Independence Day Facts

India woke up to freedom on this day, way back in 1947, after a struggle which spanned centuries. The British handed the rule of the country to the Indian leaders at the stroke of midnight. 
India's Independence is celebrated on this day by hoisting the tri-coloured flag in the state capitals, and holding cultural programmes. 
Though schools and colleges may not have a holiday on this day, no academic work is done. Students and teachers gather for a flag hoisting ceremony, and they sing the National Anthem. The rest of the country, however, usually enjoys a holiday on this day. 
 
It is a time when we must sit back and remember the freedom strugglers, without whom we may never have got our freedom.
 
Rani Laxmi Bai, the Queen of Jhansi, lead her people into a battle against the British in which she fought like a tiger, and was killed heroically.    Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation, lead the country to freedom with his non-violent ideals. He remains a symbol of peace to this day.  
Sardar Vallabhai Patel was responsible for uniting the princely states into one country. 
Bal Gangadhar Tilak, remembered for his court statement in which he proclaimed 'Swaraj is my birthright, and I will have it!'   Bhagat Singh, threw a bomb when the Legislature was in session, and was arrested and hung.
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was elected President of the Congress when he was just 35. 
Dr. Annie Besant, a Britisher, supported India's freedom struggle wholeheartedly and founded the Home Rule league in India. 
Ashfaqualla Khan, a revolutionary who was given the death sentence, kissed the noose before it went around his neck.   
Some of the more prominent freedom movements were:
The Mutiny of 1857
This mutiny was the turning point of the freedom movement, though it was suppressed by the British. It was the first organized freedom struggle on such a large scale, and paved the way for further struggles for freedom.  
The Civil Disobedience Movement of 1929
It was decided to celebrate Indian Independence Day on the 26th of January. On this day the freedom fighters, spearheaded by Mahatma Gandhi, hoisted India's national flag. It was decided to completely disregard the orders of the British Government.   
The Dandi March of 1930
Gandhi lead a 241-kilometer march to Dandi at the age of 61, and proceeded to make salt in defiance of the law by non-violent means. The British had to arrests millions to enforce the law, causing panic in the administration. This march, in fact, was the first strategy of the Civil Disobedience Movement.   
The Quit India Movement of 1942
The year 1942 is now identified more with the movie 1942: A Love Story, than it is with the Quit India Movement! This movement called for a widespread, non-violent struggle for India's freedom. Before long there were revolts all over the country, demanding that the British 'quit India'.   

More INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT India

1. The name `India’ is derived from the River Indus, the valleys around which were the home of the early settlers. The Aryan worshippers referred to the river Indus as the Sindhu.
2.  The Persian invaders converted it into Hindu. The name `Hindustan’ combines Sindhu and Hindu and thus refers to the land of the Hindus.
3. The number system was invented by India. Aryabhatta was the scientist who invented the digit zero.
   
   Sanskrit is considered as the mother of all higher languages. This is because it is the most precise, and therefore suitable language for computer software. ( a report in Forbes magazine, July 1987 ).
4. Chess was invented in India.
5. Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus are studies which originated in India.
6. The' place value system' and the 'decimal system' were developed in 100 BC in India.
7. The first six Mogul Emperor's of India ruled in an unbroken succession from father to son for two hundred years, from 1526 to 1707.
8. The World's First Granite Temple is the Brihadeswara temple at Tanjavur in Tamil Nadu. The shikhara is made from a single ' 80-tonne ' piece of granite. Also, this magnificient temple was built in just five years, (between 1004 AD and 1009 AD)  during the reign of Rajaraja Chola
9. India is.......the Largest democracy in the world, the 6th largest country in the world AND one of the most ancient and living civilizations (at least 10, 000 years old). 
10. The game of snakes & ladders was created by the 13th century poet saint Gyandev. It was originally called  'Mokshapat.' The ladders in the game represented virtues and the snakes indicated vices. The game was played with cowrie shells and dices. Later through time,  the game underwent several modifications but the meaning is the same i.e good deeds take us to heaven and evil to a cycle of re-births.
11. The world's highest cricket ground is in Chail, Himachal Pradesh.
    Built in 1893 after levelling a hilltop, this cricket pitch is 2444 meters above sea level.
     
12. India has the most post offices in the world !
13. The largest employer in the world is the Indian railway system, employing over a million people !.   
14. The World's first university was established in Takshila in 700 BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.
15. Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to mankind. The father of medicine, Charaka, consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago.
16. Although modern images & descriptions of India often show poverty, India was one of the richest countries till the time of British in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus was attracted by India's wealth and was looking for route to India when he discovered America by mistake.
17. The art of Navigation & Navigating was born in the river Sindh 6000 over years ago. The very word 'Navigation' is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH. The word navy is also derived from the Sanskrit word 'Nou'.
18. Bhaskaracharya rightly calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. His calculations was - Time taken by earth to orbit the sun: ( 5th century ) 365.258756484 days.
19. The value of "pi" was first calculated by the Indian Mathematician Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century, which was long before the European mathematicians.
20. Algebra, trigonometry and calculus also orignated from India.  Quadratic equations were used by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10*53 ( i.e 10 to the power of 53 ) with specific names as early as 5000 B.C.  during the Vedic period.  Even today, the largest used number is Tera: 10*12( 10 to the power of 12 ).
21.  Until 1896, India was the only source for diamonds to the world. ( Source . Gemological Institute of America )
22. The Baily Bridge is the highest bridge in the world. It is located in the Ladakh valley between the Dras and Suru rivers in the Himalayan mountains. It was built by the Indian Army in August 1982.
23. Sushruta is regarded as the father of surgery. Over  2600 years ago Sushrata & his team  conducted complicated surgeries like  cataract, artificial limbs, cesareans, fractures, urinary stones and also plastic surgery and brain surgeries.

 

 

Five facts about Indian Independence & Partition

Here are five facts about India's independence and partition:
1) In early 1947 British Prime Minster Clement Atlee announced that Britain would leave India no later than June 1948. The decision came after years of dissatisfaction and non-violent resistance, termed 'satyagraha' by Mahatma Gandhi. 

2) Newly-appointed viceroy, Lord Louis Mountbatten, oversaw the birth of the modern states of India and Pakistan. They came into being at midnight on August 15 1947, as astrologers could not decide on an auspicious date. Mountbatten attended one transfer of power ceremony in Karachi on the morning of the 14th, and another at 11 pm in Delhi. Pakistan's Independence Day is August 14, India's is August 15. 

3) The border was drawn by a London lawyer, Sir Cyril Radcliffe. Appointed head of the Boundary Commission on June 3 1947, he submitted his partition map on August 13. The Radcliffe Award split Pakistan into two separate areas, East Pakistan (today's Bangladesh,) and West Pakistan, with India in between. 

4) Millions found themselves on the 'wrong side' of the border after August 1947's Indian Independence Act. An estimated 14.5 million people crossed the border in the months immediately after partition. Hundreds of thousands were killed in resulting clashes. 

5) The ruler of the autonomous Jammu and Kashmir princely state had not decided which side to join by August 1947. Pakistan still believes the state should have become part of Pakistan, because the majority of its population is Muslim. But the Hindu Maharaja finally agreed to join India in October 1947.