Aggarwal , Shri Jai Parkash [Indian National Congress -National Capital Territory of Delhi ]
Father's Name :
Late Shri Ram Charan Agarwal
Mother's Name :
Late Shrimati Savitri Agarwal
Date of Birth :
11 November 1944
Place of Birth :
Delhi
Marital Status :
Married on 5 February 1971
Spouse's Name :
Shrimati Sarita Agarwal
Children :
two sons
Educational Qualifications :
B. A. Educated at Hansraj College, Delhi University, Delhi
Profession :
Political Worker/Politician,Social Worker/Social Service,Political and Social Worker.
Permanent Address :
Present Address :
AB-95, Shahjahan Road, New Delhi 110003 Tel. - 23388288, 23388188, Fax 23388187, 9868181117 (M) 110011
E-mail : jp.agarwal@sansad.nic.in
Positions Held :
1983 Deputy Mayor, Delhi 1984 Leader, Congress Party, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) Chairman, Standing Committee, MCD 1984-1989 Member, Eighth Lok Sabha 1989-1991 Member, Ninth Lok Sabha 1996-1997 Member, Eleventh Lok Sabha Jan. 2006 Elected to Rajya Sabha March 2006 onwards Member, Committee on Defence April 2006 onwards Member, Joint Parliamentary Committee on Food Management in Parliament House Complex May 2006 onwards Member, Advisory Council of the Delhi Development Authority Chairman, House Committee, Rajya Sabha Member, General Purposes Committee Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways July 2006 onwards Member, Committee on Commerce
Freedom Fighter :
No
Books Published :
-
Social and Cultural Activities, Literary, Artistic and Scientific Accomplishments and other Special Interests :
President, (i) Delhi Jan Parishad, (ii) Indo-China Friendship Association and (iii) Indo-Russia Friendship Association; Patron, (i) CPWD Karamchari Union, (ii) Railway Union and (iii) Ramlila Committee
Sports, Clubs, Favourite Pastimes and Recreation :
Cricket, carrom, football and hockey
Countries Visited :
USA, Canada, China, Malaysia, Thailand, Germany, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, U.K., Switzerland, Spain, Denmark, Italy, Holland, Finland, Norway, Austria, Bahrain, Beirut (Lebanon), Oman, Nepal, Belgium and France
Other Information :
Member, (i) Direct Tax Advisory Committee and (ii) Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
VICE-PRESIDENT OF INDIA AND EX-OFFICIO CHAIRMAN OF THE RAJYA SABHA
The Presiding Officer of the Rajya Sabha:
Article 63 of the Constitution of India provides that there shall be a Vice-President of India Articles 64 and 89 (1) provide that the Vice-President of India shall be ex-officio Chairman of the Council of States i.e., Rajya Sabha and shall not hold any other office of profit. In the constitutional set-up, the holder of the office of Vice-President is part of the Executive but as Chairman of the Rajya Sabha he is a part of Parliament. He has thus a dual capacity and holds two distinct and separate offices.
To be qualified for election as Vice-President, Article 66(3), a person has to be a citizen of India, has completed the age of 35 years and must be qualified to be elected as a member of Rajya Sabha.
Election of Vice-President:
The Vice-President is elected by the members of an electoral college consisting of the members of both Houses of Parliament in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote. The voting at such election is by secret ballot. All doubts and disputes arising out of or in connection with the election of Vice-President can be looked into and decided only by the Supreme Court of India whose decision is final.
Term of Office of Vice-President:
The Vice-President holds office for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office. He may, however, resign his office by writing under his hand addressed to the President of India. He may also be removed from his office by a resolution of the Rajya Sabha passed by a majority of all the then members of the Rajya Sabha and agreed to by the Lok Sabha. At least fourteen days' notice is necessary before such a resolution is moved. Notwithstanding the expiration of his term, the Vice-President continues in office till his successor assumes office (article 67). An election to fill a vacancy caused by the expiration of term of office of the Vice-President has to be completed before the expiration of the term and an election to fill a vacancy occurring due to death, resignation, removal of the Vice-President or any other reason is required to be held as soon as possible after the occurrence of the vacancy. A person elected to fill such a vacancy holds office for a full term of five years.
Oath by Vice-President:
Before entering upon his office, the Vice-President has to make and subscribe before the President or some person appointed in that behalf by him, an oath/affirmation in the following form:-
Under article 65 of the Constitution of India, the Vice-President acts as President in the event of a vacancy occurring due to death, resignation or removal of the President, or otherwise. The Vice-President reverts to his office when a new President is elected and enters upon his office. When the President is unable to act owing to his absence, illness or any other cause, the Vice-President discharges the President's functions for a temporary period until the President resumes his duties.
When the Vice-President acts as, or discharges the functions of the President, he has all the powers and immunities of the President and is entitled to the same emoluments as the President (article 65), However, during this period he does not perform the duties of the office of the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha (article 64} and then the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha acts as its Chairman.
Parliament has by an enactment made provision for the discharge of the functions of the President when vacancies occur in the offices of the President and of the Vice-President simultaneously, owing to removal, death, resignation of the incumbent or otherwise. In such an eventuality, the Chief Justice of India, or in his absence the senior most Judge of the Supreme Court of India available discharges the functions of the President until a newly elected President enters upon his office or a newly elected Vice-President begins to act as President under article 65 of the Constitution whichever is earlier.
Besides presiding over the Rajya Sabha and performing Presidential duties in the contingencies mentioned above, the Vice-President performs several other functions. At times, he goes on goodwill and friendship missions to other countries or represents the country abroad on occasions of national importance in those countries. Because of the high office of the Vice-President, he is consulted on formulation and implementation of State policies. Though he is not connected with the day-to-day affairs of the State, he is posted with the decisions of the Cabinet so that he has with him a complete picture of the affairs of the Union Government.
There are many claimants on the time and wealth of wisdom and experience of the Vice President. If one were to see a day's list of visitors at the Vice-President's House, one will get an idea about the number of dignitaries and delegations who come to call on him. His social, cultural, educational, academic engagements are indicative of his busy schedule. He may be wanted for a university convocation or release of a commemorative volume about a freedom fighter, or for inauguration of a seminar or unveiling of a statue of an eminent countryman and so on. The letters, representations, petitions and memoranda received by him from persons, organisations and institutions seeking his personal attention, run into hundreds. Some seek advice from him, others want him to intercede on their behalf with those who matter, still others just call on him to pay respects and regards. By convention he is also the Chancellor of some universities and in that capacity he is closely associated with many eminent institutions of higher learning,
The Vice-President has a small Secretariat called the Vice-President's Secretariat to assist him in the discharge of his duties and functions. The Secretariat is headed by a Secretary who is a senior civil servant.
Functions as Chairman of the Rajya Sabha:
As the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, the Vice-President presides over the meetings of the House. As the Presiding Officer, the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha is the unchallenged guardian of the prestige and dignity of the House. He is also the principal spokesman of the House and represents the collective voice to the outside world. He ensures that the proceedings of the House are conducted in accordance with the relevant constitutional provisions, rules, practices and conventions and that decorum is maintained in the House. He is the custodian and guardian of the rights and privileges of the House and its members. Due to several pressing and urgent engagements and preoccupations as Vice-President he may not be able to devote full time as Presiding Officer of the Rajya Sabha, but in practice he presides during the first hour of the sitting of the House which is the Question Hour. This lively and occasionally tumultuous period is one of the high points of the day during each Session where the accountability of Government is most obviously on display. He deftly handles the situation, ensures that Members' rights of asking questions and receiving complete replies is well enforced and gives rulings on privilege matters and other procedural points. Whenever important debates or landmark discussions such as on Constitution Amendment Bills take place, he is invariably in the Chair. He has no vote except when there is a tie (article 100). The Chairman's rulings constitute precedents which are of a binding nature. The Chairman is not bound to give reasons for his decisions. The Chairman's rulings cannot be questioned or criticised and to protest against the ruling of the Chairman is a contempt of the House.
In his task as Chairman, he is assisted by the Deputy Chairman who is a member of the House and elected by it. The Deputy Chairman presides over the Rajya Sabha in the absence of the Chairman and performs the duties of the office of the Chairman if the Vice-President is acting as President or if there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice-President. There is also a panel of six Vice-Chairmen, which is constituted every year. A Vice-Chairman presides over the meeting of the Rajya Sabha in the absence of the Chairman or the Deputy Chairman. There is a Secretariat of the Rajya Sabha headed by a Secretary-General to assist the Chairman in the discharge of his functions.
The dual Role:
The Office of the Vice-President is one of the unique features of the Constitution of India. It has no exact parallel in the countries of other democratic constitutions of the world. There is no such office in other parliamentary systems of Governments in Commonwealth countries or in Ireland. The only Constitution, among the important democracies of the world, which provides for such an office, is that of the United States of America. But the office of the Vice-President of India though analogous to, is not identical with, that of the Vice-President in the United States of America for the obvious reason that it has a presidential system of Government and not a Parliamentary one as in India. And yet the Constitution-makers of India, while basically following the British Parliamentary system, decided to opt for the American system and provided that like the Vice-President in the U.S.A. The Vice-President of India would preside over the Upper House and act as President in certain contingencies. Thus the Vice-President of India has been clothed with a dual capacity as the second head of the Executive and as the Presiding Officer of the Upper House of Parliament.
This naturally casts an enormous burden of responsibility on the holder of the two offices. He has to keep the responsibilities of the two offices distinct and separate. The Chairman cannot allow his mind to be influenced by the knowledge acquired in his capacity as the Vice-President. While performing his duties as Vice-President, he cannot do anything which may impair his obligation as Chairman. It is remarkable that in India the holders of this high office as Vice-President have functioned within this fusion of roles and have received admiration and appreciation of the nation as a whole. All of them have been great personalities. They have occupied the Chair of the Rajya Sabha with singular distinction and have performed their functions with dignity and grace during all these years.
The Past Chairmen:
It is said that institutions make men: it is equally true that men mould institutions. This is singularly true in case of Chairmen of the Rajya Sabha who held the august office and lent lustre and dignity to the Rajya Sabha since inception in 1952 under the Constitution of India. An important factor which has contributed to the Rajya Sabha occupying the present position is the eminence, wisdom and learning of its successive and successful Presiding Officers. All these persons have been great leaders in their fields and have played significant and often crucial roles in the affairs of the Nation. By their presence in the House, they enhanced its dignity, by their words of wisdom from the Chair, they enriched the understanding of the members. They laid down high traditions and were instrumental in helping the House develop its distinct personality and establish its corporate prestige.
Dr. S. Radhakrishnan (13.5.52-12.5.62) the first Vice-President/Chairman of the Rajya Sabha was a philosopher and scholar of world repute. He guided the deliberations of the House with a philosopher's impartiality and sage's dignity.
Dr. Zakir Husain (13.5.62-12.5.67) was an eminent educationist.
Shri V. V. Giri (13.5.67-3.5.69) was a great labour leader.
Dr. Gopal Swarup Pathak (31.8.69-30.8.74) was a legal luminary.
Shri B.D. Jatti (31.8.74-30.8.79) was an eminent social and political worker.
Shri M. Hidayatullah (31.8.79-30.8.84) was a leading light of law and former Chief Justice of India.
Shri R. Venkataraman (31.8.84-24.7.87) was an able and experienced administrator.
Dr. Shanker Dayal Sharma(3.9.87-24.7.92) was known for scholarly wisdom.
Shri K.R. Narayanan (21.8.92-24.7.97) was a diplomat and a man of letters.
Shri Krishan Kant (21.08.1997 - 27.7.2002, passed away while in office) was an experienced parliamentarian and an able administrator.
Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat (19.08.2002 -21.07.2007)
Present Chairman:
Shri Mohammad Hamid Ansari is the present Vice-President and Chairman, Rajya Sabha (elected on 10th August, 2007)
SHRI JASWANT SINGH
| Singh , Shri Jaswant [Bharatiya Janata Party -Rajasthan ] |  | |
| Father's Name : | Late Thakur Sardar Singhji | |
| Mother's Name : | Shrimati Kunwar Baisa | |
| Date of Birth : | 3 January 1938 | |
| Place of Birth : | Village Jasol, Railway Station Balotara, Distt. Barmer (Rajasthan) | |
| Marital Status : | Married | |
| Spouse's Name : | Shrimati Sheetal Kumari | |
| Children : | Two sons | |
| Educational Qualifications : | B.A., B.Sc. Educated at Mayo College, Ajmer, Joint Services Wing, Clement Town, Dehradun, N.D.A., Khadakvasla and Indian Military Academy, Dehradun | |
| Profession : | Military Service. | |
| Permanent Address : | Vill. Temawas,Gram Panchayat, Mewanagar,Tehsil:Pachpadra,Post Office: Jasol,Distt:Barmer,Rajasthan. | |
| Present Address : | 15, Teen Murti Lane, New Delhi 110011 Tel. - 23016228, 23792301, Fax. 23015623, 23011304 E-mail : jaswant@sansad.nic.in | |
| Positions Held : | ||
| July 1980 Elected to Rajya Sabha July 1986 Re-elected to Rajya Sabha 1986-89 Member, Committee of Privileges Member, Committee on Public Undertakings Member, Public Accounts Committee 1987 Member, Consultative Committee constituted under the Punjab State Legislature (Delegation of Powers) Act, 1987 1989-91 Member, Ninth Lok Sabha May 1990 Chairman, Estimates Committee 1991-96 Member, Tenth Lok Sabha 1991-92 Chairman, Committee on Environment and Forests 1992 Member, Joint Parliamentary Committee to Enquire into Irregularities in Securities and Banking Transactions 1993 Chairman, Committee on Energy 1996-97 Member, Eleventh Lok Sabha May 1996 Minister of Finance, Government of India 25 March 1998- 4 Feb. 1999 Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission July 1998 Elected to Rajya Sabha Dec. 1998 - 1 July 2002 Minister of External Affairs Feb. - Oct. 1999 Minister of Electronics (Simultaneous charge) 6 Aug. -13 Oct. 1999 Minister of Surface Transport (Simultaneous charge) 15 October 1999- 21 May 2004 Leader of the House, Rajya Sabha 18 March - 15 Oct.2001 Minister of Defence (Simultaneous charge) 1 July 2002- 9 April 2003 Minister of Finance and Company Affairs 10 April 2003 - 21 May 2004 Minister of Finance 3 June - 4 July 2004 Leader of the Opposition, Rajya Sabha and 5 July 2004 onwards July 2004 Re-elected to Rajya Sabha Aug. 2004 - Aug. 2006 Member, Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests Member, Committee on Water Resources Aug. 2004 onwards Member, Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Installation of Portraits/Statues of National Leaders and Parliamentarians in Parliament House Complex Aug. 2005 onwards Member, General Purposes Committee | ||
| Freedom Fighter : | No | |
| Books Published : | ||
| Has contributed widely to Indian and foreign magazines, newspapers and journals on international affairs, security and development issues; books : (i) National Security - An Outline of Our Concerns (Lancer Publishers, New Delhi, 1996), (ii) Shauryam Tejo (in Hindi) (Prabhat Prakashan, New Delhi, 1997), (iii) Defending India (Macmillan Publisher Ltd., U.K., 1999), (iv) District Diary (Macmillan India Ltd., New Delhi, 2001), (v) Khankhananama (in Hindi) - a biography of Bairam Khan (Pratibha Pratishthan, New Delhi, 2001), (vi) Defendre L'inde, (in French) (Economica, Paris, 2001), (vii) A Call to Honour : In the Service of Emergent India (Rupa & Co., New Delhi, 2006), (viii) Travels in Transoxiana (Rupa & Co., New Delhi, 2006) and (ix) Victoria Cross - Till Memory Serves (Rupa & Co., New Delhi, 2007) | ||
| Social and Cultural Activities, Literary, Artistic and Scientific Accomplishments and other Special Interests : | ||
| International affairs, defence, environment, ecology and wildlife | ||
| Sports, Clubs, Favourite Pastimes and Recreation : | ||
| Member, (i)Indian Polo Association, (ii) Equestrian Federation of India, (iii) Defence Services Officers' Institute, (iv) Delhi Golf Club, (v) United Services Institute, (vi) India International Centre, (vii) Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses and (viii) International Institute of Strategic Studies, London; antiquarian, bibliophile, music, horses, equestrian sports, golf and chess | ||
| Countries Visited : | ||
| Widely travelled | ||
| Other Information : | ||
| Commissioned to the Central India Horse in 1957; resigned Commission to join politics; chaired several Task Forces to recommend policy to the Government amongst others on, (i) Telecommunications, (ii) Information Technology and (iii) Energy; was Member of Groups of Ministers on (i) Reforming the National Security System and (ii) Hydrocarbon Vision 2025 | ||
K. Rahman Khan
| Khan , Shri K. Rahman [Indian National Congress -Karnataka ] |  | |
| Father's Name : | Late Shri K.Khasim Khan | |
| Mother's Name : | Shrimati Khairunnisa | |
| Date of Birth : | 5 April 1939 | |
| Place of Birth : | Krishnarajpet, Distt. Mandya (Karnataka) | |
| Marital Status : | Married on 8 November 1964 | |
| Spouse's Name : | Shrimati Ayesha Rahman | |
| Children : | Three sons and two daughters | |
| Educational Qualifications : | Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com.), Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA) Educated at Mysore University, Mysore | |
| Profession : | Chartered Accountant. | |
| Permanent Address : | 200/C, III Block, 7th Main Jayanagar, Bangalore 560011 Tel. - {080} 26638778, 26633755, Fax 26636732 | |
| Present Address : | 28, Akbar Road, New Delhi 110001 Tel. - 23795782, Tele Fax 23795021, 9810341136(M) E-mail : krkhan@sansad.nic.in | |
| Positions Held : | ||
| 1978-90 Member, Karnataka Legislative Council 1982-84 Chairman, Karnataka Legislative Council 1993-94 Chairman, Karnataka State Minorities Commission (Cabinet Minister rank) April 1994 Elected to Rajya Sabha 1995-96 Member, Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests Member, Committee on External Affairs 1996 Convenor, Committee of Members of Parliament on Konkan Railways 1996-97 Member, Standing Committee on Finance 1996-99 Member, Committee on Papers Laid on the Table Chairman, Select Committee on Railway Wagons, Rajya Sabha Dec. 1999 - 2001 Member, Committee on Finance Dec. 1999 - 2003 Member, Committee on Public Accounts Chairman, Joint Parliamentary Committee on the functioning of Wakf Boards April 2000 Re-elected to Rajya Sabha (second term) May 2000 - 2004 Deputy Leader, I.N.C. in Rajya Sabha April 2001- 02 Member, Joint Parliamentary Committee on Stock Market Scam and matters related thereto July 2001 - Feb. 2004 Member, Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Functioning of Wakf Boards Jan. 2002 - Feb. 2004 Member, Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture May 2004 - 20 July 2004 Minister of State in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers 22 July 2004 - 2 April 2006 and 12 May 2006 onwards Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha April 2006 Re-elected to Rajya Sabha (third term) Aug. 2004-April 2006 and May 2006 onwards Member, Business Advisory Committee Sept. 2004 - April 2006 and May 2006 onwards Chairman, Committee of Privileges Chairman, Committee on Provision of Computers to Members of Rajya Sabha Chairman, Committee on Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (Rajya Sabha) 2005 - 06 Regional Representative to the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Aug. 2005 - April 2006 and May 2006 onwards Member, General Purposes Committee Member, Committee on Rules Oct. 2005 - April 2006 and May 2006 onwards Ex Officio Vice-President, Parliamentary Forum on Water Conservation and Management Feb. 2006 onwards Ex Officio Vice-President, Parliamentary Forum on Children Ex Officio Vice-President, Parliamentary Forum on Youth July 2006 onwards Ex Officio Vice-President, Parliamentary Forum on Population and Public Health Oct. 2006 Elected Honorary Internal Auditor of the Inter- Parliamentary Union (IPU) at its 115th Assembly held at Geneva | ||
| Freedom Fighter : | No | |
| Books Published : | ||
ANSARI, SHRI MOHAMMAD HAMID
Father's Name Shri Mohammad Abdul Aziz Ansari
Mother's Name Shrimati Aasiya Begum
Date of Birth 1 April 1937
Place of Birth
Marital Status Married
Spouse's Name Shrimati Salma Ansari
Children Two sons and one daughter
Educational Qualifications B.A. (Hons.); M.A. (Political Science)
Permanent Address D-55, IFS Apartments, Mayur Vihar,
Phase-I, Delhi-110091
Present Address Vice-President’s House,
6,
Tel.: 23016422, 23016344, 23014957
Fax : 23018124
E-mail : vpindia@sansad.nic.in
Positions Held
Joined the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) in 1961 and served in Indian missions in Baghdad (Iraq ), Rabat (Morocco ), Jeddah (Saudi Arabia ) and Brussels (Belgium
Ambassador to the
Chief of Protocol to Government of
High Commissioner to
Ambassador to
Ambassador to
Permanent Representative to the UN,
Ambassador to
Visiting Professor, Centre for West Asian and African Studies,
Vice-Chancellor,
Distinguished Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation,
Visiting Professor, Academy for
Chairman, Advisory Committee for Oil Diplomacy, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (2004-05)
Co-Chairman, India-U.K. Round Table
(2004-06)
Member, National Security Advisory Board (2004-06)
Chairman, Working Group on ‘Confidence building measures across segments of society in the State’, established by the 2nd Round Table Conference of the Prime Minister on
May, 2006; the report of the Working Group was adopted by the 3rd Round Table held at
Chairman, Fifth Statutory National Commission for Minorities (March 2006-July 2007)
Elected Vice-President of India and ex officio Chairman, Rajya Sabha on 10 August 2007
Books Published
Awards Padma Shri (1984)
Sports Golf and Cricket
Institutes/Clubs (i)
(ii)
(iii) United Services Institution;
(iv)
(v)
(vi) Noida Golf Club
Countries Visited Visited many countries during the diplomatic and academic career
Dr. Manmohan Singh (Indian National Congress -Assam)
| Singh , Dr. Manmohan [Indian National Congress -Assam ] |  | |
| Father's Name : | Shri Gurmukh Singh | |
| Mother's Name : | Shrimati Amrit Kaur | |
| Date of Birth : | 26 September 1932 | |
| Place of Birth : | Village Gah (West Punjab) | |
| Marital Status : | Married on 14 September 1958 | |
| Spouse's Name : | Shrimati Gursharan Kaur | |
| Children : | Three daughters | |
| Educational Qualifications : | M.A. (Economics), Panjab University, Chandigarh, First Class with first position in the University, Economics Tripos (First Class Honours), University of Cambridge, U.K., D.Phil, Nuffield College, University of Oxford, U.K. | |
| Profession : | Former Civil Servant,Economist,Political Worker/Politician,Civil Service, Economist, Political and Social Worker, Teacher and Educationist . | |
| Permanent Address : | House No. 3989, Nandan Nagar, Ward No. 51, Sarumataria, Dispur, Guwahati, Distt. Kamrup, (Assam) 781006 | |
| Present Address : | 7, Race Course Road, New Delhi Tel. - 23018939, 23011156, 23018907, 23019334, 23015470 E-mail : manmohan@sansad.nic.in | |
| Positions Held : | ||
| 1971-72 Economic Advisor, Ministry of Foreign Trade, India 1972-76 Chief Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance, India 1976-80 Director, Reserve Bank of India Director, Industrial Development Bank of India Alternate Governor for India, Board of Governors, Asian Development Bank, Manila Alternate Governor for India, Board of Governors, I.B.R.D. Nov. 1976 - April 1980 Secretary, Ministry of Finance (Department of Economic Affairs), Government of India Member, Finance, Atomic Energy Commission, Government of India Member, Finance, Space Commission, Government of India April 1980-15 Sept. 1982 Member-Secretary, Planning Commission 1980-83 Chairman, India Committee of the Indo-Japan Joint Study Committee 16 Sept. 1982-14 Jan. 1985 Governor, Reserve Bank of India 1982-85 Alternate Governor for India, Board of Governors, I.M.F. 1983-84 Member, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister 1985 President, Indian Economic Association 15 Jan. 1985-31 July 1987 Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission 1 Aug. 1987-10 Nov. 1990 Secretary-General and Commissioner, South Commission, Geneva 10 Dec. 1990-14 March 1991 Advisor to the Prime Minister of India on Economic Affairs 15 March 1991-20 June 1991 Chairman, U.G.C. 21 June 1991-15 May 1996 Union Finance Minister Oct. 1991 Elected to Rajya Sabha 1991-95 Governor for India on the Board of Governors of the I.M.F. and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development June 1995 Re-elected to Rajya Sabha 1996 - May 2004 Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Finance 1 Aug. 1996 - 4 Dec. 1997 Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce 21 March 1998 - 21 May 2004 Leader of the Opposition, Rajya Sabha 5 June 1998 - Feb. 2004 Member, Committee on Finance 13 Aug. 1998 - 21 May 2004 Member, Committee on Rules 13 Aug. 1998 - 2001 Member, Committee of Privileges 2000 - May 2004 Member, Executive Committee, Indian Parliamentary Group June 2001 Re-elected to Rajya Sabha Aug. 2001- May 2004 Member, General Purposes Committee and Aug. 2004 onwards 22 May 2004 onwards Prime Minister of India Leader of the House, Rajya Sabha June 2007 Re-elected to Rajya Sabha | ||
| Freedom Fighter : | No | |
| Books Published : | ||
| Author of a book entitled "India's Export Trends and Prospects for Self-Sustained Growth" Clarendon Press, Oxford University, 1964; also published a large number of articles in various economic journals | ||
| Social and Cultural Activities, Literary, Artistic and Scientific Accomplishments and other Special Interests : | ||
| Recipient of honorary degrees of D. Litt. from Panjab University, Chandigarh, Guru Nanak University, Amritsar, Delhi University, Delhi, Sri Venkateshwara University, Tirupathi, Punjabi University, Patiala, University of Mysore, Mysore, University of Bologna, Italy, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, Osmania University, Hyderabad, Nagarjuna University, Nagarjunanagar and Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Agra; recipient of honorary degree of (i) Doctor of Laws from University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, (ii) Doctor of Social Sciences from University of Roorkee, Roorkee, (iii) D.Sc. from Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hissar, (iv) Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala, (v) H.H. Kanchi Sri Parmacharya Award for Excellence, 1999 and (vi) Annasaheb Chirmule Award, 2000; Conferred, (i) University Medal for standing first in B.A.(Hons.), Economics, Panjab University, Chandigarh, 1952, (ii) Uttar Chand Kapur Medal, Panjab University, Chandigarh, for standing first in M.A.(Economics), 1954, (iii) Wright's Prize for distinguished performance at St. John's College, Cambridge, 1955 and 1957, (iv) Adam Smith Prize, University of Cambridge, U.K., 1956, (v) Padma Vibhushan, 1987, (vi) Euromoney Award, Finance Minister of the Year, 1993 (vii) Asiamoney Award, Finance Minister of the Year for Asia, 1993 and 1994, (viii) Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Award of the Indian Science Congress Association, 1994-95, (ix) Justice K.S. Hegde Foundation Award, 1996, (x) Nikkei Asia Prize for Regional Growth by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc. (N.I.K.K.E.I.), publisher of Japan's leading business daily,1997, (xi) Lokmanya Tilak Award by the Tilak Smarak Trust, Pune, 1997, (xii) Honorary Fellowship of AIIMS, 2005, (xiii) Honorary Degree by Oxford University, U.K., 2005, (xiv) "Professor Honoris Causa" by Moscow State University, 2005 and (xv) Honorary Doctorate by University of Cambridge, U.K., 2006 | ||
| Sports, Clubs, Favourite Pastimes and Recreation : | ||
| Life Member, (i) India Habitat Centre, (ii) Bhai Vir Singh Sahitya Sadan, (iii) India International Centre, (iv) Indian Economic Association and (v) Gymkhana Club, New Delhi; reading and writing | ||
| Countries Visited : | ||
| Travelled extensively in Europe including Eastern Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa and Asia | ||
| Other Information : | ||
| Elected, Wrenbury Scholar, University of Cambridge, 1957; Senior Lecturer, Economics, 1957-59; Reader, Economics, 1959-63; Professor, (i) Economics, Panjab University, Chandigarh, 1963-65 and (ii) International Trade, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, 1969-71; Honorary Professor, (i) Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 1976 and (ii) Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, 1996; Economic Affairs Officer, 1966 and Chief, Financing for Trade Section, U.N.C.T.A.D., United Nations Secretariat, New York, 1966-69; Deputy for India in I.M.F. Committee of Twenty on International Monetary Reform, 1972-74; participated in Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Meeting, Kingston, 1975; Associate, Meetings of I.M.F. Interim Committee and Joint Fund-Bank Development Committee, 1976-80 and 1982-85; Fellow of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, New Delhi since 1999; National Fellow, National Institute of Education, N.C.E.R.T.,1986; Honorary Fellow, (i) St. John's College, Cambridge, U.K., 1982, (ii) Indian Institute of Bankers, 1982 (iii) All India Management Association, 1993 and (iv) Nuffield College, University of Oxford, Oxford,1994; Leader, Indian Delegation to (i) Aid-India Consortium Meetings, 1977-79, (ii) Indo-Soviet Joint Planning Group Meeting, 1980-82, (iii) Indo-Soviet Monitoring Group Meeting, 1982, (iv) Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Cyprus, 1993 and (v) Human Rights World Conference, Vienna, 1993; attended as member of Indian delegations (i) Meeting of U.N.C.T.A.D. Trade and Development Board, Geneva, May 1971-July 1972, (ii) Ministerial Meeting of Group of 77, Lima, October, 1971, (iii) Third Session of U.N.C.T.A.D., Santiago, April-May, 1972, (iv) Annual Meetings of I.M.F., I.B.R.D. and Commonwealth Finance Ministers, 1972-79, (v) Aid-India Consortium Meetings, Paris, 1973-79, (vi) Cancun Summit on North-South Issues, 1981 and (vii) South-South Consultations, New Delhi, 1982; represented as Secretary-General, U.N.C.T.A.D., at several Inter-Governmental meetings, including Second Session of U.N.C.T.A.D., 1968 and Committee on Invisibles and Financing related to Trade Consultant to U.N.C.T.A.D., E.S.C.A.P. and Commonwealth Secretariat; appointed as Member of a Group of Eminent Persons on Financing for Development by Secretary-General, U.N., 2000; Chairman, Commonwealth Expert Group on Development and Democracy appointed by Commonwealth Secretary General, 2001-2003 | ||
MAHATMA GANDI
Mahatma Gandhi (First of 5 pages)
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| Copyright: Vithalbhai Jhaveri/ GandhiServe |
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born in the town of Porbander in the state of what is now Gujarat on 2 October 1869. He had his schooling in nearby Rajkot, where his father served as the adviser or prime minister to the local ruler. Though India was then under British rule, over 500 kingdoms, principalities, and states were allowed autonomy in domestic and internal affairs: these were the so-called 'native states'. Rajkot was one such state.
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| Copyright: Vithalbhai Jhaveri/ GandhiServe |
After one year of a none too successful law practice, Gandhi decided to accept an offer from an Indian businessman in South Africa, Dada Abdulla, to join him as a legal adviser. Unbeknown to him, this was to become an exceedingly lengthy stay, and altogether Gandhi was to stay in South Africa for over twenty years. The Indians who had been living in South Africa were without political rights, and were generally known by the derogatory name of 'coolies'. Gandhi himself came to an awareness of the frightening force and fury of European racism, and how far Indians were from being considered full human beings, when he when thrown out of a first-class railway compartment car, though he held a first-class ticket, at Pietermaritzburg. From this political awakening Gandhi was to emerge as the leader of the Indian community, and it is in South Africa that he first coined the term satyagraha to signify his theory and practice of non-violent resistance. Gandhi was to describe himself preeminently as a votary or seeker of satya (truth), which could not be attained other than through ahimsa (non-violence, love) and brahmacharya (celibacy, striving towards God). Gandhi conceived of his own life as a series of experiments to forge the use of satyagraha in such a manner as to make the oppressor and the oppressed alike recognize their common bonding and humanity: as he recognized, freedom is only freedom when it is indivisible. In his book Satyagraha in South Africa he was to detail the struggles of the Indians to claim their rights, and their resistance to oppressive legislation and executive measures, such as the imposition of a poll tax on them, or the declaration by the government that all non-Christian marriages were to be construed as invalid. In 1909, on a trip back to India, Gandhi authored a short treatise entitled Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule, where he all but initiated the critique, not only of industrial civilization, but of modernity in all its aspects.
Owing to his poor health, Gandhi was released from prison in 1925. Over the following years, he worked hard to preserve Hindu-Muslim relations, and in 1924 he observed, from his prison cell, a 21-day fast when Hindu-Muslim riots broke out at Kohat, a military barracks on the Northwest Frontier. This was to be of his many major public fasts, and in 1932 he was to commence the so-called Epic Fast unto death, since he thought of "separate electorates" for the oppressed class of what were then called untouchables (or Harijans in Gandhi's vocabulary, and dalits in today's language) as a retrograde measure meant to produce permanent divisions within Hindu society. Gandhi earned the hostility of Ambedkar, the leader of the untouchables, but few doubted that Gandhi was genuinely interested in removing the serious disabilities from which they suffered, just as no one doubt that Gandhi never accepted the argument that Hindus and Muslims constituted two separate elements in Indian society. These were some of the concerns most prominent in Gandhi's mind, but he was also to initiate a constructive programme for social reform. Gandhi had ideas -- mostly sound -- on every subject, from hygiene and nutrition to education and labor, and he relentlessly pursued his ideas in one of the many newspapers which he founded. Indeed, were Gandhi known for nothing else in India, he would still be remembered as one of the principal figures in the history of Indian journalism.
In early 1930, as the nationalist movement was revived, the Indian National Congress, the preeminent body of nationalist opinion, declared that it would now be satisfied with nothing short of complete independence (purna swaraj). Once the clarion call had been issued, it was perforce necessary to launch a movement of resistance against British rule. On March 2, Gandhi addressed a letter to the Viceroy, Lord Irwin, informing him that unless Indian demands were met, he would be compelled to break the "salt laws". Predictably, his letter was received with bewildered amusement, and accordingly Gandhi set off, on the early morning of March 12, with a small group of followers towards Dandi on the sea. They arrived there on April 5th: Gandhi picked up a small lump of natural salt, and so gave the signal to hundreds of thousands of people to similarly defy the law, since the British exercised a monopoly on the production and sale of salt. This was the beginning of the civil disobedience movement: Gandhi himself was arrested, and thousands of others were also hauled into jail. It is to break this deadlock that Irwin agreed to hold talks with Gandhi, and subsequently the British agreed to hold a Round Table Conference in London to negotiate the possible terms of Indian independence. Gandhi went to London in 1931 and met some of his admirers in Europe, but the negotiations proved inconclusive. On his return to India, he was once again arrested.
For the next few years, Gandhi would be engaged mainly in the constructive reform of Indian society. He had vowed upon undertaking the salt march that he would not return to Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, where he had made his home, if India did not attain its independence, and in the mid-1930s he established himself in a remote village, in the dead center of India, by the name of Segaon [known as Sevagram]. It is to this obscure village, which was without electricity or running water, that India's political leaders made their way to engage in discussions with Gandhi about the future of the independence movement, and it is here that he received visitors such as Margaret Sanger, the well-known American proponent of birth-control. Gandhi also continued to travel throughout the country, taking him wherever his services were required.
One such visit was to the Northwest Frontier, where he had in the imposing Pathan, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (known by the endearing term of "Frontier Gandhi", and at other times as Badshah [King] Khan), a fervent disciple. At the outset of World War II, Gandhi and the Congress leadership assumed a position of neutrality: while clearly critical of fascism, they could not find it in themselves to support British imperialism. Gandhi was opposed by Subhas Chandra Bose, who had served as President of the Congress, and who took to the view that Britain's moment of weakness was India's moment of opportunity. When Bose ran for President of the Congress against Gandhi's wishes and triumphed against Gandhi's own candidate, he found that Gandhi still exercised influence over the Congress Working Committee, and that it was near impossible to run the Congress if the cooperation of Gandhi and his followers could not be procured. Bose tendered his resignation, and shortly thereafter was to make a dramatic escape from India to find support among the Japanese and the Nazis for his plans to liberate India.
In 1942, Gandhi issued the last call for independence from British rule. On the grounds of what is now known as August Kranti Maidan, he delivered a stirring speech, asking every Indian to lay down their life, if necessary, in the cause of freedom. He gave them this mantra: "Do or Die"; at the same time, he asked the British to 'Quit India'. The response of the British government was to place Gandhi under arrest, and virtually the entire Congress leadership was to find itself behind bars, not to be released until after the conclusion of the war.
A few months after Gandhi and Kasturba had been placed in confinement in the Aga Khan's Palace in Pune, Kasturba passed away: this was a terrible blow to Gandhi, following closely on the heels of the death of his private secretary of many years, the gifted Mahadev Desai. In the period from 1942 to 1945, the Muslim League, which represented the interest of certain Muslims and by now advocated the creation of a separate homeland for Muslims, increasingly gained the attention of the British, and supported them in their war effort. The new government that came to power in Britain under Clement Atlee was committed to the independence of India, and negotiations for India's future began in earnest. Sensing that the political leaders were now craving for power, Gandhi largely distanced himself from the negotiations. He declared his opposition to the vivisection of India. It is generally conceded, even by his detractors, that the last years of his life were in some respects his finest. He walked from village to village in riot-torn Noakhali, where Hindus were being killed in retaliation for the killing of Muslims in Bihar, and nursed the wounded and consoled the widowed; and in Calcutta he came to constitute, in the famous words of the last viceroy, Mountbatten, a "one-man boundary force" between Hindus and Muslims. The ferocious fighting in Calcutta came to a halt, almost entirely on account of Gandhi's efforts, and even his critics were wont to speak of the Gandhi's 'miracle of Calcutta'. When the moment of freedom came, on 15 August 1947, Gandhi was nowhere to be seen in the capital, though Nehru and the entire Constituent Assembly were to salute him as the architect of Indian independence, as the 'father of the nation'.
The last few months of Gandhi's life were to be spent mainly in the capital city of Delhi. There he divided his time between the 'Bhangi colony', where the sweepers and the lowest of the low stayed, and Birla House, the residence of one of the wealthiest men in India and one of the benefactors of Gandhi's ashrams. Hindu and Sikh refugees had streamed into the capital from what had become Pakistan, and there was much resentment, which easily translated into violence, against Muslims. It was partly in an attempt to put an end to the killings in Delhi, and more generally to the bloodshed following the partition, which may have taken the lives of as many as 1 million people, besides causing the dislocation of no fewer than 11 million, that Gandhi was to commence the last fast unto death of his life. The fast was terminated when representatives of all the communities signed a statement that they were prepared to live in "perfect amity", and that the lives, property, and faith of the Muslims would be safeguarded. A few days later, a bomb exploded in Birla House where Gandhi was holding his evening prayers, but it caused no injuries. However, his assassin, a Marathi Chitpavan Brahmin by the name of Nathuram Godse, was not so easily deterred. Gandhi, quite characteristically, refused additional security, and no one could defy his wish to be allowed to move around unhindered. In the early evening hours of 30 January 1948, Gandhi met with India's Deputy Prime Minister and his close associate in the freedom struggle, Vallabhai Patel, and then proceeded to his prayers.
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| Copyright: Siddharth Gondia/ GandhiServe |
That evening, as Gandhi's time-piece, which hung from one of the folds of his dhoti [loin-cloth], was to reveal to him, he was uncharacteristically late to his prayers, and he fretted about his inability to be punctual. At 10 minutes past 5 o'clock, with one hand each on the shoulders of Abha and Manu, who were known as his 'walking sticks', Gandhi commenced his walk towards the garden where the prayer meeting was held. As he was about to mount the steps of the podium, Gandhi folded his hands and greeted his audience with a namaskar; at that moment, a young man came up to him and roughly pushed aside Manu. Nathuram Godse bent down in the gesture of an obeisance, took a revolver out of his pocket, and shot Gandhi three times in his chest. Bloodstains appeared over Gandhi's white woolen shawl; his hands still folded in a greeting, Gandhi blessed his assassin: He Ram! He Ram!
As Gandhi fell, his faithful time-piece struck the ground, and the hands of the watch came to a standstill. They showed, as they had done before, the precise time: 5:12 P.M.
INDIAN LEADER'S
In the conventional narrative, Indian history begins with the birth of the Indus Valley Civilization in such sites as Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa, and Lothal, followed by the coming of the Aryans. These two phases are usually described as the pre-Vedic and Vedic periods. It is in the Vedic period that Hinduism first arose, though some elements of Hinduism are clearly drawn from the Indus Valley civilization. In the fourth century BCE, large parts of India were united under the emperor Ashoka; he also converted to Buddhism, and it is in his reign that Buddhism first spread to other parts of Asia. It is during the time of the Mauryas that Hinduism first began to take the shape that fundamentally informs the religion down to the present day, though popular or Puranic Hindism is generally dated to around the beginning of the Christian Era. Successor states were more fragmented. Islam first came to India in the eighth century, and by the eleventh century had firmly established itself in India as a political force; the North Indian dynasties of the Lodhis, Tughlaqs, and numerous others, whose remains are visible in Delhi and scattered elsewhere around North India, were finally succeeded by the Mughal empire, under which India once again achieved a large measure of political unity. These are certainly the generally accepted contours of Indian history before the advent of colonialism, though specialists are all inclined to write this history with particular emphases and accents.
Public Interest Litigation
The European presence in India dates to the sixteenth century, and it is in the very early part of the eighteenth century that the Mughal empire began to disintegrate, paving the way for regional states. In the contest for supremacy, the English emerged victors, their rule marked by the conquests at the battlefields of Plassey and Buxar. The Rebellion of 1857-58, which sought to restore Indian supremacy, was crushed; and with the subsequent crowning of Victoria as Empress of India, the incorporation of India into the empire was complete. By the early part of the twentieth century, a nationalist movement had emerged; and by 1919-20, Mohandas Karamchand ('Mahatma') Gandhi had emerged as, if not the virtually undisputed leader of this movement, certainly its most well-known and formidable architect. Successive campaigns had the effect of driving the British out of India in 1947, but not before they had partitioned it, and carved out the Muslim-majority state of Pakistan -- later itself dismembered into Pakistan and Bangladesh..
The first prime minister of independent India was Jawaharlal Nehru, who held office from 1947 until his death in 1964. Apart from a short period of two years from 1975-77, when an internal emergency was imposed by then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and constitutional liberties were suspended, India has been a thriving parliamentary democracy. For a capsule political history of India in the post-1947 period, readers are invited to turn to the “Independent India” section of this site, where they will also find other specialized articles, as well as the “Current Affairs” section of MANAS, where readers will be able to find articles on selected political and social phenomena of recent years.
Kautilya and Arthashastra
Much of our knowledge about state policy under the Mauryas comes from the Arthashastra written by Kautilya (more popularly known as Chanakya), who was a Brahmin minister under Chandragupta Maurya. Though it was written at the end of the fourth century BC, it appears to have been rediscovered only in 1905, after centuries of oblivion. The treatise in its present form is most likely not the text written by Kautilya, though it is probably based on a text that was authored by Kautilya; and in no case can the text in its entirety be ascribed to Kautilya, on account of numerous stylistic and linguistic variations.
The book, written in Sanskrit, discusses theories and principles of governing a state. It is not an account of Mauryan administration. The title, Arthashastra, which means "the Science of Material Gain" or "Science of Polity", does not leave any doubts about its ends. According to Kautilya, the ruler should use any means to attain his goal and his actions required no moral sanction. The only problems discussed are of the most practical kind. Though the kings were allowed a free rein, the citizens were subject to a rigid set of rules. This double standard has been cited as an excuse for the obsolescence of the Arthashastra, though the real cause of its ultimate neglect, as the Indian historian Romila Thapar suggests, was the formation of a totally different society to which these methods no longer applied.
Arthashastra remains unique in all of Indian literature because of its total absence of specious reasoning, or its unabashed advocacy of realpolitik, and scholars continued to study it for its clear cut arguments and formal prose till the twelfth century. Espionage and the liberal use of provocative agents is recommended on a large scale. Murder and false accusations were to be used by a king's secret agents without any thoughts to morals or ethics. There are chapters for kings to help them keep in check the premature ambitions of their sons, and likewise chapters intended to help princes to thwart their fathers' domineering authority. However, Kautilya ruefully admits that it is just as difficult to detect an official's dishonesty as it is to discover how much water is drunk by the swimming fish.
Kautilya helped the young Chandragupta Maurya, who was a Vaishya, to ascend to the Nanda throne in 321 BC. Kautilya's counsel is particularly remarkable because the young Maurya's supporters were not as well armed as the Nandas. Kautilya continued to help Chandragupta Maurya in his campaigns and his influence was crucial in consolidating the great Mauryan empire. He has often been likened to Machiavelli by political theorists, and the name of Chanakya is still reminiscent of a vastly scheming and clever political adviser. In very recent years, Indian state television, or Doordarshan as it is known, commissioned and screened a television serial on the life and intrigues of Chanakya.Public Interest Litigation
Though the Constitution of India guarantees equal rights to all citizens, irrespective of race, gender, religion, and other considerations, and the "directive principles of state policy" as stated in the Constitution obligate the Government to provide to all citizens a minimum standard of living, the promise has not been fulfilled. The greater majority of the Indian people have no assurance of two nutritious meals a day, safety of employment, safe and clean housing, or such level of education as would make it possible for them to understand their constitutional rights and obligations. Indian newspapers abound in stories of the exploitation -- by landlords,factory owners, businessmen, and the state's own functionaries, such as police and revenue officials -- of children, women, villagers, the poor, and the working class.
Though India's higher courts and, in particular, the Supreme Court have often been sensitive to the grim social realities, and have on occasion given relief to the oppressed, the poor do not have the capacity to represent themselves, or to take advantage of progressive legislation. In 1982, the Supreme Court conceded that unusual measures were warranted to enable people the full realization of not merely their civil and political rights, but the enjoyment of economic, social, and cultural rights, and in its far- reaching decision in the case of PUDR [People's Union for Democratic Rights] vs. Union of India [1982 (2) S.C.C. 253], it recognized that a third party could directly petition, whether through a letter or other means, the Court and seek its intervention in a matter where another party's fundamental rights were being violated. In this case, adverting to the Constitutional prohibition on "begar", or forced labor and traffic in human beings, PUDR submitted that workers contracted to build the large sports complex at the Asian Game Village in Delhi were being exploited. PUDR asked the Court to recognize that "begar" was far more than compelling someone to work against his or her will, and that work under exploitative and grotesquely humiliating conditions, or work that was not even compensated by prescribed minimum wages, was violative of fundamental rights. As the Supreme Court noted,
The rule of law does not mean that the protection of the aw must be available only to a fortunate few or that the law should be allowed to be prostituted by the vested interests for protecting and upholding the status quo under the guise of enforcement of their civil and political rights. The poor too have civil and political rights and rule of law is meant for them also, though today it exists only on paper and not in reality. If the sugar barons and the alcohol kings have the fundamental right to carry on their business and to fatten their purses by exploiting the consuming public, have the chamars belonging to the lowest strata of society no fundamental right to earn an honest living through their sweat and toil?
Thus the court was willing to acknowledge that it had a mandate to advance the rights of the disadvantaged and poor, though this might be at the behest of individuals or groups who themselves claimed no disability. Such litigation, termed Public Interest Litigation or Social Action Litigation by its foremost advocate, Professor Upendra Baxi, has given the court "epistolary jurisdiction".
BRITISH INDIA
The British presence in India dates back to the early part of the seventeenth century. On 31 December 1600, Elizabeth, then the monarch of the United Kingdom, acceded to the demand of a large body of merchants that a royal charter be given to a new trading company, "The Governor and Company of Merchants of London, Trading into the East-Indies." Between 1601-13, merchants of the East India Company took twelve voyages to India, and in 1609 William Hawkins arrived at the court of Jahangir to seek permission to establish a British presence in India. Hawkins was rebuffed by Jahangir, but Sir Thomas Roe, who presented himself before the Mughal Emperor in 1617, was rather more successful. Two years later, Roe gained Jahangir's permission to build a British factory in Surat, and in 1639, this was followed by the founding of Fort St. George (Madras). Despite some setbacks, such as the Company's utter humiliation at the hands of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, with whom the Company went to war between 1688-91, the Company never really looked back.
In 1757, on account of the British victory at Plassey, where a military force led by Robert Clive defeated the forces of the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj-ud-daulah, the East India Company found itself transformed from an association of traders to rulers exercising political sovereignty over a largely unknown land and people. Less than ten years later, in 1765, the Company acquired the Diwani of Bengal, or the right to collect revenues on behalf of the Mughal Emperor, in Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. The consolidation of British rule after the initial military victories fell to Warren Hastings, who did much to dispense with the fiction that the Mughal Emperor was still the sovereign to whom the Company was responsible. Hastings also set about to make the British more acquainted with Indian history, culture, and social customs; but upon his return to England, he would be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors. His numerous successors, though fired by the ambition to expand British territories in India, were also faced with the task of governance. British rule was justified, in part, by the claims that the Indians required to be civilized, and that British rule would introduce in place of Oriental despotism and anarchy a reliable system of justice, the rule of law, and the notion of 'fair play'. Certain Indian social or religious practices that the British found to be abhorrent were outlawed, such as sati in 1829, and an ethic of 'improvement' was said to dictate British social policies. In the 1840s and 1850s, under the governal-generalship of Dalhousie and then Canning, more territories were absorbed into British India, either on the grounds that the native rulers were corrupt, inept, and notoriously indifferent about the welfare of their subjects, or that since the native ruler had failed to produce a biological male heir to the throne, the territory was bound to "lapse" into British India upon the death of the ruler. Such was the fate of Sambalpur (1849), Baghat (1850), Jhansi (1853), Nagpur (1854), and -- most tragically -- Awadh (1856). The Nawab of Awadh [also spelled as Oudh], Wajid Ali Shah, was especially reviled by the British as the worst specimen of the Oriental Despot, more interested in nautch girls, frivolous amusements -- kite-flying, cock-fighting, and the like -- and sheer indolence than in the difficult task of governance. The British annexation of Awadh, and the character of the Nawab, were made the subjects of an extraordinary film by Satyajit Ray, entitled The Chess Players ("Shatranj ke Khilari").
Shortly after the annexation of Awadh, the Sepoy Mutiny, more appropriately described as the Indian Rebellion of 1857-58, broke out. This was by far the greatest threat posed to the British since the beginnings of their acquisition of an empire in India in 1757, and within the space of a few weeks in May large swathes of territory in the Gangetic plains had fallen to the rebels. Atrocities were committed on both sides, and conventionally the rebellion is viewed as marking the moment when the British would always understand themselves as besieged by hostile natives, just as the Indians understood that they could not forever be held in submission. If in the early days of the Company's rule a legend was constructed around the Black Hole of Calcutta, so signifying the villainy of Indians, the Rebellion of 1857-58 gave rise to an elaborate mythography on both sides. Delhi was recaptured by British troops in late 1857, the Emperor Bahadur Shah, last of the Mughals, was put on trial for sedition and predictably convicted, and by mid-1858 the Rebellion had been entirely crushed. The East India Company was abolished, though John Stuart Mill, the Commissioner of Correspondence at India House, London, and the unacknowledged formulator of British policy with respect to the native states, furnished an elaborate but ultimately unsuccessful plea on behalf of the Company. India became a Crown colony, to be governed directly by Parliament, and henceforth responsibility for Indian affairs would fall upon a member of the British cabinet, the Secretary of State for India, while in India itself the man at the helm of affairs would continue to be the Governor-General, known otherwise in his capacity as the representative of the monarch as the Viceroy of India.
The proclamation of Queen Victoria, in which she promised that she and her officers would work for the welfare of their Indian subjects, ushered in the final phase of the British Raj. Among Indians, there were debates surrounding female education, widow remarriage, the age of consent for marriage, and more generally the status of women; and in the meanwhile, with increasing emphasis on English education, and the expansion of the government, larger numbers of Indians joined government service. There was, similarly, a considerable increase in both English-language and vernacular journalism, and in 1885 the Indian National Congress, at first an association comprised largely of lawyers and some other professionals, was founded in order that educated Indians might gain something of a voice in the governance of their own country. However, nationalist sentiments could not be confined within the parameters set by a gentlemanly organization such as the Congress, and both in Maharashtra, where the radicals were led by Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and in Bengal armed revolutionaries attempted to carry out a campaign of terror and assassination directed at British officials and institutions. In 1905, on the grounds that the governance of Bengal had become impossible owing to the large size of the presidency, the British partitioned Bengal, and so provoked the first major resistance to British rule and administrative policies in the aftermath of the Rebellion of 1857-58. It is during the Swadeshi movement that Indians deployed various strategies of non-violent resistance, boycott, strike and non-cooperation, and eventually the British had to agree to revoke the partition of Bengal. The partition itself had been attempted partly with a view to dividing the largely Muslim area of East Bengal from the western part of Bengal, which was predominantly Hindu, and the communalist designs of the British were clearly demonstrated as well in their encouragement of the Muslim League, a political formation that came into existence in 1907, on the supposition that the interests of the Muslims could not be served by the Indian National Congress. The capital of the country was shifted as well from Calcutta to Delhi, where a new set of official buildings designed to reflect imperial splendor led to the creation of New Delhi.
During World War I, when Britain declared that India was at war with Germany as well, large number of Indian troops served overseas, and the declaration by the Secretary of State Montagu in 1917 to the effect that it would be the intent of the Government of India to increase gradually Indian participation in the administration of the country was seen as an encouragement of Indian ambitions of eventual self-rule. But following the conclusion of the war, the British sought to introduce draconian legislation to contain the activity of people presumed to be political extremists, and the Punjab disturbances of 1919, including the notorious massacre by General Dyer of nearly 400 unarmed Indians at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar in April, marked the emergence of a nation-wide movement against British rule. The events of 1919 also brought to the fore Mahatma Gandhi, who would henceforth be the uncrowned king of the Indian nationalist movement. Gandhi led the non-cooperation movement against the British in 1920-22, as well as a campaign of civil disobedience in 1930-31, and in 1942 he issued the call to the British to 'Quit India'. Negotiations for some degree of Indian independence, led by Gandhi, first took place in 1930 at the Round Table Conferences in London, but shortly thereafter the Congress decided to adopt a resolution calling for purna swaraj, or complete independence from British rule. Meanwhile, relations between the Hindus and Muslims had deteriorated, and during the latter years of World War II, when the leaders of the Congress, including Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Sardar Patel were incarcerated, the Muslim League, which declared itself in support of the British war effort, had a free hand to spread the message of Muslim separatism. When, in the aftermath of the war, and the triumph of the Labor party, the British Prime Minister Clement Atlee declared that the British would grant India its independence, negotiations were commenced with all the major political parties and communities, including the Sikhs, the Congress, and the Muslim League. In launching Direct Action Day in 1946, which led to immense communal killings in Calcutta, the Muslim League sought to convey the idea that an undivided India was no longer a possibility; and the eventual attainment of independence from British rule on 15 August 1947 was accompanied not only by the creation of the new state of Pakistan, comprised of Muslim-majority areas in both the eastern and western parts of India, but by the unprecedented horrors of partition. At least 500,000 people are estimated to have been killed, and many women were abducted or raped; and it is estimated that no fewer than 11 million Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs crossed borders, which to this day remains the single largest episode of migration in history.
Though the political narrative dominates in accounts of the history of British India, as in the preceding pages, the social and cultural histories of the British Raj are no less interesting. There are doubtless enduring, though not necessarily desirable, influences of British rule in contemporary India. The elites of the country write and converse largely in English, and are connected amongst themselves, and to the larger world outside, through the English language. The Constitution of India, howsoever noble a document, has been decisively shaped by the Government of India Act of 1935, which was scarcely designed to alleviate the distress of the predominantly underprivileged population of India, and not much thought seems to have been given to considering how appropriate a parliamentary system, with roughly the same number of seats in the lower (elected) house, the Lok Sabha, as in the House of Commons, might be for India when it is infinitely larger than Britain. The political and administrative institutions of independent India operate on the assumption that the country is still under colonial rule, and that the subjects are to have no voice in governance, unless they make an extreme fuss. The legal structure was handed down by the British, and the presumption remains that it does not exist to serve the common person, any more than does the vast apparatus of 'law and order': it is no accident that the police always arrive late in the popular Hindi film, when communities have already successfully taken the law into their own hands. The only innovations which have of been use in meeting forms of extreme oppression and injustice, such as Public Interest Litigation, are those which have effected a departure from the colonial model of justice.
India inherited from the British its present university system, and the origins of the summer migration of the middle class and elites to hill stations date back to the early nineteenth century. Social institutions such as clubs and gymkhanas, which persist down to the present day, were a critical part of British life, as E. M. Forster's A Passage to India, Orwell's Burmese Days, and the novels of John Masters and Paul Scott so amply suggest. Though the Indian languages were well developed before the arrival of the British in India, the standardization of these languages, and the creation of the first grammars and dictionaries, was achieved under British rule. The influential school of Kalighat painting emerged in late nineteenth century, and can scarcely be understood without a reference to the creation of a modern market, and similarly the printing press, which arrived in India in the sixteenth century, heralded the age of mechanical reproduction in India. In sports, the abiding passion remains cricket (once a preeminently colonial game), and the favorite drink of the Indian middle class male remains scotch and soda. One could point to a thousand different manifestations of the British presence in India, and slowly, one hopes, our histories will also alert us to the transformations wrought in British institutions and practices in post-independent India.
The Mughal Empire
The great grandson of Tamerlane, Babar, who on his mother's side was descended from the famous Genghiz Khan, came to India in 1526 at the request of an Indian governor who sought Babar's help in his fight against Ibrahim Lodi, the last head of the Delhi Sultanate. Babar defeated Lodi at Panipat, not far from Delhi, and so came to establish the Mughal Empire in India. Babar ruled until 1530, and was succeeded by his son Humayun, who gave the empire its first distinctive features. But it is Humayun's son, Akbar the Great, who is conventionally described as the glory of the empire. Akbar reigned from 1556 to 1605, and extended his empire as far to the west as Afghanistan, and as far south as the Godavari river. Akbar, though a Muslim, is remembered as a tolerant ruler, and he even started a new faith, Din-i-Ilahi, which was an attempt to blend Islam with Hinduism, Christianity, Jainism, and other faiths. He won over the Hindus by naming them to important military and civil positions, by conferring honors upon them, and by marrying a Hindu princess.
Akbar was succeeded by his son Salim, who took the title of Jahangir. In his reign (1605-1627), Jahangir consolidated the gains made by his father. The courtly culture of the Mughals flourished under his rule; like his great grand-father, Babar, he had an interest in gardens, and Mughal painting probably reached its zenith in Jahangir's time. Jahangir married Nur Jahan, "Light of the World", in 1611. Shortly after his death in October 1627, his son, Shah Jahan, succeeded to the throne. He inherited a vast and rich empire; and at mid-century this was perhaps the greatest empire in the world, exhibiting a degree of centralized control rarely matched before. Shah Jahan left behind an extraordinarily rich architectural legacy, which includes the Taj Mahal and the old city of Delhi, Shahjahanabad. As he apparently lay dying in 1658, a war of succession broke out between his four sons. The two principal claimants to the throne were Dara Shikoh, who was championed by the those nobles and officers who were committed to the eclectic policies of previous rulers, and Aurangzeb, who was favored by powerful men more inclined to turn the Mughal Empire into an Islamic state subject to the laws of the Sharia. It is Aurangzeb who triumphed, and though the Mughal Empire saw yet further expansion in the early years of his long reign (1658-1707), by the later part of the seventeenth century the empire was beginning to disintegrate.
Aurangzeb remains a highly controversial figure, and no monarch has been more subjected to the communalist reading of Indian history. He is admired by Muslim historians for enforcing the law of the Sharia and for disavowing the policies pursued by Akbar; among Hindus, laymen and historians alike, he is remembered as a Muslim fanatic and bigot. In the event, Aurangzeb's far-flung empire eventually eluded his grasp, and considerable disaffection appears to have been created among the peasantry. After Aurangzeb's death in 1707, many of his vassals established themselves as sovereign rulers, and so began the period of what are called "successor states". The Mughal Empire survived until 1857, but its rulers were, after 1803, pensioners of the East India Company. The last emperor, the senile Bahadur Shah Zafar, was put on trial for allegedly leading the rebels of the 1857 mutiny and for fomenting sedition. He was convicted and transported to Rangoon, to spend the remainder of his life on alien soil.
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