Medieval India Notes PDF
Medieval India Notes PDF
Medieval India Notes PDF
THE SAMANTA
“Indian Feudalism”
Applicability of the term ‘Indian Feudalism’ to early Medieval Society. (20)(2009)
The Samanta system (20) (2005)
Evaluate the socio-economic conditions from the Gupta Period to 1200 C.E. as gleaned from the various
types of grants or dana shasana (60) (2011)
What kind of changes were visualised by historians on Indian feudalism? Examine critically. (30) (2012)
Semi-independent local chiefs called samanta were an important feature of the polity of this time. We have
already read that Samudragupta conquered and subjugated a number of territories. Some of the rulers of
these territories which were on the fringes of the Gupta empire were made subordinate allies of the King.
They became feudatories, so to say, of the Gupta King paying periodical tribute to the latter. Some of them
also presented him their daughters in marriage. They were obliged to pay homage to the King by personally
attending his court. The King in turn recognised their right to continue to rule over their own territories and
for this he also gave them charters. These subordinate rulers were also obliged to send their men to fight in
the King's army during times of war. Subject to the above obligations the feudatories or samantas were left
to look after the administration of their territories, which was actually done by King's officials in the central
parts of the Gupta empire.
Another factor which really introduced features of a decentralized polity was the granting of land to priests
and officials for their maintenance. Generally the King not only gave the land but also parted with some of
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________2
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
his administrative rights like taxing the people, punishing the criminals, etc. The granted territories were
also given immunity from the entry of the King's army. Naturally the grantees of such lands became almost
independent of the King and became samantas themselves. Consequent to this, in the 7th century A.D. and
after we find officials giving themselves pompous titles like mahasamanta and 'one who obtained the
privilege of five great sounds (panchamahasabda)'. Through the use of these titles, the samantas and
mahasamantas proclaimed their autonomy. The presence of all these features in polity has led historians to
suggest that from the Gupta period onward the political organization which developed in India represented
a feudal-type of political organization.
TAXATION
The government got most of its revenue through taxation. Land taxes called bhaga, bhoga, etc. were the
main items and the land taxes actually increased through the centuries. As trade and commerce seem to
have declined during this period commercial taxes are not found - prominently. The local people were also
obliged to provide for the stay and food of villages. It may be noted here that as far as the lands granted to
officials and priests are concerned, the government lost much of its revenue from those lands.
JUDICIAL SYSTEM
Judicial system was more developed now compared to earlier times. Many law codes and treatises were
compiled during this period and the dharmasastras elaborately dealt with legal matters.
There were different courts like Karana, adhikarana, dharmasana, etc. Criminal and civil cases were clearly
differentiated from each other. Laws regarding property and inheritance were elaborate. Of course justice
was based on the varna classification in society. For the same kind of crime, culprits belonging to a higher
varna or caste got less punishment than those belonging to a lower varna . Dharmasastras also insisted that
local usages and practices of different guilds and castes should be given due weight while dispensing justice.
Growth of Bhakti,
Origin of the Bhakti Movement (20) (2002)
Discuss and evaluate critically various types in the historiography of Bhakti (15)(2013)
Syncretism of Deities
PROTEST AND REFORM IN THE BHAKTI MOVEMENT OF THE SOUTH AND LATER
TRANSFORMATION OF THE BHAKTI MOVEMENT
Whereas the Brahmanas were obsessed with caste regulations, the Bhakti movement not only ignored caste
but also included men and women of all castes. Among the Nayanmar Karaikkal, Amrnai was a woman and
Nandanar was a member of the depressed class. Among the Alvars, Andal was a woman and Timppan was
a hymnist from a "low caste". Thus the whole movement carried elements of protest and reform. However,
it soon became part of the establishment, lost its early character and got engulfed by brahmanical orthodoxy.
The Bhakti movement ran parallel to the growth and consolidation of early medieval monarchies, first under
the Pallavas and then under the cholas, Pandyas and the Cheras. Many rock temples were cut and structural
temples were built for Siva and Vishnu throughout the Tamil land by almost all the reigning monarchs.
These temples were endowed with vast landed property, often tax-free. Extensive areas of land were
donated to the Brahmanas as is evident from the thousands of donative inscriptions on the walls of the south
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________5
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
Indian temples. A prince-priest axis soon emerged. The monarchs fervently welcomed the rich temple-
centered bhakti (or unflinching loyalty) as it suited the monarchical ideology. The Brahmanas welcomed
this as it enabled Brahmanism, with its institutional base in the temple centred agrarian settlements, to
emerge as the most dynamic force in south India.
Everywhere the local temple was the nucleus of religious life and a new social formation. In these temples
the two arms of the brahmanical religion - the ritualistic Vedic cult and the theistic devotional cult - could
meet. The temple-centred Bhakti enabled the all-embracing caste system to attract all the original tribes of
south India within its fold and place them in the hierarchical caste order. This order fixed the ritual and
social status of the tribes with the Brahmana as the fixed point of reference. The ideology of Bhakti could
bring together kings, priests and the common people within a network of understandable social relations.
With the increasing patronage of kings and landed magnates, the Bhakti movement soon became part of the
establishment. Thus all trances of dissent, protest and reform were obliterated in the tenth century A.D. The
Alvars and the Nayanmars do not appear any more.
Their place was taken by Vaishnava acharyas, all of whom were Brahmanas or the Saivite acharyas who
all came from the rich landed Vellala caste.
AGRARIAN ECONOMY
- Critically analyse the agricultural economy from 750 to 1200 CE. (10) (2014)
The agrarian expansion, which began with the establishment of settlements through land grants to Brahmana from
the fourth century onwards acquired a uniform and universal form in subsequent centuries.
The centuries between the eighth and twelfth witnessed the processes of this expansion and the culmination of an
agrarian organisation had on land grants to religious and secular beneficiaries, i.e. Brahmanas, temples and officers
of the King's government. However, there are important regional variations in this development, both due to
geographical as well as ecological factors.
Geographical and Chronological Patterns
Cultivation was extended not only to the hitherto virgin lands but even by clearing forest areas. This was a continuous
process and a major feature of early medieval agricultural economy.
There is a view prevalent among some scholars that land grants started in outlying, backward and tribal areas first
and later gradually extended to the Ganga valley, which was the hub of the brahmanical culture. In the backward and
aboriginal tracts the Brahmanas could spread new methods of cultivation by regulating agricultural processes through
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________7
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
specialised knowledge of the seasons (astronomy), plough, irrigation, etc., as well as by protecting the cattle wealth.
However, this is not true of all regions in India, for, land grants were also made in areas of settled agriculture as well
as in other ecological zones, especially for purposes of integrating them into a new economic order.
The chronological appearance of the land grant system shows the following pattern:
fourth-fifth centuries : spread over a good part of central India, northern Deccan and Andhra,
fifth-seventh centuries : eastern India (Bengal and Orissa), beginnings in Western India (Gujarat and Rajasthan),
seventh and eighth centuries: Tamil Nadu and Karnataka,
ninth century : Kerala, and
end of the twelfth century : almost the entire sub-continent with the possible exception of Punjab.
Ideological Background
Ideas relating to the gift of land emphasize the importance of daan or gift. The idea of daan or gift to Brahmanas was
developed by Brahmanical texts as the surest means of acquiring merit (puny.) and destroying sin (pataka). It appears
to be a conscious and systematic attempt to provide means of subsistence to the Brahman.
Grants of cultivable land to them and registration of gifts of land on copper plates are recommended by all the Smruti
and Puranas of the post-Gupta centuries.
There were different items of gifts : food, grains, paddy, etc.
movable assets like gold, money, etc.
AGRARIAN ORGANISATION
The agrarian organisation and economy were highly complex. This can be understood on the basis of intensive
studies of the regional patterns of land grants and the character and role of the brahmadeya. The practice of land
grants as brahmadey was initiated by the ruling dynasties and subsequently followed by chiefs, feudatories, etc.
Bramadeya facilitated agrarian expansion because they were : exempted from various taxes or dues either entirely
or at least in the initial stages of settlement (e.g. for 12 years);
also endowed with ever growing privileges. The ruling families derived economic advantage in the form of the
extension of the resource base, moreover. by creating brahmadey they also ,gained ideological support for their
political power.
Lands were given as brahmadeya either to a single Brahmana or to several Brahmana families which ranged from a
few to several hundreds or even more than a thousand, as seen in the South Indian context. Brahmadeyas were
invariably located near major irrigation works such as tanks or lakes. Often new irrigation sources were constructed
when bramadeyas were created, especially in areas dependent on rains and in arid and semi-arid regions. When
located in areas of intensive agriculture in the river valleys, they served to integrate other settlements. Sometimes,
two or more settlements were clubbed together to form a brahmadeya or an agrahara. The taxes from such villages
were assigned to the Brahmana donees, who were also given the right to get the donated land cultivated. Boundaries
of the donated land or village were very often carefully demarcated. The various types of land, wet, dry and garden
land within the village were specified. Sometimes even specific crops and trees are mentioned. The land donations
implied more than the transfer of land rights. For example, in many cases, along with the revenues and economic
resources of the village, have resources such as peasants (cultivators), masons and others were also transferred to
donees. There is also growing evidence of the encroachment of the rights of villagers over community lands such as
lakes and ponds. Thus, the Brahmanas became managers of agricultural and artisanal production in these settlements
for which they organized themselves in to assemblies.
Secular Grants : From the seventh century onwards, officers of the state were also being remunerated through land
grants. This is of special significance because it created another class of landlords who were not Brahmanas.
The gift of land on officials in charge of administrative divisions is mentioned as early as c. A.D. 200 (the time of
Manu) but the practice picks up momentum in the post-Gupta period. Literary works dealing with central India,
Rajasthan, Gujarat, Bihar and Bengal between the tenth and twelfth centuries make frequent references to various
kinds of grants to ministers, kinsmen and those who rendered military services. The rajas, raja- ranakas,
mahasamants; etc. mentioned in Pala land charters were mostly vassals connected with land. The incidence of grants
to state officials varies from one region to another. To illustrate, while we hear of about half a dozen Paramar official
ranks, only a few of them are known to have received land grants. But very large territories were granted to vassals
and high officers under the Chalukyas of Gujarat. The available evidences suggest that Orissa had more service grants
than Assam, Bengal and Bihar taken together. Further, the right of various officials to enjoy specific and exclusive
TECHNOLOGICAL IMPROVEMENTS
During the early medieval period there: was an increase in irrigation sources such as canals, lakes, tanks (tataka, eri)
and wells (kupa). That the accessibility to water resources was an important consideration in the spread of rural
settlements is shown by regional studies. Keres or tanks in south Karnataka, nadi (river), pushkarini (tank), srota
(water channel) etc. in Bengal and panghatta-wells in western Rajasthan used to be natural points of reference
whenever distribution and transfer of village lands had to be undertaken. Naturally, the concern for water resources
contributed to the extension of cultivation and intensification of agricultural activities. Water-lifts of different kinds
operated by man and animal power were also known. Epigraphic sources record the construction and maintenance of
such irrigation works between eight and thirteenth centuries. Many of the lakes/ tanks of this period have survived
well into the modern times. Some of them were repaired, revived and elaborated under the British administration.
The step wells (vapis) in Rajasthan and Gujarat became extremely popular in the eleventh-thirteenth centuries. They
were meant for irrigating the fields as well as for supplying drinking water.
The increase in the number of irrigation works was due to an advance in irrigation technology. There is evidence of
the use of more scientific and permanent methods of flood control, damming of river waters, sluice construction (with
piston valve and cisterns) both at the heads of canals and of lakes and tanks. Flood control was achieved gradually
through breaching of rivers for canals and mud embankments which ensured the regulated use of water resources.
reservoirs were more commonly used in semi dry and rain fed areas, as well was initiated by ruling families and
maintained by local institutions such as the sabha (Brahmana assembly) and ur (non-Brahmana village assembly) in
Tamil Nadu.
Maintenance of lakes/ tanks etc. i.e. desilting, bund and sluice repair was looked after by a special committee of local
assemblies and cesses were levied for the purpose.
Royal permission was accorded for digging tanks or wells, when gifts were made to Brahmanas and temples. Land
was demarcated for construction and maintenance of canals and tanks, etc. Digging of tanks was considered a part of
Different views have been put forward regarding the nature of the overall set up of early medieval agrarian economy.
On the one hand, it is seen as a manifestation of feudal economy, while on the other it is dubbed as a peasant state
and society.
The salient features of 'Indian Feudalism' are:
1) Emergence of hierarchical landed intermediaries. Vassals and officers of state and other secular assignee had
military obligations and feudal titles. Sub-infeudation (varying in different regions) by these donees to get their land
Cultivated led to the growth of different strata-of intermediaries. It was a hierarchy of landed aristocrats, tenants,
share croppers and cultivators. This hierarchy was also reflected in the power/administrative structure, where a sort -
of lord-vassal relationship emerged. In other words, Indian feudalism consisted in the gross unequal distribution of
land and its produce.
Another important feature was the prevalence of forced labour. The right of extracting forced labour (vishti) is
believed to have been exercised by the Brahmana and other grantees of land. Forced labour was originally a
prerogative of the King or the state. It was transferred to the grantees, petty officials, village authorities and others.
In the Chola inscriptions alone, there are more than one hundred references to forced labour. Even the peasants and
artisans come within the jurisdiction of vishti. As a result, a kind of serfdom emerged, in which agricultural labourers
were reduced to the position of semi-serfs.
3) Due to the growing claims of greater rights over land by rulers and intermediaries, peasants also suffered a
curtailment of their land rights. Many were reduced to the position of tenants facing ever growing threat of eviction.
A number of peasants were only ardhikas (share croppers). The strain on the peasantry was also caused by the burden
of taxation, coercion and increase in their indebtedness.
4) Surplus was extracted through various methods. Extra economic coercion was a conspicuous method. With the
rise of new property relations, new mechanisms of economic subordination also evolved. The increasing burden is
evident in the mentioning of more than fifty levies in the inscription of Rajaraja Chola.
5) It was relatively a closed village economy. The transfer of human resources along with land to the beneficiaries
shows that in such villages the peasants, craftsmen and artisans were attached to the villages and hence were mutually
dependent. Their attachment to land and to service grants ensured control over them by the beneficiaries.
Urban Settlements
Critically evaluate various approaches to study medieval Indian towns (20) (2010)
Sacred/Pilgrimage Centres
The idea of pilgrimage to religious centres developed in the early medieval period due to the spread of the cult of
Bhakti. Its expansion in different regions through a process of acculturation and interaction between the Brahmanical
or Sanskritic forms of worship and folk or popular cults cut across narrow sectarian interests. As a result, some local
cult centres of great antiquity as well as those with early associations with brahmanical and non-brahmanical religions
became pilgrimage centres. The pilgrimage network was sometimes confined to the specific cultural region within
which a cult centre assumed a sacred character. However, those cult centres, which became sacred tirthas attracted
worshippers from various regions.
Both types of pilgrimage centres developed urban features due to a mobile pilgrim population, trade and royal
patronage. The role of emerging market in the growth of tirthas is now being recognised by historians in a big way.
Pushkara near Ajmer in Rajasthan was a sacred tirtha of regional importance with a dominant Vaishnava association.
Kasi (Banaras) acquired a pan-Indian character due to its greater antiquity and importance as a brahmanical sacred
centre. In South India, Srirangam (Vaishnava), Chidambaram (Shaiva) and Madurai (Shaiva) etc. developed as
regional pilgrimage centres, while Kanchipuram became a part of an all India pilgrimage network. While Melkote
was a regional sacred centre in Karnataka, Alampur, Draksharama and Simhachalam show a similar development in
Andhra Pradesh. Tirupati was initially an important sacred- centre for the Tamil Vaishnavas but acquired a pan-
Indian character later in the Vijayanagara period. Jain centres of pilgrimage emerged in Gujarat and Rajasthan where
merchant and royal patronage led to the proliferation of Jain temples in groups in centres such as Osia, Mount Abu,
Inland Trade
A large variety of commodities were carried for trading through a network of trade routes in the country. There are
numerous inscriptions which refer to merchants carrying foodgrains, oil, butter, salt, coconuts, areca nuts, betel
leaves, madder, indigo, candid sugar, jiggery, thread cotton fabrics, blankets, metals, spices, etc. from one place to
another, and paying taxes and tolls on them. Benjamin Tudela, a Jesuit priest from Spain (twelfth century) noticed
wheat, barley and pulses, besides fibre and cotton cloth brought by the traders to the island of Kish in the Persian
Gulf on their way home from India. Al Idrisi also refers to the transshipment of rice from the country of Malabar to
Sri Lanka in the twelfth century. The export of palm sugar and coir for ropes is also done. Marco Polo refers to the
export of indigo from Quilon (on the Malabar Coast) and Gujarat. Besides, cotton fabrics, carpets, leather mats,
swords and spears also appear in various sources as important articles of exchange. High value items such as horses,
elephants, jewellery, etc. also came to various exchange centres.
The chief customers of Indian goods were of course the rich inhabitants of China, Arabia and Egypt. Many of the
Indian goods might have found their way to Europe as well as via Mediterranean. It needs to be highlighted that the
domestic demand was not insignificant. A new class of consumers emerged as a result of large scale land grants from
the eighth century onwards. The priests who earlier subsisted on meager fees offered at domestic and other rites were
now entitled to hereditary enjoyment of vast landed estates, benefices and rights. This new landowning class, along
with the ruling chiefs and rising mercantile class, became an important buyer of luxuries and necessities because of
their better purchasing power.
The brahmanical and non-brahmanical religious establishments, which commanded vast resources in the form of
landed estates and local levies, developed as important consumers of almost all marketable goods. They required not
only such articles as coconuts, betel leaves and areca nuts, which had acquired great ritual sanctity, but also increased
quantity of food for presentation to gods or for distribution as prasadam. The personnel of religious establishments,
which numbered up to many hundreds in case of big and important temples, constituted an important consuming
group to be fed and clothed by peasants, artisans and merchants. Thus big temples with their vast resources and varied
requirements also helped in generating commercial activity. This phenomenon was more marked in South India where
many temple sites became important commercial centres
Maritime Trade
During this period. large scale trading activities were carried through sea.
a) The Chief Participants
The period under survey was marked by great expansion of sea trade between the two extremities of Asia. viz. the
Persian Gulf and South China. India which lay midway between the two extremities greatly benefited from this trade.
The hazards of long sea voyages were sought to be curtailed by anchoring on the Indian coasts.
The Asian trade during these centuries was largely dominated by the Arabs. After having destroyed the important
port and market of' Valabhi in the eighth century, they made themselves the chief . Later in the trade and started
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________18
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
sending their ships to Southeast Asia and India. However, it did not affect the position of Arabs who continued to
maintain their supreme hold on the Asian trade.
Fragmentary information in indigenous sources and notices in foreign accounts suggest that despite the forceful
competition of the Arabs, Indians were going to the lands beyond the seas for trade from the tenth century onwards.
Abu Zaid, an Arab author of the tenth century refers to lndian merchants visiting Siraf in the Persian Gulf, while Ibn
Battuta (14th century) tells us of a colony of Indian merchants at Aden in the Red Sea. A Gujarati text of the 14th
century refers to a merchant Jagadu of Kutch who traded with Persia-with the help of lndian agents stationed at
Hormuz. In South India, the Colas, took keen interest in maritime trade. The Tamil inscriptions found in Malaya and
Sumatra indicate the commercial activities of Tamil mercantile community in these regions. The Colas also sent a
number of embassies to China to improve economic relations with her. They even sent naval expedition against the
Srivijaya empire in the eleventh century to keep the sea route to China safe for their trade. However, by and large the
references to the physical participation of Indian merchants are quite limited. This did not affect the demand for
Indian products which reached the outside world through the Arabs and the Chinese. -
b) Commodities Exchanged -
As regards the articles involved in the Asian trade, the Chinese texts indicate that the Malabar coast received silk,
porcelain-ware, camphor, cloves. wax, sandalwood. cardamom, etc. from China and South-east Asia. Most of these
may have been the items of re-export to the Arabian world, but some were meant for India, particularly the silk which
was always in great demand in local markets. Marco Polo informs us that the ships coming from the East to the ports
of Cambay in Gujarat brought, among other things, gold, silver and copper. Tin was another metal which came to
India from South-east Asia.
In return-for eastern products, India sent its aromatics and spices. Particularly pepper. Gujarat, Malwa. Malabar and
Coromandel sent cotton cloth to China. It is pointed out by Ibn Batruta (A.D. 1333) that fine cotton fabrics were rarer
and more highly priced than SIU in the cities of China.
India also exported ivory, rhinoceros horns, and some precious and semiprecious stones to China.
A number of Arabic inscriptions found at Cambay. Samaratha and Junagadh reveal that merchants and shippers from
the Persian Gulf visited Western lndia in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The ships coming to the Gujarat coast
from Hormuz in the Persian Gulf
Articles of trade
As regards the articles of trade with the Arab and the Western World, thy Jewish merchants carried many goods from
the West coast of India to the Egyptian markets. These included spices, aromatics, dyes, medicinal herbs, bronze and
brass vessels, textiles, pearls, beads, coconuts, etc. India also exported teakwood which was required for .ship-
building and house construction in the almost treeless areas of Persian Gulf and South Arabia. Some surplus food-
grains, mainly rice, were also sent out from the Indian ports to the communities in other coastal regions which did
not produce enough foodstuffs to meet their needs. The fine and embroidered leather mats of Gujarat were according
to Marco Polo highly priced in the Arab world.
India was also known for its iron and steel products, particularly the swords and spears, which enjoyed a wide market
in Western countries. As far as imports from the West are concerned, the most significant item was the horse. As the
number of feudal lords and chiefs increased in the early medieval period, the demand for' horses also increased
manifold. Horses were brought both by land and sea. Ibn Battuta tells us that horse-dealer coming through the
Northwestern land routes earned large profits. More than 10.000 horses were send annually to the Coromandel coast,
Cambay and other ports of India in the thirteenth century. Horses were brought from such plases as Aden, Persia, etc.
Besides horses, dates, ivory, coral, emralds, etc. were also brought to India from the West.
c) Ports
There were a number of ports on the Indian coasts, which not only served the inland trade network but also acted as
a link between the eastern and western trade. In fact; almost every creek that could provide facility for a safe
anchorage of ships, developed into a port of some national or international significance. On the mouth of the Indus,,
Debal was an important port. Chief ports on the Gujarat coast were Somanatha, Broach and Cambay.
Somanath had links with China in the East and Zanzibar (in Africa) in the West, Broach or ancient Bhrigukachha has
had a very long history. Cambay is known as Khambayat in Arabic sources, and Stambhatirtha in Sanskrit sources.
Its earliest reference goes back to the ninth century A.D. Sopara and Thana were other important ports on the Western
coast of India.
On the Malabar coast, Quilon had emerged as the most important port. The Arab Writers tell us that ships coming
from the West called at the port of Quilon for collecting fresh water before sailing for Kedah in South-east Asia.
ORGANISATION OF TRADERS
Assess the Lekhapaddhati as an important source for evaluating the society and economy of the 13th century CE
with special reference to Gujarat (20)(2013)
How did the temples of South India, as financial institutions, have deep impact on the social institutions of early
medieval period? Critically examine. (15) (2016)
The South Indian Temple as an Economie Centre The development of lands was but one of the economic activities
which medieval South Indian temples carried out. Withi n the area of their influence, which varied with the
importance and wealth of the temple, each temple was an important economic institution. The variegated economic
functions of medieval South Indian temples have been commented upon by most South Indian historians. Nilakanta
Sashtri spoke of temples as having the following economic functions : 'landholder, employer . . . consumer of goods
and services .. , and bank." The landholder function has already been dealt with sufficiently. The temple as an
employer of large numbers of persons may be seen in the eleventh century inscription from the Tanjore temple. Here,
609 temple servants are listed not including teachers and principal spiritual and secular officials. Mahalingam
mentioned an inscription of the Vijayanagar period which referred to a smaller temple with 370 temple servants.
Temples were also major consumers of local products which were regularly purchased and used for the performance
of ritual. Numerous inscriptions also refer to the loans made by temples to individuals and village assemblies for
economically productive and other purposes. Such loans would usually be secured by lands whose income the temple
would enjoy in lieu of interest. The variety of economic functions which South Indian Brahmanical temples came to
have by the Vijaya - nagar period may be viewed in the following developmental framework. Durin g the medieval
period, Brahmanical centres became religious centres with respect to a group of villages and other institutions. This
occurred as a result of the Hind u revival which made the Brahmanical temple the most significant institution for
bhakti worship. The rise of temples was the result of religious developments of the medieval period. Necessarily.
Brahmanical temples depended upon an allocation of resources in order to support rituals. Necessarily, also, the
temple developed close economic lies wit h local institutions not only as the recipient of their endowments, but as
landholder, employer, consumer, and source of loan funds. Hence, temples became economic as well as religious
centres. An important aspect of the relationship between the temple and the local institution with which economic
ties existed derived from the nature of religious endowments. Endowments were made for the provision of perpetual
services which, in the case of money, required investment for earnings. Study of the Tirupati and other South Indian
temples has suggested another aspect of the role of temples as economic centres in medieval South India. The rulers
of Vijayanagar, dedicated to the promotion of Hindu institutions, poured large sums of money into temples. This
money was not buried in vaults; it was pressed into immediate service by temple officials. At the Tirupati temple, the
form in which these sums of money were employed to earn an income was through irrigation investments. At
Srirangam. it appears, money endowments were employed in making commercial loans to business firms in
Trichinopoly. At other temples, such funds were loaned to village assemblies or individuals. It appears that every
temple had one, or perhaps several, ways in which its monev trusts could be employed for productive or other
purposes. The channeling of these funds with which the temples were endowed took place within what might be
thought of as an economic system formed by institutions and persons which had economic ties to the temple.
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________23
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
Society: the status of the Brahman and the new social order
BRAHMANICAL PERSPECTIVE: GROWING RIGIDITY
Coming of mlenchas such as the Hunas, Arabs, Turks, etc. had created a fear psychosis and-resulted in a tendency,
where the emphasis was on the need to preserve the age-old social order. Shankaracharya, the famous
religiophilosophic leader stated that the varna and ashramadharmas were in a disturbed state.
Dhanapala, a writer of the eleventh century, also talks about chaos in the conduct of vama order. Various rulers
between the sixth and thirteenth centuries make rather pompous claims about preserving the social order. These are
reflected in their inscriptions. Varnasram-dharma-sthapana, i.e. the establishment of the system of varna and
ashrama becomes a frequently used expression in contemporary inscriptions.
VOICES OF DISSENT
The fundamental basis of the caste system were being questioned, specially by non-brahmanical followers. Centuries
ago raised doubts about the rationale of castes based on birth. His anger was particularly heaped upon brahmanas.
Though these voices could not achieve significant breakthrough in the longrun. Simmering discontent against the
brahmanical social order head at regular intervals. No wonder, in Dhanuaparika (eleventh century) Jaina Amitagati
determined caste on the basis of personal conduct. The caste superiority of the brahmanas was challenged by the
Jainas. Kshmendra, the literary genius of Kashmir refers to Kula-Jatadarpa (divinity of caste and clan) as a disease
of the society for which he himself was a physician. The Padmapurana reveals a conflict of two ideologies-the
orthodox one enjoining on the shuba life of penury, and the heterodox one urging upon him the importance of wealth.
Broad classification of householders takes note of the following six categories:
the highest included chakravartins, the high ones comprised the feudal elite, the middle ones included traders,
moneylenders, possessors of cows, buffaloes, camels, horses, etc.
small businessmen and petty cultivators, the degraded ones such as the members of guilds off artisans and craftsmen,
and the highly degraded included chandaias and others following ignoble occupations I such as killing of birds and
animals.
It is obvious that this social categorisation takes note of economic factors in the determination of social status. Even
if such attempts were not aiming at a more egalitarian society than the one espoused and buttressed by the brahmanical
interest; even if such categorisations show their biases and prejudices, it needs to be highlighted that such
reconstructions were evidently more rational.
“Tantrism, if not in practice, at least on conceptual level challenged patriarchy;’ Examine Tantrism specially
keeping in mind the above context. (15) (2015)
Tantrism, so-called after its compositions, the Tantras, became widely practised from about the eighth century when
it gradually surfaced throughout the subcontinent. It upholds a belief and practice contrary to Vedic Brahmanism.
Tantrism is often associated with five elements (panchatattva) – namely madira (alcohol), mamsa (meat), matsya
(fish), mudra (physical practices), and maithuna (sexual intercourse).
Tantrism challenged patriarchy:
(1) Tantrism was open to all castes and included women in the rituals, which identified it with non-orthodox
sentiment.
(2) Tantrism had three interconnected features: a higher status given to women, sexual rituals and the presence of
many female deities. Women were bracketed with the sudras in the Brahmanical order, tantrism tried to raise their
traditional ritual status through Tantric initiations.
(3) Tantra considers Godhead as involving the union of a masculine and feminine aspect. Energy (shakti) is conceived
of as feminine and is central to the Tantric view of the Universe and liberation.
(4) Goddesses were acccorded great veneration, as is evident from the collection of legends in the Devi-mahatmya.
The devi or goddess, had an individuality of her own and was worshipped for this rather that merely as a consort of
a god. The symbols associated with the worship of a Devi often derived from forms of fertility worship, which is not
unexpected.
(5) Women were permitted to establish their own ashramas, to act as priestesses and to teach.
Although, Tantrism has often been condemned for its more extreme activities, it seems to have been a vehicle for
opposition to the brahmanical ordering of society.
Tantrism influenced Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Mother goddesses of tribal people were accommodated as
Shakti in Hinduism, as Tara in Buddhism, as various forms of Yakshinis in Jainism.
It can be concluded that ”At a conceptual level, but not in terms of introducing change into social codes, Tantrism
challenged patriarchy”.
Temple Architecture
Indian temples have symbolised the very ethos of life-style of people through the millennia. The panorama of Indian
temple architecture may be seen across at extremely wide chronological and geographical horizon. From the simple
beginnings at Sanchi in the fifth century of the Christian era to the great edifices at Kanchi, Jhanjaw and Madurai is
a story of more than a millennium.
Major styles
The ancient texts on Indian temple architecture broadly classify them into three orders. The terms Nagara, Dravida
and Vesara indicate a tendency to highlight typological features of temples and their geographical distribution: These
terms describe respectively temples that primarily employ square, octagonal and apsidal ground plans which also
regulate the vertical profile of the structure. Nagara and, Dravida temples are generally identified with the northern
and southern temple styles respectively. All of northern India, from the foothills of the Himalayas to the central
plateau of the Deccan is furnished with temples in the northern style. There are, of course, certain regional variations
in the great expanse of this area. A work entitled Aparajitapriceha confines the Nagari (Nagara) style to the
Madhyadesha (roughly the Ganga-Yamuna plains) and further mentions Lati and Vaimti (Gujarat and Rajasthan
respectively) as separate styles. The local manuscripts of Orissa recognise four main types of Orissa style temples,
viz., the Rehka, Bhadra, Kharkhara and Gaudiya. The Dravida or southern style, comparatively speaking,
followed a more consistent development track and was confined to the most southernly, portions of the sub-continent,
specially between the Krishna river and Kanyakumari. The term Vesara is not free from vagueness. Some of the texts
ascribe the Vesara style to the country between the Vindhyas and the river Krishna but there are texts placing it
'between the Vindhyas and the Agastya, the location of which is uncertain. Since the temples of the Nagara type are
found as far south as Dharwad (in Karnataka) and those of the Dravidian type as far north as Ellora (in Maharashtra),
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________28
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
a narrow and compartmentalized geographical classification is misleading. At certain periods there occurred striking
overlapping of major styles as influence from different regions conformed each other, e.g., the temples of the early
Chalukyas whose kingdom was strategically positioned in the middle of the peninsula in the seventh and eighth
centuries. The Kandariya Mahadeva temple in Khajuraho is another striking example many architectural elements
'combined into an integrated whole. the Kerala temples display variety in their plan . Square, circular or upside ended
buildings are utilized. The earliest examples in Kerala go back to the twelfth century.
Give a brief account of the early medieval temple architecture of Kashmir. (10) (2015)
The architecture of medieval Kashmir may be said to begin at the seventh centuries A.D. It almost ended with the
transfer of the kingdom from Hindu to Muslim hands in A.D. 1337.
The buildings which represent Medieval Kashmiri Architecture, may be divided into two classes: The Buddhist
architecture and the Hindu architecture.
In point of materials, ornament, and technique, there is practically no difference between the two, but the religious
needs of the two communities being in certain essentials different, they differ widely in plan and elevation.
Influence of Buddhist Architecture
The Buddhists, who inherited a long artistic tradition, naturally adhered to their old models, though they employed
better materials and somewhat elaborated the decoration. The material brought into use was a beautiful grey
limestone, which was easy to carve, and presented a very smooth surface when properly dressed.
There was a great influence of the Buddhist architecture on Hindu Temples of Kashmir.
Though the religious needs of the Hindus did not necessitate their borrowing stupas and sangharamas from the
Buddhists, such considerations did not lie in the way of their taking advantage of the experience the latter had
gained in temple-building.
The needs of the two communities were the same in two respects: a chamber was required for installation of a
divine image (whether of the Buddha and the Bodhisattva or of Vishnu and any other Hindu deity is of little
importance), and accommodation was required for worshippers.
Parihasapura is the only surviving example of a Buddhist chaitya, or temple. The roof of the shrine was probably
pyramidal which influenced the Hindu temples.
The main architectural features of the temples of the kashmir are summarised as follows:-
(1) The earlier temple architecture of Kashmir were simpler, and that art progressed step by step, up to a certain
point, from the simple to the more elaborate.
(2) The temples face east or west.
(2)The temples have straight-edged pyramidal roofs in two tiers instead of the curvilinear superstructure of the
southern temples.
This was influnced by early Budhist architecture in Kashmir.
(3)The triangular pediment enclosing trefoil niches is on all the four sides of the main shrine.
(4)The cellular layout with the row of pillars is also a peculiar style. In some temples, fluted pillars are found which
is quite unique.
(5)The double chambered gateway matches the central shrine in scale and design.
Some examples of the temples of the early medieval time
(1) Martand temple:
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________30
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
This is among the earliest example of the Hindu temple in Kashmir, which is also the greatest and one of the most
finished of all the Kashmir temples.
It was built by Lalitaditya of the karkota dynasty. Dedicated to the sun god this magnificent edifice is located on a
karewa temple land.
The temple stands in the middle of a large courtyard enclosed by a cellular peristyle, once having 86 fluted
columns.
The temple proper contains grabhagriha, anatrala and closed mandapa, approached by a grand flight of steps.
Exteriorly, the sanctum is three ratha in plan. The quadrangular peristyle is among the largest in Kashmir. It is
entered on the west with a double chambered gateway that shares the width of the main temple.
The temple built of huge limestone ashlars is the one of the greatest monuments of Kashmir.
(2) Avantishvara temple:
It was built by Avantivarman of the utpala dynasty. It is dedicated to lord shiva.
The temple is of panchayatana type. The gateway of the temple is double chambered and is devoid of any
ornamentation. The main sanctum is raised on a high platform.
Temples bear two or three roofs which were also compiled from the usual wooden roofs. In the wooden examples
the interval between the two roofs seems to have been left open for light and air; in the stone buildings it is dosed
with ornaments. Besides this, all these roofs are relieved by types of windows comparable to those found i6 medieval
buildings in Europe. Example of such roofs in Kashmir may be seen in Shiva temple at Pandrethan and Sun temple
at Martand.
By mid eighth century the erstwhile powerful kindgoms of the Pallavas and Chalukyas were spent forces. However,
their legacies were inherited by their political successors, viz., the Cholas and the Rashtrakutas respectively. Also,
the political law of a tussle between the power based in the Kaveri Valley and that of Karnataka became a concrete
course for many centuries. This was the case of not only the relations between the Rashtrakutas and the Pallavas in
the late eighth and early ninth centuries but also of the strained ties between the Rashtrakutas and the Cholas, when
the later succeeded the Pallavas. Western Chalukyas, the political successors of the Rashtrakutas, continued the trend
and were often at loggerheads with the Cholas from the early eleventh century. Very often the small chiefdoms of
the Deccan such as those of the Nolambas, Vaidumbas, Banas, etc. became victims of these big power rivalries. Vengi
(coastal Andhra Pradesh) was also an important bone of contention amongst these powers.
The post tenth century scene in the south is also marked by three important phenomena :
i) internecine wars amongst the Cholas, Pandyas and the Cheras,
ii) involvement of Sri Lanka, and
iii) expansion of Indian influence beyond the sea, particularly in the Southeast Asia. This climaxed in the naval
expedition in the times of the Chola King Rajendra-I (first half of the eleventh’ century).
The Cholas under Rajendra- I had also reached up to the Ganga Valley-a venture immortalised in the great temple at
Gangaikondacholapuram (north east of Thanjavur).
The writings on this subject s i h the early 1960s have broadly followed three approaches, viz., emphasizing feudal,
segmentary and integrative character of polity
Feudal Polity
It is based on the pan-lndian character of land grants. It focuses on :
a) administrative structure based on the control and possession of land,
b) fragmentation of political authority,
c) hierarchy of landed intermediaries,
d) dependence of peasants on landlords, ,
e) oppression end immobility of peasants. and
f) restricted use of metal money. The dependence of the peasants on landlords might differ from region to region.
However, the development of agriculture. handicrafts, commodity production, trade and commerce and of
urbanisation could create conditions for differentiation in the ranks of the peasantry. Hierarchical control over land
was created by sub-infeudation in certain areas. Which gave rise to graded types of landlords. Recently the validity
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________34
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
of the feudal formation in the context of medieval India has been questioned. It bas been suggested that the medieval
society was characterised by self dependent or free peasant production. The peasants had control over the means and
the processes of production. It is added that there was relative stability in social and economic structure and there was
not much range at the level of techniques of agricultural production. The conflicts were over the distribution and
redistribution of the surplus than over a redistribution of means of production. The appropriation of agrarian surplus
to ;he state formed the chief instrument of exploitation. The high fertility of land and the low subsistence level of the
peasant facilitated the state appropriation of the surplus in conditions of relative stability. This line of approach does
not take note of superior rights and inferior rights of one party or another over land. In fact in early medieval times
in the same piece of land the peasant held inferior rights and the landlords held superior rights. The land grants clearly
made the position of landlords stronger over the land as compared to that of peasants. The critique of feudal polity
unfortunately does not take note of massive evidence in support of the subjection and immobility of peasantry, which
is an indispensable element in feudal system. Also, this critique is a disguised attempt to reinforce the colonialist
view of stagnating and unchanging Indian society.
Segmentary State
An attempt has been ,made to view the medieval polity, particularly that of the medieval South India, in terms of
segmentary state. The segmentary state is understood as one in which the spheres of ritual suzerainty and political
sovereignty do not coincide. The titular suzerainty extends widely towards a flexible, changing periphery and the
political sovereignty is confined to the central core area. In segmentary 'state there exist several levels of subordinate
foci, organised pyramid ally beyond a royal centre- From the primary centre of the ruling dynasty kings unified their
subordinate centres ideologically. In the state segments actual political control was exercised by l o d elite. It is also
assumed that there existed close co-operation between brahmanas and dominant peasants. However, the segmentary
state formulation has some limitations. Ritual suzerainty is confused with cultural suzerainty. It also relegates the
different foci of power to the periphery and does not see them as components of the state power. Moreover, the
eterogeneous character of South Indian peasantry is not adequately understood. In so far as the notion of segmentary
state subordinates political and economic dimensions of the State structure to its ritual dimensions, it does not inspire
much confidence. The notion has been applied to the Rajput polity as well.
Integrative Polity political process calls for consideration of the presence of established norms and nuclei of state
system, horizontal spread of state system implying transformation of pre-state polities into state polities and
integration of local polities into a structure that went beyond the bounds of local polities. The proliferation of ruling
lineage (ruling families) is seen as social mobility process in early medieval India. The diffused foci of power are
represented by what is broadly called as the samanta system. The samanta were integrated into the structure of polity
in which the overlord-subordinate relation came to be dominate over their levels of relation in the structure. The
transformation of the samanta into a vital component of the political structure is itself an evidence of ranking and in
turn clarifies the political basis of integration. Rank as the basis of political organisation implies differential access
to the centre as also shifts within the system of ranking. It is also assumed that the rank as the basis of political
organisation generated crisis between the rankholders and also between them and the overlord. This emphasis on
ranking brings the integrative polity formulation closer to the notion of segmentary state. The integrative' polity, like
the feudal polity, sees political processes in terms of a parallels with contemporary economic, social and religious
developments, such as:
i) horizontal spread of rural agrarian settlements
ii) horizontal spread of the dominant ideology of social order based on varna division, and
iii) integration of local cults, rituals and sacred centres into a larger structure.
However, this formulation suffers from definitional vagueness. The samantas even in their trans-political sense
remained a landed aristocracy. More importantly, neither the segmentary state nor the integrative polity models
provide alternative material bases which could be contrasted with that of the feudal polity. Both integration and
segmentation can be explained in terms of land grants which formed the crucial element in the feudal structure. In as
much as local landlords of chieftains derived their fiscal and administrative powers from the King (the overlord), paid
tributes and performed military and administrative obligations towards him. they Worked for integration. On the
other hand, when they ruled over the local peasants in an autonomous manner it amounted to the segmentation of
authority. "Lineage geography" which is crucial for the reconstruction in terms of integrative polity, is not available
6n pan-India scale. Except in the case of the Chauhans and Paramaras, 'lineage' did not play an important part in the
organisation of polity. Even ranks were formed on the basis of unequal distribution of land and its revenue resources.
Similarly, the distinction between political and ritual suzerainty coupled with their association with the core and the
periphery respectively, which is considered the cornerstone of the concept of the segmentary state suffers from the
Feudalisation of Bureaucracy
Numerous officials art: listed in inscriptions belonging to almost all North Indian states. Mention of nearly four dozen
officials and vassals-some of them even being hereditary. More than two dozen officials are listed in the Gahadavala
inscriptions. The situation was no different in the territories of the Cahamanas, Chandellas and the Kalachuris. Even
feudatories kept a long retinue of the officers. More than two dozen of them functioned under Sangrama Gupta, a
mahamandalika of the Kamatas of Mithila. The feudalisation of the titles and designations of these officials, becomes
a conspicuous phenomenon of the times. An indicator of this development is the use of the prefix maha. While the
early Pala kings such as Dharmapala and Devapala had less then half a dozen maha-prefixed officials, the number
went up to nine under Navayanapala. The number of such officials under Samgrama Gupta was as high as eighteen.
One can even discern a pattern in this newly emerged set up-the lower the power of the lord the larger the number of
the dignitaries bearing the title maha in his kingdom. Similarly, the later. the kingdom, the greater the number of
maha prefixed functionaries. The growing feudalisation of officials is also found in the practice of using the same
terminology to express the relationship between the officials and the King as was used between the vassals and the
King. The expressions such as padapadmopajiyin, rajapadopajivin, padaprasadopajivin, puamesvara-padopajivin, etc,
applied to both vassals and officials, They indicate that officers subsisted on the favour of their masters and thus show
that they were being feudalised. Officials were placed in various feudal categories according to their status and
importance. Even kayastha scribes were invested with such titles as ranaca and thakkura to indicate their feudal and
social rank rather than their functions
Kalhan’s Rajtarangini,
In the 12th century, one man decided to write for the purpose of history, and as a historian. Kalhana is regarded as
the first historian of India. In 1148 CE, Kalhana started writing the history of the rulers of Kashmir, starting from
legends to the kings and queens of the 12th century. It took him two years to complete the book, and in 1150 CE he
had completed the Rajatarangini – the River of Kings.
The Rajatarangini
The Rajatarangini is a Sanskrit kavya composition (poetic metre), of 7,826 verses, set in eight cantos of varying
length; each a Taranga or a wave. Kalhana used multiple sources to chronicle this sequential history of the kings of
Kashmir, including sculpture, architecture, coinage, and manuscripts, because of which he makes claim for an
authentic representation of history.
Rajatarangini is a class by itself in Indian literature. It is very much different from Charitas, which were composed
under royal patronage. The scholar-poets of Charitas had the rare gift of inventing fables and myths and applying
their talent in glorifying the achievements of their patrons. Their works are masterpieces of literature dabbling in
subtle poetic art, rhetorical beautification, and Alankarshastra. Rajatarangini on the other hand, is the work of a
detached and impartial mind, viewing the past and present with great historical insight and not in a spirit of hero
worship or pleasing patron. Rajatarangini, not only forms a class by itself in Sanskrit language compositions but has
a striking resemblance in character to the chronicles of mediaeval Europe and of the Islamic East.
For the last two chapters of his book, the main sources were his contemporaries, his father, fellow-countrymen and
his own memory. Thus many incidents of the treachery of Bhiksachara's troops, he emphatically writes, were
witnessed by him. It is no surprise that much of the history of the previous two generations, he got from his father
and father's friends who held key-posts in the politics of their times.
Of the eight cantos or books, the earlier ones primarily draw from the Itihaas-Purana tradition. The middle ones are
drawn from various sources; the later ones, which deal with the 8th-12th century history of Kashmir, are the most
accurate.
Composition of Rajatarangini
The Rajatarangini consists of eight books (Chapters) of unequal size, written in Sanskrit language in nearly 8,000
verses of rare literary merit. The text may roughly be divided into three sections:
2. Books 4 to 6, dealing with Karakota and Utpala dynasties. Here, he has made extensive use of the works of
earlier chroniclers who were contemporaries or near contemporaries of the events they described.
3. Books 7 and 8, dealing with the two Lohara dynasties. In these he made use of personal knowledge and eye-
witness accounts, the latter often perhaps received at second or third hand.
The Sanskrit style of Rajatarangini is similar to that of the accepted style of the Pundits of Brahmin descent. The
introduction to each book of his chronicle is begun by prayers to Lord Shiva in his form of Ardhnarishwar
representing the God in union with Parvati.
The instructive feature of Rajatarangini may be traced to the selection of Sana Rasa i.e. sentiment of resignation.
Here Kalhana's has taken it as a motive to show that material prosperity and royal possessions are objects of
transitory glory. The evil acts of man will turn around and get him some time or the other as this is destiny. In the
same way, acts of policy, statecraft and individual conduct are again and again praised and analysed in the light of
Dharma or Nitishastra.
Content of Rajatarangini
Rajatarangini is a sage showing the force of Karma. Whatever good or bad a man does in this life, according to
Kalhana, reaps the harvest for that in the life to come. Often the force of Karma shapes events and provides the
basic moral sanction. Fate, according to Kalhana, is the second force influencing the human destiny. Fate is
sometimes used as a synonym for God. God or the Gods often influence human affairs. Sometimes adverse fate is
overcome by those who trust in their arms. Here also Rajatarangini gives another hopeful message to his
countrymen that whatever fate the creator might have in store for them, only a strong king confident of his powers
could save Kashmir. Rajatarangini interlinks the Karma of the Kings with that of his subjects. Good Kings arise
through the merits of their subject. A king and his subjects could mould the orders of nature.
Rajatarangini appears to wage a war in favour of benevolent despotism and strongly disapproves of feudalism.
Believing in orthodox Rajniti (state-craft), he had his own conception of good government. Explicitly or implicitly
Rajatarangini carries the idea that a strong king is the ideal king, who has firm control over unruly elements, but is
benevolent towards his people and sympathetic to their wishes. He chooses his ministers with discretion, and listens
to their counsels with respect. Kalhana has shown his steady disapproval of the demurs, the petty feudal chiefs, who
were the cause of anarchy and confusion in Kashmir since the death of Harsha. Another motive, perhaps, in writing
Rajatarangini was to inspire the kings of Kashmir with their ancient glory and prowess, and to curb the unruly
elements, who aimed at making the king weak. At times Kalhana becomes pessimistic. The words put in the mouth
of Harsha symbolises it- "This-land, after having been a virtuous woman, has fallen like a prostitute into the arms
of the insolent. Henceforth, whoever knows how to succeed by mere intrigue will aspire to that Kingdom whose
power has gone." Here the historian shows his prophetic vision. He is no more simply a poet or a scholar.
Shortcomings of Rajatarangini
This great work has also some shortcomings. The sources used by him, were not critically analysed and discussed.
His narrative becomes more legendary in the middle of the ninth century, when one seems to reach contemporary
records. There are a number of fantastic and often unbelievable stories which have been described by him as being
historical truths. Naturally his credibility is questioned when such exaggerations are portrayed as the truth.
Similarly, Kalhana's chronology is also not based on scientific data. Of course, one cannot expect critical judgment
in matters of chronology from an author who has started dating history from a legendary date of the coronation of
Yudhisthar from the epics, and attributes three hundred years to a single ruler, Ranadilya. Kalhana could not and
should not be blamed for this, as it was a general trend among the Indians. Rajatarangini also presents a contrast
within itself. Its earlier part is a mass of fiction, and later part, that is early medieval part, is real history. It vividly
describes the falling glory of Kashmir- the palace intrigues, murders, rebellious civil wars and treachery.
Kalhana, in writing Rajatarangini, set a tradition for history writing. His book, after him, was continued by four
successive historians from the point where he left, to some years after Kashmir's annexation by the Mughal
Emperor Akbar. The task of a historian, according to Kalhana, is to make clear the pictures of a bygone era.
Kalhana was aware that his work would not only achieve permanency, but would enliven all the actors as well as
himself. He had another object also in view. He says "This saga, which is properly made up, should be useful for
kings as a stimulant or a sedative, like a physic, according to time and place". Kalhana expected that both good and
Limitations of Kalhan
However Kalhana does not assert that he is a scientific investigator. He chose to patch up a continuous narrative.
This has resulted in an absurd chronology and Kalhana is unable to recognize this absurdity. His attitude to heroic
legend is same as that of an average man. He accepts without hesitation the ancient legends of the epic. However
his outlook was diffused by the narrow limits of his home and its isolation. Therefore one would not find any real
appreciation of the relations of Kashmir to the outer world. The invasions of the Huns and Kushanas are puzzled
and misinterpreted.
Another Kashmirian trait revealed in his composition is acceptance of witchcraft as legitimate cause of deaths. Its
absurdity was never felt by Kalhana. Fate was considered as a cause of action but Kalhana does not take care to
show that it can be reconciled with the doctrine of Karma. Possession by demons is accepted by Kalhana. He also
accepts man's power who starves himself to death to bring about terrible effects. However he hated the Brahmanical
employment of this device to influence imperial policy. Kalhana seriously records and believes in the rebirth by
witches of Sandhimati.
Kalhana tries to prove that evil deeds meet vengeance. He does not advance to any philosophy of history. He
criticises individual action on the basis of established rules of the Shastras. Kalhana made an effort to attain his own
ideal. His treatment of Emperor Harsha supports this impression. Kalhana's description of incidents appears to
achieve a high standard of accuracy and impart personal knowledge.
Alberuni’s India
Comment on the veracity of Alberuni’s account of the Indian society. (10) (2016)
• Al-Biruni (973 – 1048) was a Persian scholar and Polymath from the Khwarezm region. He is regarded as
one of the greatest scholars of the medieval Islamic era and was well versed in physics, mathematics,
astronomy, and natural sciences, and also distinguished himself as a historian and chronologist.
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________39
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
• In religion he was a Shi’ite Muslim, but with agnostic tendencies. His poetical works seek to combine Greek
wisdom and Islamic thought.
• He spent a large part of his life in Ghazni in modern-day Afghanistan, capital of the Ghaznavid dynasty. In
1017 he traveled to the Indian subcontinent and authored “Kitab Tarikh Al-Hind” (History of India) after
exploring the Hindu faith practised in India. He is given the titles the “founder of Indology”. He was an
impartial writer on custom and creeds of various nations. Most of the works of Al-Biruni are in Arabic.
• Al-Biruni’s Kitab-ul-Hind is simple and lucid. It is divided into 80 chapters on subjects such as religion and
philosophy, festivals, astronomy, alchemy, manners and customs, social life, weights and measures,
iconography, laws and metrology. He extensively quotes from vast corpus of Sanskrit literature, like
Patanjali, Gita, Puranas, Samkhya philosophy etc.
• Al-Biruni adopted a distinctive structure in each chapter, beginning with a question, following this up with a
description based on Sanskrit traditions, and concluding the chapter with a comparison with other cultures.
• He expresses his objective with simple eloquence: “I shall not produce the arguments of our antagonists in
order to refute such of them, as I believe to be in the wrong. My book is nothing but a simple historic record
of facts. I shall place before the reader the theories of the Hindus exactly as they are, and I shall mention in
connection with them similar theories of the Greeks in order to show the relationship existing between them.”
• Al-Biruni attempts to understand the Hindu culture in its own terms, letting the subject matter speak for itself.
The concern to record facts as they are, without any prejudgments, is one of the most significant aspects of
Al-Biruni’s methodology.
• An example of Al-Biruni’s analysis is his summary of why many Hindus hate Muslims. He explains that
Hinduism and Islam are totally different from each other. Moreover, Hindus in 11th century India had
suffered through waves of destructive attacks on many of its cities, and Islamic armies had taken numerous
Hindu slaves to Persia which, claimed Al-Biruni, contributed to Hindus becoming suspicious of all
foreigners, not just Muslims. Hindus considered Muslims violent and impure, and did not want to share
anything with him.
• It is clear that India at that time was not an ideal place for a foreigner like Al-Biruni whose intention was to
study this new culture with a view to establishing friendly relations between the two cultures, Hinduism and
Islam. Al-Beruni wrote his work on India to provide, in his own words, “the essential facts for any Muslim
who wanted to converse with Hindus and to discuss with them questions of religion, science, or literature.”
According to Al-Biruni, dialogue with Hindus was necessary since there were many subjects that were
intricate and obscure, which would be perfectly clear if there were more connection between Muslims and
Hindus. Al-Biruni is the first scholar, at least in the Muslim world, whose interest in other religious traditions
went beyond the then common tendency of treating the Hindus as heretics or polytheists, despite their
apparently idolatrous practices.
• Over time, Al-Biruni won the welcome of Hindu scholars. Al-Biruni collected books and studied with these
Hindu scholars to become fluent in Sanskrit, discover and translate into Arabic the mathematics, science,
medicine, astronomy and other fields of arts as practiced in 11th century India. He was inspired by the
arguments offered by Indian scholars who believed earth must be ellipsoid shape, with yet to be discovered
continent at earth’s south pole, and earth’s rotation around the sun is the only way to fully explain the
difference in daylight hours by latitude, seasons and earth’s relative positions with moon and stars.
• He read the major Indian religious and astronomical texts; in his account he highlights parts of
the Gita, the Upanishads, Patanjali, Puranas, the four Vedas, scientific texts (by Nagarjuna, Aryabhata,
etc.), relating stories from Indian mythology to make his point. He also compares Indian thought to the Greek
thought of Socrates, Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle and others, and at times with Sufi teaching.
1. The first amongst these was language. According to him, Sanskrit was so different from Arabic and Persian
that ideas and concepts could not be easily translated from one language into another.
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________40
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
2. The second barrier he identified was the difference in religious beliefs and practices.
3. The self-absorption and consequent insularity of the local population constituted the third barrier.
4. He was aware of these problems so Al-Biruni depended almost exclusively on the works of Brahmanas, often
citing passages from the Vedas, the Puranas, Bhagavad Gita, the works of Patanjali, the Manusmriti, etc., to
provide an understanding of Indian society.
• Alberuni extensively quotes Sanskrit literatures to discuss the Hindu belief in God. He says that the Hindus
believe with regard to God that he is one, eternal, without beginning and end.
• He observes the belief of the educated class different from that of uneducated class. The former strives to
conceive abstract ideas and to define general principles while the later is happy with the derived rules without
going into details. For the uneducated class, Al-Biruni finds most of their views on the concept of God are
simply abominable. But he goes on to argue that similar errors occur in other religious traditions.
• He sums up the Hindu definition of God in the following words: “They call him Isvara i.e. self-sufficing,
beneficient, who gives without receiving. They consider the unity is really a plurality of things. The existence
of God they consider as a real existence, because everytjing that it exist through him.”
• He further enlists differing Hindu opinions for example on such philosophical concepts as action and agent.
According to Hindu belief, the spirits or the soul do not differ from each other in substance but have an
identical nature. However, their individual characters and manners differ as bodies with which they are united
differ.
• He also discuss at length the Hindu convepts of paradise and hell. The Hindu call the word “loka” i.e.
paradise, the low “nagarloka” i.e. world of the serpents, which is hell besides they call it naraloka, and
sometimes also “patala”, i.e. the world of men. He quotes Vishnu Purana to elucidate the Hindu traditions of
a large number of hells, of their qualities and their names and the special hell for each kind of sin. Hindus are
known to consider swarloka (paradise) as a higher state where a man lives in the state of bliss due to his
previous good deeds. On the contrary, they consider migration through plants and animals as a lower stage,
where a man dwell for punishment for a certain length of time.
• He also discusses the concept of Moksha. He makes a very interesting parallel between Patanjali’s definition
of ‘Moksha’ and the term of Sufi for the ‘knowing’, being and his attaining the ‘state of knowledge’.For Sufis
also there is believe that a human being has two souls – an eternal one, not exposed to change and alteration,
and another, a human soul, which is liable to bring change.
Criticisms
Evaluate the ‘Kitab al-Hind’ of Alberuni as a source of history of India. (15) (2014)
• To Al-Beruni the Hindus were excellent philosophers, good mathematicians and astronomers, though [out of
a certain self-confidence] he believes himself to be superior to them, and disdains to be put on a level with
them. He does not conceal whatever he considers wrong and unpractical with them, but he duly appreciates
their mental achievements … and whenever he hits upon something that is noble and grand both in science
and in practical life, he never fails to lay it before his readers with warm-hearted words of approbation.
Speaking of the construction of the ponds at holy bathing-places, he says: “In this they have attained a very
high degree of art, so that our people (the Muslims), when they see them, wonder at them, and are unable to
describe them, much less to construct anything like them.”
• According to Al-Biruni, not only was the available literature on Hinduism insufficient, it was also misleading,
which was a more serious violation of being truthful to truth (al-haqq). He complains, “Everything which
exists on this subject in our literature is second hand information which one copied from the other, a farrago
of materials never sifted by the sieve of critical examination.” This, according to Al-Biruni, was inconsistent
with the ethical framework provided by the Scriptures of both Christianity and Islam. He illustrates his
argument by referring to the Qur’an and the Bible. The Qur’an reads, “Speak the truth, even if it were against
yourselves.”
• Al-Biruni was critical of Indian scribes who he believed carelessly corrupted Indian documents while making
copies of older documents.
• Alberubi was among the first scholar to study India and the Hindu scientific literature. Alberuni was
impressed most by the Indian knowledge of astronomy, metrology, arithmetic and geography which he
mentioned in Kitab al-Hind.
Astronomy
• He makes observation that science of astronomy is thr most popular wih the Indians because in various ways
it is connected with their religion and that is why Indian astronomer should also be a
good astrologer.He mentions the planets and their motions, the 12 signs of the Zodiac, the motion and
different stages of the moon. He also describes the composition of the Earth and the Heavens as given in the
Hindu sculptures. He discusses various astronomical terms such as kalpa, adhimasa etc and analyzes
them. He makes comparison between Geek science of astronomy and the Indian.
• Alberuni discusses the five Siddhantas (standard books) on the Indian astronomy:
Meterology
In meterology, Alberuni enlists contemporary weights and measures like Suvarna, tola, Masha and Yava,
Kala, Pada, Kudava, Prastha, Adhaka, Dropa and Surpa.
An interesting comparison has been made between tola and the Arabic Mithkal and Alberuni also worked
out the equivalent weight of the two.
Arithmetic
In arithmetic, Alberuni’s interest lies in the Indian order of numbers. He mentions the eighteen orders of
numbers listed in Sanskrit literature.
Alberuni quotes the famous Indian astronomer Brahmagupta on the science of numerical writing.
Brahmagupta wrotes: “If you want to write one, express it by everything, which is unique, as the earth; two by
everything which is double,as, e.g. black and white; three by everything which is three-fold.”
On Geography
Because of his travels, he was able to see different geographic features first-hand, and come up with theories
as to how they are connected. By analyzing the different types of soil particles in the Ganges River from its source to
the Bay of Bengal, al-Biruni formulated theories about erosion and how land forms are shaped, particularly noting
the role of water in this process.
He makes extensive use of Puranic tradition to discuss Indian knowledge of geography. He begins with the
Indian concept of Madhyadesha (area around Kannauj) i.e. middle of India. Distance between Kannauj and various
parts of the country are noted such as Mathura, Shanesvara, Prayag, Banaras, Patliputra, Kashmir etc.
He also gives a detailed account of the routes to Nepal, Tibet, Malwa, Gujarat, North West India and some
parts of Soithern India. References are made of South-East Asia and those of the Chinese Sea. An account of
Varshakala (the monsoon season) in India is given He lists various rivers of India as given in Vayu Purana and Matsya
Purana and great knots of the mythical Mt. Abu from where these rivers flow.
Al-Biruni’s Kitab Al-Hind is in many respects a valuable source to study Indian culture and history. His research
methodology is innovative and the data provided is generally accurate. Whereas the compilation date of his work,
namely around 1030 A.D., is known to us, his field of investigation, that is to say the territory covered by his
research as well as his sources, is still subject to doubt.
1. First, he rarely makes mention of where his visits took place, or when they did;
2. Second the Kitab-al -Hind itself is lacking in positive evidence;
3. Finally, sometimes difficulty arises in distinguishing the historical events from the legendary ones.
• The definition of his field of investigation is however crucial for the purpose of using the Kitab al -Hind as
a historical source in an appropriate manner.
• Biruni travelled from Uzbekistan, his birth-place, to the East under the protection of Mahmud, the Ghaznavid
ruler. Biruni’s mobility depended thus on the conquered boundaries of Mahmud’s empire. Therefore, a
distinction between the conquered and unconquered world is needed in order to assess the depth of his
information as well as the methodology he employed for gathering information.
• The majority of scholars considers that Biruni’s travels were confined to the boundaries of the Ghaznavid
dominion. The question of whether Biruni travelled indeed beyond the conquered borders is however less
relevant than knowing whether he really needed to pass across these boundaries in order to
collect information.
• Kashmir Valley was not included in the Ghaznavid empire as he explicitly indicates two unreachable locales,
namely Kashmir and Varanasi. Yet he gives generous information on the Kashmir Valley: he describes at
length geographical, ethnic and social features; he names cities and mountains; he lists itineraries leading to
the Kashmir Valley and he mentions customs of Kashmir’s inhabitants; he knows which alphabets and scripts
were in use; and he presents detailed accounts of religious practices and of astronomy. As compared to
any other region of India, the Kashmir Valley is perhaps the one described in most minute details in the
Kitab al-Hind. The amount and accuracy of information given by him about this area suggests first that its
isolation has to be reconsidered, and second that hisinformation did not rest on direct observation.
• Indeed, it is possible to draw out from the Kitab al-Hind how he obtained his information. For instance, in
another extract, he describes certain mobility between people of Kashmir Valley and other areas of India in
strictly religious sense and deals with visits to different places of pilgrimage in Kashmir by outsiders. Also
he describe how he interacted with Kashmir by giving account of circulation of written documents between
the conquered and unconquered (Kashmir) world. His expression “the people of Kashmir whom I
• Mahmud’s policy with regard to science played a role in Biruni’s discovery and knowledge of Indian society.
Promotion of scholarship was essential for rulers at that time. The presence of poets or scholars at the court
of the sultan added to his prestige and reputation. In a sense, the writers contributed to create sultans’ best
image at the time. To possess within one’s court numerous scholars and artists also constituted a sign of
prosperity and power, and ultimately helped to assert one’s authority over its dependent dynasties and in
relation to the Caliphate.
• Moreover, Mahmud encouraged scholarship. He brought Biruni from Khwarezm to his court at the same time
as he attracted the poet Firdawi and the physician and philosopher Ibn Sina, who however refused to join his
court.
• Furthermore, Mahmud needed people fluent in Indian languages in order to help him in his military raids and
negotiations in al-Hind. In this context, it seems more than probable that Indian pandits and books had been
brought to Ghazna or to Kabul where Biruni spent some years; which corroborates the preceding remarks
concerning the origin of his source of information. It also emerges from the Kitab al-Hind that Biruni had
familiarized himself with various fields of Sanskrit literature.
The Brahmadeya
Land grants to brahmanas are known from early historic times. However, it is only by the end of the sixth century
that it assumed an institutional character in the Tamil region. Brahmadeys were invariably created by ruling families
in hitherto uncultivated land or among existing settlements (within a nadu or kottam) by 'clubbing together two or
more settlements. They introduced advance farming methods-irrigation, management of means of production and
resources. The Pallava and Pandya reservoir systems were managed by the brahrmana assembly viz. the Sabha. The
brahmadeya were separated from the jurisdiction of the nadu. The major brahmadeya also became independent units
(tan-kuru) from the tenth century especially under the Cholas, adding to their economic and administrative/political
significances. They are often regarded as pace makers of royal authority, enlarging the sphere of political action.
Sabha or the assembly of the brahmana landowners grew into a more prominent institution vis-a-vis the Ur, the
assembly of a non-brahmadeya settlement. The growing maturity of the Sabha is illustrated by the famous
Uttaramerur (Chingleput district), a major brahmadeya and tan-kuru of the eighth to thirteenth centuries as well as
by Manur (Tiruveleeli district), an important brahmadeya of the eighth and ninth centuries. The tan-kuru had a
central function also and often had under its purview several other centres of agricultural and craft production. The
brahmanical; temple, which was invariably the nucleus of many of these settlements, was also under the supervision
or direct control of the Sabha, which functioned through various committees called vuiyams.
Valanadu
Revenue surveys and assessment of land revenue were systematically undertaken under the Cholas, in the eleventh
century. In the process, new and larger revenue units were formed by grouping some nadus together and even by
partitioning some under different valanadu-s. This was determined by their irrigational -needs and hence valnadu-s
had consciously chosen boundaries such as water courses. The valanadu was an artificial unit and a politico economic
division created by the will of a political authority. The valanadu-s were named after the kings who created them.
Their organisation was also linked with the establishment of a hierarchy of officers and a department of revenue
Evaluating various theories regarding the Chola State, throw light on its village assemblies. (15)
(2014)
The idea of the Chola state as a decentralized segmentary state is no longer a popular consensus among the scholar.
Debate for the nature of polity in the Chola mandal itself has interesting history, just like that of North Indian history.
The earliest historian to discuss the issue was K A N Shastri, who proposed that the Chola state was a strong
centralized state just like the Byzantine empire. Other contemporary south Indian scholars like Mahalingam and
Appadorai also expressed similar views. However in the 60s Burton stein (equivalent of RS Sharma as far as
feudalism theory in the context of South India is concerned) rejected the model of strong centralized state. He
proposed the model of segmentary state according to which the power of the king and his effective control over the
people and resources was limited to the core area only, outside of which they didn't have any control and was merely
ritual figure. However the Stein's model has been criticized on the various grounds by many scholars. Kesavan
Veluthat on the other hand proposed the feudalism model for the Chola state. However recent researches done by the
scholars like Karashima, Matsui and Subbaraylu have rejected both the hypothesis and suggested that the it is true
that the Chola state wasn't highly centralized state as envisioned by the KAN Shastri. However it wasn't the weak
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________49
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
decentralized state either. There was certainly a degree of centralization of the Chola state. The hints of Centralization
are apparent even before the 1000 CE. During the reign of the Raja raja I there was significant expansion of the
administrative system, which declined only after the reign of Kulottunga Chola I.
The Cholas are said to have established a strong and well orgainsed administration with an element of self-
government at the local level. Do you agree? Give reasons (60) (2004)
How far can the village assemblies or communities under the Cholas be really called democratic. (30)(2009)
Analyze the significance of the Uttaramerur inscriptions of the Chola king Parantak I (10) (2016)
“Doubtless it was not a free state it was any rate a state” (K.A.N.Sastri), Reflect upon the nature of
local self government institutions in the Chola country.” (15) (2018)
The temple inscriptions of Uthiramerur are notable for their historical descriptions of the rural self-governance.
They indicate that Uthiramerur had two village assemblies: Sabha and Ur. The Sabha an
exclusively Brahmin (priestly class) assembly, while the Ur was made up of people belonging to all the classes.
Two later inscriptions of the Chola king Parantaka I (907–955) indicate the evolution of the administrative system.
Instead of variyars (who were individuals), the executive powers were given to committees called variyams.
Each variyam constituted 6 to 12 members, depending on the importance of its functions. The first inscription,
dated to 919 CE, describes the rules for electing the committee members. The second inscription, dated to 921 CE,
describes some amendments to these rules to make them more practical.
According to the 921 CE inscription, the village had 30 kudumbus or wards, from which the members of following
committees were selected annually:
Name No of Meaning
members
Samvatsara- 12 Annual Committee (or Garden and Tank Committee, since its membership was
Variyam restricted to the elders who had served on these two committees)
• Ownership of tax-paying land sized at least one-fourth of a veli (about an acre and a half). The land-owning
requirement was reduced to one-eighth veli for people who had learned at least one Veda and one Bhashya.
• Residence in a house built on self-owned land
• Age between 35 and 70 years
TAXATION
South India
The Chola, state was viewed as a highly bureaucratized one by the pioneering scholars. This is denied by the followers
of the segmentary state theory. Statistical data from inscriptions, however, have been used to show the existence of
officers at both central and local levels. The presence of a bureaucracy especially in the hierarchically structured
revenue department. Ranking among officers is also shown by the terms perundaram (higher grade) add sirutram
(lower grade), both in the 'civil' and 'military' establishments. Officers at the royal court (udan kuttam) and officers
touring the country (vidaiyil adhikari) are also known.
The King's government was present in the localities through a hierarchy of officers - the mandal mudali, nadu vagai
and kadhyastha acting as important links between the King and the locality.
MILITARY ORGANISATION
mere is no conclusive evidence in Chola records of the existence of a regular army, recruited by clearly defined
criteria. Hence there are alternative interpretations of the meager evidence. According to the conventional view, there
was a royal military force. But this denied by the proponents of the segmentary state concept, who look at the military
forces as an assemblage of "segments", peasant militia and/or caste and guild armies. However, there are references
in inscriptions to grants for army chiefs and to army camps at strategic points indicating the existence of a royal force.
The higher and lower grades were also prevalent among the Right Hand units of the army corps known as the
Velaikku. There was also a Left Hand unit mentioned in royal records. Armies of local chiefs supplemented royal
military expeditions.
Assess the contribution of the Cholas in the expansion of Indian culture outside India. (30) (2011)
The Cholas gave India a strong navy. This navy helped in the diffusion of Material Culture in the South-East Asian
Countries.
During the days of Raja Raja-I, Bay of Bengal was called the lake of Cholas. He captured Maldives, Andaman and
Nicobar Islands and many other small islands like Java, Sumatra, Borneo and Malaya. Trade between India and
south-East Asia helped in the Indianization of south-East Asia and China.
Chinese Song dynasty reports that an embassy from Chulian (Chola) reached the Chinese court in the year 1077
and that the possible king was called Ti-hua kia- lo (Kulothuga Chola I).
This embassy was a trading venture and was highly profitable to the visitors, who returned with 81,800 strings of
copper coins in exchange for articles of tributes, including glass articles and spices.
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________51
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
A fragmentary Tamil inscription found in Sumatra cites the name of a merchant guild Nanadesa Tisaiyayirattu
Ainnutruvar (The five hundred from the four countries and the thousand directions), a famous merchant guild in the
Chola country. The inscription dated 1088 AD indicated that there was an active overseas trade during the Gupta
period.
During the Chola period, Indian languages like Sanskrit, Pali and Tamil had a considerable long term impact upon
the linguistic and intellectual cultures of south East Asia. There is an evidence to show that the king of Kambuja
desa (Cambodia) sent on ornamental chariot to the Chola Emperor, probably to appease him so that his strategic
attention does not extend further than the Malaya Peninsula.
Talking of impact, after 8th centuries (from Kulothunga’s time) and Islamic conversion, Indonesia still has a high
regard for their connections with the Cholas. The Indonesian museum is housed in an Old Russian whiskey-class
submarine, which was named Posopoti, one of the names of the Hindu God Shiva. Still existing fact is the cultural
ties spread by the Chola navies.
The motto of the Indonesian navy ‘Jalaseva Jayambe’ which is Sanskrit for “on the sea we are glorious”. There
were many surviving examples of the temples built around Dravidian architecture, in Vietnam, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka.
Hindu temple complex at Prambanan in Java clearly showed Dravidian architectural influences. An early silver
coin of Uttam Chola found in Srilanka also showed Tiger emblem of the Cholas. Angkor Vat in Cambodia is one of
the largest Hindu-Buddhist temples in the world also shows Dravidian style of architecture. The ‘ruins of Ayutthaya
in Thailand were named after Ayodhaya.
In 1015 and 1033, Rajendra I sent diplomatic missions and the Chinese emperor recognized the Chola Kingdom as
one of the great tributary states. Suryavarman II, builder of Angkor Vat sent a precious Jewel to Kulottunga, who
then donated it to the temple of Chidambram in 1114.
Even the Burmese king Kyanzitta wrote a letter on golden leaves to the Chola rulers. All this showed great
diplomatic relation between the Chola and South East Asian nations which must have enabled the great merchant
guilds of south India to conduct their international business undisturbed.
Establishment of the Delhi Sultanate: The Ghurian invasions – factors behind Ghurian success
Rajput power entered the phase of irreversible decay. For some time to come, the Ghorians did not think it convenient
to immediately take over the administration of all the conquered territories. Wherever it seemed feasible, they allowed
the Rajputs to continue, provided Turkish suzerainty was acknowledged. Thus Ajmer, for instance, was allowed to
be retained by Prithviraj's son as a vassal ruler. This uneasy balance of power, was often disturbed by the recurrent
conflicts between the imperial designs of the Ghorians and local rulers.
Under Aibak's leadership, the Turks continued to make territorial advance. After having refortified Hansi towards
the end of 1192, Aibak crossed the Yamuna to establish a military base in the upper Doab, Meerut and Baran (modem
Bulandshahr) capitulated iri. 1192. In 1193 Delhi was occupied. Its location and historical tradition made it most
suitable as a capital for Turkish power in India. It was both close to the Ghorid stronghold in Punjab as well as
conveniently placed for sending expeditions towards the east. The m military successes encouraged Muhammad
Ghori to confront king Jayachandra of the Gahadavala dynasty in the vicinity of Chandwar (between Etah and
Kanpur). Jayachandra, eventually lost. Afterwards, Turkish military stations were placed at Bharas, Asni and other
important towns. However, the capital city of Kannauj could not be occupied until 1 198-99. The other important
areas over which the Ghorians were able to extend their sway were Bayana, Gwalior and Anhilwara in 1195-96, and
Badaun in 1197-98. The opening of the 13th century saw action against the 'last surviving imperial Rajputs'-the
Chandellas of Bundekhand. Around 1202, Kalinjar, Mahoba and Khajuraho were occupied and grouped into a
military division. From 1203 onwards, the Turks made forays into the eastern provinces of the Indian subcontinent
with varying degrees of success. Magadha was conquered for the Sultanate' by Bakhtiyar Khalji and his tribesmen.
Under him, the Turkish intrusions could also penetrate Bengal (ruled by the Lakshmansena).
In general, during this phase, the Ghorians were able to extend their hegemony over a very considerable part of
Northern India. But, as yet, they stood on shaky ground. Areas once conquered tended to slip out of control. It took
several decades before their control found firm ground.
Various reasons have been assigned for the success of the Turkish conquests of North India. Many of the
contemporary chroniclers do not go beyond the standard explanation of attributing this major event to the ‘Will of
God'. Some British historians, who initiated the study of Indian history in greater depth, accounted for the success of
the Turks as follows: The Ghorian armies were drawn from the warlike tribes inhabiting the difficult region lying
between the Indus and the Oxus. They had gathered military powers and expertise fighting the Seljuq other fierce
tribes of Central Asia. On the other hand, the Indians were pacifist and not given to war. Moreover, they were divided
into small states which hampered expansionist ambitions.
The explanation is inadequate and unbalanced insofar as it leaves out of consideration well-known facts of Indian
history as well as the history of countries from where the invaders came. It should be remembered that the large-scale
conquest and destruction of the so-called warlike Islamic regions by the Mongols in 1218-19 was carried out without
any real resistance. On the other hand, the Rajputs, whom the Turks. conquered, were not lacking in bravery and
martial spirit. The period from the 8th to the 12th century is one long story of warfare and violent internal struggles.
It is, therefore, hardly worthwhile to emphasise the peaceful or docile temperament of the Indian populations as the
cause of the Turkish success.
Some Indian historians have traced the Turkish success to the peculiar social structure created by Islam. Jadunath
Sarkar, for instance, lays stress on three unique characteristics which Islam imparted to the Arabs, Berbers, Pathans,
and Turks: first complete equality and social solidarity as regards legal and religious status. Unlike India, the Turks
were not divided into castes that were exclusive of each other.
Secondly, an absolute faith in God and his will which gave them drive and a sense of mission. Finally, Islam secured
the Turkish conquerors from drunkenness which was the ruin of the Rajputs, Marathas, and other Indian rulers.
Whatever partial truth it might contain, this explanation, too, seems insufficiently grounded in history.
These centuries mark a transition due to fact that they saw increase in trade and urbanization, less monetary
anaemia and lesser impact of Indian Feudalism seen from 7th to 10th century.
Foundation of Delhi Sultanate and early Turkish Sultans. Consolidation: The rule of Iltutmish
(1206-1236)
What measures were initiated by the Sultans for the consolidation of the Delhi Sultanate? Discuss. (15) (2016)
• By the time of Muizzuddin Muhammad’s death in 1206, the Turks had been able to extend their sway upto
Lakhnauti in Bengal, Ajmer and Ranthambor in Rajasthan, upto the boundaries of Ujjain in the south, and
Multan and Uchch in Sindh.
Empire remained more or less stationary for almost a hundred years. The internal and external difficulties faced by
the Turks were numerous:
1. They had to deal with the efforts of some of the ousted rulers, particularly the Rajput rulers of Rajasthan and
Bundelkhand, and neighbouring areas, such as Bayana and Gwaliyar to regain their former possessions.But,
Rajputs never came together to try and collectively oust the Turks from India. Nor were there any serious
uprisings against the Turks in the Ganga Valley or the Punjab (with the sole exception of the Khokhars during
the reign of Muizzuddin). Hence, it would hardly be correct to term these isolated battles by individual Rajput
rulers to regain their possessions as “Hindu reaction” to the Turks.
2. The Turks had to spend a lot of time and energy in dealing with factionalism in the Turkish nobility. Some
of the Turkish rulers tried to carve out their own independent spheres of authority. Thus, Muhammad bin
Bakhtiyar Khalji and his successors tried to keep Lakhnauti and Bihar free from the control of Delhi. There
were strong separatist tendencies in Multan and Sindh also. For some time, there was a struggle for
domination between the nobles at Lahore and Delhi. On and off, some of the powerful governors (iqtadars)
also tried to defy Delhi.
3. During this period, there were important changes in Central Asian politics which affected India. Immediately
following the death of Muizzuddin, the Ghurid empire broke up. Muizzuddin’s favourite slave, Yalduz,
succeeded him at Ghazni, while another slave, Qubacha seized control of Multan and Uchch. Qutbuddin
Aibak, who had been deputizing for Muizzuddin at Delhi, was invited by the Turkish amirs at Lahore. Aibak
marched to Lahore and ascended the throne there.
• Although both Qubacha and Aibak had married two daughters of Yalduz, they struggled against each other,
particularly for the possession of the Punjab. But Aibak succeeded in keeping his control over Lahore which
he made his capital. After some time, Khwarizm Shah, the ruler of Merv, which was the most powerful state
in Central Asia overran Ghur and Ghazni. But before the Khwarizm Shah could consolidate his position in
Ghur and Ghazni, and think of moving towards India, he had to face an even bigger danger, the Mongols.
• Mongol ruler, Chingez Khan, erupted into Transoxiana and Khurasan in 1218 and, in course of time, the
Mongol empire extended from China to Central Europe. The Mongols devastated the towns and cities of
Central and West Asia which offered resistance to them levelling some of them to the ground after
slaughtering almost all the men there, except artisans who, along with women and children, were enslaved.
But the Mongol conquest did not have negative aspects only. The unification of Central and West Asia under
Mongol aegis enabled trade and merchandise to move freely, and gradually towns and town-life began to
revive.
• In 1218, after conquering North China, Chingez turned against the Khwarizm Shah who had offended him
by putting to death some Muslim merchants who had received a safe conduct from Chingez for carrying on
trade. Afraid of a defeat, he evacuated Transoxiana, and then retreated to the West. Samarqand and Bukhara
fell to the Mongols after resistance, and suffered the fate reserved by the Mongols to those towns which
resisted.
• A favourite slave of Muizzuddin, who had played an important role in the battle of Tarain and in the
subsequent Turkish conquests in North India had been enthroned at Lahore in 1206 on the basis of the support
of the local notables and amirs. Thus, he rose to the throne by personal merit. Somewhat later, he received
from Sultan Mahmud who had succeeded his father, Ghiyasuddin, at Ghur, a deed of manumission (freeing
him from his slave status, legally, a slave could not be a sovereign), and a chatr, recognizing his position as
a sovereign. This finally ended the legal claim of Ghazni over the Turkish conquests in Hindustan. Aibak
hardly had time to add to the Turkish conquests in India, and died in 1210, on account of a fall from his horse
while playing chaugan (medieval polo).
• But his brief reign is considered significant because it marked the rise of the first independent Turkish ruler
in India. Contemporaries praise him for his liberality, beneficence and gallantry. The combination of
liberality, emphasis on justice, and brutality in war were typical of many of the early Turkish rulers in India.
Assess the contribution of Iltutmish for the expansion and consolidation of the Delhi Sultanate. (20) (2011)
• He was a slave of Aibak, succeeded him at Delhi in 1210. He was responsible not only for keeping the Delhi
Sultanat together, but made it a well-knit and compact State. He may thus be called the real establisher of
what came to be called the Delhi Sultanat.
• Iltutmish had many difficulties to contend with. First, he faced the challenge of Aram Shah who had been
put up by the Turkish amirs at Lahore. Aram Shah apparently was not the son of Aibak, because Aibak had
only three daughters, two of whom were married to Qubacha, and one to Iltutmish after he ascended the
throne. Aram Shah marched on Delhi but was defeated easily by Iltutmish at a battle at Tarain.
• Some of the Turkish nobles were not prepared to accept Iltutmish’s authority. They went outside Delhi and
prepared for rebellion. Iltutmish marched from Delhi, defeated the rebels.
• According to the contemporary author, Minhaj Siraj, “On several other occasions in different parts of
Hindustan, hostilities arose between him and the armies and the Turks.” Iltutmish triumphed over all of
them—on account of “Divine help” according to Minha.
• Having brought under his control Delhi and its dependencies including Banaras, Awadh, Badaun and the
Siwaliks, Iltutmish found himself faced with a piquant situation. The Turkish rule in Hindustan was by this
time divided into four portions:
1. Multan and Uchch and Siwistan upto the sea in Sindh under Qubacha
2. Lakhnauti under Khalji maliks
3. Delhi under Iltutmish
4. Lahore which was coveted by Yalduz, Qubacha and Iltutmish and passed under the control of one or the
other according to circumstances.
• In his struggle for the control of the Punjab and Sindh, Iltutmish displayed great tact, patience and diplomatic
skill. He did not get too closely involved in the struggle for the Punjab till circumstances favoured him. At
first he befriended Yalduz at Ghazni, and accepted the letter of manumission and durbash (two-headed baton
which was a symbol of royalty) sent by Yalduz, even though it implied according a superior status to Yalduz.
• In 1215, after being ousted from Ghazni by the Khwarizm Shah, Yalduz occupied Lahore and the whole of
the Punjab, expelling Qubacha. It seems that as the successor of Muizzuddin at Ghazni, Yalduz claimed not
only to be the ruler of the Punjab, but also claimed a vague control over all the conquests of Muizzuddin’s in
Hindustan. This situation was unacceptable to Iltutmish, and led to hostilities between the two in which
Yalduz was defeated and later killed.
• However, the problem of the Punjab remained. At first, Iltutmish was prepared to leave Lahore to Qubacha,
but there was a disagreement between the two upon its boundaries, which Iltutmish felt, would have threaten
his position at Delhi. In the hostilities between the two which followed, Qubacha was defeated and Iltutmish
occupied Lahor.
• Before Iltutmish could consolidate his position in Punjab, Jalaluddiri Mangabarani, the Khwarizmian prince,
being pursued by Chingez, crossed the Indus in 1221 and, in alliance with the war like Khokhars, conquered
the Punjab upto Thanesar. He then sent a message to Iltutmish seeking an alliance against the Mongols so
that he could recover his lost dominions. Iltutmish politely turned down the overture, refusing to be drawn
into a fight with the Mongols. He also marched against him with a large army. Jalaluddin quit Lahore, and
moved towards Qubacha in Sindh. He defeated Qubacha and occupied Uchch. Meanwhile, the Mongols too
invested Multan.
• Thus, the effect of Jalaluddin’s incursion into India was the weakening of Qubacha’s position in Sindh.
Jalaluddin quit India in 1224, but for fear of Chingez, Iltutmish kept a low posture in the northwest. It was
only in 1228, after the death of Chingez that he decided to conquer Sindh from Qubacha, and captured Uchch
after a siege of three months. Qubacha fled to Bakkhar. Shortly afterwards when Iltutmish advanced on
Bakhhar, Qubacha drowned himself in the river Indus.
• Thus, by 1228, not only did Iltutmish’s control extend upto the Indus, but the whole of Multan and Sindh
upto the sea came under his control. This marked the first phase of Iltutmish’s consolidation of the Delhi
Sultanat.
• During the reign of Muizzuddin, Bihar and Lakhauti had been captured by a Khalji malik, Muhammad bin
Bakhtiyar Khalji. The contemporary historian, Minhaj Siraj, praises him as a man of “impetus, enterprising,
intrepid, bold, sagacious and expert in warfare.” The Khaljis were a Turkish tribe from southwest Ghur.
However, Bakhtiyar was ungainly in appearance, and was offered only low employment when he appeared
for service before Muizzuddin at Ghazni. Rejecting this as beneath him, he repaired to India, and presented
himself again at Delhi. But he was rejected once more.
• Thereupon, Bakhtiyar Khalji took service under the iqtadar (governor) of Badaun who had an extensive
charge in modern west U.P. Soon after, he repaired to the service of the Commander of Awadh who assigned
him two villages on the boundary of Bihar. This gave him the opportunity of making plundering raids into
Bihar and Maner which, following the downfall of the Gahadavala empire, had become a kind of a noman’s
land dominated by petty Gahadavala chiefs.
• Rai Lakshman Sena, the ruler of Bengal, a rival of the Gahadavads, preferred to confine himself to Bengal,
either because he was too old and feeble, or because he was under the illusion that the Turks would be
satisfied with Bihar if he did not come into conflict with them.
• Bakhtiyar Khalji’s reputation as an enterprising warrior spread far and wide, and many Khaljis from different
parts of Hindustan joined him. Even Muizzuddin sent him a special robe of distinction (khilat) and honoured
him, though he was neither his slave nor his employee.
• Emboldened, Bakhtiyar Khalji now attacked a fort in Bihar with 200 horsemen which he later found was a
Buddhist monastery (the famous university of Nalanda). He then captured Vikramsila, another university
town. He also captured the capital, Uddandapur, and built a fort there. This is placed in 1202.
• Ali Mardan was ousted by nobles loyal to Muhammad Bakhtiyar. He escaped, and came to the court of
Qutbuddin Aibak who honoured him, and assigned him the territory of Lakhnauti. The prestige of
(c) Internal Rebellions, Conquest of Ranthambhor and Gwaliyar, and Raids into Bundelkhand and Malwa
• Iltutmish had to face a number of internal rebellions. The ousted Gahadvaras of Kannauj had
recovered Badaun and Kannauj, and there was a rebellion at Banaras. These were dealt with, but the Rajputs
of Katehar (modern Rohelkhand) continued to threaten this area.
• Katehar was attacked, and later Iltutmish cleared the area upto the Siwaliks.
• There were also hostilities with local Hindu chiefs in parts of Doab and Awadh. These areas, which were
then covered by heavy forests, continued to be troublesome for outsiders for several centuries.
• After settling the affairs of Bihar and Bengal, Iltutmish turned his attention towards the recapture of some of
the forts, such as Bayana and Gwaliyar, which had been recovered by the Rajput rajas in the confusion
following the death of Aibak.
• Iltutmish invested and captured Ranthambhor from the Chauhan successors of Prithvi Raj. This was deemed
a great success because Ranthambhor was considered an impregnable fortress. However, since it was too far
away from Delhi for effective control, after some time it was returned to the Chauhans as feudatories. Ajmer
continued under Turkish rule.
• Next, Iltutmish captured Bayana and then Gwaliyar (Paramar ruler of Gwaliyar)
• Gwaliyar was made the base of plundering raids into Bundelkhand and Malwa. The Turkish governor of
Gwaliyar attacked Chanderi and Kalinjar but escaped with great difficulty when on the way back, laden with
plunder, he was attacked by the Rajputs.
• A little earlier, Iltutmish raided Bhilsa and Ujjain in Malwa. The famous temple of Mahakali at Ujjain was
destroyed, and rich plunder obtained. But little effort was made to extend Turkish dominion over the area.
• Iltutmish re-established the territorial integrity of the Delhi sultanat. He defeated efforts of ambitious rivals
such as Yalduz and Qubacha to divide the sultanat. In the process, he displayed a great deal of tact, patience,
and far-sightedness.
• This was displayed in his dealings with Qubacha as well as Jalaluddin Mangbarani. Early in his reign he had
realized that his policy must be one of steady consolidation rather than rapid expansion. He proceeded against
the Khalji Maliks of Lakhnauti only when he had consolidated his position in the north-west.
The ‘Corps of Forty’ and its relations with the Sultans (20) (2004) (2008)
Analyse the social composition and the role of nobility under the successors of Iltutmish. How did it affect
the contemporary politics? (30) (2012)
Discuss Balban’s concept of kingship. How was it modified by Alauddin Khalji? (60) (2002)
Evaluating the theory of kingship of the Sultanate, discuss the deviations seen in the reigns of
different Sultans. (20)(2014)
NATURE OF KINGSHIP
No clear and well-defined law of succession developed in the Sultanate. Hereditary principle was accepted 'but not
adhered to invariably. There was no rule that only the eldest son would succeed (primogeniture). In one case, even a
daughter was nominated (for example, Rakia Sultan). At any rate, a slave, unless he was manumitted, that is, freed,
could not claim sovereignty. In fact, as it operated in the Sultanate, 'the longest the sword, the greater the claim'.
Thus, in the absence of any succession rule in the very beginning intrigues surfaced to usurp power: After Aibak's
death, it was not his son Aram Shah but his slave and son-in-hw Iltutmish who captured the throne. Iltutmish's death
(1236) was ' followed by a long period of struggle and strife when finally Balban, Iltutmish's slave of the "Forty"
fame, assumed power in 1266 A.D. Balban attempted to give a new shape to the concept of kingship to salvage the
prestige of the office of the Sultan, but the struggle for power that started soon after Balban's death confirms again
that the 'sword' remained the main deciding factor. .Kaiqubad was installed at the throne against the claims of Balban's
What measures did Balban adopt to combat the Mongol menace? (10) (2015)
The north-west frontier of India was unsafe. The fear of Mongol invasion was a standing menace to the stability of
Delhi Sultanate. The Mongol threat was a major preoccupation of Balban Their constant attacks had created a sense
of insecurity among the public, so Balban took many steps against Mongols. Balban adopted both military and
diplomatic measures.
Following steps were taken by Balban to combat the Mongol menace:
(1) Diplomatic steps by Balban
Balban, as a naib, sent an envoy to Halaku, the Mongol Il-Khan of Iran, who, apart from the Ogtai-Chaghtai
branch which dominated Turkistan and Transoxiana, was the most important figure among the successors of
Chingez.
Halaku sent a return embassy in 1260 which was given a grand and impressive reception by Balban.
By the time Balban ascended the throne in 1266, Halaku had died, thereby ending goodwill between the Mongols
and the ruler of Delhi.
(2) Building powerful army
Balban laid great emphasis on maintaining a large efficient army so that he could face, apart from other
problems, Mongols’ invasion successfully.
(3) No territorial expansion
Despite a large and efficient army which was kept in a state of readiness by constant exercises, Balban did not
try to expand the territories of the Delhi sultanat, or raid the neighbouring kings of Malwa or Gujarat because of
danger of Mongols’ raid.
He kept a vigil eyes on North West frontier.
(4) Construction of Forts
In order to strengthen the north-west frontier Balban got constructed a series of forts on it like Forts of
Bhatinda, Sarsa, Bhate, Abohar.
(5) Appointment pf powerful chiefs
Balban appointed powerful Afghan soldiers for the safety of his frontier.
Sher Khan a cousin of Balban, was appointed in charge of the north-western frontier. He checked the Mongol
invaders with efficiency and valour and terrified them.
The post of the warden of marches was given to Muhammad (Balban’s Son) after the death of Sher Khan in 1270
A.D. The provinces of Lahore. Multan and Uchh were also kept under his supervision while Bughra Khan was
made in charge of Sunam, Samana and Dipalpur.
Muhammad was a competent general. He held under his control a chain of forts at all strategic places. He had lost
life in 1286 AD while fighting Mongols who had attacked Punjab.
(6) Securing the Capital
Balban did not leave unsafe the capital also. He gave up the policy of expansion. However, the Mongols
plundered Punjab and crossed the river Sutlan but they were compelled to retreat by the joint army of Muhammad
and Bughra Khan.
(7) Focus on internal Security
EXPANSION OF KHALJIS
The first of the Khalji sultan Jalaluddin, did neither have will nor resources to undertake any large-scale expansionist
programme. His six years reign was gripped by reconcile between the policies of the Sultan and the interests of his
supporters. The resolution of problem came in the unfortunate assassination of the Sultan. Alauddin Khalji, his
assassin and successor, had a different imperial design. He was to herald an age of territorial annexation and expansion
of the Sultanate which saw the frontiers of the Sultanate reaching close to the tip of the Southern peninsula by the
middle of the fourteenth century.
Alauddin Khalji's measures did not remain confined to rural economy but extended to urban market as well. He is
credited for issuing a set of seven regulations which came to be known as market-control measures. Barani, who is
our main source on this aspect is the only authority who gives these regulations in detail.
The Sultan fixed the prices of all commodities from grain to cloth, slaves, cattle, etc.
(Regulation 1). These prices were really to be enforced since the Sultan carefully made all arrangements for making
the measure a success. A controller of market (shahna-i mandi), barids (intelligence officers) and munhiyan (secret
CURRENCY SYSTEM
The establishment of the Delhi Sultanate was marked by a considerable growth of money economy which accelerated
particularly in the first half of the 14th century.
Since the growth of money economy in simple words means larger use of currency in transactions (monetization is
another term for this phenomenon), a large scale minting of gold, silver and copper coins that followed the foundation
of the Delhi Sultanate was an attendant process of the monetization of Indian economy.
The period prior to the foundation of the Delhi Sultanate was marked by the scarcity of coinage particularly of pure
silver. The early Ghorid conquerors found mints uttering coins of copper with very small silver contents. Except an
increase in the number of coins stamped, no changes were introduced in the beginning. The coins continued to bear
the image of goddess Lakshmi or bull-and-horseman, etc. Only the name of the new ruler in a corrupt form got
inscribed over it in Nagri script. These coins were called Dehliwal.
lltutmish (1210-36) is credited for standardizing the coinage of the Delhi Sultanate. The currency system established
by him in its essentials survived the Delhi Sultanate He introduced gold and silver tankas and a copper jital that was
reckoned at 1/48th of a tanka in North India and 1/50th in the Deccan after the conquest of Devagiri.
A firm ratio of 1:10 between gold and silver appears to have been established.
For studying the currency system we not only have the testimony of the chronicles but also the physical evidence
available in the form of surviving coins (this is called numismatic evidence).
The Sultanate mints generally uttered coins in three metals: gold, silver and billon (copper mixed with very small
quantity of silver). The main coins were tanka and jital but some smaller currencies were also in circulation. Barani
mentions dangs and dirams in use at the capital Delhi. The equation between these currencies in the north has been
worked out as:
1 silver tanka = 48 jital = 192 dangs = 480 dirams
People started hoarding silver and made all purchases in token currency, keeping considerable silver out of stopped
bringing their wares to India.
3) The Khurasan Expedition
Another project of Muhammad bin Tughlaq was the controversial Khurasan expedition. This was probably
undertaken in 1330-31. Barani says that the Sultan was keen to conquer Khurasan, but does not mention any of the
motives of the Sultan. For this expedition, he specially raised a huge army, over and above the usual total for the
military establishment. The salaries were paid in cash and in the form of Iqtas. But for many reason put together, the
project was forced to be abandoned. It created frustration, and discontentment among the now unemployed soldiers.
This resentment was fomented by the ulema, the saiyyids and the chief Sufis, who had personal differences with the
emperor.
4) Qarachil Expedition
This project began in 1337-39. It aimed at establishing military control over the the Qarachil region. This place has
been identified as the mid-Himalayan tract of Kulu in the Kangra district in the Kumoan-Garhwal area. Barani
suggested that this project was a part of Khurasan expedition since Qarachil was on the way to Khurasan. Ibn Batuta
suggested that the expedition has been to prevent Chinese encroachments in Rajput regions. Many of the Sultan’s
soldiers died in this expedition due to difficult terrain, etc. This was thus another expedition that failed in its
expedition with a catastrophic result. It led to immeasurable loss in resources and led to discontent and unrest among
the people.
5) The Doab Experiment
The last project of Muhammad bin Tughlaq decided to enhance the revenue of the Doab region, since it was already
very fertile and so had the capacity to pay higher taxes. The project had ruinous effects and the peasants were
Thus, after survey of Muhammad bin Tughlaq’s projects, we see that many of his ideas were innovative solutions to
several long-standing problems. However, they were often ill-considered. Habib and Nizami point out, “his ingenious
mind was as quick in formulating new plans as it was slow in understanding the psychology of the people”. He could
never establish a mutual understanding with his subjects, which was so necessary for the successful implementation
of his schemes. In the words of Habib and Nizami again, “his reign of 26 years is a fascinating but tragic story of
schemes and projects correctly conceived, badly executed and disastrously abandoned”.
Muhammad bin Tughlaq gave great patronage to foreigners whom he called "aziz" or friend, and to whom he gave
lavish gifts. Among the foreigners to whom Muhammad bin Tughlaq gave patronage were Mongols. Many of these
had come to India as soldiers or lower grade officials. The lower grade officers came to be called sadah. Sadah or
hundred (centurian) was the term used in the Mongol military for one who commanded a hundred men. But in India,
the word sadah began to be used as a territorial divisions, to signify a hundred villages. This, apparently, was the
basis of the pargana which emerges as an administrative unit around this time. The sadah amirs were, however, not
all Mongols. Afghans and others were also to be found among them.
Muhammad bin Tughlaq's approach towards the nobility was, however, not based on racial, or on narrow religions
considerations. He welcomed not only those families which had been settled in India for long, and had served previous
rulers but also admitted to the service persons from the artisan or other classes/castes despised by the Turks, such as
gardeners, barbers, cooks, weavers, wine-distillers, musicians, etc. Some of these were converts, and some were
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________71
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
Hindus. Thus, Barani mentions Kishan Bazran Indri who was made governor of Sehwan (Sindh). Barani says that
these people were given high status, offices and territories to govern. Thus, Najba, a singer, was given charge of
Badaun, then Gujarat and Multan; Aziz Khammar, a wine-distiller, was given charge of Malwa. Their elevations to
high posts was deeply resented by the old nobles, and by the aizza. It is not that these people were incompetent, or
were still carrying on their old family/caste professions. They had evidently risen on the basis of merit. But they were
not soldiers. Hence, they failed whenever they had to deal with rebellions.
Barani not only severely critices Muhammad bin Tughlaq for appointing these low, ignoble people, but pours scorn
on "the clerks and grain-merchants (bania) who could not distinguish the front (reins and accoutrements) of a horse
from its tail."
Thus, Muhammad bin Tughlaq's nobility was very heterogeneous in character, and could not be an instrument on
which the sultan could lean in times of difficulty. Even though the low -caste appointees, and many Turkish and
Hindustani nobles, remained loyal, the Mongol and Afghan sadah amirs behaved differently.
Muhammad bin Tughlaq also tried to induct into the administration members of the religious classes, especially the
sufis. Towards this end, he even entered into matrimonial relations with some of them. However, most of the sufis
wanted to keep aloof from the state, and did not welcome this. In anger, Muhammad bin Tughlaq gave drastic
punishments and executed some of them. Barani says that he put many theologians (ulema), shaikhs, saiyyads, sufis
and qalandars (wandering saints) to death. In retaliation, and for his association with the yogis etc., the qazis issued
a fatwa making it legal for anyone to rebel against the Sultan. In order to counter this propaganda, Muhammad bin
Tughlaq decided to seek a formal rescript from the Caliph, making his rule legal in the eyes of the orthodox. He found
out that a relation of the Caliph of Baghdad who had been killed by Halaku, the Mongol chief, in 1258, was living at
Cairo. Representatives of the Caliph, and a descendant of his, reached Delhi in 1339, and were given a lavish
reception. Muhammad bin Tughlaq went so far as to substitute the name of the Abbasid caliph in his coins. Later, he
also received a formal rescript (nianshur) from the Caliph.But all this could hardly change the attitude of the orthodox
elements towards him.
Ibn Battuta and his party reached the Indus River on 12 September 1333. From there, he made his way to Delhi and
became acquainted with the sultan, Muhammad bin Tughluq.
Muhammad bin Tughluq was renowned as the wealthiest man in the Muslim world at that time. He patronized various
scholars, Sufis, qadis, viziers and other functionaries in order to consolidate his rule. As with Mamluk Egypt, the
Tughlaq Dynasty was a rare vestigial example of Muslim rule in Asia after the Mongol invasion. On the strength of
his years of study in Mecca, Ibn Battuta was appointed a qadi, or judge, by the sultan. However, he found it difficult
to enforce Islamic law beyond the sultan's court in Delhi, due to lack of Islamic appeal in India.
From the Rajput Kingdom of Sarsatti, Battuta visited Hansi in India, describing it as "among the most beautiful cities,
the best constructed and the most populated; it is surrounded with a strong wall, and its founder is said to be one of
the great infidel kings, called Tara". Upon his arrival in Sindh, Ibn Battuta mentions the Indian rhinoceros that lived
on the banks of the Indus.
The Sultan was erratic even by the standards of the time and for six years Ibn Battuta veered between living the high
life of a trusted subordinate and falling under suspicion of treason for a variety of offences. His plan to leave on the
pretext of taking another hajj was stymied by the Sultan. The opportunity for Battuta to leave Delhi finally arose in
1341 when an embassy arrived from Yuan dynasty China asking for permission to rebuild a Himalayan Buddhist
temple popular with Chinese pilgrims.
Ibn Battuta was given charge of the embassy but en route to the coast at the start of the journey to China, he and his
large retinue were attacked by a group of bandits. Separated from his companions, he was robbed and nearly lost his
life. Despite this setback, within ten days he had caught up with his group and continued on to Khambhat in the Indian
state of Gujarat. From there, they sailed to Calicut (now known as Kozhikode), where Portuguese explorer Vasco da
Gama would land two centuries later. While in Calicut, Battuta was the guest of the ruling Zamorin. While Ibn Battuta
visited a mosque on shore, a storm arose and one of the ships of his expedition sank. The other ship then sailed
without him only to be seized by a local Sumatran king a few months later.
Discuss evidence on slavery provided by Ibn Batuta with special reference to female slaves. (10) (2018)
Ibn Batutta’s travelling accounts tell us that slaves were openly sold in the markets like any other commodity and
were regularly exchanged as gifts. When Ibn Batutta reached Sind, he purchased horses, camels and slaves as gifts
for Sultan Muhammad bin Tighlaq. The former has also recorded that the sultan of Delhi was once so happy with the
sermon of a preacher named Nasiruddin that he gifted him a hundred thousand tankas (coins) and two hundred slaves.
It appears from Ibn Batutta’s accounts that there were differentiations among slaves. Some female slaves in Sultan’s
court were experts in music and dance, while some were used for domestic labour. The prices of domestic female
slaves were considerably low. Ibn Batutta found the services of slaves necessary for carrying palanquins.
Ibn Batutta also recorded that the emperor used slaves to spy on nobles. Most female slaves were women captured in
raids and expeditions.
Lodis
How was the Afghan nobility responsible for the decline of the Afghan empires? Discuss. (30) (2012)
The Lodi dynasty (or Lodhi) was a Pashtun dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate from 1451 to 1526. It was the last
dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, and was founded by Bahlul Khan Lodi when he replaced the Sayyid dynasty
Bahlul Lodi
Bahlul Khan Lodi (r. 1451–1489) was the nephew and son-in-law of Malik Sultan Shah Lodi, the governor
of Sirhind in (Punjab), India and succeeded him as the governor of Sirhind during the reign of Sayyid dynasty
ruler Muhammad Shah. Muhammad Shah raised him to the status of an emir. He was the most powerful of the Punjab
chiefs and a vigorous leader, holding together a loose confederacy of Afghan and Turkish chiefs with his strong
personality. He reduced the turbulent chiefs of the provinces to submission and infused some vigour into the
government. After the last Sayyid ruler of Delhi, Ala-ud-Din Aalm Shah voluntarily abdicated in favour of him,
Bahlul Khan Lodi ascended the throne of the Delhi sultanate on 19 April 1451. The most important event of his reign
was the conquest of Jaunpur. Bahlul spent most of his time in fighting against theSharqi dynasty and ultimately
annexed it. He placed his eldest surviving son Barbak on the throne of Jaunpur in 1486.
Sikandar Lodi
Sikandar Lodi (r. 1489–1517) (born Nizam Khan), the second son of Bahlul, succeeded him after his death on 17
July 1489 and took up the title Sikandar Shah. He was nominated by his father to succeed him and was crowned
sultan on 15 July 1489. He founded Agra in 1504 and built mosques. He shifted the capital from Delhi to Agra. He
abolished corn duties and patronized trade and commerce. He was a poet of repute, composing under the pen-name
of Gulruk. He was also patron of learning and ordered Sanskrit work in medicine to be translated into Persian. He
curbed the individualistic tendencies of his Pashtun nobles and compelled them to submit their accounts to state audit.
He was, thus, able to infuse vigor and discipline in the administration. His greatest achievement was the conquest
and annexation of Bihar.
Ibrahim Lodi
Ibrahim Lodi (r. 1517–1526), the youngest son of Sikandar, was the last Lodi Sultan of Delhi. He had the qualities
of an excellent warrior, but he was rash and impolitic in his decisions and actions. His attempt at royal absolutism
was premature and his policy of sheer repression unaccompanied by measures to strengthen the administration and
increase the military resources was sure to prove a failure. Ibrahim faced numerous rebellions and kept out the
opposition for almost a decade. He was engaged in warfare with the Afghans and the Mughal Empire for most of his
reign and died trying to keep the Lodi Dynasty from annihilation. Ibrahim was defeated in 1526 at the Battle of
Panipat. This marked the end of the Lodi Dynasty and the rise of the Mughal Empire in India led by Babur (r. 1526–
1530).
Fall of the empire
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________74
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
By the time Ibrahim ascended the throne, the political structure in the Lodi Dynasty had dissolved due to abandoned
trade routes and the depleted treasury. The Deccan was a coastal trade route, but in the late fifteenth century the
supply lines had collapsed. The decline and eventual failure of this specific trade route resulted in cutting off supplies
from the coast to the interior, where the Lodi empire resided. The Lodi Dynasty was not able to protect itself if
warfare were to break out on the trade route roads; therefore, they didn’t use those trade routes. Their trade and
treasury declined, leaving them vulnerable to internal political problems. In order to take revenge of the insults done
by Ibrahim, the governor of Lahore, Daulat Khan Lodi asked the ruler of Kabul, Babur to invade his kingdom.
Ibrahim Lodi was thus killed in a battle with Babur. With the death of Ibrahim Lodi, the Lodi dynasty also came to
an end.
Afghan factionalism
Another problem Ibrahim faced when he ascended the throne in 1517 were the Pashtun nobles, some of whom
supported Ibrahim's older brother, Jalaluddin, in taking up arms against his brother in the area in the east at Jaunpur.
Ibrahim gathered military support and defeated his brother by the end of the year. After this incident, he arrested
those Pashtun nobles who opposed him and appointed his own men as the new administrators. Other Pashtun nobles
supported the governor of Bihar, Dariya Khan, against Ibrahim.[10]
Another factor that caused uprisings against Ibrahim was his lack of an apparent successor. His own uncle, Alam
Khan, betrayed Ibrahim by supporting the Mughal invader Babur.
Rajput invasions and internal rebellions
Rana Sanga, the Hindu Rajput leader of Mewar (r. 1509–1526), rose to be the greatest king of Rajputana. During his
rule, Mewar reached the pinnacle of its glory. He extended his kingdom, defeated the Lodi king of Delhi and was
acknowledged by all the Rajput clans as the leading prince of Rajputana. Daulat Khan, the governor of Punjab region
asked Babur to invade the Lodi kingdom, with the thought of taking revenge from Ibrahim Lodi. Rana Sanga also
offered his support to Babur to defeat Ibrahim Lodi.
Battle of Panipat, 1526
After being assured of the cooperation of Alam Khan and Daulat Khan, Governor of the Punjab, Babur gathered his
army. Upon entering the Punjab plains, Babur's chief allies, namely Langar Khan Niazi advised Babur to engage the
powerful Janjua Rajputs to join his conquest. The tribe's rebellious stance to the throne of Delhi was well known.
Upon meeting their chiefs, Malik Hast (Asad) and Raja Sanghar Khan, Babur made mention of the Janjua's popularity
as traditional rulers of their kingdom and their ancestral support for his patriarch Emir Timur during his conquest of
Hind. Babur aided them in defeating their enemies, the Gakhars in 1521, thus cementing their alliance. Babur
employed them as Generals in his campaign for Delhi, the conquest of Rana Sanga and the conquest of India.
The new usage of guns allowed small armies to make large gains on enemy territory. Small parties of skirmishers
who had been dispatched simply to test enemy positions and tactics, were making inroads into India. Babur, however,
had survived two revolts, one in Kandahar and another in Kabul, and was careful to pacify the local population after
victories, following local traditions and aiding widows and orphans.
Despite both being Sunni Muslims, Babur wanted Ibrahim's power and territory. Babur and his army of 24,000 men
marched to the battlefield at Panipat armed with muskets and artillery. Ibrahim prepared for battle by gathering
100,000 men (well-armed but with no guns) and 1,000 elephants. Ibrahim was at a disadvantage because of his
outmoded infantry and internecine rivalries. Even though he had more men, he had never fought in a war against
gunpowder weapons and he did not know what to do strategically. Babur pressed his advantage from the start and
Ibrahim perished on the battlefield in April 1526, along with 20,000 of his men
CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION
The central administrative machinery of the Sultanate consisted of the nobles controlling various offices with the
Sultan at the helm of affairs.
The Sultan
In the early Islamic world, there was no sanction for the position of the Sultan. With the disintegration of the
Caliphate, the Sultan began to appear in the sense of a powerful ruler-an independent sovereign of a certain territory.
The Delhi Sultans could make civil and political regulations for public welfare. Khutba and sikka were recognised
as important attributes of sovereignty. The khutba was the formal sermon following the congregational prayer on
Fridays wherein the name of the Sultan was mentioned as the head of the community.
Coinage was the ruler's prerogative : his name was inscribed on the coins (sikka).
The Sultanate witnessed a rapid rise and fall of dynasties. The Sultan, or a contender to the throne, could only keep
himself in power with the support of the nobles who were themselves divided into numerous groups. Barani says that
Balban stressed the special position of the Sultan as 'shadow of God' (zill a Allah) on earth. Balban emphasized
courtly splendour decorum and etiquette. He also believed in severe exemplary punishments even to the nobles. All
this bore relevance to a situation where the throne was never safe from the ambitions of the nobles, many of whom
felt that they had an equal right to rule. There were many officials to look after the royal household. The wakil-i-dar
looked after the entire household and disbursed salaries to the Sultan's personal staff. The amir-i-hajib functioned as
the master of ceremonies at the court. All petitions to the Sultan were submitted through the latter. There were other
minor officials also.
The Wizarat (Finance)
The wazir, as the head of the diwan-i wizarar, was the most important figure in the central administration. Though
he was one of the four important departmental heads, he exercised a general supervisory authority over others. The
wizarar organised the collection of revenue, exercised control over expenditure, kept accounts, disbursed salaries and
allotted revenue assignments (iqta) at Sultan's order. There were several officials who helped the wizarat such as the
mushif-i mumalik or the accountant-general and the mustaufi-i mumalik or the auditor-general. During the reign of
Alauddin Khalji, the diwan-i mustakhraj was made responsible for the collection of arrears of revenue.
REVENUE ADMINISTRATION
Discuss in brief the land-revenue system and judicial administration of The Delhi Sultanate. (15) (2015)
Three groups of rural aristocracy khot. muqaddam, and chaudhuri-who collected land revenue (kharaj) from the
peasants on behalf of the state. and deposited the same with the officials of the diwan-i wizarat. For this service, they
were allowed perquisites (haqq-i khoti) as remuneration by the state which consisted of being exempted from the
Iqta System
The initial Turkish conquests in the early 13th century displaced many local chiefs (whom the contemporary sources
refer to as rai and rana). In order to consolidate, the Turkish rulers made revenue assignments (iqta), in lieu of cash,
to their nobles (umma). The assignees collected revenue from these areas, defrayed their own expenses, paid the
troops maintained by them and sent the surplus fawozil) to the centre. lqta is an Arabic word and the institution had
been in force in the early lslamic world as a form of reward for services to the State. It was used in the Caliphate
administration as a way of financing operations and paying civil and military officers. The grant of iqta did not imply
a right to the land nor was it hereditary though the holders of Iqta tended to'-acquire hereditary rights in Feroz
Tughluq's reign. These revenue assignments were transferable, the iqta-holder being transferred from one region to
another every three or four years. Therefore, iqta should not be equated with the fief of medieval feudal Europe,
which were hereditary and non-transferable. The assignments could be large (a whole province or a part).
Assignments even to nobles carried administrative, military and revenue collecting responsibilities. Thus, provincial
administration was headed by the muqti or wuli. He had to maintain an army composed of horsemen and foot soldiers.
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________78
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
The Khaljies
“The Khalji Revolution”
The Khilji Revolution (20) (2006)
The Khalji Revolution marked the overthrow of the Slave Dynasty and the establishment of the rule of Khalji
Dynasty in the reign of Delhi Sultanate. It was not merely a change in the dynasty but the very nature of the state
was poised for a revolution under the Khiljis. The Khalji Revolution was a revolution in the sense that it heralded
the end of the Turkish supremacy over rule in India. The coming to power of the Khaljis is seen as something new
by contemporary historians. Barani mentions that the Khaljis were a different "race" from the Turks. Modern
scholars like C.E. Bosworth speak of them as Turks, but in the thirteenth century no one considered them as Turks,
and thus it seems that the accession to power was regarded as something novel because earlier they did not form a
significant part. Alauddin Khalji further eroded the power of the older Turkish nobility by bringing in new groups
such as the Mongols (the 'New Muslims, Indians and Abyssinians (for the later, the example of Malik Kafur is
well-known). This trend towards a broadening of the composition 'of the ruling class continued during the rule of
the Tughluqs. It may be incidentally mentioned here that there was a very small group called kotwalion (pl. of
kotwol) at Delhi during the reign of Balban and Alauddin Khalji. Infact, this was a family group, headed by
Fakhruddin who was the kotwol of Delhi. This group appears to have played some political role during and after
Balban's death. The Khaljis ushered in a revolution in the history of the Delhi Sultanate by initiating an
expansionist policy.
The Tughlaq
Under Muhammad Tughluq, apart from the Indians and the Afghans, the ruling class, became unprecedentedly more
heterogeneous with the entry of larger numbers of foreign elements, especially the Khurasoni, whom the Sultan called
azziz (dear ones). Many of them were appointed as Amir Sadah ("commander of hundred’? Concerning the non-
Muslim as well as the converted Indians, Barani laments that the Sultan raised the "low-born" to high status. He
mentions musicians, barbers, cooks, etc. why got high positions. He gives the example of Peera Mali (gardener) who
was given the diwan-i wimrot.
The reign of Feroz Tughluq does not give us any clear pattern about the social origins of the nobles. The situation
was fluid with a false veneer of peace between the Sultan and the amir. Certain designations were used with reference
to the nobles - khan, malik and amir. Khan was often used with reference to Afghan nobles, amir came to mean a
commander, malik-a chief, ruler, or king. Along with their titles of honour, the nobles were given some symbols of
dignity designated as morotib which signified privileges-khilot (robe of honour), sword and dagger presented by the
Sultan, horses and elephants that they were entitled to use in their processions, canopy of State and the grant of parasol
(chhotri) and insignia and kettledrums.
It is significant to note that every Sultan sought to form and organize a group of nobles which would be personally
loyal to him. This obviated the necessity of depending upon previous groups whose loyalty was suspect. That's why
we find the contemporary historians employing terms like Qutbi (ref. Qutbuddin Aibak), Shamsi (ref. Shamsuddin
Iltutmish). Balbani and Alai amirs. But one thing was quite certain:
Every group tried to capture the attention of the Sultan-whether weak or strong- because all privileges and power
issued forth from the sovereign. This, in turn, went to a great extent in strengthening gradually the position of the
Sultan himself if he was a man of strong will. The Afghans were frequently recruited into the feudal bureaucracy of
the Delhi Sultanate.
AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY
Plough
The use of hoe or hoeing was replaced by plough centuries back. Archaeological evidence from Kalibangan
(Rajasthan) - an Indus valley culture site -for the use of 'ironless' plough is well-known, although the doubt remains
whether it drawn by men or oxen. Plough-cultivation employing oxen during the Vedic Age is, however, an
established fact. The Iron Age, identified with the Aryan settlement in the Gangetic plain, contributed to the
development of the plough in the sense that while the entire frame earlier wa6 of timber, the ploughshare/courter now
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________81
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
was of iron. This metallic piece immensely helped in the tillage of comparatively harder soil. Plough with an ironshare
drawn by two yoked oxen. Unlike Europe, India could not develop horse-drawn wheeled-plough for the reason that
our plough was light in weight suited for the soft soil
Sowing
For sowing, the method of broadcasting was known. The practice was to scatter seeds manually by taking them out
from a cloth-bag slung over shoulders. The time-scale of seed-drill in India is controversial: some would trace it back
to the Vedic Age. At any rate, the only positive evidence for its use along the western coast of India comes from one
Portuguese - Barbosa (c. 1510) - in connection with the wet-cultivation of rice.
Harvesting, Threshing and Winnowing
Harvesting was performed with a sickle, and threshing by using oxen who walked round and round over the ears put
on the threshing floor. "Wind power" was exploited in winnowing in order to separate the chaff from the grain.
Irrigational Devices
There were many sources of water for the purpose of irrigating fields. Rain water was the natural source. Ponds and
tanks received this water which was used for irrigation. Water channels formed by inundation, too, served the same
purpose. But the most .important controlled source was the water of the wells, especially in North India. Almost all
the irrigational devices were oriented towards drawing water from wells. The latter were more often than not masonry
ones with raised walls and enclosures platforms. Kuchcha wells also existed, but these could not have been durable
or strong enough for extensive water-lifting.
Broadly, there were five devices or techniques to raise water from wells:
i) The most simple technique was to draw water with rope and bucket by using hands without any mechanical aid.
Obviously, then, the bucket was small in size and, thus, this operation would not have adequately served to water
large fields.
But we cannot deny the use of rope-bucket technique for irrigating small fields for crops, most probably vegetables
that did not require much water.
ii) The second method was the employment of pulleys (charkhi) combined to the rope-bucket contraption which was,
once again, activated manually.
Undoubtedly, the pulleys needed lesser amount of human energy and, therefore, comparatively larger bags or buckets
could have been attached to the rope. It was also used for domestic purpose, especially by women.
Town dwellers
Medieval Indian towns were merely as extension of villages. Comment (12) (2012)
GROWTH OF TOWNS
Before discussing the evidence of increase in number and size of towns, we must first understand what we mean by
town. There are two simple definitions of a town : (a) the usual modern definition of a settlement of 5000 or above,
and (b) a settlement where an overwhelming majority of population (say above 70%) is engaged in occupations other
than agriculture. The two definitions are not mutually exclusive but While the archaeological evidence available for
earlier period is not forthcoming from the 13th-14th centuries owing to the much less attention paid to medieval
archaeology, the literary evidences testify growth of urban centres. Some major towns mentioned in the contemporary
sources are Delhi (the capital), Multan, Anhilwara (Patan), Cambay, Kara, Lakhnauti and Daulatabad (Deogiri).
Lahore was a big town but decayed after the Mongol invasion in the 13th century. However, in the 14th .century it
flourished again. While not even a guesstimate of the population of any town is available in our sources there are
reliable indications to assume that at least some of these were cities big enough by contemporary standards. Ibn
Battuta, who visited Delhi in 1330,.deseribes it as of enormous extent and population, the largest city in the Islamic
East in spite of the fact that Muhammad Tughluq had shifted much of its population to Daulatabad. He describes the
latter too, as large enough to rival Delhi in size. Some new towns were established during the period, such as Jhain
(Chhain) in Eastern Rajasthan that was named 'Shahr Nau' during Alauddin Khalji's reign (1296-1316).
Strength of the invader, of course, lay in combination and not in dispersal in an unfamiliar land and, thus, in initial
stages, it was but natural for the members of the ruling class to prefer to stay at their iqta headquarters along with
their cavalry. These iqta headquarters having the concentration of cavalry, its hangers - on and the retinue and
households thus emerged in the early phase as camp cities. Most of the 13th century towns are infact defined as iqta
headquarters in our sources; for example, Hansi, Kara, Anhilwara, etc. These towns were to be fed and provided for.
In the beginning, the troops had to go for realising kharaj/mal by plundering the surrounding villages; but gradually
by the 14th century, as pointed out by Moreland, cash nexus developed. The revenue was realised in cash from the
peasants who were thus forced to sell their produce at the side of the field. The merchants catered to the needs of
towns giving risk to 'induced trade'.
The ruling class coming from a different cultural milieu had needs of leisure and comforts of a different type; they
wanted songs in Persian and dances of a different style, books, silk to wear and articulate light architecture (not the
stone edifices). Out of the resources that were indeed enormous by contemporary standards at its command, the new
rulers naturally wanted to get luxuries and comforts of their taste which encouraged immigration from Islamic culture
area. These immigrants were not only soldiers, but craftsman, artisans, singers, musicians, dancers, poets, physicians,
astrologers and servicemen as described by Isami. The immigrant master-craftsman most probably introduced new
techniques and articles of technology
URBAN MANUFACTURES
Evaluate the condition of industries in India from 1200 to 1500 CE (20)(2013)
It seems that the urban craft production received a twofold impetus with the establishment of the Delhi sultanate.
First, the Sultanate ruling class remained town-centered and spent the enormous resources it appropriated in the form
of land revenue mainly in towns, either on buying services or procuring manufacturers. Even the money spent on the
service sector partly went to help the urban craft sector through multiplier effect. While the nobility created demand
for high-priced skill-intensive luxury items, its hangers-on in all likelihood created a mass market for ordinary
artisan product.
The second factor that contributed to urban manufacturers was the introduction of a number of technological devices
that reached India with the invaders. In the luxury sector, silk weaving expanded and carpet-weaving came from
Persia. The other notable urban manufacture was papermaking. Perhaps a major sector of urban employment was
building industry.
Barani says that Alauddin Khalji employed 70,000 craftsmen for his buildings. One may well be justified in saying
that there was considerably more masonry per acre of occupied space in the towns of 1400 than in those of 1200.
Organization of Production
It is indeed important to know how production was organized. Whether the town artisans carried out production under
the 'domestic system', that is, they owned their tools, raw material and the end product and also sold their product
themselves; in other words, whether they were self employed or while tools were their own and they worked at their
homes, raw material was provided to them by the merchants, that is whether they worked under the 'putting-out
system'. The contemporary sources shed little light on these aspects. One can, however, legitimately assume that
since the tools of production even after the introduction of new devices were still simple and mainly of wood and
little of iron should have remained cheap. The artisan was thus master of his own tools, though varied forms of labour
organization seem to be prevalent. Certain artisans hawked or hired out their services such as cotton-cards who with
a bow- string on his shoulder, went door to door selling his services as is evident from the account given in Khair-
ul Majalis.
Discuss the advancement made in Textile Technology under the Delhi Sultans. (10) (2018)
The increased craft production along with urban growth was due to the number changes or improvement in the
technology of the period. The population which entered from the North West and west brought with them superior
technology along with the skill to improvise the existing technology.
First to be mentioned is the cotton textile technology. This industry increased its production immensely and this led
to the huge amount of export of the production. The arrival of spinning wheel [charkha] revolutionized the production
of yarn. Isami’s Futuhu-s Salatin in 1350 refers to this devise. He also referred to this important mechanical device
Inland Trade
The inland trade developed at two levels : (a) the short distance village-town trade in commodities of bulk, and (b)
long distance inter-town trade in high value goods. The village-town trade was a natural consequence of the
emergence of towns and realization of land revenue in cash. The urban centres were dependent for supply of food
grains and raw material for manufactures from the surrounding villages whereas the villages had to sell the
agricultural products to receive cash for meeting the land revenue demand. The peculiar nature of this trade was the
one-way flow of commodities. While the towns received grains and raw material from the villages in the vicinity
they had no need to send their products in exchange to the villages which were by and large self-sufficient. This one-
way trade was owing to the land revenue demand imposed upon villages which naturally led to a continuous drain on
rural sector and made the towns dependent on villages. The turnover of this trade was high in terms of volume but
was low in terms of value. The commodities were food grains, that is wheat, rice. gram, sugarcane, etc. and raw
material.
The inter-town trade was mainly in luxury articles and was thus high value trade. The manufactures of One town
were taken to another : for example Barani reports . that Delhi, the capita] itself, received distilled wines from Kol
(Aligarh) and Meerut. muslin (fine cloth) from Devagiri and striped cloth from Lakhnauti (Bengal) while, according
to Ibn Battuta, ordinary cloth came from Awadh and betel-leaf from Malwa (twenty-four days journey from Delhi).
Candy sugar was supplied to Multan from Delhi and Lahore and ghi from Sirsa (in Haryana).
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________84
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
The long distance inter-town trade also carried goods coming from other countries exit-points. Multan was perhaps
the great entrepot for overland foreign trade and served as a centre of re-export, while Gujarat ports such as Broach
and Cambay were exchange centres for overseas trade
BUILDING CONSTRUCTION
Lime Mortar
The traditional basic units of construction in Ancient India consisted of clay, stones, wood and occasionally bricks.
The simplest cementing material or mortar was plain earth mixed with water. An improved kind was straw (bhus)
added to a mixture of clay and water which was used for plastering also. But lime mortar was definitely brought by
the immigrant Muslims during the Delhi Sultanate.
The basic ingredients in lime-mortar were lime (chuna) and surkhi (pounded bricks). Lime was of various kinds,
according to the material from which it was extracted. The two major sources of lime were gypsum and gravel
(kankar). The later were first burnt in kilns yielding quicklime. This quicklime was then treated with water to turn it
into slake lime. Surkhi was added to this mix. Afterwards, a number of gelatinous. glutinous and resinous cementing
agents like gum, pulses. jaggery, etc. were added to make the mortar more sticky.
Arch and Domed Vaulted roofing
One result of lime mortar was the extensive use of bricks as it made the brick buildings more durable. Another
important consequence was that lime mortar paved the way for the construction of true arch (mihrab). Actually,, the
very arrangement of bricks or stones in making a true arch demands a strong cementing material to hold the voussairs
together. Lime mortar fulfilled this need. This explains the almost total absence of true arch in Indian buildings prior
to the Turkish advent. The only exception, however, was the Kushana period: excavations at Kausambi (near
Allahabad) have revealed the existence of some arches - over windows (not gates). Kushanas had come from Central
Asia and, therefore they knew arch making. Afterwards, there is not a single evidence of true arches in, India till the
coming of the Muslims. Another form of arch was the corbelled one; in fact, it was a variant of trabeate construction,
that is the pillar-and-beam technique which was the most distinguishing feature of pre-Muslim Indian architecture.
From mihrab to gumbad (vaulted roofing or dome) was a natural development side vaulting or dome was not possible
without a knowledge of how to make a true arch. That is why it is observed that a dome is a true arch turned 360
degrees. In other words, a dome was constructed on the principle of intersecting true arches
Describe the new architectural features added by successive Sultans in the construction of Tombs in India.
(20) (2018)
The tomb architecture of the Slave dynasty was part of a complex and indigenous system; in the Lodi and Mughal
dynasties the scale of the tomb was monumental, set in landscaped gardens and had Persian influence. The Mughal
rulers were powerful and wealthy giving importance to landscaping, with the monument being placed in the Char-
bagh (or four gardens). The tomb of Islamic rulers was generally lavishly decorated and had expensive materials like
marble and sandstone clad over it. In spite of poor economic conditions in the Tughlaq period the practice of tomb
building continued with the builders resorting to inexpensive materials like rubble covered with plaster. Each of the
tomb evolved blending features of the earlier tomb with new ideas. The tomb can be classified in two types the open
and closed, the open consisting mostly of the octagonal type with pillared verandahs and the square tombs being
closed type with the entrance in the form of a central archway.
The tomb is placed diagonally and oriented towards the Mecca and is constructed of red sandstone with the slope of
the wall at an angle of 75 degrees with the ground. The slope could have been made to imitate the nearby fort walls
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________85
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
of Tughlaqabad. The finial at the apex of the marble dome resembles the kalasa and amala of a Hindu Temple. The
exterior is decorated with various elements like merlons, paneled niches and a central recessed arch with spearhead
fringes.The doorway has a slight projection and The tomb of the Iltutmish built during the Slave Dynasty marks the
beginning of the tomb architecture on which later tomb of Tughlaqs and Lodis developed. The tomb is situated at the
North western corner of the Qutb Mosque.The exterior of the building is relatively plain with horizontal bands at
intervals and a decorated central arch. The dome had collapsed due to inexperience of the Hindu builders to construct
a tomb. The basic concept of the Tomb of Iltutmish was the circular dome supported on the square cube, involving
a phase of transition from the square, octagon, a sixteen sided polygon to finally a circle. The domes of Islamic
monuments in India were supported by method of squinches. In the tomb of Iltutmish the squinch took the form of a
half dome with the facing of an elaborately decorated arch. The tomb could also be a place for prayer with western
side that included three mihrabs in the interior face, intricately carved with inscriptions. The tomb of Ghiasuddin
Tughlaq was built on a fortress which stands within an artificial lake is a combination of lintel and arch with a stone
grille in between, the lintel being an indigenous system of construction which loses its structural significance and
becomes ornamental. The arch of the doorway is surrounded by a marble band and also supported by nook shafts on
either side. During the rule of Firuz Tughlaq the tombs constructed were plain devoid of ornamentation with
inexpensive materials like rubble, lime and plaster. There was lack of skilled craftsmen and poor economic conditions
prevailed due to the shifting of the capital from Delhi to Daulatabad by his predecessor, Muhammed Tughlaq. The
plain walls of the tomb of Firuz Shah have a slight slope and is decorated with merlons on two tiers one above the
cube and second above the octagonal dome. On the outer surface the there is a slight projection towards the centre
emphasizing the entrance of the door. On the southern side is a low platform with a stone railing of horizontals and
verticals. The exterior and interior of the tomb has limited ornamentation. The tomb of Telengani, an official of Feroz
Tughlaq is the first octagonal tomb with verandahs on eight sides. On each side of the faces are three arches and a
wide chajja, a typical Hindu element projects on all the faces. The tomb also marks the development of octagonal
tombs of later Sayyids and Mughal Period. The Eklakhi tomb in Bengal is a modified version of the cube and
hemisphere of the Imperial Style with the dome being supported by thick walls instead of squinches. Because of
heavy rains in the regions the roof of the tomb was designed with a slight curve and a heavy cornice to throw of the
excess rain water. The role of the indigenous craftsmen is seen in the exterior surface being decorated with ornamental
panels. The tomb of Sikander Lodi is built without kiosks and has a double dome -a Persian concept – an inner and
outer shell. This creates an imposing exterior and reduces the scale of disproportionately tall interior. On each of the
octagonal side are arched verandahs taking the cue from the earlier tomb of Mubarak Sayyid. The tomb is the focus
of an elaborately landscaped garden within a walled enclosure and gateways on all four surrounding sides. The later
Mughal tombs were based on the idea of double domes and tombs related to landscape. The tomb of Sher Shah
proportions are placed on an artificial lake, connected by means of causeway to the mainland. The form is pyramidal
in five distinct stages not strikingly different from its Sayyid Prototype. The height increases with kiosks at each
angle the plan being octagonal in shape. The lower storey is in the form of a verandah having triple arches in each of
its sides with a projecting chajja and a high parapet with merlon motifs. The shape of the structure changes at each
level from a square basement to octagonal tiers and a circular dome.
MILITARY TECHNOLOGY
Stirrup
It is now an established fact that iron-stirrup (rikab) was unknown in India. For that matter, there is no Sanskrit word
for stirrup. Perhaps surcingle, 'big toe stirrup' and 'suspension hooks' were used in India, but stirrup proper was the
contribution of the Muslims. This stirrup was first used in China around 6th century A.D., and later it diffused into
BENGAL
The geopolitical conditions of Bengal, especially the long distance from Delhi, met constraints on its cony01 by the
Sultans of Delhi. The governors took full advantage of distance. As the central power weakened or rulers got involved
elsewhere, the nobles used to act almost de facto rulers in the region. Earlier, Iltumish had to march in person to assert
his authority (1225) and it too, almost three years for Balban in crushing the rebellion of Tughril Beg, the governor
of Bengal. To assert Delhi's hold over Bengal, Balban appointed his son Bughra Khan as governor (1281). But after
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________88
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
Balban's death, Bughra Khan decided to stay in Bengal rather than 'contest' the Delhi throne (1287). Later, we see
Ghiyasuddin Tughluq marching towards Lakhnauti. However, it was during Muhammad Tughluq's reign that more
effective policy was adopted latter appointed his trusted nobles, at Lakhnauti, Sonargaon and Satgaon to establish a
balance among various powerful factions. However, Delhi was challenged at various intervals.
Ilyas Shah (1342-57), emerged as a powerful ruler in Bengal, occupied Lakhnauti, and Sonargaon, and marched as
far as Baliaras. Sultan Feroz Tughluq.
Again in 1359, Feroz Tughluq marched against Sikandar Shah (1357-89) to break his power. After Feroz Tughluq's
death (1388). the Sultanate became too weak to subdue the recalcitrant rulers of Bengal.
Sikandar Shah's son Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah (1389-1409) was a popular ruler. He faced the combined attack of the
Rajas of Kamata and Ahom and had to surrender the territory beyond Karatoya river. He established diplomatic ties
with the Chinese rulers when one of their envoys came in 1406.
GUJARAT
The Chalukya hold continued over Gujarat throughout the 13th century in spite of the establishment of the Sultanate.
Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan, Khalji's generals, succeeded in overthrowing Raja Karna Baghella, the Chalukya ruler
and thus laid the foundation of the Sultanate rule in Gujarat. The Delhi Sultans enjoyed supremacy over Gujarat
throughout the 14th century. However, symptoms of decline became evident from Feroz Shah's reign onwards who
entrusted the governorship of Gujarat to Shamsuddin Damghani. Timur's invasion (1398) provided the much sought
for opportunity to the governors to break away with the centre. Soon after, in 1407, Zafar khan (who later assumed
the title of Muzaffar Shah), the then Governor of Gujarat, established an independent kingdom in Gujarat. The
Kingdom of Gujarat since its inception had been constantly clashing with its neighbouring territories-Malwa,
Rajputana, Khandesh and the Bahmani kingdoms.
Rise to power
Shahi Khan, a son of Sultan Sikander the ruler of Kashmir, was charged with the rule of the kingdom of Kashmir
when his elder brother, Ali Shah, left the kingdom on a pilgrimage to Mecca. It was at this time that Ali Shah gave
Shahi Khan the title of Zain-ul-Abidin. Although a religious man, Ali Shah was weak-willed and his desire to attain
Mecca buckled under descriptions of the arduous journey ahead. He abandoned his pilgrimage when he arrived at
the court of his father-in-law, the king of Jammu, and raised an army consisting of soldiers from Jammu
and Rajauri in order to regain his throne. The ancient texts vary regarding why it was that Zain-ul-Abidin
relinquished his recently acquired status without a fight but there is no disagreement that this is in fact what
happened.
Retiring to Sialkot, Zain-ul-Abidin sought the support of its chief, Jasrat Khokhar. Ali Shah became angered when
this support was forthcoming and he rashly set out with his army to challenge Khokar. The forces met
at Thanna and Khokhar defeated the challenger, who had ignored the advice of his father-in-law to hold back until
the Jammu army could join him. Zain-ul-Abidin was then able to return to the capital city of Srinagar, where he
was welcomed by his subjects. The fate of Ali Shah is uncertain: he may have died in captivity or have been put to
death by Khokhar.
Reign
Although fundamentally a peaceful man, Zain-ul-Abidin was protective of his territory. He raised and led an army
to stabilise the fractious areas of Ladakh and Baltistan which had originally been conquered by his
Administrative policies
Zain-ul-Abidin enforced the system of responsibility of the village communities for local crimes. He regulated the
price of the commodities. He stabilized the currency which had been debased during the reign of his predecessors.
He was responsible for a large number of public works. He founded several new cities, built many bridges and dug
many irrigation canals. He also prevented the local governors from exacting illegal taxes and gave the peasants
much needed tax relief.
Religious policies
Zain-ul-Abidin earned a name for himself for his policy of religious toleration and public welfare activities. He
abolished Jaziya on the Hindu majority of Kashmir. Although he was a Muslim ruler but he banned the slaughter of
cows but allowed "Satti" the Hindu rite in which Hindu women are burned alive with their dead husbands. He
extended liberal patronage to Sanskrit language and literature. He knew Persian, Sanskrit and Tibetan.
The Mahabharata and Kalhana's Rajatarangini were translated into Persian by his order. He was known for his
religious tolerance. He called back the Hindus who left Kashmir during his father's reign. He allowed the Hindus to
build their temples and follow the personal law according to the Dharmashastras. He stopped the killing of cows by
means of poison and passed some regulations about eating beef. He re-introduced the grant of stipends to the
learned Brahmans.
ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE
Since most of the regional states emerged as a result of the disintegration of the Delhi Sultanate, they copied the
administrative model of their parent state. Though the states of Kashmir developed independently, there, too, the
working was by and large along the Sultanate administrative set-up. In Rajputana and Orissa, however, we find certain
changes in nomenclature. The Ahom kingdom also went through an t entirely different set-up, primarily because of
its tribal nature.
In Malwa, Gujarat, Bengal, Jaunpur and Kashmir, the central machinery was headed by wazir followed by ariz-i
mumalik, shaikh-ul Islam and qazi. Besides, there were hajib, dabir (department of correspondence), amir-i dar
(master of ceremonies), amir- akhur (chief of royal stable), etc. For the maintenance of royal household (haram),
there was a separate administrative machinery. Kingdoms were divided into a number of provinces. In Bengal,
provinces were called iqlim, arsa and diyar. The provincial governors were called sar-i lashkar; wazir (i.e. in them
combined the military and financial powers); while in Kashmir and other regional states-they were known as hakim:
In Kashmir, these hakims were generally recruited from the royal family.
Provinces were further subdivided into shiqs (in Bengal), and paraganas with villages forming the smallest unit. Like
the centre, in the provinces also qazis dispensed justice, muhtasibs looked after morals, kotwal was for the
maintenance of law and order in the towns. while shiqdar was the overall incharge of the provience. At the village
level, there were village headmen (muqaddams) and accountant (patwari). As for their army organisation, the rulers
maintained standing army but they largely depended for the supply of armed personnel on their provincial governors
and 'chiefs'. Infantry and, cavalry was the main fighting force, but elephants. too, had their own role. Them were
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________90
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
constant efforts on the part of the rulers of Malwa and Jaunpur to maintain; regular supply of elephants. In Bengal
'and Gujarat, navy also formed an important wing of the army.
Vijaynagar Empire
ESTABLISHMENT AND CONSOLIDATION
Do you agree that convergence of political vacuum and impact of Islamicate culture and polity in
peninsular India has much to do with the growth of Vijaynagara kingdom? (15)(2018)
An understanding of the Vijaynagara polity requires knowledge about the political conjuncture from which it
originated. After the invasion of Harsha for the next 600 years peninsular India was insulated from political incursion
of northern India. Delhi sultanate did not penetrate south India in the first century of its existence. By 1300 it had
started sending its armies (during the regime of Alauddin Khalji) to the peninsular India. Military successes of the
Delhi sultanate had long standing repercussions on peninsular India. It destroyed the existing kingships - all the four
major kingdoms Yadavs of Devgiri, Hoysalas of Dwarasamudra, Pandyas of Madurai and finally the Kakatiyas of
Warangal fell one after another. Muhammad bin Tughluq vanquished the last remaining ruler of peninsular India -
Prataprudradeva of the Kakatiya dynasty. The political vacuum paved the way for emergence of a new state -
Vijayanagara - established by the indigenous group of warriors. Muhammad bin Tughluqs decision to transfer the
capital to Devgiri also saw major influx of Islamic literati and holy men which helped Islamic culture and religion
taking roots in the region. Convergence of these factors - political vacuum and the impact of the Islamicate culture
and polity inpeninsular India has much to do with the growth of Vijaynagara empire. In the historical literature
generally Vijayanagara state has been projected as a strong military machine - the last bastion of Hindu polity against
the rising tide of Islamicate state. However Vijayanagara’s militarism was largely a result of indigenous
developments, although it was intensifed by competition with more technologically advanced states in an age of
escalating warfare worldwide. Not only the Bahmani & Sultanate but also the Gajapati kingdom of Orissa was a great
rival of Vijayanagara. The rulers of the last mentioned state were Hindu. The Vijayanagara kings did not perceived
themselvees as engaged in mortal combat with the Bahamani rulers for the survival of Hinduism and south Indian
society. The rulers of Vijayanagara did attempt to act as righteous kings preserving dharma mainly as protection of
the social order and most particularly upholding the Brahmin privilege. However increasingly from the eatirly
medieval period onwards notions of royal legitimacy came to rest on linkages with temple deities rather than with
Brahmins. It was in the combined role of servant and patron of the gods that the Vijayanagara kings excelled. The
Sangamas typically signed the name of Virupaksha to royal decrees rather than their own suggesting that he was the
true lord of the realm.
Geographical configurations played an important role in determining the course of political events in south India.
The focus of struggle among the local powers was the Krishna Godavari delta, Kaveri basin, the Tungabhadra doab
and the Konkan region, the latter known for its fertility and access to high seas. During the 8-13th century, the stuggle
was between the Rashtrakutas and the Pallavas while the following centuries saw Vijaynagar and Bahmani kingdoms
locking horns. The Bahmanis compelled the Vijaynagar rulers to expand laterally westward and eastward across the
peninsula from the main centre of their power on the Tungabhadra. The Vijaynagar rulers also found it difficult to
crush the Bahmani power in Raichur and Tungabhadra doab because of latter's alliance with the Velamas of
Rajakonda in Warangal. These circumstances prevented Vijaynagar from advancing towards the north and forced it
to expand laterally eastward and westward across the peninsula and southwards into the Tamil country.
Later however this alliance broke up which enabled Vijaynagar to expand at the cost of Bahmanis.
During this period; the power of the Bahmanis declined, leading to the emergence of five kingdoms: the Nizam-
Shahis of Ahmadnagar; the Adil Shahis of Bijapur; the Imad Shahis of Berar, the Qutb Shahis of Golconda and the
Barid Shahis of Bidar on the ruins of the Bahmani empire. This helped Krishnadeva Raya greatly in capturing
Kovilkonda and Raichur from the Adil Shahis of Bijapur and Gulbarga and Bidar from the Bahamanis. Krishnadeva
Raya also recovered Udayagiri, Kondavidu (south of river Krishna), Nalgonda (in Andhra Pradesh) Telingana and
Warangal were taken from the Gajapatis. By 1510, the Portuguese also emerged as a strong power to reckon with in
LOCAL ADMINISTRATION
The powers of the territorial assembly (nadu) as well as the village assemblies sabha and ur) were weakened during
the time of the later Cholas. During the Vijaynagar period, these institutions did not completely disappear when the
nagaka and ayagar systems came into prominence.
The Nayankara System
The nayankara system was an important characteristic of the Vijaynagar political organisation. The military chiefs or
warriors held the title of nayaka or amaranayaka. It is difficult to classify these warriors on the basis of definite office,
ethnic identity, set of duties or rights and privileges.
The institution of nayaka was studied in detail by two Portuguese-Fernao Nuniz and Domingo Paes, who visited India
during the reigns of Krishnadeva Raya and Achyut Raya of Tuluva dynasty during the sixteenth century. They regard
the nayakas simply as agents of Rayas (central government). The evidence of Nuniz for the payments made by the
nayaks to the Rayas brings up the question of feudal obligations. The Vijaynagar inscriptions and the later Mackenzie
manuscripts refer to the nayakas as territoriQ1 magnates with political aspirations which at times conflicted with the
aim of the rulers. Vijaynagar empire is a military confederacy of many chieftains cooperating under the leadership of
the biggest among them. He emphasized that the growing threat from Islam led the Vijaynagar rulers to adopt a
military and religious stance. Krishnaswami considers the nayak system as feudal.' But Venkataramanayya feels that
important features of European feudalism such as fealty. homage and sub- infatuation were absent in the nayaka
system. D.C. Sircar similarly refutes the feudal theory; instead he explains it as a kind of landlordism, a variant of
feudalism in which land was allocated to the amaranayakas for military services rendered by them to the king.
Vijaynagar kings tried to establish greater control over coastal markets dealing in horse trade. They attempted to
monopolise the purchase of horses of good quality by paying a high price for them. They also built strong garrisons
fortified with trustworthy soldiers. Thus, on the one hand, the Telugu nayaks were a source of strength for the
Vijaynagar empire and, on the other, they became its rivals.
On the basis of contemporary sources evaluate the system of agriculture and irrigation of the Vijaynagar kingdom
(15)(2013)
The capital city was completely dependent on the water supply systems constructed to channel and store water, and
ensure a consistent supply throughout the year. The remains of these hydraulic systems have given historians a picture
of the prevailing surface water distribution methods in use at that time in South India's semiarid
regions. Contemporary records and notes of foreign travelers describe how huge tanks were constructed by labourers.
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________92
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
Excavations have uncovered the remains of a well-connected water distribution system existing solely within the
royal enclosure and the large temple complexes (suggesting it was for the exclusive use of royalty, and for special
ceremonies) with sophisticated channels using gravity and siphons to transport water through pipelines. The only
structures resembling public waterworks are the remains of large water tanks that collected the seasonal monsoon
water and then dried up in summer except for the few fed by springs. In the fertile agricultural areas near
theTungabhadra River, canals were dug to guide the river water into irrigation tanks. These canals had sluicesthat
were opened and closed to control the water flow. In other areas the administration encouraged the digging of wells
monitored by administrative authorities. Large tanks in the capital city were constructed with royal patronage while
smaller tanks were funded by wealthy individuals to gain social and religious merit.
SOCIETY
Society, culture, literature and the arts in Vijayanagara Empire.
Discuss the social dynamics in the Vijayanagara Empire (20)(2010)
The social structure of the South Indian macro-region (Vijaynagar empire) is a unique variant of the Indian society.
The uniqueness of the social structure was three-fold.
secular functions of the South Indian Brahmans dual division of iower social groups territorial segmentation of the
society.
The Brahmans lived in localities where they controlled land, and their prestige and power was also derived from their
control over those dependent on land. They also , enjoyed prestige due to their sacral functions as a priestly class.
The emergence of a large number of Vedic temples endowed with villages (devadanas) gave the Brahmans as temple
functionaries the power to exercise ritual control over all other castes and religious institutions. As managers of these
religious centres, the Brahmans enjoyed great secular authority.
Territorial segmentation of society implies that social groups in the Tamil country were divided on the basis of
natural sub-region and occupational patterns associated with them. Social groups in South India had less interaction
with groups at some distance from their locality. They gave preference to cross-cousin and maternal uncle-niece
marriages.
Another characteristic of the social structure was the dual division of lower castes referred to by the right and left-
hand designations (Vaishnavas corresponding to the right hand division and the Saivites corresponding to the left
hand castes). In most cases, the right-hand'castes were involved primarily in Agricultural production and local trade
in agricultural commodities whereas left-hand castes were engaged in mobile artisan production and extensive trade
in non-agricultural products. During the Vijaynagar period, the peasant was the basis of the social order, on whom
all other sections of the society depended. The satkams, the Tamil poetic genre, regard the leading peasantry as pure
sat-sudras. They claimed ritual purity and respectable secular raink for them.
Temples played an important role in delineating or determining special space of groupings who were the participants
in the worship of a particular deity. An important characteristic of lineage in the South Indian kingship is marked by
the common devotion to the lineage tutelary. The non-Brahman priests of the peasants' tutelary shrines (e.g. amman)
also participated in the management of great shrines of Siva and Vishnu where the Brahman priests predominated.
The matha the seat of sectarian organisation located at great shrines, consisted of persons of both the Brahman and
non-Brahman orders. Thus, the social organisation of this period comprised of the Brahmans, the left and right-hand
castes which included respectable agricultural castes, namely vellals and lower castes like the weavers.
For the approximately 400 years during the rule of the Western Chalukya and the Hoysalas empires, the most popular
material for temple construction was chloritic schist or soapstone. This was also true for sculpture as soapstone is soft
and easily carved. During the Vijayanagar period the local hard granite was preferred in the Badami Chalukya style,
although soapstone was used for a few reliefs and sculptures. While the use of granite reduced the density of
sculptured works, granite was a more durable material for the temple structure. Because granite is prone to flaking,
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________93
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
few pieces of individual sculptures reached the high levels of quality seen in previous centuries. To cover the
unevenness of the stone used in sculptures, artists employed plaster to give the rough surface a smooth finish and
then painted it with lively colours.
Temple structures
Vijayanagara temples are usually surrounded by a strong enclosure. Small shrines consist simply of a garbhagriha
(sanctum) and a porch. Medium-sized temples have a garbhagriha, shukanasi (antechamber), a navaranga (antrala)
connecting the sanctum and outer mandapa (hall), and a rangamantapa (enclosed pillared hall). Large temples have
tall Rayagopuram built with wood, brick and stucco in Chola style. The term Raya is added to indicate a gopura built
by Vijayanagar Rayas. The top of the gopuram has a shalashikhara resembling a barrel made to rest on its side. Large
life-size figures of men, woman, Gods and Goddesses adorn the gopuram. This Tamil dravida-influenced style
became popular during the rule of king Krishnadevaraya and is seen in South Indian temples constructed over the
next 200 years. Examples of Rayagopuram are the Chennakesava Temple in Belur and the temples at Srisailam and
Srirangam. In addition to these structures, medium-size temples have a closed circumambulatory (Pradakshinapatha)
passage around the sanctum, an open mahamantapa (large hall), a kalyanamantapa (ceremonial hall) and a temple
tank to serve the needs of annual celebrations.
Temple pillars often have engravings of charging horses or hippogryphs (Yali) — horses standing on hind legs with
their fore legs lifted and riders on their backs. The horses on some pillars stand seven to eight feet tall. On the other
side of the pillar are usually carvings from Hindu mythology. Pillars that do not have such hippogryphs are generally
rectangular with mythology themed decoration on all sides. Some pillars have a cluster of smaller pillars around a
central pillar shaft. The bottom supports of these pillars have engravings of Gods and Goddesses. Carvings of
hippogryphs clearly show the adroitness of the artists who created them.
The Mantapas are built on square or polygonal plinths with carved friezes that are four to five feet high and have
ornate stepped entrances on all four sides with miniature elephants or with Yali balustrades (parapets).The Mantapas
are supported by ornate pillars. The 1,000-pillared style with large halls supported by numerous pillars was popular.
The 1,000-pillared Jain basadi at Mudabidri is an example. Larger temples have a separate shrine for the female deity.
Some examples of this are the Hazara Rama, Balakrishna and Vitthala temples at Hampi.
Some shrines in the Vitthalapura area inside Vijayanagara were consecrated specifically for Tamil Alwar saints and
for the great Vaishnava saint, Ramanujacharya. Architecturally they are different in that each shrine has an image
depicting the saint for whose worship the temple was built. Each shrine has its own enclosure and a separate kitchen
and pilgrim feeding hall. The water storage tank inside the royal center, the [stepwell stepped tank] called,
"Pushkarni", is a recent archaeological discovery. The stepped tank is fashioned with finished chlorite schist slabs
arranged in a symmetrical formation with steps and landings descending to the water on all four sides. This is clearly
a Western Chalukya-Hoysala style tank and is seen in many parts of present-day Karnataka. The inscriptions on the
slabs indicate the material was brought from outside the Vijayanagara area.
Palaces
Much of what is known today of Vijayanagara palaces is drawn from archaeological excavations at Hampi as no
royal palace structures have survived. Most palaces stand in their own compound defined by high tapering walls
made of stone or layered earth. Palaces are approached through a sequence of courts with passageways and doorways
requiring multiple changes in direction. All palaces face east or north. The larger palaces have side extensions giving
the complex a symmetrical shape.
Palaces were built on raised platforms made of granite. The platforms have multiple tiers of mouldings with well-
decorated friezes. The decorations can be floral, Kirtimukha shapes (demon faces), geese, elephants and occasionally
human figures. Pillars, beams and rafters inside the palace were made of wood as evidenced by ash discovered in
excavations. The roof was made of brick or lime concrete, while copper and ivory were used for finials. Palaces
commonly consisted of multiple levels with each flight of stairs decorated by balustrades on either side, with either
yali (imaginary beast) or elephant sculptures. The entrance steps into palaces and temple mantapas were similarly
decorated. Water tanks inside the palace complex have decorative water spouts such as the carved torso of the Nandi
with a gaping mouth to allow water flow into the tank. Other structures commonly found inside a palace complex are
wells and shrines.
The courtly architecture generally show secular styles with Islamic influences. Examples are the Lotus Mahal palace,
Elephant stables, and watch towers. Courtly buildings and domed structures were built with mortar mixed with stone
rubble.
The impact of this style of architecture was seen well into the 17th century when the successive Nayaka kingdoms
continued to encourage pillars with hippogryphs and granite became the main building material.
Evaluate the accounts of foreign travelers about the Vijaynagar Empire. (10) (2017)
Persian and European visitors to Vijayanagara provide vivid descriptions of life at the capital during the 15th and
first half of the 16th centuries. Their accounts of the spectacular ceremonies of the nine-day Mahanavami festival to
which the rulers invited them are particularly vivid. The foreigners also reported on the bazaars, temples and palaces
of the city, some of which can still be identified. Their record of local historical traditions has proved invaluable in
piecing together the chronology of the city and empire. Their reports on the precious stones, including diamonds,
textiles and other luxury goods on sale in the markets testify to the role of the capital as one of the greatest emporia
in South India. (Sewell gives translations of these travel accounts in, A Forgotten Empire and see, Fritz and
Michell, Hampi, both listed in the Bibliography).
Nicolo Conti, an Italian, was at Vijayanagara in about 1420, just after the accession of Devaraya I. The first known
foreign traveller, he mentions the fortifications of the city and the thousands of men employed in the army of the
rulers. The next visitor in about 1443 was Abdul Razzaq, an envoy of Shah Rukh, the Timurid sultan of Herat. Abdul
Razzaq noticed seven rings of ramparts protecting the city, but not all these can be traced today. He also gives details
about the ceremonies of the rulers, and the processions of the Mahanavami festival. (Reliefs on the Hazara Rama
Temple in the Royal Centre carved about the same time may portray scenes from this festival.)
The most detailed chronicles of Vijayanagara are those provided by two Portuguese visitors, one a soldier and the
other a trader in horses. (The rulers were always in need of horses imported from the Arabian Peninsula. After the
Portuguese captured this trade from the Arabs in the early 16th century, Portuguese traders frequently visited the
capital.) Domingo Paes was at Vijayanagara in about 1520-22, during the reign of Krishnadevaraya. The visitor
gives invaluable information on the walls, gates, streets and markets of the city, as well as the major temples of the
city, including the Virupaksha at Hampi, together with its colonnaded bazaar. Paes describes the Mahanavami
festival at some length, beginning with the preparations within the king’s palace where ceremonies were held at the
House of Victory, all hung with precious cloths. According to Paes, the festival included numerous processions of
animals, warriors and courtly women, as well as wrestling matches, fireworks and other entertainments. The climax
was the review of the troops that was held at some distance outside the city. The description of the king’s palace with
which Paes’s account concludes seems to apply to Krishnadevaraya’s new residence in what is now Hospet.
Fernao Nuniz, a Portuguese horse-trader, composed his account around 1536-37. He was in the capital during the
reign of Achyutaraya and may have been present at earlier battles fought by Krishnadevaraya. This visitor was
particularly interested in the history of Vijayanagara, especially the foundation of the city, the subsequent careers of
three dynasties of rulers, and the battles that they fought with the Deccan sultans and Orissan Rayas. Nunez, too,
gives details of the Mahanavami festival, noting admiringly the extravagant jewels worn by the courtly women, as
well as the thousands of women in the king’s service.
Cesare Frederici, an Italian traveller who spent seven months at Vijayanagara in 1567, two years after the city was
sacked, suggests that the capital was only partly destroyed and that Tirumala of the Aravidu dynasty intended to re-
establish the Vijayanagara capital there. This attempt turned out to be unsuccessful and the city was eventually
abandoned for good.
Most parts of the Deccan were conquered and annexed to the Delhi Sultanate during Muhammad Tughluq's reign.
He made - elaborate administrative arrangements for the Deccan region. Ulugh Khan was appointed as the superior
ECONOMY
Mahmud Gawan ordered for systematic measurement of land fixing the boundaries of the villages and towns. Thus,
in this regard he was the forerunner of Raja Todar Mal. All this greatly helped the exchequer. First, the income of the
empire was ensured and became known in advance; secondly, it also curbed the corruption of the nobles to the
minimum, thereby increasing the state income.
1n"the Bahmani kingdom, trade and commerce was in a flourishing state. Nikitin, a Russian traveller, who was in the
Deccan during 1469-74, provides ample information regarding the commercial activities of Bidar. He says that
horses, cloth, silk, and pepper were the chief merchandise. Dabul was well connected not only with the Indian but
also with the African ports. Horses were imported from Arabia, Khurasan and Turkestan. Trade and commerce was
mostly in the hands of the Hindu merchants. Musk and fur were imported from China.
Assess the contribution of Fizor Shah Bahamani and Mahmud Gawan in the field of education. (15) (2016)
Firozshah Bahmani (1398-1422 C.E.) was an accomplished scholar and fond of learning. He sent ships from the
port of Goa to Persia, Turkistan (Turkey), and Egypt carrying special invitations to scholars of Islamic institutions.
They were given important posts and facilities in order to pursue their studies further. Firozshah was drawn to
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________96
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
philosophy and natural sciences. Every fourth day of the week he copied sixteen pages of the Koran, before
engaging in public affairs. He knew Arabic, Turkish, French, Bengali, Gujarati, Telugu and Marathi languages2. It
is told that he had women in his zenāā (the women's quarters within the royal palace) from all these regions and
used to converse with each in her native tongue!
Discussions on botany, geometry and logic were arranged, in which Firozshah actively participated. He spent his
leisure hours in the company of dervishes, poets and reciters of classics. He planned to build an observatory at
Daulatabad, under the guidance of the famous astrophysicist Guilani, but the sudden death of the latter put an end to
the remarkable aspiration. Firozshah's attempt indicates that many experts in astronomy, mathematics and
engineering were in his court and inspired him3. He built a big library at Ahmadnagar.
Mahmud Gawan
He built the great university in Bidar which is known as Mahmud Gawan Madrasa. Almost at the centre of Bidar's
Old Town stand the graceful buildings, which bear testimony to the genius and eclecticism of Mohammad Gawan.
A linguist and a mathematician, he, together with carefully chosen scientists, philosophers and religious seers,
created a distinguished religious school. His extensive library boasted of 3,000 manuscripts.
His three-storey madrasa with a monumental minaret, a mosque, labs, lecture halls and students' cells overlooks an
immense courtyard with arches on every side giving it a graceful facade. Many of the blue tiles on the mosque's
outer walls have been pilfered. The minaret is elegant with Samarkhand-like domes here and there.
Bhakti movement
Evaluate the contribution of Vaishnava saints to the growth of medieval Bhakti literature. (10)(2014)
“Utpanna dravide bhakthi, Karnate vriddhimagata I Sthita kinchit maharashtre gurjare jirnatam gata II –
Padmapurana Account for the emergence of bhakti in Dravida desa. (15) (2018)
“The tenets of Hindu and Muslim mystics were similar enough that the ground was ripe for syncretic
Chaitanya (1486-1533) was the most prominent vaishnava saint of Bengal. He popularized Krishna-bhakti in many
parts of Eastern India. His popularity as a religious personality was so great that he was looked upon as an avatara
(incarnation) of Krishna even in his life. The advent of Chaitanya marks the shifting of the focus of the Bengal
vaishnava bhakti from devotional literary compositions to a full-fledged reform movement with a broad social base.
Chaitanya disregarded all distinctions of caste, creed and sex to give a popular base to Krishna-bhakti. His followers
belonged to all castes and communities. One of his most favourite disciples was Haridas who was a Muslim. He
popularized the practice of sankirtan or group devotional singing accompanied by ecstatic dancing.
However, chaitanya did not give up traditional Brahamanical values altogether. He did not question the authority of
the Brahmans and scriptures. He upheld the caste prejudices of his Brahman disciples against the "lower" caste
disciples.
Sanskrit-knowing Brahman Goswamins who were sent by him to Vrindavan near Mathura established a religious
order which recognized caste restrictions in its devotional practices and rituals. These Goswamins gradually distanced
themselves from Chaitanya's teachings and from the popular movement that had grown around him in Bengal.
But Chaitanya's movement had a great impact on Bengali society. His disregard for -caste distinctions in the sphere
of devotional singing promoted a sense of equality in Bengali life. In Bengal and in Puri in Orissa, his movement
Lalleshwari, Lal Ded, or simply Lalla, as many like to call her, is not just a medieval woman poet in whose verse
we hear the first heart-beats of Kashmiri poetry-she is easily the most popular and most powerful symbol of
Kashmir's civilizational ethos. While her 'vaaks' or verse-sayings continue to dazzle us with their high wattage
incandescence, her role as a spiritual leader who resolved the crisis of her times caused by a clash of two belief and
value systems-one indigenous and the other alien cannot but be regarded as momentous, whether or not history
recognizes its true significance. In both these capacities it was her intervention that ensured continuity and saved
indigenous cultural structures from a total collapse at a time when the advent of Islam in Kashmir was accompanied
by an unprecedented political and social upheaval.
If Lal Ded's immense impact on the Kashmiri mind has practically remained undiminished despite the passage. of
almost seven centuries, it is essentially because of the fusion of the poet and the saint in her, or, to use the words of
Dileep Chitre (which he has used for another great Bhakti poet, Tukaram), because of "a poet's vision of spirituality
and a saint's vision of poetry" that she presents in her verses. We are amazed at her deep sense of compassion, her
mystical insights and spiritual vision, her profound awareness of the human condition and her Shaiva-world view
which makes her look at existence as manifestation of one, indivisible, consciousness. More than anything else, we
are indebted to her for shaping the Kashmiri language in a way that it formed the basis for the Kashmiris to forge
their indigenous cultural identity.
Images and metaphors relating to the concept of Shiva's self-luminosity abound in Shaiva devotional poets, and the
Bata or "darkness" that Lal Ded refers to is the dark Mystical Night of anguish and suffering which ultimately leads
to the Night of Undifferentiatedness.
Lala Ded expresses her mystical feelings-the pangs of separation from Shiva, the passionate urge to unite with Him,
the desperate quest and the frustration of losing the direction, the difficulties of the path, the intensity of suffering
which only strengthens her determination to seem Him face to face and possess Him, the total surrender of will and
the ecstasy of the final beatitude-in imager and metaphors that are powerful and stunningly beautiful:
The first step in this "mystical progression" is, according to Silvia Silburn, self-annihilation or destruction of all
doubt and dualism, and the culmination is communion with the divine, which in Shaiva triadic terminology is self-
realization of one's Shiva-nature, a stage in which nothing remains but Shiva-consciousness-"soruy suy to boh no
kenh" (He is everything, and I am nothing). The ultimate mystical selfrealization in Lal Ded, therefore, means
absorption in Shiva.
But Lal Ded does not remain hovering in the high heaven of mystic experience alone. She has her feet firmly
planted on the earth. There is no tendency in her to separate the experiences of mystical life from the experiences of
ordinary life. Instead of disregarding everyday experiences she elevated herself through it to the ultimate
experience of liberation, which in Trika metaphysics means swatantrya or absolute freedom of will, which is the
nature of Supreme Shiva Himself. Abhinavagupta explains it as expansion of one's self to include the whole
universe. Kashmir Shaivism, it should be noted, does not reject the phenomenal world as unreal or illusory but
regards it to be the self-expression of Shiva-His poem, His work of art, His projection of Himself on a screen which
is also Shiva. Lal Ded's expression of her longing to attain oneness with transcendence, therefore, should be taken
to mean expression of her feeling of unity with Shiva's immanent form also. If "Shiva is all", then to her, He is not
different from the ordinary man we find on the streets-he who laughs and sneezes and coughs and yawns:
Whether or not Lal Ded had a social reformer's zeal, she was strongly egalitarian in her views and was more aware
than most devotional poets about the prevailing social conditions of her times. And, contrary to the generally held
belief that she was unaware of what was happening around her, there is enough evidence in Lalla's vaaks to show
Lal Ded could not have used modern Kashmiri for her poetic expression, but she was modern in many other ways.
She had in her the characteristic modern self-reflectiveness, the insistence on accepting as authentic only what she
herself could experience directly, the broad catholicity of outlook that called for tolerance of diverse views and
made her define her relationship to God in terms of oneness of all existence, the deep existential anguish she felt
while reflecting on the human condition. She was modern in the universality of her concerns, in her choice of
metaphor and image, in her rejection of every kind of sham and pretence, in her fearless assertion of what she saw
as truth. Indeed, at times it appears that she is more modern then most of the contemporary Kashmiri poets.
Lal Ded's struggle as a woman has been largely overlooked. She may not have been a conscious feminist in the
sense the term is understood today, but she did show the courage of resisting the oppressive structures of patriarchy
and refusing to play the traditional role of a submissive daughter-in-law. Rebelling against social tyranny, she broke
the shackles that bind a woman even before her birth, and asserted her right of taking her own decisions. She
challenged the orthodoxy and threw the rigid codes of dress and decorum followed by the medieval society of her
times to the winds and roamed about with barely any clothes on like the great Kannada Shaivite poetess,
Mahadeviakka. Perhaps it was her last act of defiance against a social set-up whose arbitrary and gender
discriminatory rules she did not find acceptable.
Hujwiri d.c. (A.D. 1088) was the earliest sufi of eminence to have settled in India. His tomb is in Lahore. He was the
author of Kashf-ul Mawub. However, various sufi orders were introduced in India only after the establishment of
the Delhi Sultanate in beginning of the 13th century. India not only provided a dew pasture ground for the propagation
of sufi ideas but also became the new home of the sufi who along with many other refugees fled from those parts of
the Islamic world ,which had been conquered by the-Mongols in the thirteenth century. During the 13th and 14th
centuries, khanqahs sprang up in various parts of India. The sufi introduced various orders in India from the Islamic
world, built up their own organizations. By the middle of the century, the entire country from Multan to Bengal and
from Punjab to Deogiri had come under the sphere of their activity. According to the observation of an early 14th
century traveller, there were two thousand sufi hospices in Delhi and its neighbourhood.
Sufism in India originally stemmed from the sufi thought and practice as it developed in various parts of the Islamic
world, especially in Iran and Central Asia.
However, its subsequent development was influenced more by Indian environment than by non-Indian variants of
sufism. Once the sufi orders took root in different parts of India, they followed their own phases of growth, stagnation
and revival. These were determined largely by indigenous circumstances, though the influence
of developments in sufism outside India cannot altogether be discounted.
First Phase
Evaluate the Malfuzat texts sources of medieval history (10)(2013)
The Chishti order which later became the most influential and popular sufi order in India, originated in Herat and
was introduced in India by Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti (d. 1236) who was born in Sijisian in c. 1141. He came to
India at the time of the Ghori conquest. finally settled in Ajmer about 1206 and won the respect of both Muslims and
non-Muslims. No authentic record of his activities is available.
During the later period, many legends projected him as an ardent evangelist. However, he was not actively involved
in conversions and his attitude towards non-Muslims was one of tolerance. His tomb in Ajmer became a famous
centre of pilgrimage in later centuries.
The successor of Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti in Delhi was Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki (d. 1235). Shaikh
Hamidduddin Nagauri (d. 1274), another Khalifa of Shaikh Muinuddin (Chishti, made Nagaur in Rajasthan centre
of his activity. Shaikh' Hamiduddin Nagauri established the silsilah in Nagaur where he lived like an ordinary
Rajasthani peasant and dissociated himself from those in authority. He was a strict vegetarian. He and his successors
translated many Persian sufi verses in the local language called Hindavi : these are earliest examples of translations
of this kind.
Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki was succeeded in Delhi by his Khalifa, Khwaja Fariduddin Masud (1175-1265)
known as Ganjshakar and more popularly as Baba Farid. Baba Farid left Delhi for Ajodhan in Punjab and lived in
his khanqah there.
He despised association with the ruling class and rich persons. Nathpanthi yogis also visited his khanqah and
discussed with him the nature of mysticism. His popularity in Punjab is clear from the fact that more than three
hundred years after his death, verses ascribed to him Were included in the Adi Granth compiled by the fifth Sikh
Guru, Arjun, in 1604. His tomb at Pakpatan soon developed into a centre of pilgrimage.
The most celebrated disciple of Baba Farid and the greatest sufi saint of the 14th century was Shaikh Nizamuddin
Auliya (1236-1325). He made Delhi the most famous centre of the Chishti order. Two historians Ziauddin Barani
and Amir Khusrau, who were his contemporaries, testify to his eminent position in the social and religious life of
India during the late 13th and early 14th centuries. Later. his successors spread the Chishti order in various parts of
the country. His teachings and conversations (malfuzat) are recorded in Fawaid-ul Fuwad written by Amir Hasan
Sijzi. This work serves more as a guide to practical aspects of Sufism than as a treatise on its metaphysical and
theosophical aspects. Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya saw the reigns of seven successive Sultans of Delhi. But he always
avoided the company of the kings and nobles and never visited the court. The langar (an alms-house for the
distribution of free food) of his khanqah was open to Hindus and Muslims alike. In his khanqah, he had many
conversations with the Nathpanthi yogi visitors. He adopted many yoga, breathing exercises and was called a sidh
(perfect) by the yogis. Amir Khusrau (1253-1325) was a devoted disciple of Shaikh Mizamuddin Auliya.
Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya had many spiritual successors or Khlifas. One of them was Shaikh Burhanuddin Gharib
(d. 1340) who was one of those sufis who were forced by Sultan Muhammed Tughalaq to migrate to the Deccan. He
made Daulatabad centre of his activities and introduced the Chishti order there.
The most famous of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya's Khalifas and his successor in Delhi was Shaikh Nasiruddin
Mahmud (d. 1356) who came to be known as Chiragh-i Delhi (Lamp of Delhi). He and some of his disciples
discontinued some of those practices of early Chishtis which could clash with Islamic orthodoxy and, in turn;
persuaded the ulema to soften their attitude towards the Chishti practice of sama.
Decline of the Chishti Order in Delhi During the Later Tughluq and Saiyyid Periods Some scholars hold the
view that the decline of Delhi as a centre of the Chishti order was due to the attitudes and policies of Sultan
Muhammad Tughluq. However, it must be pointed out that the Sultan was not opposed to the sufis per se.
Second Phase
The second phase in the history of the Chishti silsilah during the Sultanate period began with its decline in Delhi
following the death of Shaikh Nasiruddin and its subsequent dispersal in various regional kingdoms. Though the sufis
had begun to arrive in the Deccan from the late 13th century, it was Shaikh Burhanuddin Gharib who introduced the
Chishti order there during the reign of Muhammad Tughluq.
Later, several Chishti sufis migrated to Gulbarga, the capital of the Bahmani kingdom (1347-1538). In Gulbarga,
these sufis developed close relations with the court and accepted state patronage, thus causing a change in the attitude
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________105
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
of the Chishti order towards the state. The Bahmani kings, on their part, purchased the political loyalty of these sufi
and gave land grants to them. The most prominent of these Chishtis was Muhammad Banda Nawaz, Gesudaraz. (c
1321-1422). He left for the Deccan and received land grant of four villages from Bahmani Sultan, Feroz Shah
Bahmani (1397-1422). He was an orthodox sufi and declared the supremacy of lslamic law (Shariat) over all sufi
stages. Gesudaraz discontinued many practices of early Chishtis which clashed with the attitudes of orthodox ulema.
Unlike the early Chishti masters, he was a voluminous writer on tasawwuf. After his death, the
Bahmani Sultans continued the land grants in favour of his family descendants. His tomb or dargah in Gulbarga later
developed into a popular place of pilgrimage in the Deccan. But the transformation of his descendants into a landed
elite and their indifference towards Chishti teachings led to the decline of living Chishti tradition in Gulbarga. The
change of Bahmani capital from Gulbarga to Bidar in 1422 also contributed to the decline of the Chishti order in
Gulbarga. It has been pointed out that the Bahamani Court at Bidar, owing to its pro-foreigner and anti-Deccani bias,
encouraged the immigration of foreign sufis and did not patronise the Chishtis who were considered "pro Indian".
However. the Chishti tradition began to thrive again in the Deccan from the end of the 15th century and it continued
to grow during 16th and 17th centuries. Its new centre was a place popularly known as Shahpur Hillock, just outside
the city of Bijapur-the capital city of the Adil Shahi Sultans.
What was the role of Sufi Folk literature in the diffusion of Islam in India in general and in Deccan in particular.
(15) (2018)
The sufi poetry in particular acquired the form of popular songs or work songs sung by women in the villages while
performing domestic chores. Interestingly, an important characteristic of vernacular sufi poetry is the use of feminine
voice by the male sufi poets. In particular, it is found in Punjabi, Sindhi, early Urdu poetry composed in Deccan, as
well as Rekhti ghazals (love songs) from Lucknow. In many of such poems, the woman is taken as a symbol of the
human soul. Moreover, the sufi poets employed the trope or literary motif of virahini (a women separated from her
husband or beloved and longing to be united with him), which symbolized the yearning human soul longing to be
united with the Divine. The motif of virahini was borrowed from Hindi-Sanskrit literary traditions. The sufis took
advantage of the popularity of this motif, and employed it in varied forms within the complex sufi context. By
employing this motif, the sufis “indigenized their poetry to the literary tastes of their local Indian audiences.” The
vernacular sufi literature greatly contributed to the dissemination of the teachings, values and ethics of Sufism and
Islam among the common people. The sufi folk literature including poetry provided a vital link between Hindus and
Muslims, since the abstract sufi doctrines were translated in easily comprehensible and appealing form through this
literature, which became popular among the illiterate Hindus and Muslims alike. In addition, the sufi folk literature
played a vital role in the expansion of Islam. In premodern times, poetry was “practically the only vehicle for
influencing the illiterate masses. . . Poetry was the daily bread for millions of people who formed their Weltbild
according to the picture presented to them by the poets.” These sufi poets played a crucial role in influencing and
molding the worldview of the common people, who internalized the sufi teachings and ethics through the sufi verses
orally transmitted to them.
Hindavi represented the assimilation and social integration of various social groups and classes. Realizing that they
could not reach the common people through Persian or Arabic, the sufis employed the local languages and dialects,
including the Hindi and Hindavi, for dissemination of the message of Islam and Sufism. So the literary compositions
by the sufis played an important role in linguistic indignization.
Dakhani Dakhani, written in Perso-Arabic script, is the vernacular dialect of early Urdu spoken in Deccan particularly
by the Muslims. The renowned Chishti sufi of Bijapur, Shah Miranji Shams al-Ushshaq (d. 1499) and his successors
“established the Dakhani language as a recognized medium of sufi literature,” and were “credited with contributing
to the respectability and standardization of an evolving vernacular language.” Miranji’s poetic works include Maghz-
i Marghub, Khush-nama and Khush Naghz. His son, Shah Burhan al-Din Janam (d. 1597) and Burhan al-Din’s
khalifa, Shaykh Mahmud Khush Dahan (d. 1617), and a later Chishti sufi, Mahmud Bahri (d. 1717-18) used Dakhani
for composing poetical works. Vernacularization of Islam and Sufism
The folk poetry composed by the sufis in Dakhani include chakki-nama (songs sung by women while grinding food
grains at the grindstone/millstone or chakki), charkha-nama (songs sung by women while spinning thread at the
spinning wheel or charkha), lori-nama (lullaby), shadi-nama (wedding song), and suhagan-nama (married-women’s
song), etc. These songs were sung by women while performing their domestic chores, but these songs also
disseminated the sufi doctrines in a simple manner among the illiterate masses. Referring to the Chakki-nama
attributed to Khwaja Bandanawaz Gesudiraz, in which chakki or millstone is employed as a metaphor, the daily
chores become “a means of understanding abstract values and higher reality.” It is important to note that long before
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________106
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
the advent of Islam in the Deccan plateau, the tradition of folk poetry related to domestic works performed by the
women already existed.
It would not be incorrect to assert that literary genres such as kafi, doha or dohra and chakkinama as well as devotional
songs in vernacular languages including Sindhi, Punjabi and Dakhani were generally composed by the sufis. These
literary contributions of the sufis not only disseminated sufi doctrines but also played a crucial role in cultural
rapprochement among various sections of the Indian society.
ARCHITECTURE
The most important source for the study of architecture is the surviving remains of buildings themselves. Through
these enable us to grasp architectural techniques and styles peculiar to our period, it offers little help in understanding
other related aspects of architecture such as the role of the architects and the drawings and
estimates and accounts of the buildings.
New Structural Forms
Arch and Dome : we observe that the incidence of masonry building-including civilian housing in towns-increases
significantly after the 13th century. This was primarily possible due to the use of lime-mortar as the basic cementing
material. The building of true arch required stones or bricks to be laid as voussoirs in the shape of a curve and bound
together firmly by a good binding material. The binding material was lime-mortar.
The result of the introduction of the new technique was that the pre-Turkish forms;' lintel and beam and corbelling,
were replaced by true arches and vaults and the spired roofs (shikhad) by domes. Arches are made in a variety of
shapes, but in India the pointed form of the Islamic world was directly inherited. And sometime in second quarter of
the 14th century, another variant of the pointed form, the four-centred arch, was introduced by the Tughluqs in their
buildings. lt remained in vogue till the end of the Sultanate
The pointed arch was adopted in the Islamic world quite early due to its durability and ease of construction. The usual
method of raising a pointed arch was to erect a light centering and place one layer of bricks over it. This layer
supported another thin layer of flat bricks over which radiating voussoirs of the arch were fixed in mortar. These two
bottom layers of brick-work would, if needed, act as permanent shuttering for the arch. It may be noted here that the
employment of bricks instead of an all-wood centering was a feature typical of regions deficient in reserves of wood
such as West Asia and even India.
But the construction of dome demanded especial techniques. The problem was to find a suitable method for
converting the square or rectangular top of the walls of the room into a circular base for raising a spherical dome. The
best way to overcome this problem was to convert the square plan into a polygon by the use of squinches across the
corners. Later, in the fifteenth century, stalactite pendentives came to be used for the same purpose
Building Material : It is a curious fact that there are very few instances of early Turkish buildings in India where
newly quarried material has been employed by the architects. The fashion was to use richly carved capitals, columns,
shafts and lintels from pre,-Turkish buildings. In India, towards the beginning of the 14th century when the supply
of such material had exhausted, buildings were raised by using originally queried or manufactured material. In the
masonry work, stone has been used abundantly. The foundations are-mostly of rough and small rubble or, wherever
it is available, of river boulders, while the superstructure is of dressed stone or roughly shaped coarsed stonework.
However, .in either case, the buildings were plastered all over. In the buildings of the Khalji period a new method of
stone masonry was used. This consisted of laying stones in two different courses, that is headers and stretchers. This
system was retained in subsequent buildings and became a characteristic of the building technique of the Mughals.
Painting
The history of painting in the Sultanate period is obscure compared with its architecture. This is due primarily to the
non-availability of any surviving specimens for at least the first hundred years of the establishment of the Delhi
Sultanate. Equally surprising is the absence of illuminated books, an art carried to supreme height in the Islamic
world by 1200. We now know that not only book illumination but murals too were executed during the Sultanate
period.
MUSIC
The development of music as an art form in Delhi Sultanate took a back seat compared with the growth of architecture
and painting. Moreover. the history of music during this period suffers from a serious handicap- the lack of
documentation. Historical references are scattered and scanty and most of the modern day writings are speculative
rather than historically substantive. They are replete with fables and legends about music in the Sultanate period.
The 14th century is perhaps the most important period in the history of the Delhi Sultanate from the point of view of
music, That music in some form was practiced in the courts of the early Sultans is, however, not improbable.
Kaiqubad had built for himself a magnificent palace at Kilugarhi. The courtly 'revels included dancing and singing
of Persian and Hindi songs by beautiful girls. But it was Amir Khusrau who has left an enduring mark on the music
not only of the Sultanate but of India as a whole. Amir Khusrau was the disciple of the great sun saint Shaikh
Nizamuddin Aulia of Delhi. He was also the court poet of Alauddin Khalji who was himself very fond of music. The
genius of Amir Khusrau in the sphere of music was mainly utilised in innovating new compositions as well as in
assimilating different forms of music prevalent in his time. He is credited with having introduced the qawwali mode
of singing into the countryside for the first time. several of our modem rags like Zilaph, Sazgiri and Sarparda, etc.,
produced by combining Persian and Indian tunes.
Khayal form of singing by abandoning the traditional dhrupad. a new musical instrument called sitar by combining
the old Indian vina and the Iranian tambura.
Modifications in the conventional percussion instrument mridang to bifurcate it into two and call the tabla.
The changes introduced by Amir Khusrau had far-reaching social consequences in bringing together people of two
divergent creeds.
Provincial architecture
REGIONAL ARCHITECTURE
'The regional styles of architecture came into vogue usually after these states had thrown off the allegiance to Delhi
and proceeded to develop a form suiting their individual requirements. They were distinct from the Indo-Islamic style
practiced at Delhi and often displayed definitely original qualities. In the areas which had a strong indigenous tradition
of workmanship in masonry, regional styles of Islamic architecture produced the most elegant structures. On the other
hand where these traditions were not so pronounced, the buildings constructed for the regional states
were less distinctive. In some cases totally novel tendencies, independent of both the indigenous and the imperial
Sultanate traditions. are also visible.
Eastern India
It is interesting that the development of the earliest regional style in architecture should have taken place at the other
end of the subcontinent, in eastern India. In fact there did emerge two major strands of architectural style in this
region viz., in Bengal and in Jaunpur, both of which witnessed the rise of regional states.
Gujarat : This regional style flourished for a period of some two hundred and fifty years beginning early the 14th
century. The founders of Gujarat style of Indo-Islamic architecture were in fact the governors of the Khalji Sultans
of Delhi.
There were three different phases of the Gujar style :
The first phase lasting for the first half of the 14th'century marked by the demolition of the Hindu temples and their
reconversion into muslim buildings.
The second phase prevailing mostly during the first half of the 15th century and showing signs of maturity of a
distinctive style. Here it is important to remember that the Gujarat style of architecture is the most indigenous in
character. In some of the finer examples of this style considerable portions of the buildings are in fact adaptations
from either Hindu or Jain temples.
The essence of Gujarat style will be easily understood if you envisage a scheme of construction where the structure
of a temple is fitted into the sanctuary of the mosque in the form of central compartment. Almost all the mosques
from the second and third phase are composed in this manner.
Central India
In Central India, the development of Indo-Islamic architecture remained confined within the Malwa region which
became an independent kingdom at the turn of the 15th century. But, unlike other regions, the Muslim rulers of Malwa
did not inherit any strong tradition of visual art. The result was that, to carry out their building projects skilled and
experienced artisans were summoned from as distant a place as Delhi who incorporated various styles prevalent at
Delhi. It was only in the later period that original elements of architecture were developed and decorative motifs of
their own were adopted in the buildings of the Malwa rulers which gave them a distinctive appearance.
Deccan
The Indo-Islamic architecture that developed in the Deccan from 14th century onwards under the Bahmanis acquired
a definitely regional character quite early in its growth. But this architecture followed a different pattern in evolution
than other regional styles. As opposed to the growth of regional styles in Northern India, architecture in the Deccan
seems to have ignored to a very large extent the pre-Islamic art traditions of the region.
In practice, the Deccan style of architecture consisted basically of the fusion of :
a) the architectural system in vogue at Delhi under the Sultans, particularly the Tughluq form, and
b) an entirely extraneous source that is, the architecture of Persia. The architectural developments in the Deccan may
be divided broadly into three phases corresponding on each occasion to a change in the seat of the government. The
first phase begins in 1347 at the capital city of Gulbarga. Second phase begins in 1425 when the seat of power is
a) Gulbarga : Gulbarga became the seat of an independent kingdom in 1347 under Alauddin Bahaman. With this
began the first phase of architectural development in the Deccan. The early structures, however, did not as yet
represent a distinctive style of the Deccan Islamic architecture. For the most part they followed the contemporary
Tughluq architecture of the North. The Jami Masjid (1367) inside the Gulbarga fort was, however, different and
unique. The central designing idea lay in reversing all the architectural principles of mosques with a courtyard. Thus,
in the Jami Masjid of Gulbarga the conventional design of the courtyard was filled with small cupolas supported by
arches placed close together. But this design was never repeated. Possibly the unorthodox plan of this mosque did
not find favour with the traditionalists.
b) Bidar : The Bahmani capital was transferred to Bidar, a fortress town, in 1425 by ruler Ahmad Shah. Soon the
new capital saw a flurry of building activity as within its walls sprang up palaces with large audience halls and
hammams, mosques, a madrasa, and royal tombs. Moreover, this change of capital largely ' eliminated the
architectural influence of Delhi. The new buildings show a strong contemporary Iranian influence. The substantive
style of architecture was now composed of forms very largely borrowed from Iran, but modified and adopted to suit
local conditions. They did not, of course, abandon the Indo-Islamic traditions altogether. Some important features of
Bidar style may thus be listed below : Since colour was the characteristic feature of Iranian architecture, palaces at
Bidar show a brilliant scheme of the use of coloured tiles and the mural painting. The glazed tiles which cuffed the
exteriors were imported by sea from Iran. There is a distinctive /change in the shape of some of the domes in the
buildings at Bidar. They are constricted in the lower contour and thus become the fore-runners of bulbous domes of
the Mughals. The drums of these project the domes in full view.
Vijaynagar has an extraordinary history. It was born out of the incursions into the Deccan and even further south of
the Delhi Sultanate. The capital, the famous Vijaynagar, was founded in about 1336 on the banks of the river
Tungabhadra.
Vijaynagar, now desert, is one of the most important historical and architectural sites as it is the only Hindu city from
the pre-modern period of which extensive remains still exist. The Vijaynagar style of architecture was
distributed throughout south India, but the finest and most characteristic group of buildings is to be seen in the city
of Vijaynagar itself. This city, in fact, had a great advantage as a site for large scale building activity in that it abounds
in granite and a dark green chlorite stone, both used extensively as building material. The use of monolithic multiple
pier in the temple at Vijaynagar testify this fact. The expanse of the city of Vijaynagar at the height of its glory
measured some 26 sq. km., and it was enclosed with a stone wall. Besides palaces and temples, the city had extensive
waterworks and many secular buildings such as elephant stables and the Lotus Mahal. The basic dements of
Vijaynagar style are listed thus :
The use of pillars for architectural as well as decorative purpose is on an unprecedented scale.
Numerous composites are used in raising the pillars, but the most striking and also the most frequent is one in which
the shaft becomes a central core with which is attached an unpraised animal of a supernatural kind resembling a horse
or a hippogryph Another distinguishing feature is the use of huge reverse-curve eaves at the cornice. This feature
has been borrowed into the style from the Deccan and gives the pavillions a dignified appearance.
As noted above, pillars form an integral part of Vijaynagar architecture, almost all of which have ornnamental
brackets as their capitals. Usually this bracket is a pendant known as bodegai in local parlance. This pendant, in
Vijaynagar style, is elaborated into the volute terminating in an inverted lotus band. The occurrence of this pendant
is a index reliable of the building in the Vijaynagar group.
SANSKRIT LITERATURE
It is generally believed that the loss of official patronage caused the decline of Sanskrit literature during the Sultanate
period. While it is true that Persian replaced Sanskrit as the official language, there was no quantitative decline in the
production of Sanskrit literary works as such. The period is remarkable for the immense production of literary works
in different branches of Sanskrit literature kavya (poetical narrative), religion and philosophy, grammar, drama,
stories, medicine, astronomy, commentaries and digests on the Law Books (Dharamashastras) and other classical
Sanskrit works. Nor was the loss of official patronage to Sanskrit absent for there were sf111 many kings who
patronized Sanskrit poets--especially in South India and Rajastan. But while sanskrit works continued to be produced
in large number, there seems to be a marked decline in the quality of these works. This decline had set in before the
PERSIAN LITERATURE
Early Phase
A new language - Persian -was introduced in India during the period of Ghaznavi rule in the Punjab. There was
remarkable growth in Persian literature in Iran and Central Asia from the tenth century onwards. Some of the great
poets of Persian language such as Firdausi and S'adi, composed their works during this phase, before growth of
Persian literature in Iran and Central Asia. Lahore -which was the centre of Turkish political authority in India before
the beginning of the 13th century - attracted many Persian poets from the Islamic countries of Iran and Central Asia.
The works of only a few of the early writers of Persian literature in India have survived. One of them was a poet
Masud Sad Salman whose compositions reflect a sense of attachment for Lahore. However, by and large, the Persian
literature written in India before the establishment of the Delhi sultanate was derivative in character and adopted
literary forms and imagery which were prevalent in Iran.
It was after the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate that Indian influence began to exert itself on Persian works
written in India as is evident from the literary compositions of Amir Khusrau.
Contribution of Amir Khusrau
The reign of the Khaljis was a glorious period from the viewpoint of growth of Persian literature in India. According
to Ziauddin Barani, "there lived at Delhi scholars of such eminence and caliber as were not to be found in Bukhara,
Samarqand, Tabriz and Isfahan, and in their intellectual accomplishments they equalled Razi and Ghazali. Under
every stone lay hidden a precious gem of literary excellence". The most outstanding of the Persian scholars and poets
of the period was Abul Hasan, usually known by this pseudonym of Amir Khusrau. Later, in the Mughal period, the
historian Badauni, and contemporary of Akbar praised Amir Khusrau's contribution to Persian literature. He wrote
"after the appearance of-the cavalcade of the king of poets, the poetry of his predecessors became bedimmed like
stars at the rise of the sun". Amir Khusrau (1253-1325) was one of those few Indian writers of Persian poetry whose
works have been read and admired beyond their own country. His works represent the beginning of a new trend in
Indian-based Persian literature - the trend of the growing familiarity with Indian literature and influence of Indian
literature on Persian writings in India.
Evaluate the contents of the Tabaqat-i-Nasiri as a source of medieval history. (10) (2016)
Tabaqat-i Nasiri, named for Sultan Nasir-ud-Din, is an elaborate history of the Islamic world written in Persian
by Minhaj-i-Siraj Juzjani and completed in 1260. Consisting of 23 volumes and written in a blunt straightforward
style, Juzjani devoted many years to the creation of this book even providing references for his information. Although
a large portion of the book is devoted to the Ghurids, it also contains a history of the predecessors in Ghazna before
the Ghaznavid Sebuktigin took power. Juzjani's "tabaqat" would initiate the form of writing for dynastic history in
centuries to come.
The purpose of the Tabaqat-i Nasiri was to account for the Muslim dynasties that originated in Iran and Central
Asia. It starts with the prophets and explains their piety and morality. This continues up to Abdullah, father of the
prophet Muhammad, at which point a history of the prophet's life is told. Within his Tabaqat-i Nasiri, Juzjani tells
of his religious views and his historiographical approach to Islam and Muslim rulers.
The Tabaqat-i Nasiri is the only source for the Khaljis rebellion in Bengal against the sultan of Delhi from 1229-
1230.
Volume XI: Is a history of the Ghaznavids from Sabuktigin to Khusrau Malik.
Volume XVII: Gives an historical account of the Ghurids and their rise to power in 1215 to their end with Sultan
Alauddin.
First Phase
Scholars have placed the origin of the Hindi language between 7th and 10th centuries -it was in this period that Hindi
was evolving out of Apabhramsa. The period between 7th-8th centuries and 14th century (before the rise of the
bhakti poetry) is characterised as 'Veergatha Kala' (age of Heroic Poetry)'by scholars. Another name used for
describing this period is Adi Kala (early period). Much poetry of this period was composed by bards who were
patronised by various Rajput rulers. The bards glorified such virtues of their patrons as chivalry and bravery. They
also highlighted the element of romance in their poetical narratives. In its essence, this literature symbolises the values
and attitudes of the Rajput ruling classes. The bards who composed this literature were not concerned with the
aspirations of the common people. Most of the bardic poetical narratives were composed in the Rajasthani dialect of
Hindi. The most famous of them is the Prithviraja Raso which is attributed to Chand Bardai, the court ministerial
of Prithviraja; the last Rajput king of Delhi. Other heroic poetical narratives include Visaldeva Raso, Hammir Raso,
Khumana Raso etc. The authenticity of most of these raso narratives in their existing forms is open to grave doubts
and it seems that their contents were expanded during the later centuries. Thus for instance, it is only the nucleus of
the Prithviraja Raso which was written during this period (12th century), and interpolations were made later in the
original draft.
Not all the Hindi literature of the period between 7th-8th centuries and 14th century belonged to the genre of bardic
poetry. The Buddhist siddhas and later the nathpanthi yogis composed religious poetry in an archaic form of Hindi.
In Western India, the Jain scholars also composed religious poetry in Rajasthani highlighting various aspects of
religious and social life of the people. The contribution of Amir Khusrau to Persian literature has already been
mentioned. But he also composed poems in mixed form of Hindi which ultimately developed into Khan Boli or
Hindustani. He called this language hindavi. Some of his Hindi verses are found in his Khaliq Bad which is often
ascribed to him but which in all likelihood was written much later.
Second phase in the growth of Hindi literature began in the 14th-15th centuries.
Various streams of the bhakti movement exercised profound influence on the Hindi literature of this phases. This
phase of Hindi literature has been characterised Bhakti Kala (Age of devotion) and it continued till the Mughal period.
This phase, which began with Kabir marked the richest flowering of Hindi literature. The bhakti poets of the period
were two-fold: the saguna poets (who believed in god with human form and attributes) nirguna poets (who believed
in non-incarnate Absolute God). Kabir was the leader of the nirguna bhakti poets most of whom belonged to lower
cages of the society and were poop and illiterate. Kabir's own mother-tongue was Bhojpuri but he composed in a
mixed dialect which could be understood by people in various parts of North India. Kabir's language is characterize
by what has been termed 'rough rhetoric'. What is important from literary point of view is Kabir's use of a langueage
which combines bluntness of style with potency and eloquence. He used his strong and rough verses to present a
powerful denunciation of various rituals. Another important characteristic of Kabir's short poetical utterances is the
use of ulatbasi or 'upside-down language' which consisted of a series of paradoxes and enigmas. It has been pointed
out that Kabir inherited the ulatbasi tradition from the nathpanthis and adapted it for an effective rhetorical and
teaching device. Kabir and other "low-caste" monotheistic poets (Sen, Pipa, , Dhanna, Raidas, etc.):expressed
themselves in oral style. The poetry they composed forms a part of oral literature. Their verses were compiled much
later. Earliest instance of their written compositions are in the Adi Granth in 1604. Being illiterate, they had indirect
access to the Sanskrit literature. They expressed themselves in the local languages of the people. In short, the efforts
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________114
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
of Kabir and other saints of the 15th century played the most important role in transforming the Hindi vernaculars
into a 'literature’ language.
The poets belonging to the conventional vaishnava bhakti movement in North India were mostly Brahmans and were
familiar with Brahmanical scriptures and Sanskrit texts. The vaishnava pets believed in the concept of devotion to a
personal God. The Rama bhakti poetry in Hindi flourished mainly during the Mughal period. Its greatest exponent
and perhaps the greatest poet of Hindi literature was Tulsidas (A.D. 1532-1623) who wrote {he famous Ram Charit
Manas in the Awadhi dialect of Hindi. Among the Krishna bhakti poets, Vidyapati composed verses about the Radha
and Krisha in Maithili Hindi. The influence of his lyrical poetry was felt in Bengal and some Bengali poets imitated
his songs. Vrindavan near Mathura emerged as a centre of Vaishnava bhakti poetry by the end of the Sultanate period.
These poets were devotees of Krishna and composed their verses in Braj bhasha. The greatest of these poets was
Surdas (c. 1483-1563). Another great name in the Vaishnava bhakti poetry was that of Mira Bai (c. 1498-1543):She
was a Krishna devotee and composed her songs in Rajasthani but many of these songs were later incorporated in
other Hindi dialects and also in Gujarati.
Make an estimate of Rana Kumbha as a patron of literature and art. (20) (2015)
Rana Kumba (1438-68) was a great ruler of Mewar in medieval period. He was a great patron of literature and art.
An estimate of Rana Kumbha as a patron of literature and art:
Music
He had a keen interest in music and he was a great musician himself. He was a great Veena player.
He wrote works like Sangit Raj, Sangit Mimansa, ‘Sangit Ratnakar’ and Sudprabandh.
Architecture
Rana Kumba gave patronage to many craftsmen and sculptors. He gave special attention to military architecture.
He strengthened the defences of of Chittor and constructed a road running through its seven doors. He built 32
forts and laid the foundation of Kumbhalgarh fort.
The greatest architecture during his reign was Kirti Stambha (Tower of Fame) built by him at Chittor in
commemoration of his victory over Malwa.
He erected a Victory Tower (Kumbha Stambh) at Chittor as a mark of victories and conquests. The tower is
covered with exquisite sculptures of Hindu Gods and Goddesses and depicts episodes from the Ramayana and the
Mahabharata. There are many inscriptions on the Stambha
He constructed the city of Basantpur. He built several inns, palaces, ponds, schools, and temples.
Literature
He was proficient in Vedas, Upanishads, smiritis, Mimansas, Vyakaranas etc.
He wrote commentry on Jaydeva’s Gita Govinda and an explanation of Chandisatakam.
He was an author of four dramas in which he used Sanskrit, Prakrit and three vernaculers.
He also patronised great scholars. During his reign, the scholar Atri and his son Mahesa wrote the prashasti (edict)
of the Chittor Kirti Stambha.
POSITION OF WOMEN
Women
There was almost no change in the lifestyle of the upper caste Hindu women during this period. Women were
subordinate to men in every walk of life - as daughter, wife and even after her husband's death (under her eldest son's
care). Birth of a daughter was looked down upon, since they were considered as symbol of dishonor for the father.
Their main duty was to produce progeny, especially the male child. They were strictly kept in the 'antahpura' (inner
sanctum). The ancient rules enjoining early marriages for girls and the wife's duties to her husband and his kula
(lineage) were continuously stressed.
The master-slave relation formed a category by which the authority in the Sultanate society expressed itself. Most
noblemen referred to themselves as the slave of the Sultan.
The slaves in India can be graded into two groups :
i) Those who were bought in an open salve market.
ii) Those who were first prisoners of war and then made slaves.
The position of these different types of slaves have also been discussed in the Hindu shastras. Both the Indians and
the Turks had a long tradition of maintaining slaves. Open slave-markets for men and women existed in West
Asia as well as India.
Slaves were generally bought for domestic service for their special skills. Feroz Shah Tughluq who had a special
penchant for slaves collected about 180,000 of them.
Many of them were employed in handicrafts. The rest formed the personal bodyguards of the Sultan. A special type
of male slaves who were castrated in childhood were trained to be the guards of the harem. These were known as
khwajasara (eunuchs). In the 13th century, Bengal was a flourishing centre for the buying and selling of eunuchs in
particular. Women slaves were. generally graded into two groups : (i) for domestic service and (ii) for entertainment
and pleasure. The first were generally ordinary ' women while the second group was composed of beautiful women
who could sing, dance and carry on conversation.
Not only nobles, but any prosperous householder found it impossible to run house without slaves. Thus, keeping
slaves became a special mark of prosperity, and nobles vied with each other over the possession of a comely boy or
a girl slave. It is now an accepted fact that slaves in the Sultanate India were treated better then servants :,the master
by taking on the obligation of owning a slave usually looked after their material comfort.
URBAN LIFE
During the 13th-14th centuries, a number of towns and ports flourished in North India. Broach, Cambay, Lakhnauti,
Sonargaon and Multan flourished as trading centres. Ibn Battuta gives a detailed description of Delhi ; It was one of
the largest cities in the Islamic world with a mixed population of merchants from India as well as Iran, Afghanistan,
It is said that overland trade with West Asia was in the hands of Multanis, who were mostly Hindus. The Gujarati
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________116
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
and Marwari merchants. were extremely wealthy and some of them, particularly the Jains, spent large sums in the
construction o temples. They also had large residential buildings. Their houses were surrounded by orchards and fruit
gardens which had many tanks. Cambay was a fine part-city where there was an agglomeration of wealthy merchants.
Not only did they live in fine houses, they consumed good food and wore fine clothes. Men dressed themselves in
cotton and silk garments, anointed themselves with sandalwood paste and wore rings, gold-earrings studded with
precious stones and golden girdles. women wore long flowing cloth (sari) and silken blouses. Women’s jewellery
were made of gold and silver metals. They wore earrings, anklets and plenty of rings on fingers and toes. The Muslim
merchant who usually came from Central Asia dressed themselves in embroidered garments covered with gold and
silver works. They also wore thick boots coming up to their knees.
Many of these towns were also centres of craft production. The towns of Bengal and Gujarat were famous for the
production of fine clothes. Cambay was also famous for gold and silver works1 There were many other luxury crafts
such as leather works, metal work, carpet weaving, etc. Many of these were exported to the Red Sea,
Persian Gulf and South East Asian Countries.
As for, Ziauddin Barani mentions the Multanis and Sahas of Delhi, deal of wealth from the resources of maliks and
amirs who overdraft over their iqta'
Another mercantile soup was that of the brokers (dallals) who first make their appearance in the commercia1 history
of the Delhi Sultanate. They operated between merchants and customers raising prices when they could. Alauddin
Khalji was specially harsh them but since theywere needed in any large market, they could never be dispensed with
entirety. Sarrafs or money changers constituted yet, another mercantile group were quite prosperous. Apart from these
distinct groups, there were a large number of smaller artisans, shopkeepers and vendors who lived in the cities. Except
for the regional songs and folk tales, very little historical details can be gleaned about their daily lives.
RURAL LIFE
The towns needed to be fed and supplied with finished and raw materials from the countryside. The high level of
taxation and the cash-nexus in combination ensured that the peasants would have to sell much of their produce in
order to pay land revenue. Barani informs us how the high pitch of demand under Alauddin Khalji forced the peasants
of the Doab to sell grain by the side of the fields to the karwanis who took it to Delhi for sale.
The towns, on the other hand, had little to send back to their villages since the taxation system assured all the time a
heavy balance of payments in favour of the towns, which were the headquarters of the Sultan and members of the
ruling classes.
Peasant
A vast majority lived in villages. Cultivation was based on individual peasant. farming and the size of land cultivated
by them varied greatly from the large holding of the 'khots' or the small plots of 'balahars' or village menials. Below
them have existed a group of landless menial castes but little is known about them in this period.
Peasants generally had a pair of oxen and the plough. Land was abundant. Wells were probably the major source of
artificial irrigation. Muhammad Tughluq advanced loans to peasants for improving agriculture. The peasants raised
water by various means from t wells. Since peasants owned implements needed for cultivation and sold their crop for
payment of revenue in cash, there must have been differentiation among the peasantry. Barani designates men of the.
highest stratum among the peasants as khots and muqaddams. Before Alauddin Khalji adopted the measures, the
khots are alleged to have been exempted from three major taxes. Furthermore, they levied a cess of their own on the
villagers (qismat-i khoti). When Alauddin prohibited them from levying the cess, they became quite poor and their
wives worked as maidservants in the houses of Muslims. The khots and muqaddams were peasants, but peasants who
stood on the borderland of the rural aristocracy. When prosperous, they imitated the ways of-higher chiefs, i.e., rode
horsed, wore fine clothes and chewed betel-leaves. In the reign of Feroz Shah Tughluq, a chronicler describes the
general prosperity of the khots. Everyone had large amount of gold and silver and countless goods; and none of the
women of the peasantry remained without ornaments. In every peasant's house there were clean bed-sheets, excellent
bed-cots and many other articles.
Finally, after expelling Humayun, Sher Shah became the Emperor of North India from the lndus to the Bay of Bengal
in the east and from Himalaya in the north to Malwa in the south. The Biloch chiefs of Multan and upper Sind and
Maldeo in western Rajputana and Bhaiya Puran Mal of Raisin were defeated. A centralized political system was
again revived by Sher Shah Sur.
With Sher Shah Sur, a new era began in the history of North India, Certain important changes took place in the realm
of ideas and institutions.
The sarkar comprised a number of parganas, each pargana consisting of a number of villages. The village was the
primary fiscal unit.
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________118
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
The noble posted as incharge of sarkar or wilayat was not given unlimited powers. He was regularly directed through
royal farman to implement new rules and regulations. The spies informed the king about the conduct of the officers.
Anyone who was found failing in his work was punished, Khizr Turk, the governor of Bengal, was dismissed and
'thrown into prison because he married the daughter of the ex-Sultan of Bengal without Sher Shah's permission and
acted independently.
Similarly, Sher Shah's policy with regard to the planting of Afghan colonies in the territories known for recalcitrant
inhabitants also demonstrates the nature of kingship under him, for example, Gwalior was one of the places colonised
by the Afghans during Sher Shah's reign.
In organizing his nobility, Sher Shah took people belonging to different ethnic groups in such a way that his dynastic
interest could be safeguarded. No group was strong enough to assume the shape of a pressure group. We find the
non-Afghan nobles, Khawwas Khan, Haji Khan and Habib Khan Sultani holding the charge of important provinces
with .large iqtas. This shows that the establishment of a pure Afghan nobility was never a consideration with Sher
Shah.
On Sher Shah's death, his second son Prince Jalal Khan ascended the throne under the title of Islam Shah. He
overpowered and eliminated many senior and experienced nobles who supported his elder brother Adil Khan. After
their elimination, Islam Shah was free to translate his political ideas into practice. He shifted his capital from Agra to
Gwalior and also brought his father's treasures from Chunar. Thus Gwalior became the centre of Indo-Muslim Delhi
culture.
It is also worth mentioning that Islam Shah went a step further from Sher Shah in centralizing the polity of the Empire.
He took away the iqtas of the nobles and brought the whole Empire under khalisa. The officers were paid in cash
instead of 'iqtas. The nobility and army were reorganized into new grades. Officers were appointed from among them
to look after and inspect the proper maintenance of soldiers and necessary army equipment by the nobles. The nobles
were also denied the possession of war elephants.
ECONOMY
The contemporary and pear contemporary writers praise the affluence and low prices of the essential commodities
during Sikandar's reign. Foodgrains, cloth, horses, sheep, gold and silver which people needed for comfortable living
were available in plenty and at low rates.
Agrarian Structure
The political system depended on the state's share in the surplus of agricultural produce. Sultan Sikandar Lodi
formulated a definite agricultural development oriented policy. This he did because his was a landlocked Empire in
which only the reclamation of land for cultivation could augment his financial resources. There was abundance of
arable land which could be brought under plough only if the peasants accepted to enjoy the fruits of their toil. In an
attempt to encourage the peasants to extend cultivation, the Sultan introduced important changes in the administrative
system. He prohibited the system of begar (forced labour) that the peasants had to render to the landlords and the
government officers. The peasants were also encouraged to bring new lands under the plough through other
concessions.
Even an inch of land was not left lying uncultivated. The state share in the agricultural produce was one-third and it
was collected with the assistance of the village officials the patwari, (hereditary village officials) khot and muqaddam
(village headman). The zakat tax (Sales and transit tax) was abolished.
The Sultan also allowed the peasants in the Empire to accept freely any one of the three modes of assessment prevalent
in those days. The three modes of revenue assessment were crop-sharing (batai) measurement (called zabt system)
and the kankut (appraisal). The first two methods were common in north India. The third one also seems to have
continued during the Lodi period. Sultan Sikandar was particular about a standard measurement system for its merits.
He is said to have introduced the gaj-i- Sikandari of thirty-two digits for the convenience of the amin and patwari. It
was used at the time of harvest. The patwaris were charged with the duty of maintaining the accounts of per bigha
yields and the measured area of the fields under cultivation.
Sher Shah and Islam Shah also introduced important changes in the agrarian system. They overhauled the revenue
administration of the Lodi Apart from appointing new revenue officials at the pargana and sarkar level, Sher Shah
curtailed the powers and privileges of the land assignees (i.e. wajahdars and muqtas). The unruly zamindars, who
often took to robbery and withheld the payment of land revenue due to the king, were forced into submission. They
were also made accountable for every crime committed within the boundaries of their zamindari.
The governors (for the muqtas) in the provinces, sarkar and wilayats) were denied a free hand in adopting any of the
known methods of revenue assessment at the time of harvest. The methods of crop-sharing and revenue farming
Right from the time Portuguese arrived at Calicut they had demanded that other merchants, Indian as well as foreign,
should be ousted and a complete monopoly over trade be granted to them. Portuguese ships equipped with arms and
ammunitions threatened other merchants and confiscated their merchandise and vessels. By 1501 the Portuguese king
assumed a grandiloquent title evincing his proprietary right over the Indian Ocean regions. The title proclaimed him
Lord of Navigation, Conquest and Commerce of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia and India. In 1502, the Portuguese
demanded an exclusive right over trade at Calicut to which the Zamorin, the king of Calicut, did not yield. The Vasco
da Gama declared war on a ships plying in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean. He introduced an expedient under
which those ships which carried a cartaz duly signed by the Portuguese authorities, namely the royal factor, were not
to be attacked. This certificate was first issued in 1502.
lndian merchants, rulers and all those engaged in maritime trade, had to take cartaz from the Portuguese. While
issuing such passes, it was specifically mentioned that certain items like pepper, horses, ginger, coir, ship pitch,
sulphur, lead, saltpetre, cinnamon, etc. were not to be loaded on their ships. All these were monopoly items of the
Portuguese Routes and destinations of such ships were also sought to be controlled. Rulers like Akbar, and his
successors, Nizam Shah of Ahmednagar, Adil Shah of Bijapur, kings of Cochin, the Zamorins of Calicut and the
rulers of Cannanore purchased passes from the Portuguese to send their ships to various places.
Monopoly Trade
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________122
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
Till the end of the fifteenth century, merchants from various quarters of the world were found on the coastal regions
of India engaged in trade and commerce. As Vasco da Gama reported in 1498, there were merchants from Mecca,
Tenasserim, Pegu, Ceylon, Turkey, Egypt, Persia, Ethiopia, Tunis and various parts of India at the port of Calicut. It
is well-known that Chinese merchants as well as merchants from the Red Sea areas used to frequent the Indian ports.
There is no record of any group of merchants demanding exclusive right of trade in general, nor of any attempt made
to declare a few or all commodities set apart for anybody. But, with the arrival of the Portuguese, this state of affairs
underwent considerable change.
Kings were pressurized to forbid other merchants from trading with their ports. Similarly, certain commodities were
declared forbidden to be traded by others.
In other words, the Portuguese demanded monopoly of trade. The treaties concluded with the Indian rulers
specifically mentioned this. The setting up of Portuguese fortresses at strategic places, surveillance by their patrolling
vessels, and the insistence on passes for other ships were the attempts made to establish monopoly of trade in Asian
waters.
Trade of the Indian Rulers and Merchants
The Portuguese attempts at establishing total monopoly did not bring about a situation in which trade conducted by
the Indian rulers and merchants was totally uprooted. The king of Cannanore, for instance, used to collect passes
from the Portuguese to send his vessels laden with commodities to Cambay and Hormuz. He imported horses from
the above mentioned places though this was identified by the Portuguese a monopoly item. Sometimes such vessels
ran the risk of being confiscated by the Portuguese. The same was the case with the kings of Tanur, Challe and Calicut
on the Malabar coast. The nobles of Gujarat continued their trade despite the Portuguese monopoly. Malik Gopi,
Malik Ayaz, Khwaja Sofar and others interested in trade plied their ships with or without passes from the Portuguese.
Besides, the local and foreign merchants settled in lndia carried on their trade with or without cartaz. It was estimated
that out of the 60,000 quintals of pepper produced annually in the area between Calicut and Cape Comorin, only
15,000 quintals were delivered to the Portuguese factories and the remaining three-fourths were taken to other ports.
This was termed illegal by the Portuguese. The Portuguese were not willing to enhance the price of pepper agreed
upon in 1503 even after several decades. Hence, the producers of pepper did not have any alternative other than
supplying it to the merchants who might buy it and send it to other centres of trade without the knowledge of the
Portuguese. Moreover, several Portuguese officials conducted their own private trade in various commodities without
the knowledge of their government. In fact, Portuguese monopoly was never effective in the Red Sea zone.
Trade and Production
Overseas trade conducted in the sixteenth century in Asia in general and India in particular was, by and large, of long-
distance in nature involving the Asiatic ports on the one side and the Atlantic ports on the other. The commodities
exported from lndia reached various parts of Europe. There were a number of elements in the
pattern of this trade, as explained earlier, which distinguished it from just "peddling trade.
In view of the greater demand for pepper, the cultivators strove to increase the production. It is calculated that the
production of pepper in the Malabar area went up by 200 to 275 % in the period between 1515 and 1607. As there is
no reliable account of the volume of production before the arrival of the Portuguese, it is rather difficult to make a
comparison and assert with certainty the exact percentage of increase in production. At any rate, it is reasonable to
conclude that the production of pepper in lndia increased after the Portuguese advent. But it must be borne in mind
that the internal demand for pepper from the Mughal Empire and the external one from the Safavi Empire also might
have contributed to the increase in pepper production in India.
It’s not clear what inspired Babur to write his memoirs. Historical accounts were popular in the Islamic world of his
time, but there was no tradition of royal memoirs. His choice of language was also unusual. Babur was perfectly at
home writing Persian, the literary language of Central Asia at the time. But he chose to write the Baburnama in
Chagaty Turkish, the language spoken by himself and his people.
The memoir is lively, personal and direct. Babur begins the story when he inherited the throne at the age of twelve
and ends in mid-sentence in September, 1529, a year before his death. He paints a picture of a warrior who partied
as hard as he fought. He loved wine, melons, and gardens. He hated India, which was, in his opinion, lacking in all
three. He was proud of his ability to write Persian poetry–and pleased to recite it at a party. (Poetry was a courtly
skill and popular party game in the Central Asia kingdoms of the fifteenth and sixteenth century, just as it was in
Elizabethan England and eighteenth century France.) He tells us what he did, thought and saw–not to mention how
much he drank and how sick he was afterwards. He details who was at each event and why their presence was
important. He outlines his military strategy at important battles. He complains about India, which he described as “a
place of little charm”, but describes its animal and plant life with careful, loving detail.
How does Tuzuk-i-Babri testify that Babar had been a cultured man? (10) (2015)
Tuzuk-i-Baburi is the autobiography of Babur, the founder of the Mughal empire in India. On the instruction of
Akbar, Tuzuk-i Baburi was translated into Persian named, ‘Baburnamah’ in 1589 by one of his nobles, Mirza
Humayun
The situation under Humayun was quite different. Like Babur he did not command the respect and esteem of the
nobility. Moreover, the Chaghatai nobles were not favourably inclined towards him and the Indian nobles, who had
joined Babur's service , deserted the Mughals at Humayun's accession. Muhammad Sultan Mina, a descendant of
Timur; Muhammad Zaman and Mir Muhammad Mahdi Khwaja, brother-in-law of Babur, were considered worthy to
aspire to the throne; especially Amir Nizamuddin Ali Khalifa, a grandee of Babur, hatched a conspiracy which failed.
To sustain imperial power and hegemony, Humayun had to contend against the Afghans both in the east and the west
which was supported by a large social base. But, most dangerous of all, was Humayun's brother Kamran Mirza. The
situation was further aggravated by the existence of two centres of power within the empire - Humayun at the centre
and Kamran's autonomous control over Afghanistan and Punjab. Humayun decided to deal, at first, with the western
Afghans
A number of factors had contributed in Humayun's debacle against Sher Shah. These include:
i) He faced hostility of his brothers. On many occasions he dealt with them too kindly.
ii) Sometime he reacted lethargically when the situation demanded swift action. This can be seen well in his Gujarat
and Bengal campaigns.
iii) He was also victim of an 'inexorable fate'. For example Mahmud Shah of Bengal kept him unnecessarily involved
in Bengal politics. This provided an opportunity to Sher Shah to gain strength.
iv) Humayun also lacked financial resources for continuous warfare: This weakness became very much evident when
in Bengal he got stranded and lacked money and supplies (1539).
v) Besides, Sher Shah had the courage, experience and organising abilities; he was also skilled in exploiting political
opportunities. Humayun could not match his capabilities.
We can perceive three phases in the shaping of Akbar's Rajput policy. During the first phase, which ended in 1569-
70, Akbar continued with the policy followed by the Delhi Sultans; in the second phase, Akbar tried to develop and
extend the alliance with, Rajputs but certain components of the earlier policy were retained; the third and last phase
is marked by Akbar's break with Muslim orthodoxy.
Akbar
Evolution of religious and social outlook, theory of Sulh-i-kul and religious policy
Religious Tolerance of Akbar (20) (2006)
Trace the evolution of the religious views of Akbar. Write a note on his policy of Sulh-i-kul. (60)
(2002)
Implications of Akbar’s notion of Sulh-i-kul. (20)(2009)
“In medieval Indian history Akbar was unique for his religio-political ideas and policies.” Analyse
this statement. (20) (2015)
“Akbar wished to assert his strong belief in God, but his concept of the way god is to be
worshipped was independent of either orthodox Islam or Hinduism.” Comment. (10) (2018)
OF ALL the aspects of Akbar's life and reign, few have excited more interest than his attitude toward religion. There
is every indication that he began his rule as a devout, orthodox Muslim. He said all the five prayers in the
congregation, often recited the call for prayers, and occasionally swept out the palace mosque himself. He showed
great respect for the two leading religious leaders at the court, Makhdum-ul-Mulk and Shaikh Abdul Nabi. Makhdum-
ul-Mulk, who had been an important figure during the reign of the Surs, became even more powerful in the early
days of Akbar. Shaikh Abdul Nabi, who was appointed sadr-ul-sadur in 1565, was given authority which no other
holder of the office (the highest religious position in the realm) had ever enjoyed. Akbar would go to his house to
hear him expound the sayings of the Prophet, and he placed his heir, Prince Salim, under his tutorship. "For some
time the Emperor had so great faith in him as a religious leader that he would bring him his shoes and place them
before his feet."
Further indication of Akbar's orthodoxy and of his religious zeal was shown in his devotion to Khwaja Muin-
ud-din, the great Chishti saint whose tomb at Ajmer was an object of veneration. He made his first pilgrimage to the
tomb in 1565, and thereafter he went almost every year. If there was a perplexing problem or a particularly difficult
expedition to undertake, he would make a special journey to pray at the tomb for guidance. He always entered Ajmer
on foot, and in 1568 and 1570, in fulfillment of vows, walked the entire way from Agra to Ajmer.
It was probably devotion to Khwaja Muin-ud-din that was responsible for Akbar's interest in Shaikh Salim
Chishti, a contemporary saint who lived at the site of what was to become Akbar's capital at Fathpur Sikri. It was
there that he built the Ibadat Khana, the House of Worship, which he set apart for religious discussions. Every Friday
The assemblies in the Ibadat Khana had been arranged by Akbar out of sincere religious zeal, but ultimately
they were to drive him away from orthodoxy. This was partly the fault of those who attended the gatherings. At the
very first session there were disputes on the question of precedence, and when these were resolved, a battle of wits
started among the participants. Each tried to display his own scholarship and reveal the ignorance of the others.
Questions were asked to belittle rivals, and soon the gatherings degenerated into religious squabbles. The two great
theologians of the court, Makhdum-ul-Mulk and Shaikh Abdul Nabi, arrayed on opposite sides, attacked each other
so mercilessly that Akbar lost confidence in both of them. His disillusionment extended to the orthodoxy they
represented.
Shaikh Abdul Nabi, although not personally accused of graft, is said to have had corrupt subordinates. He was a strict
puritan, and his hostility toward music was one of the grounds on which his rival attacked him in the discussions in
the House of Worship. The petty recriminations of the ulama disgusted the emperor, but probably a deeper cause for
his break with them was an issue that is comparable in some ways to the conflict between the church and the state in
medieval Europe. The interpretation and application of Islamic law, which was the law of the state, was the
responsibility of the ulama. Over against this, and certain to come in conflict with it, was Akbar's concentration of all
ultimate authority in himself. Furthermore, with Akbar's organization of the empire on new lines, problems were
arising which the old theologians were unable to comprehend, much less settle in a way acceptable to the emperor.
Akbar's attitude towards religion and religious communities is generally evaluated on the basis of the measures which
he took between 1560-65 and which primarily affected the non-Muslim population of the Empire. During this period
the Emperor established matrimonial relations with the Rajputs, abolished the pilgrimage tax, prohibited the
conversion of prisoners of war to Islam and abolished jiziya. These measures seem to have given Akbar the image of
a "secular" emperor. In his personal beliefs, however, Akbar was a devout muslim. The works like Gulzar-i Abrar
and Nafais-ul Maasir, suggest that the emperor showed deep respect to the ulema and bestowed upon this group
abundant favours. Encouraged by emperor's bounty some of them persecuted even the non-Sunni sects of the
Muslims. The suppressive measures taken against the Mahdavis and the Shias pass almost unnoticed in the chronicles
of this period.
Akbar's "liberalism" has been explained in several ways. It is suggested that his upbringing and various intellectual
influences moulded his personal beliefs. Likewise there is another view which finds Akbar having forsaken Islam
and being hypocritical in his tolerant attitude. The current opinion, however, favours the view that these measures
were political concessions. In. the absence of any reliable Muslim support Akbar had little alternative but to seek
alliance with the Rajputs and Indian Muslims. These measures were infact concessions given to the non-Muslims to
win their support.
A change however appears in his attitude after 1565. There is "a marked retrogression in his attitude in matters
pertaining to religion". A document signed by his wakil Munim Khan (August-September 1566) refers to the order
regarding the collection of jiziya in the vicinity of Agra. In 1568, Akbar issued the famous Fathnama which is full of
terms and idioms that can be compared with any other prejudiced and bigoted declaration. He declares his war against
the Rajputs as jihad, takes pride in destroying temples and in killing the kafirs. Then we have Sharaif-i Usmani which
tells that the Emperor ordered Qazi Abdul Samad of Bilgram to check the Hindus from practicing idol-worship there.
To crown all this, in 1575, according to Badauni, Akbar reimposed jiziya though it did not work.
An interesting aspect of this phase was that despite "an atmosphere of religious intolerance" most of the Rajput
chieftains joined his service during the years 1566-73 Religion, thus, was not the main concern of the Mughal
Emperor. The significant issue before Akbar was to subdue the local chieftains. Religion was used only as a tool to
attain political goals. When this strategy did not yield substantial gains, Akbar dropped it.
Another interesting aspect deserving consideration is the establishment of the Ibadat khana (in 1575). It was
established with the aim to have free discussion on various aspects of Islamic theology. But the Emperor got
disillusioned the way Muslim jurists used to quarrel over questions of jurisprudence. In the beginning only the Sunnis
were permitted to take part in the discussions. But, from September 1578, the Emperor opened the gates of Ibadat
khana to the sufi, shias, Brahmins, Jains, Christians, Jews, Parsis, etc. The discussions at Ibadat Khana proved to be
a turning point as they convinced Akbar that the essence of faith lay in "internal conviction" based on 'reason'. Akbar
made an attempt by proclaiming himself mujtahid and declaring himself as Imam-Adil, to claim the right to interpret
all legal questions on which there existed a difference of opinion among the ulema. This led to violent protests from
Jahangir
Religious policies of Jahangir, Shahjahan and Aurangzeb
Dara Shukoh (20) (2006)
Jahangir on the whole made no departure from his father's liberal attitude. Jahangir "was more orthodox than his
father and less than his son Khurram". It is alleged that he took harsh steps against the Sikhs, Jains and Sunnis. Here
it may be noted that the victims of his wrath were only individuals viz. Guru Arjan Singh, Man Singh Sun and Shaikh
Ahmad Sirhindi not the religious group per se. On the other hand, Jahangir visited Jagat Gosain three times and
discussed with him Hindu philosophy.
We find that Jahangir sometimes got provoked by the sectarian opinions of other persons. This trait had led him to
imprison the Sunni religious leader Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi mujahid ali sani for three years at the Gwalior fort. The
Shaikh had claimed that once in his "dream" he came closer to God than the Caliphs in the past.
Jahangir abhorred this statement. Many other Muslims, namely, Kaukab, Abdul Lateef and Sharif were imprisoned
for expressing some opinion disliked by the Emperor.
It is noteworthy that the percentage of the Hindu mansabdars did not decrease during Jahangir's reign. He never
launched a policy of the destruction of Hindu places of worship. He also did not reimpose jiziya, nor believed in
forcible conversion to Islam.
Shah Jahan
By the time Shah Jahan ascended the throne in 1627 a change in the climate of tolerance and liberalism seemed to
have set in. Islamic precepts now began to exercise some control over the affairs of the state as was evident from a
change in the practice of paying salute to the emperor. Akbar had introduced in his court the practice of sijda or
prostration, but Shah Jahan abolished it since this form of veneration was deemed fit for the Almighty. Shah Jahan
substituted taslim for sijda. Moreover the author of Amal Salih informs us that seventy six temples in the region of
Banaras were demolished at the order of the Emperor. The argument was that "new idol houses" (taza sanamkbana)
could not be constructed. However, the old ones built before Shah Jahan's accession were left untouched.
Significantly the Muslim orthodoxy could not exercise its influence on the Emperor in regard to the patronage given
to Music and painting. Dhrupad was the Emperor's favourite form of vocal music. The best Hindu Musician Jaganath
was much encouraged by the Emperor, to whom the latter gave the title of Maha Kavi Rai. The art of painting also
developed during Shah Jahan's reign. Patronage to music and painting was a state policy since Akbar's time. His
grandson, too, followed this tradition.
What is remarkable, however, is the fact that in spite of deviation in some respects from the norms laid down by
Akbar and followed by Jahangir Shah Jahan did not impose jiziya on the non-Muslims. Nor did the number of the
Hindu mansabdars fall below the number under his predecessors.
Aurangzeb
Aurangzeb's reign is shrouded in controversy. The opinion of scholars is sharply divided especially on matters
pertaining to religion.
We have divided Aurangzeb's measures in two parts: (a) minor inconsequential ordinances, and (b) major ones that
could be considered as part of, "state" policy.
As for the first, the following may be taken note of:
i) Aurangzeb forbade the kalima (Islamic confession of faith) from being stamped on his coins lest the holy words
might be desecrated under foot or defiled by the non-believers.
ii) Nauroz (the New Year's Day of the Zoroastrian calendar) celebrations going on since his predecessor's times were
abolished.
iii) Old mosques, etc, neglected earlier, were ordered to be repaired, and imams and muezzins, etc. were appointed
on a regular salary.
iv) A Censor of Morals (Muhtasib) was appointed "to enforce the Prophet's Laws and put down the practices
forbidden by Him" (such as drinking spirits, use of bhang, gambling and commercial sex).
v) The ceremony of weighing the Emperor against gold and silver on his two birthdays (i.e. according to the lunar
and solar calendars) was stopped.
vi) In 1665, the Emperor instructed the governor of Gujarat that diwali and holi should be celebrated outside the
bazars of the city of Ahmadabad and its parganas. The reason given for the partial ban of holi was that Hindus "open
their mouths in obscene speech and kindle the holi bonfire in chaklas and bazar, throwing into fire the faggot of all
people that they can seize by force and theft".
vii) The practice of jharokha darshan was discontinued after the eleventh year of his reign. The Emperor took it to be
unIslamic because the groups of the darshanias regarded their sovereign as their earthly divinity (and therefore they
did not eat anything before they had the darshan of the Emperor).
viii) Aurangzeb forbade the court musicians to perform before him "as he had no liking for pleasure, and his
application to business left him no time for amusement. Gradually music was totally forbidden at court". However,
the musicians were given pension. On the other hand, naubat (the royal band) was retained.
The foreign policy of the Mughals was related to the interaction with the three great powers of the period namely
the Uzbek empire of Central Asia, the Safaid empire of Persia (Iran) and the Ottoman empire of Turkey.
The Mughals’ original home was in Central Asia. They were driven out by the Uzbeks. The Uzbeks were Sunni
Muslims.
The Safaid rulers of Persia were Shia Muslims and they considered themselves supreme and true successors of the
Prophet Muhammad. The Muslims rulers of Turkey claimed themselves to be the true representatives of the Khalifa
of Baghdad. They were Sunni Muslims.
The foreign policy of the Mughals was guided by the following objectives and principles:
1. To safeguard India from foreign invasions.
2. To maintain balance of power among the Uzbeks, the Safaids and the Turks (Ottoman empire).
3. To increase trade and commerce with other countries.
4. To conquer their ancestral land in Central Asia—homeland from where Babur had been turned out.
5. To check the power of the Afghan tribes, that lived in the mountain region between Punjab and Kabul.
Relations of the Mughals with the Uzbeks in Central Asia:
Before analyzing the relations among the three powers, it would be desirable to understand their location.
Central Asia included Trans-Oxina:
Trans-Oxina (the region in which the Amu Darya) earlier called Oxus river flowed, Badakhan, Balk, Bukhara,
Samarqand etc. The Uzbek empire, a land of desert land scapes was in the heart of Central Asia. It was north of
Persia and Afghanistan. Its western frontier touched the Turkish empire and south-western touched the Persian
empire. Turkey is between the Black sea and the Mediterranean Sea and Persia is between Turkey and Afghanistan.
Although both the Mughals and the Uzbeks were Sunni Muslims, their political interests clashed.
Babur and the Uzbeks:
Babur’s homeland was Fargana. He was defeated by the Uzbeks and was deprived of Fargana and Samarqand.
After leaving his homeland, Babur moved towards Kabul and he captured Kabul and Kandhar. The Uzbeks had
friendly relations with Turkey. Persia’s borders and the newly created kingdom of Babur were linked.
Persia had been defeated by Turkey. The Uzbeks had friendly relations with Turkey. To maintain balance of power,
Babur leaned towards Persia. However, Babur’s efforts to capture Fargana and Samarqand failed. Babur occupied
Kandhar and there was not much opposition from Persia.
Humayun:
Humayun, in his wanderings took shelter with the Shah of Persia who helped him in regaining India.
Akbar:
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________134
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
The Uzbek ruler wanted that Akbar should have no friendship with Persia. This proposition was not acceptable to
Akbar and he politely declined.
Akbar and the Uzbek ruler entered into a treaty which included the following terms:
(a) The Mughal ruler not to take any interest in Badakshan and Balkh.
(b) The Uzbek ruler not to interfere in Kabul and Kandhar.
Jahangir:
During the reign of Jahangir, Persia snatched Kandhar from the Mughals and Baghdad from the Turks. Then
Jahangir, the Uzbeks and the Turks collaborated together to start a triangular fight against Persia. This collaboration
was short-lived.
Shah Jahan:
Shah Jahan sent several expeditions to conquer Bukhara from the Uzbeks but had to suffer heavy losses. In the
beginning of the campaigns prince Aurangzeb had an upper hand and he had even captured Bukhara. But on his
return journey, his victory was turned into a rout. The Mughal forces suffered grievous losses—in men and money.
It exposed the hollowness of Shah Jahan’s power.
Aurangzeb:
Aurangzeb made no attempt to recapture the areas occupied by the Uzbeks. He maintained friendly relations with
them. There was frequent exchange of ambassadors and gifts from both sides.
The Mughals and Persia:
The relations between the Mughal rulers and Persia hanged on the superiority over Kandhar which was situated on
that passage which linked India with Persia and countries of Central Asia.
Each party asserted an exclusive claim over it on account of the following reasons:
1. Kandhar was very rich and had fertile land.
2. For the Mughals from the political point of view the possession of Kandhar was important as from it they could
easily check the foreign invaders to India.
3. Kandhar occupied a very strategic position from the point of view of Persia also.
4. With the possession of Kandhar, it was easy to exercise check on the Afghans, the Baluchis and the hill tribes.
5. The passage of Kandhar had great significance for the pilgrims going to Mecca.
6. Economically the control over Kandhar was important as it was the starting point of traders from China and the
Mediterranean sea ports.
7. The possession of Kandhar was claimed by both powers for consideration of prestige and sentiments.
Babur and Persia:
Kandhar had been once ruled by Babur’s cousin. In the beginning of the 16th century Kandhar was ruled by semi-
independent rulers who according to their convenience sided with the Mughals or Persia. Babur conquered Kandhar
before becoming the ruler of India. He pacified the ruler of Persia by addressing to him a very conciliatory letter.
Humayun and Persia:
Humayun received great help from the ruler of Persia after his defeat at the hands of Sher Shah. The Shah of Persia
gave him shelter and help on the condition that after his victories is Hindustan, Humayun would hand over Kandhar
to him. However, Humayun after his victories did not hand over Kandhar to Persia. After the death of Humayun,
Persia captured Kandhar.
Akbar and Persia:
Akbar made no attempt to capture Kandhar till the Uzbeks posed a threat to it. An opportunity came when the
Uzbeks attacked Kandhar. The governor of Kandhar failed to get any help from Persia. The governor of Kandhar
surrendered Kandhar to Akbar after getting some concessions. Nevertheless the relations between Persia and the
Mughals remained cordial.
Jahangir and Persia:
Jahangir and the Persian ruler exchanged ambadassors and valuable gifts for several years. However the Mughal
ruler neglected the defence of Kandhar and Persia all of sudden captured Kandhar to the great surprise of Jahangir.
The ruler of Persia tried to make out that Kandhar belonged to Persia and Jahangir himself should have restored it
Persia. On account of the revolt of prince Khurram, Jahangir lost Kandhar.
Shah Jahan and Persia:
Shah Jahan made several efforts to conquer Kandhar but without any success. Only for a very short period he could
exercise control over Kandhar. Kandhar remained in the hands of Persia. Kandhar campaigns caused a great loss to
the Imperial Treasury of the Mughals.
Aurangzeb and Persia:
Peshwas Administration
Compare the Peshwas bureaucratic management with that of the Imperial Mughal administration. (15)
(2015)
Maratha Administration
Maratha kingdom consisted of Swarajya and Mughalai. Swarjya referred to the areas of Maratha system of
administration while the Mughalai fell outside the Swarajya and was subjected to Maratha and other external raids
from time to time.
To protect people living in the Mughalai areas chauth and sardeshmukhi were imposed.
Central Administration
The king was the head with all powers-executive, legislative, military and judicial concentrated in his hands. A
council of eight ministers assisted him- Ashtapradhan system.
1. The Peshwa or the prime minister- duty was to look after general welfare and interests of the state.
2. The Amatya or Finance minister- in-charge of checking and countersigning all public accounts of the kingdom.
3. The Mantri- maintained a detailed account of the king and his court.
4. The Sumant or dabir- to advise king on the external affairs, war and peace.
5. The Sachiv-to look after the correspondence of the king and checked the accounts of parganas.
6. Danadhyaksha-the Ecclesiastical head-judge of canon law and censor of public morals.
7. The Nyayadhish or Chief Justice- responsible for dispensing civil and military justice.
8. The Senapati- the commander-in-chief in charge of recruitment, organization and discipline in the army.
Local Administration
The kingdom was divided into 4 provinces and each was placed under a provincial governor.To assist him, there
was a council of ministers based on the central model.
The provinces were divided into a number of regions called prants. Each prant was subdivided into parganas and
tarafs. The viilage was the lowest unit of administration,run by the village headman known as the patel.Over a
group of villages there were officers known as deshmukhs and despandes.
MANSAB SYSTEM
Establishment of Jagir and Mansab systems
Mansabdari System (20) (2002)
Examine the mansab and jagir system by Akbar and its subsequent failure in the 18th century. (30) (2011)
Critically analyse whether the success of the Mughals is to be credited to their robust Jagirdari and
Mansabdari system. (15) (2019)
The word mansab means a place or position and therefore it means a rank in the mansab system under the Mughals.
During Babur's time, the term mansabdar was not used; instead, another term wajhdar was employed. The latter
differed in some ways from the mansab system that evolved under the Mughals after Babur.
Akbar gave mansabs to both military and civil officers on the basis of their merit or service to the state. To fix the
grades of officers and classify his soldiers, he was broadly inspired by the principles adopted by Chingiz Khan. The
latter's army had been organised on decimal system. The lowest unit was often horsemen, then came one hundred,
one thousand and so on. Abul Fazl states that Akbar had established 66 grades.
of mansabdars ranging from commanders of 10 horsemen to 10,000 horsemen, although only 33 grades have been
mentioned by him.
Mansab denoted three things:
i) It determined the status of its holder (the mansabdar) in the official hierarchy.
ii) It fixed the pay of the holder.
iii) It also laid upon the holder the obligation of maintaining a specified number of
contingent with horses and equipment.
JAGIR SYSTEM
How was lqta system of the Sultans different from the Jagir system under the Mughals? (15) (2014)
Revenue assignments were made by the Delhi Sultans which were termed iqta and its holder iqtadar. The system was
developed to appropriate the surplus from the peasantry and distribute it among the nobles, This also included the
administration of the area by the assignee.
The Mughal Emperors, too, did the same. These assignments were given in lieu of cash salaries. The areas assigned
were generally called jagir, and its holders jagirdar. It must be made clear that it was not land that was assigned, but
the income/ revenue from the land/area was given to the jagirdars. This system developed over a period of time and
underwent many changes before stabilising. However, the basic framework was developed during Akbar's reign.
The Early Phase
Babur, after his conquest, restored to the former Afghan chieftain; or conferred upon them assignment of
approximately more than one-third of the conquered territories. The holders of such assignments (wajh) were known
as wajhdars (wajh means remuneration). A fixed sum was assigned as wajh out of the total revenue of the area The
rest of the revenue of the territories was deemed to be a part of the khalisa. The zamindars continued in their respective
areas, but in other conquered areas Babur ruled through hakims (governors). The same pattern perhaps continued
under Humayun.
Organisation of Jagir System
During Akbar's period all the territory was broadly divided into two: khalisa and jagir. The revenue from the first
went to Imperial treasury. and that from jagir was assigned to jagirdars in lieu of their salary in cash (naqd) according
to their rank. Some mansabdars got cash salary, and, hence, they were called naqdi. A few were given both jagir and
cash. The bulk of the territory was assigned to mansabdars according to their rank. The estimated revenue was called
jama or jamadami as it was calculated in dam (a small copper coin, 1/40th of the silver rupaya on the average). The
jama included land revenue, inland transit duties, port customs and other taxes which were known as sair Jihat.
Another term used by the revenue officials was hasil, that is, the amount of revenue actually collected. You must
understand these two terms jama and hasil - which you will come. across frequently. The revenue officials used yet
another term, that is, paibaqi. This was applied to those areas whose revenue were yet to be assigned to mansabdars.
In the 31st year of Akbar's reign, the jama of the khalisa in the province of Delhi, Awadh and Allahabad amounted
to less than 5% of the total revenue. Under Jahangir, almost 9/10 of the territory was assigned in jagir and only 1/10
was available for the khalisa. The ratio of jagir and khalisa kept fluctuating. Under Shah Jahan, it rose to 1/11th and,
by the 20th year, it was nearly 1/7th. The trend continued in the next reign; in the 10th year of Aurangzeb, the jama
of the khalisa amounted to almost one-fifth of the total. However, in the later part of Aurangzeb's reign, there was a
great pressure on the khalisa as the number of claimants for jagir increased with the increase of the number of
mansabdars.
Another important feature of the jagir system was shifting of jagir-holders from one jagir to another for administrative
reasons. This system of transfers checked the jagirdars from developing local roots. At the same time, its disadvantage
was that it discouraged the jagirdars from taking long term measures for the development of their areas. They were
merely interested in extracting as much revenue as possible in a short time.
Various Types of Jagirs
There were generally four types of revenue assignments:
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________140
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
a) jagirs, which were given in lieu of pay, were known as jagir tanka;
b) jagirs given to a person on certain conditions were called mashrut jagirs;
c) jagirs which involved no obligation of service and were independent of rank were called Warn jagirs, and
d) jagirs which were assigned to zamindars (chieftains) in their homelands, were called watan jagirs. Under Jahangir
some Muslim nobles ware given jagirs resembling to watan jagir called al-tamgha.
Tankha jagirs are transferable every three or four years, watan jagirs remained hereditary and non-transferable.
Sometimes watan jagir was converted into khalisa for a certain period as Aurangzeb did in case of Jodhpur in 1679.
When a zamindar or a tributary chief was made a mansabdar, he was given jagir tankha, apart from his watan jagir,
at another place if the salary of his rank was more than the income of his watan jagir. Maharaja Jaswant Singh,
holding watan jagir in Marwar, held jagir, tankha in Hissar.
Management of Jagirs
The jagirdar was allowed to collect only authorised revenue in accordance with the Imperial regulations. He employed
his own officials (karkun) like amil (amalguzar), fotadar (treasurer), etc. who acted on his behalf. The Imperial
officials kept watch on the jagirdars. The diwan of the subha was supposed to prevent the oppression on the peasants
by the jagirdars. From the 20th year of Akbar, amin was posted in each province to see that the jagirdars were
following Imperial regulations regarding collection of revenue. The faujdar often helped the jagirdar to collect
revenue whenever difficulties arose. It appears that from the period of Aurangzeb, bigger jagirdars were having
faujdari powers, too.
Under the Mughals assessment was separately made for kharif and rabi crops. After the assessment was over a written
document called patta, qaul or psulqarar was issued in which the amount or the rate of the revenue demand was
mentioned. The assessee was in return supposed to give qabuliyat i.e. 'the "acceptance" of the obligation imposed
upon him, stating when and how he would make the payments.
We will discuss here a few commonly used methods:
1) Ghalla Bakhshi (Crop-sharing): In some areas it was called batai. The Ah-i Akbari notes three types of crop-
sharing:
a) Division of crop at the threshing floor after the grain was obtained. This was done in the presence of both the
parties in accordance with agreement.
b) Khet batai: The share was decided when the crop was still standing in the fields, and a division of the field was
marked.
c) Lang batai: The crop was cut and stacked in heaps without separating grain and a division of crop in this form was
made.
In Malikzada's Nigamama-i Munshi (late 17th century) crop sharing has been mentioned as the best method of
revenue assessment and collection. Under this method, the peasants and the state shared the risks of the seasons
equally. But as Abul Fazl says it was expensive from the viewpoint of the state since the latter had to employ a large
number of watchmen, else there were chances of misappropriation before harvesting. When Aurangzeb introduced it
in the Deccan, the cost of revenue collection doubled simply from the necessity of organising a watch on the crops.
2) Kankut/Dhanbandi: The word kankut is derived from the words kan and kut. Kan denotes grain; while Lot means
to estimate or appraisal. Similarly, dam means grain while bandi is fixing or determining anything. It was a system
where the grain yield (or productivity) was estimated. In kankut, at first, the field was ' measured either by means of
a rope or by pacing.
After this, the per bigha productivity from good, middling and bad land was estimated and the revenue demand was
fixed accordingly.
3) Zabti: In Mughal India, it was the most important method of assessment. The origin of this practice is traced to
Sher Shah. During Akbar's reign, the system was revised a number of times before it took the final shape.
Sher Shah had established a rai & per bigha yield for land which were under continuous cultivation (polar), or those
land which very rarely allowed to lie fallow (parouti). The rai was based on three rates, representing good, middling
and low yields and one third of the sum of these was appropriated as land revenue. Akbar adopted Sher Shah's mi.
Akbar introduced his so-called Karori experiment and appointed Karories all over North India in 1574-75. On the
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________141
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
basis of the information provided by the karoris regarding the actual produce, local prices, productivity, etc. In 1580
Akbar instituted a new system ain a Dehsala, where the average produce of different crops as well as the average
prices prevailing over the last ten years (15-24 R.Y. of Akbar) were calculated. One third of the average produce was
the state's minimum share. Under karori experiment, measurement of all provinces took place. Bamboo rods with
iron rings called tanab were used instead of hempen ropes. On the basis of productivity and prices prevailing in
different regions they were divided for revenue purpose. The rates of assessment in cash for each crop in every dastur
was decided, and the demand was forced accordingly. The main features of the system as it finally came into operation
under Akbar were:
i) measurement of land was essential;
ii) fixed cash revenue rates for each crop.
iii) all the collection was made in cash.
Nusq was not an independent method of assessment; it was subordinate to other methods. It was a method or
procedure which could be adopted whatever be the basic method of revenue assessment and collection that was in
force. When it was applied under zabti the annual measurement was dispensed with and previous figures were taken
into account with certain variations. Since jabti system involved annual measurement, the administration and revenue
payers both wanted to replace it.
Annual measurement was, therefore, set aside with some modifications.
Urn system or revenue fanning was another feature of the revenue system of this time. When peasant did not have
resources available for undertaking cultivation or where owing to some calamity cultivation could not be done, were
farmed out on Uwa. The revenue officials or their relatives were not supposed to take land on Uwa . It was expected
that revenue farmers would not extract more than the stipulated and revenue from the peasants. But this was hardly
the case in actual practice.
Revenue assignees Ijara farmed out their assignments in lieu of a lump sum payment, generally to the highest bidders.
During the 18th century Ijara system became a common form of revenue assessment and collection.
The zamindar were present in practically every part of the Mughal Empire and held the most significant position in
the agrarian structure of Mughal India. The word zamindar is derived from two Persian words-zamin (land) and dar
(holder). During the pre-Mughal period, the word zamindari has been used in the sense of the chief of a territory. The
fact that a chief had acknowledged the supremacy of a superior sovereign power made no difference to his position
within his own domain, so long as he was allowed to retain it. From Akbar's time onwards, this term was officially
used for any person with any hereditary claim to a direct share in the peasant's produce. The early local terms such
as khot and muqaddam in the Doab, bhomi in Rajasthan and banti or vanti in Gujarat were replaced by the term
zamindar. However, many of these terms continued to be used interchangeably with zamindars in contemporary
accounts. The areas without zamindar were termed niyati (peasant held).
Nurul Haran divides the zamindars into three categories.
a) Primary zamindars who had some proprietary rights over the land;
b) Secondary zamindars who held the intermediary rights and helped the state in collecting land revenue; and
c) Autonomous chiefs-had autonomous rights in their territories and paid a fixed amount to the Mughal State.
Zamindari Rights
Zamindari did not signify a proprietary right in land. It was a claim on the produce of the soil, co-existing in a
subordinate capacity, with the land revenue demand of the state. Yet, like any article of private property, it could, and
was, freely bought and sold. It was also inheritable and divisible, that is, the heirs of a zamindar could divide the
fiscal claims and perquisites of their inherited zamiadar, in accordance with the law of the land.
The zamindar acquired his rights by virtue of the historical tradition of control he and his kinsmen exercised over the
inhabitants of particular villages. At some time, the zamindar had settled villages and distributed its land among the
peasantry. In eastern Rajasthan, wasidar (a category of peasants) were settled by the bhomia
(zamindar as known there) in the village to undertake sometimes the cultivation of his personal lands. The zamindari
rights, therefore, were not created by the ruling classes, but preceded them. The king, however, could create zamindari
in villages where none existed. He could also dislodge a zamindar, but this was a right he exercised only in case of
sedition or non-payment of revenue.
The medieval rulers recognised the rights of the zamindar, but were equally insistent on treating them as agents of
the government for revenue collection. When the zamindar took this form, that is, it came to assist the government in
the collection of revenue, for the service so rendered, the zamindar was entitled to a percentage of the total revenue
collected. This percentage in official documents is stated to be 10% and is described as nankar ("allowance").
In Gujarat, this claim of the zamindar was described as banth or vanth, but unlike malikana in Northern India, it was
considerably higher. Like malikana, it was paid in the form of cash. In the Deccan, it was called chauth (lit. "one
fourth"), and as the name suggests, stood at one-fourth of the revenues collected. Sardeshmukhi, another fiscal claim
of the zamindar in the Deccan, was equivalent to 10% of the revenues.
Under the Marathas, the cesses of chauth and sardeshmukhi came to be realised not through a legal claim based on
actual zamindari right, but by the sheer use of force. Under Shivaji, while the claim of the comprised one-fourth of
the chauth and the whole of surdeshmukhi, the other three-fourths of the chauth was to be retained by the Maratha
feudatory barons.
Besides their principal fiscal claim, the zamindars also exacted a number of petty perquisites from the peasantry.
Some of the well-known cesses so realised were (dastar shumari) (turban tax), house tax (khana shumari), cesses on
marriage and birth, etc. The zamindars used to collect taxes from weekly markets also in their areas. At times, they
are found collecting toll tax on merchandise passing through their territories. The amount that the zamindars realised
through these petty perquisites is quite difficult to estimate; in all probability, in relation to their principal fiscal claim,
it was not quite considerable. We have so far been discussing about the primary and intermediary zamindars, that is,
those who resided in the directly administered territories, and of whom .the administration was anxious that they be
reduced to the status of mere 'rent gatherers'. Apart from them, there were chiefs or chieftains-the rajas, raos, ranas
and rawatas-who were more or less autonomous in their estates, governing them without any interference from the
imperial administration. Their obligation to the king did not go beyond paying him a fixed amount as tribute
(peshkash). Their share in the surplus produce of the peasant, therefore, amounted to the difference between what
they collected from the peasants and what they paid to the king as peshkash. The Imperial administration recognised
their semi-autonomous status, and exercised no control over their internal administration once they had paid the usual
peshkash. According to Irfan Habib, the difference between the zamindars and autonomous chiefs "lay most clearly
PEASANTRY
Assess the condition of peasantry during 13 th to 17 th centuries C.E. (15) (2017)
Though the agriculture class had a number of strata within it, for the convenience of study we are including all of
them under one nomenclature.
The peasants constituted the primary class in rural society and the revenue collected from them sustained the whole
state apparatus. The peasant had to pay a large part of their produce as land revenue. It appears that the bulk of the
peasantry lived on the subsistence level of existence.
Land Rights of Peasantry
There has been a long debate among historians regarding the rights of the peasantry over land, Peasant's claim to land
was not disregarded by the state, yet he was never allowed the right to free alienation. It appears that peasants had all
the rights over land as long as he cultivated it. The zamindar or state had no right to evict the peasant as long as he
cultivated the land and paid the revenue. It seems that proprietary rights in land were not quite developed during the
Mughal period. However, the most important aspect of the period is the varying claims over the produce of the land.
In contemporary accounts we come across a number of references to the fight of the peasantry from villages because
of oppression or other problems. A number of instances are available about peasants settling individually or in groups
in various regions. The mobility of the peasant was an established practice in Mughal India. This mobility was more
pronounced in cases of their oppression in one region or natural calamities like floods and famines.
Stratification of Peasantry
The peasantry was not a homogenous class. The stratification was due to inequalities in wealth and social status.
Peasants with large resources cultivated bigger plots of land, and even employed labourers on his fields. They could
acquire head-ship of a village muqaddam or patel and enjoy a superior share in the produce of other peasants.
One major reason for this can be found in the wide prevalence of cash-nexus. Since land revenue in the larger part of
India had to be paid in cash, peasants and cultivators were forced to carry their produce to the markets or sell it to
merchants or moneylenders on the eve of harvest. In such a situation, those peasants who could cultivate cash crops
would be placed. in a better position, because of the higher prices they fetched in the market than those who, owing
to their scarce resources, could only cultivate food crops for which the prices were comparatively low. Not all peasants
could shift to cash crop cultivation since it involved much expenses (good seeds, better fertilizer, irrigation or
facilities, and also more productive soil). The requirement of the payment of land revenue in cash would thus cause
a widening gulf between the relatively better-off peasants whose resources allowed them to shift to cash crop
cultivation and the poor peasants who found even the cultivation of food crops an arduous and expensive business.
The regressive nature of land revenue demand was another major factor that caused and intensified divisions within
the peasantry. The incidence of land revenue demand being uniform for both the rich and the poor peasants, in actual
fact it fell more heavily on the latter than on the former. The village organisation, or what has often loosely been
described as the "village community", further perpetuated these divisions by levying lower revenue rates on the
peasants, and calling upon the rent ri'aya to meet the deficit thus arising in the total revenue claim.
Economic inequalities were not the only basis of divisions within the peasantry. They were also divided between the
permanent residents of the village (Khudbsht Northern India, mirasdar in Maharashtra) and the temporary residents
(pai in Northern India; upari in Maharashtra). Caste associations and kinship ties (bhaichara), even as they served as
linkages that afforded supra-local relations. Their number or their proportion to caste peasantry is almost impossible
to estimate, yet, in all probability, they did constitute a significant portion of the rural population of India. They are
described in the contemporary literature as chamam, balahars, thoris and banuks, etc. They were a cheap source of
labour for the peasants and zamindars to work on their fields during the sowing and harvest seasons. It was, therefore,
in the interest of both of them (i.e., the peasants and zamindars) to suppress and exploit them. The creation of a huge
reserve of labour force for agricultural production reduced the cost of production, which enhanced the "surplus"
Born at Shivneri (10 April, 1627), Shivaji was the youngest son of Shahji and Jija Bai. in his early childhood there
was hardly any interaction between Shahji and Shivaji for the former was busy most of the time in his Karnatak
campaign as Bijapur noble (1630-36). In 1636, with Shahji's surrender of Shivneri, one of the seven forts surrendered
by Shahji, Shivaji along with his mother had to shift to Poona under the guardianship of Dadaji Konddev. Shivaji got
married to Sai Bai Nimbalkar and Shahji entrusted the charge of his Poona jagir to him but under Dadaji Konddev's
guardianship. After Dadaji Konddev's death, Shivaji became the sole incharge of his Poona jagir as Shahji's agent.
Shivaji at first befriended the Maval chiefs on the west of Poona district and it were they who formed the backbone
of Shivaji's army in the years to come. The Mavle chieftains Jedhe nayak of Kari and Bandal nayak were the first to
join Shivaji.
Shivaji wanted to occupy all the possessions of Shahji, (which the latter held in 1634 but had to surrender in 1636)
as a matter of legitimate right. After Dadaji Konddev's death, Shivaji with definite plans, decided to recover them.
However he had to restrict himself (as early as 1648) owing to Shahji's arrest by Mustafa Khan, the Bijapuri
commander. Shivaji unsuccessfully tried to pressurise Adil Shahi ruler for .the release of his father through an alliance
with the Mughals (1649). Shahji was ultimately released (16 May, 1649) after surrendering Bangalore and Kondana
to Bijapur.
In the meantime (1648),.Shivaji occupied the fort of Purander This provided an impregnable defence to the Marathas
in the years to come. The next in line to fall was the fort of Javli (1656). Kt was the stronghold of the famous Mavle
chieftain Chandra Rao More. With its occupation, he got another stronghold Rain (later renamed Raigarh) which was
to assume the status of the Maratha capital. shortly after. The conquest of Javli not only opened the gate for further
expansion towards south and west Konkan but it also increased Shivaji's military strength with Mavle chieftains of
More territory joining him.
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________145
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
Shivaji was not merely a military conqueror but also was an enlightened ruler. Discuss. (15) (2019)
Dr. R.C. Majumdar writes of him, “He was not merely a daring soldier and successful military conqueror but also an
enlightened ruler of his people.” Shivaji was readily accessible to his all subjects. He was a popular monarch. He kept
a close watch on the administrative affairs of the state. All powers were concentrated on him but he ruled with the
advice of his ministers. The common people regarded him with great devotion. They considered him as their greatest
benefactor.
Shivaji took special care to make his administrative system responsive to the needs of the people. In the words of Dr.
Ishwari Prasad, “The institutions which he established were an improvement upon the existing order and were well
adapted to the well-being of his subjects.”
Central Administration:
He had a council of ministers (Asht Pradhari) to advise him on the matters of the state but he was not bound by it. He
could appoint or dismiss them. This appointment was subject to their efficiency. The Peshwa was the first among
ministers. The word Peshwa stands for leader or senior one.
Provincial administration:
Shivaji divided his kingdom into four provinces. Each province was under the head called Mamlatdar or Viceroy.
Each province was divided into several districts and villages. The village was an organised institution.
The chief of the village was called Deshpande or Patel. The head used to run the affairs of the village with the help
of the Village Panchayat.
Like the centre, there was a committee or council of eight ministers with Sar-i- ‘Karkun’ or the ‘prantpati’ (Head of
the province)
Historians differ as to the exact nature of these two taxies levied by Shivaji. According to Ranade, ‘Chauth’ was not
merely a military contribution without any moral or legal obligation but a payment in lieu of protection against the
invasion of a third power and he compares it with Wellesley’s Subsidiary Alliance System. Sardesai holds that it was
a tribute exacted from hostile or conquered territories.
J.N. Sarkar is of the opinion that Chauth was only a means of buying off one robber and not a subsidiary system for
the maintenance of peace and order against all enemies. Thus ‘Chauth’ was a military contribution paid toward off
any attack of the Marhatas. It was, in theory, ¼ of revenues of the district invaded but in practice it was sometimes
much more than that. Sardeshmukhi was an additional tax of 10% which Shivaji claimed as the hereditary
Sardeshmukhi or overlord of Maharashtra.
Judicial administration:
Judicial administrative system was rather simple, crude and primitive. The highest court was ‘Hazar Majils’ or the
court of the king. The day-to-day administration was carried on by the village Panchayats and the village ‘Patel’
decided criminal cases.
Shivaji’s army organisation was very efficient. His army was very patriotic, well trained, efficient and extremely
mobile.
Shivaji was very strict in maintaining discipline in the army. To kill or torture ladies and children, to loot the
Brahmans, to spoil cultivation etc. were punishable offences even during the course of war. Elaborate rules for the
maintenance of discipline were rigorously enforced. No soldier was allowed to take his wife in the battlefield.
Shivaji was a cultured and a tolerant Hindu ruler. He proclaimed to be the protector of the Hindus, the Brahmans and
the cows. He showed respect to religious texts of all religions. He did not destroy a single mosque. He protected
Muslim ladies and children even during the course of war.
He gave financial help to Muslim scholars and saints. He employed Muslims in civil and military departments. When
Aurangzeb issued a fresh order reimposing the jizya on all the Hindu population, it was an open challenge as much
to Shivaji as to many Rajput chiefs.
Shivaji wrote a strong letter of protest to Aurangzeb. He wrote “God is the Lord of all men and not of the
Muhammadans only. Islam and Hinduism are only different pigments used by the Divine Painter to picture the human
species.” At the same time Shivaji was never actuated by a hatred of the Muslims. He respected the personal honour
of a Muslim.
Provincial Administration
The country was divided into mauzas, tarfs and prants. All these units were already existing under the Deccani rulers
and were not the innovation of Shivaji. But he reorganised and renamed them. Mauza was the lowest unit. Then were
the tarfs headed by a havaldar, karkun or paripatyagar. The provinces were known as prants under subedar, karkun
(or mukhya desbadhikari). Over a number of prants there was the sarsubedar to control and supervise the work of
subedars. Each subedar had eight subordinate officers: diwan, mazumdar, fadnis, sabnis, karkhanis, chitnis, jamadar
and potnis. Later, under the peshwas tarf, pargana, sarkar and suba were indiscriminately used.
Under Shivaji none of the officers was permanant and hereditary. All officers were liable to frequent transfers. But
under the peshwas, the office of kamavisdar and mamlatdars became permanent. To check the mamlatdars, there
were darkhdars (fee men) who were hereditary provincial officers. They served as a check on mamlatdars and other
naval an4 military officers. Neither the mamlatdars could dismiss them nor compel them to perform any particular
job if not specified. None of the eight provincial level officers derived their power from mamlatdar. Instead, they
served as a check on his power.
To sum up, Satish Chandra has rightly pointed out that Aurangzeb's failure was his "inability to comprehend the
nature of Maratha movement". To consider Shivaji a mere bhumia was his mistake. The Marathas had a popular base
and the support of the local landed elements (watandars). His attempt to impose Mughal administrative practices
created chaos among the local elements and brought suppression of the peasantry. The Mughal mansabdars found it
almost impossible to collect their due from their Deccani jagirs. Sambhaji's execution was even a greater folly.
Aurangzeb's idea of creating terror among the Marathas proved futile. He could neither suppress Marathas nor could
he dictate terms to Shahu in his confinement.
Mode of Assessment
Under Malik Ambar, it was based on the assessment of actual area under cultivation and the cash value of the crop
produced. But he actually did not order for the survey of the land and the assessment was done not by actual
measurement but by observation. Assessment was done with the help of hereditary village officials deshmukhs and
patils.
But Shivaji paid foremost attention to the measurement of land. Seeing the inaccuracy of rope (which was liable to
variations in different seasons). Shivaji substituted it by a kathi (a measuring rod). Twenty kathis constituted a bigha.
AGRO-BASED PRODUCTION
craft production
Delineate the striking features of agriculture and crafts production during 16 th and 17th centuries in India. How
did they impact the social fabric of the country? (60) (2008)
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________150
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
Discuss the different types of Karkhanas in Mughal India. How was the production organized in the different
Karkhanas? (20)(2010)
Will it not be correct to say that the rural economy in Mughal India was relatively self-sufficient? (15) (2015)
“An important feature of agriculture in Mughal India has been the large number of crops raised by the
peasants.” Illustrate by giving examples. (15) (2018)
The term agro-based industries in the present time is used altogether for a different type of industries. The most wide-
spread production of commodities during the period of our study was in a sector where the basic raw material was
obtained from agricultural produce. India had a high level of production of cash crops like cotton, sugarcane, indigo,
tobacco, etc. It was, therefore, natural that crafts related to these would flourish.
Textiles
Cotton
Cotton textiles were manufactured practically all over the country since with the exception of sub-Himalayan region,
cotton could be grown almost everywhere. Abul Fazl gives a list of important centres of production of cotton textiles.
Gujarat emerges as one of the important region of textile manufacture. Here the main centres were Ahmadabad,
Broach, Baroda, Cambay, Surat, etc. In Rajasthan we could mention Ajmer, Sirohi and many small towns. In U.P.,
Lucknow and a number of small towns around it. Banaras. Agra, Allahabad, etc. were prominent centres.
Other areas in the north like Delhi. Sirhind, Samana, Lahore, Sialkot, Multan produced textiles of good quality. In
Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, Sonargaon and Dacca. Rajmahal, Qasimhazar and a number of towns, Balasore, Patna and
a number of small towns around it were famous textile centers.
However, the most common cotton cloth much in demand was superior quality white calico cloth called by different
names such as Ambartees (in Bihar, Bengal etc.), Bafta in Gujarat, etc. Other famous varieties were fine muslin of
Bengal called Khasa, Chintz, a printed cloth and fabric made with mixing silk yam. Ahmadabad acquired fame for
its printed cloth known as chintz .
In Deccan. Burhanpur and Aurangabad produced cotton cloth of a fine variety. On the western coast of Maharashtra
Chaul and Bhivandi had a flourishing weaving industry. The Qutab Shahi kingdom was also famous for its textiles.
Masulipatnam and Coromandal also produced cotton textiles. In the South. Coimbatore and Malabar were also known
for production of good quality cotton.
Many centres specialised in producing only yam which was taken to weaving centres and even exported. Spinning of
yam thus became a specialised occupation. In and around all the major centres of textile production. many peasants
and women took it up as an additional source of earning and supplied yam to weavers.
Women in large number spun yam in Mysore. Vizagapatam and Ganjam. Broach, Qasimbazar and Balasore were
prominent markets for selling yam. Gujarat supplied yam to Bengal in the second half of the seventeenth century.
The fine yam required for Dacca muslin was spun by young women with the help of takli or spindle.
There was a considerable variation in quality. Hameeda Naqii has listed forty-nine varieties of clothes, produced in
five major production centres of the Mughal Empire. The European accounts mention more than one hundred names.
It is very difficult to list all the varieties of cotton textiles produced in the country. Every region had their own
specialities.
A few important varieties may be explained here. Baf'ta is described in the Ain-i Akbari as a type of high quality
calico normally white or of a single colour. The word calico was commonly used by Europeans for all kinds 6f cotton
cloth. It also meant white cloth of a thick variety. Tafta was a silk cloth sometimes inter-woven with cotton yam.
Zartari was a cloth which was inter-woven with gold or silver thread. Muslin was a very fine quality of thin cloth.
Chintz (Chheent) was cotton cloth with floral or other patterns printed or painted. Khasa was a kind of muslin. It was
expensive cloth of a fine quality.
Some clothes were named after the place of production, such as Dariabadi and Khairabadi, Samianas (Samana),
Lakhowries (Lakhowar near Patna), etc Some regions specialised in a particular variety, Bafta from Gujarat and
muslin from Sonargaon and thereafter from Dacca in Bengal are examples of this specialization.
In the seventeenth century, significant changes were noticed due to the intensified activities of the European trading
companies whose numbers now increased with the arrival of the English, Dutch and French East India Companies,
etc.
The manufacture of cotton textiles involved a number of steps. The first was ginning, that is, separating seeds from
cotton. Later, the carder (dhuniya) cleaned cotton with the bowstring. Next, yarn was spun on the spinning wheel.
The yarn was used on looms by the weavers. The most common loom was horizontal, the pit-loom with foot treadles.
PERSONNEL OF TRADE
Indian mercantile classes, banking, insurance and credit systems
Give your opinion on the urban development in India during the Mughal times (60) (2005)
Increasing commercial activities attracted a large number of people to these professions. However, the above trading
groups were not necessarily divided into watertight compartments. At times the same person did two or more tasks
at the same time.
Merchants
Theoretically, vaisyas were supposed to indulge in commercial activities, but in actual practice people from a wide
range of background could and did participate in it. During the period of our study we notice that certain groups and
castes dominated in particular regions.
In our sources we get innumerable references to the banjaras as a trading group who carried on trade between villages
and between villages and towns in a region and even at inter-regional level. They were an important link for rural-
urban trade. The Banjaras confined their trading activities to some limited commodities like grain, pulses, sugar, salt,
etc. They procured a number of animals (mainly oxen to carry the load) and moved from place to place buying and
selling goods. Jahangir in his Tuzuk-i Jahangiri records: "In this country the Banjaras are a fixed class of people, who
possess a thousand oxen, or more or less, varying in numbers. They bring grain from the villages to the towns, and
also accompany armies". The Banjaras generally moved with their families and household in groups. These groups
moving together were called a Tanda. Each Tanda had its chief called Nayaka. At times a Tanda could have upto
600-700 persons (including women and children), each family having their oxen. The Banjaras were both Hindus and
Muslims. Some scholars divide them into four groups on the basis of commodities they traded in: grain, pulses, sugar,
salt, and wood and timber.
The Banjaras operated in many parts of North India, but there were other similar traders known by different names.
The Nahmaris was one such group of traders operating in Sindh. Another such nomadic traders were the Bhotiyas
operating between the Himalayas and plains.
Merchants in Different Regions
An important vaisya subcaste, that is, the Baniyas were the leading merchants in North India and Deccan. They
belonged to the Hindu and Jain (mainly in Gujarat and Rajasthan) communities. Their counterparts were the Khatris
in Punjab and Kornatis in Golkunda.
The word Baniya is derived from a Sanskrit word vanik meaning merchant. Many of the Baniyas carried surnames
pointing to the place of their origin. The Agarvals came from Agroha (in present Haryana) and the Oswals from Osi
in Manvar. Marvar gave probably the highest number of traders who are generally referred to as Marwaris.
They were to be found in all parts of India and were the most eminent merchant group during the period of our study.
There was a close caste bond between these merchants. They had their councils (mahajan).
Contemporary European travellers (Linschoten, 1583-89; Tavernier, 1656-67) marvelled at the skills of the Baniyes
as merchants and had all praise for their accounting and book-keeping. The Baniyas unlike Banjaras were involved
in all sorts of trading activities. At the village level, they traded in grain and other agricultural produce. They also
acted as moneylenders, giving loans to peasants and other people including state officials and nobles. In towns they
dealt in grain, textiles, gold, silver, jewels, spices and sundry other commodities. Some of them possessed assets of
millions of rupees. They owned ships also. The community as a whole was known for simplicity and frugality.
In the region of Punjab, the Khatris were a major trading community. Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikh religion, was
also a Khatri. Many of them were converted to Islam. This community had in its fold Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs.
The Multanis were an important trading community of Delhi, parts of Punjab and Sindh in the 13-17th centuries. We
get occasional references to them in the period of our study also.
The Bohras were important merchants of 'Gujarat. They were mostly Muslims. They were an urban community
mainly based in Gujarat and other western parts. Apart from Gujarat, they had some settlements in Ujjain and
Burhanpur. The Bohra merchants like Mulla Muhammad Ali and Ahmed Ali had assets of millions of rupees. Among
Muslims, other merchant communities operating on the western coast wert Khoja and Kutchi Memons of Gujarat.
Moneylenders and Sarrafs
Brokers
Dallals or brokers as specialised mercantile professional trading group seem to have been active in the wake of the
Turkish conquest of North India. They worked as middlemen in various commercial activities and transactions. With
increasing inter-regional and foreign trade they became crucial. Merchants from foreign lands and distant regions
heavily depended on them. The foreign merchants, who were unacquainted with the centres of production, pattern of
marketing and language had to depend on the native brokers for their trading
transactions. The need for brokers in India was mainly due to (i) centres of production for the same commodities
were scattered all over the country; (ii) individual output of these centres was small (some centres specialised in
particular commodities only), and (iii) large number of buyers competing for the same commodities in the same
markets. We get innumerable references to the transactions done through broker. The English East India Company
records refer to brokers being employed at their different factories. Fryer (late 17th Century) says that "without
brokers neither the natives nor the foreigners did any business". "For buying and selling company's goods brokers
are appointed who are of the bania caste and are skilled in the rates and value of all the commodities".
There were around 600 brokers and middlemen at Patna. Their number might have been much larger in bigger
commercial centres like, Surat, Ahmadabad, Agra and other coastal towns.
Indian brokers were to be found in foreign ports also. They were operating at Gombroon (Bandar Abbas), Basra,
Bandar Rig, etc. Sometimes, the whole family worked as brokers in partnership. Bhimji Parakh, a prominent broker,
had a joint business with his brothers. He had 8 shares, Kalyandas 5, Kesso and Vithaldas 4 each. Ali Jan Qaisar
divides brokers into 4 categories: (i) those employed by companies or merchants, (ii) those who worked for several
clients, (iii) those who worked on an adhoc basis as broker-contractors, and (iv) state appointed brokers at commercial
centres to register sale and purchase of article.
The brokers operating independently can be divided on the basis of their areas of partnerships. Some dealt only in
one specific commodity like silk, saltpeter, cotton, textile, indigo, etc. Others dealt in more than one commodity.
Some worked as sub-brokers or under brokers for a well-established broker. Brokers' fees or commission was not
strictly fixed. It depended on the commodity and the efforts of the broker to strike the deal or the labour involved in
procuring the commodity. In ordinary dealings, the brokerage was two % of the value of transaction. 1 % was charged
from each of the parties (buyers and sellers). Brokers who were in regular employment were paid fixed salaries and
also some commission in some deals. We do not have much information on their total emoluments. However, a few
references in English Company records show the salaries of their brokers between Rs. 10 and 38 per month.
Besides helping their clients in procuring and selling goods, the brokers played a key role in the organisation of
production. Most of the money advanced (dadni) to the artisans were made through brokers.
COMMERCIAL PRACTICES
Bills of Exchange (Hundi)
During this period hundis or bills of exchange became an important form of money transaction. Hundi was a paper
document promising payment of money after a period of time at a certain place. To begin with, the practice started
because of the problems involved in carrying large amounts of cash for commercial transactions. The merchants
interested in carrying cash to a particular place would deposit it with a sarraf who would issue a hundi to the merchant.
The merchant was to present it to the agent of the sarraf at his destination and encash it. This started as a safe and
Analyse the Mughal monetary system and examine their policy of minting of coins. (20)(2014)
The broad outlines of the Mughal monetary system and its characteristics are reasonably well understood.
We know that the imperial coinage was of an unprecedented quantity and quality. Surviving coins attest to
the continuing fineness and standards of the imperial coin: especially the silver rupee standardized at about
eleven grams. We know that these standards were maintained from the reign of Akbar in the mid-sixteenth
century until the break-up of the empire in the first half of the eighteenth century. We know from
contemporaries as well as from the testimony of numerous hoards that imperial currency circulated freely
and uniformly from Kabul to Dacca and from Surat to Madras. Imperial mints located throughout the empire
struck coins to the same standard. As the empire expanded so also did the area of circulation for the rupee
and its copper and gold counterparts. Mughal currency easily and quickly superseded virtually all preceding
currencies and local and regional coinages.
The sytem of ‘free’ minting, open to all who wished to have coin struck from non-official coin or bullion,
has been often described. The system of discounting older coins in favour of the coin dated in the current
regional year has been a subject of study. The strange persistence of a regional trade-oriented currency in
western India’s port cities is the object of several earlier studies. The location and periods of operation of
the various mints have been listed and analysed.
Like the state which created it, the Mughal monetary system was powerful, flexible, pervasive, and long-
lived. One measure of this lies in the sheer numbers of coins in circulation or retained in private and public
coffers. By comparison with preceding regimes— Indo-Muslim or Hindu—the number of Mughal copper
coins and silver rupees minted and released was very large indeed. By comparison with contemporary
regimes, such as Safavid Iran, the quantity of Mughal coin was prodigious. Imperial mints turned out silver
rupees in numbers sufficient for expanding trade and commerce, the meeting of tax demands, as well as for
royal and noble hoarding in treasuries and for conspicuous consumption. The number of silver rupees in
existence must have run into tens of millions. This enormous mint output over two centuries occurred in a
region lacking any significant output of silver and gold and with only limited copper production.
In the first instance the Mughal currency relied upon stocks of treasure released after conquest. From the
1561 annexation of Malwa to the conquests of Bijapur and Golconda in 1686-7 the royal treasuries of
regional kings yielded stocks of coin and bullion to the imperial mints. Thereafter Mughal moneyers relied
upon imports. From both east and west, over both land and maritime routes, India had always attracted
precious metals. The export of textiles and spices among other products, aided by the skills and capital of
Indian traders and shipowners and caravan operators, ensured a favourable commodity balance of trade. By
the late sixteenth century this inflow of precious metals was enhanced by the vast streams of New World
silver and gold that began to arrive in India. The long-standing drift of gold and silver from the
Mediterranean into the Indian Ocean region through innumerable trade transactions intensified in this
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________156
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
period. A lesser, but similar flow can be seen from South-east Asia. By 1600 these flows were enhanced by
the direct India to Europe traffic of textiles and spices exchanged largely for precious metals by the East
India Companies.
Most of the silver and gold entering Mughal India legally through port or overland customs stations was
converted into imperial coin. Tavernier, commenting on the severity of customs control at Surat in the 1660s
states: You may carry all sorts of silver into the Empire of the Great Mogul, because there is a mint in each
of the frontier towns, where it has to be refined to the highest standard, as Is all the gold and silver in India,
by order of the King, and it is coined into money of the country. Foreign coins that somehow escaped this
procedure did not circulate readily or profitably in Mughal towns and cities. The universal medium of tax
collection for the Mughal treasuries was imperial coin. Foreign coin was not acceptable. It was to the interest
of the moneychangers and bankers to initiate the conversion of foreign currency at the mints. The profits to
all concerned in this practice were considerable. In other words, the policies of the state were designed to
ensure that the imperial mints absorbed the inflow of silver and gold and placed this in circulation as silver
and gold coin of standard issue. Mughal currency circulated within the borders of the empire. Limited
quantities did travel within the wider Indian ocean region also. Subventions and donations went to Mecca.
Trading capital accompanied Indian merchants in their overseas ventures. But the Mughal rupee did not
serve as a major trading currency beyond the subcontinent. The absence, beyond India, of hoards containing
large numbers of Mughal coin suggests that those coins which left soon returned. Mughal India was a
receiver of precious metals.
Indian goods were in such demand that the empire did not have to export specie for needed imports. In
short, imported silver and gold augmented the coinage stocks of Mughal India. Unlike the situation in
Safavid Persia or Onoman Turkey at the same period, these imports were not counterbalanced by a drain of
exported coin. We may explain the enormous volume of Mughal coinage in part by official policies and in
part by the dominant economic position of India In the Indian Ocean region. Decade after decade the
Mughal state put more and more coin into circulation in its territories. To some extent these were neutralised
by offcial and quasi-official hoardmg. Some losses by wear and other causes also occurred. But these were
small beside the sustained level of mint production and its cumulative effect on imperial monetary stocks.
Growing stocks of coin did not long remain sterile in hoards. The institutions and practices of the empire
favoured the exchange of coin rather than commodities.
As we have noted, the land tax demand was expressed in money terms. Unlike its contemporary empire in
Ming China, the Timurid Indian empire did not collect, store and disburse large amounts of food grains.
The expanding imperial land tax system acted as a constant stimulus to market activity. State requisition of
a large share of production thus increased the demand for money. As has been frequently observed, the
system encouraged all parties, from the producing peasant to the highest grandee, to support and facilitate
the conversion of agricultural produce into money. This was indeed a commercialized agriculture. Proceeds
from sales of produce, and official and unofficial loans and salary payments moved money from city to
countryside. Instalments paid on the land tax moved money from countryside to city. The Mughal empire
paid its officials and military in cash, not in commodities. True, some officials (i.e. mansabdars) obtained
their pay by means of salary assignments jagirs) rather than in cash. This practice reduced the number and
amounts of direct disbursements by the central imperial treasury. The mansabdar in receipt of one, or more
likely several, jagirs held a claim to payment in cash of a specified sum that represented the land tax on a
village or pargana. Local officers made direct payments to his agent who forwarded the receipts to his
master in service elsewhere. The treasury was bypassed, but the net effect was to increase the number of
monetary transactions and hence the demand for coin. At the receiving end each mansabdar paid his
stipulated cavalry troopers, foot, and other followers in cash as well.
Expenditure on monument building, lavish living and charitable largess also flowed from the noble's
treasury. Successful Mughal officials and nobles accumulated vast fortunes in the course of their careers.
The basis of such wealth lay, of course, in the rewards of officeholding and its immense perquisites. By and
large this was not a class of landed aristocrats directly receiving rents from peasant or tenant population.
Mughal grandees, instead, augmented their massive official incomes by investment in trade. Guided by
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________157
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
their business managers and agents they provided commercial capital to traders and merchants engaged in
longdistance trade. At the highest level noble venture capital even went to finance shipbuilding and trading
voyages in the burgeoning Indian Ocean trade.
In short, both the expanding state and the burgeoning market relied upon a growing and flexible imperial
monetary system. The interests of the ruler, the noble and the trader lay in a cash nexus. Huge and growing
stocks of coin provided the means for a growing emphasis on market exchange on a cash basis. One result
of this seems to have been a deepening level of monetization within the empire. The land tax demand, and
commodity sales in an intensifying network of markets must, together, have increased the number and
velocity of coin in circulation. Only the most remote and backward tracts could have been immune to this
process.
The new imperial currency consisted of copper, silver and gold coin. Billon (copper mixed with traces of
silver) issues, long the standard for exchange, ended with the Mughal conquests in North India. Copper
became the coinage for popular use in the second half of the sixteenth century under Akbar.
According to Habib's analysis the imperial currency was trimetallic: i.e. ‘a system where the mints [freely].
, . receive and coin gold, silver and copper,, . . [and] where there are no legally fixed ratios between metals.’
As a result, in this system, coins of each metal enter circulation according to the demand for each based
upon relative cost and ‘efficiency in performing different monetary functions’. Copper gained in value
relative to silver between 1620 and 1670—partly in response to the new industrial utility of copper in
manufacturing bronze cannon. As it rose in price, the copper price of silver cheapened, making its use in
coin more attractive.
By and large the Mughal territories were on a silver standard in contrast to the gold standard of South India.
The taxes charged by the state on trading activities. The merchants were also charged customs and toll: taxes on
movements of goods. However, the income from these sources was very small as compared to land revenue.
Since towns were the centres of commercial activities, the administrative officers there looked after the smooth
conduct of trade. The maintenance of law and order and providing peace and security were important for better
business environment.
This was the responsibility of the kotwal and his staff in the towns. The rules and laws governing the day-to-day
business were generally framed by the business community itself. Merchants had their own guilds and organisations
which framed rules. We get references to such organisations in our sources. In Gujarat, these were called maw an. In
the first quarter of the 18th century, we get evidence of 53 mahajans at Ahmadabad. The mahajan was the organisation
of traders dealing in a specific commodity in a particular area irrespective of their castes. The term mahajan was at
times used for big merchants also probably because they were the heads of their organisation. There were separate
caste based organisations also. The most influential and wealthy merchant of the town was called nagar seth.
Sometimes it was treated as hereditary title, Nagar seth was a link between the state and the trading community.
If there were certain disputes among the merchants, the mahajans resolved them. Generally their decisions were
respected by all. The Mughal administration also recognised these mahajans and took their help in matters of conflicts
and disputes or to seek support for administrative policies. The merchant organisations were strong and fought against
high-handedness or repressive measures of the officers of town and ports. We get a number of references where
traders organisations gave calls for hartal (closing business establishments and shops) against administrative
measures. The huge loss of revenue made administrators respond to the protest. One such serious conflict arose in
Surat in 1669. Here a large number of businessmen along with their families (a total of 8000 people) left Surat to
protest against the tyranny of the new governor. They settled at Broach and sent petitions to Emperor Aurangzeb.
The trading activities in the town came to a halt. The Emperor quickly intervened and the problem was resolved. In
1639, Shah Jahan invited Virji Vohra.
one of the biggest merchants of Surat, to enquire into the grievances of merchants against the governor of Surat.
During the war of succession among Shah Jahan's sons, Murad raised Rs. 5,50,000 through Shantidas, the nagar Seth
of Ahmadabad. After Murad's death, Aurangzeb owned the responsibility for paying it. The merchants in spite of
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________158
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
huge resources did not take much interest in politics. While merchants kept away from court politics, the nobles did
venture into trading. Many big nobles used their official position to corner the profits from trade. Shaista Khan tried
to monopolise a number of commodities, especially saltpetre. Mir Jumla, another prominent noble, was a diamond
merchant. A number of subordinate officers at local level also indulged in business activities using coercive methods.
Population,
Estimates of population of Mughal India. (20)(2009)
ESTIMATES OF POPULATION OF MUGHAL INDIA
It was, however, hard to rest content with an admission that a definitive demographic history of India from c. 1601
to 1872 is impossible. No phase of economic history can be studied without allowing for demographic factor. For
pre-modern societies, population growth is often considered as a major index of economic growth. It is, therefore,
legitimate to attempt estimating the Indian population on the basis of quantitative data or diverse kind that are
available to us.
On the Basis of the extent of Cultivated Area made the first attempt to estimate the population with the help of the
data of the Ain-i Akbari. He tried to determine population of Northern India on the basis of the figures given in the
A'in. This work gives figures for arazi (measured area) which he took to represent the gross cropped area. Comparing
the arazi with the cultivation at the beginning of this century and assuming a constant condition between the extent
of cultivation and the size of the population right through the intervening period, he concluded that from "Multan to
Mongiyr" there were 30 to 40 million people at the end of the 16th century.,
Applying Civilian: Soldier Ratio
For the Deccan and South India, Moreland took as the basis of his calculations the military strength of the Vijaynagar
Empire and Deccan Sultanates. Taking a rather arbitrary ratio of 1:30 between the soldiers and civilian population,
he estimated the population of the reign at 30 millions. Allowing for other territories lying within the pre-1947 limits
of India but not covered by his two basic assumptions, he put the population of Akbar's Empire in 1600 at 60 millions,
and of India as a whole at 100 millions.
These estimates received wide acceptance. Nevertheless, Moreland's basic assumptions (and therefore his figures)
are questionable. For estimating the population of Northern India he makes the assumptions that (a) measurement
was made of the cultivated land only; and (b) it was carried out by the Mughal administration to completion in all
localities for which any figures are offered.
It has been shown on the basis of textual as well as statistical evidence that the arazi of the A'in was area measured
for revenue purposes which included, besides the cultivated area current, fallows and some cultivable and
uncultivable waste.
Hindi
Hindi language as known to-day developed over a long period of time. A number of dialects spoken in various regions
of northern India contributed to its development. The main dialects' from which Hindi emerged are Brajbhasa,
Awadhi, Rajasthani, Maithili, Bhojpuri, Malwi, etc. Khari Boli, a mixed form of Hindi, also came into existence in
the 15th-16th centuries.
The origins of Hindi date back to 7th and 10th centuries. It was during this period that Hindi was evolving out of
Apabhransha. The early period of Hindi poetry is called Virgatha kala (age of heroic poetry). During this period, the
exploits of Rajput kings and chieftains were narrated in poetic form. Some of the famous poems are Prithviraj Raso,
Hamir Raso, etc.
The form of poetry which developed during the subsequent period was devotional (Bhakti). Kabir was the most
famous exponent of this form. The same tradition continued during the 16th and 17th centuries.
Derived from a broken form of Sanskrit known as "Maghadi-Prakrit", the Hindi literary language bloomed under the
pervasive influence of the Bhakti movement The new poetry found its best creative expression in the writings of
Gosvami Tulsidas. The poet born in eastern UP. around 1523 became a mendicant and began to write his masterpiece
Ramcharita-Mansa in 1574 . The popularity of this work rested on its language which closely resembled Tulsidas'
native Awadhi dialect. Tulsidas took up the life of Rama as that of an ideal man and built around it his philosophy of
'Bhakti'. His observations touched the lives of common men.
Among the many works that Tulsidas wrote Vinaya-Patrika or a prayer book brings out his philosophy best. Though
he preached pure devotion to an almighty God, in his personal life he clung to a single deity investing him with all
the necessary attributes of a cult figure. Tulsidas inspired a number of other writers - like Agradas and Nabhajidas –
who composed the Bhakta - a well-known account of the Vaisnava saints dating back to the Ancient period.
Devotion to Krishna rather than Rama as the highest incarnation of the Supreme Being was propagated by another
set of poets who were known as Ashtachapa. These eight men were all disciples of Vallabhacharya among whom
Surdas who wrote between 1503-1563 was considered the best. A Rajput princess turned into a mendicant, Mira
herself became the heroine of many ' romantic legends. Her songs addressed Krishna as a lover and portrayed the
final subjugation of a 'bhakta' to the Supreme Being. These songs originally composed in the Marwari dialect of
AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY
We do not find any radical change during the Mughal period in so far as the plough, iron ploughshare, irrigational
devices, methods of sowing, harvesting, threshing and winnowing are concerned. However, for sowing, apart from
broadcasting and seed-drill, we get evidence for dibbling also. This method was employed especially for cotton
cultivation; a whole was made into the ground with a pointed leg, the seed was put into it and covered with earth. As
for threshing, besides using oxen, corn ears were also beaten with stocks.
One remarkable development during this period was the introduction of some new crops, plants and fruits. Many of
these were brought by Europeans, especially the Portuguese. The Mughal elite had started growing Central Asian
fruits in India from the days of Babur. Tobacco, pineapple, cashew-nuts and potato were the most important crops
and fruits that came from America. Tobacco led to huqqa-smoking. Besides, tomato, guava and red chilies were also
brought from outside. Maize is not listed in Abul Fazl's Ain-i Akbari. It seems that this, too, was introduced by
Europeans from Latin America The seeds of numerous varieties of melons and gapes gown around Agra were brought
from Central Asia.
Fruits of better quality were grown by seed propagation. It is doubtful whether the art of horticulture was extensively
practised during the Delhi Sultanate. Grafting became prevalent in India only after A.D. 1550. This skill was well
known in Persia and Central Asia. However, mangoes of the best quality were exclusively produced in Goa through
grafting by the Portuguese. Some European travellers to India paid glowing tributes to the delicious mangoes of Goa
called Alfonso, our Lady, Joani Perreira, etc. Alfonso is still a celebrated variety in India. Among the Mughal
Emperors, Shah Jahan alone takes the credit for getting two canals dug.
TEXTILE TECHNOLOGY
The section took note of numerous processes, e.g., ginning, carding, spinning, weaving, dyeing, painting and printing.
Spinning-wheel was brought to India by the Turks. In fact, no radical addition or improvement seems to have been
made during the seventeenth century. However, two developments must be highlighted; first, carpet-weaving under
Akbar's patronage at Lahore, Agra and Fathehpur-Sikri; and second, production of silk and silk fabrics on a large
scale.
The Europeans did not bring their own textile techniques to India, at any rate during the first half of the seventeenth
century. Actually, they did not possess any superior technology in this area during this period, except perhaps to the
English Company to send silk dyers, thrusters and weavers to Qasimbazar in Bengal. Italian silk were introduced into
India in the 1770s.
MILITARY TECHNOLOGY .
Firearms were used sporadically for the first time during the second half of the 15th century in some regions of India
like Gujarat, Malwa and Deccan. But fire-arms of a regular basis developed through the agency of the Portuguese
from A.D. 1498 in South India, and by Babur in the North in A.D. 1526. Babur used guns and cannons against the
Rajputs and Afghans.
These guns were actually matchlocks. Europe knew of two more devices to fire a gun: wheel-lock (1520s) and flint-
lock (1620s) in which matchcord was dispensed with. Abul Fazl claims the manufacture of handguns without
matchcord in /Akbar's arsenal, but he is silent on the alternative mechanism. This could be a flint-lock because wheel-
lock even in Europe was employed for pistols. At any rate, these handguns (flint-locks) were produced on a limited
scale, most probably for Akbar's personal use only because we are told that Indians in North India were scarcely
familiar with this technique during the early decades of the seventeenth century. In fact, Mughal paintings regularly
depict matchlocks down to Aurangzeb' s times.
European pistols were available for sale as early as A.D. 1609. Sometimes Europeans gave pistols in gifts to Indians.
But the Indians did not learn the art of wheel-lock. Cannons of various sizes were manufactured in India for the Indian
rulers.
SHIPBUILDING
The entire vessel in medieval times everywhere was constructed of wood. Various methods were employed to join
the planks. One of these was rabbeting which was widely practised in India. This was basically on the tongue-and-
groove principle: the 'tongue' of one plank was titted into the 'groove' of another. The next step was to smear the
planks with ingenious pitch or tar, and lime with the double purpose of stopping up any fissures and preserving the
timber from sea worms. Fish-oil was also used for doubling the planks. The Indians did not adopt tile European
method of caulking - a technique for making joints or seams of the planks tight or leak proof by forcing oakum (made
of loose fibre or untwisted old ropes, etc. mixed with melted pitch) between parts that did not fit tightly. The reason
was caulking did not have any technical superiority over the indigenous method for performing the same task.
Moreover, caulking was more expensive than the Indian practice.
Prior to the European advent, the planks of ships and boats were joined together by stitching or sewing them with
ropes made of coir, or sometimes with wooden nails. The Europeans were using iron nails and clamps which made
their vessels stronger and durable. India's lost no time in adopting the new technique. Around A.D. 1510, Varthema
noticed “an immense quantity of iron used" in Indian ships at Calicut. Abul Fazl informs us that for a ship of Akbar
468 mans (maund) of iron were used. Some Mughal paintings establish the presence of iron nails, strips and clamps
for constructing vessels. Similar positive response for European iron anchors is evidenced during the seventeenth
century. Earlier, anchors were made of big stones.
The Indians used buckets to bail out the leaked water in the ships. However, the European iron chain-pumps started
to be used in India, though not widely, during the second half of the seventeenth century. But these were not
manufactured in India: they were purchased or borrowed from Europeans.
METALLURGY
Main features of metallurgical practices in India:
i) The fuel for smelting consisted of wood charcoal (coal was not known). Thus, smelting was generally carried out
at places which were near the source of wood supply.
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________165
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
ii) The smelters used small furnaces which perhaps did not have refractory or heat-resistant clay.
iii) The' bellows were ribless and small which did allow efficient air-blast to generate very high temperature in the
furnaces to reduce the ore to a totally liquified state.
iv) In case of iron and bronze, the metal was melted in diverse small furnaces (sometimes eight in number) wherefrom
the molten material went to the mould. Since the quality of the molten metal in each furnace was not necessarily the
same, the fabricated object could not have always been of high quality.
Abul Fazl describes the technique of making iron cannons and handgun barrels at Akbar's arsenal. Perhaps these
techniques were newly invented. We do not know whether improvements were made during the subsequent period.
Cannons were made of bronze, brass and iron.
Zinc metallurgy seems to have started in India somewhere around twelfth century A.D. Abul Fazl mentions Jawar
(modem Zawar) in Rajasthan where zinc was procurable.
Archaeological studies near Zawar have revealed the presence of sealed clay retorts for zinc distillation (which,
condensed, cooled, yielded the metal).
Copper mines were located at Khetri in Rajasthan. Tin was not a natural product of a country: it was imported from
other Asian regions. Bronze was in use right from the days of the Indus valley culture. Alloys like brass (copper and
zinc or tin) were fabricated in India.
One must mention here the production of the true "wootz" roll in India from c. 400 B.C., especial1 y in Andhra
Pradesh. Probably "woolz' ' is a corruption of the Telugu word "ukku". It was exported to centres of sword making
like Damascus in Syria (called Damascus swords).
GLASS TECHNOLOGY
Glass is a complex artificial industrial substance. We should not confuse it with crystal, quartz, obsidian glass, glaze
and faience. That glass was not scarce in India, but Indian glass objects "did not range or go beyond the manufacture
of tit-bits like beads and bangles"
With the arrival of Muslims, pharmaceutical phials, ,jars and vessels of glass cane to India from the Islamic countries,
but there is no evidence to show that Indians had started fabricating these objects in imitation.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, a variety of glass articles were brought to India by the Europeans. All these were
new for us: for example, looking-glasses (mirrors made of glass).
We known how to make mirrors of metals (bronze and copper) but not of glass. Another object was spectacles made
of glass lenses. The Europeans gave these things to Indians as gift and, sometimes, they also sold them (but the market
was very limited). Thus, the Indians started using European glass articles without manufacturing them during the
period under study.
It seems that the technique of fabricating sand or hour-glass was known in India during the 15th century, but the
Mughal paintings exhibit European made sand-glasses only, which were brought to India by the Europeans.
Apart from these, we got from Europe drinking-glasses, magnifying or burning glasses and prospective glasses
(telescopes). Since the later were made of glass lenses like the spectacles, there was no question of their indigenous
manufacture during the seventeenth century.
PRINTING PRESS
It is 'amazing that the Chinese knowledge of wooden-block printing did not evoke even a ripple of response in India
in spite of frequent communication between the two countries in the past. European movable metal types were
brought to Goa around A,D. 1550 by the Portuguese. The latter started printing books on Christian saints, Sermons,
grammars; books in the Marathi and Kokani languages and dialects, but in Roman script rather than in the Devanagari
script.
Emperor Jahangir is once reported to have expressed doubt about types being cast in Persian or Arabic scripts during
a discussion with the Jesuits, whereupon the latter promptly showed copy of the Arabic version of the gospel,
probably printed at Vatican in A.D. 1591.
This topic was not brought up again by Jahangir. In A.D. 1670s, Bhimji Parekh, the chief broker of the English
Company at Surat, took a keen interest in this technology. A printer was sent to India in A.D. 1674 at Bhunji's request,
along with a press at the latter's expense. Bhimji intended to contrive types in "banian characters after our English
manner", but it could not be feasible since the English printer did not know type-cutting and founding. No type cutter
was sent from England to assist Bhimji. Nevertheless, Bhimji persisted in this endeavour to realize his dream of a
printing-press with Devanagari fonts. He employed his own men, obviously Indians, to do the job. The English factors
TIME-RECKONING DEVICES
The history of horology unfolds a variety of devices adopted by mankind in different countries. Among them,
gnomons, sundials, clepsydras (water-clocks), sand-glasses, mechanical clocks and watches stand out as the most
significant contrivances for time-reckoning with varying degrees of accuracy.
In India, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, clepsydras of the sinking-bowl variety appear to have been
the most commonly used device for measuring time, at any rate, in urban centres. The Persian term for the bowl was
tas, while tas gharial denoted the whole mechanism (bowl and gong). The Indian word ghurial is derived from the
ghat that was struck with a mallet to announce the time indicated by the sinking-bowl. Water-clock is mentioned
during the Delhi Sultanate in Afif s Tarikh-i Feroze Shahi which related the installation of a the ghurial by Sultan
Feroze Shah Tughlaq at Ferozabad during the second half of the fourteenth century. Babur also describes the
mechanism in the Baburnama.
Abul Fazl, too, takes note of the details.
Much before the Mughals, the Europeans had invented the two most essential features of an ordinary mechanical
clock the weight-drive and escapement. Europeans' clocks anti watches were often given in gift to Indians, especially
the elite groups (Jahangir was presented a watch by Sir Thomas Roe, but the Emperor's memoirs does not mention
this fact). The Jesuit church at Agra had a public clock-face with a bell whose "sound was heard in every part of the
city". Notwithstanding the exposure of a substantial cross-section
of Indians to European mechanical clocks and watches for a long time, there is no evidence to indicate its acceptance
among any social group of Indian society for general use. These were mere toys, and novelties for the Indians who
received them "diplomatic" or ordinary gifts. The one important reason for non-acceptance was the incompatibility
of the Indian time-reckoning system with that of Europe at that time. In Europe, the system of twelve equal double-
hours prevailed, while the Indian system consisted of 4 quarters (pahr) in the Further, each pahr was divided into
gharis of 24 minutes each. Thus, the Indian system had 60 "hours" (of 24 minutzs) to the full day, and the European
consisted of 24 hours of 60 minutes each.
MISCELLANEOUS
i) True Arch, dome and lime-mortar were already introduced in the India by the Turks. No significant development
took place in building technology during the seventeenth century. However, we may take note of one practice, that
is, preparation of a sort of "blue print" of the building to be constructed. It consisted of drawing on a thick sheet of
paper by employing "grid of squares" (graph sheet) for indicating proportions. We may also mention that Indian
buildings did not have window-panes and chimneys which
Europeans used back home.
ii) The Indians did not employ metallic (copper) boilers to refine saltpetre like the Europeans; the former continued
with earthen pots to do the job.
iii) Oxen-drawn carts were in common use, especially for transporting commercial goods. Horse-drawn carriages
were very rare: they were meant only for passengers. Sir Thomas Roe presented to Jahangir an English coach drawn
by four horses. The Emperor enjoyed a ride in it (he called it rath furangi). The sovereign, and some nobles got such
coaches built by Indian carpenters for their use. But this interest was short-lived; it did not catch on during the
seventeenth century.
Mughal architecture
Explain the principal features of architecture during Akbar’s rule. What changes were made in them by
Shahjahan? (60) (2002)
The Mughals built like Titans and embellished like jewellers. Comment. (15) (2019)
Akbar's death in 1605 did in no way hamper the development of a distinctive Mughal architecture under his
successors. A secure Empire and enormous wealth in legacy in fact permitted both Jahangir and Shah Jahan to pursue
interest in the visual arts.
New Features
In the sphere of the building art, Jahangir and Shah Jahan's reigns were an age of marble. me place of red sandstones
was soon taken over by marble in its most refined form. This dictated significant stylistic changes which have been
listed below:
a) The arch adopted a distinctive form with foliated curves, usually with nine cusps;
b) Marble arcades of engrailed arches became a common feature;
c) The dome developed a bulbous form with stifled neck. Double domes became very common;
d) Inlaid patterns in coloured stones became the dominant decorative form; and
e) In the buildings, from the latter half of the Jahangir's reign, a new device of inlay decoration called pietra dura was
adopted. In this method, semi-precious stones such as lapis lazuli, jasper, topaz and cornelian were embedded in the
marble in graceful foliations.
Major Buildings
The account of the major buildings of this period begins with a remarkable structure, the tomb of Akbar, located at
Sikandra, eight kilometers from the Agra on Delhi road. It was designed by Akbar himself and begun in his own
lifetime hut remained incomplete at the time of his death. Subsequently, it was completed by Jahangir with
modifications in the original design. As it stands today, the entire complex is a curious mix of the architectural
schemes of both Akbar and Jahangir.
The scheme of this complex envisages the location of tomb in the midst of an enclosed garden with gateway in the
centre of each side of the enclosing wall.
The tomb building in the centre is a square structure built up in three stories. The first storey is in fact an arcaded
platform making the basement. Within the platform, vaulted cells surrounded the mortuary chamber and a narrow
inclined corridor in the south leads to the grave. The middle portion is in three tiers of red sandstone pavilions
trabeated throughout the storey, of white marble in contrast to the red sandstone elsewhere, has an open court
MUGHAL PAINTING
Mughal painting (20) (2005) (2007)
Mughal painting reflect the contemporary socio-political conditions. – Discuss. (30) (2011)
“Mughal paintings reflect social harmony in contemporary society.” Discuss. (15) (2017)
AKBAR
The emergence of the Mughal School of painting as distinct from all other styles was mainly due to the deep interest
Akbar took in the promotion of this art.
Akbar's views on the Art of Painting Drawing anything is called tasvir. His majesty, from his earliest youth, has
shown a great predilection for the art, and gives it every encouragement, as he looked upon it as, both of study and
amusement. Hence the art flourishes, and have obtained great reputation. The works of all painters are weekly laid
before by the Daroghas; he then confers rewards according to excellence of workmanship, or in- the monthly salaries.
Much progress was made in the commodities required for painters, and the correct prices of such articles was carefully
maintained.
The mixture of colours has especially been improved. The pictures thus received a hitherto unknown finish. Most
excellent painters are-now to be found, and masterpieces, worthy of a Bihzad, may be placed at the side of the
wonderful works of the European painter who have attained world-wide fame. The minuteness in detail, the general
finish, the boldness of execution, etc., now-observed in pictures, are comparable; even inanimate objects look as if
they had life. More than a hundred painters have become famous masters of the art, whilst the number of those who
approach perfection, or of those who are middling, is very large. This is especially true of the Hindus; their picture
surpass our conception of things.
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________172
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
The first major project undertaken during Akbar's regime was that of illustrating the Hamza Nama. It began m 1562
for which several artists were employed at the court. The place where the painters worked was known as Tasvir
Khana. Although Abul Fazal enumerates the names of only seventeen artists, we now know that the number was very
large. List of 225 artists who worked at Akbar's atelier. These artists belonged to different places, but among them
the majority were Hindus. Interestingly, several low caste people, due primarily to their artistic skill, were also raised
to the status of royal artist. The case of Daswant, who was the son of a Kahar (palki-bearer), may be especially cited.
The painters were assisted by a set of gilders, line drawers and pagers. The artists were salaried employees. The
lowest paid worker in the atelier received an amount between 600 to 1200 dams. (40 dams = one rupaya).
There are paintings which bear the names of two artists. Sometimes even three artists worked on a single painting.
On one painting from Akbarnama four artists have worked. The painting was thus a collaborative team work, The
sketching of figures and colouring were done by a team of two different artists. In cases where three artists have
worked the outlining was done by one artist, the other artist coloured the faces and a third one coloured the remaining
figure. It is however not known to us as to how was such a complex mangement worked out Probably in such a team
work the sketching and colouring were done by separate artists.
As has been noted above, the atelier was supervised by daroghas with the assistance of clerks. They were responsible
for making materials of painting easily available to the artists and to oversee the progress of their work. They also
arranged for periodical presentation of the artists' works before the Emperor.
Style and Technique
The illustration done at Akbar's court are considered as representative works of the Mughal art. Notably, however, in
these paintings, there is evident a gradual evolution in the style and technique. The illustrations of the early phase are
clearly influenced by the Persian tradition, the identifying features of which are listed below:
symmetrical compositions;
restricted movement of figures;
fineness of the lines of drawings;
flat depiction of architectural columns; and
profuse embelament of buildings in the manner of jewels.
Later, the paintings acquired a distinctive character of their own. They assumed a more eclectic character composed
mainly of the Persian and Indian traditions with touches of European influence.
Distinctive Features
The Mughal style became recognisable within a span of fifteen years since the setting up of royal atelier under Akbar.
In the next decade or so, i.e. by about 1590 it acquired a distinctive form which was marked by:
clothing objects of daily use assuming Indian forms.
It should be emphasized here that the identity of the Mughal paintings under Akbar was as much made of an original
style as a fusion of the Persian and Indian traditions. Specific mention may be made here of the depiction of action
and movement which is not to be found in either the pre-Mughal art of India or the art of Persia.
While portrait painting was known in Persia, painting as a chronicle of actual events was certainly a new emphasis.
Painters used familiar forms for hunting or battle scenes regardless of the fact that the literacy reference for the scene
was historical or purely imaginary. Moreover specific events illustrated are frequently reworking of scenes 'recording
quite different events in the earliest known historical manuscript of this period, the Timur Nama of about 1580 AD.
Possibly, painters conceived scenes according to a repertoire of types e.g. the seize of a fortress, crossing a river, an
audience or battle scene. In the working of whole volumes such as the Akbar Nama, the artists seem to have reworked
or adapted these compositional types. Painters usually mated new compositions only when no prototypes existed, and
only a few artists were capable of such invention.
During Jahangir and Shahjahan, Mughal painting achieved its zenith. Jahangir took a deep interest in paintings as a
prince. He maintained his own studio apart from Akbar's large atelier. Jahangir's preference was for paintings of
hunting scenes, birds and flowers. Under Shahjahan the colours of the paintings became more decorative and gold
was more frequently used for embellishment.
Introduction of New Styles
Illustrated texts, many of them secular, and of quite different genre, were commissioned bythe Muslim and Hindu
aristocracy of the sixteenth century: ‘Even now, / I remember her eyes/ trembling, closed after love, / her slender
body limp, / fine clothes and heavy hair loose / awild goose / in a thicket of lotuses of passion’. Thus rhapsodized
the eight-century Kashmiri poet Bilhana about his beloved Campavati in the Caurapancasika (Fifty Verses of a
Love Thief). The gentle eroticism of Bilhana’s Caurapancasika marks a turning point in Indian culture, as the
formal elegance of high Sanskrit yields to the intimate atmosphere of vernacular literature in Hindi, Bengali, and
other provincial languages.The Caurapancasika inspired a major series of paintings that became the benchmark for
pre-Mughal art, not least because this set was the first to be discovered by modern scholars.
Miniatures-Jaina miniatures
The miniatures have a lyrical quality that captures the mind and the soul. Most of the paintings are unique
compositions on myriad themes that are characteristic only of India. Museums of Delhi, Jaipur and Udaipur house
an incredible collection of Indian miniatures that would leave one with a euphoric experience. The miniature
paintings are divided primarily into three categories according to the courts they were produced in. Hence, they
comprise of the small paintings done in the Mughal court during 16th and 18th centuries A.D., paintings of
Rajasthan particularly in the regions of Mewar, Bundi, Jaipur, Kishangarh and Kotah and paintings from the hill
courts of Punjab such as Basohli, Guler, Jammu, Kangra and Garhwal known as Pahari
Long before the 1st century A.D. paintings that were different from murals existed in India. Since they were
done on cloth, wooden boards or other carriers that do not survive, we have evidence of illustrated manuscripts only
from 11th century onwards. The first books to be composed on palm leaves and covered with painted wooden
boards belong to the Pala period. Under the Pala rulers in Bengal, Buddhist manuscripts representing the life of
Buddha were illustrated. The style followed is reminiscent of the mural style, but on a miniature scale. The figures
were modeled closely upon the Pala and Sena sculpture of the period. The art continued till the 15th century in
Bihar, Bengal and Orissa.
In Western India, the Jaina merchants of Gujarat united in the building of libraries and patronage of sacred
texts. Manuscripts such as Kalpasutra, Kalkacharyakatha were produced around this time.
Except for a highly formalized line, the style is flat and decorative and the palette limited to few colours. A
distinctive characteristic feature of these illustrations is that in profile, both eyes were visible, with a peculiar
bulging of the eyes and the pupils appearing in the centre. These were believed to be offshoots of the Rastrakuta
style of painting followed at Ellora.The Jaina paintings are distinctive in that a religious fervor and a spirit of
dedication inspired the artists. They conceived a theme in terms of its nobility and universal appeal, rather than the
appeal for the individual and the sophisticated. As we observe the paintings, it becomes clear that the life around
has had a profound impact on the painter who has brought a complete picture of the culture of the period in all its
grandeur with every detail of dress and ornamentation. In these paintings, the text almost makes up the border on
either side, while the centre is given to the illustration. As for colours used, vermilion red predominates with white
and black used for contours.
During the 13th and 14th centuries paper came to replace palm leaf as the preferred support. The style of painting
began to deteriorate slowly. Persian trends infiltrated through Muslim rulers and the Jaina manuscript style spread
to other centres in India.By the sixteenth century the solid red backgrounds, traditionally used as the basic panel for
each illustration, had changed to blue. The change is a key factor in determining the date of Western Indian
paintings. More greens and blues were in use and began to depict more narratives to make use of foliage, animals
and elaborate architectural settings.
The western Indian style of painting were mainly discovered from the jain bhandars in the form of palm leaf
manuscripts. They follow a special format called the pothi format.
FINE ARTS
Fine arts during the.l6th-l8th century seem to have developed more in the regional kingdoms than in the Mughal state.
However, historical information on the development of fine arts is scanty, and the following narrative is based on
piecemeal records.
Music
Centres of musical study and practice, as stated above, were located in regional kingdoms. In the South, a system of
parent and derivative modes, i.e., Janaka and Janya ragas, existed around the middle of the 16th century. The earliest
treatise which deals with this system is titled Swaramela Kalanidhi. It was written by Ramamatya of Kondavidu
(Andhra Pradesh) in 1550. It describes 20 janak and 64 janya ragas. Later, in 1609, one Somanatha wrote
Ragavibodha in which he incorporated some concepts of the North Indian style. It was sometimes in the middle of
the 17th century that a famous treatise on music, called Caturdandi-prakasika was composed by Venkatamakhin in
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________175
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
Thanjavur (c. 1650). The system propounded in the text has come to form the bedrock of the Carnatic system of
music.
The development of music in North India was largely inspired and sustained by the bhakti movement. The
compositions of the 16th and 17th century saint poets were invariably set to music. In Vrindavan, Swami Haridas
promoted music in a big way. He is also considered to be the teacher of the famous Tansen of Akbar's court. Tansen
himself is considered one of the great exponents of North Indian system of music. He is given credit for introducing
some famous ragas viz., Miyan ki Malhar, Miyan ki Todi and Darbari. Raja Mansingh of Gwaliar (1486-1517) played
a distinguished part in the growth and perfection of Dhrupad, a variant style of the North Indian music.
In the 18th century, music in North Indian style received great encouragement at the court of the Mughal emperor
Muhammad Shah. Sadaranga and Adaranga were great composers of Khayal gayaki at his court- Several new forms
of music such as Tarana, Dadra and Ghazal also came into existence at this time. Moreover, some folk forms of music
were also incorporated in the courtly music. In this category mention may be made of Thumri, employing folk scales,
and to Tappa developed from the songs of camel drivers of Punjab.
In passing, it should be noted that while in the South the texts of music enforced a stricter science, in the North the
absence of texts permitted greater liberty. There were thus several experiments in mixing the ragas carried out in the
North. A loose code-of North India11 style of music is a feature that has continued to the present day.
Dance and Drama
Evidence on dance and drama in the medieval period is scattered. The more important sources are the texts on music,
dance and drama, and the creative works of literature in the different languages of India.
The textual material is mainly from Orissa, South India and from the court of the Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah.
Abhinaya Chandrika by Mahesvara Mahapatra and Sant Damodara by Raghunatha are the two 17th century texts on
dance and drama in Orissa.
From South India we have Adi Bharatam, Bharatarnava, Tulajaraja's (1729-1735) Natyavedagama and
Bahrdvarman's (1753-1798) Balaramabbaratam. There is the Sangita Malika treatise on dance and music from the
court of Muhammad Shah.
Jagirdari Crisis
Each holder of a mansab, called mansabdar, was paid in assignments of land revenue (jagir). Among the various
obligations, the mansabdar had to maintain a requisite contingent of troopers. These troopers were paid and
maintained out of the revenue of the jagir. They formed the base of the mansabdar's power, and assisted him in the
collection of land revenue. Availability of the revenues to be assigned and the ability of the Mughals to collect them
thus became two crucial pre-requisites for an effective working of the system. Chandra, Mughal decline has to be
seen in the Mughal failure, towards the end of Aurangzeb's reign, to maintain the system of the mansabdar-jagirdar.
As this system went into disarray, the Empire was bound to collapse.
The problems attending the annexation of the Deccan states, the absorption of the Marathas and Deccanis into the
Mughal nobility, and the subsequent shortage of jagir have been emphasized. The sudden increase in the number of
nobles, caused due to the expansion of the Empire into the Deccan and Maratha territory, created a crisis in the
functioning of the jagir system. According to Athar Ali, the nobles competed for better jagir, which were increasingly
becoming rare due to the influx of nobles from the south. The logical consequence was the erosion in the political
structure which was based on jagirdari to a large extent.
The agrarian relations as they developed during the Mughal rule gave rise to an authority structure which worked like
a pyramid. In this form the rights of various kinds came to be superimposed upon each other. As a result bulk of the
revenue demand of the state was transferred on to the cultivators. In the eighteenth century, with the decline of the
Mughal authority, and with pressure on jagirs. Agricultural economy began to face a crisis.
The zemindars as a class, were quite loyal to the state. But in the kind of agrarian situation that obtained in the Mughal
empire, conflict between them and the state as also among themselves could not be checked. This often resulted in
law and order problems and decimated the authority of the state. After the death of Aurangzeb and weakening of the
imperial authority this equilibrium got disturbed. The zemindars in this situation could be contained only by a group
which would he independent of the support of the zemindars. Since such a class had not emerged by this time, the
pattern of agrarian relations could not be changed. The collapse of the system became inevitable.
Agrarian Crisis
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________176
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
Do you think that the agrarian crisis of the 17 th century led to the disintegration of the Mughal Empire? Discuss.
(20) (2016)
The mechanism of collection of revenue that the Mughals had evolved was inherently flawed. The imperial policy
was to set the revenue at the biggest rate possible to secure the greatest military strength for the Empire, the nobles.
On the other band, tended to squeeze the maximum from their jagirs, even if it ruined the peasantry and destroyed
the revenue paying capacity of the area.
Since, the nobles jagirs were liable to be transferred frequently, they did not find it necessary to follow a far-sighted
policy of agricultural development. As the burden on the peasantry increased, they were often deprived of their very
means of survival. In reaction to this excessive exploitation of the peasantry, the latter had no option but to protest.
The forms of rural protest in Medieval India were varied in nature. In many areas the peasants took to flight. Entire
villages were left deserted due to the large scale migration of peasants to the towns or other villages. Very often the
peasants protested against the state by refusing to pay the revenue and were up in arms against the Mughals. Habib
argued that these peasant protests weakened the political and social fabric of the Empire.
REGION-CENTRIC APPROACH
Centre-Region Relationship
Viewing the Mughal State from the perspective of the regional literature of the Mughal subha of Awadh, Alam
suggests that the Mughal Empire signified a co- ordinating agency between conflicting communities and the various
indigenous socio-political systems at different levels. The basis of the Empire in a measure had been negative; its
strength lay in the inability of the local communities and their systems to mobilize beyond relatively narrow bounds.
Political integration in Mughal India was, up to a point, inherently flawed. It was to a large extent conditional on the
co-ordination of the interests and the political activities of the various social groups led by local magnates.
According to Alam, the Mughal decline in the early 18th century has to be seen in the inability of the state to maintain
its policy of checks and balances between the zamindars, jagirdars, madad-i ma'ash holders and the local indigenous
elements; like the shaikhzada3 in Awadh. In the early 18th century, there was a thrust 'of the nobles towards
independent political alignments with the zamindars in order to carve out their own fortunes. Alongside there was an
attempt between the various co-sharers of Mughal power (the zamindars, madad-i ma'ash holders, etc.) to encroach
on each other's rights and territorial jurisdictions. These developments were not entirely incompatible with what
happened earlier. But in the hey-day of the Empire these tensions had been contained. This was achieved at times by
the use of military force and at other times by balancing out the power of one social group by settling another in the
vicinity (e.g., the distribution of the madad-I ma'ash grantees in and around the zamindaris of Awadh).
An Overview
It is difficult to find a single explanation commonly applicable to the problems of the Mughal Empire in all its regions
and provinces. For similar reasons it is difficult to accept a view of Mughal decline which applies uniformly to all
parts of the Mughal Empire. The Mughal Empire at best represented a consensus of both the centre and the
peripheries. In the early 18th century, it was this consensus which was disturbed. Different peripheries that had
constituted the Empire followed their own different paths of developments. The eighteenth century regional histories
thus indicate the endeavour to make use of the possibilities for growth within existing social structures.
Evidently the regional history perspective on Mughal decline negates the application of one general theory to explain
Mughal collapse all over India. For the Mughal Empire, at best, represented a consensus between the centre and the
peripheries.
The peripheries were integrated to the Mughal core not merely administratively. For there was an economic and
cultural assimilation between the conqueror and the vanquished. It was on certain shared economic and cultural spaces
that the Mughal state structure rested.
Regions, held together by these heterogeneous linkages to the Mughal core, were bound to be vulnerable to the kinds
of social, economic and cultural changes that swept through 17th century Mughal India. Different regions were
affected in different ways. While in some regions links with the Mughal core were severed, in others they were
retained. It was logical that the different regions followed different paths of dissociation from the Mughal Empire.
Mughal decline was thus much more complex than what the historians subscribing to the Mughal-Centric approach
would have us believe.
SUCCESSOR STATES
The regional principalities: Nizam’s Deccan, Bengal, Awadh
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________177
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
Was it the weakening of the Mughal Empire or the rise of regional powers that led to the British conquest of India?
Discuss. (15) (2016)
Awadh, Bengal and Hyderabad fall in the category of successor states. All these three provinces were directly under
the control of the Mughal administration. Though the sovereignty of the Mughal Emperor was not challenged, the
establishment of practically independent and hereditary authority by the governors and subordination of all offices
within the region to the governors showed the emergence of autonomous polity in these regions. A new political
order came into existence within the broader Mughal institutional framework.
Saadat Khan became the subadar of Awadh in 1722. His aspiration, was to play an important role in the imperial
polities. Having failed in that design, he devoted himself to the task of making Awadh an independent centre of
power. The Mughal decline provided him the desired opportunity to establish his own authority in the region. The
major challenge that he faced after becoming the subadar was the rebellion of local chieftains and rajas of Awadh. In
order to consolidate his position he adopted the following measures:
suppression of rebellious local zamindars and chieftains;
curtailment of the authority of the madad-i-maash grantees;
systematizing, revenue, collection; and negotiation with some local zamindars.
In appointing local officials, he considered only their personal loyalty to him. His motive became more clear when
he nominated his son-in-law, Safdar Jang, as deputy governor of the province without the prior consent of the
Emperor.
After Saadat Khan, Safdar Jang pursued the same path so that the working of provincial administration no longer
depended on the will of the Emperor. Even sending of revenues to Delhi became irregular. Semblance of allegiance
to the Mughal Emperor was still maintained, but between the yeas 1739 and 1764 Awadh emerged virtually as an
autonomous state. Safdar Jang extended his control over the Gangetic plains and appopriated the forts of Rohtas,
Chunar and also the subadari of Allahabad. The office of the imperial diwan was abolished. His successor
Shujauddaula also tried to consolidate the basis of autonomous political system in Awadh. In the process of
establishment of autonomous state, the most remarkable development was the promotion and prosperity of a new
group of gentry who owed their allegiance to the Awadh ruler and not to the Mughal Emperor.
Bengal;
In Bengal the process of autonomy was started by Murshid Quli Khan. He was first appointed as diwan but, later on,
his success in revenue administration, and the uncertainty after the death of Aurangzeb, paved his way for the subadari
of Bengal. Murshid Quli abolished the separate offices of the diwan and the nazim and combined them into one. His
initial concern was revenue administration and, in order to streamline it, he took the following 'measures:
elimination of small intermediary zamindars;
expelling rebellious zamindars and jagirdars to the frontier regions of Orissa;
encouraging big zamindars who assumed the responsibilities of revenue collection and payment; and
enlarging the scope and extent of the khallsa lands.
By his measures, Murshid Quli encouraged the zamindars to emerge as a powerful political force in the province.
Similarly, moneyed and commercial classes got encouragement from the Nawab and established their importance in
local polity. All these were clear Indications of Murshid Quli's desire to establish Bengal as his domain. He also
nominated his daughter's son Sarfaraz as his successor. This set the tradition of a dynastic rule in Bengal. Sarfaraz
was overthrown by his father.
Shujauddin Muhammad Khan. Shujauddin followed the system developed by Murshid Quli and tried to maintain ties
of loyalty with different local power groups. His link with Delhi was basically confined to the sending of tributes.
The next ruler Alivardi Khan assumed power through coup and killed Sarfaraz Khan. Alivardi's reign showed further
development towards autonomy. Major appointments at the provincial level were made by him without any reference
to the Mughal ruler. He appointed his own loyalists as deputy Nawabs at Patna, Cuttack and Dhaka. He recruited a
large number of Hindus in revenue administration and organised a strong military force. The flow of tribute to Delhi
became irregular. Thus, by Alivardi's time, an administrative system developed in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa which
reduced ties with the imperial court in Delhi, and for all practical purposes an independent state emerged in Eastern
India.
Hyderabad
As in Awadh and Bengal, so in Hyderabad also the weakening of the imperial rule provided the opportunity to the
subadar of Deccan to lay the basis for an autonomous state. Nizam-ul-mulk established his control over Hyderabad
by removing the officials appointed by the Mughals and installed his own men. He assumed the right of making
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________178
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
treaties, wars, granting mansabs, titles, etc. The Mughal authority was reduced to a symbolic reading of khutba.
Reform of the revenue system, subduing of jamindars and tolerance towards Hindus were some of his important
measures. A network of intermediary interests on land was allowed to flourish in Hyderabad and this had strong
bearing on the state polity. Bankers, moneylenders and military commanders had important role to play in maintaining
political balance because they provided the essential financial and military service. Nizam-ul-mulk's reign thus
showed the emergence of an independent state in Hyderabad with the nominal allegiance to the emperor.
THE NEW STATES
The Marathas
Among the various provincial states that emerged during this period, the most prominent was the Maratha state. The
rise of the Marathas was both a regional reaction against Mughal centralisation as well as a manifestation of the
upward mobility of certain classes and castes. The Mughals never had proper control over the heartland of the
Marathas. During the period of Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath the office of the Peshwa became very powerful and the
Maratha state system attained the status of a dominant expansionist state. Starting from Balaji Vishwanath to the
reign of Balaji Rao, the Maratha power reached its zenith and the Marathas spread in every directions South, East,
North and Central India. The Third Battle of Panipat in 1761 between the Afghans and the Marathas was major
setback for the Marathas and their victory march was halted by the success of the Afghans in this battle. So far as the
administration is concerned, there were non-regulation and regulation areas. In non-regulated areas, the existing
zamindars and chieftains were allowed to run the administration, but they had to pay tribute regularly to the Peshwa.
In regulation areas direct control of the Marathas was established. In these areas a system of revenue assessment and
management was developed of which the most important was the watan system. The watandars were holders of
hereditary rights in land, whose rights vested not in an individual incumbent but in a brotherhood of patrilineal
relatives. The Marathas adopted some parts of the Mughal administrative system, but their major thrust was on
extraction of surplus. In the absence of well-defined provincial authority, they failed to consolidate their influence.
With balaji’s appointment as the peshwa, the office of the peshwa became hereditary and balaji and his successors
became the de facto rulers of the maratha kingdom. From now onwards the chhatrapati became just a figure-head.
Balaji vishwanath (1713-20)
One of the first things balaji was called upon to do was to secure the restoration of sahu’s mother to him from the
custody of mughals who had detained her at delhi as hostage for the good behaviour of her son sahu.
Bajali opened direct negotiations with the saiyid brothers and in February 1719 all his demands were accepted.
Accordingly sahu’s mother and family were released, he was recognized as the ruler of shivaji’s home dominions
and was allowed to collect chath and sardeshmukhi from the six subhas of the deccan, as also in
karnatak and TN.
In return for all this, the Marathas were expected to keep a contingent on 15,000 horses in the service of the mughals
and to maintain order in the deccan.
Balaji’s success in delhi greatly increased his power and prestige.
Balaji vishwanath is rightly called the second founder of the maratha state.
Balaji was credit with “a mastery of finance”.
Solid foundations were laid for a well-organised revenue system in the swaraj territory which was under direct royal
administration. Here bahalji adopeted the assessements made by the malik amber in ahmadnagar.
Gujarat was earmarked for the senapathi, berar and gondwana for the bhonsle of nagpur, the konkan for kanhoji
angria, karnatak for fateh bhonsle, and khandesh-baglana and central India for the peshwa.
They collected the revenue, administered the territory, maintained the local army, and contributed only a small share
of their income to the royal exchequer.
Sometime revenue officers (darrackdars) were sent to their dominions from the central government, but there was no
real curb on their power.
Bajalji’s appointment as peshwa in 1713 marks the end of the ‘royal phase’ in maratha history.
The new maratha ‘mandala’ or confederacy under sahu:
During the period of rajaram, the office of pratididhi was created and the office of the peshwa was next to it in
hierarchy. Thus in place of ashta pradhan of shivaji, shau had nine ministers including the pratinidhi.
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________179
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
Shau introduced the jagir system.
Some capable and ambitious military leaders and officers were assigned ‘spheres of influence’ which they were
expected to bring under their control by their own military strength without any support from the central government.
Thus the malwa was assigned to nemaji sindhia, Gujarat and baglana to the deshades (the gaekwads of vadodara were
their successors), khandesh and balaghat to the peshwa, berar and gondwana to the bhonsles, the konkan to the
angrias, karnatak to fateh singh bhonsla etc.
He terrorised the helpless emperor with maratha help and secured the office of wazir, dethronwned ahmad shah and
placed alamgir II, a grandson of bahadur shah on the imperial throne (1754).
There was never a wazir of delhi whose rule of so barren of good result and so full of misery to himself and to the
empire, to his friends and foes alike, as imad-ul-mulk’s.
Battle of Panipat:1761
Abdali established his government at Lahore, resumed his march and entered sirhind (November 1759).
The maratha adventure in the Punjab had been acclaimed by some historians as “carrying the hindu paramountacy
(hindu padpadshahi) upto attock”.
North India bhau’s expedition (1760)
on return towards delhi (may 1759) after the reconquest of the Punjab, dattaji sindha was involved in hostilities
with janib-ud-daula in rohilkhand.
He suffered defeats and retrited towards panipat (December 1759), and heard that abdali’s forces, advancing from
sirhind, had occupied ambala.
His resistence failed; he was killed in the battle with abdali at barari some 16 km north of delhi (January 1760).
Malahar rao holkher was rooted by the afghans at sikandarabad.
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________181
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
The peshwa dispatched the Maratha troops under his cousin sada shiva rao bhau and his eldest son vishwas rao.
The maratha artillery was to be commanded by ibrahim khan gardi.
In july 1760, the Marathas occupied delhi.
This small success added to the prestige of the Marathas, but they were friendless in the whole of the north India.
Even the jat king surajmal deserted them at the last movement.
On the other hand, ahmad shah abadli who had been able to secure the support of ruhela chief naib-ud-daula, nawab
suja-ud-daula of awadh etc.
During this period some futile attempts were made for peace between ahmad shah abdali and the peshwa, but they
could not succeeded due to the exorbitant demands of Marathas and self-interest of the muslim rulers.
This culminated in the unfortunate and disastrous battle of panipat.
Third battle of panipat (1761)
At panipat the two rival armies stood entrenched, face to face, for more than two months.
There were skirmishes and minor battles.
The afghan cavalry patrols dominated the environs of the Marathas camp and cut off its communication as also food
supply.
The bhau’s army marched out to battle on January 15, 1761. The battle actually began about four hours after day
break.
Vishwas rao was shot dead at quarter past two. Soon after the bhau was also killed.
Among the leading chiefs who met death for jankoji sindhia, tukoji sindhia and ibrahim khan gardi.
Mahadaji sindhia received wounds, which lamed him for life.
About 50,000 men and women were saved by the kindness and hospitality of surajmal.
The crushing defeat of the Marathas is explained.
The numerically the afghans had considerable superiority.
Against 60,000 afghans and their Indian allies actually present in the field, supported by 80,000 behind the fighting
line, the bhau had 45,000 troops in the field and 15,000 pindaris in the rear.
The afghan had better training and discipline, and it was better organized.
Abdali had superiority in artillery, he employed “the most efficient mobile artillery known in that age”.
Abdali was a far greater military leader and stategist than the bhau.
The defeat became virtually inevitable after the bhau’s postponement of battle for 2 and a half month.
From the political point view the defeat was due largely to the alienation of the rajputs and the jats and the failure to
neutralize shuja-ud-daula and najib-ud-daula.
While half of the abdali’s army was composed of troops furnished by his Indian allies, the valiant rajputs and the jats
didn’t fignt on the maratha side.
Consequences of panipat:
Consequences of the Third Battle of Panipat (20) (2002)
The third battle of Panipat has a special place in Indian history. This battle changed the destiny of India. The
historians have different views regarding this battle. According to Sar Desai, "though the power of Marathas was
lost yet neither Maratha power had been destroyed nor they had changed their ambition of getting whole country."
Contrary to this, J.N. Sarkar had the view, "Marathas were badly defeated in the battle of Panipat. The good leaders
of Marathas were killed and the weak leaders like Raghunathrao came into politics."
By this, the power and the prestige of peshwas were lost and unity of Marathas was broken. Marathas took time; to
be normal and taking advantage of this opportunity the English took Bengal and Mysore from Haider Ali. So it is
considered that though the power of Marathas was not finished by the battle, yet it had been certainly weaken.
According to Elfinston, Maratha organisation, was broken due to end of a common terror."
According to Bell, "the battle of Panipat was a victory of Marathas, a prestige of them" They were fighting for Indians
and Muslim princes of Delhi, Avadh, and Deccan were engaged in making conspiracies and were in search of the
opportunity. The invaders returned after conquering and did not interfere again in matters of India. Abdali made
unsuccessful attempts to conclude peace with the peshwa and suraj mal, and in the following years
he failed to crush the Sikhs in the Punjab.
1. Loss of Marathas in a Big Number:
Chauth (from Sanskrit meaning one-fourth) was a regular tax or tribute imposed, from early 18th century, by
the Maratha Empire in India. It was an annual tax nominally levied at 25% on revenue or produce, hence the name.
It was levied on the lands which were under nominal Mughal rule. The sardeshmukhi was an additional 10% levy
on top of the chauth. It is a tribute paid to the king.
Opinions on the function of the Chauth vary. According to M G Ranade, the chauth was charged to provide armed
security for a state by the Marathas and is thus comparable to the system of subsidiary alliances that was used
by Lord Wellesley to bring Indian states under British control.
The historian Jadunath Sarkar has argued that the chauth was essentially a tax paid by those states that did not want
the Marathas to enter into their realm. The chauth thus served as protection money against Maratha invasions
against the chauth paying state. The tax was levied at the rate of one fourth the annual revenues of the state and was
levied at the cost of the revenue paid by the state to the Mughals or the Deccan kingdoms.
Shivaji first demanded chauth in 1665 and the Deccan sultanates of Bijapur and Golconda began to pay him a
combined sum of ₹800,000 after he was made a raja by Aurangzeb in 1668. In 1719, the Mughal
emperor granted Shahu the chauth and sardeshmukhi rights over the six Deccan provinces in exchange for his
maintaining a contingent of 15,000 troops for the emperor. The revenues from chauth were in turn divided into four
parts that went to various functionaries of the Maratha empire.
Custom duties (mohatarfa or taxes on trades and professions, and zakat or duties on purchase and sale).
The proceeds of the chauth were divided into four shares:
1. 25% (babti) reserved for the head of the state
2. 66% (mokasa) granted to the feudal chiefs for the maintenance of troops.
3. 3% (sahotra) granted to the sachiv
4. 3% (nadgaunda) granted to various persons at the pleasure of the head of state.
Land revenue:
Agricultural lands in the villages were generally divided between two classes of holders.
The mirasdars represented the descendants of original settlers who cleared the forest and introduced cultivation.
They had permanent proprietary rights. Their lands were heritable and saleable.
They were immune from eviction as long as they paid rent.
The upris were strangers and tenants-at-will.
Leases were generally granted to the upris under the authority of the mamlatdar or kamavisdar.
Sikhism
Evolution of the Sikh community and the Khalsa Panth
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________184
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
Evolution of Khalsa Panth (20) (2008)
The teachings and philosophy of Guru Nanak constitute an important component of Indian philosophy and thought.
His philosophy comprised three basic elements: a leading charismatic personality (the Guru), ideology (Shabad) and
organization (Sangat). Nanak evaluated and criticised the prevailing religious beliefs and attempted to establish a true
religion which could lead to salvation. He repudiated idol worship and did not favour pilgrimage nor accepted the
theory of incarnation.
He condemned formalism and ritualism. He believed in the unity of God and laid emphasis on having a true Guru for
revelation. He advised people to follow the principles of conduct and worship: sach (truth), halal (lawful earning),
Khair (wishing well of others), niyat (right intention) and service of the lord. Nanak denounced the caste system and
the inequality which it perpetrated. He said that caste and honour should be judged by the acts or deeds of the
individuals. He believed in Universal brotherhood of man and equality of men and women. He championed the cause
of women's emancipation and condemned the sati pratha. Nanak did not propound celibacy or vegetarianism. He laid
stress on concepts like justice, righteousness and liberty. Nanak's verses mainly consist of two basic concepts: (i)
Sach (truth) and Nam (Name). Sabad (the word), Guru (the divine precept) and Hukam (the divine order) form the
basis of divine self-expression. He laid emphasis on kirtan and satsang. He introduced community lunch (langar).
Tarachand regards the influence of sufi upon the religious thought of Nanak of fundamental importance. The
similarity of thought in the verses of Nanak and Baba Farid consisted of the following : the sincere devotion and
surrender before one God. But at the same time Nanak did not hesitate in criticising the sufies for leading a luxurious
life. Nanak made an attempt to unify the Hindus and Muslims and certainly succeeded in synthesizing within his own
teachings the essential concepts of Hinduism and Islam. The religious book of the Sikhs the Guru Granth Sahib was
compiled by Guru Arjan. After the death of the tenth Guru, Gobind Singh the divine spirit did not pass on to another
Guru but remained in the Granth and the community of the Guru's followers.
The Gurus mostly belonged to the Khatri mercantile caste whereas their followers were mostly rural Jats. It was Guru
Gobind Singh who inaugurated the Khalsa (brotherhood) among the Sikhs. The Khatris and Aroras as well as Jats
constituted important groups within the Sikh community. The artisan castes known as Ramgarhia Sikhs and converts
to Sikhism from scheduled castes represented other groups within the Sikh panth. Caste consciousness did exist in
the Sikh panth but was not so prominent.
The religion of the Sikhs was the main force of their unity. Comment. (10) (2017)
The term guru comes from the Sanskrit gurū, meaning teacher, guide, or mentor. The traditions and philosophy of
Sikhism were established by ten gurus from 1469 to 1708. Each guru added to and reinforced the message taught
by the previous, resulting in the creation of the Sikh religion. Guru Nanak was the first guru and appointed a
disciple as successor. Guru Gobind Singh was the final guru in human form. Before his death, Guru Gobind Singh
decreed in 1708, that the Gurū Granth Sāhib would be the final and perpetual guru of the Sikhs.
Guru Nanak stated that his Guru is God who is the same from the beginning of time to the end of time. Nanak
claimed to be God's mouthpiece, God's slave and servant and even God's dog, but maintained that he was only a
guide and teacher, was neither a reincarnation of God nor in any way related to God. Nanak stated that the human
Guru is mortal and not divine, who is to be respected and loved but not worshipped. When Guru, or Satguru (The
true guru) is used in Gurbani it is often referring to the internal soul rather than a living Guru.
Guru Angad succeeded Guru Nanak. Later, an important phase in the development of Sikhism came with the third
successor, Guru Amar Das. Guru Nanak's teachings emphasised the pursuit of salvation; Guru Amar Das began
building a cohesive community of followers with initiatives such as sanctioning distinctive ceremonies for birth,
marriage, and death. Amar Das also established the manji (comparable to a diocese) system of clerical supervision.
Guru Amar Das's successor and son-in-law Guru Ram Das founded the city of Amritsar, which is home of
the Harimandir Sahib and regarded widely as the holiest city for all Sikhs. Guru Arjan was arrested
by Mughal authorities who were suspicious and hostile to the religious order he was developing. His persecution
and death inspired his successors to promote a military and political organization of Sikh communities to defend
themselves against the attacks of Mughal forces.
Punjab
The development in Punjab was different from other regions. Zakaria Khan, the governor of Lahore, had tried to
establish an independent political system' in Punjab. But he failed mainly because of the struggle of the Sikhs' for
independent political authority. The Sikh movement, which was started by Guru Nanak to reform the religious beliefs
and strengthen the Sikh brotherhood, changed into a political movement during the 18th century. The Sikhs organised
themselves into numerous small and highly mobile jathas and posed serious challenge to the Mughal imperial
authority. The foreign invasion (Persian and Afghan), the Maratha incursion and internal rivalry in the provincial
administration created a very fluid situation in Punjab which helped the Sikhs to consolidate their base. In the second
half of the 18th century, the different Sikh groups had regrouped themselves into 12 larger regional confederacies or
misls under the leadership of various local chieftains. The process towards the establishment of an autonomous state
became complete only under Ranjit Singh at the beginning of the 19th century.
INDEPENDENT KINGDOMS
The third category of state were independent kingdoms. These states emerged primarily taking the advantage of the
destabilization of imperial control over the provinces.
The kingdom of Mysore was located to the south of Hyderabad.
Unlike Hyderabad, Mysore was not under direct control of the Mughals.
NATURE OF REGION
There were differences in the way the autonomous political system developed in different regions. In some areas, the
Mughal governs established their independent authority in the regions under their control (as it happened in Bengal,
Awadh and Hyderabad). The formation of the Maratha, Sikh and Jat states was the outcome of their struggle against
the Mughal imperial control. Where as Mysore, Rajputana and Kerala were already semi-independent. But the link
that they had maintained with the Mughal Empire was broken in the wake of the decline of the Mughal Empire.
In whatever manner they emerged, each state tried to develop its own administrative mechanism. Take for example
Hyderabad and Mysore. Both were situated in the South, but Hyderabad-was directly under the Mughals and Mysore
.
was under the control of the Wodeyar rulers. In both the states a new autonomous administrative system developed,
but their functioning was different. In Mysore, emphasis was given to strengthen the army organization and to
augment the financial resources of the state curbing the power and influence of the local chieftains. But, in Hyderabad,
the local chieftains were allowed to remain intact.
There were also differences in army reorganization and mobilising revenue for -the state. Similarly, other regional
powers developed their own institutional framework and various local linkages to run the administration. However,
in spite of these differences one finds some common characteristics in the functioning of regional powers in the 18th
century.
Give a brief account of resistance offered by Ahom State against the Mughal rule. (10) (2014)
Ahom–Mughal conflicts refer to the period between the first Mughal attack on the Ahom kingdom in 1615 and the
final Battle of Itakhuli in 1682. The intervening period saw the fluctuating fortunes of both powers and the end of the
rule of Koch Hajo. It ended with the Ahom influence extended to the Manas river which remained the western
boundary of the kingdom till the advent of the British in 1826.
Overview
From the beginning the relationship between the Ahoms and the Mughals was hostile and that was due to certain
factors, such as, Mughal alliance with Koch Bihar, the western enemy of the Ahoms and secondly the growing
advance of the Mughals in north-eastern frontier which alarmed them.
Conflict inception
From the time the Mughals appeared in the north-eastern frontier, a state of indirect rivalry and hostility began
between the Mughals and the Ahoms. After the final defeat of Parikshit (1613) the first organised Mughal attack
upon Assam was made with a view to conquer that kingdom. It was the outcome of the aggressive imperialism of
the Mughals. "A desire for political supremacy and territorial expansion appears to have been the guiding motives
of the Mughals." Boundary disputes and the trade rivalries appear to have complicated the situation and political
issues precipitated the conflict. After the extinction of the Kamrup monarchy, the Mughals came to regard the
territory east of Barnadi up toSingiri as part of the conquered region and hence asserted their political right over it.
Ahoms strongly resented this claim. "Moreover the rich natural resources of the Assam valley and the prosperous
kingdom of Kamrup in lower Brahmaputra valley, abounding in elephants and aromatic plants excited the cupidity
of the Mughals and they were determined to force open the door of Assam.”
Imperial army was at once detached in 1615 under the command of Abu Bakr and Raja Satrajit of Bhusna. After a
short skirmish, the Ahoms were defeated and leaving their war boats and the fort, they fled. Flushed with easy
success the Mughals indulged in a series of aggressive measures against the Ahoms. The Ahom king then fortified
the fort of Samdhara with a view to check the advance of the Mughals. The imperialists were taken by complete
surprise and suffered heavy casualties. Thus in spite of the initial success, the maiden attempt of the Mughals upon
Assam ended in a disastrous failure. They suffered a colossal loss in men and money besides military prestige.
Conflict development
After the first disastrous failure in Assam, the Mughals henceforth continued to follow a defensive and conciliatory
policy in regards to the Assam state. Because of their heavy engagement in Kamrup, the Mughals henceforward
were very cautious not to offend their mighty neighbour. But the Ahoms being encouraged at their recent brilliant
Mughal noblemen, wealthy people and scholars, had close links with the scholars of Sanskrit, that Hindu and Muslim
intellectuals had close links during those centuries. She further discovered that they had close exchange of views on
linguistic and religious issues. She found that it is not true that Mughals wanted to finish off Indian science and
literature. The fact is just the opposite: Mughals protected the ancient Indian science and art and it is to their credit
that many books are safe till this day.
Mughals put in great efforts in the development of education during their era. They played an important role in the
furtherance of literature under their rule. The mosques of that era used to run maktabs which taught both girls and
According to historian Badayuni, after conquering Gujarat, Akbar filled up his library with many rare books. He had
a department of translation. Akbar’s library was a unique one of his times and even of the earlier times. Besides, he
established many tombs and madrasas at Fatehpur Sikri, Agra and other places. His foster-mother, Maham Anga, had
established a madrasa and masjid in Delhi with the name of “Khairul-Manazil”, which included a mosque. The ruins
of this building still stand opposite the Old Fort.
Fatehpur Sikri had been converted into a basic centre of education, which Akbar built as his capital. Here lived
scholars like Abdul-Qadir Badayuni, Faizi and Nizamuddin. Akbar’s tenure was a period of the development of
Persian literature in India, as well as for the development of Sanskrit. In the “Aaeen-e-Akbari”, names of 59 great
Persian poets of Akbar’s court are mentioned. Sanskrit scholars were besides them. Many scholars had expertise both
in Persian and Sanskrit. Abdur-Raheem Khan-e-Khanan was a scholar in the era of Akbar and Jahangir. He was a
great scholar of Sanskrit who patronised scholars and was one of the renowned poets of Hindi.
Akbar’s successor, Jahangir, had a good knowledge of Persian and Turkish. He patronised learned people, including
Sanskrit scholars. Jahangir’s mother was a Rajput, therefore, he was fond of Sanskrit from his childhood. Similar was
Shahjahan’s case. His maternal relatives were also Rajputs and he patronised Hindu arts and learning. He devoted
attention to architecture and patronised Sanskrit scholars. His prime minister, Chandrabhan Brahmin, was a great
scholar of Sanskrit and was knowledgable in religious texts. Brahmin was also the first Urdu poet having printed
work and was the first Hindu poet of Persian language with printed work. He translated Sanskrit texts into Persian.
As he was the instructor of Dara Shikoh, the credit of keeping him away from religious bigotry goes to him. Thus he
was instrumental in Dara Shikoh’s ordering the translation of Shrimad Bhagwat Gita, Yog Vishishth, Upanishads
and Ramayana into Persian. He got 52 Upanishads translated with the name of “Sair-e-Akbar”.
During the Mughal era, princesses and daughters of noble families used to get educated. Renowned among them were
Gulbadan Begum (Babar’s daughter), Saleema Sultan (niece of Humayun), Noor Jahan (Jahangir’s wife) and Mumtaz
Mahal (Shahjahan’s wife). These ladies worked for the spread of education and patronised Sanskrit scholars in the
same way as they did the Persian scholars. They established a number of maktabs and madrasas, whose scholars
knew both Persian and Sanskrit.
During the Mughal era, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, Delhi, Gujarat, Lahore, Sialkot, Jaunpur, Ajmer, etc. were renowned
centres of education and culture. Persian was the official language of the Mughal empire but Sanskrit too was also
used in the court. During the Mughal era, regional languages also got opportunity to develop. Among them were
‘Khari Boli’, ‘Brij Bhasha’, ‘Awadhi’, ‘Bhojpuri’ and ‘Poorabi’, which were the languages of common people in
various regions. During the same period, Bengali got a chance to develop in Bengal. Kashmiri language also
developed during the same period. Ram Charit Manas by Tulsi Das, Sur Sagar by Sur Das and Padmawat by Malik
Muhammad Ja’isi were written during this period. A number of books were written without the patronage of the state.
Sanskrit books written during the Mughal period included Akbar kaaleen itihas by Mahesh Thakur, Akbar Shahi
Shrangar Darpan by Padam Sundar, Bhanchandra Charitra by Jain Acharya Sudhchandra Upadhyay, Heera Sabha
Game by Dev Vimal. Govindacharya Saraswati and Jagannath Pandit were patronised in the court of Shahjahan.
Jagannath composed Ras Gangadhar and Ganga Lehri. Pandit Jagannath was the court-poet of Shahjahan. The
renowned Hindi poet Raja Birbal, Man Singh, Bhagwan Das, etc. were members of Akbar’s court. Tulsi Das and Sur
Das were scholars of the Mughal period who became immortal in the Hindi literature and history because of their
works. Raskhan is also remembered for his Hindi work.
The traditional historiography held the weak successors and incompetent commanders as being responsible for the
decline of the Mughal Empire.
Sir J. N. Sarkar understood the revolts by the Marathas, Jats and Sikhs against the background of the religious bigotry
of Aurangzeb. However, the reasons are not as simple as the one stated above. While some problems were created
under Aurangzeb’s rule, some were inbuilt in the Mughal system of administration and only heightened under
Aurangzeb who had to face more than enough share of problems.
1) While Aurangzeb expanded the Mughal Empire to its maximum boundaries, the campaigns greatly strained the
financial basis of the Mughal Empire.
2) The Mughal system of governance was dependent on the personality of the Emperor. Strong Emperors like
Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb could exercise a greater degree of check and balance
over the vast aristocracy which was of different ethnic background- Turanis, Iranis, Afghans, Sheikhjadas or the
Indian Muslims and the Hindus (the Rajputs and the Marathas). Lineage or the ethnic identity was the most important
consideration for alliances. It was further expanded by Aurangzeb’s conquest of the two Deccani kingdoms of Bijapur
in 1685 and Golconda in 1689. Their aristocracy, collectively called the Deccani group, was also absorbed in the
Mughal ranks Each faction sought to influence the Emperor in order to gain concessions and more importantly
mansabs. The later Mughals could not keep a check on the competition between the divergent groups and matters
were made more complicated due to the economic crisis of the eighteenth century related with jagirs and mansabs.
3) Mansabdari and jagirdari crisis? The institution of mansabdari was developed by Akbar and referred to the
military organization of the aristocracy Due to its nature each aristocrat/mansabdar was personally loyal to the
emperor. Each mansabdar had a dual numerical rank- jat that signified his personal rank and sawar, which decided
the number of horsemen he was required to maintain. The mansabdar was paid in cash but mostly by grant of landed
estate/jagir and out of its revenue, the mansabdar had to maintain his sawar himself. The jagirs were usually non-
transferable (tankha jagir) while other were transferable (vatan jagir). Since the appointments, transference, dismissal
or promotion of the jagirs was the sole prerogative of the emperor, there existed a “patron-client relationship” between
the emperor and the ruling classes. However, beginning with the last years of Aurangzeb’s reign there was a marked
shrinkage in the number of jagirs which could not meet the ever growing ranks of mansabdars. And more than often
the jagirs that were allotted were not economically viable, especially those in the Deccan were not fertile and not
sufficient enough to meet the needs of the mansabdars. This jagirdari crisis is believed to have intensified the court
politics with each faction vying for better jagirs. Under the later Mughals, this crisis kept intensifying and weakened
the position of the Emperor. The crisis meant that the emperor was not assured of support and loyalty of the ruling
class and this in turn destabilized the military base of the Emperor.
4) Militarily, the Mughal army was weak due to lack of technological innovation and organization. There were
contingents of soldiers who owed allegiance to their immediate overlords. It lacked a national character.
5) The Deccan campaign of Aurangzeb proved to be suicidal for the Mughal Empire The war with the Marathas
preoccupied Aurangzeb keeping him away from Delhi, the center for power, for most part of the last twenty years of
his life. His absence from seat of the Mughal Empire meant that the provisional governors/subedars were beyond his
In its heyday, the Mughal Empire was responsible for creation of spectacular buildings (like the Taj Mahal)
and gardens. The pastimes of nobility in this period were degeneracy, music and poetry. Jai Singh was an
exception. Though not averse to intrigue, he was inspired by the earlier illustrious Mughals rather than his
own contemporaries.
The European impact on India was 1st feet with coming of Portuguese. Portuguese ships and guns were
seen as the bases of Portuguese superiority at sea and attempt was made to copy them. Thus Zamorin of
Calicut weaned away from Portuguese to manufacture guns for him.
In the field of ship-building the ships at Dabul were reported to have been made Christian like. The Ganj-
i-Sawai the biggest ship of Aurangzeb was armed with 80 cannons and 400 muskets. However ships were
built of unskilled marksmanship of the Indian shipbuilders.
The rulers and nobles were constantly on look out for European novelties. They purchased glasses,
spectacles, clocks. Abul Fazl was aware of discovery of America by Europeans. These contacts however
did not spread out or induce a more systematic study of western scours. As Bernier lamented there were
no academics where subjects like geometry, geography etc. could be taken up for study.
Even in field of military technology, India remained backwards. In India there was no improvement on
skin bellows, worked by wood as hands.
Efficient water pump was another weak point. An Englishman had offered to Jahangir to pump water out
of Jamuna. Like the Thames at London for use of ordinary people. But the idea was reflected. Absence of
water pump meant that mining could not go below water level in mines.
In the field of weaving and dyeing, Indian technology was hasty backward. But India was backward in silk
reeling where European technology was slowly adopted.
India also remained backward in sphere of glass technology. The use of telescope began only in
18th century.
The reason for this has been attributed to inability of science to delink itself from religion which became an
inhibiting factor in India.
Another view of some western scholars was that due to other worldly or fatalist view of life in India made
people unconcerned with progress or caste system which bounded people in one station in life are no longer
accepted.
How would you like to characterize the eighteenth century in Indian history? (60) (2005)
What are the distinguishing components of the debate on the 18th century? (60) (2008)
“The political disintegration was responsible for the socio-economic decline in India during the 18th
century.” Comment. (20) (2017)
In the middle of the 1980s two books published within a few years of each other, Christopher Bayly’s Rulers,
Townsmen and Bazars and Muzaffar Alam’s The Crisis of Empire in Mughal North India brought a renewed focus
on the 18th century. The 18th century had always been important in Indian history. Generally it was seen as a period
of transition in which the land-based Mughal empire gave way to the power of the sea-based British empire. The
consensus till the 1980s was that the moribund Mughal state had collapsed due to its own contradictions and the
English East India Company representing the aggressive mercantilist forces of the West had taken advantage of the
ensuing confusion to subjugate and reduce India to a colony. The transition was not simply political – one regime
replacing another, but also economic: the pre-modern economy of the Mughals was forcibly linked to world capitalist
The historian Seema Alavi has suggested that the new writings on the 18th century have created a divide. Those
studying the process of the decline of the Mughals - which happened in the first few decades of the 18th century -
have a tendency to extend their views and apply them to the entire century. For instance, these historians argue that
with the collapse of the centralized Mughal state structure the important political, economic and social institutions
tied with the state also crumbled, bringing unrest and havoc through the century. The newer historians studying the
later period paint a less gloomy picture. They argue that
their viewpoint - which studies trends from the peripheries and not the centre - presents an altogether different
scenario. According to them the process was one of decentralization and assertion of regional powers rather than
outright decline. They say that these trends were noticeable early and left their mark on the rest of the century. Clearly
there was little agreement between the two views and this clash of interpretations is what we will examine below.
One outcome of this debate was that it is now possible to present a more holistic and varied picture of the 18th century
than before.
The most notable contribution of Christopher Bayly has been to resurrect the importance of the intermediate classes
in the 18th century. Slow accumulation of wealth by these intermediaries formed the basis of the emerging kingdoms
in the 18th century. These intermediaries benefited most from the weakening of Mughal rule which had dwarfed
them, and they now emerged into the limelight. Among others these included Hindu and Muslim revenue farmers.
'Farming' here meant that in return for a fixed sum, the state gave away rights to keep the revenue. This arrangement
suited the new rulers who were keen that regular and steady payments were made to the state. The farming of such
rights also extended to trade and markets. Hindu and Jain merchants and bankers [Agarwals throughout the north,
Khattris from Punjab, Oswals, Maheshwaris from Rajasthan etc.] formed another important component of this
intermediary group. Their presence testified to a continuous tradition of trading in India, as the existence of merchant
castes indicate saraafs [money dealers], bazazas [cloth dealers], jouhuris[jewellers] etc. Other than participating in
trade they lent money to rulers and stood as guarantors of revenue. Another important group were the Muslim gentry
- scribes, accountants and other petty officials who with the weakening of the Mughals rapidly grew roots in local
society forming the nuclei of new settlements like qasbas [fixed gentry seats]. These were people who had intimate
and long experience of managing bazaars and revenue accounts. In these new settlements gentrification took the form
of cultural activity with the establishment of religious and educational institutions. Bayly's wide-ranging study had
drawn on the earlier work of anthropologist-historian Bernard Cohn. In the Benaras region Cohn had argued,
traditional intermediaries found new power with changing circumstances. According to him intermediaries transited
to new roles, often functioning as 'hinges' between the state and local society.
The study of intermediaries was a marked departure from the 'Aligarh School' which had focused primarily on the
revenue extracting mechanism and the agrarian economy. The focus on these classes by Bayly was an attempt to
register the importance of non-agricultural production and trade and the rich history of trading communities.
The historian Tapan Raychaudhuri has written that in the 18th century the development of market forces made deep
inroads into the subsistence character of Indian agriculture. Farmers became involved with trade and traders with
farming. The coming together of merchant and agrarian interests in the countryside, what Bayly has called the
'intermediate economy', meant that agricultural commodity production got linked to commercial networks and helped
the new states to extract revenue more thoroughly with the help of intermediaries. Non-food crop production [cotton,
raw silk, indigo, oil etc.] was also widely prevalent and there was a tendency to localization i.e. if advantages existed
and there was enough demand, farmers tended to produce more of the same. The dynamism of this process in the
18th century can be seen throughout the Ganges valley as a string of ganjes [fixed regulated
markets], mandis [wholesale markets] and qasbas sprang up, testifying to the process of an incipient urbanization and
economic activity.
In the towns and cities the condition of the working classes - artisans, handicraft workers, weavers etc. was linked to
growing demand for goods from regional capitals and from outside India. Here too it seems their economic condition
was better than what happened later when the East India Company imposed stringent controls on artisanal production.
Economy
The economic indicators for the 18th century show that the economy fared well before the advent of colonial rule.
There is little record of sustained famines. The devastating famine of 1770 happened in Bengal after the inauguration
of Company rule. Population, prices, trade and production all showed an upward swing which broadly indicated a
positive trend. Urbanization was also an important indicator of economic prosperity but here the story was more
complicated. As Ashin Dasgupta pointed, out the decline of some cities was compensated for by the growth of others.
Older Mughal centres like Delhi, Agra, Lahore and Burhanpur declined with Mughal political fortunes. Important
port cities like Surat and Masulipatnamtoo declined as international trade was wrested away from Indian merchants
by European companies. Their place was taken by colonial cities like Madras, Bombay and Calcutta and the inland
cities and capitals of regional kingdoms: Lucknow, Fyzabad, Benaras, Hyderabad, Srirangapatam and Bangalore.
Trading cities like Mirzapur, Kanpur and Baroda also came into being to service trade.
Paradoxically, inland trade thrived and merchant corporations managed to maintain their networks despite the
growing political fragmentation. Political fragmentation in fact made the credit network stronger. By the middle of
the 18th century Jagat Seth could send the entire revenue of the eastern provinces as a hundi drawn on his agents in
Delhi. B.R. Grover's research shows that local rural commercial production found new markets in the provincial
kingdoms and was thus compensated for any disruptions caused by the disintegration of the Mughal empire.
Conspicuous consumption in the regional courts encouraged production and provided employment to labour outside
the traditional agrarian sphere. Christopher Bayly has written that commerce, urban development and specialist
agricultural production which traditionally existed along the route of Delhi and Bengal during Mughal times was
replicated in the 18th century along other routes that indicated an economic shift - between the newer political centres
of Lucknow and Calcutta via Benaras and Patna.
There was a thriving inter-regional trade. Marathas acquired cloth, food grains and cattle from the Gangetic plain.
Cotton wool and hides from the northern Deccan, sugar from Benaras, and cloth from Carnatic was supplied to
Mysore.
Regions specialized in products and the volume of trade among provinces was large. Gujarat imported textiles from
Bengal. Malabar and Coromandel depended on food supplies from Bengal. Similar prices in the major coastal trading
towns indicated that markets had integrated substantially. Long distance trade procured goods from arangs or
localized centres of production and there was even some evidence for artisan-entrepreneurs who became proprietors
of workshops. This has prompted some historians to argue that 18th century India showed signs of proto-
industrialization. Sanjay Subrahmanyam and Christopher Bayly have even argued that the ensemble of economic
activity handled by entrepreneurs in the 18th century which included revenue farming, private trade, warfare and
loans, made them into enterprising 'portfolio capitalists'.
Another interesting aspect of the 18th century economy was the contribution of war. Traditionally historians had seen
the growth of warring states as destroying the Mughal peace and playing havoc with the economy. But Christopher
Bayly has argued that there was another side to this picture of devastation. Indeed many traditional trade routes were
destroyed and movement of goods suffered. But war gave a fillip to production too. Towns and villages in Awadh
contributed to a thriving market for saltpetre,swords and matchlocks. Afghan Rohilla towns were famous for their
Bhushan V. Deshmukh ([email protected], 9987063403)_______________________________196
______________________________________________________Notes on History (Opt, Medieval), UPSC
bows and arrows and the trademark Rampur daggers. Jhansi was well-known for its canon foundries. Boot makers
and liquor distillers also had a thriving business and so did grain merchants who had to supply food grains and fodder
to the large armies and seige trains as they moved across provinces. War thus meant employment and the opportunity
to create wealth as the growth of numerous ancillary industries testified.
The 18th century saw both devastation due to Mughal decline as well as rapid adjustment as economic forces
regrouped and re-established themselves in more hospitable areas. This mixed view of the period which is different
from the earlier one of relentless decline and disintegration has prompted historians to characterize the period as one
that was full of dynamism. They argue that this was the primary reason why the European companies got attracted to
India in the first place. Why would these trading companies whose governing motive was profit expend their
mercantile energies if 18th century India was in economic decline?
Despite all the positive economic indicators, historians are in agreement that India showed little potentialities for
developing into a full-fledged capitalist economy. This is important, since it answers partially why India was unable
to resist the inroads of a superior economic power like the East India Company. Irfan Habib had argued that for the
full establishment of capitalism, Mughal India needed the development of indicators like wage labour, commodity
production and mechanization of industry. He argued that in Mughal India there was a growth of markets and
monetization but this in itself was not enough evidence for the beginnings of capitalism. The payment of revenue in
cash also led to the development of merchant capital but this extractive process did not lead to any reinvestment in
the countryside. Towns that developed alongside were mere parasites that lived off the countryside. One important
indicator of this failure was the response of elites in Mughal India. Irfan Habib has shown that with enormous
resources at their command they showed little interest in economic and scientific developments. While mansabdars
invested in horticulture since this was a way of showcasing status, they took little interest in enhancing agricultural
techniques. Habib's pioneering essay in fact anticipated Robert Brenner's argument about the importance of class
power in the transition to capitalism. Brenner had argued that establishment of capitalist relations in the European
countryside was crucially dependent on the role that classes with access to land and other resources played in the
process.
Tapan Raychaudhuri has also confirmed that the rural sector of the Indian economy remained a source of supply
rather than a market for products, indicating that peasant incomes were not rising - a serious hindrance to the
transformation of the economy. Other inhibiting factors were a pre-modern system of transport, a tradition of minutely
specialized hereditary skills that were resistant to labour saving technology, and the deeply entrenched institution of
caste. He has argued that the very sophisticated artisanal skills and existing market networks may have paradoxically
inhibited further change as they were able to cope with growing domestic and international demand. Christopher
Bayly has written that the growing influence of commercial houses did not signal the emergence of a bourgeoisie.
Capital controlled by traders and revenue farmers was closely tied to land and was not invested in new forms of
production.