Medieval India: Summary Notes - RajRAS

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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