Chapter 2   The advent of the Muslims   Later, however, sometime in the middle of the eighth century when the empires in India had grown weak, the regional spirit reawoke in separatist movements, disintegrating the unity or breaking down its large extension over most of the North. It left behind a certain number of great kingdoms in the east, south and centre and a more confused mass of peoples in the northwest. This was the weak point at which the Muslims broke in and rebuilt within a brief period another empire in the north of India; but this empire was not of the Indian type, it was an empire of the Central Asiatic type.   This was the beginning of the second p

The First Revolts - Part 2   From 1844 onwards, the resistance to British supremacy manifested in the South in Madras Presidency at the political as well as social and religious levels. Of course this resistance was fitful. It was also moderate. Nevertheless, it was present. Newspapers and organizations like The Crescent, the Madras Native Association, The Hindu and the Madras Mahajana Sabha played a seminal role in rousing public consciousness among the commercial and professional elite of the Presidency even in the 19th century. Their founders were the pioneers of nationalism in South India.   The Crescent was a journal founded in 1844 by the Hindu lea

VEERAPANDYA KATTABOMMAN   It is often believed that the National Movement was more subdued in the South than in other parts of India. However, this mildness and moderation cannot belie the fact that the seeds of the National Movement first sprouted on the soil of the South. The Indian resistance to the advent of the British as a political power on the soil of India starts well before the Indian Mutiny (1857), by more than half a century: Veerapandiya Kattabomman, Poligar of Panchalankurichi (in Tinnevelly), was the first Indian hero to reject the British claims of suzerainty in India, refuse to pay tribute to them, defy their injunctions, confront them on

The First Revolts - Part I   India's struggle for freedom has been a long-drawn-out battle. Though it actually began in the second half of the 19th century, isolated attempts were made in various parts of the country to bring the British rule in India to an end about a century earlier. The real power in northern India passed into the hands of the British in 1757. The loss of independence provided the motive force for the struggle for freedom and Indians in different parts of the country began their efforts to throw off the yoke of the alien rulers. It took over 100 years for the struggle to gain full momentum. Very seldom, however, during this period (1757-1857)

The Lessons of the Freedom Movement   This book has presented some of the salient and important contributions of South India to the Freedom Movement. It does not claim to be a comprehensive and detailed narration of the events and personalities involved in the Freedom Movement; yet it gives an overall picture of the role of the South. However, it must always be remembered that this kind of regional approach - though very useful in its own way - must always be seen within the larger national framework, for no event or personal contribution can be seen in isolation. They all form part of the larger panorama. And that is because man is not an isolated being se

The Sepoy Mutiny and South India   The Background   For more than 150 years the East India Company (John Company) had raised its own armed forces. The three administrative areas of India, the Presidencies of Bombay, Madras and Bengal, each maintained their own army with its own commander-in-chief. The commander-in-Chief of Bengal was regarded as the senior officer of the three. These armies were paid for entirely out of the Company's Indian revenues and together were larger than the British Army itself. All the officers were British and trained at the Company's military academy in England. There were a few regiments of European infantry but t

Introduction   This book presents the story of the freedom struggle that developed in South India and the ideals that inspired the national struggle for freedom in South India.   The presentation has two aspects; one, dealing with the events and incidents in which the freedom fighters were involved and two, the ideals and values that inspired the freedom fighters. The first represents the external side of the movement and the second the inner and deeper part.   It is evident that the inner part is more important as it portrays the lasting and abiding values and ideals that led and inspired this movement.   We shall therefore first trace a

A Brief Review of the Freedom Movement   The Freedom Movement can be described as having gone through three phases. The first phase started almost immediately after the conquest of India by the British. It manifested itself in the form of revolts and rebellions by princes and powerful landlords who felt their power threatened. This feeling was exacerbated by the economic exploitation by the British (see Chapter 3); in addition there was the conversion work of Christian missionaries which evoked strong reactions even from the common people. We have cited a few examples in this book. Two prominent ones are: the heroic resistance of Veerapandya Kattabomman

A Short Note on Annie Besant   Annie Besant who was of predominantly Irish lineage was a renowned theosophist. In 1889, she enrolled as a member of the Theosophical Society. Devoted and diligent, she was chosen president of the Society after the death of Col. Olcott. Her interest in theosophy and Hinduism brought her to India in 1893. She lectured on Hinduism and glorified it as the fount of all religions and the cradle of civilisation.   Soon after becoming a member of the Theosophical Society she visited India for the first time in 1893. The Society was then led by Henry Steel Olcott and Besant and is today based in Chennai, and is known

The Cultural Influence on the Freedom Movement   As mentioned earlier in the chapter on the partition in Bengal, Ramsay Macdonald had exclaimed: 'Bengal is creating India by song and worship; it is clothing her in queenly garments.' In South India too, culture had a very powerful impact. We shall illustrate this phenomenon through two very powerful personalities, Subramaniam Bharati and Kamala Devi Chattopadhay.     Bharati's Literature   On 4 April 1910, a significant event occurred: Sri Aurobindo, poet, patriot and Yogi, arrived in Pondicherry from Bengal. Towards the end of 1910, V. V. S. Aiyar - Barrister Savarkar's comrad