This spectacular mountain pass near Nashik in Maharashtra, has a very peculiar feature seen near it - a large 2000 year old urn that was used to deposit coins. It is this urn that gives the mountain pass its name ‘Nane Ghat’, ‘Nane’ being a reference to coins. (1/6) While popular with mountain trekkers today, this place would have been buzzing with merchants and caravans, two thousand years ago. (2/6)

Lohri is a harvest festival celebrated in the Punjab region. It marks the end of Winter Solstice and people celebrate it by singing folk songs in front of a bonfire. One such song is of Dulha Bhatti, who is considered to be the Robinhood of Punjab. 1/5 This folk hero Dulla Bhatti, was born in Badar village in the 16th century CE. He belonged to the Muslim Rajput Bhatti clan who controlled the Pindi Bhattian town near Lahore. Dulla’s father and grandfather had fought against the Mughals and lost their lives. 2/5

#RajivGandhi began his political career as ‘Mr Clean’ but this image was shattered by the end of his term in office. Allegations of #corruption first surfaced in April 1987, when kickbacks in government deals were linked to Rajiv. 1/9 Problems started when his Finance Minister V P Singh conducted a series of inquiries and raids into alleged #forex violations of industrialists and other prominent people known to Rajiv. Some were his close friends. Rajiv moved Singh to the Defence Ministry. 2/9

Just after his victory in the 1984 elections, #RajivGandhi faced his first big challenge. On 23rd April 1985, the Supreme Court ordered the ex-husband of a Muslim woman from Indore, Shah Bano, to pay her maintenance under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). 1/13 Shah Bano's ex-husband Mohammed Ahmad Khan had argued in the Madhya Pradesh High Court, that under Islamic Law, he had paid his divorced wife three months' maintenance, and he wasn't obliged to pay any more. 2/13
#IndiaAt75

#RajivGandhi was barely 40 when he became Prime Minister of #India. #Politics was not his first choice as a career and yet Rajiv, an airline #pilot, found himself in the hot seat after his mother, Indira Gandhi, was assassinated in October 1984, when she was PM. 1/13
#IndiaAt75 When Rajiv took over, he had a clean personal and political image. He was non-controversial. His initiation to #politics had taken place on the death of his brother Sanjay. In 1981, Rajiv stood for election from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh and won a seat in the Lok Sabha. 2/13

Caste-based #reservations are always a subject of debate but the #quotasystem is much older than most people think. The first reservations on economic grounds were introduced in #India as early as 1902. 1/11 On 26th July 1902, an order was issued by the ruler of the princely state of #Kolhapur. It said that 50% of all vacancies in offices/government jobs will be filled by the #backwardclasses. This order sent shockwaves across British-India. 2/11

Many of us are aware of the many contributions of Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj of #Kolhapur to social reform, including the introduction of #reservation in government jobs for #backwardclasses in 1902. But #DidYouKnow what triggered this drastic step? 1/4 While performing religious rituals in the Panchganga River in October 1899, he noticed that the priests were not chanting mantras from the Vedas, but from the Puranas. The explanation given to him by the palace priests left him aghast! 2/4

It is widely believed that the #MuslimLeague had always wanted to create a nation for #Muslims, and was founded by Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Not true. Jinnah was not its founder, and the League initially had no intention of creating #Pakistan. So what are the facts?
#IndiaAt75 The Muslim League was created in 1906 to empower Muslims in the subcontinent and push a pro-nationalist agenda. Jinnah joined the party in 1913. The idea of Pakistan was first ideated by Muhammad Allama Iqbal, a philosopher-poet and a member of the league, in 1930.

In the early 20th century, India's freedom struggle entered ‘modern India’s first age of fire’, a phase where radical thinkers fuelled a #revolutionary movement against the #British in #India. 1/4
#IndiaAt75 Maharashtra and Bengal became powerhouses of revolutionary activities. As organizations like the Jugantar Party and Anushilan Samiti attracted the educated youth, revolutionaries like the Chapekar brothers and Khudiram Bose became martyrs and an inspiration for many. 2/4

What was Mohandas #Gandhi doing carrying wounded #British soldiers off the battlefield in #SouthAfrica in 1899? Gandhi was merely leading by example, in the ambulance corps he set up to support the British against the Boers in the Second Boer War (1899-1902). 1/12
#war But why would Gandhi support the British, especially since he had experienced the humiliation of racial discrimination in South Africa soon after he got there? It was #OnThisDay in 1893 that Gandhi was thrown off a train for refusing to comply with racial segregation laws. 2/12

The India-Pakistan War of 1971 turned the INS Vikrant into one of India’s shining #war heroes but #didyouknow that this legendary aircraft carrier started life as the HMS Hercules in the Royal Navy? That didn’t stop her from winning glory for the #IndianNavy! 1/10
#navalhistory It seemed as if the Vikrant - India’s first aircraft carrier - would never see action. She was 28 years old when she played a pivotal role in the ‘Bangladesh War’ of 1971; she was in poor shape; and her speed was just 25 kmph, almost half her designed speed. 2/10
#Indianhistory

Many know where Bengal’s bravest son, #SubhasChandraBose - Netaji – lived in #Calcutta, as he famously escaped house arrest from his home at Elgin Road, in 1940. But not many know where Netaji’s ancestral home or ‘Desh-er-bari’ is. 1/10 Now called ‘Subhasgram’ in honour of #Netaji, it is just 25 km south of #Kolkata, in a village formerly known as Kodalia. Simple and elegant, the two-storey homestead is being restored. 2/10
#conservation

“I stopped eating rice the day I learnt how much water it takes to harvest a kilogram of paddy.” Sunderlal Bahuguna thus spoke of #carbonfootprint decades before we even started using the term. He could see a looming #climatecrisis like no one else of his time did. 1/4 Bahuguna was one of India’s early environmentalists. He walked 4,700 km from #Kashmir in the North to Kohima in the North-East to draw attention to the destruction of his Himalayan homeland by mega development projects. 2/4

In the early 20th century, an #Indian Raja could snap his fingers and turn the fate of a #Spanish flamenco dancer into an Indian queen... as did the besotted ruler of the princely state of Kapurthala in #Punjab. A modern retelling of a #Cinderella story set in Spain. 1/11 How exactly did Anita Delgado, a Spanish dancer trying to eke out a living to support her family, become Maharani Prem Kaur? It all began when Maharaja Jagatjit Singh was in #Madrid to attend the wedding of King Alfonso XIII of Spain in 1906. 2/11
#fairytales

Owned by #kings, dukes & sultans, worn by Marie Antoinette, used to pay off a royal debt – and said to carry an ancient curse. It would have to be a #diamond. But not just any diamond. It’s the Hope Diamond, and it's from Guntur in #AndhraPradesh. 1/12 The Hope Diamond is the world’s largest and most legendary blue gemstone. And equally remarkable is its tale, which begins in the famed Golconda Mines in Guntur. But it began life under a different name. 2/12
#gems #minerals

Can a lip-smacking chicken #curry be used as a tool for #revolution? Believe it or not but Rash Behari Bose, an #Indian revolutionary, did just that while on the run in #Tokyo. Bose was born #OnThisDay in 1886. 1/8
#food #cuisine #recipes During the early 20th century, the #British in #India were feeling the heat as there was an upsurge in revolutionary activities during India's #freedomstruggle. A revolutionary from #Bengal, Bose played an important part in the movement. 2/8

On 7th July 1855, a group of Santhal tribals assembled in a field in #Jharkhand and declared themselves free. This act of defiance triggered an armed rebellion. The tremors it created were felt a century later, in a movement that drew the attention of the world. 1/9 The Santhal Revolt of 1855 pitted the Santhal tribes in the forests of #WestBengal, #Bihar, Jharkhand and #Odisha against local zamindars, who were supported by the #British. For the Santhals, it was a fight to retain the right to their lands. 2/9

#DidYouKnow that the modern version of badminton originated in ‘Poona’, or Pune in Maharashtra? It was a pastime for bored British army officers, their families and friends, and was first played in the backyards of their sprawling bungalows. 1/7
#Badminton #sports Invented in the mid-19th century, badminton was named ‘Poona’ after the city of its origin. But its earliest version goes back 2,000 years to a game called jeu de volant, played in #Greece and #China. Here, a shuttle-like object was smacked with the feet. 2/7

#DidYouKnow that the Nassak #Diamond, one of the 20 greatest diamonds in the world, is named after the city of Nashik in Maharashtra? Emerging from the famed Golconda mines, it adorned the crown of Lord Shiva in the Trimbakeshwar #Temple near Nashik. 1/4
#jewellery #minerals As with most of the world’s most valuable #gems, the Nassak too has a dramatic story. It was originally with the #Mughals, who acquired it during their conquest of Golconda in the 17th century. Then they surrendered it as war booty to the #Marathas. 2/4

For over 400 years, history has been haunted by Anarkali, the beautiful court dancer who was buried alive by Emperor Akbar, for her love affair with Prince Salim (Akbar’s son and the future Emperor Jahangir). But is the story fact or #fiction? The truth will surprise you! 1/11 This tragic love story has many modern retellings, including the 1960s classic Hindi film Mughal-e-Azam. But if Anarkali is just #folklore, whose grave lies in the magnificent ‘Tomb of Anarkali’ in the heart of #Lahore, the former Mughal capital? 2/11

What are hundreds of skeletons doing at the bottom of a lake in an icy Himalayan wasteland? When the snow melts, it pulls back a frozen curtain, exposing 600-800 skeletons, some 1,200 years old! What spooky secrets does Roopkund Lake in Uttarakhand hold? 1/5 #Archaeology At an elevation of 5,029 m, Roopkund Lake is very remote. One theory is that these are the remains of a King, his family and attendants, who died here while on a pilgrimage 1,000 years ago. Other theories include fallen soldiers during war and victims of an epidemic. 2/5