Elements of National Consciousness Class 9 History Chapter 2 Notes – Our India IV HBSE Solution

Class 9 History BSEH Solution for chapter 2 Elements of National Consciousness Notes for Haryana board. CCL Chapter Provide Class 1th to 12th all Subjects Solution With Notes, Question Answer, Summary and Important Questions. Class 9 History mcq, summary, Important Question Answer, Textual Question Answer are available of  Our India IV Book for HBSE.

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HBSE Class 9 History Chapter 2 Elements of National Consciousness Notes for Haryana Board of Our India IV Solution.

Elements of National Consciousness Class 9 History Chapter 2 Notes


Indians were dissatisfied with foreign slavery and exploitation and they constantly opposed the interference of foreigners in Indian culture. During the time of the British, this protest took place every year in one form or the other and in one or the other area, whose collective reaction was in the form of the revolution of 1857 AD.

Nation means a group of people who live in a definite area of ​​a geographical boundary, bound by common interests, common history, common traditions and common feelings and in which the eagerness to be united in the thread of unity and common political Have ambition.

National Consciousness in India – National Political Consciousness is the sense of community found among the residents of a nation which strengthens their organisation. The social reform movements of the nineteenth century intensified the national spirit of unity and struggle among Indians. With the establishment and expansion of British rule in the eighteenth century itself, people in every region of India fought continuously, whose pan-India reaction was in the form of the great revolution of 1857 AD. This intensification of national consciousness in India was the result of a cultural renaissance and a sharp reaction against the colonial exploitation of the British.

The details of the elements that awaken the national consciousness are as follows –

1. Social Reform Movement —

Raja Rammohun Roy’s Brahmo Samaj Movement – Raja Rammohun Roy is called ‘Father of Modern Age’, and ‘Forerunner of New Age’. He tried to end the evils like Sati system, caste system, untouchability by establishing ‘Brahma Samaj’ in 1828 AD. He strongly opposed the Press Ordinance and awakened national political consciousness among Indians.

Arya Samaj Movement of Swami Dayanand Saraswati – Swami Dayanand Saraswati was another great social reformer. He founded Arya Samaj in 1875 AD and strongly opposed the superstitions prevalent in Indian society. He attracted Indians towards Vedic civilization and culture by giving the slogan ‘Return to the Vedas’. In his book ‘Satyarth Prakash’, he described the Swadeshi Raj as better than the foreign rule, he gave the idea of ​​Swadesh, Swadharma and Swabhasha.

Swami Vivekananda’s Ramakrishna Mission Movement – Swami Vivekananda was a beloved disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahansa. He represented Hinduism in the ‘Chicago World Parliament of Religions’ and laid the foundation of ‘Ramakrishna Mission’ in 1897 AD. He called Indian civilization and culture the best civilization in the world, due to which cultural consciousness was born among the people of India. He exhorted that “Arise, awake and stop not till you have achieved your goal.” In this way, he created political consciousness among Indians by filling them with a sense of self-respect and self-respect.

Theosophical Movement –  Foreigners inspired by Indian Hindu religion and culture founded the ‘Theosophical Society’. A prominent leader of this society was the Irish lady Mrs. Annie Besant. The knowledge of their cultural superiority strengthened the sense of self-confidence among Indians and they started taking active part in national movements.

2. Reaction to the exploitative economic policies of the British —

The East India Company was established by the British merchants with the aim of making maximum profit. After the Battle of Plassey in 1757 AD, this trading company was converted into political power, but its goal was still to earn maximum profit. After coming to power, it further articulated the process of exploitation. It exploited and exploited India more and more by adopting exploitative economic policies. The exploitative policies of the British were as follows:-

Exploitative land revenue policies – The British implemented different land revenue policies on different parts of India, such as Permanent Settlement in the East, Ryotwari in the South and Mahalwari in the North. In all these land revenue policies, the amount of revenue was high and the revenue was collected strictly, due to which discontent emerged among the various sections dependent on agriculture.

Exploitative trading policies – After 1757 AD, the company first made India an exporter country of raw materials and importer of finished goods by adopting the policy of commercial monopoly and then independent trade, which destroyed the handicrafts and small industries and Indian traders. had to bear the loss.

Policies of Transport and Communication – The British developed new means of transport to bring raw materials from the interior parts of India to the ports and to transport European goods from the ports to the interior parts. A network of railways and roads was laid. Along with this, new means of communication such as post and telegraph were also developed for strict control over the whole of India, but Indians also benefited from all these means and unity and political consciousness spread among them.

Drain of money – The nature of British rule in India always remained foreign and a large amount of money from India went to England in the form of salaries, war expenses, house charges and expenses on the army. This is what is called drain of money. National leader Dadabhai Naoroji explained it in detail in his book ‘Poverty and UnBritish Rule in India’ (1876 AD) and considered it the main reason for India’s poverty.

3. The Great Revolution of 1857 AD —

Against British exploitation and undue interference in Indian civilization and culture, there was a restlessness and dissatisfaction in every section of every region of India, which culminated in the great revolution of 1857 AD. The kings, subjects, traders, handicraftsmen, farmers, zamindars, men and women, Hindu-Muslims etc. of India made a joint effort to overthrow the exploitative foreign rule. Thousands of Indians were sacrificed. The British were successful in suppressing this nationwide struggle with their modern weapons, but the heroic stories of this revolution always awakened the spirit of sacrifice and bravery among the Indians.

The people of Haryana actively participated in this revolution and revolutions took place in Ambala, Rewari, Ballabgarh, Rohtak, Hansi, Jhajjar.

4. Impact of research on the glorious history of India –

Foreign scholars researched ancient Indian history and put India’s ancient glorious cultural and historical heritage in front of the world. The reading of Brahmi script by James Prinsep gave information about Mauryan emperors like Ashoka the Great, while the archaeological excavation of Cunningham revealed the great ancient heritage of India. This historical heritage was in no way inferior to the civilizations of Greece and Rome. Many foreign scholars praised the Vedas and Upanishads, due to which the feeling of self-respect and self-respect emerged in the Indians instead of selflessness. All these research works led to the rise of political consciousness.

The Asiatic Society is the oldest center of knowledge and research in the continent of Asia, established in 1784 AD at the initiative of Sir William Jones. The name of the society changed several times over the past two centuries, such as the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1832 AD–1935 AD), the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal (1936 AD–1951 AD) and from July 1952 AD. It came to be known as the Asiatic Society. Since 1984, the Asiatic Society has been ranked as an Institute of National Importance by an Act of the Parliament of India.

5. Species arrogance in the British and misbehavior among the Indians – The British used to hate themselves as high race and Indians as low and low caste. They used to call Indians by names like Habshi, Kala Babu etc. and abused them. On the basis of the policy of racial discrimination, Indians were subjected to various types of abuse. In response, political consciousness emerged among Indians. The ‘Ilbert Bill controversy’ also refers to the policy of caste discrimination of the British.

6. Role of Newspapers —

Newspapers began to be published in India from the beginning of the nineteenth century. ‘Bangdoot’, ‘Samvad Kaumudi’, ‘Brahmanical’ were the early newspapers published by Raja Rammohan Roy. Later many other newspapers like ‘Bengali’, ‘Amrit Bazar Patrika’, ‘Indu Prakash’, ‘Maratha’, ‘Kesari’, ‘The Hindu’, ‘Kohinoor’, ‘Pratap’, ‘Young India’ etc. were published.

By 1877, the number of newspapers published in Indian languages ​​had reached one hundred and seventy nine. These papers started publishing criticism of the English government in the newspapers and at the same time these newspapers popularized the democratic ideas and the spirit of freedom among the people.

7. Role of National Literature —

Like the newspapers in the nineteenth century, national literature also played an important role in awakening the modern national consciousness through novels, essays, plays, poems, stories, biographies. Deenbandhu Mitra’s play ‘Nil Darpan ‘, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s novel ‘ Anandmath ‘ and ‘Devi Chaudharani’, Bharatendu Harishchandra’s play ‘Bharat plight’, Veer Savarkar’s composition ‘The Indian War of Independence-1857’ etc. Created a sense of national self-respect.

The ‘Swatantraya Samar’ of 1857 AD is a famous book, authored by the famous freedom fighter Veer Savarkar. In this book, he shook the British rule by writing a sensational and exploratory history of the so-called Sepoy Mutiny. This book has the distinction of being banned before publication. An important work is the play ‘Nil Darpan’ published in 1860 AD by Bengali playwright Dinabandhu Mitra. In this play there is a very emotional expression of the inhuman atrocities committed by the British on the farmers of Bengal.

Rabindranath Tagore in Bengali, Laxminath Bezbruva in Assamese, Vishnu Shastri Chiplunkar in Marathi, Subramaniam Bharathi in Tamil, Munshi Premchand in Hindi and Altaf Hussain Hali in Urdu were prominent national writers.

8. Repressive Policies of Lord Lytton –

Lord Lytton was the Viceroy of India from 1876 AD to 1880 AD. His unjust reactionary policies spread the spirit of modern nationalism in India.

Some repressive policies :-

  • ICS in 1876 AD Reducing the age of appearing in the entrance examination to 19 years.
  • Organizing a magnificent royal court in Delhi during the time of famine across the country in 1877.
  • By passing the Arms Act in 1878 AD, banning the possession of arms by Indians.
  • By passing the Vernacular Press Act in 1878 AD on the papers, the news published in Indian languages ​​was banned.

9. Contribution of Western Education and Indian Intellectuals –

Due to the efforts of Lord Macaulay, Western i.e. English education started in India in 1835. The aim of the English government behind the introduction of English education was to make cheap clerks, loyal classes and maximum consumption of English goods. Soon a new Indian intelligentsia emerged in India by studying English. By reading Western writers and philosophers like Milton, Chalet, Bentham, Mill, Spencer, Rousseau, Voltaire and taking inspiration from the French Revolution of 1789, the unification of Italy and Germany and the independence struggle of Ireland, this class was attracted towards independence and self-government. .

10. Impact of the then international events –

The American Revolution of 1776 AD, the French Revolution of 1789 AD, the Greek independence struggle, the unification of Italy and Germany and the independence struggle of Ireland influenced the sentiments of Indians. Surendra Nath Banerjee and Lala Lajpat Rai were influenced by Mazzini, while Subhash Chandra Bose was influenced by Garibaldi. Apart from this, the events of the defeat of Italy by Abyssinia (1896 AD) and the defeat of Russia by Japan (1905 AD) also contributed to the belligerentization of modern Indian nationalism.

11. Establishment of various political organizations –

In 1838 AD, the first political organization ‘Land Holders Society’ was formed to protect the interests of the landlords in India. In 1843 AD ‘Bengal British India Society’ was formed. After this, the ‘British India Association’ was formed in 1851 AD by joining the two. In 1875 AD ‘Indian League’ and in 1876 AD ‘Indian Association’ was formed. Similarly, many other organizations like ‘Bombay Association’, ‘Poona Sarvajanik Sabha’, ‘Madras Mahajan Sabha’ etc. were formed. In this episode, in 1885 AD, a retired British officer A. O. Hume founded the ‘Indian National Congress’.

Some important dates from the text :-

1 . American Revolution – 1776 AD

2. French Revolution – 1789 AD

3. Beginning of English education in India – 1835 AD.

4. Publication of the play Neeldarpan – 1860 AD.

5. Publication of ‘Poverty and Un-British Rule in India’ – 1876 AD.

6. Establishment of Indian Association – 1876 AD.

7. ICS The age of appearing in the examination was reduced to 19 years – 1876 AD.

8. Organized a magnificent royal court in Delhi at the time of famine – 1877 AD.

9. Arms Act was passed – 1878 AD.

10. Vernacular Press Act passed – 1878 AD.

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