History in popular movements British Punjab 1849 1947

Abstract

The study being an unexplored area of historical scholarship was the basis of newlinechoice for research. It centered round the use or utilization of ?History? by the newlineorganizers of a number of anti-British movements in Punjab. For convenience sake, newlinethough the movements in the domain of Politics, economy and socio-cultural have newlinebeen examined but these do not constitute the total anti-imperial protests. Accordingly, the selection of the agitations has been attempted and these include: Ghadr Party, Babber Akali, Naujwan Bharat Sabha; Namdhari, Singh Sabha, Gurudwara Reform Agitation; The disturbances of 1907, The Kirti Party and the newlinevarious Kissan Morchas. It is imperative to mention here that this examination is to evaluate that how the ?History? could be utilized in the present to construct the future of human-kind. For this analysis basically the literature produced by these movements have been critically examined with the view that what kind of historical personalities, events and happenings at the local, regional, national and international levels have become the inspirational forces. For this purpose, a variety of sources have been made use of. The result of this examination brings out interesting formulations. It was seen that majority of the anti-British movements either Political, socio-cultural or economic have shared the common historical heritage. Much of the ?History? utilized pertains to the history of Punjab with more emphasis on the Sikh Gurus and the Sikh Struggle. Events of ancient India also attracted attention of this mobilization and also certain prominent events of the national and International history. However sometimes, it has been found that it is not always history but mythology were used and also that history was equally used as mythology.