Defining A Nation; Helpful terms.

Quran

the sacred writings of Islam revealed by God to the prophet Muhammad during his life at Mecca and Medina

Harijan

"child of god" Gandhi's term for an untouchable in the caste system

Vinayak Savarkar

"...[N]o people in the world can more justly claim to get recognized as a racial unit than the Hindus and perhaps the Jews. A Hindu marrying a Hindu may lose his caste but not his Hindutva [Hindu culture]. A Hindu believing in any theoretical or philosophical or social system, orthodox or heterodox, provided it is unquestionably indigenous and founded by a Hindu may lose his sect but not his Hindutva - his Hindu-ness - because the most important essential which determines it is the inheritance of the Hindu blood...", Hindus bound not only by love but also common culture, all different gods=Glory and greatness

Dalit

"Down-trodden" a modern term used by untouchables to describe their community

Quaid

"Great leader" title for Mohammad Ali Jinnah

Mahatma

"Great soul" applied to Gandhi

Swadeshi

"Of our own country" a phrase often applied to a preference for buying India-made goods

"Bande Mataram"

"Salutation to the mother" a song, originally about Bengal for Hindu India

Krishna quote

"The unreal never is; the real never is not" the world of senses is actually an illusion , persons spirit exists forever, death cant touch spirit realm, reincarnation

Satyagraha

"Way of truth" or "truth force" Gandhis strategy of nonvintage confrontation

Sikh

A "disciple" specifically referring to followers of Guru Nanak

pandit

A Hindu religious scholar; the title given to Jawaharial Nehru of Congress

Jagidar

A Mughal retainer who had been given the right to assess and collect tax on a particular parcel of land

Mahabharata

A classic Hindu text of ancient India

Hartal

A general strike, including the closing of shops, usually called to initiate a political protest

Krishna

A god associated with divine playfulness; a form of Vishnu

Khadi

A handwoven cotton cloth, often associated with Gandhi

Jihad

A holy war; an effort to attain perfection, in Islam

Raj

A kingdom

Anandamath

A novel ban Kim Chandra Chatterji

Jat

A peasant or farming community in northern India

Dharma

A set of specific moral and religious obligations in Hinduism

Karma - in class definition

Action - everything we do will lead to experiences that come back to us

Dharma of farmers

Alleviate hunger

Opening of Bhagavad Gita

Armies preparing for war

Dhrita rasthra

Blind king

Sanjaya

Chief minister to dhrita-rasthra, magical powers that allow him to see/hear what's going on pandava, storyteller

Jawaharlal Nehru

Follower of Gandhi but embraced European socialism and communist doctrines, president of INC

Arjuna

Foremost pandava general, (Hindu mythology) the warrior prince in the Bhagavad-Gita to whom Krishna explains the nature of being and of God and how humans can come to know God

Harijans

Gandhi's term for the "children of God" who were formerly known as "untouchables"

Maharaja

Great ruler or king (Hindu)

Hindutva

Hindu essence or equivalency

Sati

Indian funeral practice in which a woman commits suicide, often by immolation on the funeral; pyre of her husband

Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Joined Muslim league, tried to unify ML and INC, "difference between Hindu and Muslim is not religion, superstitions - India will become a single nation" "one nation=growing discontent and final destruction" can't accept constitution that results in Hindu majority govt, Muslims are not minority, make sacrifices

Dharma possible meanings

Law, reality, religion

Varna

Literally "color" in Hindu, but usually implying "caste" or the hierarchical arrangement of social groups

Shivaji

Maratha warrior, slaughtered Muslims, anti Muslim Hindu warrior

Nizam

Prince or ruler (Muslim)

Lala Lajpat Rai

Promoted Hindu culture, unified political existence, "one common blood running through their veins with common..." "branches of common tree" - members of same family

Swaraj

self-rule

Islam

Religion of peace "surrender to god" - submission and peace, salaam

Adi Granth

Scripture of Sikhs, based on teachings of Guru Nanak, compiled in the early 1600's

All Muslim agree on...

Shah dad-faith, salat-prayer, zakah-almsgiving, sawm-fasting, hajj-pilgrimage

Rabindranath Tagore

Showed power of Indian writing, opposed British educational patterns, "teaching process learning English" "spiritual unity of all races" - we are all equal but some of us know better so follow us, progress=indefinite extension of limbs that we owe advantages to, the reward of truth is peace, the reward of truth is happiness

Bal Gangadhar Tilak

Son of Brahmans, ardent proponent of Indian independence, went to jail for inciting violence, "it is the spirit which actuated Shivaji in his doing that is held forth as the proper ideal to kept constantly in view by rising generations" - look up to Shivaji

Brahman

Status category of highest priestly caste in classic Sanskrit literature

Swami Vivekananda

Suggests that all religions are "true" but like Hinduism, Hinduism=major world religion, whosever comes to me, through whatsoever form, I reach him; all men are struggling through paths which lead to me. "Believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true

Indian civil service (ICS)

The bureaucracy of colonial India, largely staffed by Indians under direction of British

Karma

The concept of reincarnation, where future births are based on one's actins in his or her current life

Samsara

The cycle of existence

Rupee

The main unit of Indian currency

Khilafat

The office of the caliph, the spiritual leader of all Muslims within the Ottoman Empire

Charkha

The spinning wheel, a symbol of the artisanal cotton-based economy of Gandhi

Moksa

There is a way out from samsara

Muhammad Iqbal

poet, he is considered one of the most important figures in Urdu literature, with literary work in both the Urdu and Persian languages, "what really matters is a mans faith, culture, tradition- these are worth living and dying for" - tradition is what matters, believe in harmonious whole, east vs west man, literature is significant for capitalistic world

Arjuna's dharma

Warrior - Kshatriya - if doesn't fight=coward, going against castes

Mullah

an Islamic religious leader

Sabha

an association

B.R. Ambedkar

born to untouchable, but because father was indian soldier, went to british school. wanted to industrialize, he wrote indian constitution asking for untouchable parliament. gandhi went on hunger strike to prevent it, untouchables are part of community even if rejected, our wrongs have remained as open sores, need political power in own hands

Duryodhana

eldest son of Dhritarashtra, seized panda a throne

Gandhi

fought for Indian independence with non-violence, disapproves of mistreatment of untouchables, three-fold program: no testing Hindu Muslim unity, untouchability is doomed, spinning is spreading, education imparted through handcraft and industry, kids should feel confident by paying for own education with labor

Untouchables

lowest class of people in the caste system of Hinduism, do all the dirty work of society - ex butchers, fisherman, sweepers, leatherworking

Ahimsa

nonviolence

Soteriology

study of salvation

R.I.N.

the Royal Indian Navy