(a) The British annexed Awadh on grounds of mal-administration and wrongly assumed that the Nawab was an unpopular ruler. On the contrary he was greatly loved and his departure from Lucknow was marked by widespread grief and sorrow.

(b) The emotional grief of the people was aggravated by immediate material losses. Awadh’s annexation led to the dissolution of the court and its culture. A whole range of people-musicians, dancers, poets and artisans lost their livelihood.

(c) The annexation also dispossessed the taluqdars of the region. The taluqdars had earlier maintained armed retainers, built forts and enjoyed a high degree of autonomy. But immediately after the annexation, the taluqdars were disarmed and their forts destroyed.

(d) The British land revenue policy further undermined the position and authority of the taluqdars. The 1856 Summary Settlement was based on the belief that the taluqdars were interlopers with no permanent stakes in land. Thus the settlement sought to remove taluqdars wherever possible and the number of taluqdars came down. Many taluqdars of southern Awadh lost more half of the total number of villages they had previously held.

(e) The grievances of the peasants were carried over into the sepoy lines since the vast majority of the peasants were recruited from the village of Awadh. Low wages, ill-treatment by the British officers, difficulty in taking leave and the issue of the greased cartridges among other intensified their discontent.

(f) The majority of the sepoys of the Bengal army were recruited from the villages of Awadh and eastern U.P. The problems that the sepoy’s families faced and the threats they perceived were quickly transmitted to the sepoy lines and vice versa.

(g) Thus a chain of grievances in Awadh linked the peasants, sepoys and the common people. In different ways all came to identify British rule with the end of their world. Thus more than any other place, the revolt became an expression of popular resistance to an alien order.

Ajivikas were those who believed that everything was predetermined. They are also known as fatalist.

Ram Nath Kovind  is 14^th president of India.

In the 6th century BC, very big states were established in north India. They were called Mahajanapadas. They were sixteen in number.
Important Mahajanapadas: (i) Megadha (ii) Koshala (iii) Kuru (iv) Avanti (v) Panchala (vi) Vajji (vii) Gandhara.

Relation between State and Bhakti Tradition:

I. The initial Bhakti movement was launched under the leadership of Alvars and Nayanars. The Alvars were the disciples of Lord Vishnu whereas the Nayanars were the devotees of Lord Shiva. They settled at one place and roamed in the nearby areas. They recited hymns in praise of their idol in Tamil language.

II. During their travels, the Alvars and Nayanars declared some sacred places as the abode of their respective deities. Later on large temples were constructed on these places and all these places became the centres of pilgrimage.

III. The central point of the Tamil devotional creations was their opposition to Buddhism and Jainism. This feeling of opposition is more distinct in the creations of the saints belonging to the Nayanar saints. According to the historians, the main reason for their opposition was that there was a competition between different religious communities to seek state patronage.

IV. The powerful Chola rulers supported the Brahmanical and Bhakti tradition. They donated land for the construction of temples dedicated to Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva.

V. The vast and imposing temples of Lord Shiva in Chidambram, Thanjavur and Gangaikondacholapuram were built with the help of the Chola rulers.

VI. The Alvar and Nayanar saints were honored by the Vallal peasants. Even the rulers also tried to seek their help and patronage. For example, the Chola rulers claimed to get the divine support. They also got built vast and magnificent temples to expose their grandeur and authority. These temples had statues made of stone and metal.

VII. An edict of 945 AD mentioned that a Chola ruler Parantak-I got built the metal statues of saint poet Sambandar and Sundrar. He got them installed in the Shiva temple

VIII. The temples of North India especially emphasize the worship of Vishnu and Shiva. All these temples were basically built with the help of the rulers.

Meaning of integration of cults:

(i)    From tenth to seventeenth century the most striking religious features is the increasing visibility of a wide range of god and goddess in sculpture as well as in religious books (texts) at one level, this indicates the continued and extended worship of major deities-Vishnu, Shiva and goddesses like Durga, Laxmi or Parvati-each of whom was visualised in a variety of forms.

(ii)    Historians who have tried to understand these developments suggest that there were at least two processes at work. One was a process of disseminating Brahmanical ideas. This is exemplified by the composition, compilation and preservation of Puranic texts in simple Sanskrit verse, explicitly meant to be accessible to women and Shudras, who were generally excluded from Vedic learning. At the same time, there was a second process at work - that of the Brahmanas accepting and reworking the beliefs and practices of these and other social categories. In fact, many beliefs and practices were shaped through a continuous dialogue between what sociologists have described as “great” Sanskritic Puranic traditions and “little” traditions throughout the land.

Example 1 : One of the most striking examples of this process is evident at Puri, Orissa, where the principal deity was identified, by the twelfth century, as Jagannatha (literally, the lord of the world), a form of Vishnu.

Example 2 : Through an instance we can say that a local deity whose image was continues to be made of wood by local tribal specialists, was recognised as a form of Vishnu. At the same time, Vishnu was visualised in a way that was very different from that in other parts of the country.

Such instances of integration are evident amongst goddess cults as well. Worship of the goddess, often simply in the form of a stone smeared with ochre, was evidently widespread.

The significance Salt March for Swaraj:
(i) On 12th March 1930- Gandhiji began the march from his ashram at Sabarmati towards the ocean where he reached after three weeks, making a fistful of salt and thereby breaking colonial salt law.
(ii) Parallel salt marches and protests were also conducted in other parts of the country. Peasants breached the hated colonial forest laws, factory workers went on strike, lawyers boycotted British courts  and students refused to attend goverment run educational institutions. Gandhi’s call had encouraged Indians of all classes to make manifest their own discontent with colonial rule.
(iii) During the March Gandhiji told the upper castes that if they want Swaraj they must serve untouchables. For Swaraj, Hindus , Muslims , Parsis and Sikhs have to unite
(iv) The progress of the salt March can also be traced from another source: the American news magazine, Time. Time magazine was deeply sceptical of the salt march reaching its destination. But within a week it had changed its mind and saluted Gandhi as a ‘saint ‘ and statesman. Time’s writing had made the British rulers “ desperately anxious”.
(v) Salt March was notable for at least three reasons. First, it was  this event that brought Gandhiji to world attention. The march was widely covered by the European and American Press.

Sangam texts are collected works of different people in tamil language over a long span of time.
Sangam literature deals with emotional and material topics such as love, war, governance, trade and bereavements.

The significances are:
(i) The Stupa at Sanchi is the best preserved monument. It is a model of wonderful sculpture.
(ii) It has been an important centre of Buddhism. Its discovery has changed our perception about the early time of Buddhism.