Indian History Notes # 15

Source: XII NCERT History Part III Chapter 1

• Colonial Rule was first established in Bengal.

Permanent settlement:

• Since the conquest of Bengal, British had been facing many problems.
• Rural economy in Bengal was in crisis.
• Officials thought to encourage investments in agriculture and this could be done by securing rights of property and permanently fixing the rates of revenue demand.
• The permanent settlement had come into operation in 1793.
• British officials made permanent settlement with the rajas and taluqdars of Bengal, who were classified as Zamindars.
• Zamindars had several villages under them.
• The villages within one zamindari form one revenue estate.
• The company fixed the total demand over the entire estate whose revenue the zamindar contracted to pay. Failing which his estate could be auctioned.
• Charles Cornwallis was the Governor general of Bengal when the permanent settlement was introduced there.
• Zamindars collects rent from ryots and pay the demand to the company.
• To regulate and control zamindars they were brought under the supervision of a collector appointed by the company.

Rise of the Jotedars:

• Rich peasants were known as jotedars.
• Jotedars had acquired vast areas of land, they controlled local trade as well as money lending.
• Jotedars were located in the village and exercised direct control.
• They influenced ryots to resist increase of rent by Zamindars.
• In some places they were called hooladars, Gantidars or mandals.

The Fifth Report:

• Many political groups in England felt that the conquest of Bengal was benefitting only East India Company but not the British nation as a whole.
• British parliament forced the company to produce regular reports on the administration of India.5th report was the fifth of a series of such reports.
• 5th report included petitions of zamindars and ryot, reports of collectorate, notes on the revenue and judicial administration of Bengal and Madras.

Francis Buchanan;

• He was surgeon to the Governor General of India, Lord Wellesley.
• He organised a Zoo in calcutta that became the kolkatta Alipore Zoo.
• On the request of the Governement of Bengal, he undertook detailed surveys of the area under the jurisdiction of the British East India.

Aquatint - It is a picture produced by cutting into copper sheet with acid and then printing it.
Paharias were folk around the rajmahal hills subsisting on forest produce and practising shifting cultivation.

The santhals:

• They had begun to come into bengal around the 1780s. 
• British officials invited them to settle in the Jangal mahals.
• The santhals were given land and persuaded to settle in the foothills of Rajmahal.
• By 1832 a large area of land was demarcated as Damin I koh.
• Santhals were settled down and cultivated a range of commercial crops for the market and dealing with traders and moneylenders.
• Money lenders (dikhus) were charging high interest rates.
• Zamindars were trying to exercise superior authority.
• Santhals revolted against Dikhus, Zamindars and british in the year 1855.

Ryotwari settlement:

• It was introduced in the Bombay Deccan.
• the average income from different types of soil was estimated. the revenue paying capacity of the ryots was assessed and a proportion of it fixed as the share of the state.
• This revenue system was first introduced in the year 1820's.

Cotton Boom:

• In 1857 the cotton supply association was founded in Britain.
• In 1859 the manchester cotton company was formed.
• Before 1860s, 3/4th of raw cotton was imported from America.
• American civil war broke out in 1861, this led to panic in Britain cotton circles.
• Company officials encouraged cotton cultivation in India.
• In 1859 the British passed a limitation law that stated that the loan bonds signed between money lenders and ryots would have validity for only 3 years.
• By 1865 the cotton production in America revived and Indian cotton exports steadily declined. 

 

Indian History Notes # 14

(Source: XII NCERT History Part III Chapter 6)

• In 1945-46 provincial elections were held in India. The provincial legislatures then chose the representatives to the constituent assembly.
• The muslim League party boycott the constituent assembly.
• The constituent assembly had 300 members.
• Of these 300 members, 6 members played particularly important role. They were 

1. Jawaharlal Nehru
2. Sardar vallabhai patel
3. Rajendra prasad
4. B.R.Ambedkar
5. K.M. Munshi
6. Alladi Krishnaswamy Aiyar

• These six members were given vital assistance by 2 civil servants. they were 

1. B.N.Rau
2. S.N.Mukherjee

• B.N. Rau was constitutional adviser to the government of India.
• S.N.Mukherjee had the ability to put complex proposals in clear legal language.
• On December 13, 1946, Jawaharlal Nehru introduced the objective resolution in the constituent assembly.
• On 27 August 1947, B.Pocker Bahadur from Madras made a powerful plea for continuing separate electorate.
• Sardar Vallabhai Patel declared that separate electorate was a poison that has entered the body politic of our country.
• N.G.Ranga, a socialist who had been a leader of the peasant movement welcomed the objectives resolution and urged that the term minorities be interpreted in economic terms.

 

geography Notes # 19

Source: VII NCERT Geography Chapter 7

• Settlements are places where people build their homes.  
• The place where a building or a settlement develops is called its site. 
• The natural conditions for selection of an ideal site are-                                  1. favourable climate  2. availability of water 3. suitable land 4. fertile soil. 
• Settlements can be permanent or temporary. 
• Settlements which are occupied for a short time are called  temporary settlements. The people living in deep forests, hot and cold deserts and mountains often dwell in such temporary settlements. 
• They practice hunting, gathering, shifting cultivation and transhumance. 
• However more and more settlements today are permanent settlements. In these settlements, people build homes to live in. 
• Transhumance: It is a seasonal movement of people. People who rear animals move in search of new pastures according to changes in seasons.  
• Manali-Leh highway in the Himlayan Mountains is one of the highest roadways in the world. 
• The Trans-Siberian Railway is the longest railway system connecting St. Petersburg in Western Russia to Vladivostok on the Pacific coast.

Geography Notes # 18

(Source: VII NCERT Geography Chapter 6)

Natural vegetation is generally classified in to three broad categories as follows:

(a) Forests: Which grow where temperature and rainfall are plentiful to support a tree cover. Depending upon these factors, dense and open forests are grown. 

(b) Grasslands: Which grow in the region of moderate rain. 

(c) Shrubs: Thorny shrurbs and scrubs grow in the dry Region. 

Tropical Evergreen Forests:

• These forests are also called tropical rainforests.
• These thick forests occur in the regions near the equator and close to the tropics. These regions are hot and receive heavy rainfall throughout the year. 
• As there is no particular dry season, the trees do not shed their leaves altogether. This is the reason they are called evergreen. 
• The thick canopies of the closely spaced trees do not allow the sunlight to penetrate inside the forest even in the day time. 
• Hardwood trees like rosewood, ebony, mahogany are common here.  

Tropical Deciduous Forests: 

• Tropical deciduous are the monsoon forests found in the large part of India,northern Australia and in central America.
• These regions experience seasonal changes. 
• Trees shed their leaves in the dry season to conserve water. 
• The hardwood trees found in these forests are sal, teak, neem and shisham. Hardwood trees are extremely useful for making furniture, transport and constructional materials. 
• Tigers, lions, elephants, langoors and monkeys are the common animals of these regions. 

Temperate Evergreen Forests

• The temperate evergreen forests are located in the midlatitudinal coastal region
• They are commonly found along the eastern margin of the continents, e.g., In south east USA, South China and in South East Brazil. 
• They comprise both hard and soft wood trees like oak, pine, eucalyptus, etc. 

Temperate Deciduous Forests

• As we go towards higher latitudes, there are more temperate deciduous forests. 
• These are found in the north eastern part of USA, China, New Zealand, Chile and also found in the coastal regions of Western Europe. 
• They shed their leaves in the dry season. 
• The common trees are oak, ash, beech, etc. Deer, foxes, wolves are the animals commonly found. 
• Birds like pheasants, monals are also found here. 

Mediterranean Vegetation

• Mediterranean regions are known as ‘Orchards of the world’ for their fruit cultivation.
•  It is mostly found in the areas around the Mediterranean sea in Europe, Africa and Asia, hence the name. 
• This kind of vegetation is also found outside the actual Mediterranean region in California in the USA, south west Africa, south western South America and South west Australia. 
• These regions are marked for hot dry summers and mild rainy winters. 
• Citrus fruits such as oranges, figs, olives and grapes are commonly cultivated here because people have removed the natural vegetation in order to cultivate what they want to. There isn’t much wildlife here.

 Coniferous Forests

•  In the higher latitudes (50° – 70°) of Northern hemisphere the spectacular Coniferous forests are found.These are also called as Taiga. 
• These forests are also seen in the higher altitudes. 
• There are tall, softwood evergreen trees. 
• The woods of these trees are very useful for making pulp, which is used for manufacturing paper and newsprint. 
• Match boxes and packing boxes are also made from softwood. 
• Chir, pine, cedar are the important variety of trees in these forests. 
• Silver fox, mink, polar bear are the common animals found here. 

GRASSLANDS

 

Tropical grasslands: 

• These occur on either side of the equator and extend till the tropics.
• This vegetation grows in the areas of moderate to low amount of rainfall. 
• The grass can grow very tall, about 3 to 4 metres in height. 
• Savannah grasslands of Africa are of this type. 
• Elephants, zebras, giraffes, deer, leopards are common in tropical grasslands. 

Temperate grasslands:

• These are found in the midlatitudinal zones and in the interior part of the continents. 
• Usually, grass here is short and nutritious.
• Wild buffaloes, bisons, antilopes are common in the temperate region. 

Grasslands are known by different names in different regions.

Tropical Grasslands

1. East Africa- Savanna
2. Brazil- Campos
3. Venezuela- Llanos

Temperate Grasslands

1. Argentina- Pampas
2. N. America- Prairie
3. S. Africa- Veld
4. C. Asia- Steppe
5. Australia- Down

Thorny bushes:

• These are found in the dry desert like regions.
• Tropical deserts are located on the western margins of the continents. 
• The vegetation cover is scarce here because of scanty rain and scorching heat.

Geography Notes # 17

Source:VII NCERT Geography Chapter 5

• Terrarium:It is an artificial enclosure for keeping small house plants.  
• The process by which water continually changes its form and circulates between oceans, atmosphere and land is known as the water cycle. 
• Three-fourth of the earth surface is covered by water.  
• Salinity is the amount of salt in grams present in 1000 grams of water. The average salinity of the oceans is 35 parts per thousand.  
• Dead sea in Israel has salinity of 340 grams per litre of water . Swimmers can float in it because the increased salt content makes it dense. 
• March 22 is celebrated as World Water Day. 
• When the water on the surface of the ocean rises and falls alternately, they are called waves. 
• Waves are formed when winds scrape across the ocean surface. The stronger the wind blows, the bigger the wave becomes.  
• The rhythmic rise and fall of ocean water twice in a day is called a tide. 
• The strong gravitational pull exerted by the sun and the moon on the earth’s surface causes the tides.  
• During the full moon and new moon days, the sun, the moon and the earth are in the same line and the tides are highest. These tides are called spring tides. 
• The moon is in its first and last quarter, the ocean waters get drawn in diagonally opposite directions by the gravitational pull of sun and earth resulting in low tides. These tides are called neap tides. 
• High tides help in navigation. 
• They raise the water level close to the shores. 
• This helps the ships to arrive at the harbour more easily. 
• The high tides also help in fishing. Many more fish come closer to the shore during the high tide. This enables fishermen to get a plentiful catch. 
• The rise and fall of water due to tides is being used to generate electricity in some places. 
• Ocean currents are streams of water flowing constantly on the ocean surface in definite directions. 
• The ocean currents may be warm or cold. 
• The warm ocean currents originate near the equator and move towards the poles.
• The cold currents carry water from polar or higher latitudes to tropical or lower latitudes. 
• The Labrador Ocean current is cold current while the Gulf Stream is a warm current. 
• The areas where the warm and cold currents meet provide the best fishing grounds of the world. Seas around Japan and the eastern coast of North America are such examples.

Geography Notes # 16

Source: VII NCERT Geography Chapter 8

AMAZON BASIN

• When Spanish Explorers discovered the Amazon river, they were attacked by a group of local tribes wearing headgears and grass skirts. These people reminded them of the fierce tribes of women warriors known in ancient Roman Empire as the Amazons. Hence the name Amazon. 
• The tropical region lies very close to the equator; between 10°N and 10°S. So, it is referred to as the equatorial  region. The river Amazon flows through this region. Numerous tributaries join the Amazon River to form the Amazon basin. 
• The river basin drains portions of Brazil, parts of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Columbia and a small part of Venezuela. 
• The Amazon Basin stretches directly on the equator and is characterized by hot and wet climate throughout the year. Both day and nights are almost equally hot and humid. 
• It rains almost everyday. As it rains heavily in this region, thick forests grow.
• Orchids, bromeliads grow as plant parasites. Bromeliads are special plants that store water in their leaves. Animals like frogs use these pockets of water for laying their eggs. 
• Birds such as toucans, humming birds, are found here. 
• Animals like monkeys, sloth and ant-eating tapirs are found here. 
• They practice “slash and burn agriculture”. The staple food is manioc, also known as cassava that grows under the ground like the potato. They also eat queen ants and egg sacs. Cash crops like coffee, maize and cocoa are also grown. 
• Some families live in thatched houses shaped like beehives. There are other large apartment-like houses called “Maloca” with a steeply slanting roof. 
• In 1970 the Trans Amazon highway made all parts of the rainforest accessible.

GANGA BRAHMAPUTRA BASIN:

• The tributaries of rivers Ganga and Brahmaputra together form the Ganga Brahmaputra basin in the Indian subcontinent.  
• The tributaries of the River Ganga like the Ghaghra, the Son, the Chambal, the Gandak, the Kosi and the tributaries of Brahmaputra drain it.  
• The plains of the Ganga and the Brahmaputra, the mountains and the foothills of the Himalayas and the Sundarbans delta are the main features of this basin. 
• The monsoon brings rains from mid-June to mid-September. 
• The summers are hot and the winters cool. 
• The main crop is Paddy. Wheat, maize, sorghum, gram and millets are the other crops that are grown. 
• Cash crops like sugarcane and jute are also grown. 
• Banana plantations are seen in some areas of the plain. 
• In West Bengal and Assam tea is grown in plantations. 
• Silk is produced through the cultivation of silk worms in parts of Bihar and Assam. Thick bamboo groves are common in the Brahmaputra plain. 
• In parts of Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, coniferous trees like pine, deodar and fir can be seen because the climate is cool and the slopes are steep. 
• The one-horned rhinoceros is found in the Brahmaputra plain. 
• In the delta area, Bengal tiger, crocodiles and alligator are found. 
• The most popular varieties of the fish are the rohu, catla and hilsa. 
• In the fresh waters of River Ganga and River Brahmaputra, a variety of dolphin locally called Susu (also called blind dolphin) is found.