Active and passive voice: rules for every tense
How the verb changes in each tense, pronoun changes, modals and imperative sentences, with SSC examples.
Study notes
Indian History: ancient, medieval and freedom struggle timeline
Indus sites, Vedic texts, Mauryas and Guptas, Sultanate and Mughal order, key battles and the 1857–1947 timeline in one place.
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Indus Valley (Harappan) Civilisation
A Bronze Age urban culture known for planned cities, grid streets, covered drains and baked bricks. Its script has not yet been deciphered.
| Site | Present location | Known for |
|---|---|---|
| Harappa | Punjab (Pakistan), on the Ravi | First site excavated (Daya Ram Sahni, 1921); granaries |
| Mohenjo-daro | Sindh (Pakistan), on the Indus | Great Bath, bronze “dancing girl” (R.D. Banerji, 1922) |
| Lothal | Gujarat, near the Bhogava | Dockyard |
| Kalibangan | Rajasthan, on the Ghaggar | Ploughed field, fire altars |
| Dholavira | Kutch, Gujarat | Water reservoirs and management |
| Chanhudaro | Sindh (Pakistan) | Bead-making; no citadel |
| Rakhigarhi, Banawali | Haryana | Large Harappan settlements |
Vedic period
- Four Vedas: Rigveda (oldest; 10 mandalas, hymns to gods), Samaveda (chants; root of Indian music), Yajurveda (sacrificial formulae), Atharvaveda (charms, medicine).
- The Gayatri Mantra is in the Rigveda. “Satyameva Jayate” comes from the Mundaka Upanishad.
- Early Vedic people were mainly pastoral; the Later Vedic age saw settled farming and a rigid varna system.
Mauryas and Guptas
- Chandragupta Maurya founded the Maurya empire with the help of Chanakya (Kautilya), author of the Arthashastra. Megasthenes, envoy of Seleucus, wrote Indica.
- Bindusara followed, then Ashoka, who turned to Buddhism after the Kalinga war (c. 261 BCE) and spread dhamma through rock and pillar edicts.
- Chandragupta I began the Gupta era (319–320 CE). Samudragupta, praised in the Allahabad Pillar inscription by Harisena, is called the “Napoleon of India”. Chandragupta II (Vikramaditya) ruled when the Chinese pilgrim Fa-Hien visited. Kumaragupta I is credited with founding Nalanda.
- Hiuen Tsang visited India in the reign of Harshavardhana.
Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526)
| Dynasty | Period | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Slave (Mamluk) | 1206–1290 | Qutb-ud-din Aibak (founder), Iltutmish, Razia Sultan (first woman ruler), Balban |
| Khalji | 1290–1320 | Alauddin Khalji’s market reforms |
| Tughlaq | 1320–1414 | Muhammad bin Tughlaq moved the capital to Daulatabad, token currency; Timur invaded 1398 |
| Sayyid | 1414–1451 | Founded by Khizr Khan |
| Lodi | 1451–1526 | Bahlul Lodi (founder), Sikandar Lodi (founded Agra), Ibrahim Lodi (last) |
Remember: “She Knew The Sultan’s Line” = Slave, Khalji, Tughlaq, Sayyid, Lodi.
Mughal emperors in order
- Babur (1526–1530) – won First Panipat.
- Humayun – lost to Sher Shah Suri at Chausa (1539) and Kannauj (1540); regained the throne in 1555.
- Akbar (1556–1605) – Din-i-Ilahi, Fatehpur Sikri, Buland Darwaza.
- Jahangir (1605–1627) – chain of justice; Sir Thomas Roe visited his court.
- Shah Jahan (1628–1658) – Taj Mahal, Red Fort and Jama Masjid in Delhi.
- Aurangzeb (1658–1707) – reimposed jizya (1679).
The last Mughal, Bahadur Shah Zafar, was exiled to Rangoon after 1857.
Major battles
| Battle | Year | Between |
|---|---|---|
| Hydaspes | 326 BCE | Alexander vs Porus |
| First / Second Tarain | 1191 / 1192 | Prithviraj Chauhan vs Muhammad Ghori (Prithviraj won the first, lost the second) |
| First Panipat | 1526 | Babur vs Ibrahim Lodi |
| Khanwa | 1527 | Babur vs Rana Sanga |
| Second Panipat | 1556 | Akbar (Bairam Khan) vs Hemu |
| Talikota | 1565 | Deccan Sultanates defeated Vijayanagara |
| Haldighati | 1576 | Mughal army under Man Singh vs Maharana Pratap |
| Plassey | 1757 | Robert Clive vs Siraj-ud-Daulah |
| Third Panipat | 1761 | Ahmad Shah Abdali vs Marathas |
| Buxar | 1764 | British vs Mir Qasim, Shuja-ud-Daulah and Shah Alam II |
Freedom struggle timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1857 | Revolt begins at Meerut (10 May) |
| 1885 | Indian National Congress founded (A.O. Hume); first session in Bombay under W.C. Bonnerjee |
| 1905 | Partition of Bengal by Curzon; Swadeshi movement |
| 1906 | Muslim League founded at Dhaka |
| 1907 | Surat split (Moderates and Extremists) |
| 1909 | Morley–Minto Reforms (separate electorates) |
| 1911 | Bengal partition annulled; capital to move to Delhi |
| 1915 | Gandhi returns from South Africa (9 January) |
| 1916 | Lucknow Pact; Home Rule Leagues of Tilak and Annie Besant |
| 1917–18 | Champaran, Kheda and Ahmedabad mill strike |
| 1919 | Rowlatt Act; Jallianwala Bagh massacre (13 April) |
| 1920–22 | Non-Cooperation and Khilafat; called off after Chauri Chaura (1922) |
| 1928 | Simon Commission arrives; boycotted |
| 1929 | Lahore session (Nehru) – Purna Swaraj resolution |
| 1930 | Dandi March (12 March–6 April); Civil Disobedience |
| 1931 | Gandhi–Irwin Pact; Gandhi at the Second Round Table Conference |
| 1932 | Communal Award; Poona Pact (Gandhi–Ambedkar) |
| 1935 | Government of India Act |
| 1942 | Cripps Mission; Quit India (8 August, “Do or Die”) |
| 1946 | Cabinet Mission; Royal Indian Navy mutiny |
| 1947 | Mountbatten Plan (3 June); Independence (15 August) |
Quick check
- Which Harappan site had a dockyard?
Lothal (Gujarat). - Who was defeated in the First Battle of Panipat?
Ibrahim Lodi, by Babur, in 1526. - At which Congress session was the Purna Swaraj resolution passed?
Lahore, 1929, presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru.
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