The Mauryan Empire

The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in ancient India, ruled by the Mauryan dynasty from 321 to 185 BCE. Historians have used a variety of sources to reconstruct the history of the Mauryan Empire. These include archaeological finds, especially sculpture.Also valuable are contemporary works, such as the account of Megasthenes (a Greek ambassador to the court of Chandragupta Maurya), which survives in fragments.Another source that is often used is the Arthashastra, parts of which were probably composed by Kautilya or Chanakya, traditionally believed to be the minister of Chandragupta.Besides, the Mauryas are mentioned in later Buddhist, Jaina and Puranic literature, as well as in Sanskrit literary works.While these are useful, the inscriptions of Asoka (c. 272/268-231 BCE) on rocks and pillars are often regarded as amongst the most valuable sources.Mudrarakshasa of Vishakhadatta describes how Chanakya won the diplomatic battle against the Nanda minister Rakshasa, how Rakshasa was compelled to work for Chandragupta and also how the Nandas were finally over thrown.

Sources of information about Mauryas are listed below :

Literary sources 

• Kautilya’s ‘Arthasastra’
• Megasthenese’s ‘Indica’
• Justin's 'Anepitome'
• Plutarch (1st century CE, Parallel Lives Ch Life of Alexander)
• Strabo (1st century BCE, Geographica)
• Appian (2nd century CE, Historia Romana book XI)  
• Visakha Datta’s ‘Mudra Rakshasa’: although it was written during Gupta Period, it describes how Chandragupta Maurya get Chanakya’s assistance to overthrow the Nandas.
• Puranas
• Buddhist text Jatakas potrays a general picture of socio-economic conditions of Mauryan Period.
• Buddhist chronicles Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa describe the part played by Ashoka in spreading Buddhism to Sri Lanka.
• Tibetan Buddhist text Divyavadana gives information about Ashoka and his efforts to spread Buddhism  

Archaeological Sources   

• Punch mark coins
•  Wooden palace of Chandragupta Maurya
•  Northen Black Polished Ware (NBPW)
•  Ashokan Edicts and Inscriptions: There are Rock Edicts, Pillar Edicts and Cave inscriptions located at several places in the Indian sub-continent.
•  Junagadh Rock Inscription of Rudradaman
•  Sohgaura Copper Plate Inscription in Gorakhpur district
•  Mahasthan Inscription in Bogara district of Bangladesh.
•  Inscription from Taxila informs about the officer name Romeodeto

 Important Rulers

Chandragupta Maurya

Chandragupta Maurya was the founder of the empire in 305 BC. His family is identified by some with the tribe of Moriya mentioned by Greeks. According to one tradition, the designation is derived from Mura, the mother or grandmother of Chandragupta, who was wife of a Nanda king.Buddhist writers represent Chandragupta as member of Kshatriya caste, belonging to the ruling clan of little republic of Pipphalivana, lying probably between Rummindei in the Nepalese Tarai and Kasai in the Gorakhpur district. Under Chandragupta Maurya, for the first time, the whole of northern India was united.Chandragupta became a Jain and went to Sravanbelgola with Bhadrabahu, where he died by slow starvation.Chandragupta was the protege of the Brahman, Kautilya or Chanakya, who was his guide and mentor, both in acquirnig a throne and in keeping it.Megasthenese was a Greek ambassador sent to the court of Chandragupta Maurya by Seleucus.

Bindusara

Chandragupta was succeeded by his son Bindusara in 297 B.C. To the Greeks, Bindusara was known as Amitrochates, perhaps the Greek translation of the Sanskrit Amitraghata, the destroyer of the foes.A Greek named Deimachos was received as Ambassador of Greece in Bindusara's court.Bindusara extended Mauryan control in Deccan as far south as Mysore.Bindusar patronized Ajivikas.

Asoka

According to the Buddhist tradition, Asoka usurped the throne alter killing his 99 brothers and spared Tissa, the youngest one. Radhagupta a Minister of Bindusar helped him in fratricidal struggle.During Bindusara's reign, Ashoka successively held the important viceroyalties of Taxila and Ujjain.Ashoka is referred to as Devanampiya (the beloved of gods) Piyadassi (of amiable appearance) in inscriptions.Under Asoka. the Mauryan Empire reached its climax. For the first time, the whole of the subcontinent, leaving out the extreme south, was under imperial control.Asoka (ought the Kalinga war in 261 BC in the 9th years of his coronation. The king was moved by massacre in this war and therefore abandoned the policy of physical occupation in favour of policy of cultural conquest. In oilier words, Bherighosha was replaced by Dhammaghosha.Asoka was not an extreme pacifist. He did not pursue the policy of peace for sake of peace under all conditions. Thus he retained Kalinga after its conquest and incorporated it into his empire.According to the Kashmir chronicle of Kalhana, Ashoka's favourite deity was Shiva. Ashoka claimed of spiritual conquest of the realms of his Hellenistic, Tamil and Ceylonese neighbours. Hellenistic neighbours of Ashoka were: Antiochos II (Theos of Syria), Ptolemy II (Philadelphos of Egypt), Antigonos (Gonatas of Macedonia), Magas (of Cyrene) and Alexander (of Epirus).

After making deep study of Buddhist scriptures Ashoka started undertaking dharam-yatras (tours of morality) in course of which he visited the people of his country and instructed them on Dharma (morality and piety).Asoka’s Dhamma cannot be regarded as sectarian faith. Its broad objective was to preserve the social order it ordained that people should obey their parents, pay respect to Brahmanas and Buddhist monks and show mercy to slave and servants.He held that if people behaved well they would attain Swarga (heaven). He never said that they would attain Nirvana, which was goal of Buddhist Teaching.

During Ashok's reign the Buddhist church underwent reorganization, with the meeting of the third Buddhist Council at Patliputra in 250 B.C.Ashoka's son Prince Mahendra visited Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka) as a Buddhist missionary and convinced the ruler of the island kingdom, Devanampiya Tissa to convert to Buddhism.

Ashoka ruled for 37 years and died in 232 B.C. With his death a political decline set in, and soon after the empire broke up.As per the Puranic texts, the immediate successor of Ashoka was his son Kunala. The Chronicals of Kashmir, however, mention Jalauka as the son and successor. Kunala was succeeded by his sons, one of whom, Bandhupalita, is known only in Puranas, and another, Sampadi, is mentioned by all traditional authorities. Then there was Dasratha who ruled Magadha shortly after Ashoka and has left three epigraphs in the Nagarjuni Hills in Bihar, recording the gift of caves to the Ajivikas.The last king of the Maurya dynasty was Brihadratha, who was overthrown by his commanderin- chief, Pushyamitra, who laid the foundation of the Sunga dynasty.

The Mauryan Administration

The establishment of elaborate bureaucracy appear to be a remarkable feature of the Mauryas.

Central Administration:

The Mauryan government was a centralised bureaucracy of which the nucleus was the king.The Arthshastra refers to the highest officers as the eighteen tirthas, the chief among them were the Mantrin (chief minister), Purohit (high priest), Yuvraja (heir-apparent) and Senapati (commander-in-chief).The head of the judiciary was the king himself, but there were special tribunals of justice, headed by Mahamatras and Rajukas.According to Arthshastra there are 34 departments headed by 'Adyakshas' to carry on the administration.(Ex:Akara-mining,Kupya-forests,Panya-Trade&Commerce,Lakshana-Minting,etc.) 

Provincial Administration:

The empire was divided into a number of provinces. Probably, five. The northern province, called Uttarapatha had Taxila as its capital. Western province, known as Avantipatha had its capital in Ujjain. Prachyapatha with its capital Toshali (Kalinga) formed the Eastern province while Dakshinapatha with its capital Surarnagiri was the Southernmost province. Central province. Magdha, with its capital at Pataliputra, was the headquarters of the entire kingdom.

The terms used in the Ashokan edicts for provincial governors are Kumara and Aryaputra. The former may have been the title of the sons of the king and later may have referred to close relatives.

District Administration:

Provinces were sub-divided into districts(Aharas) for purposes of administration, and a group of officials worked in each district. In the inscriptions of Ashoka there are references to Rajukas and Pradesikas, charged with the welfare of Janapadas or country parts and Pradesas or districts. Mahamatras were charged with the administration of cities (Nagala Viyohalaka) and sundry other matters, and a host of minor officials, including clerks (Yuta), scribes (Lipikar) and reporters (Pativedaka).

Urban Administration:

Urban administration had its own hierarchy offcials. Kautilya lays down in detail the duties of the Nagaraka which included maintenance of law and order, supervision of sanitation arrangement and to take measures against outbreaks of fire. The Nagaraka has under him subordinate officials called sthanika and gopa who were placed in charge of the wards into which the town was divided.

Rural Administration:

The rural areas were governed by Gramika Head of a village. He was generally elected by the people. He was not a paid servant.

Military Administration:

The most striking feature of Mauryan military administration was maintanence of a huge army.They also maintained a Navy.According to Megasthenes the administration of Army was carried by a board of 30 officers divided into six committees, each committee consisting of 5 members. They are:

Army

Cavalry

Elephants

Chariots

Navy

Transport

Beside this Ashoka appointed Dhammamahamatra, the most important official entrusted with establishing and promoting Dhamma. Authorized to tour and alleviate the woes of people.

Arthashastra:

Arthashastra, written by Chandragupta Maurya’s Prime Minister Chanakya, primarily delves into the statecraft and administration.The Arthashastra has 15 adhikarnas or books. Of which, the first five deal with tantra or internal administration of the state, eight deal with avapa or its relations with neighboring stales, and the last two are miscellaneous in character.

Economy

In order to raise resources to meet the heavy expenditure on an ever increasing bureaucracy and huge standing army, the Mauryan state founded new settlements. The shudras for the first time were aided by the state in settling down as farmers in the settlements. In the newly- settled areas, which formed the crown land or crown village(sita), land was granted to retired village officials and priests.

The state controlled almost all economic activities.The chief sources of revenue were the bhaga and the bali. The bhaga was the king's share of the produce of the soil, which was normally fixed at one-sixth, though in special cases it was raised to one-fourth or reduced to one-eighth. Bali was an extra impost levied on special tracts for the subsistence of certain officials. Taxes on the land were collected by the Agronomoi who measured the land and superintended the irrigation works.

In urban areas the main sources of revenue were birth and death taxes, fines and tithes on sales. Arthshastra refers to certain high revenue functionaries styled the samaharti and the sannidharti.

The state also provided irrigation facilities and charged water-tax.Tolls were also levied on commodities brought to town for sale and they were collected at gate.The slate enjoyed monopoly in mining, sale of liquor, manufacture of arms etc.

During Mauryan period, the punch marked coins were the common units of transactions.The copper coin of eighty ratis (146.4 grs) was known as Karshapana. The name was also applied to silver and gold coins, particularly in south.

Tamralipti m the Gangetic delta was the most prosperous port on the East Coast of India.Broach was a major port during the Mauryan period.

Society

Megasthenes had mentioned 7 castes in Mauryan society. They were philosophers, farmers, soldiers, herdsmen, artisans, magistrates and councilors.

Slavery was an established institution during the Maurya period.

Varna (caste) and ashram (periods of stages of religious discipline), the two characteristic institutions of the Hindu social polity, reached a definite stage in the Maurya period.

Art & Architecture

 The Mauryas were famous for their art and architecture.Mauryan art encompasses the arts produced during the period of the Mauryan Empire (4th to 2nd century BCE), which was the first empire to rule over most of the Indian subcontinent.

A few characteristic features of the Mauryan sculptural and architectural remains are: 

(i) They are all monumental in conception and design, inordinately fine and precise in execution.

(ii) Two types of stone were used for Mauryan pillars, the spotted red and white sandstone from the region around Mathura and the buff-coloured Chunar sandstone obtained from the region around Varanasi.Most of the monolithic pillars, were executed in hard sand stone mostly quarried at Chunar near Varanasi (U.P.). They were always very finely chiselled and very highly polished to glossiness "that has hardly any parallel in India and in the world except in ancient Iran".The pillars represent the Masterpiece of Mauryan sculpture. Each pillar is made of single piece of sandstone. only their capitals which are beautiful pieces of sculpture in form of lion or bulls are joined with pillar on the top.The most important art remains are animal capitals of the pillars, single Lion capital at Rampurva and Lauriya Nandangarh, single bull capital at Rampurva, four lion capital at Sarnath and Sanchi.

(iii) The Mauryan art was basically a royal or court art. The huge resources of the State made available to the artists rendered possible the conception, planning and execution in such large and gigantic proportions.

(iv) The Mauryas introduced stone masonry on large scale.The Mauryan artisans also started the practice of hewing out caves from rocks for monks to live in. The earliest example are Barabar caves in Gaya.

(v) Stupas were built throughout the empire to enshrine (the relics of Buddha). Of these, the most famous are at Sanchi and Bui hut.Ashoka is credited with the construction of a large number of stupas.

The well known art historian A.K.Coomaraswamy divides Mauryan art into two: indigenous/popular art and official or court art. Court art is represented by the pillars and their capitals and popular art by superb individual icons such as Yakshi of Besanagar, the Yaksha of Parkham and Chauri-bearer from Didar- ganj. It is difficult to say whether the evolution of the Mauryan art was the outcome of natural historical process or directly or indirectly conditioned by India's contact with the con- temporary west-Asiatic world. Many scholars have suggested that the Mauryan art, particularly the pillars and animal figures, were greatly influenced by the art of the Achaemenid dynasty of Iran.Wheeler has suggested that the Mauryan craftsmen employed by the State may have been Persians (Iranians) who had settled in India. A few other historians have pointed out the Hellenic (Greek) influence on the Mauryan art. Though clearly inspired by foreign models, the Mauryan art is clearly distinguishable from them and in some respects superior to them.

The sum total of the Mauryan treasure of art may be said to include:

(i) The remains of the royal palace and city of Pataliputra.The famous metropolis of Pataliputra, known to the Greek and Latin writers as Palibothra, Palibotra and Palimbothra, situated at the confluence of Sone and the Ganges, stretched in the form of a parallelogram. It was enclosed by a wooden wall pierced with loopholes for the discharge of arrows and crowned with 570 towers, apparently for keeping watch.The approaches to the city consisted of 64 gates. Sumptuous palaces adorned the city, which housed a large population including many foreigners. The Mauryan wooden palace survived till at least the end of the 4th century A.D. when Fahien visited India and found it so astounding that he considered it "a work of spirits". The palace seems to have been destroyed by fire as maybe inferred from the ashes and burnt fragments of wooden pillars found at Kumrahar near Patna.

(ii) The rock-cut Chaitya-halls or cave dwellings in the Barabar and Nagarjuni Hills of Gaya (Bihar)

(iii) The Edict-bearing and the non-Edict bearing Asokan pillars

(iv) The animal sculptures crowning the pillars with animal and vegetal reliefs decorating the abaci of the capitals

 (v) other individual Mauryan sculptures and the terracotta figures discovered from various sites.

Ashokan Inscriptions:

Ashoka used the medium of his edicts to expound the policy of Dhamma. These inscriptions are inscribed on rocks, pillars and cave.The Ashokan inscriptions were in local script. Those found in northwest, in the region of Peshawar, are in the Kharoshthi script (derived from Aramaic script used in Iran), near modern Kandhar, the extreme west of empire, these are in Greek and Aramaic, and elsewhere in India these are in the Brahmi script.

Major Rock Edicts

Manshera - Hazara, Pakistan

Shahbazgarhi - Peshawar, Pakistan

Girnar (Junagarh) - Gujarat

Sopara - Thana, Maharashtra

Yerragudi - Kurnool, A.P

Jaugarh or Jaugada - Ganjam, Orissa

Dhauli - Puri, Orissa

Kalsi - Dehradun, Uttrakhand

Minor Rock Edicts

Ahraura - U.P.

Sahasram - Bihar

Rupnath - M.P.

Gujjarra - M.P.

Panguraria (Budhni)- M.P.

Bhabru - Rajasthan

Bairat - Rajasthan

Yerragudi - Andhra Pradesh

Maski - Andhra Pradesh

Rajul-Mandagiri - Andhra Pradesh

Govimath - Karnataka

Palkigundu - Karnataka

Siddhapur - Karnataka

Jatinga-Rameshwar - Karnataka

Brahmagiri - Karnataka

Udayagolam - Karnataka

Mittur - Karnataka

Sannatai - Karnataka

New Delhi - Amarpuri colony of Lajpat Nagar

Bahapur - New Delhi.

Pillar Edicts

Delhi –Topara

Delhi – Meerut

Lauriya – Araraj – Bihar

Lauriya – Nandangarh – Bihar -Lion Capital

Rampurva -Bihar-Bull Capital

Prayag – Kaushmbi – U.P.

Minor Pillar Edicts :

Rummindei - Nepal border-Horse Capital

Nigliva-Sagar - Nepal, near Rummindei

Sanchi - M.P.

Sarnath - U.P - 4 lions standing back to back

Prayag - U.P. (Warning to monks)

Queen’s Edict - Prayag

Cave Edicts

Ashoka’s Edicts have been located in the caves in the Barabar Hills (old name Khallitak and Pravaragizi), which were donated to Ajivikas. These caves are called – Sudama, Karnachopar and Vishwajhonpadi.A cave of Lomash Rishi was also found here but with no inscriptions.

Dusharatha’s Cave Edicts: In the Ajivika caves in the Nagarjuni Hills which were called – Gopi, Vapi and Vadathik.

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Civil Disobedience Movement

There are three distinct phases that mark the development of Indian Nationalism. In the first phase, the ideology of the moderates dominated the political scenario.This was followed by the prominence of the extremist ideologies. In the third phase of Indian Nationalism the most significant incident was the rise of MK Gandhi.Under his spirited guidance, the National Movements of the country took shape.The Gandhi Era in the Indian Freedom Struggle started with the Non Cooperation Movement(1920).Before the Non-Coperation movement Gandhi led  Champaran agitation and Kheda satyagraha but they were not National movements against British rule because they were confined to certain regions of the country.The other major national movements led by Gandhi are Civil Disobedience movement and Quit India movement.The Civil Disobedience Movement  led by M K Gandhi, in the year 1930 was an important milestone in the history of Indian Nationalism.

What is Civil Disobedience Movement ?

The civil disobedience was organized against repressive laws.It was a Civil movement against the rules and policies of the british government (non-violent movement).Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is a symbolic or ritualistic violation of the law, rather than a rejection of the system as a whole.The Civil Disobedience movement can be divided into two phases - Phase 1 (1930-1931) and Phase 2 (1932-1934).

Events leading to the Civil Disobedience Movement

• The Simon Commission formed by the British Government in November 1927, to draft and formalize a constitution for India included solely the members of the British Parliament.Accused of being an 'All-White Commission', the Simon Commission was rejected by all political and social segments of the country.
• Death of leaders like Lala Lajpat Rai in the agitations against Simon Commission and increasing support to violence and revolutionary terrorism.
• 1929-33-Great Depression: The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II.Cities all around the world were hit hard, especially those dependent on heavy industry. Construction was virtually halted in many countries. Farming and rural areas suffered as crop prices fell by approximately 60%.Facing plummeting demand with few alternate sources of jobs, areas dependent on primary sector industries such as cash cropping, mining and logging suffered the most.In India the economic crisis resulted in closure of industries and incresed unemployment. Indians were not allowed to manufacture salt and other products to support the British imports and industries.Government imposed ban on some news papers ,books,etc.
•  An All-Party Conference was organized in Bombay in May of 1928. Dr MA Ansari was the president of the conference. Motilal Nehru was given the responsibility to preside over the drafting committee, appointed at the conference to prepare a constitution for India. Motilal Nehru Report called for dominion status for India.Some leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose demanded Poorn Swaraj.Congress accepted the Motilal Nehru Report.The Indian National Congress pressurized the British government to accept all the parts the Nehru Report, in December 1928. At the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress held in December, 1928, the British government was warned that if India was not granted the status of a dominion, a Civil Disobedience Movement would be initiated in the entire country.
• Lord Irwin met with Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Tej Bahadur Sapru in New Delhi in the month of December 1929. Erwin however, could not arrive at an agreement for framing a constitution under `Dominion Status`. Indian National Congress also refused to attend the London Round Table Conference due to communal division and the lack of British support for Indian freedom.
• 1929 Congress in Lahore - Jawaharlal Nehru was the president.The congress passed resolution for poorn swaraj. Gandhi supported poorn swaraj.
• Indian National Congress started the agitation for reduction in land revenue, abolition of the salt tax, cutting down military expenditure, levying duty on foreign cloth,prohibition of intoxicating drinks,release of political prisoners,protection of native industries,reduction of rupee-sterling exchange ratio,change in Arms Act,etc.

 There was no favorable response from the British government. The patience of the Indian masses were wearing out. The political intelligentsia of the country was sure that the technique of persuasion would not be effective with the British government. The Congress had no other recourse but to launch the Civil Disobedience Movement. In Bardoli, the peasants had already taken to satyagraha under the guidance of Sardar Patel in the year 1928. Their non tax agitations were partially successful. The Congress took the decision to use the non violent weapon of satyagraha on a nation wide scale against the government.

Progress of the movement 

•  MK Gandhi was urged by the Congress to render his much needed leadership to the Civil Disobedience Movement. On the historic day of 12th March 1930, Gandhi inaugurated The Civil Disobedience Movement by conducting the historic Dandi Salt March, where he broke the Salt Laws imposed by the British Government. Gandhi commenced his march from sabarmati ashram  with seventy-eight volunteers,by the time he reached Dandi the movement was joined by thousands of people.The movement spread to all coastal areas of India.Each and every corner of the country was gripped in a unique fervor of nationalism. Soon this act of violation of the Salt Laws assumed an all India character.

•  The program of the Civil Disobedience Movement incorporated besides the breaking of the Salt Laws, picketing of shops selling foreign goods and liquor, bonfire of cloth, breaking forest rules, refusal to pay taxes and avoidance of offices by the public officers and schools by the students. Even the women joined forces against the British.

•  In the North-West Frontier Province, the movement was led by Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, popularly known as ‘Frontier Gandhi’.

• In Tamil Nadu, C Rajagopalchari led a similar march from Trichinopoly to Vedaranyam.

• The Economic depression brought agricultural prices crashing down to half of less of their normal levels dealt a severe blow to the already impoverished peasants burdened with high taxes and rents. Therefore the peasants were placed in a situation where they had to continue to pay taxes, rents and debts at pre-depression rates while their incomes continued to spiral steadily downward. The civil disobedience movement was launched in this atmosphere of discontent in 1930s and in many parts of the country it soon took on the form of no-tax and no-rent campaign. Peasants emboldened by the recent success of the Bardoli Satyagraha (1928) joined the protest in large numbers. In Bihar and Bengal powerful movements were launched against the hated chowkidar tax by which villages were made to pay for the upkeep of their own oppressors.

• In Punjab a no-revenue campaign was accompanied by the emergence of Kisan Sabhas that demanded a reduction in land revenue and water rates and the scaling down of debts. The consolidation of left after the formation of the Congress Socialist Party in 1934 acted as a spur to the formation of an all India body to coordinate the Kisan Movement a process that was already underway through the efforts of N.G Ranga and other Kisan leaders. 

 Perturbed by the growing popularity of the movement, the British government imprisoned many leaders of the movement including Gandhi.

Round Table Conferences and Gandhi-Irwin Pact 

The three Round Table Conferences of 1930–32 were a series of conferences organized by the British government to discuss constitutional reforms in India. They were conducted as per the recommendation by the report submitted by the Simon Commission in May 1930. Demands for swaraj, or self-rule, in India had been growing increasingly strong. By the 1930s, many British politicians believed that India needed to move towards dominion status. However, there were significant disagreements between the Indian and the British political parties that the Conferences would not resolve.

The Round Table Conference was opened officially by King George V on November 12, 1930 at London and chaired by the British Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald. The three British political parties were represented by sixteen delegates. There were fifty-seven political leaders from British India and sixteen delegates from the princely states. However, the Indian National Congress, along with Indian business leaders, kept away from the conference. Many of them were in jail for their participation in civil disobedience.

After the conclusion of the First Round Table Conference, the British government realized that the cooperation of the Indian National Congress was necessary for further advancement in the making of the Indian constitution. Thus, Lord Irwin, the Viceroy, extended an invitation to Gandhi for talks.In the March of 1930, Gandhi met with the Viceroy, Lord Irwin and signed an agreement known as the Gandhi-Irwin Pact.

The agreement between Gandhi and Irwin was signed on March 5, 1931. Following are the salient points of this agreement:

1.The Congress would discontinue the Civil Disobedience Movement.

2.The Congress would participate in the Round Table Conference.

3.The Government would withdraw all ordinances issued to curb the Congress.

4.The Government would withdraw all prosecutions relating to offenses not involving violence.

5.The Government would release all persons undergoing sentences of imprisonment for their activities in the civil disobedience movement.

6.Government would restore confiscated properties of the satyagrahis.

7.Government would permit free collection or manufacture of salt by persons near the sea-coast.

The pact shows that the British Government was anxious to bring the Congress to the conference table.

Gandhi attended The Second Round Table Conference in London accompanied by Sarojini Naidu.  The main task of the conference was done through the two committees on federal structure and minorities. Gandhi was a member of both the committees. At this Conference, it was claimed by MK Gandhi that the Congress represented more than eighty five percent of the Indian population. Gandhi's claim was not endorsed by the British and also the Muslim representatives.During the Conference, Gandhi could not reach agreement with the Muslims, ,the depressed classes, the Indian Christians, the Anglo-Indians, and the Europeans on representation-safeguards.

At the end of the conference(Third Conference) Ramsay MacDonald undertook to produce a Communal Award for minority representation, with the provision that any free agreement between the parties could be substituted for his award.According to the Award, the right of separate electorate was not only given to the Muslims of India but also to all the minority communities in the country. The Award also declared untouchables as a minority and thus the Hindu depressed classes were given a number of special seats, to be filled from special depressed class electorates in the area where their voters were concentrated.

Gandhi took particular exception to the treatment of untouchables as a minority separate from the rest of the Hindu community. He clashed with the leader of depressed classes, B. R. Ambedkar, over this issue.The two eventually resolved the situation with the Poona Pact of September,1932.

Second Phase of Civil Disobedience Movement 

The Viceroy, Lord Willingdon, who succeeded Lord Irwin adopted the policy of repression. The Gandhi-Irwin Pact was violated and the Viceroy took to the suppression of the Congress. The Conservative party, which was in power in England, complied with the decision to assume a repressive stance against the Congress and the Indians. The Congress was held responsible by the government to have instigated the 'Red Shirts' to participate in The Civil Disobedience Movement, led by Khan Abdul Ghaffar and provoking the cultivators of U.P to refuse to pay land revenue. Adding to this was the serious economic crisis that took hold of the country. Under such circumstances,the Congress Working Committee took the decision to restart the Civil Disobedience Movement.

Gandhi resumed the movement in January 1932 and appealed to the entire nation to join in. The Viceroy was also informed of the stance assumed by the Congress. Four ordinances were promulgated by the government to deal with the situation. The police was given the power to arrest any person, even on the basis of mere suspicion. Sardar Patel, the President of Congress and Gandhi were arrested, along with other Congressmen. The second phase of The Civil Disobedience Movement lacked the organization that marked its first phase. Nonetheless the entire nation put up a tough fight and the movement continued for six months. Gandhi commenced his twenty one days of fast on May 8th, 1933, to make amends for the sins committed against the untouchables by the caste Hindus. The Civil Disobedience Movement was suspended, when Mahatma Gandi withdrew mass satyagraha on July 14th 1933. The movement ceased completely on April 7th 1934.

Salient features of Civil Disobedience Movement

• The Civil Disobedience movement was a mass movement spread across the country.The salt laws were challenged in all parts of the country. Salt became the symbol of people’s defiance of the government.Besides the breaking  the Salt Laws, picketing of shops selling foreign goods and liquor, bonfire of cloth, breaking forest rules, refusal to pay taxes and avoidance of offices by the public officers and schools by the students.  
•  The Congress took the decision to use the non violent weapon of satyagraha on a nation wide scale against the government.People faced the batons and bullets of the police with supreme courage. No one retaliated ,the reports and photographs of this extraordinary protest began to appear in newspapers across the world, there was a growing tide of support for India’s freedom struggle.
• Anti liquor movement became part of civil disobedience movement - it was a non political movement to engage common people for social and village development who would later join the political movement for independence.
• Imports from the Europe came down because of the large scale mass movement.
• The first phase of the civil disobedience movement ended with historic pact - Gandhi Irwin Pact.Govt agreed to release all political prisoners.Govt agreed to return all confiscated properties during the movement to the owners .Govt agreed to allow Indians to protest against liquor peacefully.People living in coastal areas are allowed to manufacture salt. Congress agreed to participated second round table conference.
• The Civil Disobedience movement united  the people of different sections and prepared ground for a large scale movement for independence in future.The major drawback is lack of participation of muslims in large scale.Hindu muslim unity seen in 1920-22 during non-cooperation movement was missing in CDM. 

 Although The Civil Disobedience Movement failed to achieve any positive outcome, it was an important juncture in the history of Indian independence. The leadership of  Gandhi had a beneficial impact. The warring factions within the Congress united under the aegis of The Civil Disobedience Movement, led by Gandhi.It united the people of different sections and prepared ground for a large scale movement for independence in future.Satyagraha was put on a firm footing through its large scale usage in the movement. Last but not the least India rediscovered its inherent strength and confidence to crusade against the British for its freedom.

Origin of Life

  

Earth is estimated to be about 4.5 billion years old, and for much of that history it has been home to life in one weird form or another.The earliest evidence for life on Earth comes from fossilized mats of cyanobacteria called stromatolites in Australia that are about 3.4 billion years old. Ancient as their origins are, these bacteria (which are still around today) are already biologically complex—they have cell walls protecting their protein-producing DNA, so scientists think life must have begun much earlier, perhaps as early as 3.8 billion years ago.But despite knowing approximately when life first appeared on Earth, scientists are still far from answering how it appeared.  

Life on Earth first bloomed  when chemical compounds in a "primordial soup" somehow sparked into life.But what turned sterile molecules into living, changing organisms? That's the ultimate mystery.The molecules swimming in early Earth's primordial soup would have been continually destroyed by ultraviolet radiation from the sun, as well as heat and other processes on the planet.  But when certain special pairs of molecules combined to form a larger compound, they sometimes came out with protections that neither had alone.When molecules interact, they start taking on properties they don't have as individuals, but do gain when they're in a complex,. "This provides a means of natural selection." Molecules that could combine to gain attributes would survive longer and proliferate, while those that were more easily destroyed would fade away.Today, there are several competing theories for how life arose on Earth. Some question whether life began on Earth at all, asserting instead that it came from a distant world or the heart of a fallen comet or asteroid.

7 Theories on the Origin of Life

Action of Electric Spark on Primordial soup

Electric sparks can generate amino acids and sugars from an atmosphere loaded with water, methane, ammonia and hydrogen, as was shown in the famous Miller-Urey experiment reported in 1953, suggesting that lightning might have helped create the key building blocks of life on Earth in its early days. Over millions of years, larger and more complex molecules could form. Although research since then has revealed the early atmosphere of Earth was actually hydrogen-poor, scientists have suggested that volcanic clouds in the early atmosphere might have held methane, ammonia and hydrogen and been filled with lightning as well.

Community Clay

The first molecules of life might have met on clay, according to an idea elaborated by organic chemist Alexander Graham Cairns-Smith at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. These surfaces might not only have concentrated these organic compounds together, but also helped organize them into patterns much like our genes do now.The main role of DNA is to store information on how other molecules should be arranged. Genetic sequences in DNA are essentially instructions on how amino acids should be arranged in proteins. Cairns-Smith suggests that mineral crystals in clay could have arranged organic molecules into organized patterns. After a while, organic molecules took over this job and organized themselves.

Deep-Sea Vents

The deep-sea vent theory suggests that life may have begun at submarine hydrothermal vents, spewing key hydrogen-rich molecules. Their rocky nooks could then have concentrated these molecules together and provided mineral catalysts for critical reactions. Even now, these vents, rich in chemical and thermal energy, sustain vibrant ecosystems.

Chilly Start

Ice might have covered the oceans 3 billion years ago, as the sun was about a third less luminous than it is now. This layer of ice, possibly hundreds of feet thick, might have protected fragile organic compounds in the water below from ultraviolet light and destruction from cosmic impacts. The cold might have also helped these molecules to survive longer, allowing key reactions to happen.

RNA World

Nowadays DNA needs proteins in order to form, and proteins require DNA to form, so how could these have formed without each other? The answer may be RNA, which can store information like DNA, serve as an enzyme like proteins, and help create both DNA and proteins. Later DNA and proteins succeeded this "RNA world," because they are more efficient. RNA still exists and performs several functions in organisms, including acting as an on-off switch for some genes. The question still remains how RNA got here in the first place. And while some scientists think the molecule could have spontaneously arisen on Earth, others say that was very unlikely to have happened.Other nucleic acids other than RNA have been suggested as well, such as the more esoteric PNA or TNA.
 
Simple Beginnings

Instead of developing from complex molecules such as RNA, life might have begun with smaller molecules interacting with each other in cycles of reactions. These might have been contained in simple capsules akin to cell membranes, and over time more complex molecules that performed these reactions better than the smaller ones could have evolved, scenarios dubbed "metabolism-first" models, as opposed to the "gene-first" model of the "RNA world" hypothesis.

Panspermia

Perhaps life did not begin on Earth at all, but was brought here from elsewhere in space, a notion known as panspermia. For instance, rocks regularly get blasted off Mars by cosmic impacts, and a number of Martian meteorites have been found on Earth that some researchers have controversially suggested brought microbes over here, potentially making us all Martians originally. Other scientists have even suggested that life might have hitchhiked on comets from other star systems. However, even if this concept were true, the question of how life began on Earth would then only change to how life began elsewhere in space.