Religions in India

Religion and Dharma System	Religion/ Dharma	Founded	Holy Book	Holy Cities, Pilgrimage sites	Founder of Religion	Diviner / Incarnations of God
Hinduism	Dharma	500 C.E.	BHAGAVAD GITA, VEDA, Upanishad	Kasi, Ayodhya, Mathura, etc.	None	Rama, Krishna, Buddha
Hinduism refers to the beliefs and practices of Hindus as expressed in its doctrines i.e., BHAGAVAD GITA, VEDA, Upanishad, sacrament, narrative, and epic. It is the main religion of India and Nepal which includes the worship of several gods and belief in REINCARNATION. Hinduism is practiced by over 700 million people.
Ancient Sanatana Dharma	Dharma	4000 B.C.E.	-	Kasi, Ayodhya, Madhupura (Mathura)	None	Rama, Krishna
The term Sanātana Dharma translates to approximately “eternal law”, is notion of great importance to Hinduism. Those preferring sanatana dharma emphasize a more catholic tradition of belief and practice. “Speak the truth, speak the truth that is pleasant. Do not speak the truth to manipulate. Do not speak falsely to please or flatter someone. This is the quality of the Sanatan Dharma“.
Zoroastrianism	Religion	1800 B.C.E.	Zend Avesta (Gathas)	Yazd, Pasargade, Persepolis, Kernan, Tehran	Zarathushtra	Zarathushtra
It is a religion started in ancient Persia by Zoroaster that teaches that there is one God and a continuing struggle in the world between forces of light and darkness. Zoroastrianism originated in ancient Persia (now Iran). The sacred texts of Zoroastrianism are collectively called the Avesta.
Buddhism	Dharma	600 B.C.E.	Dhammapada	Bodh Gaya, Rajgir, Kapilavastu, Saranath	Gautam Siddhartha	Gautam Siddhartha
Buddhism is an Asian religion based on the teaching of Gautama Siddhartha (or Buddha). Buddhism played a central role in the spiritual, cultural, and social life of the Eastern world and, during the twentieth century, spread to the West.
Jainism	Dharma	650 B.C.E.	Akaranga Sutra	Palitana, Kashi/Varanasi, Parasnath,etc.	Mahavira	Mahavira
Jainism is one of the three most ancient of India’s religious traditions still in existence. Jainism teaches a path to spiritual deliverance through a strict code of conduct based on non-violence to all living creatures. The name Jainism derives from the Sanskrit verb root ji (to conquer). Jainism originated around the seventh-fifth centuries BC in the Ganga basin of North India. Jainism often employs concepts similar to Hinduism and Buddhism
Judaism	Religion	1600 B.C.E.	Tanakh (Torah, Neviim, Ketuvim)	Jerusalem	Abraham	Abraham, Moses
Judaism is the religion of the Jews, a monotheistic religion discerned in patterns of action, social order, and culture. God is viewed as the divine “Giver of Torah*” – in its broadest traditional sense, supported by the Hebrew Scriptures. Jews believe that they are chosen by the God to receive divine guidance. Abraham was the founder of Judaism. * the law of God as given to Moses and recorded in the first five books of the Bible
Christianity	Religion	30 C.E.	Bible	Bethlehem, Vatican City, Jerusalem	Yah’shua (Jesus)	Yahshua, Abraham
Christianity is the religion that is based on the teachings of Jesus Christ and the belief that he was the son of God. Christians number more than 1.7 billion and can be divided among three principal groups: the Roman Catholic church, the Eastern Orthodox churches, and the Protestant churches.
Islam	Religion	650 C.E.	Quran	Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem	Muhammad	Muhammad, Yahshua, Abraham
It is the Muslim religion, based on belief in one God and REVEALED through Muhammad as the Prophet of Allah. The term islam, literally means “surrender”. In Islam Allah is viewed as the sole God – creator, sustainer, and restorer of the world. The most sacred place for Muslims is the Ka’aba, a cube-shaped building in Mecca.
Sikhism	Dharma	1450 C.E.	Guru Granth Sahib	Amritsar	Guru Nanak	Guru Nanak
Sikhism was founded in the late fifteenth century by Guru Nanak. The word sikh is derived from the Pali sikkha or Sanskrit sisya (follower). Historically Sikhism is associated with Punjab, India, a region that connects southern Asia with the Middle East. The Adi Granth is the canonical scripture of the Sikhs.
Bahaism	Religion	1850 C.E.	Qitab I Aqdas	Haifa, Israel	Baha’ullah	Many from many faiths
Bahaism is a religion founded in Iran in the mid-19th century by Mirza Hoseyn ‘Ali Nuri, who is known as Baha` Ullah (Arabic: “Glory of God”). The principal Baha`i doctrines are the essential unity of all religions and the unity of humanity. The Baha`is use a calendar in which the year is divided into 19 months of 19 days each, with the addition of 4 intercalary days (5 in leap years).
Confucianism*	Dharma	550 B.C.E.	Confucian Canon	Nanjing and Wuxi, China	Kung Fu-Tze	Kung Fu-Tze
Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius. It is a complex system of moral, social, political, philosophical, and quasi-religious. It has had tremendous influence on the culture and history of East Asia. It is considered as a state religion of some East Asian countries.
Taoism*	Dharma	640 B.C.E.	Tao te Ching	Jinhua and Guangdong, China	Lao Tze	Lao Tze
Taoism (or Daoism) refers to a variety of related philosophical and religious traditions that have influenced Eastern Asia for more than two millennia. It have had a notable influence on the western world particularly since the 19th century. Taoism has never been a unified religion, but has rather consisted of numerous teachings based on various revelations.
* Though Confucianism and Taoism are not religions; but listed here for informational purposes.

History Made Easy

The policy of Blood and Iron was followed by	Bismark
What is the name given to the army commanded by Garibaldi?	Redshirts
Communist manifesto was written by	Karl Marx
'Das kapital' was written by	Karl Marx
Napoleon was defeated finally in which war?	Waterloo
Mazzini founded a revolutionary society called	Young Italy
Congo was discovered by	Cameroon
The highest stage of capitalism is	Imperialism
Which continent was regarded as 'Dark Continent'?	Africa
Which was the first country to fall prey to the Europeans	India
Who were the first to develop trade with India	Portuguese
Russian parliament is called as	Duma
"War is to a nation what maternity is to women" was the principle advocated by	Mussolini
The author of "Mein Kampf" was	Hitler
Robert Mugabe became the first president of	Zimbabwe
Who was the founder of Nazi Party	Hitler
The founder of Fascist Party was	Mussolini
Excavation work of Indus valley civilization was first carried out by	Sir John Marshall
Temples at Mahabalipuram were built by	Narasimhavarman / Pallavas
The immediate Cause of the sepoy mutiny was the use of	Enfield Rifles
The British who succeeded in abolishing the practice of Sati in India was	William Bentinck
The European country which held monopoly over India trade during 16th century was	Portugal
Ramakrishna mission was founded by	Swami Vivekananda
Red Fort located in Delhi was built by	Shahjahan
Great master of Indian medical science was	Charaka
The 1857 Revolt began at	Meerut
The sculpture that existed during Kanishka's period was called	Gandhara Sculpture / Greco-Buddhist Art
The construction of Qutub Minar was completed by	Iltutmish
Hiuen Tsang, the Chinese pilgrim visited India during the reign of	Harsha
The earliest of the Vedas is	Rigveda
Ajanta caves are near	Aurangabad (Maharashtra)
Brihadeshwara Temple was built at	Tanjavur
The builder of Buland Darwaza was	Akbar
The great astronomer of Ancient India	Varahamihira / Aryabhatta
The philosophy advocated by Shankara-charya is known as	Advaita
Founder of Mughal Empire	Babur
What was a striking example of city culture at Mohenjo Daro?	Great Bath
Who produced Vedic literature	Aryans
Tanjavur Brihadeshwara temple built by	Raja Raja Chola
The biggest Nataraja image in the country is at	Chidambaram
Who laid foundation of Indo-Persian school of painting?	Akbar
Indo-Persian architecture was patronized by	Shahjahan
Who gave patronage to Mughul miniature painting?	Jahangir
Which is regarded as very ancient native Indian language?	Sanskrit
Ganapati festival, Shivaji festival were started by	Bala Gangadhar Tilak
The 1857 revolt was called as	First war of Indian Independence
In Chandragupta Vikramaditya's court there were the poets called	Navaratnas
Whose court was adorned by Ashtadiggajas?	Sri Krishna Devaraya
Who were responsible for the rise of Bakthi movement?	Sufi saints
Ramanuja was a worshipper of Vishnu and preached	Vaishnavism
Who popularized the Advaita philosophy?	Shankaracharya
Who founded the Dvaita philosophy?	Madhvacharya
Who founded the Sikh sect?	Guru Nanak
The slogan "Give me blood, I shall give you freedom given by	Subhash Chandra Bose
Who said "Satyameva Jayathe" (Truth alone will win)?	Madan Mohan Malaviya
Who said "Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it"?	Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Who said -Go back to the Vedas?	Swami Dayanand Saraswati
Who said -Inquilab Zindabad?	Bhagat Singh
Who said 'Do or die'?	Gandhi
The book 'Tughluq Namah' was written by?	Amir Khusrau
The book 'Akbar Namah' was written by?	Abul Fazl
The Rajaraja Temple at Thanjur was built by?	Rajendra Chola 1
Gopuram is an important feature of	Dravidian construction
Tripitakas are sacred books of	Buddhists
The theory of economic drain of India during British imperialism was propounded by	Jawaharlal Nehru
The Vijayanagara ruler, Sri Kirshnadeva Raya's work Amuktamalyada, was in	Telugu
Two of the great Mughals wrote their own memories are	Babur and Jahangir
To which king belongs the Lion capitol at Sarnath?	Ashoka
The language of discourses of Gautama Buddha was	Pali
To whom of the Republic of Buddha belong?	Sakyas
Tipu sultan was the ruler of	Mysore
'The Vedas contain all the truth' was interpreted by	Swami Dayananda
To meet the educational needs of the people, the Madarasa-I Nasiri was built in the regin of	Iltutmish
The Vedic deity Indra was the Goddess of	Rain and Thunder
Pulakesin II was the most famous ruler of	Chalukyas
Under whose leadership was the All India Muslim League set up?	Aga Khan
The Upanishads are	A source of Hindu Philosophy
Who was the first Buddhist pilgrim of China to visit India during the reign of Chandragupta Vikramaditya	Fa-Hien
Who found the Servants of India Society?	Gopala Krishna Gokhale
Who wrote famous epic ‘Shahnama’?	Firdausi
The Salt Satyagraha was held at	Dandi, Gujarat
The leader of the Indian National Army was	Subash Chandra Bose
Minto-Marley reforms were introduced in	1905
Annie Besant belonged to	Ireland
The Home Rule Movement was started by	Annie Besant/Tilak
The leader of moderates was	Gopala Krishna Gokhale
First President of Indian National Congress	W.C. Bonerjee
Muslim league was formed in	1906
Indian National Congress first session was held at	Mumbai
The main objective of the extremist was the attainment of	Swaraj
The partition of Bengal was made in 1905 by	Lord Curzon
Which movement was launched in response to the Partition of Bengal?	Vande Mataram
The hymn of Vande Mataram was written by	Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
Gandhi fought against ____ system at champaran	Tinkathia
Who was responsible for Jallianwala Bagh massacre?	General Dyer
Gandhi took very serious view of the ____ incident and called off the non-cooperation movement	Chauri Chaura
In 1930, the First Round Table Conference held at	London
Gandhi-Irwin pact was signed in	1931
For which award Gandhiji protested against MacDonald	Communal
Gandhi and Ambedkar signed	Poona Pact
Atlee, the Prime Minister of England sent a Cabinet mission to India in	1946
According to ____ plan (1947) the partition of India was happened.	Mountbatten
Who were the first Europeans to come to India and last to leave India?	Portuguese

Indian National Movement Date Wise Snippets

1885	Indian National Congress was formed.
1905	Partition of Bengal by Curzon.
1906	All India Muslim league was formed.
1907	1911 - Annulment of the partition of Bengal.
1911	Champaran movement
1917	Rowlatt Act passed - The act curbed the fundamental rights such as freedom of expression and strengthened the police powers.
1919	Jallianwalabagh Massacre. In protest Tagore renounced his knighthood.
1919	Khilafat movement. Gandhi took it as an opportunity for Muslim-Hindu unity and supported the movement.
1920	Non Cooperation movement. British titles were surrendered. Import of foreign cloth fell drastically between 1920 and 1922.
1920	Gandhi called off the Non Cooperation movement.
1922	Chauri chaura incident - killing 22 policemen.
1922	Simon Commission: the Commission was to recommend further constitutional reforms. It was headed by Sir John Simon. It contained all white members. When the Simon came to Indian he was greeted with black flags as a mark of protest by the Indians with raised slogans stating - "Simon Go Back".
1927	Nehru Report: It demanded responsible government advocated dominion states. It was not for complete independence. It demanded universal suffrage. It rejected separated communal elections.
1928	Irwin Offer: It proposed a vague offer of 'dominion status' for India in an unspecified future and a Round Table Conference to discuss a future constitution after publication of the Simon Report.
1929	Lahore Session of Congress: The president was Jawahar Lal Nehru. It took the decision boycotting Round Table Conference. "Purna Swaraj" was adopted as the main aim of the Congress under the presidentship of J.L.Nehru. It launched a programme of civil disobedience. On Dec 31, 1929, Tricolor was hoisted at the Shore of Ravi.
1930	Civil Disobedience Movement started with the Dandi March on 12th March 1930 to break the salt law under the leadership of Gandhi. 26th January, 1930 - observed as "Independence day" all over the country.
1930	First Round Table Conference: It was the first ever conference arranged between British and Indians as equal. Congress boycotted it. However Motilal Nehru, Liberals and princes attended it.
1931	Second Round Table Conference: Gandhi attended only one round table conference and that is the second roundtable conference.
1931	Gandhi-Irwin pact: It offered that all political prisoners would be released except Bhagat singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev. Right to make salt was accepted. Gandhi agreed to suspend the Civil Disobedience Movement and participate in the second session of Round Table Conference.
1932	Third Round Table Conference: Majority leaders of INC did not participate. The outcome of the conference was published on a "White paper" based on which the British government passed Government of India Act of 1935.
1932	Ramsay MacDonald proposed separate electorate for minority community including Dalits. The proposal was supported by B.R.Ambedkar but it was fully opposed by Gandhi.
1932	Poona Pact: Gandhi felt that separate electorate would disintegrate the society on caste lines and would lead to permanent division in the society. To avoid such a situation Gandhi went on for hunger strike for 21 days in Yerrawada central jail. The issue was finally resolved between B.R.Ambedkar and Gandhi by signing the historic Poona Pact. Gandhi devoted himself to the Harijan Cause, for which he started a newspaper called "Harijan".
1935	Government of India act 1935 prescribed provincial autonomy and the government announced elections to the provincial legislatures in 1937. Congress formed government in 6 out of 11 provinces.
1942	Cripps Missions: The British government wanted India to fully co-operate to it during World War-II and made few proposals to League and Congress and promised them of independence after the war. But the proposals were rejected by both the parties and hence the Cripps Mission was a failure.
1942: Gandhi called for Quit India movement	DO or DIE to fight the British. Communication and symbols of the state authority were attacked all over the country.
1945	Wavell Plan: which suggested that all portfolios except Defence would be held by the Indian members. The Plan also suggested the reconstitution of the Viceroy's Executive Council and the political parties have to nominate few candidates from their party out of whom the viceroy would select candidate of his choice for the Executive Council.
1945	Shimla Conference: To discuss these proposals and for a better future India, Wavell called all the political parties for their opinion to Shimla and this conference is popularly called as Shimla conference. Differences arose between Congress and League about the representation of Muslim community. The conference was a failure.
1946	Cabinet Mission: The mission consisted of Lord Pethick-Lawrence, the Secretary of State for India, Sir Stafford Cripps, President of the Board of Trade and A. V. Alexander, the First Lord of the Admiralty. The mission suggested that India should remain united and constitute itself as a loose federation with some autonomy for Muslim majority areas. Both Congress and League did not agree to specific details of the proposal.
1946	Direct Action Day - Muslim League announced 16th august 1946 as Direct action day. On this day riots broke in Calcutta lasting for several days. By March 1947 violence spread to different parts of northern India.
1947	Indian Independence Act 1947: It was the Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and it received the royal assent on 18 July 1947. According to this act the British India was to be divided into two states namely India and Pakistan.
On 15th August 1947	India became independent.

List of Jain Tirthankaras

Sr. No.	Tirthankar	Symbol	Place of Nirvan
1	Lord Rishabha	Bull	Ashtapad(Kailasha)
2	Ajitnath	Elephant	Samet Sikhar
3	Sambhavanath	Horse	Samet Sikhar
4	Abhinandannath	Monkey	Samet Sikhar
5	Sumatinath	Red Goose	Samet Sikhar
6	Padmaprabha	Lotus	Samet Sikhar
7	Suparshvanath	Swastika	Samet Sikhar
8	Chandraprabha	Moon	Samet Sikhar
9	Pushpadanta	Crocodile	Samet Sikhar
10	Sheetalnath	Kalpavriksha	Samet Sikhar
11	Shreyansanath	Rhinoceros	Samet Sikhar
12	Vasupujya	Female buffalo	Champapuri
13	Vimalnath	Pig	Samet Sikhar
14	Anantnath	Porcupine	Samet Sikhar
15	Dharmanath	Vajra	Samet Sikhar
16	Shantinath	Deer	Samet Sikhar
17	Kunthunath	Goat	Samet Sikhar
18	Aranath	Fish	Samet Sikhar
19	Mallinath	Kalasa	Samet Sikhar
20	Munisuvrata	Tortoise	Samet Sikhar
21	Nami Natha	Blue-Water Lily	Samet Sikhar
22	Neminatha	Conch	Mount Girnar
23	Parshva	Snake	Samet Sikhar
24	Mahavira	Lion	Pava Puri