Ancient in the Vedic Period (c. 1500-1000 BCE) did not have social stratification based on socio-economic indicators; rather, citizens were classified according to their Varna or castes. 'Varna' defines the hereditary roots of a newborn, it indicates the colour, type, order or class of people. Four principal categories are defined: Brahmins (priests, gurus, etc.), Kshatriyas (warriors, kings, administrators, etc.), Vaishyas (agriculturalists, traders, etc., also called Vysyas), and Shudras (labourers). Each Varna propounds specific life principles to follow; newborns are required to follow the customs, rules, conduct, and beliefs fundamental to their respective Varnas.
The first mention of Varna is found in the Purusha Suktam verse of the ancient Rig. Purusha is the primordial being, constituted by the combination of the four Varnas. Brahmins constitute its mouth, Kshatriyas its arms, Vaishyas its thighs, and Shudras its feet. Likewise, a society, too, is constituted by these four Varnas, who, through their obedience to the Varna rules, are provisioned to sustain prosperity and order. A newborn in a specific Varna is not mandatorily required to obey its life principles; individual interests and personal inclinations are attended upon with equal solemnity, so as to uproot the conflict between personal choice and customary rules. Given this liberty, a deviated choice is always assessed for its cascading impact on others.
The rights of each Varna citizen are always equated with their individual responsibilities. An elaborated Varna system with insights and reasoning is found in the Manu Smriti (an ancient legal text from the Vedic Period), and later in various Dharma Shastras. Varnas, in principle, are not lineages, considered as pure and indisputable, but categories, thus inferring the precedence of conduct in determining a Varna instead of birth. Purpose of the VARNA System The caste system in ancient India had been executed and acknowledged during, and ever since, the Vedic period that thrived around 1500-1000 BCE. The segregation of people based on their Varna was intended to decongest the responsibilities of one's life, preserve the purity of a caste, and establish eternal order.
This would pre-resolve and avoid all forms of disputes originating from conflicts within business and encroachment on respective duties. In this system, specific tasks are designated to each Varna citizen. A Brahmin behaving as a Kshatriya or a Vaishya debases himself, becoming unworthy of seeking liberation or moksha. For a Brahmin (having become one by deed, in addition to the one by birth) is considered the society’s mouth, and is the purest life form as per the, because he personifies renunciation, austerity, piousness, striving only for wisdom and cultivated intellect. A Kshatriya, too, is required to remain loyal to his Varna duty; if he fails, he could be outcast. The same applies to Vaishyas and Shudras.
Shudras, far from left out or irrelevant, are the base of an, a strong support system of a prosperous economic system, provided they remain confined to their life duties and not give in to greed, immoral conduct, and excess self-indulgence. The underlying reason for adhering to Varna duties is the belief in the attainment of moksha on being dutiful.
The main idea is that such order in a society would lead to contentment, perpetual peace, wilful adherence to, wilful deterrence from all misconduct, responsible exercise of liberty and freedom, and keeping the fundamental societal trait of ‘shared prosperity’ above all others. Practical and moral education of all Varnas and such order seemed justified in ancient Indian society owing to different Varnas living together and the possibility of disunity among them. Hence, Brahmins were entrusted with the duty of educating pupils of all Varnas to understand and practice order and mutual harmony, regardless of distressed circumstances.
Justice, moral, and righteous behaviour were primary teachings in Brahmins’ ashrams (spiritual retreats, places to seek knowledge). Equipping pupils with a pure conscience to lead a noble life was considered essential and so was practical education to all Varnas, which provided students with their life purposes and knowledge of right conduct, which would manifest later into an orderly society. The underlying reason for adhering to Varna duties is the belief in the attainment of moksha on being dutiful.
Belief in the concept of reinforces the belief in the Varna life principles. As per the Vedas, it is the ideal duty of a human to seek freedom from subsequent birth and and rid oneself of the transmigration of the soul, and this is possible when one follows the duties and principles of one’s respective Varna. According to the Vedas, consistent encroachment on others' life responsibilities engenders an unstable society. Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras form the fourfold nature of society, each assigned appropriate life duties and ideal disposition. Men of the first three hierarchical castes are called the twice-born; first, born of their parents, and second, of their guru after the sacred thread initiation they wear over their shoulders. The Varna system is seemingly embryonic in the Vedas, later elaborated and amended in the and Dharma Shastras.
Brahmins Brahmins were revered as an incarnation of knowledge itself, endowed with the precepts and sermons to be discharged to all Varnas of society. They were not just revered because of their Brahmin birth but also their renunciation of worldly life and cultivation of divine qualities, assumed to be always engrossed in the contemplation of Brahman, hence called Brahmins.
Priests, gurus, rishis, teachers, and scholars constituted the Brahmin community. They would always live through the Brahmacharya (celibacy) vow ordained for them. Even married Brahmins were called Brahmachari (celibate) by virtue of having intercourse only for reproducing and remaining mentally detached from the act. However, anyone from other Varnas could also become a Brahmin after extensive acquisition of knowledge and cultivation of one’s intellect. Brahmins were the foremost choice as tutors for the newborn because they represent the link between sublime knowledge of the gods and the four Varnas.
This way, since the ancestral wisdom is sustained through guru-disciple practice, all citizens born in each Varna would remain rooted to the requirements of their lives. Normally, Brahmins were the personification of contentment and dispellers of ignorance, leading all seekers to the zenith of supreme knowledge, however, under exceptions, they lived as warriors, traders, or agriculturists in severe adversity.
The ones bestowed with the titles of Rishi or Maha Rishi were requested to counsel kings and their kingdoms’ administration. All Brahmin men were allowed to marry of the first three Varnas, whereas marrying a Shudra woman would, marginally, bereft the Brahmin of his priestly status. Nevertheless, a Shudra woman would not be rejected if the Brahmin consented. Brahmin women, contrary to the popular belief of their subordination to their husbands, were, in fact, more revered for their chastity and treated with unequalled respect. As per Manu Smriti, a Brahmin woman must only marry a Brahmin and no other, but she remains free to choose the man.
She, under rare circumstances, is allowed to marry a Kshatriya or a Vaishya, but marrying a Shudra man is restricted. The restrictions in inter-caste marriages are to avoid subsequent impurity of progeny born of the matches. A man of a particular caste marrying a woman of a higher caste is considered an imperfect match, culminating in ignoble offspring. Kshatriyas Kshatriyas constituted the warrior clan, the kings, rulers of territories, administrators, etc. It was paramount for a Kshatriya to be learned in weaponry, penance, austerity, administration, moral conduct, justice, and ruling. All Kshatriyas would be sent to a Brahmin’s ashram from an early age until they became wholly equipped with requisite knowledge. Besides austerities like the Brahmins, they would gain additional knowledge of administration.
Their fundamental duty was to protect their territory, defend against attacks, deliver justice, govern virtuously, and extend peace and happiness to all their subjects, and they would take counsel in matters of territorial sovereignty and ethical dilemmas from their Brahmin gurus. They were allowed to marry a woman of all Varnas with mutual consent. Although a Kshatriya or a Brahmin woman would be the first choice, Shudra women were not barred from marrying a Kshatriya. Kshatriya women, like their male counterparts, were equipped with masculine disciplines, fully acquainted with warfare, rights to discharge duties in the king’s absence, and versed in the affairs of the kingdom. Contrary to popular belief, a Kshatriya woman was equally capable of defending a kingdom in times of distress and imparting warfare skills to her descendants. The lineage of a Kshatriya king was kept pure to ensure continuity on the throne and claim sovereignty over territories. Vaishyas Vaishya is the third Varna represented by agriculturalists, traders, money lenders, and those involved in commerce.
Vaishyas are also the twice-born and go to the Brahmins’ ashram to learn the rules of a virtuous life and to refrain from intentional or accidental misconduct. Cattle rearing was one of the most esteemed occupations of the Vaishyas, as the possession and quality of a kingdom’s cows, elephants, horses, and their upkeep affected the quality of life and the associated prosperity of the citizens. Vaishyas would work in close coordination with the administrators of the kingdom to discuss, implement, and constantly upgrade the living standards by providing profitable economic prospects. Because their life conduct exposes them to objects of immediate gratification, their tendency to overlook the law and despise the weak is perceived as probable. Hence, the Kshatriya king would be most busy with resolving disputes originating of conflicts among Vaishyas.
Vaishya women, too, supported their husbands in business, cattle rearing, and, and shared the burden of work. They were equally free to choose a spouse of their choice from the four Varnas, albeit selecting a Shudra was earnestly resisted.
Vaishya women enjoyed protection under the law, and remarriage was undoubtedly normal, just as in the other three Varnas. A Vaishya woman had equal rights over ancestral properties in case of the untimely death of her husband, and she would be equally liable for the upbringing of her children with support from her husband.
Shudras The last Varna represents the backbone of a prosperous economy, in which they are revered for their dutiful conduct toward life duties set out for them. Scholarly views on Shudras are the most varied since there seemingly are more restrictions on their conduct. However, Atharva Veda allows Shudras to hear and learn the Vedas by heart, and the, too, supports the inclusion of Shudras in ashrams and their learning the Vedas. Becoming officiating priests in sacrifices organised by kings was, however, to a large extent restricted. Shudras are not the twice-born, hence not required to wear the sacred thread like the other Varnas. A Shudra man was only allowed to marry a Shudra woman, but a Shudra woman was allowed to marry from any of the four Varnas. Shudras would serve the Brahmins in their ashrams, Kshatriyas in their palaces and princely camps, and Vaishyas in their commercial activities.
Although they are the feet of the primordial being, learned citizens of higher Varnas would always regard them as a crucial segment of society, for an orderly society would be easily compromised if the feet are weak. Shudras, on the other hand, obeyed the orders of their masters, because their knowledge of attaining moksha by embracing their prescribed duties encouraged them to remain loyal. Shudra women, too, worked as attendants and close companions of the queen and would go with her after marriage to other kingdoms. Many Shudras were also allowed to be agriculturalists, traders, and enter occupations of Vaishyas. These detours of life duties would, however, be under special circumstances, on perceiving deteriorating economic situations. The Shudras’ selflessness makes them worthy of unprecedented regard and respect. Gradual withdrawal from the ancient Varna duties Despite the life order being arranged for all kinds of people, by the end of the Vedic period, many began to deflect and disobey their primary duties.
Brahmins started to feel the authoritarian nature of their occupation and status, because of which arrogance seeped in. Many gurus, citing their advice-imparting position to Kshatriya kings, became unholy and deceitful by practising Shudra qualities. Although Brahmins are required only to live on alms and not seek more than their minimal subsistence, capitalising on their superior status and unquestioned hierarchical outreach, they began to demand more for conducting sacrifices. Kshatriyas contested with other kings often to display their prowess and possessions.
Many kings found it acceptable to reject their Brahmin guru’s advice and hence became self-regulating, taking unrighteous decisions, leading to loss of kingship, territory, and the confidence of the Vaishyas and Shudras. Vaishyas started to see themselves as powerful in their ownership of land and subjection of Shudras. Infighting, deceit, cheating influenced the conduct of Vaishyas. Shudras were repeatedly oppressed by the Kshatriyas and Vaishyas at will, which made them disown their duties and instead opt for stealing, lying, avariciousness, and spreading misinformation. India is now home to a repository of the primary four Varnas & hundreds of sub-Varnas, making the original four Varnas merely ‘umbrella terms’ & perpetually ambiguous. Thus, all Varnas fell from their virtuosity, and unrighteous acts of one continued to inspire and justify similar acts of others. Mixing of castes was also considered a part of the declining interest in Varna system.
Most of these changes took place between 1000 BCE and 500 BCE when constant social and economic complexities emerged as new challenges for Varna-based allocation of duties. Population increased, and so did the disunity of citizens in their collective belief in the sanctity of the original Varna system. Religious conversions played a significant part in subsuming large societies into the tenets of humanism and a single large society. The period between 300 CE to 700 CE marked the intersection of multiple religions. As a large Varna populace became difficult to handle, the emergence of propounded the ideology of one single human Varna and nothing besides.
Many followed the original Varna rules, but many others, disapproving opposing beliefs, formed modified sub-Varnas within the primary four Varnas. This process, occurring between 700 CE and 1500 CE, continues to this day, as India is now home to a repository of the primary four Varnas and hundreds of sub-Varnas, making the original four Varnas merely ‘umbrella terms’ and perpetually ambiguous. The subsequent rise of Islam, and other religions also left their on the original Varna system in India. Converted generations reformed their notion of in ways that were compatible with the conditions of those times. The rise of, too, left its significant footprint on the Varna system’s legitimate continuance in renewed conditions of life.
Thus, soulful adherence to Varna duties from the peak of Vedic period eventually diminished to subjective makeshift adherence, owing partly to the discomfort in practising Varna duties and partly to external influence. While the above impacts were gradual, expeditious withdrawal from Varna rules was made possible by the large-scale influence of western notions of liberty, equality, and freedom. These changes can be observed from 1500 CE right through the present. For Western nations, rooted in their own cultural background, it made little sense to approve of this in their eyes antiquated Varna system. Intercepting the Moghul invasion and the near-end sovereignty of multiple dynasties, British invasion brought with it a fresh worldview based on equality and freedom, incompatible with the Varna system. Massive colonisation, impact of ‘cultural imperialism’ enforced significant alterations on Varna duties.
And liberalisation, exchange of culture dented the tiny bit of belief left in continuing the Varna system. Despite this perpetual decline, the descendants of all four Varnas in contemporary India are trying to reinvent their roots in search of ancestral wisdom. Although the four Varnas have encroached upon each other’s life duties, a sense of order and peace is sought and recalled in discourses, community gatherings, and engagement between different generations. Varna system in contemporary terms is followed either with earnest commitment without reservations and doubt or with ambiguity and resistance arising out of unprecedented external influence and issues of subjective incompatibility. While many citizens practice a diluted version of Varna system, extending its limitations and rigidness to a broader context of Hindu, staunch believers still strive and promote the importance of reclaiming the system. Editorial Review This Article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication.
The earliest imprints of human activities in go back to the Age, roughly between 400,000 and 200,000 B.C. Stone implements and cave paintings from this period have been discovered in many parts of the South Asia.
Evidence of domestication of animals, the adoption of, permanent village settlements, and wheel-turned dating from the middle of the sixth millennium B.C. Has been found in the foothills of Sindh and Baluchistan (or Balochistan in current Pakistani usage), both in present-day Pakistan. One of the first great civilizations-with a system, urban centers, and a diversified social and economic system-appeared around 3,000 B.C. Along the Indus River valley in Punjab and Sindh. It covered more than 800,000 square kilometers, from the borders of Baluchistan to the deserts of Rajasthan, from the Himalayan foothills to the southern tip of Gujarat.
The remnants of two major -Mohenjo-daro and Harappa-reveal remarkable engineering feats of uniform urban planning and carefully executed layout, water supply, and drainage. Excavations at these sites and later archaeological digs at about seventy other locations in India and Pakistan provide a composite picture of what is now generally known as Harappan culture (2500-1600 B.C.). The major cities contained a few large buildings including a citadel, a large bath-perhaps for personal and communal ablution-differentiated living quarters, flat-roofed brick houses, and fortified administrative or religious centers enclosing meeting halls and granaries. Essentially a culture, Harappan life was supported by extensive agricultural production and by commerce, which included with in southern (modern Iraq). The people made tools and weapons from and but not iron. Cotton was woven and dyed for clothing; wheat, rice, and a variety of vegetables and fruits were cultivated; and a number of animals, including the humped bull, were domesticated.
Harappan culture was conservative and remained relatively unchanged for centuries; whenever cities were rebuilt after periodic flooding, the new level of construction closely followed the previous pattern. Although stability, regularity, and conservatism seem to have been the hallmarks of this people, it is unclear who wielded authority, whether an aristocratic, priestly, or commercial minority.
By far the most exquisite but most obscure Harappan artifacts unearthed to date are steatite seals found in abundance at Mohenjo-daro. These small, flat, and mostly square objects with human or animal motifs provide the most accurate picture there is of Harappan life. They also have inscriptions generally thought to be in the Harappan, which has eluded scholarly attempts at deciphering it. Debate abounds as to whether the script represents numbers or an, and, if an alphabet, whether it is proto-Dravidian or proto. The possible reasons for the decline of Harappan have long troubled scholars. Invaders from central and western Asia are considered by some historians to have been the 'destroyers' of Harappan cities, but this view is open to reinterpretation.
More plausible explanations are recurrent floods caused by tectonic earth movement, soil salinity, and desertification. VEDIC ARYANS A series of migrations by -speaking seminomads took place during the second millennium B.C. Known as Aryans, these preliterate pastoralists spoke an early form of Sanskrit, which has close philological similarities to other, such as Avestan in Iran and ancient and Latin.
The term meant pure and implied the invaders' conscious attempts at retaining their tribal identity and roots while maintaining a social distance from earlier inhabitants. Although has not yielded proof of the identity of the Aryans, the evolution and spread of their culture across the Indo-Gangetic Plain is generally undisputed. Modern knowledge of the early stages of this process rests on a body of sacred texts: the four (collections of hymns, prayers, and liturgy), the Brahmanas and the (commentaries on Vedic rituals and philosophical treatises), and the Puranas (traditional mythic-historical works). The sanctity accorded to these texts and the manner of their preservation over several millennia-by an unbroken oral tradition-make them part of the living tradition. These sacred texts offer guidance in piecing together Aryan beliefs and activities. The Aryans were a pantheistic people, following their tribal chieftain or raja, engaging in wars with each other or with other alien ethnic groups, and slowly becoming settled agriculturalists with consolidated territories and differentiated occupations.
Their skills in using horse-drawn chariots and their knowledge of astronomy and mathematics gave them a military and technological advantage that led others to accept their social customs and religious beliefs. By around 1,000 B.C., Aryan culture had spread over most of India north of the Vindhya Range and in the process assimilated much from other cultures that preceded it. The Aryans brought with them a new language, a new of anthropomorphic gods, a patrilineal and patriarchal family system, and a new social order, built on the religious and philosophical rationales of varnashramadharma. Although precise translation into English is difficult, the concept varnashramadharma, the bedrock of Indian traditional social organization, is built on three fundamental notions: varna (originally, 'color,' but later taken to mean social class-see Glossary), ashrama (stages of life such as youth, family life, detachment from the material world, and renunciation), and dharma (duty, righteousness, or sacred cosmic ).
The underlying belief is that present happiness and future salvation are contingent upon one's ethical or moral conduct; therefore, both society and individuals are expected to pursue a diverse but righteous path deemed appropriate for everyone based on one's birth, age, and station in life. The original three-tiered society-Brahman (priest), Kshatriya (warrior), and Vaishya (commoner)-eventually expanded into four in order to absorb the subjugated people-Shudra (servant)-or even five, when the outcaste peoples are considered. The basic unit of Aryan society was the extended and patriarchal family. A cluster of related families constituted a village, while several villages formed a tribal unit. Child marriage, as practiced in later eras, was uncommon, but the partners' involvement in the selection of a mate and dowry and bride-price were customary.
The birth of a son was welcome because he could later tend the herds, bring honor in, offer sacrifices to the gods, and inherit property and pass on the family name. Monogamy was widely accepted although polygamy was not unknown, and even polyandry is mentioned in later writings. Ritual suicide of widows was expected at a husband's, and this might have been the beginning of the practice known as sati in later centuries, when the widow actually burnt herself on her husband's funeral pyre. Permanent settlements and agriculture led to trade and other occupational differentiation. As lands along the (or ) were cleared, the river became a trade route, the numerous settlements on its banks acting as markets.
Trade was restricted initially to local areas, and barter was an essential component of trade, cattle being the unit of value in large-scale transactions, which further limited the geographical reach of the trader. Custom was law, and kings and chief priests were the arbiters, perhaps advised by certain elders of the community. An Aryan raja, or king, was primarily a military leader, who took a share from the booty after successful cattle raids or battles. Although the rajas had managed to assert their authority, they scrupulously avoided conflicts with priests as a group, whose knowledge and austere religious life surpassed others in the community, and the rajas compromised their own interests with those of the priests. KINGDOMS & EMPIRES From their original settlements in the Punjab region, the Aryans gradually began to penetrate eastward, clearing dense forests and establishing 'tribal' settlements along the Ganga and Yamuna (Jamuna) plains between 1500 and ca.
By around 500 B.C., most of northern India was inhabited and had been brought under cultivation, facilitating the increasing knowledge of the use of iron implements, including ox-drawn plows, and spurred by the growing population that provided voluntary and forced labor. As riverine and inland trade flourished, many towns along the Ganga became centers of trade, culture, and luxurious living. Increasing population and surplus production provided the bases for the emergence of independent states with fluid territorial boundaries over which disputes frequently arose. The rudimentary administrative system headed by tribal chieftains was transformed by a number of regional republics or hereditary monarchies that devised ways to appropriate revenue and to conscript labor for expanding the areas of settlement and agriculture farther east and south, beyond the Narmada River. These emergent states collected revenue through officials, maintained armies, and built new cities and highways. By 600 B.C., sixteen such territorial powers-including the, Kosala, Kuru, and -stretched across the North India plains from modern-day Afghanistan to Bangladesh.
The right of a king to his throne, no matter how it was gained, was usually legitimized through elaborate sacrifice rituals and genealogies concocted by priests who ascribed to the king divine or superhuman origins. The victory of good over evil is epitomized in the epic Ramayana (The Travels of, or Ram in the preferred modern form), while another epic, (Great Battle of the Descendants of Bharata), spells out the concept of dharma and duty. More than 2,500 years later, Mohandas Karamchand (Mahatma) Gandhi, the father of modern India, used these concepts in the fight for independence. The Mahabharata records the feud between Aryan cousins that culminated in an epic battle in which both gods and mortals from many lands allegedly fought to the death, and recounts the kidnapping of Sita, Rama's wife, by, a demonic king of Lanka (Sri Lanka), her rescue by her husband (aided by his animal allies), and Rama's coronation, leading to a period of prosperity and justice. In the late twentieth century, these epics remain dear to the hearts of Hindus and are commonly read and enacted in many settings.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Ram's story has been exploited by Hindu militants and politicians to gain power, and the much disputed Ramjanmabhumi, the birth site of Ram, has become an extremely sensitive communal issue, potentially pitting Hindu majority against Muslim minority THE By the end of the sixth century B.C., India's northwest was integrated into the Persian and became one of its satrapies. This integration marked the beginning of administrative contacts between Central Asia and India. Although Indian accounts to a large extent ignored 's Indus campaign in 326 B.C., Greek writers recorded their impressions of the general conditions prevailing in South Asia during this period. Thus, the year 326 B.C.
Provides the first clear and historically verifiable date in Indian history. A two-way cultural fusion between several elements-especially in art, and -occurred in the next several hundred years. North India's political landscape was transformed by the emergence of Magadha in the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plain. In 322 B.C., Magadha, under the rule of, began to assert its hegemony over neighboring areas., who ruled from 324 to 301 B.C., was the architect of the first Indian imperial power-the Mauryan (326-184 B.C.)-whose capital was Pataliputra, near modern-day Patna, in Bihar. Situated on rich alluvial soil and near mineral deposits, especially iron, Magadha was at the center of bustling commerce and trade.
The capital was a city of magnificent palaces, temples, a university, a library, gardens, and parks, as reported by Megasthenes, the third-century B.C. Greek historian and ambassador to the Mauryan court. Legend states that Chandragupta's success was due in large measure to his adviser, the Brahman author of the ( of Material Gain), a textbook that outlined governmental administration and political strategy. There was a highly centralized and hierarchical government with a large staff, which regulated tax collection, trade and commerce, industrial arts, mining, vital statistics, welfare of foreigners, maintenance of public places including markets and temples, and prostitutes. A large standing army and a well-developed espionage system were maintained. The empire was divided into provinces, districts, and villages governed by a host of centrally appointed local officials, who replicated the functions of the central administration., grandson of Chandragupta, ruled from 269 to 232 B.C.
And was one of India's most illustrious rulers. Ashoka's inscriptions chiseled on rocks and stone pillars located at strategic locations throughout his empire-such as Lampaka (Laghman in modern Afghanistan), Mahastan (in modern Bangladesh), and Brahmagiri (in Karnataka)-constitute the second set of datable historical records. According to some of the inscriptions, in the aftermath of the carnage resulting from his campaign against the powerful kingdom of Kalinga (modern Orissa), Ashoka renounced bloodshed and pursued a policy of nonviolence or ahimsa, espousing a theory of rule by righteousness. His toleration for different religious beliefs and languages reflected the realities of India's regional pluralism although he personally seems to have followed. Early stories assert that he convened a Buddhist council at his capital, regularly undertook tours within his realm, and sent Buddhist missionary ambassadors to Sri Lanka. Contacts established with the during the reign of Ashoka's predecessors served him well.
He sent diplomatic-cum-religious missions to the rulers of, Macedonia, and Epirus, who learned about India's religious traditions, especially Buddhism. India's northwest retained many Persian cultural elements, which might explain Ashoka's rock inscriptions-such inscriptions were commonly associated with Persian rulers. Ashoka's Greek and Aramaic inscriptions found in Kandahar in Afghanistan may also reveal his desire to maintain ties with people outside of India. After the disintegration of the Mauryan Empire in the second century B.C., South Asia became a collage of regional powers with overlapping boundaries. India's unguarded northwestern border again attracted a series of invaders between 200 B.C. As the Aryans had done, the invaders became 'Indianized' in the process of their and settlement.
Also, this period witnessed remarkable intellectual and artistic achievements inspired by cultural diffusion and syncretism. The Indo-Greeks, or the Bactrians, of the northwest contributed to the development of; they were followed by another group, the Shakas (or Scythians), from the steppes of Central Asia, who settled in western India. Still other nomadic people, the Yuezhi, who were forced out of the Inner Asian steppes of Mongolia, drove the Shakas out of northwestern India and established the Kushana Kingdom (first century B.C.-third century A.D.). The Kushana Kingdom controlled parts of Afghanistan and Iran, and in India the realm stretched from Purushapura (modern Peshawar, Pakistan) in the northwest, to Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) in the east, and to Sanchi (Madhya Pradesh) in the south. For a short period, the kingdom reached still farther east, to Pataliputra.
The Kushana Kingdom was the crucible of trade among the Indian, Persian, Chinese, and empires and controlled a critical part of the legendary. Kanishka, who reigned for two decades starting around A.D. 78, was the most noteworthy Kushana ruler. He converted to Buddhism and convened a great Buddhist council in Kashmir. The Kushanas were patrons of Gandharan art, a synthesis between Greek and Indian styles, and Sanskrit.
They initiated a new era called Shaka in A.D. 78, and their calendar, which was formally recognized by India for civil purposes starting on March 22, 1957, is still in use. THE DECCAN & THE SOUTH During the Kushana Dynasty, an indigenous power, the Satavahana Kingdom (first century B.C.-third century A.D.), rose in the Deccan in southern India. The Satavahana, or Andhra, Kingdom was considerably influenced by the Mauryan political model, although power was decentralized in the hands of local chieftains, who used the symbols of Vedic and upheld the varnashramadharma. The rulers, however, were eclectic and patronized Buddhist monuments, such as those in Ellora (Maharashtra) and Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh).
Thus, the Deccan served as a bridge through which politics, trade, and religious ideas could spread from the north to the south. Farther south were three ancient Tamil kingdoms-Chera (on the west), Chola (on the east), and Pandya (in the south)-frequently involved in internecine to gain regional supremacy. They are mentioned in Greek and Ashokan sources as lying at the fringes of the Mauryan Empire.
A corpus of ancient Tamil literature, known as Sangam (academy) works, including Tolkappiam, a manual of Tamil grammar by Tolkappiyar, provides much useful information about their social life from 300 B.C. There is clear evidence of encroachment by Aryan traditions from the north into a predominantly indigenous Dravidian culture in transition. Dravidian social order was based on different ecoregions rather than on the Aryan varna paradigm, although the Brahmans had a high status at a very early stage. Segments of society were characterized by matriarchy and matrilineal succession-which survived well into the nineteenth century-cross-cousin marriage, and strong regional identity. Tribal chieftains emerged as 'kings' just as people moved from pastoralism toward agriculture, sustained by irrigation based on rivers, small-scale tanks (as man-made ponds are called in India) and wells, and brisk maritime trade with and Southeast Asia. Discoveries of Roman coins in various sites attest to extensive South Indian links with the outside world. As with Pataliputra in the northeast and in the northwest (in modern Pakistan), the city of Madurai, the Pandyan capital (in modern Tamil Nadu), was the center of intellectual and literary activities.
Poets and bards assembled there under royal patronage at successive concourses and composed anthologies of poems, most of which have been lost. By the end of the first century B.C., South Asia was crisscrossed by overland trade routes, which facilitated the movements of Buddhist and Jain missionaries and other travelers and opened the area to a synthesis of many cultures. & The Classical Age refers to the period when most of North India was reunited under the (ca. Because of the relative peace, law and order, and extensive cultural achievements during this period, it has been described as a 'golden age' that crystallized the elements of what is generally known as Hindu culture with all its variety, contradiction, and synthesis. The golden age was confined to the north, and the classical patterns began to spread south only after the Gupta Empire had vanished from the historical scene.
The military exploits of the first three rulers-Chandragupta I (ca. 319-335), Samudragupta (ca. 335-376), and Chandragupta II (ca.
376-415)-brought all of North India under their leadership. From Pataliputra, their capital, they sought to retain political preeminence as much by pragmatism and judicious marriage alliances as by military strength. Despite their self-conferred titles, their overlordship was threatened and by 500 ultimately ruined by the Hunas (a branch of the emanating from Central Asia), who were yet another group in the long succession of ethnically and culturally different outsiders drawn into India and then woven into the hybrid Indian fabric.
Under Harsha Vardhana (or Harsha, r. 606-47), North India was reunited briefly, but neither the Guptas nor Harsha controlled a centralized state, and their administrative styles rested on the collaboration of regional and local officials for administering their rule rather than on centrally appointed personnel. The Gupta period marked a watershed of Indian culture: the Guptas performed Vedic sacrifices to legitimize their rule, but they also patronized Buddhism, which continued to provide an alternative to Brahmanical orthodoxy. The most significant achievements of this period, however, were in religion, education, mathematics, art, and Sanskrit literature and drama. The religion that later developed into modern witnessed a crystallization of its components: major sectarian deities, image worship, devotionalism, and the importance of the. Education included grammar, composition, logic, metaphysics, mathematics, and astronomy. These subjects became highly specialized and reached an advanced level.
The Indian numeral system-sometimes erroneously attributed to the Arabs, who took it from India to where it replaced the Roman system-and the decimal system are Indian inventions of this period. Aryabhatta's expositions on astronomy in 499, moreover, gave calculations of the solar year and the shape and movement of astral bodies with remarkable accuracy. In medicine, Charaka and wrote about a fully evolved system, resembling those of and Galen in.
Although progress in physiology and biology was hindered by religious injunctions against contact with dead bodies, which discouraged dissection and anatomy, Indian physicians excelled in pharmacopoeia, caesarean section, bone setting, and skin grafting. THE SOUTHERN RIVALS When Gupta disintegration was complete, the classical patterns of civilization continued to thrive not only in the middle Ganga Valley and the kingdoms that emerged on the heels of Gupta demise but also in the Deccan and in South India, which acquired a more prominent place in history. In fact, from the mid-seventh to the mid-thirteenth centuries, regionalism was the dominant theme of political or dynastic history of South Asia. Three features, as political scientist Radha Champakalakshmi has noted, commonly characterize the sociopolitical realities of this period. First, the spread of Brahmanical religions was a two-way process of Sanskritization of local cults and localization of Brahmanical social order. Second was the ascendancy of the Brahman priestly and landowning groups that later dominated regional institutions and political developments.
Third, because of the seesawing of numerous dynasties that had a remarkable ability to survive perennial military attacks, regional kingdoms faced frequent defeats but seldom total annihilation. Peninsular India was involved in an eighth-century tripartite power struggle among the Chalukyas (556-757) of Vatapi, the Pallavas (300-888) of, and the Pandyas (seventh through the tenth centuries) of Madurai.
The Chalukya rulers were overthrown by their subordinates, the Rashtrakutas, who ruled from 753 to 973. Although both the Pallava and Pandya kingdoms were enemies, the real struggle for political domination was between the Pallava and Chalukya realms. Despite interregional conflicts, local autonomy was preserved to a far greater degree in the south where it had prevailed for centuries.
The absence of a highly centralized government was associated with a corresponding local autonomy in the administration of villages and districts. Extensive and well-documented overland and maritime trade flourished with the Arabs on the west coast and with Southeast Asia. Trade facilitated cultural diffusion in Southeast Asia, where local elites selectively but willingly adopted Indian art, architecture, literature, and social customs. The interdynastic rivalry and seasonal raids into each other's territory notwithstanding, the rulers in the Deccan and South India patronized all three religions-Buddhism, Hinduism,. The religions vied with each other for royal favor, expressed in land grants but more importantly in the creation of monumental temples, which remain architectural wonders. The cave temples of Elephanta Island (near Bombay, or Mumbai in Marathi), and Ellora (in Maharashtra), and structural temples of Kanchipuram (in Tamil Nadu) are enduring legacies of otherwise warring regional rulers. By the mid-seventh century, Buddhism and Jainism began to decline as sectarian Hindu devotional cults of and vigorously competed for popular support.
Although Sanskrit was the language of learning and theology in South India, as it was in the north, the growth of the bhakti (devotional) movements enhanced the crystallization of vernacular literature in all four major Dravidian languages: Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada; they often borrowed themes and vocabulary from Sanskrit but preserved much local cultural lore. Examples of Tamil literature include two major poems, Cilappatikaram (The Jewelled Anklet) and Manimekalai (The Jewelled Belt); the body of devotional literature of Shaivism and Vaishnavism-Hindu devotional movements; and the reworking of the Ramayana by Kamban in the twelfth century. A nationwide cultural synthesis had taken place with a minimum of common characteristics in the various regions of South Asia, but the process of cultural infusion and assimilation would continue to shape and influence India's history through the centuries. Editorial Review This Article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication.
. With less than a year to go for the next Lok Sabha elections, 73.3% of respondents said that a Modi-led government was the most-likely possibility when the elections are held. The online poll was conducted online between May 23-25 in 9 languages across 9 media properties of the Times Group.
Bihar 10th result 2018: The Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) is scheduled to release the Bihar Board 10th (Matric) Result 2018 tomorrow, June 26, 2018. A group of 50 alumni from the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) across the country have quit their jobs to form a political party to fight for the rights of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes. The group, which is waiting for an approval from the Election Commission, has named their outfit 'Bahujan Azad Party'. Forget the BJP winning the 2019 polls, even Prime Minister Narendra Modi might lose his Varanasi seat under a united opposition, asserted Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday. 'You are going to see a collapse of the style you haven't seen in many years,' he said.
The Central Board of Secondary Education has decided to re-conduct the examinations for Economics (Class 12th) and Mathematics (for Class 10). This follows allegations that the papers were leaked on WhatsApp before the examinations commenced. Rahul Gandhi on Friday trained guns at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) by comparing it to Egypt's Sunni Islamist organisation, the Muslim Brotherhood, during his address at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London. Not pleased with his analogy, BJP hit back at Rahul, accusing him of acting as a 'contract killer of the idea of India'. Breaking his silence on the Unnao and Kathua rape cases, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said: 'No culprit will be spared, complete justice will be done. Our daughters will definitely get justice.' .
Woman Grandmaster and former world junior girls’ champion Soumya Swaminathan has pulled out of the Asian Team Chess Championship, to be held in Hamadan, Iran, from July 26 to August 4, calling the Islamic country’s “compulsory headscarf” rule violative of her personal rights. The Congress President also dismissed PM Modi indirectly over his mother's Italian origins.
'My mother is Italian. She has lived a large part of her life in India. She is more Indian than many people I see,' he said. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of the Congress party said today PM Narendra Modi has 'stooped low' in his recent comments about opponents and that doesn't 'behove a Prime Minister'. ' It doesn't behove a PM to stoop so low and it is not good for the country as well,' said Singh. The Madras high court sent a blunt message to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Wednesday: create exclusive lanes for VIPs, including sitting judges, at all toll plazas on national highways or face contempt of court proceedings.
The engineer (in his mid twenties) was identified as Nishant Agrawal who was working with the organisation for last four years. He is suspected of having passed on technical secrets related to the missile tech to Pakistan and US intelligence agencies. BS Yeddyurappa made an emotional speech on the floor of the House before announcing his decision to step down, as numbers were stacked against the BJP in the newly-elected House. After renaming Allahabad as Prayag Raj, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday rechristened Faizabad as Ayodhya, in a move that experts said could potentially give the ruling BJP to give its Hindutva agenda a further push ahead of Lok Sabha elections due next year. The PM said people need to teach their sons to treat girls with respect. “We ask our daughters what they have been doing when they come home late, but do we ask our sons? These sinners are somebody’s sons!” he said.
The new Congress government in Madhya Pradesh delivered on its poll promise to the farmers with chief minister Kamal Nath announcing farm loan waiver immediately after taking charge. Kamal Nath signed the file for waiving loans of up to Rs 2 lakh of Madhya Pradesh farmers within hours of taking oath. Rahul alleged that a CAG report on Rafale did not exist. 'How did the Supreme Court see something that was never presented to PAC? In fact, no CAG report is in the public domain on this issue. It has not been submitted so far,' he said.
Congress also objected to a reference by the SC that the IAF chief had expressed reservations over disclosure of Rafale's pricing. A month after reports suggested that Nitin Sandesara, owner of Gujarat-based Sterling Biotech and wanted by the CBI and the ED in a Rs 5,000 crore bank fraud, was detained in Dubai, it has now emerged that he is not in the UAE and could have fled to Nigeria. India doesn’t not have an extradition treaty with that country. A day after Vijay Mallya claimed that he had a meeting with Arun Jaitley, Congress president Rahul Gandhi accused the finance minister of “colluding” with the fugitive liquor baron. 'This is a clear-cut case of collusion.
Article Of Indian Constitution In Bengali
There is some deal between them. Finance Minister Jaitley must resign and this should be investigated,' he said. “We were very confident that we would never come to power, so we were advised to make tall promises,” said Nitin Gadkari during the show. “Now that we are in power, the public reminds us of those promises made by us.
However, these days, we just laugh and move on.”. India will not accept the generous help that has been offered by foreign governments after the floods in Kerala. This does not, however, extend to private contributions pouring in from all over the world, given the huge diaspora from Kerala. Even during the Uttarakhand floods in 2013, the UPA government too politely refused foreign aid. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was speaking at the launch of the payments bank of Indian postal department, on Saturday blamed the Congress-led UPA government for the NPA crisis and said that 'every penny of loans given at the behest of the 'naamdaars' will be recovered'. Former Union finance minister Yashwant Sinha said today he's quitting the BJP because the NDA, which it leads, is undermining democratic institutions. The Supreme Court on Friday said it found no irregularities in the NDA government's decision-making process to purchase 36 Rafale fighter jets from Dassault under Indo-French intergovernmental agreement.
Niti Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar on Monday blamed the former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan for the slowdown in country's economy in the days that followed note ban. “Rajan's policies on non-performing assets (NPAs) led to the slowdown and not the govt's decision to ban currency notes,” Kumar said. Addressing an audience at University of California, Raghuram Rajan said for four years - 2012 to 2016 - India was growing at a faster pace before it was hit by two major headwinds. A growth rate of 7% per year for 25 years is 'very very strong' growth, but in some sense this has become the new Hindu rate of growth, which earlier used to be 3.5%, he said.
While the Congress announced it will be meeting Goa governor Mridula Sinha to ask him to invite the party to stake claim to the government, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav also asked the Bihar governor Satya Pal Malik to dissolve the assembly and invite his party to form a government in the state. After a day of intense speculations, Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala on Wednesday evening invited BJP's BS Yeddyurappa to form government in the state. On the issue of constructing a Ram temple in Ayodhya, Yogi said: “Mandir tha, hai, aur rahega'. (There was Ram mandir, there is Ram mandir and there will be Ram mandir in Ayodhya).
People come to Ayodhya for 'darshan', 'smaran (remembering) of Lord Ram and the statue will fulfill that purpose, Yogi said on Wednesday in Ayodhya. Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday hit back at Rahul Gandhi after he accused her of lying in Parliament about procurement orders worth Rs 1 lakh crore for state-run aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). Sitharaman said it was a matter of 'shame' that the Congress president was misleading the country on the issue. Home minister Rajnath Singh on Friday indicated that Indian forces may have hit Pakistani targets across the border with heavy artillery attack to avenge the brutal killing of a BSF trooper in unprovoked firing by the Pakistanis.
'Something has happened. I won’t reveal it now,' Rajnath Singh said. Actor Kamal Haasan believes that the collective voice of a south India united under Dravidian identity would be strong enough to dictate terms to the central government. Top Congress sources said the party may be willing to accommodate the leader of a non-Congress or regional party as the prime ministerial nominee if it gets the numbers in the next Lok Sabha election or in case of a lack of consensus on a Congress nominee.
The CBI probe in the politically sensitive Unnao gang-rape case has corroborated the survivor’s charge that BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar raped her at his home in Uttar Pradesh’s Makhi village on June 4 last year while his female accomplice, Shashi Singh, stood guard outside the room. In a statement, the MEA spokesperson said, while India appreciated the offers of help from different countries, 'in line with the existing policy, the government is committed to meeting the requirements for relief and rehabilitation through domestic efforts.' The announcement came hours after Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that his government will officially try to remove 'impediments', if any, in receiving the Rs 700-crore financial assistance offered by UAE. PM Narendra Modi on Tuesday took several digs at Rahul Gandhi, although he did not directly refer to him by name. But the implication was obvious. Addressing the first of his many rallies in poll-bound Karnataka, Modi also tore into the Congress party on several fronts. Clip studio license key.
Responding to questions over leadership of a prospective opposition alliance, Rahul said he was a likely PM candidate if Congress’s allies were agreeable, pointing out that this was a two-step process — winning the elections and deciding the leader. A govt source said the note giving ‘details of the steps in the decision-making process leading to the award of 36 Rafale fighter jets’ to the SC was meant only for the judges’ eyes and would not be shared with the parties or petitioners.
The SC direction would be complied with after redacting the note of sensitive and technical details. AgustaWestland chopper scam accused Christian Michel took the name of 'Mrs Gandhi' and also spoke about 'the son of the Italian lady' who is going to be 'the next PM of the country,' the ED told the court. Alleging that Michel was being tutored from the outside, ED also sought a ban on lawyer access to Michel. The statement by the French government came following a French media report which quoted former French President Francois Hollande as saying that the Indian government proposed Reliance Defence as the partner for Dassault Aviation in the Rs 58,000 crore Rafale deal and France did not have a choice. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be holding a day-long fast with all BJP lawmakers on Thursday to protest against the recent washout of Parliament blaming the opposition for the disruption. Kumaraswamy said the Congress-JD(S) alliance had brought together opposition leaders in an unprecedented show of strength against the BJP-led Centre in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The groundswell of horror against the alleged bid to communalise the gory gang rape and murder of eight-year-old in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua grew across the country on Thursday as outrage reminiscent of the Nirbhaya protests erupted on social media. Speaking at a rally in UP's Azamgarh, PM Modi launched a scathing attack on the opposition parties for stalling Parliament and blocking important legislations like the triple talaq. The Prime Minister is on a two-day tour of eastern Uttar Pradesh. The Govind Guru Tribal University, Banswara, an apex body for conducting the BSTC examination, has released the results on Wednesday, June 6, 2018. The furore over Assam's National Register of Citizens list got intense on Tuesday, with both the government and opposition debating the motives and objectives of the register. The draft NRC was released by the Assam government on Monday.
A police inspector and a protester died after they sustained fatal injuries following mob violence over an alleged case of cow slaughter in Bulandshahr (UP) on Monday morning. Twelve terrorists, including top commanders, were killed on Sunday in multiple encounters with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian and Anantnag district.
Two encounters are simultaneously underway in Shopian, one in Dragad village, and the other in Kachdoora village. Hitting out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi, finance minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday said that there could be a linkage between Rahul's charges on the NDA government and former French President Francois Hollande's statement on the controversial Rafale deal. The NDA government today filed a petition seeking review of the Supreme Court order diluting the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, which protects marginalised communities against discrimination and atrocities. A four-month-old baby was raped and murdered in the historic Rajwada area of Indore in the wee hours of Thursday.
The infant’s body was found in the basement area of the heritage Shiv Vilas Palace, blood smears on the stairs telling a horror story. Trends show Congress, TRS and MNF winning Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram, respectively. Meanwhile, Congress is locked in a close contest with BJP in Madhya Pradesh and holds edge in Rajasthan.
A total of 678 assembly seats across five states went for polls, after polling was countermanded in one seat in Rajasthan due to death of a candidate. 22-year-old tourist from Tamil Nadu was killed and two members of his family, including his mother, were injured when their cab was attacked by a group of stone-pelters at Narbal on the Srinagar-Gulmarg highway on Monday. BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa on Thursday took oath as Karnataka chief minister after governor Vajubhai Vala invited him to form the government and prove his majority on the floor of the House in 15 days. Reeling under fund crunch, defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has, for the first time in decades, borrowed about Rs 1,000 crore to pay salaries to its employees. The company is worried that projects could come to a standstill by April with no money left to make fresh purchases or pay vendors. The 26-year-old claimed he didn't know who he was killing when he pumped four bullets into Gauri in front of her house in RR Nagar, Bengaluru, on the night of September 5, 2017, SIT sources said on Friday.
Sajjan Kumar, a Congress leader was accused of conspiracy to commit murder during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Kumar was acquitted by a trial court but on Monday the Delhi high court reversed the judgment of the lower court and convicted him to life imprisonment. Kumar has to surrender by Dec 31. While the elections were not about PM Modi, he will be under pressure to come out with something spectacular to counter the perception of a slide in BJP’s fortunes, especially as the Lok Sabha polls rule out the scope for attempting something whose results may not be visible shortly. Opposition leaders today submitted a notice for the impeachment of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra to vice president Venkaiah Naidu.
The move comes in the wake of the Supreme Court (SC) judgment of yesterday, which dismissed the demand for an investigation into the death of CBI judge BH Loya. Following Raj Babbar's statement on Friday which compared falling rupee with the PM Narendra Modi's mother's age, a controversy had started.
On Friday in an election rally, PM Modi said that 'since the Congress is unable to compete with him, it has 'started to abuse his mother.' He added that targeting his mother will not help Congress candidates save their deposits. A French media report late on Wednesday night said that an internal document of Dassault Aviation showed that the fighter manufacturer was presented with no other option but to tie-up with Anil Ambani-led Reliance Defence as the main offsets partner in the Rs 59,000 crore contract to deliver 36 jets to India. 'Suppose a person by virtue of reservation gets into IAS and becomes secretary through reservation in promotion. Can a very senior bureaucrat's grandson and great-grandson be treated as backward for promotion in employment, and that too in perpetuity?' The Supreme Court asked on Thursday.
A row broke out today over the discharge of RJD chief Lalu Prasad from Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). In a statement, AIIMS said the RJD supremo’s condition has improved significantly and he was therefore being referred back to the Ranchi Medical College. Congress on Thursday alleged conspiracy and lodged a complaint with the Karnataka police over what it called 'unexplained malfunctioning' of the 10-seater Dassault Falcon 2000 aircraft (VT-AVH) carrying party president Rahul Gandhi to Hubballi from New Delhi. Under fire from opponents and protests from J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti, BJP on Friday secured the resignations of two of its ministers, Lal Singh and Chandar Prakash Ganga, from the coalition government for participating in protests in favour of the accused in the Kathua gang rape and murder case. Congress leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi had “escaped” incomes — over what was declared and assessed — in 2011-12 of Rs 155.4 crore and Rs 155 crore, respectively, according to an income tax order passed after reassessing their incomes relating to Associated Journals Ltd.
SC is hearing appeal of Congress leaders against reopening of their tax assessment. Congress romped home in Chhattisgarh, won on points in Rajasthan and eked out a narrow victory in MP. Congress’s success on Tuesday invests Rahul Gandhi’s campaign themes with a credibility and lethality they so far seemed to lack and makes BJP’s job for 2019 that much more difficult.
Though separatists alleged that security forces opened fire without any provocation, the Mishipora eyewitnesses said the mob was trying to help the terrorists escape from the village where they were hiding and engaged in an encounter with the security forces.
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