General Knowledge · Class 11 · History and people
Turning points and leaders
After winning a great war, an emperor felt so sorry about the killing that he changed how he ruled. Who was he?
Small test at the end: scroll down to the end of this page for five short questions that check what you have learnt. Tap an answer, then press Check answer. Go to the questions ↓
Jump to: Read first · Try it away from the screen · Check it yourself · Check yourself · For teachers
Read first
5 facts. The questions below make you use them, not just remember them.
- Emperor Ashoka conquered Kalinga, in today's Odisha, around 261 BCE. Shocked by the deaths, he gave up wars of conquest and spread his idea of dhamma: kindness, tolerance and care for all.
- The Industrial Revolution began in Britain in the late 1700s, when machines and steam power moved work from homes into factories.
- Gandhi's non-violent resistance inspired leaders elsewhere. Martin Luther King Jr. used it in the struggle for civil rights in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s.
- Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison for fighting apartheid, South Africa's system of racial separation. In 1994 he became the country's first Black president.
- The Berlin Wall divided East and West Berlin from 1961. Its fall in 1989 led to the end of the Cold War; the Soviet Union broke up in 1991.
Offline
Try it away from the screen
Interview an elder about one event they lived through that changed life in India or the world. Ask what life was like before and after. Write a short "before and after" note.
Make it on paper. Keep it with you. Nothing to upload.
Check it yourself
Turning points are usually explained in hindsight. Read what people said at the time, in old newspapers or letters, and compare it with how history books describe it later.
Check yourself
Five questions about what this page teaches. Choose an answer and press Check answer, or open "See the answer and why". Nothing is saved or sent: your choices stay on this screen and disappear when you leave or reload the page.
How do you want to answer? You choose, and you can change at any time.
See the answer and why
- A. The war against Alexander, who had invaded from the north-west Not this one. Alexander invaded about 60 years before Ashoka became emperor.
- B. The battle of Plassey Not this one. Plassey was fought in 1757.
- C. The Kalinga war Correct. Yes. The suffering made him turn to dhamma.
- D. The battle of Panipat Not this one. The battles of Panipat were fought many centuries later.
See the answer and why
- A. 3,950 Not this one. That adds the years instead of taking away.
- B. 28 Correct. Yes. 1989 − 1961 = 28 years.
- C. 38 Not this one. Check: 1961 + 38 is 1999.
- D. 18 Not this one. Check: 1961 + 18 is 1979.
See the answer and why
- A. Mahatma Gandhi's Correct. Yes. King visited India in 1959 to learn more about Gandhi's ideas.
- B. Napoleon's Not this one. Napoleon was a military conqueror, not a non-violent leader.
- C. Nelson Mandela's Not this one. Mandela's main struggle came after King's; both were inspired by Gandhi.
- D. Emperor Ashoka's rock inscriptions Not this one. King was inspired by Gandhi's non-violent resistance.
See the answer and why
- A. Slavery in the United States during the 1800s Not this one. American slavery ended in 1865, long before Mandela.
- B. The Berlin Wall Not this one. The Berlin Wall was in Germany.
- C. British rule in India Not this one. That was India's freedom struggle.
- D. Apartheid in South Africa Correct. Yes. Apartheid separated people by race in law.
See the answer and why
- A. India Not this one. India was a great maker of cloth by hand; machine factories began in Britain.
- B. The United States Not this one. It spread to the United States later.
- C. China Not this one. China had many early inventions, but factory industry began in Britain.
- D. Britain Correct. Yes. In the late 1700s.
For teachers and grown-upsWhere the facts come from, and how to use this round.
Sources and notes
- Kalinga war: Ashoka's Major Rock Edict XIII. King visited India in February to March 1959.
- Mandela: imprisoned 1962 to 1990, president 1994 to 1999.