Tracing Changes Through A Thousand Years
Tracing Changes Through A Thousand Years
Tracing Changes Through A Thousand Years
Through A Thousand
Years
GURUJI PUBLIC SCHOOL
The maps by Arab geographer Al-Idrisi (1154) and French
cartographer(1720) gave a large sketch of the Indian Subcontinent
in earlier times.
The art and science of graphically representing a geographical
area, usually on a flat surface such as a map or chart is known as
Cartography. It is a part of geography. Someone who makes maps
is called a cartographer.
Indian Map by
Al-Idrisi and
French
Cartographer
S. No. Features Map of Al-Idrisi Map of French
Cartographer
1. Year of Making 1154 1720
Table 2. Usage Not used Used by European sailors
depicting and merchants on
voyages
Features of 3. Language Arabic French
Region and People of different regions – Gauda, Andhra, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat –
apparently fled before his armies.
Empire By 700 many regions already possessed distinct geographical dimensions and their own
language and cultural characteristics.
There was considerable conflict between these states. Occasionally dynasties like the
Cholas, Khaljis, Tughluqs and Mughals were able to build an empire that was pan-regional –
spanning diverse regions. Not all these empires were equally stable or successful. When the
Mughal Empire declined in the eighteenth century, it led to the re-emergence of regional
states
But years of imperial, pan-regional rule had altered the character of the regions.
Across most of the subcontinent the regions were left with the legacies of the big and small
states that had ruled over them.
This was apparent in the emergence of many distinct and shared traditions: in the realms of
governance, the management of the economy, elite cultures, and language.
Through the thousand years between 700 and 1750 the character of the different regions did
not grow in isolation.
These regions felt the impact of larger pan-regional forces of integration without ever quite
losing their distinctiveness.
In 1318 the poet Amir Khusrau noted that there was a different language in every region of
this land: Sindhi, Lahori, Kashmiri, Dvarsamudri (in southern Karnataka), Telangani (in
Andhra Pradesh), Gujari (in Gujarat), Ma‘bari (in Tamil Nadu), Gauri, (in Bengal) … Awadhi (in
eastern Uttar Pradesh) and Hindawi (in the area around Delhi).
There was Sanskrit which did not belong to any region.
Sanskrit was an old language and “common people do not know it, only the Brahmanas do”.
Old and New
Religions People’s belief in the divine was sometimes deeply personal, but more
usually it was collective.
It was during this period that important changes occurred in what we call
Hinduism today.
Changes in Hindus led to worship of new deities, construction of temples
and increased importance of Brahmanas and the priests, who were
supported by the patrons.
Along with Hinduism, Islam also developed as a new religion.
One of the major developments of this period was the emergence of the
idea of bhakti – of a loving, personal deity that devotees could reach
without the aid of priests or elaborate rituals.
Time also reflects changes in social and economic organization, in the
Historical persistence and transformation of ideas and beliefs.
Periods The study of time is made somewhat easier by dividing the past into large
segments – periods – that possess shared characteristics.
The British Historians divided the history of India into three periods: Hindu,
Muslim and British. This division was based on the idea that the religion of
rulers was the only important historical change, and that there were no
other significant developments – in the economy, society or culture.
Most historians look to economic and social factors to characterise the
major elements of different moments of the past.
The life of hunter-gatherers, early farmers and early empires was called
early societies.
The growth of imperial state formations, development of Hinduism and
Islam as major religions and the arrival of European trading companies was
called medieval period.
The last era was called modernity which carried a sense of material
progress and intellectual development.