HISTORY
India is a very old country, so it has a lot of history. We can’t cover everything in this workbook - there’s much more to learn.
The Mughals ruled India 300 years ago and were very rich and powerful. Gradually they had less and less power until the British took control.
The British ruled India for 90 years, until lots of Indian people started protesting against them, and eventually kicked them out.
The Mughals
The Mughals ruled India for a long time. They brought lots of new ideas to India. The word Mughal comes from the word Mongol, which was the name of a group of people who came from Mongolia and ended up controlling all the land from China to Europe. The most famous Mongol was called Chinggis or Genghis Khan.
The Mughal rulers in India were Muslims. They were very organised and did a lot of building. The Mughal Empire was quite peaceful so people could concentrate on making things and selling them, rather than fighting.
Activity 3: The Taj Mahal
The most famous Mughal building in India is called the Taj Mahal. It’s famous because it is very beautiful and symmetrical, which means it is the same on both sides.
It was built by Emperor Shah Jahan to remember his wife, Mumtaz after she died. It took 20,000 people 22 years to build it. The building is covered in decorations and jewels. Although the building is made of white marble, it looks different colours at different times of day.
Look at page 13 on your worksheets. Can you cut out the pieces of the Taj and fit it together in the right way? You might need to look at a picture of the Taj Mahal to help you. And remember - the Taj Mahal is symmetrical, which means it’s the same on both sides.
When you’re finished, if you want, you can send a picture to us at DTK Headquarters! Click the purple picture of the envelope to send us a message…
Who ordered the Taj Mahal to be built? Shah _ _ _ _ _ ⭐
Activity 10: The Caste System
India used to have a system that organized people into different levels called castes.
A caste is a social group that you were born into. You couldn’t change your caste and your caste told you which jobs you were allowed to do.
At the top was the Brahmin caste, the most powerful one. People in this group were priests, teachers, judges and people who owned lots of land.
If your parents were a Brahmin, then you would be too. You could only marry another Brahmin - it was illegal to marry someone from another caste.
Underneath the Brahmins were the Kshatriya. They were warriors. Kshatriya could be in charge of smaller towns and villages.
They could make decisions but if a Brahmin said something different, then the Kshatriya decision was ignored.
After them were the Vaishas. Vaishas were farmers, shopkeepers or craftsmen. Although they weren’t at the top, they still had nice houses and clothes, and enough food to eat.
At the bottom of the pyramid, the lowest caste were the Shudras. They had to work very hard. Some worked in the fields, but didn’t earn very much money and didn’t own any land.
Some Shudras worked as cleaners or servants in houses. They didn’t have big houses and often didn’t have enough to eat.
There is one more caste group, who don’t belong in the caste pyramid. They were called the Untouchables or Dalit.
Untouchables had the worst jobs. They had to do the dirty jobs, like cleaning toilets or working to make leather (Hindu people believe that making leather is unclean because it means touching the skins of animals). Untouchables were not allowed to touch things that belonged to people from other castes.
The caste system was made illegal in India in the 1950s but lots of people still marry people from their own caste and it is hard to get rid of it completely. People who are Dalit or Untouchable still have very difficult lives and lots of people are mean to them.
Now go to page 14 on your workbook and see if you can fill in the missing gaps in the Caste System triangle. That’s where you’ll find the Answer Star! ⭐
Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
A very famous Dalit…
Dr. B.K. Ambedkar was a very famous Indian man. He was also a Dalit, or member of the untouchable class. In the 1920s most Dalit children weren’t allowed to go to school, and definitely not to university.
Ambedkar graduated from high school, then got into the University of Bombay. He did so well there that he got a scholarship to the University of Colombia in the USA and then to the London School of Economics in Great Britain.
Ambedkar was an economist, a professor and a lawyer and did lots of political campaigning for Dalit people. He is one of the reasons why the caste system is now illegal in India.
In 2012 he was voted “the Greatest Indian”.
Activity 11: The Raj
The Raj is the name of the time when the British were in control of India.
‘Raj’ means ‘rule’ in Hindi, because the British ruled over India.
Lots of Indian people were unhappy about this, because they wanted to control their own country. Eventually they kicked the British out.
Can you complete the crossword on pages 15-17 of your workbook?
You’ll need to do some extra research!
One word on the wordsearch is marked with stars. That’s the answer that goes in the Grid ⭐
Great job!
On to the next activity…
Independence for India
The British controlled India for a long time. Sometimes they were cruel. Many Indian people wanted the British to leave so they could be in charge of their own country.
They tried to get the British to leave, by having protests and refusing to do what they were told. Many were arrested or killed. One very famous protestor was Mohandas Gandhi, who only used peaceful ways to make change.
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas K. Gandhi was born in India but studied to become a lawyer in England. After he became a lawyer, he lived in South Africa, where he saw that people with black and brown skin were treated very badly by the people in charge, who all had white skin. When he went back to India, he saw the same thing. He decided to resist the white British people who were in charge.
He decided he would only use peaceful ways to do this, not fighting. Eventually he was successful, but it took a long time and was a difficult process. Gandhi is very famous is India and loved by man. Many people call him ‘the Mahatma’ which means ‘Great Soul’.
Activity 12: Independence Timeline
On the right you can see a timeline of events leading to Indian independence. There are some gaps.
Below are some events which need to be filled in to the timeline. Can you read through the events, then fill them in to the timeline on page 18 of your worksheets?
You’ll need to do some research to find out when things happened.
Don’t forget to look for the star! ⭐
You’ve finished the History section!
You should now have 12 answers. If you don’t, maybe go back and have another look.
If you’re ready, click the button below to move onto the Nature page!
Take a break for some…
CRICKET!
Cricket is the second most popular sport in the world. It was brought to India by the British but now many Indian people love it!
It’s a complicated game with lots of rules. It also lasts a long time - some matches are 5 days long! Players take breaks for meals and to drink tea. Cricket also uses lots of silly words. Here are a few:
Gully
Googly
Maiden
Silly mid-on
Square leg
Silly point
Cow corner
Third man
Long off
FRENCH CRICKET
You can play a simpler version of cricket at home. It’s called French Cricket.
You need: 2 people or more, a bat, a soft ball, some space.
WARNING! Make sure you ask a grown up before you try to play ESPECIALLY if you’re playing inside. Don’t break anything please!