that has a definite chemical composition is a mineral.
• Minerals are not equally distributed over space.
• Minerals are formed in different types of geological environments, under varying conditions.
• They are created by natural processes without any human interference.
• They can be identified on the basis of their physical properties such as colour, density, hardness and chemical property such as solubility.
Types of Minerals
• On the basis of composition, minerals are classified mainly as:
→ Metallic
→ Non-metallic minerals
• Metallic minerals contain metal in raw form. → Examples: Iron ore, bauxite, manganese ore.
• Metallic minerals may be ferrous or non-ferrous. → Ferrous minerals contains iron. Examples are iron ore, manganese and chromites. → Non-ferrous mineral does not contain iron but may contain some other metal such as gold, silver, copper or lead.
• Non-metallic minerals do not contain metals. → Examples: Limestone, mica and gypsum and mineral fuels like coal and petroleum.
Extraction of Minerals
• Minerals can be extracted by mining, drilling or quarrying.
• The process of taking out minerals from rocks buried under the earth’s surface is called mining. → Minerals that lie at shallow depths are taken out by removing the surface layer; this is known as open-cast mining. → The mining in which deep bores, called shafts, have to be made to reach mineral deposits that lie at great depths is called is shaft mining.
• Deep wells are bored to take minerals out is called drilling. Petroleum and natural gas are extracted through drilling method.
• Minerals that lie near the surface are simply dug out, by the process known as quarrying.
Distribution of Minerals
• Minerals occur in different types of rocks such as igneous rocks, metamorphic rocks or sedimentary rocks.
→ Generally, metallic minerals are found in igneous and metamorphic rock formations that form large plateaus.
• Metamorphic examples: Iron-ore in north Sweden, copper and nickel deposits in Ontario, Canada, iron, nickel, chromites and platinum in South Africa.
• Sedimentary rock examples: Limestone deposits of Caucasus region of France, manganese deposits of Georgia and Ukraine and phosphate beds of Algeria
Asia
• China and India have large iron ore deposits.
• The continent produces more than half of the world’s tin. → China, Malaysia and Indonesia are among the world’s leading tin producers.
• China also leads in production of lead, antimony and tungsten.
• Asia also has deposits of manganese, bauxite, nickel, zinc and copper. Europe
• It is the leading producer of iron-ore in the world. → Russia, Ukraine, Sweden and France have large deposits of iron ore.
• Minerals deposits of copper, lead, zinc, manganese and nickel are found in eastern Europe and European Russia.
North America
• Mineral deposits in North America are located in three zones: → The Canadian region north of the Great Lakes: Iron ore, nickel, gold, uranium and copper → The Appalachian region: Coal → The mountain ranges of the west: Copper, lead, zinc, gold and silver
South America
• Iron Ore: Brazil
• Copper: Chile and Peru
• Tin: Brazil and Bolivia
• Mineral Oil: Venezuela, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Columbia
• South America also has large deposits of gold, silver, zinc, chromium, manganese, bauxite, mica, platinum, asbestos and diamond.
Africa
• It is the world’s largest producer of diamonds, gold and platinum.
• Gold: South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zaire
• Oil: Nigeria, Libya and Angola.
• Other minerals found in Africa are copper, iron ore, chromium, uranium, cobalt and bauxite.
Australia
• It is the largest producer of bauxite in the world.
• It is a leading producer of gold, diamond, iron ore, tin and nickel.
• It is also rich in copper, lead, zinc and manganese.
• Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie areas of western Australia have the largest deposits of gold. Antartica
• Deposits of coal in the Transantarctic Mountains and iron near the Prince Charles Mountains of East Antarctica is predicted
• Iron ore, gold, silver and oil are also present in commercial quantities.
• Limestone: Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.
• Gold: Kolar in Karnataka has deposits of gold in India. These mines are among the deepest in the world which makes mining of this ore a very expensive process.
• Salt: It is obtained from seas, lakes and rocks. India is one of the world’s leading producers and exporters of salt.
Uses of Minerals
• Minerals are used in many industries.
• Minerals used in various styles for jewellery.
• Copper is another metal used in everything from coins to pipes.
• Silicon, used in the computer industry is obtained from quartz.
• Aluminum obtained from its ore bauxite is used in automobiles and airplanes, bottling industry, buildings and even in kitchen cookware.
Conservation of Minerals
Why to conserve minerals?
• Minerals are a non-renewable resource.
• It takes thousands of years for the formation and concentration of minerals.
• The rate of formation is much smaller than the rate at which the humans consume these minerals.
How to conserve minerals?
• By reducing wastage in the process of mining.
• Recycling of metals is another way in which the mineral resources can be conserved.
Power Resources
• Power or enrgy is necessary for industry, agriculture, transport, communication and defense.
• Those sources which have been in common use for a long time are called Conventionals sources of energy.
• Firewood and fossil fuels are the two main conventional energy sources.
Firewood
• It is widely used for cooking and heating.
• In India, more than fifty per cent of the energy used by villagers comes from fire wood.
Fossil Fuels
• Remains of plants and animals which were buried under the earth for millions of years got converted by the heat and pressure into fossil fuels.
• Coal, petroleum and natural gas are the fossils fuels which are the main sources of conventional energy.
• Fossile fuels are in limited quantities and the rate at which the growing world population is consuming them is far greater than the rate of their formation.
Coal
• Most abundantly found fossil fuel.
• It is used as a domestic fuel, in industries such as iron and steel, steam engines and to generate electricity.
→ Electricity from coal is called thermal power.
• The giant ferns and swamps got buried under the layers of earth millions of years ago converted into Coal. Therefore referred to as Buried Sunshine.
• Producers in the world: China, USA, Germany, Russia, South Africa and France.
• Producers in India: Raniganj, Jharia, Dhanbad and Bokaro in Jharkhand.
Petroleum
• Petroleum is a thick black liquid.
• It is found between the layers of rocks and is drilled from oil fields located in off-shore and coastal areas.
→ This is then sent to refineries which process the crude oil and produce a variety of products like diesel, petrol, kerosene, wax, plastics and lubricants.
• Petroleum and its derivatives are called Black Gold as they are very valuable.
• Producers in the world: Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, USA, Russia, Venezuela, and Algeria.
• Producers in India: Digboi in Assam, Bombay High in Mumbai and the deltas of Krishna and Godavari rivers.
Natural Gas
• Natural gas is found with petroleum deposits and is released when crude oil is brought to the surface.
• It can be used as a domestic and industrial fuel.
• Producers in the world: Russia, Norway, UK and the Netherlands
• Producers in India: Jaisalmer, Krishna Godavari delta, Tripura and some areas off shore in Mumbai.
Why use of Fossile fuels should be checked?
• The sharp increase in our consumption of fossil fuels has led to their depletion at an alarming rate.
• The toxic pollutants released from burning these fuels are also a cause for concern.
Hydel Power
How Hydel Power is generated?
• Rain water or river water stored in dams is made to fall from heights.→ The falling water flows through pipes inside the dam over turbine blades placed at the bottom of the dam.
→ The moving blades then turn the generator to produce electricity. which is called hydro electricity.
• The water discharged after the generation of electricity is used for irrigation.
• One fourth of the world’s electricity is produced by hydel power.
• Producers in the world: Paraguay, Norway, Brazil, and China.
• Important hydel power stations in India: Bhakra Nangal, Gandhi Sagar, Nagarjunsagar
and Damodar valley projects.
Non-Conventional Sources of Energy
Why we need to use non-conventional sources of energy
• The increasing use of fossil fuels is leading to its shortage.
• It is estimated that if the present rate of consumption continues, the reserves of these fuel will get exhausted.
• Also it causes environmental pollution.
Therefore, there is need for using non-conventional sources.
• Examples of non-conventional sources: Solar energy, wind energy, tidal energy.
Solar Energy
• Solar energy trapped from the sun can be used in solar cells to produce electricity.
→ Many of these cells are joined into solar panels to generate power for heating and lighting purpose.
• The technology of utilising solar energy benefits a lot of tropical countries that are blessed with abundant sun shine.
• Solar energy is also used in solar heaters, solar cookers, solar dryers besides being used for community lighting and traffic signals.
Wind Energy
• The high speed winds rotate the wind mill which is connected to a generator to produce electricity.
• Wind farms having clusters of such wind mills are located in coastal regions and in mountain passes where strong and steady winds blow.
• Windfarms are found in Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, UK, USA and Spain.
Nuclear Power
• Nuclear power is obtained from energy stored in the nuclei of atoms of naturally occurring radio active elements like uranium and thorium.
→ These fuels undergo nuclear fission in nuclear reactors and emit power.
• Greatest Producers: USA and Europe.
• Uranium deposits in India: Rajasthan and Jharkhand.
• Thorium is found in large quantities in the Monozite sands of Kerala.
• Nuclear power stations in India: Kalpakkam in Tamilnadu, Tarapur in Maharastra, Ranapratap Sagar near Kota in Rajasthan, Narora in Uttar Pradesh and Kaiga in Karnataka.
Geothermal Energy
• Heat energy obtained from the earth is called geothermal energy.
• The temperature in the interior of the earth rises steadily as we go deeper. → Some times this heat energy may surface itself in the form of hot springs. → This heat energy can be used to generate power.
• Geothermal energy in the form of hot springs has been used for cooking, heating and bathing for several years.
• USA has the world’s largest geothermal power plants followed by New Zealand, Iceland, Philippines and Central America.
• In India, geothermal plants are located in Manikaran in Himachal Pradesh and Puga Valley in Ladakh. Tidal Energy
• Energy generated from tides is called tidal energy.
• Tidal energy can be harnessed by building dams at narrow openings of the sea. → During high tide the energy of the tides is used to turn the turbine installed in the dam to produce electricity.
• Producers in the world: Russia, France and the Gulf of Kachchh in India have huge tidal mill farms. Bio Gas
• Organic waste such as dead plant and animal material, animal dung and kitchen waste can be converted into a gaseous fuel called biogas.
• The organic waste is decomposed by bacteria in biogas digesters to emit biogas which is essentially a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide.
• Biogas is an excellent fuel for cooking and lighting and produces huge amount of organic manure each year.
• Natural Resources are anything that people can use which comes from nature such as land, water, air etc
Land
• One of the most important natural resources
• Covers about thirty percent of the total area of the earth’s surface, however all parts are not habitable.
• The reason behind uneven distribution of population in different parts of the world is mainly due to varied characteristics of land and climate.
• Areas which are normally sparsely populated or uninhabited: rugged topography, steep slopes of the mountains, low-lying areas susceptible to water logging, desert areas, thick forested areas.
• Areas which are densely populated: Plains and river valleys offer suitable land for agriculture.
Land Use
• The different purpose such as agriculture, forestry, mining, building houses, roads and setting up of industries for which land is used is known as land Use.
• The factors that determine use of land are: → Topography → Soil → Climate → Minerals → Availability of water
• Important determinants of land use pattern: → Human factors such as population → Technology
• Land Division on the basis of private land and community land:
→ Private land is owned by individuals
→ Community land is owned by the community for common uses like collection of fodder, fruits, nuts or medicinal herbs. Also called common property resources.
• Population and demands are increasing but land is limited. Many constructional activities are going on also agricultural land is expanding. These are leading to land degradation, landslides, soil erosion, desertification which are major threats to the environment.
Conservation of Land Resources
• Causes of degradation of land resources: Large scale destruction of forest cover and fertile land due to increasing demand.
• How to check present rate of degradation of land resources: → Afforestation → Land reclamation → Regulated use of chemical pesticide and fertilisers → Checks on overgrazing
Soil
• Definition: The thin layer of grainy substance covering the surface of the earth is called soil.
• Soil is made up of organic matter, minerals and weathered rocks found on the earth. Landforms determine the type of soil.
• The right mix of minerals and organic matter make the soil fertile.
Soil Profile
Factors of Soil Formation
• Major Factors: → Nature of the parent rock → Climate
• Other Factors: → Topography → Role of organic material → Time
Below chart (from NCERT Book) explain the various factors of soil formation:
Degradation of Soil
• Soil erosion and depletion are the major threats to soil as a resource.
• Factors for soil degradation:
→ Deforestation
→ Overgrazing
→ Overuse of chemical fertilisers or pesticides
→ Rain wash
→ Landslides
→ Floods.
Soil Conservation
• Methods of Soil conservation
→ Mulching: The uncovered ground between plants is covered with a layer of organic matter like straw. Helps in retaining soil moisture.
Mulching
→ Contour barriers: Stones, grass, soil are used to build barriers along contours. Trenches(Channels) are made in front of the barriers to collect water.
→ Rock dam: Rocks are piled up to slow down the flow of water. This prevents gullies and further soil loss.
→ Terrace farming: Terraces are developed on the steep slopes so that flat surfaces are available to grow crops which helps in reducing surface run-off and soil erosion.
→ Intercropping: Different crops are grown in alternate rows and are sown at different times to protect the soil from rain wash.
→ Contour ploughing: Ploughing parallel to the contours of a hill slope to form a natural barrier
for water to flow down the slope.
→ Shelter belts: In the coastal and dry regions, rows of trees are planted to check the wind movement to protect soil cover.
Water
• Important and renewable resource.
• Three-Fourth’s of earth’s surface is covered with water, therefore the earth is called ‘water planet’.
• Ocean cover two-thirds of the earth’s surface whose water is saline and not fit for human consumption.
• Fresh water accounts for only about 2.7 percent from which 70 percent occurs as ice sheets and glaciers in Antarctica, Greenland and mountain regions which are inaccessible.
• Only 1 percent of freshwater is available and fit for human use which is found as ground water, as surface water in rivers and lakes and as water vapour in the atmosphere.
• Fresh water is therefore, the most precious substance on earth as Water can neither be added nor subtracted from the earth.
• An abundance of water only seems to vary because it is in constant motion, cycling through the oceans, the air, the land and back again, through the processes of evaporation, precipitation and run-off. This is known as Water Cycle.
• Use of water by Humans: not only for drinking and washing but also for agriculture, industries, generating electricity through reservoirs of dams are the other usages.
• Factors responsible for shortages in supply of fresh water:
→ Increasing population
→ Rising demands for food and cash crops
→ Increasing urbanisation
→ Rising standards of living
These leads to either drying up of water sources or water pollution.
Problems of Water Availability
• Areas facing shortages in fresh water supply: Most of Africa, West Asia, South Asia, parts of western USA, north-west Mexico, parts of South America and entire Australia.
• Water shortage may be a result of variation in seasonal or annual precipitation or the scarcity is caused by over-exploitation and contamination of water sources. Conservation of Water resources
• Major Contaminants: Discharge of untreated or partially treated sewage, agricultural chemicals and industrial effluents in water bodies.
• How to control Water pollution: → Forest and other vegetation slow the surface runoff and replenish underground water. → Water harvesting also save surface runoff. → The canals should be properly lined to minimise losses by water seepage. → Using of sprinklers effectively irrigate the area by checking water losses through seepage and evaporation. In dry regions with high rates of evaporation, drip or trickle irrigation is very useful. Natural Vegetation and Wildlife
• The narrow zone of contact between the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere where natural vegetation and wildlife exist is called Biosphere.
• Ecosystem is a network of interactions among organisms, and between organisms and their environment living in a specific space.
• Usefulness of Plants: → Provide timber → Give shelter to animals → Produce oxygen we breathe → Protects soils so essential for growing crops → Act as shelter belts → Help in storage of underground water, → Provide us fruits, nuts, latex, turpentine oil, gum, medicinal plants and also the paper.
• Wildlife includes animals, birds, insects as well as the aquatic life forms.
• Usefulness of Wildlife: → Provide us milk, meat, hides and wool. → Insects like bees provide honey → Help in pollination of flowers → Play important role as decomposers in the ecosystem. → Birds feed on insects and act as decomposers as well.
• Vulture due to its ability to feed on dead livestock is a scavenger and considered a vital cleanser of the environment.
Distribution of Natural Vegetation
• The growth of vegetation depends primarily on temperature and moisture.
• Major vegetation types of the world: → Forests → Grasslands → Scrubs → Tundra
• Heavy rainfall = Huge Trees. Forests flourish in the areas having abundant water supply.
• As the amount of moisture decreases the size of trees and their density reduces.
• In the regions of moderate rainfall short stunted trees and grasses grow forming the grasslands of the world.
• In dry areas of low rainfall, thorny shrubs and scrubs grow which have deep roots and leaves have thorny and waxy surface to reduce loss of moisture by transpiration.
• Tundra vegetation of cold Polar Regions comprise of mosses and lichens.
• Division of forests depending on when they shed their leaves:
→ Evergreen forests: do not shed their leaves simultaneously in any season of the year.
→ Deciduous forests shed their leaves in a particular season to conserve loss of moisture through transpiration.
• Deciduous Forests further classified on their location in different latitudes.
→ Tropical
→ Temperate
• Forest cover all over the world is vanishing rapidly.
Conservation of Natural Vegetation and Wildlife
• Plants give shelter to the animals and together they maintain the ecosystem.
• Changes of climate and human interferences can cause the loss of natural habitats for the plants and animals.
• Many species have become vulnerable or endangered and some are on the verge of extinction.
• Factors (Natural and Man-made) responsible for the process of extinction of great natural resources:
→ Deforestation
→ Soil erosion
→ Constructional activities
→ Forest fires
→ Tsunami and landslides
• Poaching activities are also increasing that result in a sharp decline in the number of particular species. The animals are poached for collection and illegal trade of hides, skins, nails, teeth, horns as well as feathers.
→ Some animals who are poached: Tiger, lion, elephant, deer, black buck, crocodile, rhinoceros, snow leopard, ostrich and peacock.
• Measures for Natural Vegetation and Wildlife:
→ National parks, wildlife sanctuaries, biosphere reserves are made to protect our natural vegetation and wildlife.
→ Conservation of creeks, lakes, and wetlands is necessary to save the precious resource from depletion.
→ Awareness programmes like social forestry and Vanamohatasava should be encouraged at the regional and community level.
→ School children should be encouraged for bird watching and visiting nature camps so that they appreciate the habitat of varied species.
→ Killing and Hunting of birds and animals should be banned.
• In India, killing of lions, tigers, deers, great Indian bustards and peacocks have been banned.
• An international convention CITES has been established that lists several species of animals and birds in which trade is prohibited.
Glossary
• Weathering: The breaking up and decay of exposed rocks, by temperature changes, frost action, plants, animals and man.
• National Park: A natural area designated to protect the ecological integrity of one or more ecosystems for present and future generations.
• Definition: Anything that can be used to satisfy a need is a resource.
• What makes a thing Resource
→ Utility or usability is what makes an object or substance a resource. Example includes Water, textbook etc.
→ Some resources have economic value while some do not. Example: Metals may have an economic value, a beautiful landscape may not. But both satisfy human needs so these are considered as resource.
• Some resources can become economically valuable with time. Example: Grandmother’s home remedies are not economically valuable today. But if they are patented and sold by a medical firm tomorrow, they could become economically valuable.
• Important factors that can change substances into resources:
→ Time
→ Technology
• People themselves are the most important resource. Their ideas, knowledge, inventions and discoveries that lead to the creation of more resources.
• Each invention leads to many others. Example: The discovery of fire led to the practice of cooking
and other processes while the invention of the wheel ultimately resulted in development of newer modes of transport.
Types of Resources
• There are three types of resources:
→ Natural
→ Human made
→ Human
• Resources that are drawn from Nature and used without much modification are called natural resources. For example: air, water, soil, minerals etc.
• The resources which are created from natural resources through human resources are known as human made resources. For example: buildings, bridges, roads etc.
• People are human resources. It refers to the quantity and abilities of the people. Natural Resources
• Many of natural resources are free gifts of nature.
• These can be used directly but in some cases we have to use tools and technology may be needed to use a natural resource to utilize it in best possible way.
• Natural resources are classified into different groups depending upon their level of development and use; → Origin → Stock → distribution
• On the basis of their development and use resources it can be classified into two groups:
→ Actual resources: Those resources whose quantity is known. These resources are being used in the present. For Example: The dark soils of the Deccan plateau in Maharashtra
→ Potential resources: Those whose entire quantity may not be known and these are not being used at present. This is due to the present level of technology is not advanced enough to easily utilise these resources. For Example: The uranium found in Ladakh is a potential resource that could be used in the future.
• Based on their origin it can be classified into two groups:
→ Abiotic resources: Non-living resources. Example includes Soil, Water, rocks etc.
→ Biotic resources: Living resources. Exampl includes Plants and animals.
• On the basis of Stock:
→ Renewable resources: Those which get renewed or replenished quickly. For example solar energy, soil, forest etc.
Some of these are unlimited and are not affected by human activities such as solar or wind energy while careless use of certain renewable resources like water, soil and forest can affect their stock.
→ Non-renewable resources: Those which have a limited stock. For example: Coal, Petroleum etc.
Once the stocks are exhausted it may take thousands of years to be renewed or replenished. Therefore, they are considered as non-renewable.
• On the basis of their distribution resources:
→ Ubiquitous: Resources that are found everywhere like the air we breathe, are ubiquitous. For Example: air, water etc.
→ Localised: Resources that are found in only certain places are localised. For Example: Copper, Iron Ore etc.
• The distribution of resources is unequal over earth and depends upon number of physical factors like terrain, climate and altitude.
Human Made Resources
• Natural substances become resources only when their original form has been changed. For Example: Iron ore was not a resource until people learnt to extract iron from it.
• Technology is also a human made resource. Human Resources
• People use the nature in the best possible way using their knowledge, skill and the technology. Therefore, they considered as human resources.
• Education and health help in making people a valuable resource.
• Improving the quality of people’s skills so that they are able to create more resources is known as human resource development.
Conserving Resources
• Using resources carefully and giving them time to get renewed is called resource conservation.
• Sustainable development is the development meets the needs of present and also conserve them for the future.
• Principles of Sustainable development: → Respect and care for all forms of life → Improve the quality of human life → Conserve the earth’s vitality and diversity → Minimise the depletion of natural resources → Change personal attitude and practices toward the environment → Enable communities to care for their own environment.
• It is our duty to ensure that: → All uses of renewable resources are sustainable → The diversity of life on the earth is conserved → The damage to natural environmental system is minimised.
Glossary
• Patent: It means the exclusive right over any idea or invention.
• Technology: It is the application of latest knowledge and skill in doing or making things.
• Stock of Resource: It is the amount of resources available for use.
• Sustainable Development: Carefully utilising resources so that besides meeting the requirements of the present, also takes care of future generations.
• India was the people of India where all the people irrespective of class, colour, caste, creed, language, or gender resides.
• The British were exercising control over the resources of India.
• The political associations were started forming after 1850, especially those that came into being in the 1870s and 1880s.
• The important ones were the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha, the Indian Association, the Madras Mahajan Sabha, the Bombay Presidency Association, and of course the Indian National Congress.
• The Arms Act was passed in 1878, disallowing Indians from possessing arms.
• In the same year the Vernacular Press Act was also enacted in an effort to silence those who were critical of the government.
• The Indian National Congress was established when 72 delegates from all over the country met at Bombay in December 1885. → The early leadership – Dadabhai Naoroji, Pherozeshah Mehta, Badruddin Tyabji, W.C. Bonnerji, Surendranath Banerji, Romesh Chandra Dutt, S. Subramania Iyer, among others – was largely from Bombay and Calcutta.
A nation in the making
• The Congress in the first twenty years was “moderate” in its objectives and methods.
• It demanded that Indians be placed in high positions in the government. → For this purpose it called for civil service examinations to be held in India as well.
• The early Congress also raised a number of economic issues.
“Freedom is our birthright”
• By the 1890s many Indians began to raise questions about the political style of the Congress.
• In Bengal, Maharashtra and Punjab, leaders such as Bepin Chandra Pal, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai started exploring more radical objectives and methods.
• Tilak raised the slogan, “Freedom is my birthright and I shall have it!”
• In 1905 Viceroy Curzon partitioned Bengal. → The partition of Bengal infuriated people all over India.
• The Swadeshi movement sought to oppose British rule and encourage the ideas of self-help, swadeshi enterprise, national education, and use of Indian languages.
• The Congress split in 1907 however the two groups reunited in December 1915.
• In 1916, the Congress and the Muslim League signed the historic Lucknow Pact.
The Growth of Mass Nationalism
• The First World War altered the economic and political situation in India.
• The government increased taxes on individual incomes and business profits.
• Increased military expenditure and the demands for war supplies led to a sharp rise in prices.
• Gandhiji arrived in India in 1915 from South Africa is well known for leading successful movement against racist regimes.
The Rowlatt Satyagraha
• In 1919 Gandhiji gave a call for a satyagraha against the Rowlatt Act passed by British that curbed freedom of expression and strengthened police powers.
• The Rowlatt Satyagraha turned out to be the first all-India struggle against the British government.
• In April 1919, there were a number of demonstrations and hartals in the country and the government used brutal measures to suppress them.
• The Jallianwala Bagh atrocities, administered by General Dyer in Amritsar on Baisakhi day (13 April), were a part of this repression.
Khilafat agitation and the Non-Cooperation Movement
• The leaders of the Khilafat agitation, Mohammad Ali and Shaukat Ali initiated a full-fledged Non-Cooperation Movement.
• Gandhiji supported their call and urged the Congress to campaign against Jallianwala massacre, the Khilafat wrong and demand swaraj.
• The Non-Cooperation Movement gained momentum through 1921-22.
• Thousands of students left government- controlled schools and colleges.
• British titles were surrendered and legislatures boycotted.
People’s initiatives
• Different classes and groups, interpreting Gandhiji’s call in their own manner.
• In Kheda, Gujarat, Patidar peasants organised non-violent campaigns against the high land revenue demand of the British.
• In coastal Andhra and interior Tamil Nadu, liquor shops were picketed.
• In the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, tribals and poor peasants staged a number of “forest satyagrahas”.
• In Sind (now in Pakistan), Muslim traders and peasants were very enthusiastic about the Khilafat call.
• In Bengal too, the Khilafat-Non-Cooperation alliance gave enormous communal unity and strength to the national movement.
• In Punjab, the Akali agitation of the Sikhs sought to remove corrupt mahants – supported by the British.
• In Assam, tea garden labourers demanded a big increase in their wages.
The happenings of 1922-1929
• Mahatma Gandhi abruptly called off the Non-Cooperation Movement when in February 1922 when a crowd of peasants set fire to a police station in Chauri Chaura.
• Two important developments of the mid-1920s were the formation of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu organisation, and the Communist Party of India.
• The decade closed with the Congress resolving to fight for Purna Swaraj (complete independence) in 1929 under the presidentship of Jawaharlal Nehru.
The March to Dandi
• In 1930, Gandhiji declared that he would lead a march to break the salt law.
• Gandhiji and his followers marched from Sabarmati to the coastal town of Dandi where they broke the government law by gathering natural salt found on the seashore, and boiling sea water to produce salt.
• The Government of India Act of 1935 prescribed provincial autonomy and the government announced elections to the provincial legislatures in 1937.
• In September 1939, after two years of Congress rule in the provinces, the Second World War broke out.
Quit India and Later
• Mahatma Gandhi decided to launch ‘Quit India’ movement against the British in the middle of the Second World War.
• Gandhiji and other leaders were jailed at once but the movement spread.
Towards Independence and Partition
• In 1940 the Muslim League had moved a resolution demanding “Independent States” for Muslims
in the north-western and eastern areas of the country.
• In 1937, the Congress rejected the League’s wish to form a joint Congress-League government in the United Provinces which annoyed the League.
• At the end of the war in 1945, the British opened negotiations between the Congress, the League and themselves for the independence of India.
→ The talks failed because the League saw itself as the sole spokesperson of India’s Muslims.
• The Congress did well in the “General” constituencies but the League’s success in the seats reserved for Muslims persisted with its demand for “Pakistan”.
• After the failure of the Cabinet Mission, the Muslim League declared mass agitation for winning its Pakistan demand.
• 16 August, 1946 was announced as a “Direct Action Day” by the League.
→ On this day, riots broke out in Calcutta, lasting several days.
• By March 1947 violence spread to different parts of northern India.
• Millions of people were forced to flee their homes.
• Partition also meant that India changed, many of its cities changed, and a new country – Pakistan – was born.
Colonial rule introduced several new art forms, styles, materials and techniques which were creatively adapted by Indian artists for local patrons and markets, in both elite and popular circles.
The changes were seen primarily on paintings and printmaking.
New Forms of Imperial Art:
(i) In 18th century a stream of European artists came to India along with the British traders and rulers.
(ii) The artists brought with them new styles and new conventions of paintings. They began producing pictures which helped shape western perceptions of India.
(iii) The main feature of the European painting was realism, i.e., what the artists produced was expected to look real.
(iv) Oil painting was also introduced in India by the European artists. It enabled artists to produce images that looked real.
(v) Paintings were based on varied subjects. However, the European artist’s common intention was to emphasise the superiority of Britain, its culture, its people and its power.
Looking for the Picturesque:
Picturesque is an aesthetic ideal introduced into English cultural debate in 1782 by William Gilpin. The term “picturesque” needs to be understood in relationship to two other aesthetic ideals: the beautiful and the sublime
(i) Picturesque landscape painting was one of the popular imperial traditions. It depicted India as quaint land, to be explored by travelling British artists.
(ii) The most famous artists of this tradition were Thomas Daniell and his nephew William Daniell.
(iii) They produced paintings of newly acquired British territories.
(iv) In some of the images, they showed the British rule bringing modern civilization to India. In other images, depicting buildings reminding the glory of past and decaying ancient civilization.
(v) One of the images shows the modernizing influence of British rule, by emphasizing a picture of dramatic change.
Portraits of Authority:
(i) Portrait painting was another tradition of art that became popular in colonial India.
(ii) The rich and powerful people, both Indian and British, were very fond of self-portraits.
(iii) In colonial India, portraits were life-size images that looked lifelike and real.
(iv) The art of making portraits is known as ‘portraiture’ that served as an ideal means of displaying the lavish lifestyles, wealth and status generated by British in India.
(v) European artists like Johann Zoffany visited India in search of profitable commissions.
(vi) He was born in Germany, migrated to England and came in India and stayed for five years.
(vii) He depicted the British as superior and imperious, flaunting their clothes, standing royally or sitting arrogantly and living a life of luxury while Indians were portrayed as submissive and inferior serving their white masters and occupying a shadowy background in his paintings.
(viii) Many Indian Nawabs got their portraits painted by European painters.
(ix) Nawab Muhammad Ali Khan of Arcot commissioned two European artists- Tilly Kettle and George Willison to paint his portraits and gifted these paintings to the king of England and the Directors of East India Company.
Painting History:
‘ History painting‘ refers to any picture with a high-minded or heroic narrative.
(i) Itwas a third category of imperial art. These paintings dramatized and recreated various episodes of British imperial history and enjoyed prestige and became very popular in the late 18th and early 19th century.
(ii) British victories in India served as rich material for history painters in Britain.
(iii) They painted the various wars, in which the colonial rule had defeated the Indians and British were celebrating their power, their victories also their supremacy.
(iv) The first painting of history was produced by Francis Hayman in 1762 when the British defeated the Indian army of Nawab Sirajuddaula in the Battle of Plassey and installed Mir Jafar as the Nawab of Murshidabad. The painting shows Mir Jafar welcoming Lord Clive.
(v) Robert Kerr Porter painted the defeat of Tipu Sultan of Mysore in 1799 at the famous battle of Seringapatam. It is a painting full of action and energy, the painting dramatizes the event and glorified the British triumph.
(vi) Imperial history paintings sought to create a public memory of imperial triumph to show that the British were invisible and all-powerful.
What Happened to the Court Artists:
(i) There were different Indian traditions of Art in different courts. Some of them are as follows-
In Mysore, Tipu Sultan resisted the European art and continued to encourage his tradition of mural paintings.
The court of Murshidabad had different trend. The British had successfully installed their puppet Nawabs on the throne; first Mir Zafar and then Mir Qasim after defeating Sirajuddaulah. The Nawab encouraged local miniature artists to absorb the tastes and artists style of British.
The local artists of Murshidabad began to adopt the elements of European realism. They used perspective, i.e., style of painting which creates a sense of distance between objects that are near and those at a distance. They used various shades to make the figures realistic.
(ii) Local painters produced a vast number of images of local plants and animals, historical buildings and monuments, festivals, etc. and these pictures were collected by the East India Company officials and known as Company paintings.
The New Popular Indian Art:
(i) A new world of popular art developed in 19th century in many of the cities of India.
(ii) Scroll painting; paintings on a long roll of paper that could be rolled up, was developed by local villagers called ‘patuas’ and ‘potters’.
(iii) Kalighat in Bengal was expanding as a commercial and administrative centre.
(iv) Mythological themes were the main art forms for the scroll painters producing images of gods and goddesses.
(v) Traditionally, figures in scroll paintings looked flat, not rounded.
(vi) Kalighat painters began to use shading to give them a rounded form, to make images look three dimensional but were not realistic and lifelike.
(vii) Early Kalighat paintings use a bold deliberately non-realistic style depicting large and powerful figures with a minimum of lines, detail, and colours.
(viii) Many of the Kalighat pictures were printed in large numbers and sold in the market and the images were engraved in wooden blocks.
(ix) In late 19th century, mechanical printing presses were set up in different parts of India, which helped in producing larger number of printings.
(x) Calcutta Art Studio was set up in late 19th century in Calcutta and produced lifelike images of eminent Bengali personalities as well as mythological pictures.
(xi) With the spread of nationalism in the early 20th century, the studio produced popular prints with elements of nationalism. Some of them have Bharat Mata appearing as a goddess carrying the national flag or nationalist heroes sacrificing their head to Bharat Mata.
The Search for a National Art:
(i) The impact of religions, culture and the spirit of nationalism on art was strongly visible by the end of the 19th century.
(ii) Many painters tried to develop a style that could be considered both modern and Indian.
The Art of Raja Ravi Varma:
(i) Raja Ravi Varma was one of the first artists who tried to intermingle modern and national style.
(ii) Raja Ravi Varma belonged to the family of the Maharaja of Travancore in Kerala.
(iii) He mastered the Western art of oil painting and realistic life study but painted themes from Indian mythology.
(iv) He mainly painted scenes from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
(v) Raja Ravi Varma set up a picture production team and printing press on the outskirts of Bombay.
A Different Vision of National Art:
(i) A new group of nationalist artists in Bengal gathered around Abanindranath Tagore, the nephew of Rabindranath Tagore.
(ii) They opposed the art of Ravi Varma as imitative of western style and declared that western and modern art could not be used to depict the nation’s ancient myths and legends.
(iii) He wanted to revive and turned for inspiration to medieval Indian traditions of miniature painting and the ancient art of mural paintings in the Ajanta Caves.
(iv) He received inspiration from Rajput style of paintings.
(v) His art was influenced by the Japanese paintings that can be seen in some of the paintings.
• Before two hundred years, society was totally different.
• Most children were married off at an early age.
• Both Hindu and Muslim men could marry more than one wife.
• ‘Sati Pratha’ (a widow burn herself on the funeral pyre of their husbands) was prevailing in Hindu society.
• Women’s rights to property were also restricted.
• Most women had virtually no access to education.
• In most regions, people were divided along lines of caste.
→ Brahmans and Kshatriyas considered themselves as “upper castes”.
→ Traders and moneylenders, referred to as Vaishyas were placed after them.
→ Peasants, and artisans such as weavers and potters referred to as Shudras were at the lowest rung.
• Over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, many of these norms and perceptions slowly changed.
Working Towards Change
• From the early nineteenth century, after the development of new forms of communication, debates and discussions about social customs and practices started.
• These debates were often initiated by Indian reformers and reform groups.
→ Raja Rammohun Roy (1772-1833) was one such reformer who founded a reform association known as the Brahmo Sabha (later known as the Brahmo Samaj) in Calcutta.
• Reformers were those people who felt that changes were necessary in society, and unjust practices needed to be done away with.
• He was interested in spreading the knowledge of Western education in the country and bring about greater freedom and equality for women.
• He wrote about the way women were forced to bear the burden of domestic work, confined to the home and the kitchen, and not allowed to move out and become educated.
Changing the lives of widows
• Rammohun Roy was particularly moved by the problems widows faced in their lives so he began a campaign against the practice of sati.
• By the early nineteenth century, many British officials had also begun to criticise Indian traditions and customs therefore, they were more than willing to listen to Rammohun who was reputed to be a learned man.
• In 1829, sati was banned.
• Another reformer, Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, used the ancient texts to suggest that widows could remarry.
• His suggestion was adopted by British officials, and a law was passed in 1856 permitting widow remarriage.
• In the Telugu-speaking areas of the Madras Presidency, Veerasalingam Pantulu formed an association for widow remarriage.
• In the north, Swami Dayanand Saraswati, who founded the reform association called Arya Samaj, also supported widow remarriage.
Girls begin going to school
• Many reformers felt that education for girls was necessary in order to improve the condition of women.
• Vidyasagar in Calcutta and many other reformers in Bombay set up schools for girls.
• Paople feared that schools would take girls away from home, prevent them from doing their domestic duties.
• Also, girls had to travel through public places in order to reach school which would have a corrupting influence on them.
• Throughout the nineteenth century, most educated women were taught at home by liberal fathers or husbands.
• In the latter part of the century, schools for girls were established by the Arya Samaj in Punjab, and Jyotirao Phule in Maharashtra.
• In aristocratic Muslim households in North India, women learnt to read the Koran in Arabic. → They were taught by women who came home to teach.
• Some reformers such as Mumtaz Ali reinterpreted verses from the Koran to argue for women’s education.
Women write about women
• From the early twentieth century, Muslim women like the Begums of Bhopal founded a primary school for girls at Aligarh.
• Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain started schools for Muslim girls in Patna and Calcutta.
• By the 1880s, Indian women began to enter universities and trained to be doctors, some became teachers.
• Tarabai Shinde, a woman educated at home at Poona, published a book, Stripurushtulna, (A Comparison between Women and Men), criticising the social differences between men and women.
• Pandita Ramabai, a great scholar of Sanskrit, wrote a book about the miserable lives of upper-caste Hindu women. → She founded a widows’ home at Poona to provide shelter to widows.
• By the end of the nineteenth century, women themselves were actively working for reform.
• They wrote books, edited magazines, founded schools and training centres, and set up women’s associations.
• From the early twentieth century, they formed political pressure groups to push through laws for female suffrage (the right to vote) and better health care and education for women.
Caste and Social Reform
• Some of the social reformers criticised caste inequalities.
• Rammohun Roy translated an old Buddhist text that was critical of caste.
• The Prarthana Samaj was attached to the tradition of Bhakti that believed in spiritual equality of all castes.
• In Bombay, the Paramhans Mandali was founded in 1840 to work for the abolition of caste.
• Many of these reformers and members of reform associations were people of upper castes who were often, in secret meetings, these reformers would violate caste taboos on food and touch.
• During the course of the nineteenth century, Christian missionaries began setting up schools for tribal groups and lower-caste children.
• The expansion of cities created new demands of labour. → The poor from the villages and small towns, many of them from low castes, began moving to the cities where there was a new demand for labour. → Some also went to work in plantations in Assam, Mauritius, Trinidad and Indonesia. → The people from low castes, saw this as an opportunity to get away from the oppressive hold that upper-caste landowners exercised over their lives and the daily humiliation they suffered.
Demands for equality and justice
• By the second half of the nineteenth century, people from within the Non-Brahman castes began organising movements against caste discrimination, and demanded social equality and justice.
• The Satnami movement in Central India, founded by Ghasidas who worked among the leatherworkers and organised a movement to improve their social status.
• In eastern Bengal, Haridas Thakur’s Matua sect worked among Chandala cultivators.
• In present-day Kerala, a guru from Ezhava caste, Shri Narayana Guru, proclaimed the ideals of unity for his people and argued against treating people unequally on the basis of caste differences.
• All these sects were founded by leaders who came from Non- Brahman castes and worked amongst them.
Gulamgiri
• Jyotirao Phule was born in 1827 and studied in schools set up by Christian missionaries.
• He set out to attack the Brahmans’ claim that they were superior to others, since they were Aryans.
• Phule argued that the Aryans were foreigners, who came from outside the subcontinent, and defeated and subjugated the inhabitants of the country.
• He proposed that Shudras (labouring castes) and Ati Shudras (untouchables) should unite to challenge caste discrimination.
• Phule founded the Satyashodhak Samaj, an association which propagated caste equality.
• In 1873, Phule wrote a book named Gulamgiri, meaning slavery and dedicated his book to all those Americans who had fought to free slaves, thus establishing a link between the conditions of the “lower” castes in India and the black slaves in America.
Who could enter temples?
• Ambedkar was born into a Mahar family and faced discrimination since childhood.
• On his return to India in 1919, he wrote extensively about “upper”-caste power in contemporary society.
• In 1927, Ambedkar started a temple entry movement, in which his Mahar caste followers participated.
• Ambedkar led three such movements for temple entry between 1927 and 1935 with the aim to make everyone see the power of caste prejudices within society.
The Non-Brahman movement
• In the early twentieth century, the non-Brahman movement started by non-Brahman castes that had acquired access to education, wealth and influence.
• They argued that Brahmans were heirs of Aryan invaders from the north who had conquered southern lands from the original inhabitants of the region – the indigenous Dravidian races.
• E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker, or Periyar, as he was called, came from a middle-class family, founded the Self Respect Movement and believed that the untouchables had to free themselves from all religions in order to achieve social equality.
• Periyar was an outspoken critic of Hindu scriptures, especially the Codes of Manu, the ancient lawgiver, and the Bhagavad Gita and the Ramayana as these texts had been used to establish the authority of Brahmans over lower castes and the domination of men over women.
• These assertions were challenged by orthodox Hindu society who began founding Sanatan Dharma Sabhas and the Bharat Dharma Mahamandal in the north, and associations like the Brahman Sabha in Bengal.
• Debates and struggles over caste continued beyond the colonial period and are still going on in our own times.
