History Of Modern India

India is that country where you find everything. The country has witnessed the rule of different systems or dynasties i.e. Sangam period, Gupta period, Rajput period, invasion of various dynasties followed by the Mughal period and finally the British rule. Many a times the country has flourished under various kings, while some periods saw the downfall of economy and hence the empire. The Portuguese, Dutch, French entered India for trading purposes and the rest is known to us all. But a very important event of modern Indian history was the 1907 Surat split, when India saw INC’s disintegration into moderates and extremists. At the Surat session the delegates of INC met in an atmosphere surcharged with excitement and anger. The suddenness of the Surat fiasco took the extremist leaders by surprise and they offered their cooperation by supporting the presidentship of Rasbihari Ghosh.But the moderates would not accept this fact.The British government seized the opportunity by imprisoning extremist leader Tilak.The extremists were able to organize an effective alternative party,led by the likes of Aurobindo Ghosh and Lal-Bal-Pal.The revolutionary movements led by them were Alipur Bomb conspiracy,murder of the district magistrate,attempt to murder the viceroy in Delhi 1912,and Kakori train dacoity.Though most of them were conspiracies and attempts,it instilled fear among the British officials.Hence the extremist movement can be considered as partly successful.But now let us take a look at the moderate views which were considered begging according to extremists.The first two decades of INC were basically about the moderate demands.What they wanted were seats in Indian council,and wider employment of Indians in higher services.They wanted to work freely under the British administration.They admired some of the ideals prevalent in Europe.They were a bunch of brilliant minds who understood how the foreigners drained our wealth into theirs and many other ways in which they exploited us.Dadabhai Naoroji was the pioneer of moderates,who later became known as ‘the Grand Old Man of India.India will never forget his contribution towards the country.He was one of the founder members of INC ,his Kolkata session’s address of Swaraj in India was a big step towards the revolution.No matter how much we despise of moderates there are a few of them whose ideals constituted the basis of freedom struggle in India.Surendranath Banerjee’s fight against injustice and his ways of oppressing the British as a journalist , his belief in self government started it all.He was a pillar for INC in the early days.G.K.Gokhale ,the man who helped Gandhi in south Africa , the foremost Congress leader and his faith in constitutional means started the Swadeshi movement.They are the men who are not as known as B.G.Tilak or Bhagat Singh but they were the ones who started it.India are in huge debt to the extremist leaders but they also need to know the history behind the struggle and respect the ones who gave birth to the idea of an independent India.