Purushottam's Bright Learners Social Science 7

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PREFACE

This Book, the Bright Learners Series: Social Science Book-7 for Class VII has been
written in lucid language, introducing the student to various aspects of social
sciences.

This book will help the students to acquire knowledge about the history of
medieval India till the 18th century, physical geography with special focus on
global climate and environment, and also an introduction to the democratic
system. This book is divided into three broad sections – history, geography and
civics.

In this book, the prescribed syllabus is divided into several Units. Each unit
consists of several chapters. There are some interesting facets of each chapter
that need to be mentioned. The part Do You Know? in every chapter
incorporates some extra interesting information that the students would love to
know. The section named MEMORYZILLA! at the end of the chapters are
arranged with the important facts and points to remember. The Word Bites
section at the end of every chapter briefly explains the noticeable new words
introduced in that chapter. After going through the chapters, Test Yourself
sections are planned to measure how well the concepts have been absorbed &
retained. The images and the maps will help the students to visualize the concept
that they are getting from the theoretical part of every chapter.

In Bright Learners Series: Social Science Book-7 by Purushottam Publishers, all
efforts have been made to reinforce the ideas learnt through the chapters, in a
holistic learning method. We ardently hope, the efforts to introduce this book on
Social Studies in a new way will be very effective and fruitful for classroom
teaching and beyond.

We cordially invite the principals, teachers, students and their parents to keep in
touch with us and the publishers on a regular basis with your valuable
comments, suggestions and requests. You may find our contact details printed in
every book and also available on our website www.purushottam-publishers.com.

- Authors

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Contents

UNIT – 1: HISTORY 5 Chapter 17: The Basis of Survival 159
Chapter 1: The study of History 168
Chapter 2: Kingdoms and Kings 5 Chapter 18: Natural Vegetation
Chapter 3: The Sultanate of Delhi 15 and Wildlife 180
Chapter 4: The Mughal Empire
26 Chapter 19: Settlement, Transportation,
Communication and the

37 Movement of People

Chapter 5: The Administration of the Chapter 20: Ecology of Tropical and 193
Mughals 48 Subtropical Regions

Chapter 6: The History of Architecture 56 Chapter 21: Temperate Grasslands
Chapter 7: Town, Traders and Craftsmen
Chapter 8: Social Change 67 Biome: Location, Plants, 201
Chapter 9: Religious Beliefs Animals, Soil 208
Chapter 10: Regional Cultures 217
77 Chapter 22: Diversity in the Deserts 217

85 UNIT – 3: SOCIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE

93 Chapter 23: Democracy and Equality

Chapter 11: New Political Formations Chapter 24: State Government: 222
in the Eighteenth Century 105 The Legislature

UNIT – 2: GEOGRAPHY 116 Chapter 25: State Government: 227
Chapter 12: The World Around Us 116 The Executive

Chapter 13: Under the Earth’s Surface 124 Chapter 26: Role of State Government 231

Chapter 14: The Changing Chapter 27: Markets Near Us 236
Surface of the Earth 132 Chapter 28: Advertising 242
143 Chapter 29: Media and Democracy 247
Chapter 15: Our Atmosphere 148 Chapter 30: Gender Issues 252

Chapter 16: Weather and Climate

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UNIT 1: History

In order to embark on a new journey to start something new we have to plan
something of our own. This planning needs the guidance of someone who holds
a good relation with you or who can guide in your tough times. It may be any
friends, relatives, parents or teachers too. And the most important thing is that
there will be proper time schedule to start or to end the work or things. Similarly
in studying history or to know when, where or how according to the periods we
need to divide the time. This time limit has changed the history of the whole
world. A time line has been made for you to see the events very quickly and
easily.

Ancient PERIODISATION Modern
Early Medieval Period Later Medieval Period

600 1200 1700

TIMELINE

PERIODISATION IN HISTORY

The entire history is divided into three periods:





The time span shows that the event of political, economical and social highlights
has happened in a particular period of time. This is called periodisation.

The general rulers have ruled according to rajya dharma and followed the advice
of ministers. Apart from that, the recruited soldiers had been raised by the rulers

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for permanent army and they got the salary in hand. The medieval periods have
begun in the 8th century and ended in the 18th century. It has covered 1100 years
in Indian history. During this age, the administration and the political system are
divided into changes of two types:

i) The salaries are paid by land grants to the administrative and army officers.
This meant that the king who had the ownership of the piece of land lost his
various claims. The revenue yielded went to the person who had given the
land, and not to the king.

ii) For the victory in the war the king’s subordinate chiefs played an important
role, as they showed their loyalty by paying taxes or tributes. They are also
called feudatory chiefs or samantas who rebelled against the king to establish
their standing and grew very powerful (Samantas emerged during the Gupta
Rule for the first time in the ancient time). The period from the 18th century
is called the Modern Period in India. In this century the Indian political life has
changed because of the trading and commercial rivalry between the
European trading countries on the use of the Indian Ocean.

MEDIEVAL PERIOD IN INDIA

Persian wheel New technologies came into existence in this
period which shows a large variety of
developments such as fire arms in combat,
Persian wheel in irrigation and the spinning
wheel in weaving. This was a period of
social, cultural, political and economic
change. The people who had come from
outside introduced new beverages, foods and
new ideas with them.

In this period the king and other rich people dedicated and constructed temples
for the new deities. The importance of Priest (Brahmins) had increased especially
in South India, which was the increasing demand of the society. Thus the
important changes occurred in Hindu religion (Hinduism).

In the seventh century, the teaching of Holy Quran came into existence through
traders and merchants in India which was called a new religion, Islam. This
religion brought many changes to the Indian society.

It is important to be a tolerant to the Hindu subjects of whom the Muslim ruler
had conquered for political priority. The situations in both the Hindu and the

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Muslim societies gave rise to the
Sufism and Bhakti Movement. The
movements established devotion to
God as the basis of the religion.

The Medieval period can be divided

under three categories:

i) The Mughal Rule (16th to early 18th

century) The Krishna temple at Hampi
ii) The Delhi Sultanate (12th to early

16th century)

iii) The rise of new political and social group (At the beginning of the 8th century)

Our country, India was known by many names in the past history. The historians
in the medieval period, who gave their first-hand account to the society of India,
termed India as Hindustan. As in modern India, the reference Hindu did not
mean the identity of the person in medieval period. In the old Persian texts, the
region East of the river Indus (also called Sindhu) is referred by the term Hindu.

The Arabs also used the same convention and called the region as al-Hind and its
people as Hindi. Later on, the people living in East of river Indus were referred to
as Hindu, their language as Hindavi and their land as Hindustan by Turks.

In the thirteenth century, a chronicler Minhaj-us-Siraj who wrote in
Persian denotes the lands of the Ganga, Yamuna, the areas of
Haryana and Punjab by the term “Hindustan”. The term
“Hindustan” did not carry the political and national meanings
which we associate with it today.

Amir Khusrau, well known poet of the 14th century who was a great historian,
used the term Hind for his verses and text. It is clear that he did not use the term
Hindustan to denote our country as we know it today, but rather as a cultural
and geographical identity of the sub-continent. Interestingly, in his description of
Hindustan, South India was never mentioned.

When Babur attacked India in 1526 A.D, he also used the term ‘Hindustan’ to
describe the geography and natural vegetation of the subcontinent.

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The medieval period story was reconstructed with the help of large body of
written records, including official documents and firmans, chronicles of court
historians, other literary works as well as various archaeological sources like
coins, monuments and inscriptions. To understand the geographical notions of
the medieval travellers as well as the sea and the land routes known to them,
cartography has also been utilised.

The art or technique of making charts or maps is referred as cartography. In the
12th century the famous Arab cartographer and geographer Al-Idrisi produced
the earliest maps relevant for medieval Indian history. According to Al-Idrisi’s
map, Sri Lanka was the island at the top and South India was the place where we
can today expect to find North India. Some well known places like Kanauj in Uttar
Pradesh were clearly marked.

In 1720s, another sketch shows the map of Indian subcontinent in modern
context which was made by a French cartographer with the coastal areas very
well defined as compared to the interiors.
Although the two maps of India show the same geographical region they had a
lot of difference between them during the medieval period. The modern
historians have to be sensitive about the past information related to the different
historical backgrounds and so they read such maps as text and documents from
the past.

A written record of events in the order of their happenings is called a chronicle.
Like a chronicle, the travelogues were also written. In the 11th century Tarikh-i-
Hind was written by a famous Arab traveller Al-Beruni. For the study of the

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World Map Drawn by Al-ldrisi

medieval Indian history, good examples of reliable
chronicles are Minhaj’s chronicle and Ziauddin Barani’s
Tarikh-i-firozshahi, etc. The authors of the Mughal
chronicles were always courtiers and while writing they
focused on the events centred on the court, nobles, ruler,
family, war and administrative arrangements. For
example, Alamgirnama, Shahjahannama and Akbarnama
are respectively the stories of Alamgir (a title of the
The Akbarnama of Abu-l-Fazl Mughal ruler Aurangzeb), Shah Jahan and Akbar.

The European travellers like Marco Polo who had
come from Italy, Sir Thomas Roe and William Hawkins
who had come from England and Bernier who had
come from France wrote valuable accounts of the
reigns of Medieval Indian rulers.

Marco Polo

A royal order is called a firman. It is a message for a concerned person or general
people or office or can be an official letter of information. It also provided
information for the medieval India historians’ writings. The state maintained
some diplomatic relationship with the kings of distant kingdoms and other
countries during the Mughal and the Sultanate Period. All the important details
of the foreign policy of the concerned rulers were found in official letters.

During this period a number of literary works were also written which improves
our knowledge regarding this period. In the early medieval period most of the

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rulers of the new kingdoms had talented people from all fields in the court like
the Rajputs, patronised scholars, philosophers, musicians and poets. For
example, Chandbardai wrote Prithviraj Raso to praise Prithviraj’s exploit. Sangit
Ratnakar was written by Sharangadeva. Bhavabhuti who was ranked next only
to Kalidas in poetic excellence wrote Maltimadhava. Adi Shankaracharya’s work
was the most original work in philosophy. Bhaskaracharya, a famous astronomer
wrote Siddhartha Shiromani and Vagabhatta, a famous physician, wrote
Ashtanga-Sangraha.

During the Sultanate and the Mughal Period a large number of secular works
were also written. They give us the information about the social norms,
economic practices and cultural achievements of the people during this period.

In earlier classes, you have studied that the archaeological sources include
material remains like the coins issued during various period, monuments and
buildings which carry a lot of details about the period of rule of a particular ruler,
the type of metal used for minting the coins, the ruler’s image in several cases
etc. Most of the dynasties of the medieval period had rulers who were great
builders. They constructed tombs, mosques, temples, forts, palaces and even
astronomical observatories like Jantar Mantars in Delhi and Jaipur. The first
Delhi Sultan, Qutubuddin Aibak constructed Qutub Minar. A number of
magnificent buildings were constructed and the emergence of Indo-Islamic
architecture was marked from that time.

The examples of great Mughal style of architecture are the Taj Mahal at Agra,
The Jama Masjid and The Red Fort in Delhi. The structures and the palaces during
the Sultanate Period also show the unique architectural achievements. During
the rule of Cholas, the temple architecture developed and was a marvel in itself.
The inscriptions of the Hindu rulers of Orissa, Deccan and South India are usually
found on the temple walls. The copper plate recording in the grant of gifts and

Cholas Inscription Medieval Coins

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land gives valuable information about the concerned regions. Bhoja-I showed
the detailed account of the achievements of kings before him through the
inscriptions made in Gwalior.

FEUDAL AGE

Between the fifth and the fifteenth centuries, the Medieval Period in European
history is called the Feudal Age, because of certain characteristics. The king
awarded land grants or fiefs to his nobles called Dukes which was the most
striking feature of Feudalism in Europe. Each Duke granted some land to the
Barons and the Barons to the Knights. All these three categories of feudal lords
promised to pay a share of their revenue to the king as well as their military
services at the times of war and also took an oath of loyalty to the king. The lords
functioned as the lord of Manor (his palace) and allowed the peasants to
cultivate the lands in return for services and taxes in their estate.

The Feudal system

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 The study of history is divided into three periods: i.

Ancient Period ii. Medieval Period iii. Modern Period

 The medieval period in India had begun in the 8th
century.

 The medieval period can be studied under three heads in
India:

a. The Delhi Sultanate (12th to early 16th century)

b. The Mughal Rule (16th to early 18th century)

c. The rise of new social and political groups (beginning in the
18th century)

 The term “Hindu” in the old Persian text refers to the
eastern region of the river Indus (Sindhu). The people living
there are referred as “Hindu” by the Turks, their language as
“Hindavi” and their land as “Hindustan”.

 For the study of history the archaeological sources include
material remains like coin, inscriptions, buildings and
monuments.

 The division of the past happenings into specific
period.

 An extended account in prose or verse of historical
events, presented in a date wise sequence.

 The study of charts and maps.

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A. Tick the correct answer:

1. In which language did Minhaj write his chronicle on the 14th century India?

a) Urdu b) Persian c) Arab d) Hindavi

2. The medieval period in History is said to have begun in the ______________

a) 10th century b) 8th century c) 7th century d) 9th century

3. When did the medieval period come to an end?

a) 19th century b) 18th century c) 17th century d) 16th century

4. Al-Idrisi was a

a) doctor b) scientist c) cartographer d) poet

5. Why do we divide the study of history into smaller periods?

a) The historians have developed this method.

b) It is the tradition.

c) It is done to distinguish between the Hindu and Muslim rulers.

d) It helps us to get a clearer picture of historical developments over a long
period.

B. Fill in the blanks:

1. ____________ is a written record of events in the order they happened.

2. ____________ was the court poet of Prithivaraj Chauhan who wrote on the
achievements of his patron.

3. ____________ monuments of the Mughal Period are astronomical
observatories.

4. Medieval Period in India was a period of economic, political, cultural and
social ____________.

5. The construction of Qutub Minar was begun in Delhi by the first Delhi Sultan
_____________.

C. Explain the following in brief:

1. Feudal system in Europe, 2. Cartography, 3. Firmans, 4. Hindustan

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D. Give any two examples for each of the following:

1. Chronicles 2. Turkish buildings

3. Inscriptions of medieval times in India 4. Secular literature on science

E. Answer the following questions in detail:

1. Describe with examples the literary sources for the study of the medieval
India.

2. Write two main characteristics of the medieval period of Indian history.

3. Explain the importance of cartography as an important source of medieval
Indian history.

4. State and describe briefly the three phases of the medieval Indian history.

5. What is meant by ’periodisation’ in history? Why is it done?

F. Long answer type question:

1. On an outline map of India, mark the River Indus and its tributaries and also
mark the area roughly understood as Hindustan in the early medieval Muslim
chroniclers. On another map, show the territories understood to be within
India at the time of the Mughal conquest of India.

2. Visit any famous monument in Delhi/in your city. Collect the following details
about the monument:

a) Who built it?

b) When was it built?

c) Why was it built?

d) What materials were used for its construction?

e) Whether there is any inscription/art work found in the monument?

f) The geographical location of the place.

3. What are the various sources of medieval period history?

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Time line Showing tripartite struggle in New India, Rise of Rajputs, Ghazni’s
Invasion, Battle of Tarain and Establishment of Turkish rule.

700 800 900 1000 1100 1206
TIMELINE

OUTLINE OF THE POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS c. 700-1200

A number of small kingdoms came into existence after the death of
Harshavardhan in 647 AD in North India. These were governed by warriors’ chiefs
(samantas) or by the rulers who were the big landlords. They had fought the wars
against the kings’ enemies in the past. Then they claimed for the political
authority in the bigger areas and grew very powerful.

Other groups, such as Kayasthas (a caste of secretaries and scribes), Sikhs,
Marathas, Jats and Ahoms also used the chances of the age to become politically
vital in specific areas.

TRIPARTITE STRUGGLE

This period was pointed by a long Tripartite struggle (involving three parties)
among three important and major kingdoms - the Gurjara-Pratiharas in Gujarat
and Rajasthan in the western India, Palas in the Bengal and the Rashtrakutas
based in the Deccan.

Since the wars which they fought with each other for the next 200 years
weakened all the three and they became equally matched. The urge to break free
from them, gave a chance to the other samantas.

The main reasons of the wars among the three were as follows:

i) The three dynasties tried to control the Harsha’s capital city called Kanauj.
Kanauj was situated near the banks of River Ganga, ideal to provide it with
good communication links with the respective strategic military security of
the hills and territories. It had a prosperous agricultural population for paying
the taxes to the state and was a flourishing trade centre.

ii) All these three kingdoms’ underlying motivation was to increase fame and
prestige by defeating the other powers.

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iii) The Rashtrakutas and the Pratiharas also tried to control Gujarat and Malwa,
for their strategic and commercial location on the coast, which is significant
for getting the benefits of the external trade.

These kingdoms declined by the 10th century. The Palas were overthrown by the
Senas, the Rastrakutas by the later Chalukyas and the Gurjara-Pratiharas by the
new Pratiharas.

Map of India during the c.750-900 (The Kanauj triangle) showing
Rasrakutas, Palas and Gujaras-Pratiharaas

THE RAJPUTS

According to the literature developed by the poets, during the 9th and 10th
century the rules called themselves the Rajputs or the Rajputras in the several
kingdoms of the western and the Central India. They claimed that they were the
descent from Moon and the Sun.
These rulers were the descendants of the tribes like Huns, Shakas and Kushanas
who came from the Gurjaras and Gonds which were Indian forest tribes from
north western regions outside India. They adopted lofty ancestry like
Chrandravanshi and Suryavanshi were assimilated in the Indian Varna system
as Kshatriyas as they were conquerors and warriors. The Rajput status was first

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acquired by the Pratiharas. Some claimed that they were descent from the
agnikula: the family started by the mythical figure that arose from the fire-pit of
the sacrifice from Rajasthan, near Mt. Abu. There were four most important
kingdoms present:

i) The Solankis of Kathiawar and Gujarat.
ii) The Chandellas of the Buldelkhand.
iii) The Chauhans who had their centre at south east of Delhi, Shakambhari.
iv) The Paramaras who established their control in Malwa with their capital near

Indore at Dhar.

The other important Rajput families or clans, who were tracing their descent
from the lunar or solar lines, were Tomar of Delhi, the Kalachuris of Tripuri near
Jabalpur, and Gahadawalas of Kanauj and Guhilas of Mewar. Apart from the
rulers and the chieftains, the Rajputs were the soldiers and the commanders who
were serving the armies of different monarchs all over the subcontinent. A great
sense of loyalty and a chivalric code of conduct were the qualities which were
attributed by the then poets to the Rajputs. Thus the political condition during
the early medieval period was not very stable in North India. The Rajput chiefs
and Hindus, full of individual valour and big egos, spread over a large area of land
could never attain stable sovereignty. During this period one major factor that
got neglected was the vigil on the North West frontier borders by the governors
and the Indian rulers. As a result, there was insecurity in the northwest passes
which drew the Turkish and Arab invaders with increased frequency.

THE MUSLIM INVASION OF INDIA

Sind was the first state to become the target of the Muslim invasion in the Indian
subcontinent. In the 7th century AD in Arabia the new religion Islam had
emerged. The teachings of Islam by Prophet Muhammad united the warring Arab
tribes into military whole and one religion. Islam spread very fast in all the
directions. The Arabs soon conquered Afghanistan and Persia towards the east of
Mediterranean.

The successors of the prophet assumed the title of Khalifa or Caliph and became
political and religious heads of Islamic empire in the world one after another.

In the 712 AD because of certain circumstances created by the pirates of Sind of
Thatta region, the Indian province of Sind was attacked by Muhammad–bin-
Qasim, who was one of the capable Arab general of Ummaiyad Caliph. The

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pirates had the treasures looted, which were meant for the Caliph. Dahir the
ruler of the Sind was the responsible person and hence there was an attack of
the Arab’s. The Arab General, Muhammad–bin-Qasim defeated Dahir who was
brave person. In 713 AD Multan was also captured. After Multan, the Arabs could
not penetrate further in India. The strong reasons were the death of Muhammad
-bin-Qasim whose successors were not capable and the strong resistance put up
by the Rajput rulers of Rajasthan, Malwa and Gujarat.

At Ghazni, located in the heart of the Afghan mountains was the dynasty
Ghaznavid which was founded by a slave soldier Alptigin. His son-in-law and
successor, Sabuktgin extended his rule over part of Khorasan and Peshawar. To
capture India’s fabled wealth, he was the first Muslim ruler
to invade Kabul (India). Mahmud, the son of Sabuktgin
ruled Ghazni for more than 37 years invaded India several
times solely to plunder its wealth. His object was to acquire
huge wealth so that he could consolidate his kingdom and
authority and extend it. He was a practical imperialist and
was also a deeply religious man. He received the investiture Mahmud of Ghazni
from Caliph recognizing his power over the region in 997 AD. To his plundering
raids in India, the investiture provided the spiritual sanction. From 1001 to 1026
AD he invaded India practically every year and had not lost a single battle. The
major temples of India which held untold wealth from various grants made to
them by the powerful rulers and religious people was attacked by him. He
destroyed the temples, collected the booty and earned the loyalty of Muslim
soldiers whose lives were dictated by the tenets of Islam. He transformed his
capital into a centre of architectural excellence and strengthened his military
control over Ghazni, on the strength of the wealth.

To create a splendid capital city at Ghazni, Mahmud used to carry
much of the wealth. To write an account of the Indian
subcontinent they also entrusted a scholar named Al-Beruni who
wrote Kitab-al-Hind which remains an important source for the
modern historians and was an Arabic work or masterpiece.

Due to the lack of capable successors the empire broke up after the death of

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Mahmud of Ghazni. The kingdom of Ghur was included along with the
independent kingdoms which emerged at that area. Muhammad Ghori and
Ghiasuddin were the two brothers, under whose joint control; it rose as a
powerful entity. Including Kabul and its dependent principalities, the younger
one, Muhammad Ghori was given the control of Ghazni. He captured great
wealth in India and he was inspired by the legends of Mahmud’s glorious
victories who was equally ambitious and capable military general. He wanted to
establish Islam securely in India and he was also an orthodox Sunni Muslim. He
wanted to teach a lesson to Khusro Malik who was continuously resisting him,

ravaged Lahore in Punjab, annexed Peshawar captured and
attacked the old Muslim colonies of Multan and Sind between
1175-79 AD. Muhammad Ghori, besieged the fort in Sirhind in
the year 1189 AD. He pitted Prithviraj Chauhan who was the
Rajput ruler who ruled from Ajmer to Delhi territory. Ghori’s
most formidable enemy was the ruler Chauhan. Ghori had
tried and failed against the Anhilwara Rajput called Bheema in
Prithviraj Chauhan the early 1178 AD.

The first battle of Tarain was between the
Prithviraj and the armies of Muhammad Ghori. Muhammad Ghori was
interested in the Rajput valour. He was badly injured and his powerful army was
routed.

After careful preparation of the army
Muhammad Ghori organised his army again in the next year on new lines and
attacked Chauhan. Muhammad Ghori applied the shock tactics and surrounded
Prithviraj Chauhan’s army from all sides and shattered his resistance. Thus
Chauhan was captured and killed.

Prithviraj’s court poet, Chandbardai in his book called Prithviraj Raso had
described about the adventurous and romantic marriage with Sanjukta,
Jaichand’s daughter as well as his heroic and bravery in the wars. There
are interesting folklores concerning Prithviraj.

The Gahadawala ruler of Kanauj, Jaichand who had chosen to remain out of
Prithviraj, the Rajput confederacy, was defeated by Muhammad in the year 1194
AD. The next year Gwalior and Bayana were also captured. Bakhtiyar Khilji and
Qutubuddin Aibak, the two slave generals of Muhammad Ghori completed the
Indian conquests of Muhammad by reaching the states up to Bengal and Bihar.
Leaving his Indian kingdom in the hands of Qutubuddin Aibak, Muhammad was

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killed in 1205 AD while suppressing the revolt of Khokhars of Punjab. In the year
1206 AD Aibak founded the Delhi Sultanate, and his victories in India laid down
the foundation of Muslim rule in India. The Delhi Sultans started wielding control
of the politics over the Deccan and also the extreme south where they eyed the
territories by the 14th century.

From the 8th century onwards, use of iron stirrups in the cavalry had spread in
India. If the Rajputs had the war Elephants, the Turks had swift cavalry. The
Rajputs and the Turks were equally matched in the content of military prowess
and their war weapons. The Rajputs were defeated by Muhammad Ghori due to
his better military organisation and because the standing army was directly
under his control and also due to the political and social weakness of the Rajputs.

A CASE STUDY: CHOLA EMPIRE IN THE SOUTH (9TH -12TH CENTURY)

In 850 AD. the founder of Chola Dynasty rose to prominence, Vijayalaya of
Uraayur defeated Pallavas and snatched Tanjore from them. The capital of Chola
was Tanjore. Bringing the southern Tamil country under their control, the Cholas
defeated Pandyas too by the end of the 9th century. The King Krishna-III of the
Rashtrakutas annexed the northern part of Chola Empire and defeated the
Cholas. The Cholas had to defend their position against him. For the Cholas this
was the serious setback, but they recovered rapidly after the death of Krishna III
and the decline of Rashtrakuta Empire in the year 965 AD.

Rajaraja-I or Rajaraja the Great and Rajendra-I were the important Chola

rulers. Rajaraja invaded Lanka and

conquered its northern portion. He

defeated the Gangas of Mysore, the

Pandyas of Madurai and the Chalukyas of

Vengi. Like his father, Rajendra Chola was

also an able administrator and a warrior. He

captured some areas of the Ganga region

and went up to Bengal. This occasion was

commemorate by building a city called

Gangaikondacholapuram meaning ‘the

Image of South India 700-1200A.D city of the Chola, conqueror of the Ganga’,

which was situated on the bank of river Kaveri. This became the new capital of

Chola and he assumed the title of Gangaikondachola. For the next 50 years Sri

Lanka remained under Chola rule as he defeated the King and Queen of Lanka in

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battle and completed the conquest of Sri Lanka. The conquest of Andaman and
Nicobar Islands was the greatest achievement made by him. Sumatra, the
Maldives islands and other places were also subjugated. For imperial gratification
and to bring trade with Southeast Asia under their control these rulers followed
this aggressive policy. The main reason for their success was the strong navy that
the Cholas developed. It was very clear about the Chola’s endeavour to expand
trade and agriculture which were the connections between economic and
political processes. The empire started to decline after the death of Rajendra-I as
his successors were very weak.

The Cholas extended their influence to overseas in Southeast Asia and China as
they were excelled in maritime and foreign trade activities. They had worked
hard for securing both east and west coast of Peninsular India to extend
commercial and military influence over these regions through trade connectivity.
The main trading partners were the Abbasid Caliphate at Baghdad, the Tang
Dynasty of China and the Srivijaya Empire in the Malaya Peninsula under the
Sailendras. The major port towns of the Cholas were Nagapattinam and
Kaveripattinam near the coast of Kaveri Delta. These were the two towns
which became the hubs of commerce and trade and taking Buddhism into
consideration, they attracted people of many religious faiths. For the South
Indian traders the China emerged as the new destination with the decline of the
Roman Empire.

When a serious attempt was made to face and solve the problems of public
administration, the whole of the South India was brought under a single
government for the first time in the age of Chola. Gangaikondacholapuram and
later Thanjavur were the imperial capitals at that time. Both Madurai and
Kanchipuram occasionally held and court were considered regional capitals.

Gramam or every village had a self governing unit and was administered by an
assembly. A few villages were administered by the Mahasabha and sometimes
grouped together. The assemblies were supervised by royal officials and enjoyed
full power and looked after the interest of the cultivators and others. By clearing
the forests new land was brought under cultivation. To avoid harassment by the
provincial officials these assemblies collected the customary dues and the other
revenues to the government. The assemblies also settled minor disputes.
Punishments were given in a direction of the offender to donate something to

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the charitable endowment to the organisation or so, or in the form of fines for
the minor crimes. There were fines and punishment even for murder or
manslaughter.

The king had all the authorities in his hands as he was the supreme commander
and a benevolent ruler. There was a council of ministers to give advice on
important issues. The Cholas had its three limbs of the army namely cavalry, a
huge army of elephants and infantry. In addition to this, they had a strong navy
to dominate the western and eastern coast of South India and for some time the
entire part of Bay of Bengal also. In executing king’s order and in the task of
administration the king was assisted by a powerful bureaucracy.

The charge of the Mandalams was given to the members of the royal family.
Generally Mandalams were a division of the whole empire into number of
provinces.

It was again divided into Kottam or Valanadu which were further divided into
nadus and each one comprised of group of villages.

For irrigation purpose the Chola rulers had constructed many tanks for the
peasants. For this purpose the river Kaveri and its channels were used. By
clearing the forests efforts were made for the expansion of cultivation. In order
to fix the government share of land revenue elaborate survey of land was taken
by the Chola rulers.

The Cholas endowed and built the temples with great wealth. Benefiting the
entire community, the temples acted as a centre of economic activity and also as
a place of worship. These served as the centre of craft production like stone and
bronze sculpture, stone cutting and carving etc. The people who provided their
services for the religious activities such as cooks, musicians, garland makers and
the priests etc. or the people who worked in the temples were often fed by the
lands of the temples where crops used to grow. These lands which were donated
by the wealthy merchants and the rulers were cultivated by the farmers who
were attached with them. The details of the achievements of these rulers were
often inscribed on the walls of the temples. This is one of the reasons why we
know more about Cholas than the Dynasties that had come before.

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The rival kings such as Pandyas and the Chalukyas, the copper plate grants and a
large number of stone inscriptions by the Cholas themselves have been
instrumental in constructing the history of Cholas. The presence of high level of
education and literacy in the society was indicated by the quality of the
inscriptions of the regime. The text inscriptions were engraved by the talented
artisans and were written by the courts’ poet. It is also learn that to look after
the gardens, temples, irrigation works etc. there were separate committees.

Inscriptions from Uttaramerur

Sr. TimeLine I Medieval Cholas
No.
Vijayalaya Chola
1. 848-871 AD Aditya I
Parantaka Chola I
2. 871-907 AD Gandaraditya
Arinjaya Chola
3. 907-950 AD Sundara Chola
Uttama Chola
4. 950-957 AD Rajaraja Chola I
Rajendra Chola I
5. 956-957 AD Rajadhiraja Chola
Rajendra Chola II
6. 957-970 AD Virarajendra Chola
Later Cholas
7. 970-985 AD

8. 985-1014 AD

9. 1014-1044 AD

10. 1018-1054 AD

11. 1054-1063 AD

12. 1063-1070 AD

13. 1070-1279 AD

Sr. Important Dates 8th - Events
No. 13th Century

1. 8th century AD Beginning of the Medieval Period in India

2. 8th - 10th century AD Tripartite Struggle among the Pratiharas,
Palas and Rashtrakutas

3. 712 AD Arab Conquest of Sind

4. 1001-1026 AD Invasions of Mahmud of Ghazni

5. 1191, 1192 AD Battles of Tarain
6. 1206 AD
Establishment of Delhi Sultanate in North
India

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 Triangular
 Subordinate chiefs
 Official recognition
 A country ruled by a prince

 The three major Kingdoms the Gurjara-Pratiharas in
Gujarat and Rajasthan in the western India, the Palas in
eastern India and the Rashtrakutas based in the Deccan
was marked by a prolonged tripartite struggle in this
period.

 For more than 37 years, Mahmud of Ghazni invaded India
several times solely to plunder its wealth.

 Between the year 1175-79 AD, Muhammad Ghori attacked
and captured the North West Indian provinces for
establishing his political rule and to establish Islamic Religion
there.

 Muhammad Ghori defeated the Rajput confederacy led by
Prithviraj Chauhan in the second battle of Tarrain, but was
killed in Punjab by the rebels. His territories passed under
the control of Qutubuddin Aibak, his brave general who
founded the Delhi Sultanate in India.

 The Chola Dynasty rose to prominence when in 850 AD it
was founded by Vijayalaya of Urayur. The most important
Chola rulers were Rajaraja-I or Rajaraja the Great and
Rajendra-I.

TEST YOURSELF

A. Tick the correct answer:
1. The Chola Empire was divided into a number of provinces called

a. mandalams b. sarkars c. valanadu d. districts
2. All the three dynasties competed with each other for the control of Harsha’s

capital city

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a. Kanauj b. Pataliputra c. Tanjore d. Malwa
3. The insecurity of the North-western passes drew the Arab and __________

invaders into India
a. Kushana b. Mongol c. Turks d. Saka
4. The River Kaveri and its channels were used by the Cholas for
a. irrigation b. boat races c. communication d. water resorts
B. Fill in the blanks:
1. The new kingdoms were mostly being governed by the rulers who had earlier
been _________________.
2. Every Chola __________________was a self-governing unit.
3. The new religion of _________________emerged in Arabia.
4. The ________________were the first to acquire the Rajput status.
C. Give any two examples for each of the following:
1. North and South Indian States in the period 800-1200 AD.
2. Chola temples.
3. Inscriptions of the mentioned period.
D. Answer the following questions in brief:
1. What was the role of the sabha in the Chola Empire?
2. What kind of irrigation works were developed in the Tamil region?
3. What were the activities associated with the Chola temples?
4. What is meant by “Tripartite struggle”?
5. What did the new Dynasties do to gain acceptance?
6. What was the causes of Defeat of Rajput?
E. Answer the following in detail:
1. Discuss the main features of the Chola administration.
2. Describe the causes and the effects of the battles of Tarain.
3. Explain the nature of Mahmud of Ghazni’s invasion in India.
F. Long answer type questions:
1. On a political map of India, mark the locations of the following: Palas,
Pratiharas, Chauhans, Rashtrakutas and Cholas.
2. On the political map of India, mark the locations of the following: Somnath
Temple, Kanauj and Sind.
3. Explain the terms: a) Arab invasion of Sind, b) Rajputs, c) Expansion of foreign
trade.

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Image of the timeline showing the slave dynasty, Khilji dynasty, Tughlaq dynasty,
Sayyid dynasty, Lodi dynasty, First Battle of Panipat, Establishment of Mughal
Rule.

1200 1300 1400 1500 1600

TIMELINE

The victory of Muhammad Ghori in the Second Battle of Tarain in the year 1192
AD had made the way for the Turkish rule in India. A new phase had started in
the Medieval Indian history, because of the fall of Rajput confederacy led by
Prithviraj Chauhan of Ajmer and Delhi. Unlike Mahmud of Ghazni, Muhammad
Ghori did not invade India to plunder. He wanted to establish his empire, but he
died because of the rebellion of Khokhars in Punjab, leaving his charges to his
generals in the conquest. As it turned out, Qutubuddin Aibak one of the trusted
general of Ghori, broke all the links with Ghazni and became the master of
Ghori’s Indian conquests. All the major territories of North India upto Lakhnauti
in Bengal included the Delhi Sultanate which was founded by him.

The offspring were not trusted until and unless they become
overambitious and took up the thrown in the Medieval Period.
Thus in such circumstances, the King trained the extremely loyal
military generals to secure their own stability and hence raised
and bought a promising young boy.
Wise men said that an experienced and worthy slave is better than
a son. This was the reason why the Sultans were advised to get a
slave, whom he could promote for the whole lifetime but it needs
good luck to get such a slave.

All the Allbari Turks were once freed from the position of slavery before they
became Sultans. The early Turkish Sultans of Delhi are generally called Mamluks
(Slaves). They were followed by the Lodis, Sayyids, Tughlaqs and Khiljis. The
foundation of Mughal rule in India by Babar was after the defeat of the last ruler
Ibrahim Lodi which led to the end of the Delhi Sultanate.

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Sr. Major Dynasties of Delhi Sultanate Duration (in AD)
No.

Early Turkish Ruler

1. Qutubuddin Aibak 1206-1212 AD 1206-1290
Shamsuddin Iltutmish 1210-1236 AD

Raziya 1236-1240 AD

Ghiyasuddin Balban 1266-1287 AD

2. Khilji Dynasty 1290-1320
Jalaluddin Khilji 1290-1296 AD

Alauddin Khilji 1296-1316 AD

Tughlaq Dynasty

3. Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq 1320-1324 AD 1320-1414
Muhammad Tughlaq 1324-1351 AD

Firoz Shah Tughlaq 1351-1388 AD

Sayyid Dynasty

4. Khizr Khan 1414-1421 AD 1414-1451
Mubarak Shah 1421-1434 AD

Muhammad Shah 1434-1443 AD

Lodi Dynasty

5. Bahlol Lodi 1451-1489 AD 1451-1526
Sikandar Lodi 1489-1517 AD

Ibrahim Lodi 1517-1526 AD

THE SOURCES FOR THE STUDY OF THE SULTANATE PERIOD

In India, during the later medieval period there was a tremendous and beautiful
art of history writing like never before. Both from European and Muslim regions
there were large number of books written in this period by travellers and court
chroniclers. As a result we have abundant written materials for the study of the
Indian medieval history, along with coins which issued by the series of rulers and
about architectural decoration from the architectural sources like inscriptions
and monuments. The most important books which give detailed information are:

 Futuhat-i-Firozshahi by Sultan Firoz Shah Tughlaq
 Kitab-ul-Mulk by Al-Beruni
 Miftah-ul-Futah and Ashiqa by Amir Khusrau
 Rihla by Ibn Battuta
 Tabaqat-i-Nasiri by Minhaj-us-Siraj
 Tarikh-i-Firozshahi by Ziauddin Barani

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THE EXPANSION OF SULTANATE OF DELHI

Qutubuddin Aibak was known for his good
government and was a competent warrior.
Throughout the thirteenth century he was very busy
by the suppression of continuous revolts as the new
sultanate was of ruthless military nature. The
beginning of the Islamic architecture in India by him
was the Qutub Minar and Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque
in its campus. Aram Shah succeeded him after his
death in 1210 AD, but was removed by a strong
contender and more ambitious governor of
Badayun named Iltutmish who was also a slave of
Qutub-ud-din-Aibak.

Qutub Minar In the sultanate the rule of Turks was consolidated

by Iltutmish. He was taking care of the law and order, and for suppression of

offender he had appointed special officers. By the introduction of the military

reforms by him, he not only tried to strengthen the control on the local rulers

but also on the varied Turkish nobility members who founded the rule

unacceptable for fellow Turks. He extended the screen walls of Quwwat-ul-Islam

mosque and construction of Qutub Minar was completed by him. He wanted the

support of his own tribe against the internal and external enemies who wanted

to destabilise his rule. For that he had a group of forty nobles or Chahalgani who

became very powerful. He nominated his successor as his daughter Razia Sultan

because his sons were not competent. The other nobles and Turkish had a strong

objection over this. She had suffered a lot of difficulties for being a woman and

for favouring non Turkish nobles. Soon there was conspiracy against her and she

was defeated and killed in the battle with the Turkish Amirs (nobles).

Ghiyasuddin Balban was proved to be the real architect of the sultanate who

was the next Sultan of Delhi. He crushed the rebellions in Sind, Awadh and

Bengal and also suppressed the highway robbers who had made travelling highly

unsafe outside the cities and had become a menace.

Kaiqubad who was a grandson succeeded Balban who was a weak ruler and
was killed by Jalaudin Khilji, who founded the Khilji Dynasty and who ascended
the throne in June 1290 AD. He was very kind-hearted and far too noble for his
age.

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Alauddin Khilji was the nephew, and was very ambitious and became the next
sultan of Delhi Sultanate after killing him. He was known for his reforms and
conquests. He did not tolerate any interference in the administrative military
decisions and separated the issue of the religion and the state. He updated his
army by ammunition and superior kind of arms. He trained the army to use new
weapons and strengthened the administration. This helped fighting against
Mongols and he conquered almost the entire South and North India. As a result
of victories in the battles everywhere a lot of valuable things got accumulated as
tribute and booty.

Alauddin even tackled the dreaded Mongols shrewdly. To conquer Delhi
Sultanate in the year between 1297-1306 AD, the Mongol ruler Daud Khan sent
six times his forces but Alauddin had prepared very well to stop the invasions in
the sultanate. To keep the soldiers under the trusted command of leaders like
Ghazi Malik, Zafar Khan and Ulugh Khan, a number of new fortresses were
completely garrisoned in the northwest border areas. Mongol prisoners of the
earlier battle, were called the new Mussulmans and had settled in the
neighbouring areas of Delhi and some times, created political problems by
making conspiracy against the Sultanate. As a result, these people and their
colonies were destroyed and crushed.

Purushottam's Bright Learners Social Science 7 In the medieval period 29
the military strength was
sustenance of any state
and central to the
survival and it was same
with the Sultanate.
Alauddin paid the large
army in cash to stand at
the centre and that was
why his expenses for the
army were enormous. He
decided to control the
market price in order to
control the treasury. In
this regard the following
steps were taken:

i) The peasants in the

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neighbourhood of Delhi were ordered to sell the food grains at the prescribed
rates to the state government, for maintaining its price.
ii) In this manner the crops obtained by the government were stored in the
storehouses from where the shopkeepers used to buy the required amount
and sell the things in the rate fixed by the state in the open market.
iii) In the government office all names of the people trading in the market had to
be registered. There was strict vigilance maintained in the market.
iv) The market officers were regularly checking the weights and measurements
in the market so that none of the shopkeepers could cheat the innocent
people.
v) The prices of all the commodities were fixed and separate markets were fixed
for the articles like cattle, slaves and food grains, etc.

vi) Throughout the period of Alauddin’s reign, in the neighbouring areas and in
Delhi the policy of the price control was successfully maintained.

The lands which were granted by the previous rulers as charity, gifts and pension
those lands were confiscated as ordered by Alauddin. He cancelled and did not
approve all those grants. He dealt with the different categories of lands and
wanted to assert the monarch’s right. He thus tried to increase the state land or
Khalisa and increase the income of the state. Alauddin targeted the privileges of
the hereditary revenue officers generally Hindus, namely, the Chaudharies, the
Muqaddams and the Khuts. These officers according to him often avoided
paying the taxes like Charai, Khiraj, Jizya, etc, Barani described the rising
standard of them. He said that Alauddin removed them from the task of revenue
collection and abolished the privileges of this class. One half of the total land
production was raised by him. The land was measured on the basis of the
production and then the revenue was charged. The department which looked
after the revenue administration and recorded every detail was known as Diwan-
i-Mustakhraj. The revenue was paid by the peasants as share of crops.

TUGHLAQS: A CASE STUDY

Because of the huge responsibilities of the Sultan of Delhi Sultanate, the
successors of Alauddin were found unworthy; they were removed by the
powerful and competent governor of Punjab, Ghazi Malik. The title of Ghiasuddin
Tughlaq on attaining the crown was assumed by Ghazi Malik. He annexed all
the states under the weak successors of Alauddin Khilji, which were earlier

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declared as independent. He was welcomed by
his son, Prince Juna, after the conquest of
Tirhut, Bengal and Warangal Tughlaqabad.

In the year 1325 AD in Delhi, Mohammad-bin-

Tughlag succeeded to the throne upon his

Ruins of Tughlaqabad at Delhi father’s death. Though he got a big empire from
his father but he still nurtured the dream of his

greater territories. To pursue his ambition he had a strong Military Support and

vast financial resource. He planned and prepared the conquest of Khorasan

(Persia) in the early years of his reign but afterwards dropped the project. In

Kumayun he also took up an expedition against Qarachal. Instead of Indirect

subordination symbolised by payment of tributes, his Deccan policy aimed at

direct annexation of the regions. In the beginning of the year 1335 AD, there was

a gradual shrinking of the borders of the Delhi Sultanate and revolts in most of

the far-flung areas of the empire started to happen in the second phase of the

reign.

He was one of the most interesting and
remarkable ruler of the Tughlaq
Dynasty. He introduced some
remarkable measures which were
exemplary and distinct in nature but
they failed. His reforms in
administration failed due to the
implementation and lapses in
judgement. The most significant of his
reforms were as under:

i) Taxation in the Doab
ii) Transfer of Capital (1327 AD)
iii) Introduction of Token Currency (1330 AD)

Between the Ganga and Yamuna in the Doab, the Sultan made an ill-advised
financial experiment. He revived and created some Abwabs or cessess and
increased the rate of taxation too. The share of the state was fixed arbitrarily and
not on the basis of actual production, but it remained half as in the time of
Alauddin.

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He decided to rename his capital as Daulatabad by shifting the capital from Delhi
to Devanagari, located in the Deccan region of India. He committed to maintain
the Sultanate’s expansion into the newly conquered provinces of peninsular
India. He planned to rule from a strategic centrally located capital, and thus a
highway was built to enable a smooth transfer between Delhi and Devagiri. He
forcibly moved the entire population of Delhi to Daulatabad and he moved his
entire government too. But Devagiri lacked the facilities wished by the generals
and was ill equipped to host the offices. It happened in summer, many people
died because of inadequate water supply arrangements in Daulatabad, and thus
the capital was shifted back after two years to Delhi. Many people died on the
way due to poor travel arrangements and the population was greatly affected by
this step.

He was interested in coinage and was a well read person. In India he had
introduced the token currency, using copper and brass coins, backed by silver
and gold kept in the treasury which was a noble idea ahead of time. The coins of
copper were easy to forge and this led to the massive losses in the royal office.
Every Hindu house turned into mint and soon Sultan withdrew forged currency
by paying in bullion and Barani (Gold), as brass / copper coinage was easily
forgeable. This was a failure and it was said that there were heaps of copper
coins for years in the office of royal. His experiments made him unpopular with
contemporaries and people. Internal aggression and revolts in the empire was
just because of the poor administration.

In 1333 AD a Moroccan traveller visited India named, Ibn Battuta. The sultan of
Delhi named Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq
heard of him as a generous patron of art
and letters. He appointed him as the qazi
or the judge of Delhi and remained in this
position for 8 years. The sultan was
impressed by his Islamic religious law on
which was a great expertise.

Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq receiving Ibn Battuta The city of Delhi had a large population

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and covered a wide area. Round the city the rampart was without parallel. Inside
the wall were houses for night sentry and gatekeeper’s; whose breadth was
eleven cubit. There were store houses for storing edibles, ammunition,
magazines, etc. The grains stored in the ramparts lasted for a long time without
being rotten up.

There were two kinds of postal system in India. Ulug was a horse post run by the
royal horses stationed at a distance of every four miles and the foot post which
had three stations per mile; and was called dawa (one third of a mile) which was
much quicker than horse post. Often horse post was used to carry the fruits of
Khurasan which are much desired in India.

In the year 1351 AD due to the bad health, Mohammad-bin-Tughlaq died and his
cousin Firoz Tughlaq was elected to the throne. Firoz Tughlaq followed the
pacification policy towards the Sufi saints, Amirs, Ulemas and even the general
people. He had to face many reverses and the military established under him was
very weak. When he died in the year 1388 AD already Bengal, Thatta, Nagarkot
and Jajnagar were already lost. Futuhat-i-Firozshahi is an autobiography which
shows the disorder in the Sultanate and also tells about the apprehension about
the future confusion. These days of expansion were over.

Firoz shah was an open outlook ruler despite of his weaknesses. For the welfare
of the people he had taken number of measures and some of his public works
were as follows:

 Care for widows, orphans and
arranged marriages for poor Muslim
girls were done in Diwan-i-Khairat.

Firoz Shah Kotla  Construction of canals, five in all
for the irrigation of agriculture lands.
Water from Yamuna, Ghaghra and
Satluj was brought to Hansi, Hissar
and Firozabad.

 Construction of various hospitals, colleges, madarsas, public wells, karavan
sarais, other sarais, etc.

 Development and foundation of various cities like Firozabad, Firozpur,

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Fatehabad and Hisar. His favourite was Firozabad near Delhi, the remains of
which can be seen in the area Kotla Firoz Shah.

THE SULTANATE IN THE FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH CENTURY

There was a civil war following his death. The Turkish conqueror, Timur had
captured several areas, killed thousands and plundered Delhi and other cities. He
took the advantage of widespread anarchy and invaded Hindustan in the year
1398 AD. During the year 1414-1526 AD the Delhi Sultanate was ruled by Sayyids
and Lodis. By then the geographical boundaries of the Sultanate had shrunk
drastically. Babur, a descendant of Timur, finally succeeded to the throne after
defeating the last Lodi ruler of the Delhi Sultanate, Ibrahim Lodi. He came to
reclaim the Timurid possessions in Punjab in the year 1526 AD. This gave way to
the Mughal power in India and the end of Sultanate.

Kublai Khan (1215-1294 AD) a Mongolian who conquered all China,
became the first non-Chinese-emperor. It was called Yuan Dynasty. He
made an impact on China by ruling successfully and through his
conquests. Chinese were familiar with the paper currency since ancient
times Kublai Khan was the first emperor to introduce it as the
predominant circulating medium in China. It was made from the
mulberry bark paper by the Yuan bureaucrats.
Marco Polo wrote in his travels:
All those pieces of paper were issued with as much solemnity and
authority as if they were of pure gold or silver; and on every piece the
name, duty and their seal of variety of officials were present. The
money was then authentic. When all was prepared duly, the chief
officer deputed by the Khan smeared the seal entrusted to him with
vermilion, and used to impress it on the paper, so that the form of the
seal remained imprinted upon it in red. Anyone forgoing it will be
punished with death.

 A situation in which there is no government, order or
control.

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 The orthodox Muslim priests.
 Bars of Silver and Gold.
 To take something away from somebody as a

punishment.

 The victory of Muhammad Ghori in the Second Battle of
Tarain (1192 AD) paved the way for the establishment of
Turkish Rule in India.

 Qutubuddin Aibak, a slave commander of Muhammad
Ghori, founded the Delhi Sultanate in 1206 AD.

 Various Dynasties were ruled one after the other over Delhi
Sultanate: The Khiljis, the Tughlags, the Mamluks, the
Sayyids and the Lodis.

 Qutubuddin Aibak, Balban and Iltutmish were the important
rulers of Mamluk dynasty. Iltutmish was followed by his
capable daughter Razia to the throne of the Delhi Sultanate;
this was the only time when only the woman ruler was
crowned the queen of the empire.

 The two most important ruler of the Tughlaq Dynasty were
Firoz Shah Tughlaq and Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq.

 Ibrahim lodi was defeated by Babur, the Mughal invader in
1526 AD in the First Battle of Panipat.

TEST YOURSELF

A. Tick the correct answer:

1. Who among the Muslim rulers first enforced price regulation?

a. Iltutmish b. Alauddin Khilji

c. Sher Shah Suri d. Muhammad–bin-Tughlaq

2. The only Muslim Woman to sit on the throne of Delhi was

a. Mumtaz Mahal b. Nur Jahan

c. Razia Sultan d. Hamidabanu Begum

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3. By which of the following rulers was a standing army first introduced in

medieval India?

a. Balban b. Iltutmish

c. Alauddin Khilji d. Firoz Shah Tughlaq

4. Who became the first Muslim ruler to conquer South India?

a. Akbar b. Muhammad Ghori

c. Babar d. Alauddin Khilji

B. Write true or false:

1. Jalauddin Khilji founded the Khilji Dynasty.

2. Aibak started the construction of Qutub Minar.

3. Bahlol Lodi was defeated by the Mughal invader Babur.

4. Inspired by the Chinese, Firoz Shah Tughlaq introduced token currency in
India.

5. Alauddin kept a large standing army at the centre.

C. Explain the following topics in brief:

1. Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq’s project of ‘transfer of Capital’

2. Alauddin’s policy of price control

3. Khilji Dynasty

D. Answer the following questions in detail:

1. Why was Razia not given the support of majority of nobles of the court?

2. What do you think were the reasons for the decline of the Delhi Sultanate?

3. What ere the consequences of the Second Battle of Tarrain?

4. Describe the Humanitarian works of Firoz Shah Tughlaq.

E. Long answer type question:

1. Discuss the expansion of the Delhi Sultanate.

2. Collect information from the net on Razia Sultana. Make an assessment of her
as a military leader.

3. On an outline map of India, locate the following: Delhi, Daulatabad, Rajput
kingdoms, Malwa.

4. Prepare and enact a skit on a scene of a grain market during the reign of
Alauddin Khilji. Visualise the attitude and the behaviour of the buyers,
officers, sellers on vigil and keep them in mind while writing the script.

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THE MUGHAL RULE IN INDIA

Time line showing the first battle of Panipat, Sur Dynasty, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah
Jahan, Aurangzeb.

1500 1550 1600 1650 1700
TIMELINE

The Mughal Empire became very strong during the time of Akbar. There was

progress in art, literature and architecture and the empire developed

economically stable and strong that lasted for generations. The early Mughal

united almost the whole India except the Southern part

into a single political unit. This was because of successful

conquests and due to a strong central authority under the

uniform administrative system. In 1526 AD in the first

Battle of Panipat, the Mughal Dynasty came into

existence with Babur defeating Ibrahim Lodi. Because of

his victory he secured the control of Agra and Delhi. He

invaded India with the intention of establishing control

over the North Indian territories when he had been ruling

over the principalities of Farghana in Central Asia. In the Babur

year 1527 AD he defeated Rana Sanga of Mewar who was a powerful Rajput

Chief in the Battle of Khanua. The power of the Rajput wanted to check the

Mughals advance in India after the defeat of Rana Sanga. It was until 1528 AD

when in the battle of Chanderi and the Ghaghra another ruler of Rajput, Medini

Rao was defeated by Babur. Mahmud Lodi the cousin of Ibrahim Lodi was on

the throne of Delhi just because of the failure of the Afghan bid. The empire of

Babur extended from Bhera and Lahore to Bahraich and Bihar and from Sialkot to

Ranthambhore when he died in 1530 AD.

In 1530 AD the eldest of Babur’s four Sons, Humayun succeeded him. He was a
brave man of high ideals and was very generous. He was a scholar of Persian,
Arabic and Turkey. Humayun inherited some qualities from his father because of

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which he had to suffer a lot with numerous difficulties on his
access to the throne of Indian Empire. In foreign land Babur
had founded new dynasty. Humayun had to reorganise his
army of mixed races, out of whom many wanted to go back
to Kabul. There was financial strain to run the army and he
faced difficulties from the local rulers, nobles and also from
his brothers.

Though Babur defeated the Afghans they did not accept the Humayun

defeat. Sher Shah in the year 1539 AD defeated Humayun in the Battle of

Chausa. He was brave warrior and the king of Bengal. He had camped on his way

to Agra where he suppressed a revolt by his younger brother. There he again

defeated Humayun at Kanuaj in the year 1540 AD. Sher Shah re-established the

Afghan rule in Delhi and captured Agra. He was popularly known as Sher Shah.

His dynasty was called Sur Dynasty in India. Humayun was forced to flee and he

spent 15 years wandering here and there but ultimately continued to build up his

army (military support and strength) and recovered Delhi after the breakup of

Sur Empire in 1555 AD.

Babur was descent as fourteenth from the Mongol conqueror,
Chengiz Khan (on his mother’s side) and fifth from the Turkish
ruler Timur (on his father’s side). When he plundered India In
the year 1398 AD he preferred to be viewed as a claimant of
Timur’s Indian possessions that he left behind. However, Babur
had founded the dynasty of ‘Mughal’ or ‘Moghal’ the Persian
and Indian form of Mongol.

BREAK IN THE MUGHAL RULE: THE SHAH AND THE SUR DYNASTY

Sher Shah became the Emperor at the age of 67 years. His Sher Shah
reign was the landmark history of the subcontinent
though it barely lasted for only five years (1540-1545 AD).
In army and in revenue administration, he used his various
reforms as his character was a unique mixture of
administrative efficiency and genius military. During his
reign numerous civil works were carried out and he built a
fine network of roads. One of his great works is Grand

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Trunk Road. He always introduced
new fusion in the old system of
administration and transformed it
into the service to people. He had
set up examples that were
followed by Akbar and the
Mughals, when he created and
consolidated his empire in India.

Excluding Kashmir and the entire
region of Malwa and Rajasthan, his
empire extended from Bengal to
Indus. He died in the year 1545 AD
during his last campaign to Kalinjar
when a gun burst and he got
injured. Till 1553 AD his son Islam
Shah ruled and then Muhammad Adil Shah came into power. He was not a
capable ruler and thus his general Hemu virtually controlled the kingdom and
became an important personnel. Ibrahim Shah and Sikander Shah who were the
other contenders created divisions in the political life.

RETURN OF HUMAYUN (1555-56 AD)

In the year 1549 AD Humayun managed to win over Kabul and Kandahar from his
brother Kamran by taking shelter in Persia and with the support of Shah of Persia.
In 1555 AD he occupied Dipalpur and Lahore. For reclaiming his authorities in
Indian Empire, Humayun defeated Sher Shah, successor of the Afghan ruler and
reached Delhi by July in the year 1555 AD. He then spent his time in administering
his kingdom. He died because of an accidental fall from the steps of his library in
the year 1556 AD.

Sr. The Great Mughal Dates and Duration
No.
1526-30 AD
1. Babur 1530-40,1555-56 AD
1556-1605 AD
2. Humayun 1605-27 AD
1627-58 AD
3. Akbar 1658-1707 AD

4. Jahangir/Nur Jahan

5. Shah Jahan

6. Aurangzeb

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A CASE STUDY: AKBAR

At the age of thirteen, Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar had lost

his father Humayun. At that time Bairam Khan was appointed

as Akbar’s regent. Hemu had occupied Agra and Delhi. The

chances of Mughals as rightful ruler were still less in India.

Akbar met Hemu in the (Second Battle of Panipat) battlefield

and defeated his large army in the year 1556 AD. Mughal had

established their rule over Agra and Delhi with the defeat of Akbar
Hemu. Akbar initially conquered Jaunpur, Ajmer and Gwalior

with the help of Bairam Khan in the year 1558-62 AD. He tackled the problem of

over interference of Bairam Khan in the matter of governance and he also

started disliking the interference of his foster mother Maham Anga and her son

Adham Khan in the political matters. Thus in India his career of conquests

began and he had won almost the Northern India, North-Western regions and

the Deccan by the year 1601 AD.

Akbar won the support

of Rajputs by

establishing the

matrimonial alliances

and followed a policy of

reconciliation. He

himself married a

Rajput princess and

gave her the full royal

status and set an

example for everybody.

Later his son also

married a Rajput

princess. However the

Rajputs turned down

the friendship of

Mughal and he carried

out military action

against them. He

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marched against Chittor in the year 1567 AD and
in 1568 AD the Mughal captured Chittor. By the
year 1569 AD Kalinjar and Ranthambhore were
also captured. In the year 1576 AD at the battle
of Haldighati he met Maharana Pratap. He
defeated Maharana Pratap after a fierce battle.
He conquered Kashmir, Kabul, Bengal and
Gujarat by the year 1589 AD and Kahdahar and
Sind by the year 1595 AD and moving towards
Deccan, he attacked Ahmednagar. Chand Bibi Discussion on different religions
defended bravely but she could not hold on longer and Ahmednagar fell in the
year 1596 AD. His policy of Sulh-i-kula or ‘peace be with all’ was an important
part of his consolidation programme which was only the way to unite the vastly
diverse subjects and society that he was destined to rule. Akbar was interested in
the hidden truth of various religions, by temperament. He focussed about the
human element in all religions. Din-i-Ilahi was founded by him which was a new
religion that contained his philosophy.

He introduced the mansabdari system that systematised the military and the civil
administration and thus proved to be an able administrator and an able
conqueror. He made a foreign policy and simplified the revenue administration.
He secured the North West frontiers from any new foreign invasion. His religious
policy and Rajput won him the services of the brave Rajput and support of the
general public. Till the time of Aurangzeb his system of administration was
followed by a simple change. By the time of Aurangzeb a number of changes had
been made to suit the circumstances.

The development of integrated Hindu-Muslim society during Akbar usually
referred to as Indo-Islamic society based on how a king should behave towards
his subjects. As described by his court chronicler Abul Fazl who was also a
biographer, Akbar like a true ruler never made distinction on the basis of creed
or sect and had a paternal love towards his subjects. In his eyes both the
ordinary and highly ranked people were equally treated with generosity when in
need. With limited success he introduced educational and social reforms. Many
sided cultural activities flowered under him such as music, literature, painting
and building. The state under his rule promoted cultural integration and became

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secular and liberal. From all over Asia great authors, historians and philosophers

were patronised by him who attended the court. In his court the Nava Ratnas

(nine gems) were famous which included Ministers like Birbal and Todarmal, the

great singer Tansen, poet Mulla-do-Piaza and many others. He was a great

builder who built the Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri. Muhammad Salim, Akbar’s

son, who was also called Jahangir succeeded

Akbar. Akbar proclaimed him as ruler in the year

1605 AD. Jahangir won several wars but could not

get the glory that his father had reached. He was

deeply influenced by his wife Nur Jahan whom he

married in the year 1611 AD and at times even left

Jahangir & Nur Jahan the task of administration under her entirely.

Shah Jahan’s period was best known for the construction of

Taj Mahal and other great monuments. Shah Jahan

succeeded and ruled from 1627 AD to 1658 AD after the

death of Jahangir in the year 1627 AD. After the death of

Mumtaz Mahal in the year 1631 AD he built the Taj Mahal in

her memory because his love for his wife was immense. He

was involved in wars with the Portuguese in the year 1631-32

AD. He faced political problems with the Sultan of Bijapur in Shah Jahan

the year 1636 AD in the Deccan. But after sorting out the problems he faced in

the Deccan he was imprisoned by his son and successor Aurangzeb and thus he

retired in the year 1636 AD.

Due to the illness of Shah Jahan there was a war of succession among Murad,
Dara, Aurangzeb and Shah Suja in the year 1657 AD. Aurangzeb proved to be
the powerful and strongest of all and succeeded Shah Jahan and ruled from 1658
-1707 AD. His empire which extended from Ghazni to Bengal and Kashmir to
Deccan was a religious fanatic. He introduced the pilgrim tax that all the Hindus
had to pay to the state and much hated Jizya. He increased the land revenue to

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one half of the total production in the region to suppress the

peasants and Hindu strongholds in the area. He carried out

systematic demolition of Hindu temples, especially in

Mathura. It is the belief of modern historians that a harsh

policy was adopted to check their political ambitions. His

Deccan policies and the religious policies were of extreme

nature and shook the traditional pillars of political support

from the Rajputs to the Mughal Empire. Although, Aurangzeb Aurangzeb

tried to make peace with the Rajput later on but the mutual trust which was in

the age of Akbar was broken and the Mughal-Rajput relation remained in stained

between the years 1679-81 AD. Under Shivaji there were the rising of Marathas

in the Deccan who were not handled with the political wisdom and Aurangzeb

faced stiff resistance from the Marathas and remained unsuccessful in subduing

them. The Jats of Mathura, the Sikhs and the Satnamis created problems for

Aurangzeb and killing of Guru Tegh Bahadur was a political blunder.

When Sir Thomas Roe visited the Mughal court in about 1600 AD, English
established contact with the Mughal. English were permitted to build a factory at
Masulipatnamin the year 1616 AD. By the year 1707 AD Aurangzeb died.

LATER MUGHALS

Bahadur Shah I was eldest of the three sons of Aurangzeb who succeeded
Aurangzeb. The Mughal Empire was divided among the three sons. There were
many problems from the Sikhs, Rajputs and the Marathas which were faced by
Prince Muazzam who assumed the title of Bahadur Shah I. The great Mughal
Empire was disintegrated after the death of Bahadur Shah I in the year 1712 AD
and the whole empire was under the weak rulers. In the year 1739 AD in Delhi
Muhammad Shah the Mughal ruler witnessed the invasion of Nadir Shah. The
fate of Muhammad Shah was thus sealed and was followed by invasion of
Ahmad Shah Abdali, the general of Nadir Shah. Because of the breakdown of
Mughal Empire, there was the arrival of British East India Company, Sikhs and
great Maratha power. Mughal King Bahadur Shah II who was the last of the
titular was defeated in the revolt of 1857 AD against British. He was exiled in
Rangoon where he died in 1862 AD after the failure of the revolt. This marked
the end of the Mughal Rule.

i) For the rulers there was no law of succession. There was a war of succession
that weakened the empire.

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ii) There were number of rebellions because of the Deccan policies and
Aurangzeb’s religious policies. There were depletion of strength, energy and
treasury of the Mughal Empire under Aurangzeb by the Marathas. The extent
of the Mughal Empire which was largest during his rule became weak and got
divided soon after his death.

iii) To control such a big empire with constant attention and efficiency was not
possible by the later Mughals. The breakup of the Mughal Empire was
because of the absence of the political and administrative acumen, court
politics and also conspiracies on the part of emperors which led to the
military weakness.

AIN-I-AKBARI AND ABULFAZL’S AKBARNAMA

The Mughal emperors thought that their deeds should be recorded for the
posterity and so commissioned the history writing of their reigns to the eminent
scholars. Such historical works usually followed the Persian model of history in
which focus was on patron and his deeds, views, family etc. The Mughal
chronicles the Akbarnama and Ain-i-Akbari occupied a special place among the
important illustrations. These texts give a detailed and a very useful information
about the various policies adopted by Akbar and about the day-to-day
proceedings of his court, laws and administration and most importantly also an
insight into Akbar’s mind. Abul Fazl who grew up in the Mughal capital of Agra
wrote these works. Akbar had developed a secular approach to governance and
had very tolerant views. Abul Fazl was liked by Akbar because of his fearlessly
unorthodox views on various religion and other fields. As a court historian he
expressed his ideas and shaped the ideas associated with the reign of Akbar and
his role. He was widely read in Greek Philisophy, Sufism, Persian and Arabic.

In the beginning of the 1589 AD, he took thirteen years to complete the
Akbarnama. He had done a good research on the contacts and the sources to
finally take the information into text. The oral testimonials of the knowledgeable
persons, official documents and range of sources including actual records of
events (waqai) were the basis of the chronicle. The Akbarnama is divided into
three books of which the first two are chronicles and the third book is Ain-I-
Akbari. The first volume contains the thirty years of Akbar’s life from the
beginning of the mankind and the second volume closes in the forty sixth years
(1601 AD) of Akbar’s reign. Abul Fazl became a victim of Salim’s conspiracy and
was killed next year. Thus entire Akbar’s reign history could not completed by
Abul Fazl. Ain-i-Aikbari was a collection of imperial regulations and a gazetteer of

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the empire. It presented the Mughal Empire as
one of the diverse population consisting
Buddhist, Jains, Hindus and Muslims along with
a composite culture. It gives the details about
Akbar’s household, administration and army,
the sources of revenue and the physical layout
of the provinces of Akbar’s empire, the
organisation of the court and the cultural,
literary and religious traditions of the people.
Abul Fazl presenting his work to Akbar Its rich statistical details made it famous about
the things such as prices, wages, revenues and crop yields.

The Mughal rulers maintained a royal Kitabkhana, which housed the scholarly
text, and also served as a workshop for producing manually bound manuscripts
written by the authors and copied by the skilled scribes in well illustrated
decorative and impressive calligraphy.

 Babur founded the Mughal Dynasty defeating the last
Sultan of Delhi Sultanate, Ibrahim Lodi in the first Battle
of Panipat, 1526 AD.

 Humayun succeeded his father in the year 1530 AD.

 Sher Shah Suri, the Afghan ruler of Bihar and Bengal
defeated Humayun in the battle of Kanauj in 1540 AD.
Humayun had to flee to Persia.

 Humayun reclaimed Delhi in 1555 AD after the death of Sher
Shah.

 Akbar was enthroned to the Mughal empire in 1556 AD.

 Akbar founded Din-i-Ilahi which was a new religion
containing the element of all religions.

 Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal in memory of his beloved
wife Mumtaz Mahal.

 The extent of the Mughal Empire was largest during
Aurangzeb’s rule.

 The last Mughal ruler Bahadur Shah Zafar was exiled to
Rangoon by the British after the failed revolt of 1857 AD.

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 A person who rules on behalf of King.

 A person who have extreme opinion.

 The landlord in the rural area who enjoyed traditional
rights over his ancestral land.

 All the people who will live in the future.

 The Mughal emperors appointed the officers for royal
military services and gave a specific position in the Mughal Court.
These officers were called mansabdars and their jagirs given to
them for maintaining their troops were called mansabs.

 The villages or a region granted to an officer in the Mughal
court in place of salary.

TEST YOURSELF

A. Tick the correct answer:

1. The Akbarnama was written by

a. Abul Fazl b. Birbal c. Aurangzeb d. Akbar

2. Who was Mughal emperor at the time of Nadir Shah’s invasion of India?

a. Bahadur Shah II b. Muhammad Shah c. Bahadur Shah I d. Shah Alam

3. Akbra founded his own religion known as ‘Din-i-Ilahi’ which means

a. Divine Faith b. House of Worship c. Universal peace d. None of these

4. Sher Shah died while he was fighting in

a. Kalinga b. Panipat c. Kalinjar d. None of these

5. Who was the ruler of the medieval India who is credited with the building of
Grand Trunk Road?

a. Jahangir b. Babur c. Sher Shah Suri d. Krishnadeva Raya

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6. Chand Bibi of Ahmednagar fought to protect her kingdom against

a. Adilshahi forces of Bijapur b. Akbar

c. Nizam forces of Hyderabad d. East India Company

B. Fill in the blanks:

1. Jahangir was succeeded by ___________.

2. Humayun succeeded his father Babur in ______________.

3. The ______________emerged as a rising power in the Deccan and challenged
the Mughal authority.

4. Sher Shah defeated Humayun at the Battle of _______________.

C. Explain the following topics in brief:

1. Akbar’s policy towards the Rajputs.

2. First Battle of Panipat.

3. ‘Nava Ratnas’ or nine gems at Akbar’s court.

4. Second Battle of Panipat.

5. Abul Fazl’s Akbarnama.

D. Answer the following questions in detail:

1. How did Akbar consolidate his empire?

2. What was the importance of the Second Battle of Panipat?

3. Explain the circumstances in which Humayun had to escape to Persia.

4. What were the reasons for the decline of the Mughals?

5. What was the role of the policy of ‘Sulh-i-Kula’ in Akbar’s administration?

6. Who was Aurangzeb?

E. Long answer type question:

1. Write an account on the life of Humayun.

2. Find out the names of all the nine gems in Akbar’s court.

3. On a political map of Indian subcontinent, locate the extent of empire during:
a. Babur, b. Aurangzeb, c. Akbar

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The Mughal Emperor was well organised with effective administration system.

THE COURT OF MUGHAL

The emperor was the centre point of all power in the court which controlled all
the system administration. The place was a sign of importance which was
accorded for the courtier in the eyes of the emperor. Once the Emperor sat on
the throne, nobody was allowed to leave the place or change his position without
permission. Everybody had to perform a number of courtesies to meet him. The
most popular courtesy was prostration or sijda before the king. These rituals
were replaced by chahar taslim (a method of salutation which begins with placing

the back of the right hand on the ground and
raising it gently till the person stands erect, when
he puts the palm of his hand upon the crown of
his head) and Zaminbos (kissing the ground)
under Shah Jahan.

The officials were independent of each other and
assisted the emperor at the centre.

i) The Wazir, who was similar to a prime
minister, was the principal advisor to the
emperor.

The Mughal Court ii) The Mir Bakhshi looked after military
administration.

iii) The Sadr-i-sudur kept a record of grants made by the king.

iv) The Qazi was the chief judge.

v) The Diwan-i-ariz looked after revenue and expenditure.

vi) The Khan-i-saman attended to the needs of the royal household.

The recruitment of the mansabdars and detail of all the relevant records
concerning the recruitment is done by Mir Bakhshi. Expenses incurred by the
state, income of the state, assistance in formulating all the policies related to
revenue and other taxes and was done by Diwan. Sadr-i-sudur maintained the
grants of religious nature and he often engaged in dispensing justice at the local

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level by appointment of capable qazis for protection of Islamic law. The major
concern of Mughal administration was to keep exact and detailed record.
Records of all the applications and documents, presented in the court and all
royal firmans were kept by the corps of court writers (waqia nawis) that was
supervised by Mir Bakhshi. In addition the regional rulers and agents (wakil) of
nobles also recorded the entire proceedings of the court.

The entire empire was divided into number of provinces called Subas and each
suba was headed by a subedar or governor. Each of the suba was divided into
sarkars (district and each sarkar consisted of several parganas. The militarily
important districts were put under the faujdars, the commandants. They were
deployed with contingents of heavy cavalry and musketeers in the district. They
reported directly to the emperor. At the provincial level the offices of Mir
Bakhshi, Diwan and Sadr-i-sudur had subordinate officials. The Qazi, the
Qanungo (keeper of revenue records), and the Chaudhuri (in charge of revenue
collection), are the three officers at the level of sub-district (parganas) who look
after the local administration. Fully qualified supportive staff was maintained by
each department of administration. The language of administration was Persian
but in village only the local language was being used for accounts and
procedures.

It was introduced by Akbar. Mansab in Arabic means rank and an individual who
held a mansab was called mansabdars. The meritorious people drawn from
Indian Muslims, the brave Rajput, the Persian Turani and Irani nobles secured
services in the Mughal emperor. In the royal services of the mansabdar’s position
there were two components:

i) The personal status refers to the number of sawars or troops / horsemen that
the mansabdar needed to raise for the royal services in that specific category.

ii) ‘Zat’ or ‘His’ rank as it was called were paid in amount ranging from 10 to
7000 initially, which later on increased to 10000 which did not necessarily
refer to the salary that the mansabdar received but a grant which indicates
the personal status.

Amirs were the mansabdars with a rank of 500-5000. Sometimes the mansabdars
of higher ranks were paid through jagirs too but mostly they were paid in cash.

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