President of India

• The President of India is called "Rashtrapathi". 
• He is the head of the state and first citizen of the country.
• As our government is Parliamentary government adapted from Britten government, President is head of the state. He is nominal head but real powers are with Prime minister. Prime minister called Head of Government.
• He is the Symbol of unity, integrity and solidarity of the nation.
• Indian President neither as powerful as American president nor as ceremonial as British monarch. 

Election of The President: 

• The President is elected not directly by the people but by members of electoral college consisting of      1. Elected members of both houses of Parliament(Lok sabha and Rajya sabha)                                     2.  Elected members of legislative assemblies of the states and                                                              3. Elected members of the Union Territories of Delhi and Puducherry (70th constitution amendment Act  of 1992 )
• The nominated members of both houses of parliament , the nominated members of state legislative assemblies, the members of state legislative councils(upper house) and nominated members of the legislative assemblies of Delhi and   Puducherry do not participate in election of the President. 
• All doubts and disputes in connection with election of the President are inquired into and decided by the Supreme Court. 

Qualifications for Election as President: 

• He should be a citizen of India.
• He should have completed 35 years of age.
• He should be qualified for election as a member of Lok sabha.
• He should not hold any office of profit under the Union government or any state government.
• Candidate for election to office of president must be subscribed by at least 50 electors as proposers and 50 electors as seconders.
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Struggle against the Caste System

• The system of caste had become the bane of Indian society.
• The caste system was primarily based on the fourfold division of society viz. Brahmins, Kshatriya, Vaishyas and Shudras.
• Mahatma Gandhi made the removal of untouchability a part of his constructive programme. He brought out a paper, The Harijan, and also organised the Harijan Sevak Sangh.
• Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar dedicated his entire life for the welfare of the downtrodden. In Bombay, he formed a Bahiskrit Hitkarini Sabha in July 1924 for this purpose. Later, he also organised the Akhil Bharatiya Dalit Varg Sabha to fight against caste oppression.
• Jyotirao Phule in Western India  established the Satya Sadhak Samaj.
• Shri Narayana Guru in Kerala established the Shri Narayana Dharma Partipalana Yogam.  His famous slogan is" One religion, one caste and one God for mankind"
•  Periyar E.V. Ramasamy   started Self-respect Movement 
• The practice of untouchability was formally outlawed by the Constitution of India in 1950,
• The first upper-caste temple to openly welcome Dalits into their fold was the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, erstwhile Travancore in the year 1936; the move was spearheaded by social reformer Ayyankali
•  Nair Service Society formed by Mannathu Padmanabha Pillai.
• Amritalal Vithaldal Thakkar(Thakkar bappa)  mentioned first word of Adivasa. he founded Bharatiya Adhimjati Sevak sangh in 1948.

Social reforms and Fight against evil practices of women.

• Several evil practices such as Practice of Sati, Purdah system, Child marriage, Female Infanticide, Bride price and Polygamy.
• First enactment of law against practice of Sati during the Lord William Bentinck. 
• Female Infanticide is more in the Rajputanas, Punjab and North western provinces.
• Raja Rammohan Roy and Iswarachandra Vidya Sagar are the prominent reformers.
• July 1856, JP Grant passes a bill on Widow Remarriage Act, 1856.
• In 1870, the Indian Reforms Association was started with the efforts of Keshav Chandra Sen .
• A journal called Mahapap Bal Vivah was launched with efforts of B.M.Malabari.
• In 1846, the minimum marriageable age for a girl was only 10 years.
• In 1891, through the enactment of the Age of Consent Act, this was raised to 12 years. 
• In 1930, through the Sharda Act, the minimum age was raised to 14 years. 
• After independence, the limit was raised to 18 years in 1978.

Development of Education in India-Ancient to Modern

• During the vedic period, education was provided at the house of teacher,Guru. 
• Knowledge was passed on orally from one generation to another in ancient India. 
• Education involved three basic processes, one, which included ‘Sravana’ (stage of acquiring knowledge of ‘Shrutis’ by listening). Two, ‘Manana’ (meaning pupils to think, analyse themselves about what they heard, assimilate the lessons taught by their teacher and make their own inferences,) and three ‘Nidhyasana' (meaning comprehension of truth and and  apply/use it into real life).
• Princes were trained in arms.
• Lower order boys learnt their trade from their fathers.
• In ancient India women were given equal right to education and teaching. 
• Women seers like ‘Gayatri’ or ‘Maitreyi’ were prominent participants in educational debates and proceedings of ‘Parishads’ (Assemblies). 
• Varanasi, Takshasila( first university of world ) and Kanchi are renowned places for education.
• Panini-the Grammarian, Kautilya-minister of Chandra Gupta Maurya and Charaka-Great master of medicine are from Takshasila.
• Buddhist monastery of Nalanda is in Bihar.
• Nalanda and Vikramshila Universities are the best Universities of its times.
• Takshila University was famous for medical studies. 
• Varanasi was famous for religious teachings. 
• Nalanda have eight colleges.  It was one of the earliest examples of residential cum learning complex.
• Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to the world and 'charaka' is known as the father of Ayurveda. 
• Indian language Sanskrit is considered to be the mother of many modern languages of world.
• Place value system was developed in India in 100 B.C.
• India was the country, which invented number system.
• Aryabhatta, the Indian scientist, invented digit zero.
• Trigonometry, algebra and calculus studies were originated in India.
• During Sultanate period, Persian encouraged.
• The Imperial Library was founded at Delhi for which Amir Khusrav, Librarian appointed by Jalal-ud-din khilji.
• Humayun was great student of Geography and Astronomy. He built Madarsa at Delhi. 
• Akbar permitted and allowed Hindus in to Madarsas.

• In 1781, Warren Hastings established a Madrasa in Culcutta to encourage study of Muslim laws along with Arabic and Persian languages.
• In 1791, Jonathan Duncan- A Sanskrit college in Banaras to study Hindu laws and Philosophy.
• The contemporary British scholars were divided into two groups on the issue of development of education in India. 
• One group, called the Orientalists, advocated the promotion of oriental subjects through Indian languages. 
• The other group, called the Anglicists, argued the cause of western sciences and literature in the medium of English language.
• In 1835, Lord Macauley introduced modern education in India. He written "Minute on Education" for Lord William Bentik.
• Wood's Dispatch of 1854 laid the foundation of present system of education in India.
• According to the Constitution of India, elementary education is a fundamental right of children in the age group of 6-14 years.
• he plans such as 'Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA), District Primary Education Program (DPEP), Operation Blackboard, Mid Day Meal have been successful to great extent. 
• National Policy of Education (1992) laid down many objectives for the development of education system in India.

The Rashtrakutas

Origin and Development:

• The Rashtrakutas in Deccan were of Kannada origin and Kannada language was their mother tongue.
•  Dantidurga was the founder. He defeated the Gurjaras and captured Malwa from them. 
• Then he annexed the Chalukya kingdom by defeating Kirtivarman II and established independent Kingdom at Ellora. 
• Krishna 1 defeated Gangas and Chalukyas of Vengi. He built the magnificent rock-cut monolithic Kailasa temple at Ellora.
• The next important king of this dynasty was Govinda III. He achieved victories over north Indian kingdoms.
• Amoghavarsha I, peace loving king, had lost contol over Malwa and Gangavadi.
• Amoghavarsha built a new capital Malkehd or Manyakheta.
• Krishna III (936-968 A.D.) was famous for his expeditions. He marched against the Cholas and defeated them at Takkolam. He marched further south and captured Tanjore. He went as far as Rameswaram and occupied it for sometime. He built  the Krishneswara temple at Rameswaram.
• Karka II was last ruler.
• Village administration is main . 

Social and Economic Development:

• The Hindu sects of Vaishnavism and Saivism flourished during the period of Rashtrakutas.
• College at Salatogi, situated in modern Bijapur district.
• Encouraged trade with Arabs.
• Muslims permitted to construct Mosques.
• The Rashtrakuta kings promoted the Arab trade by maintaining friendship with them.

Art and Culture:

• Sanskrit and Kannada literature widely spread  
• Trivikrama wrote Nalachampu and the Kavirahasya was composed by Halayudha. 
• Gunabhadra wrote the Adipurana.
• Sakatayana wrote the grammer work called Amogavritti.
• The great mathematician of this period, Viracharya was the author of Ganitasaram.
• Amogavarsha’s Kavirajamarga was the first poetic work in Kannada language.
• Pampa was the greatest of the Kannada poets. His famous work was Vikramasenavijaya. 
• Ponna was another famous Kannada poet and he wrote Santipurana.
• At Ellora, the most remarkable temple is the Kailasa temple. It was excavated during the reign of Krishna I.
• Elephanta is an island near Bombay. It was originally called Sripuri.
• The Portuguese after seeing the large figure of an elephant named it Elephanta.

The Rajputs

Origin and Development:

• Rajput is from the Sanskrit word Raja-Putra (son of a king).The word is found in ancient texts, including the Vedas ,Ramayana and Mahabharata.
• To differentiate royal warriors from other Kshatriyas the word Rajputra was used
• A number of Kingdoms were established by the Rajputs in North India after Harshavardana.
• Their Rule continued till establishment of Muslim Rule.
• The Hindushahis, the Chauhans,the Pratiharas,Paramaras, Senas, Palas etc.
• Chandbaradai Mentioned that they were Agnikula Kshatriyas in his 'Prithviraj Raso'. 

Fall of The Rajputs:

• The invasion of Mahmood Ghazni started with defeat of Jayapala, the Shahi ruler of Punjab.
• The invasion of Mahmood Ghori started with defeat of Prithviraj Chauhan, Chauhan Kingdom was located to south of the river Sutlez.
• Thus Ghori could reach Delhi and become its ruler.
• The Rajputs were never uniited among themselves to give a common front to the foreign invader. 
• Gradually, Rajput kingdoms fell into the hands of the Turks.

Culture and Arts:

• The Rajputs were Hindu rulers, but Buddhism in Bengal and Bihar and Jainism in Bihar flourished. 
• Casteism was deep rooted int he society.
• Polygamy(More wives).
• Killing of Female child originated
• Kalhana's Rajatarangini was considered a historical work
• The Rajput temples at Konark, Puri, Bhuvaneswar and Khajuraho were very famous.
• The double-edged scimitar known as the Khanda was a popular weapon among the Rajputs.

Medieval Period of India

Main points 

• The period between 800 A.D and 1800 A.D in the history of India can be termed as the medieval period.
• This period is known for indigenous literature, religious literature,edicts,monuments,coins,foreign tourists.
• Society was divided into a number of castes and sub-castes.
• Worshiping of a number of GODs.
• Many independent small kingdoms.

Major Kingdoms in this period:  

• The Rajputs
• Delhi Sultanate
• Mughals
• Rashtrakutas
• Chalukyas
• Kakatiyas
• Hoyasalas
• Yadavas
• Cholas
• Vijayanagara
• Bahmani Kingdoms