Hey everyone, today we present to you a few questions from the vast history and heritage of Bharat.
Q1. He was born to a rich zamindari family, in the village of Raruli-Kathpara, in the then Jessore district, which was a part of the Bengal Presidency of British India (current day Bangladesh). His family was a part of the affluent landed aristocracy and were the erstwhile of the Krishnanagar and Jessore Districts of the Bengal Presidency under the British East India Company.
Being born to educated and culturally refined family,he was encouraged into a life of learning and self-development. After an initial education at Calcutta , the 'Acharya' won the Gilchrist scholarship offered by the University of Edinburgh and went on to pursue further education in Britain.After his return from England, the Acharya pursued his calling as a teacher, and researcher while spreading knowledge about chemistry in India. His utmost pursuit was to develop and encourage a scientific bent of mind in his students, which would free them from the prejudices that commonly infested the minds of Indians at the time.
He was an immensely gifted scholar; he discovered several ground-breaking chemical compounds (eg: mercurous nitrite), published more than hundred and fifty research papers in famous science journals; authoring many books on chemical sciences. In a world engulfed by the COVID-19 pandemic, when the leaders of several countries have called for national self-sufficiency, he can be remembered as a strong advocate of making India industrially self-sufficient – a cause to which he dedicated his entire life.
Who am I talking about?
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Ans- Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray (PC Ray)
Q2. What makes Akbar fascinating for a biographer are the dichotomies in his character. Despite the many myths and legends around him, Akbar remains an enigmatic personality, profoundly difficult to categorize. One of the great mysteries about Akbar is the fact that though technically illiterate, he was widely informed about the world. This was because Akbar loved books, and had them read out to him every day, even when travelling to battle.
Among his most favourite works were - The Hamzanama, Anwar-i-Suhayali(retelling of the Panchatantra) and quite unimaginably two other famous works-
A- which was gifted to him by the Jesuit commission when they arrived in Fatehpur Sikri during his reign. The illustrations in A would profoundly influence Mughal art thereon.
and B- In 1582, Akbar ordered the B to be translated to Persian with marvellous illustrations, something that had never been attempted before.Called the 'Razmnama', Akbar closely supervised the translations himself, once roughly berating a translator, Badauni, accusing him of twisting the meaning of the original text to make the message more Islamic.
Give A and B.
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Ans2- A-The Holy Bible
B- The Mahabharat
Here's famous illustration of Bhisma's last moments in war from Razmnama
Q3. She was a Naga spiritual and political leader who led a revolt against British rule in India. At the age of 13 when children nowadays are crying over likes on youtube comments, she joined the Heraka religious movement of her cousin Haipou Jadonang. The movement later turned into a political movement seeking to drive out the British from Manipur and the surrounding Naga areas. Within the Heraka faith, she came to be considered an incarnation of the Goddess Cherachamdinliu.
She was arrested in 1932 at the age of 16, and was sentenced to life imprisonment by the British rulers. Jawaharlal Nehru met her at Shillong Jail in 1937, and promised to pursue her release. Nehru gave her the title of "Rani" ("Queen").
She was released in 1947 after India's independence, and continued to work for the upliftment of her people. An advocate of the ancestral Naga religious practices, she staunchly resisted the conversion of Nagas to Christianity. She was honoured as a freedom fighter and was awarded a Padma Bhushan by the Government of India.
Who ?
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Ans-
The tales from north-east often remain untold. This question is a tribute the role of the Nagas in the revolt.
Q4. Say the word ‘sonnet’, mention Stratford-upon-Avon, think of star-crossed lovers and invariably your thoughts will turn to William Shakespeare. He wrote into history phrases we still use every day, even if we don’t know that’s where we get them. Which is why it’s strange that so little is known of the branch of the Shakespear family that headed to colonial India – and spent decades here working with the East India Company, writing, serving in the colonial-era army, and mingling with Indian royalty and British litterati. William Shakespeare’s grandparents Richard and Abigail had five children – Henrye, Anna, John, Thomas and Matthew. John Shakespeare and his wife Mary were the parents of the Bard of Avon. The ''Shakespear'' family flowed, in all likelihood, from William Shakespeare’s uncle Matthew, through his son Thomas. The descendants of this line of the family are also known as the ‘Shadwell Shakespears’. They had a family history in the rope-making business, and boys in every generation tended to be named John, Matthew, William or Thomas. John Shakespear, the great-great-grandson of Thomas, son of Shakespeare’s uncle Matthew, was a close associate of Warren Hastings, Governor-General of Bengal. And thus started the long association of the Shakespears with India.
If you read the above paragraph carefully, you might have noticed something unusual. I however assure you that there is no mistake! So, what did this family do that differentiates them?
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Ans- They dropped the letter "e" at the end of Shakespeare to avoid confusion with William Shakespeare(the famous one) and differentiate them!
This has become rather long! So that's all for today. Do come back again for another interesting blog. Subscribe to our newsletter to get the set mailed directly to you!
References/Credits- theheritagelab, livehistoryindia
-SM
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