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Lucent Static GK: History
Original CAPF recall digest of static history facts: ancient and medieval dynasties and dates, modern milestones, firsts in the freedom struggle, and superlatives
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Book DigestStatic GKLucentHistoryFreedom Struggle
- Indus Valley (Harappan) Civilisation: about 2500 BCE, a Bronze Age urban civilisation; major sites Harappa, Mohenjo-daro (on the Indus), Lothal (a dockyard, in Gujarat), Dholavira and Kalibangan; known for town planning, the grid layout, drainage and the Great Bath.
- Vedic period: the four Vedas are Rigveda (the oldest), Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda. The Gayatri Mantra is from the Rigveda.
- Religious reform: Gautam Buddha (founder of Buddhism, born at Lumbini, attained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, first sermon at Sarnath, attained nirvana at Kushinagar). Mahavira was the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism.
- Mauryan empire: founded by Chandragupta Maurya (around 322 BCE) with the guidance of Chanakya (Kautilya), author of the Arthashastra. Ashoka (the greatest Mauryan) embraced Buddhism after the Kalinga War (about 261 BCE); his lion capital at Sarnath is the State Emblem of India.
- Gupta age: called the "Golden Age" of ancient India; Chandragupta II (Vikramaditya) was its high point; the era of Kalidasa, Aryabhata and Varahamihira.
- Delhi Sultanate (1206 to 1526): five dynasties, beginning with the Slave (Mamluk) dynasty under Qutb-ud-din Aibak (who began the Qutb Minar). Other dynasties: Khilji (Alauddin Khilji), Tughlaq (Muhammad bin Tughlaq, who shifted the capital to Daulatabad), Sayyid and Lodi.
- First Battle of Panipat (1526): Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi and founded the Mughal Empire.
- Mughal succession to recall: Babur, Humayun, Akbar (the greatest, the Din-i-Ilahi, Navaratnas, abolished jizya), Jahangir, Shah Jahan (built the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort), Aurangzeb (the last great Mughal).
- Maratha power: Shivaji (crowned 1674) founded the Maratha state and developed guerrilla warfare; later led by the Peshwas.
- Battle of Plassey (1757): Robert Clive's victory began effective British political control in Bengal. Battle of Buxar (1764) consolidated it.
- Revolt of 1857: the first major uprising against British rule; began at Meerut; figures include Mangal Pandey, Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, Tantia Tope and Bahadur Shah Zafar (the last Mughal).
- Indian National Congress founded in 1885 (first session in Bombay, presided over by W.C. Bonnerjee; founded with the involvement of A.O. Hume).
- Partition of Bengal (1905) by Lord Curzon triggered the Swadeshi movement.
- Jallianwala Bagh massacre (13 April 1919) at Amritsar, under General Dyer.
- Gandhian movements: Non-Cooperation (1920 to 1922), Civil Disobedience / Dandi Salt March (1930), and Quit India (1942).
- Revolutionary stream: Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev (executed 1931); Subhas Chandra Bose formed the Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj).
- Independence: 15 August 1947; Partition created India and Pakistan.
- First Governor-General of independent India: Lord Mountbatten (the last Viceroy, who stayed on); first Indian (and last) Governor-General: C. Rajagopalachari; first Prime Minister: Jawaharlal Nehru; first President: Dr Rajendra Prasad.
- First woman Prime Minister: Indira Gandhi; first woman President: Pratibha Patil; first woman Governor: Sarojini Naidu.
- First Indian to win a Nobel Prize: Rabindranath Tagore (Literature, 1913).
- First Field Marshal of India: Sam Manekshaw.
- The State Emblem of India is adapted from the Lion Capital of Ashoka at Sarnath; the motto Satyameva Jayate is from the Mundaka Upanishad.
- Major UNESCO-listed historical sites: the Taj Mahal (Agra), the Qutb Minar and Red Fort (Delhi), the Sun Temple (Konark), the Ajanta and Ellora caves, and the Sanchi Stupa. Verify the latest list.
The freedom-struggle content is the backbone of Paper II essay topics and the interview, where candidates are expected to speak on nation-building, sacrifice and constitutional values. The revolutionary and military streams (the INA, the 1857 revolt) resonate with the ethos of the armed forces and are favoured interview ground. Note the lineage of India's gallantry awards from this martial tradition, covered in awards and honours.
- The Lion Capital that forms the State Emblem of India is from which site associated with Ashoka? (Answer: Sarnath.) Authored practice, not a verbatim PYQ.
- The First Battle of Panipat in 1526, which founded the Mughal Empire, was won by: (a) Akbar (b) Babur (c) Humayun (d) Sher Shah Suri. (Answer: b.) Authored practice, not a verbatim PYQ.