CONTENTS

1. Humayun’s Tomb World Heritage Site Museum to Open for Visitors
2. Bal Gangadhar Tilak

 Humayun’s Tomb World Heritage Site Museum to Open for Visitors

Context:

The Humayun’s Tomb World Heritage Site Museum is set to open for visitors. Nestled between Sunder Nursery and Humayun’s Tomb in Nizamuddin, Delhi, this museum promises to offer visitors a unique insight into the life and times of the second Mughal Emperor, Humayun. This initiative is expected to enhance the cultural and historical tourism experience in the region, providing a deeper understanding of Mughal history and architecture.

Relevance:

GS I: History

Key Highlights of Humayun’s Tomb Site Museum

 Design and Facilities:

• Architectural Design: The museum is inspired by the traditional baoli (stepwell) architecture, blending seamlessly with the historic ambiance of the site.
• Amenities: It includes a 100-seat auditorium, temporary galleries, cafés, meeting rooms, and a library, offering diverse spaces for learning and engagement.

Artefacts and Exhibits:

• Notable Artefacts:
  • Pear-Shaped Water Vessel: Belonging to Jauhar Aftabchi, a biographer of Humayun.
  • Helmet: Used by Humayun as a cooking vessel during his travels to Persia.
• Coins and Historical Items:
  • Mughal Coins: Includes coins from the reigns of 18 Mughal-era kings.
  • Throne of Bahadur Shah Zafar: The last Mughal emperor’s throne is featured.
  • Akbar Era Coins: Coins with inscriptions of ‘Allah’ on one side and ‘Ram’ on the other.
  • Jahangir Era Coins: Noted for their expense and rarity.
  • Bahadur Shah Zafar Coins: Rare coins minted by the last Mughal emperor.

Focus and Themes:

• Emperor Humayun: The museum highlights the architecture of Humayun’s Mausoleum and aspects of the emperor’s personality, including his travels, administration, interest in reading, astrology, the arts, and architectural patronage.
• Cultural Figures:
  • Sufi Saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya
  • Poet Amir Khusrau Dehalvi
  • Rahim: Commander-in-chief of Akbar’s army and poet.
  • Dara Shukoh: Known for translating the Upanishads into Persian.

Management and Conservation:

• Managed by ASI: The museum is overseen by the Archaeological Survey of India.
• Conservation Effort: It is part of a larger conservation initiative covering the 300-acre Humayun’s Tomb-Sunder Nursery-Nizamuddin Basti area, ensuring the preservation and promotion of the historical and cultural significance of the region.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak

Context:

The Prime Minister has paid tribute to the great Lokmanya Tilak on his Jayanti.

Relevance:

GS I- Modern History

About Bal Gangadhar Tilak:

• Bal Gangadhar Tilak, commonly known as Lokamanya Tilak was a leader of the Indian independence movement and belonged to the extremist faction.
• He was also called the ‘Father of Indian Unrest’.
• Born as Keshav Gangadhar Tilak in 1856 in Ratnagiri, modern-day Maharashtra.

Ideology:

• He was a devout Hindu and used Hindu scriptures to rouse people to fight oppression.
• Stressed on the need for self-rule and believed that without self-rule or swarajya, no progress was possible.
• Slogan: “Swaraj is my birth right and I shall have it!”
• Emphasised the importance of a cultural and religious revival to go with the political movements.
• Popularised the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in the Maharashtra region.
• Propounded the celebration of Shiv Jayanti on the birth anniversary of the monarch Chhatrapati Shivaji.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s Political Life

• Tilak joined the Congress in 1890.
• He was opposed to moderate ways and views and had a more radical and aggressive stance against British rule.
• He was part of the extremist faction of the INC and was a proponent of boycott and Swadeshi movements.
• He was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment on charges of “incitement to murder”.
• He had written that killers of oppressors could not be blamed, quoting the Bhagavad Gita. After this, two British officials were killed by two Indians in retaliation to the ‘tyrannical’ measures taken by the government during the bubonic plague episode in Bombay.
• Along with Bipin Chandra Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai, he was called the ‘Lal-Bal-Pal’ trio of extremist leaders.
• He was tried for sedition several times. He spent 6 years in Mandalay prison from 1908 to 1914 for writing articles defending Prafulla Chaki and Khudiram Bose. They were revolutionaries who had killed two English women, throwing bomb into the carriage carrying the women. Chaki and Bose had mistakenly assumed that Magistrate Douglas Kingsford was in it.
• Tilak re-joined the INC in 1916, after having split earlier.
• He was one of the founders of the All India Home Rule League, along with Annie Besant and G S Khaparde.
• He called for people to be proud of their heritage. He was against the blatant westernisation of society.
• He transformed the simple Ganesh Puja performed at home into a social and public Ganesh festival.
• He used the Ganesh Chaturthi and Shiv Jayanti (birth anniversary of Shivaji) festivals to create unity and a national spirit among the people. Unfortunately, this move alienated non-Hindus from him.

Newspapers: Weeklies Kesari (Marathi) and Mahratta (English)

Books: Gita Rhasya and Arctic Home of the Vedas.

Death: He died on 1st August 1920.