Medieval India: Summary Notes

A. is for History. A1: Rajasthan History, A2: India History.

Medieval India: AD 750 onwards

Eighth to 10^th Century (Age of three empires in North India)

• Pala –East
• Pratihara – West and Upper Gangetic Valley
• Rashtrakuta – Deccan-  lasted the longest

For a long time, Kanauj was considered the symbol of political unity of India (like Delhi was later)
Palas

• Founder: Gopala
• Gopala – Dharmapala – Devpala
• Dhramapala
  • defeated by Rashtrakuta ruler Dhruva
  • revived Nalanda Univ
  • founded Vikramsila Univ
  • Buddhism developed
• relations with Tibet and SE Asia

Pratiharas

• Founder: Bhoja
• Bhoja – Mahendrapala I – Mahipala
• Bhoja (aka Adivaraha)
  • Capital at Kanauj
• Mahipala
  • Sankrit poet and dramatist Rajashekhar lived at his court
• Hostility with Arab and Sindh

Rashtrakutas

• Founder: Dantidurga
• Dantidurga – – Govinda III – Amoghvarsha (Jain) – – Indra III – Vallabhraja – Krishna III
• Capital: Malkhed near Sholapur
• Amoghvarsha
  • Wrote the first Kannada book on Poetics
  • Capital: Manyakhet
• Indra III – most powerful ruler of his time
• Krishna I built Shiva temple at Ellora
• Apbhransha poet: Svayambhu
• Princess Chandrobalabbe (daughter of Amoghavarsha) administered Raichur

Chola Empire (9^th-12^th Century)

• Founder: Vijayalaya (feudatory of Pallavas)
• Greatest rulers: Rajaraja – Rajendra I
• Capital: Tanjaur
• Built temples: Brihadeshwara temple (Shiva): 1010 AD – Rajaraja
• Rajendra I
  • Gangaikondachola
  • Capital: Gangaikondacholapuram (near Kaveri mouth)
  • Naval expedition against Sri Vijaya empire (Malay peninsula)
• Fought constantly with Chalukyas of Kalyani
• Dravida style of architecture developed (garbhagriha – vimana – mandap)
• Chalukyan style: Hoysalesvara temple (shiva)
• Sculpture: Gomteshwara at Sravana Belgola
• Tirumurai – aka fifth Veda are the collection of writings of Alvar and Nayanar saints
• Age of Kamban – (late 11^th– early 12^th century) – golden period of Tamil Nadu
• Kamban lived at court of Chola king. Wrote Ramayana.
• Kannada: Pampa, Ponna, Ranna – three gems of Kannada poetry
• Naniah – began telugu version of Mahabharata. Completed by Tikkanna.

Trade with west declined but with South-East Asia and China increased.
Feudalism grew

Buddhism

• Declined
• Became indistinguishable from Hinduism
• Because of rise of Mahayana Buddhism
• Palas were patrons but after them it declined

Jainism

• Chalukyas of Gujarat & Paramaras of Malwa patronised.
• Dilwara temples built by Chalukyas
  • Use of marbles. Has 5 temples.
• Ganga rulers of Karnataka
  • Gomteshwar statue built during this time

Bhakti Movement

• Led by Nayanars and Alvar saints in the South
• Originated in Tamil Nadu
• Major saints: Ravidas, Surdas etc

Lingayat Movement

• Aka Vir Shaiva movement
• Founder: Basava and Channabasava
  • Lived at the court of Kalachuri kings of Karnatak
• Worshippers of Shiva
• Established after bitter disputes with Jains

Foreign Invasions

Mahmud of Ghazni

• Hindushahi ruler Jayapala invaded Ghazni with help the son of a former Ghazni governor. He was however defeated.
• In retaliation, Mahmud Ghazni (998-1030 AD) made 17 raids on India
• 1001 AD: Mahmud defeated Jayapala and took him prisoner but released. He committed suicide.
• 1008-09: Battle between Mahmud and Anandpala (Jayapala’s son). Anandapala defeated.
• Reason for subsequent raids: to get funds to continue his struggle in Central Asia
• Important raids
  • 1018: Kanauj
  • 1025: Somnath
• Seljuk empire came into being after Mahmud.

Rajputs

• Major states
  • Gahadavalas – Kanauj
  • Paramara – Malwa [Ujjain. Dhara]
  • Chauhans – Ajmer
  • Kalachuris – Jabalpur
  • Chandella – Bundelkhand
  • Chalukya – Gujarat
  • Tomars – Delhi
• Nagara architecture of temples
• Vastupala : Chalukyan minister built Jain Temples at Mt Abu
• Ujjain and Dhara: Sanskrit learning
• Hemachandra: Jain scholar wrote in Sanskrit and Apabhramsha
• Revival of Sanskrit: used by higher classes again

Mohammad of Ghori

• Shahabuddin Muhammad (aka Muizzuddin Muhammad)
• 1191: First battle of Tarain – Ghazni defeated
• 1192: Second battle of Tarain – Prithviraj defeated.
• Mohammad left: appointed Qutub-i-din Aibek
• 1194: Battle of Chandawar: Muhammad Ghori vs Jaichandra of Kanauj. Jaichander lost.
• Battles of Tarain and Chandawar laid the foundations of the Turkish rule in India.
• Bakhtiyar Khilji: Muhammad’s Governor of Bengal

Delhi Sultanate (1206-1527)

Slave Dyansty

• After death of Muhammad Ghori
  • Yalduz succeeded him at Ghori
  • Qutubbdin Aibek succeeded him at Ghazni (1206-1210)
• Qutubbdin Aibak
  • died after falling from his horse while playing polo
  • two slaves: Iltutmish (son-in-law) and Qubacha
• Iltutmish (1210-36)
  • Real consolidator of Turkish conquests in India
  • Aibak’s slave Qubacha declared independence of Multan
  • Ousted Qubacha from Multan and Uchch
• Razia (1236-39)
  • Defeated her wazir Nizam ul Mulk Junaidi
  • Salve: Yakut Khan
• Balban (1265-86)
  • Aka Ulugh Khan
  • Father in law of the sultan Nasiruddin Mahmud (1246-1266)
  • Authoritarian and despot.
  • Administered justice with impartiality
  • Started sijada and paibos (prostration and kissing monarch’s feet)
  • Bughra Khan was his son who preferred to rule over Bengal

Khalji Dyansty (1290-1320)

• Jalaluddin Khalji (1290-96)
  • Mitigated the harsh aspects of Balban’s rule
  • Said that state should be based on the support of the ruled. Hence cannot be an Islamic state.
• Alauddin Khilji (1296-1316)
  • Revered the liberal policies of Jalaluddin towards Hindus
  • Malik Kafur – general, led campaigns in South India
  • Conquered Gujarat, Rajasthan and Deccan
  • Amir Khusrau was his contemporary
• Alauddin carried out numerous market reforms
  • Fixed the prices of all commodities
  • Setup three markets in Delhi: for foodgrains, costly cloth, horses
  • Each market controlled by an officer called shahna
  • Revenue from Doab region to be paid directly to the state
  • First sultan to pay soldiers in cash
• Military reforms of Alauddin
  • Regular muster of the armed forces
  • Branding of horses (dagh)
  • Descriptive role of soldiers

Tughlaq Dynasty (1320 – 1412)

• Mohammad Bin T (1324-51)
  • Secular
  • Giasuddin T died after the wooden platform broke
  • Transfer of capital: Delhi to Deogir (Daulatabad)
  • Token currency
  • Khurasan project – to invade Af-Iran
  • Qarachil expedition – Kumaon hills to counter Chinese incursion
  • Famine – he left Delhi and lived in a camp called Swargadwari on banks of Ganges near Kanauj
  • Diwan-i-amir-ikohi department <agriculture?>
  • Rebellions during the later part
  • Built road from Peshawar to Sonargaon and also to Daulatabad
• Firuz Tughlaq (1351-88) <longest ruling Delhi sultan>
  • MBT’s rule had left the army and nobles discontented
  • FT adopted policies to appease them
  • Offices and iqta were made hereditary
  • Period of peace
  • Extended the principle of heredity to army as well
  • Imposed jizyah: first ruler to do so
  • Took steps to translate Hindu religious works to Persian
  • Humanitarian measures
  • Set up Public Works department. Canals
  • Built towns: Hissar and Firuzabad
  • Set up a separate department of slaves.
• After Firuz’s death, the empire shrunk to just Delhi (a popular wit reference)
• 1398: Timur’s invasion

Sayyid Dyansty (1414-1451)

Lodi Dynasty (1451-1526)

• Bahlol Lodi – Sikandar Lodi – Ibrahim Lodi

Vijayanagar

• Harihara and Bukka – 1336
• Italian traveller Nicolo Conti visited Vijayanagar in 1420
• After this dynasty ended, Krishna Deva Raya founded the Tuvalu dynasty
• 1565: Battle of Talikota (at Banihatta) aka Battle of Rakshasa Tangadi
  • Vijayanagar vs Deccan Sultans
  • Ended the Vijayanagar empire.

Bahami

• Alauddin Hasan – 1347 (aka Hasan Gangu)
• Bahmani ruler Firuz Shah married the daughter of Vijaynagar king Deva Rai I
• Firuz Shah Bahmani
  • Wanted to make Deccan a cultural centre
  • Inducted Hindus on a large scale
  • Built an observatory near Daulatabad
• Mahmud Gawan was an important prime minister

Gujarat

• Ahmed Shah
  • Imposed jizyah
• Mahmud Begarha

Mughals – Babur & Humayun

• Ibrahim Lodi succeeded Sikandar Lodi in 1517
• Daulat Khan Lodi and Rana Sanga invited Babur to displace Ibrahim Lodi in India
• 1526: Battle of Panipat
• Gunpowder was used in this battle
• 1527: Battle of Khanwa between Rana Sanga and Babur
• Humayun succeeded Babur in 1530
• He built a new city at Delhi: Dinpanah
• Built Purana Qila
• 1539: Battle of Chausa – Sher Shah def Humayun
• 1540: Battle of Kanauj – Sher Shah def Humayun
• 1555: Humayun recovered Delhi
• Died after falling from the first floor of his library

Sher Shah

• 1540: defeated Humayun at Kanauj
• 1544: Sher Shah vs Rajputs at the battle of Samel
• Abbas Khan Sarwani – historian of Sher Shah
• GT Road from Indus to Sonargaon in Bengal
• Built a road from Agra to Jodhpur and Chittor; from Lahore to Multan
• Built sarais
• Dictum of Shaikh Nazami: “If a merchant should die in your country it is a perfidy to lay hands on his property”. Local village headmen and zamindars were made responsible for any loss that the merchant suffered on the roads.
• Currency reforms; weights and measures
• Chehra and dagh system
• Tomb at Sasaram
• Malik Md Jaisi during his time
• Jizyah continued to be implemented.
• Sher Shah was succeeded by his son Islam Shah in 1545

Mughals

Akbar

• Born at Amarkot in 1542
• 1556: Second Battle of Panipat – vs Hemu
• Zabti system of land revenue assessment aka Todar Mal’s bandobast
• Other land revenue systems: dahsala, batai, ghalla-bakhshi, nasaq
• Land
  • Polaj – in cultivation every year
  • Parati (fallow) – uncultivated polaj
  • Chachar – fallow for two to three years
  • Banjar – fallow for more than three years
• Mansabdari system – 1577
• 1576: Battle of Haldighati with Rana Pratap
• Birbal was killed in a battle with Afghans

Jahangir (1605-27)

• Clash between Sikhs and Mughals began with the imprisonment and death of Guru Arjun by Jahangir on a charge of helping rebel prince, Khusrau

Aurganzeb

• Issued Zawabit: secular decrees
• Discontinued the Parsi festival Nauroz
• Discontinued Jharokha Darshan
• Reimposed Jizyah in 1679; suspended it in 1705

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