hISTORY pIN pOINTS PDF

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INDIA IN 18th CENTURY

LIST OF MUGHAL EMPERORS
Emperor Reign Notes

Period
Babur 1526–1530 Was a direct descendant of Genghis Khan through Timur and was the
founder of the Mughal Empire after his victories at the Battle of Panipat
(1526) and the Battle of Khanwa
Humayun 1530–1540 Reign interrupted by Suri Dynasty. Being young and inexperienced led
him to being regarded as a less effective ruler than Sher Shah Suri, who
defeated him and established Suri Dynasty.
Suri Dynasty 1540-1555 No Mughal Rule
Humayun 1555–1556 Restored rule was more unified and effective than initial reign of 1530–
1540; left unified empire to his son, Akbar.
Akbar (was one 1556–1605 He and Bairam Khan defeated Hemu during the Second Battle of
of the youngest Panipat and later won famous victories during the Siege of
rulers. Became Chittorgarh and the Siege of Ranthambore. One of his most famous
ruler at the age construction marvels was the Lahore Fort. He abolished Zazia tax
of 13) imposed on Hindus.
Jahangir 1605–1627 Opened relations with the British East India Company.
Shah Jahan 1627–1658 Under him, Mughal art and architecture reached their zenith;
constructed the Taj Mahal, Jama Masjid, Red Fort, Jahangir
mausoleum, and Shalimar Gardens in Lahore. Died in the captivity of
his son Aurangzeb.
Aurangzeb 1658–1707 He reinterpreted Islamic law and presented the Fatawa-e-Alamgiri; he
captured the diamond mines of the Sultanate of Golconda; he spent the
major part of his last 27 years in the war with the Maratha rebels; at its
zenith, his conquests expanded the empire to its greatest extent; the
over-stretched empire was controlled by Mansabdars, and faced
challenges after his death.
Bahadur Shah I 1707–1712 After his reign, the empire went into steady decline due to the lack of
(also known as leadership qualities among his immediate successors. He released
Muazzam/Shah Shahuji, Son of Shambuji, who was the elder son of Shivaji.
Alam)
Jahandar Shah 1712–1713 Was an unpopular incompetent titular figurehead
Furrukhsiyar 1713–1719 His reign marked the ascendancy of the manipulative Syed Brothers,
execution of the rebel Banda. In 1717 he granted a Firman to
the English East India Company granting them duty free trading rights
for Bengal, the Firman was repudiated by the notable Murshid Quli
Khan.
Rafi UL-Darjat 1719 The 10th Mughal Emperor. He succeeded Furrukhsiyar, being
proclaimed Badshah by the Syed Brothers.
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Rafi Ud-Daulat 1719 Was Mughal emperor for a brief period in 1719.
Nikusiyar 1719 Was a claimant to the throne of India
Muhammad 1720 Attempted to seize the throne at the behest of the Syed Brothers in
Ibrahim order to depose emperor Muhammad Shah
Muhammad 1719– Got rid of the Syed Brothers. Countered the emergence of the
Shah Rangeela 1720, renegade Marathas and lost large tracts of the Deccan and Malwa in the
1720–1748 process. Suffered the invasion of Nadir-Shah of Persia in 1739.
Ahmad Shah 1748–54 His Minister Safdarjung was responsible for the Mughal Civil War,
Bahadur during which Mughal forces massacred by the Maratha during
the Battle of Sikandarabad
Alamgir II 1754–1759 He was murdered by a conspiracy of Imad-UL-Mulk and his
Maratha associate Sadashivrao Bhau
Shah Jahan III In 1759 He was overthrown after the Third Battle of Panipat by Prince Mirza
Jawan Bakht.
Shah Alam II 1759–1806 He is known to have fought against the British East India Company
during the Battle of Buxar and reformed the Mughal Army under the
command of Mirza Najaf Khan and is thus known as one of the last
effective Mughal Emperors.
Akbar Shah II 1806–1837 He designated Mir Fateh Ali Khan Talpur as the new Nawab of Sindh.
Although he was under British protection his imperial name was
removed from the official coinage after a brief dispute with the British
East India Company
Bahadur Shah 1837–1857 He was the last Mughal Emperor. He was deposed by the British and
II exiled to Burma following the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
•The Mughal Empire started politically disintegrating after the death of Aurangzeb
•Boundaries of India at the time of Aurangazeb existed from Afghanistan to Cauvery and Assam to
Baluchistan
• After the death of Aurangazeb a large number of independent states emerged

INDEPENDENT STATES
Emergence of
Independent states
From within Mughal From rivals of Mughals

Empire (Governors)
EMERGENCE OF SIX STATES MurshidQuli Khan. He became Deputy

Subahdar of Bengal in 1713 and full Subahdar in
1717. He introduced the Ijara system by which
I. BENGAL contracts were given for the collection of
revenue. In the second or third generation,
• An Independent under MURSHID QULI KHAN in the year 1713 these contractors or Ijaradars came to be called
Zamindars.
• ‘Nawab’ was the title used unlike ‘Badshah’ used by the Mughals
• MURSHIDABAD, city after the Nawab’s name, was big
And developed as London itself
Power Centers of Marathas
II. MARATHAS Nagpur Bhonsle
• The empire was founded and consolidated by Chhatrapati Shivaji Bhosle. Poone
Residence of Peshwa
• The Marathas had a series of conflicts with the Mughals Gwalior Scindia
• Post Shivaji, five important centers of power had emerged Baroda Gaekwad
• The families that ruled the five power centers of Marathas often used to clash Indore Holkar
among themselves and challenged authority at Poone, this helped the East
India Company to easily defeat Marathas.
• Marathas also posed a lot of problems for the Mughals, they attacked regions from Punjab to Bengal
which led to law and order problems in the 18th century.
CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI BHOSLE The causes of the downfall of the Marathas were as follows
(1630-1680)
Founder of the Maratha Empire 1. The Marathas possessed no national sentiment.
Reign: 1674-1680 CE 2. Internal jealousy and selfish treachery triumphed over public interest.
Coronation: 6 June 1674 3. While individually they were clever, and brave, they totally lacked the
Successor: Sambhuji cooperative spirit so essential for national independence.
Died: 1680, Raigad Fort 4. They neglected developing artillery as the main support of defense.
5. The pernicious system of allotting lands in lieu of pay for military service proved
PESHWA: Finance minister and ruinous.
Prime minister of Maratha. 6. After the death of Peshwa Madhavrao I, no capable leader rose among Marathas
BALAJI VISHWANATH became 7. The British were masters in the art of diplomacy and often used the differences
First Peshwa after which the
among the Marathas to their own advantage.
post became hereditary and
powerful Historians often credit British for improving law and order situation, which was severely
deteriorating towards the end of Maratha rule

III. AWADH
• Independent under SaadatHasan Khan
• Consisted of modern day east and central UP
• Headquartered in Lucknow
• Removal of Wajid Ali Shah (the last Nawab) is consideredas one of the reasons for the revolt of 1857
SAADAT HASAN KHAN was a Mughal Subhedar and was given the title Burhan-ul-Mulk. Sadat Khan’s nephew and son-in-law Safdar Jang
(1739-54) became the next Governor of Awadh. He became the Wazir of the Emperor Ahmed Shah. Apart from his contests with the
Afghans, he had to carry on war against the Rohillas. In April 1752, SafadarJang entered into an agreement with the Marathas against
Ahmed Shah Abdali. In return the Marathas were to be paid Rs 50 lakhs, granted the Chauth of the Punjab, Sind and the Doab in addition
to the Subahdari of Ajmer and Agra. The agreement, however, failed, as the Peshwa went over to Safdar Jang’s enemies at Delhi. He
organized an equitable system of justice and adopted a policy of impartiality in the employment of Hindus and Muslims.
After Safdar Jang’s death in 1754, his son Shuja-ud-Daula (1754-75) became Subahdar of Awadh. Shuja-ud-Daula played an important
role in the changing political drama at Delhi. In 1762 he became the Wazir of Emperior Shah Alam II. He entered into alliance with the
Nawab of Bengal, Mir Qasim as well as with the Emperor Shah Alam II against the Company. He suffered a crushing defeat in the battle of
Buxar (October 1764). By the Treaty of Allahabad (August 1765) all the territories with the exception of Kora and Allahabad were
restored to him. This treaty made the Nawab of Awadh a dependent and subordinate ally of the company.
IV. HYDERABAD
• Most part of modern day Andhra Pradesh
• The capital was the modern day Hyderabad city
Mir Qamar-ud-din Khan Siddiqi (20 August 1671 – 1 June 1748) was a Mughal nobleman the founder of the
• Set up by Qamar-ud-din Khan (Popularly known as Chin Qilich Khan)
AsafJahi dynasty. He established the Hyderabad state, and ruled it from 1720 to 1748. He is also known by his
titles Chin Qilich Khan (awarded by Aurangzeb in 1690-91), Nizam-ul-Mulk(awarded by Farrukhsiyar in 1713) and
AsafJah (awarded by Muhammad Shah in 1725).
So, Qamar-ud-din Khan Siddiqi, Chin Qilich Khan, Nizam-ul-Mulk and AsafJah are the same person – the
founder of Hyderabad!
V. MYSORE
• Modern day Karnataka, some parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala
• Set up by Hindu rulers of Wodeyar dynasty
• King at the time, Chikka Krishna Raja was made a puppet by one of his own soldiers Haider Ali
TIPU SULTAN
Tipu Sultan also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore. He was the son
of Haider Ali, at that time an officer in the Mysorean army, and his second wife, Fatima or Fakhr-un-Nissa. He was
given a number of honorific titles, and was referred to as Sultan Fateh Ali Khan Shahab, TipuSaheb, Bahadur Khan
Tipu Sultan or Fatih Ali Khan Tipu Sultan Bahadur.
During Tipu 's childhood, his father rose to take power in Mysore, and Tipu took over rule of the kingdom upon his
father 's death. In addition to his role as ruler, he was a scholar, soldier, and poet. He was a devout Muslim but the
majority of his subjects were Hindus. At the request of the French, he built a church, the first in Mysore. He was
proficient in many languages. In alliance with the French in their struggle with the British, and in Mysore 's struggles
with other surrounding powers, both Tipu Sultan and Haider Ali used their French trained army against
the Marathas, Sira, rulers of Malabar, Coorg, Bednur, Carnatic, and Travancore. He won important victories against
the British in the Second Anglo-Mysore War, and negotiated the 1784 Treaty of Mangalore with them after his
father died the previous year.

VI. PUNJAB
Established by Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1799
Ranjit Singh
Ranjit Singh rose into prominence. He joined the Afghan Zaman Shah in 1798 and seized Lahore in 1799. The
Afghan King conferred on him the title of Raja with possession of Lahore. In 1802 he captured Amritsar. He
soon threw off the Afghan yoke and gradually brought under his authority all the Sikh misls west of Sutlej.
When the British forbade Ranjit Singh in 1809 to cross the Sutlej and took the Sikh states east of the river under
their protection, he kept quiet and had to conclude a treaty of perpetual friendship with the English at
Amritsar on April 25, 1809.
Checked in the east, Ranjit Singh sought expansion in other directions. He acquired Kangra and occupied Attock,
the key to the frontier. He captured Multan in 1818 and in the following year Kashmir. In 1833 Ladakh was
taken by Ranjit Singh and in 1834 Peshawar.
Ranjit Singh was in every way as remarkable a man as his two famous contemporaries, Napoleon Bonaparte of
France and Mohammad Ali of Egypt. He defended the Northwestern frontiers against the Afghans, brought the
Kashmiris and the Pathans under his subjection and extended his spheres of influence from the borders of
China and Afghanistan in the north to Sind in the south. He set up a strong and efficient civil administration
and converted the Sikh army into one of the best armies of the time. After his death in 1839, the Sikh state
was torn by internal dissension. The English lost no opportunity to move in and conquered it.
•Capital – Lahore
•Spiritual capital – Amritsar
• Built an army considered to be the second biggest in Asia after the East India Company
THE GOLDEN TEMPLE

The Harmandir Sahib informally referred to as the Golden Temple is a prominent Sikh Gurdwara located in
the city of Amritsar, Punjab, India. Construction of the Gurdwara was begun by Guru Ram Das ji, the fourth
Sikh Guru, and completed by his successor, Guru Arjan Devji. In 1604, Guru ArjanDevji completed
the AdiGranth, the holy scripture of Sikhism, and installed it in the Gurdwara. In 1634, Guru Hargobind left
Amritsar for the Shivalik Hills and for the remainder of the seventeenth century the city and Gurdwara was in
the hands of forces hostile to the Sikh Gurus. During the eighteenth century, Sri Harmandir Sahib was the
site of frequent fighting between the Sikhs on one side and either Mughal or Afghan forces on the other side
and the Gurdwara occasionally suffered damage. In the early nineteenth century, Maharaja Ranjit
Singh secured the Punjab region from outside attack and covered the upper floors of the Gurdwara
with gold, which gives it its distinctive appearance and English name of "Golden Temple".
The present day Golden Temple was rebuilt in 1764 by Maharaja Jassa Singh Ahluwalia (1718–1783) with
the help of other Misl Sikh chieftains. The gold plating of all the domes of Sri Darbar Sahib was done by
Maharaja Jassa Singh Ahluwalia's descendents. Between 1802–1830Ranjit Singh did the sewa of adding gold
plating and marble to the Gurdwara, while the interior was decorated with fresco work and gemstones.
Architecturally, the Darbar Sahib has unique construction influences combining Muslim, Hindu and
European design principles.

EMERGENCE OF EAST INDIA COMPANY AS A MAJOR POWER BLOCK IN INDIA
• 1803- East India Company under Gen. Lake captured Delhi

• Mughal king Shah Alam II was now under East India Company. He was the first Mughal to get Pension
and Protection from English.
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
• Began post 1750
• Changed economic and political system of Europe, Asia and Africa
• Mainly required two things
1. Raw materials to produce goods
2. Big markets to sell their finished products,
European countries started to look for more colonies intended to be markets for their goods and better
political power in the colonies for acquiring raw material
THE MAIN SIGNIFICANCE OF INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
“to capture markets for the rising European capitalists who were producing a large
number of goods and also required raw materials”
BATTLES FOUGHT BY BRITISH

I. Against fellow Europeans
Portuguese (Battle of Swallyhole, 1612)

English Vs Dutch (Battle of Bedara, 1759) The Carnatic coast is the region
French (Battle of Wandiwash, 1760) of South India lying between
the Eastern Ghats and
Result of the Battles: English dominated in the above mentioned the Coromandel Coast, in the
Battles. It helped them assert their supremacy in India. modern Indian states of Tamil
Nadu, south eastern Karnataka and
southern Andhra Pradesh.
II. In India ANNEXATION PERIOD: 1757-1856
(a) Against Bengal (Anglo-Bengal wars)

• Battle of Plassey (1757)
• Battle of Buxar (1764)
(b) Against Mysore (Anglo Mysore wars)

• These were 4 wars
1st war - 1767-69
2nd war - 1780-92
3rd War - 1790-92
4th war – 1799 (defeat and death of Tipu Sultan)

(c) Against Marathas (Anglo-Maratha wars)

• These were 3 wars
1st war - 1775-82
2nd war - 1803-06
3rd War - 1817-18
• It is the third war which sealed the fate of Marathas
(d) Against Punjab
• These were two wars

1st war - 1745-46
2nd war - 1748-49
• By the end of the second war East India Company was able to annex Punjab
DIVISION OF INDIA
BRITISH INDIA PRINCELY STATES
* Two-Thirds of India * One-Third of India
* 11 provinces * 562 states
* Development like railway's improvement in * No concern for public welfare
health, education etc. were introduced
* Active Participation in freedom struggle * No participation in freedom struggle
* realization of modern ideas like freedom of * Limited access to modern ideas
expression

Annexure 1

Annexure 2

www.byjusclasses.com
LECTURE NOTES – HISTORY SESSION 2
Treaty of Allahabad
-‐ signed in October 1765, post Battle of Buxar
-‐ two different treaties were signed:
Treaty signed between Mughals & the E.I.C. Treaty signed between the Nawab of Awadh
and the E.I.C
1. Diwani rights(rights to collect revenue) 1. Nawab of Awadh to pay Rs 53 lakhs to
in Bengal,Bihar,Orissa was given to the E.I.C as war indemnity
E.I.C 2. Zamindari of Banaras and other villages
2. Rs 53 lakhs per annum to be given to the to be given to Balwant Singh
Nawab of Bengal to manage his state of 3. Allahabad and Kora to be under the
affairs possession of the Mughal king Shah
3. Gave the Mughal king Rs 26 lakhs per Alam II
annum. (total revenue of Bengal being 4
crores) with the Mughal King Shah Alam
II confined to Allahabad by the E.I.C who
claimed that the arrangement was for
his own protection

Dual Government from 1765-‐1772 (set up by Robert Clive, ended by Warren Hastings)

-‐ Both Nawab of Bengal and E.I.C were ruling at the same place and time
1. Diwani rights -‐ East India Co
2. NizamatRights(Administrative rights) -‐ Nawab of Bengal

-‐Nawab was to manage the whole state with just 53 lakhs per annum which was nearly impossible
-‐People of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa suffered from this as
1. Nawab claimed he didn’t have money to help

2. E.I.C claimed they were not rulers
-‐Working of Dual Government
1. E.I.C didn’t employ anyone for the collection of revenue

2. 2 deputy Diwans appointed by the Nawab worked on behalf of E.I.C.
• Raja Shitab Roy -‐ Bihar
• Raza Khan -‐ Bengal

-‐Abolishment of the Dual Government
1. The E.I.C abolished Dual government, established direct rule over the state of Bengal,
Nawab who was acting as a puppet removed permanently by the E.I.C, later expanding to
other parts.

India Regulating Act 1773 : Reasons that led to this act:

• Subjected the Company’s actions to the
supervision of the British Government • The British Crown were not happy
• End of Dual government. with the activities of East India
• Governor of Bengal to be the Governor – Company
General of British territories of India. • It was enacted to regulate the
• Establishment of Supreme Court in Calcutta. activities of E.I.C in India
• The servants of the Company were forbidden • E.I.C faced opposition from the
to engage in private trade, accept presents or British Crown and the Indian rulers
bribes, etc. • The Crown wanted to strengthen
• It created a new post of Governor General of its position on E.I.C
Bengal

Provisions of the Regulating Act of 1773

First Provision Second Provision
*the governor-‐general of Bengal would be a *A supreme court (not to be confused
part of the council consisting of four other with modern day supreme court of India)
members was to be set up at Calcutta. It was finally
*governor –general: company appointed established in 1774
*4 members: crown appointed *Set up for the Europeans only as the
*final decision would be decided by the Indian legal system was very different from
majority of the council(governor-‐general had the European Legal system
to have support of at-‐least 2 council members * Was headed by Justice Elijah Impey
to have his say)
*first set of council members were
-‐Richard Barwell
-‐Philip Francis
-‐George Monson
-‐John Clavering

The Treaties of Banaras -‐ Two agreements (1773 & 1775), regulating relations between the British
government of Bengal and the ruler of the state of Awadh.

The defense of Awadh had been guaranteed in 1765 on the condition that the state’s ruler, Shuja-‐ud-‐
Dawlah, pay the cost of the necessary troops. The First Treaty of Banaras (1773) was the result of the
Mughal emperor Shah Alam’s surrender of Allahabad and Kora to the Marathas as the price of their

support. Warren Hastings ceded Allahabad and Kora to Shujā and promised to support him against the
Afghan Rohillas in return for cash payments. This move, designed to strengthen Awadh as a buffer
state between Bengal and the Marathas, led to the Rohilla War of 1774.

The Second Treaty of Banaras (1775) is otherwise known as the Treaty of Faizabad. It was forced on
the new vizier of Oudh by the company’s governing council after the death of Shuja. The vizier had to
pay a larger subsidy for the use of British troops and cede Banaras to the East India Company. This

treaty led to a revolt by Raja Chaith Singh of Banaras in 1781.


Problems faced by British after Regulating Act:
Collection of revenue (How? When? How much? From whom?) -‐ British did not know the
•
system followed in India
• Legal system – different approaches needed for criminal and civil cases

Criminal cases Civil Cases
• Mughal laws for criminal cases were • Laws varied with community
based on the rules set by the Turks o Hindu community-‐ ancient
o Partly Islamic and partly Local shaastras
o Same irrespective of community o Musilm-‐ according to Islamic laws
Other key points:
Indology: Study of Indian past -‐> Result: Archaeological Excavations, Translation of Sanskrit verses
into English
Gentoo code: Based on Manusmriti (comprehensive and also biased holy book on Hindu civil laws).
Warren Hastings encouraged conversion of Sanskrit texts into English.
*To understand the Islamic traditions better Calcutta Madrassa was setup in the year 1781
*Asiatic society of Bengal -‐1884 set up by William Jones promoted Indology and Oriental
studies
‘White man’s burden’: Govt. sponsored scholars maligned India and justified British Rule in India;
theorized that civilization can come to India only through the British rule.
Pitts Act of 1784
• The commercial and political activities of the Company were now separated. Board of Control
of six members (including two cabinet ministers) set – up to guide and supervise the affairs of
the Company in India.
• Three members will be there in Governor – General’s Executive Council.
• Secret Committee of three Directors were to look into political and military affairs. [Governor
General and the council were forbidden to declare war and make treaties without the
sanction of secret committee].
• Madras and Bombay Presidencies were subordinated to the Governor – General – in – Council
of Bengal in all matters.
• This act gave the British Government a measure of control over the Company’s affairs. In fact,
the Company became a subordinate department of the State.
• Act of 1786 : Governor General given the power to over – ride the council and was made
Commander – in – Chief

Charter Act of 1833
• End of Company’s monopoly even in tea and trade with China. Company was asked to close
its commercial business at the earliest.
• All restrictions on European immigration into India and acquisition of land and property in
India by them were removed, legalizing European colonization of India.
• Governor General of Bengal to be Governor General of India; all powers, administrative and
financial, were centralized in the hands of the Governor – General – in – Council. (1st
Governor General of India – Lord William Bentinck).
• President of Board of Control became the minister for Indian affairs.
• A law member (without power to vote) was added to the Executive Council of the Governor
General. Macaulay was the first Law member. This increased the Council’s strength to four,
and with it began the Indian Legislature.
• A law commission was constituted for codification of laws.
• The Act threw open to all, irrespective of religion, place of birth, descent and colour, services
under the Company.

SOCIO RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS
Causes
• Modern education
• Revolutions in other countries (like France)
• Pessimistic attitude towards activities of British and Christian Missionaries
• Sanskritisation by Upper caste
Impact
• Wave of reforms (removal of Sati, Child infanticide banned, Widow-‐remarriage, focus on
Education)
• National Orientation
• Communal consciousness (big negative impact)
• Cultural consciousness
• Woman Empowerment
Negative effects of Socio religious movement
• Communal consciousness
• Caste based identity
• Community orientation rather than national orientation
• Insecurity among the masses
Deoband Movement
• Founded by Moulana Hussain Ahmed
• Gave liberal interpretation of Qoran
Possible Questions for Mains
• The idea of Self Governance in India is older than India itself.
• The policies adopted by British after 1857 was more controversial than the policies prior to 1857.
Elaborate
• Women empowerment attempts were made not only by Indians but also British. Elaborate.
• British attitude towards Indians was never the same after 1857. Comment.

Appendix – Governor Generals and important events in their rule
Warren Hastings -‐ (1774 -‐ 1785) • Implementation of Regulating act of 1773
• Pitt’s India Act of 1784
* First man to hold the position of Governor-‐ • The Rohilla war of 1774
General of India. • The first Maratha war in 1775-‐82
*Became governor of Bengal 1772 • 2nd Mysore war in 1780-‐84
* In 1774, he was appointed Governor-‐General • Foundation of Asiatic Society of Bengal
of India. (1784) with William Jones
*Resigned his position in India in 1784
John MacPherson -‐ (1785 -‐ 1786)
*was appointed as an Acting Governor-‐General
Charles Cornwallis – (1786 -‐ 1793) • 3rd Mysore war (1789-‐92) and treaty of
*In 1786 Cornwallis was appointed Governor Seringapatam
General and Command in Chief in India • Cornwallis Code(1793)
*He defeated the Sultan of Mysore in 1792, the • Permanent settlement of Bengal ,1793
same year he was given the title of Marquis • Europeanization of administrative
machinery and introduction
John Shore – (1793-‐1798) • Charter Act of 1793
*In 1793 Shore was appointed Governor • Battle of Khadra between the nizam and
General of India. the Marathas,1795
* Shore was honoured with a baronet in 1792. • Known for avoiding wars
His tenure lasted until 1798
Richard Colley Wellesley – (1798-‐1805) • Introduced the Subsidiary Alliance
* Dedicated his time as Gov Gen to expand the System(1798) first alliance with the
borders of East India Empire Nizam of Hyderabad
• 4th Mysore war,1799
• 2nd Maratha war (1803-‐05)
• Took over the administration of
Tanjore(1799), Surat(1800) and
Carnatic(1802)
• Set up the Fort William College to train
the civil servants
Charles Cornwallis – (July – Oct 1805)
* appointed Governor-‐General of India for a
second term in 1805 to curb the expansionist
activities of Wellesley
*The first gov gen to die in office
George Hilaro Barlow (1805-‐1807) • Vellore Mutiny (1806)
* Was only a provisional Gov Gen, until the
arrival of Minto
Gilbert Elliot-‐Murray-‐Kynynmound – Lord Minto • Treaty of Amritsar with Ranjit Singh
(1807-‐1813) (1809)
*appointed Governor-‐General of India at the
end of 1806


• 3rd Maratha war(1817-‐19) and dissolution

Francis Rawdon-‐Hastings – (1813-‐1823) of Maratha Confederacy; creation of
Bombay Presidency(1818)
• Battle against Pindaris (1817-‐1818)
• Establishment of Ryotwari System by
Thomas Munro, governor of Madras
(1820)
John Adam
*He was acting Governor-‐General in 1823.
William Pitt Amherst – (1823-‐1828) • 1st Burmese war (1824-‐1826)
*appointed Governor-‐General when Francis • Capture of Bharatpur
Rawdon-‐Hastings was removed from that office
in 1823
Lord William Bentinck – (1828-‐1835) • Abolition of Sati and other cruel rites
*Known for taking bold measures towards (1829)
socio-‐economic progress in India • Suppression of thugi(1830)
*The reforms he took actually led to a lot of • Charter Act of 1833
discomfort amongst the conservative sections • Resolution of 1835,and educational
of India reforms and introduction of English as the
official language
• Annexation of Mysore(1831),Coorg(1834)
and central Cachar(1834)
• Treaty of perpetual friendship with Ranjit
Singh
Charles Theophilus Metcalfe – (1835-‐1836) • New Press law removing restrictions on
press in India
George Eden – Lord Auckland (1836-‐1842) • 1st Afghan war (1838-‐42)
*Recalled in 1842 because of multiple failures • Death of Ranjit Singh(1839)
Edward Law – Lord Ellenborough (1842-‐1844) • Annexation of Sindh(1843)
• War with Gwalior(1843)
Charles Stewart Hardinge – (1844-‐1848) • 1st Anglo-‐Sikh war (1845-‐46) and the
Treaty of Lahore(1846)
• Social Reforms including abolition of
female infanticide and human sacrifice
James Andrew Broun-‐Ramsay Dalhousie – • 2nd Anglo-‐Sikh war (1848-‐49) and
(1848-‐1856) annexation of Punjab (1849)
*His cruel policies were in many ways • Introduction of the Doctrine of Lapse and
responsible for the revolt of 1857 annexation of Satara(1848), Jaipur and
Sambhalpur(1849),
• Udaipur(1852),Jhansi(1853),Nagpur (1854)
and Awadh (1856)
• Widow Remarriage Act (1856)

In 1858 the administration of India was transferred from the East India Company to the British
crown. From then on, the head of the British administration in India had the title of Viceroy.


The Great Revolt of 1857

I. Causes

(i) Military
– Uses of cartridges made from cow and pig fat (rumored) in new Enfield rifle replaced the older
Brown Bess. This use of fat was respectively offensive to the Hindus and Muslims
– Overseas deployment, which was against the belief of Hindus in not crossing the seas
– Differences in salaries for equal ranks (Refusal to pay Batta (allowance) to Indian soldiers). Special
provisions for European soldiers
-‐ Religious identities seemed to be in crisis, under the threat of conversion
– Regular humiliation at the hands of British officers

(ii) Political cause
– Doctrine of Lapse (by Lord Dalhousie) – states under this revolted
Nana Sahib was refused pension, as he was the adopted son of Peshwa BajiRao II. Awadh was
annexed in 1856, on charges of mal-‐administration. Satara, Jhansi, Nagpur and Sambhalpur were
annexed owing to Doctrine of lapse

(iii) Economic causes
– High rate of taxation
– Discriminatory tariff policy against Indian products and destruction of traditional handicrafts
resulted into deindustrialization which resulted in unemployment
(iv) Socio-‐ Religious causes
– Some reforms like Anti Sati Resolution (1829), Widow Remarriage Act (1856) were unpopular among
orthodox Hindus.
– Racial discrimination by British against Indians, Forceful conversion to Christianity

Muslim
Elite [Ashraf in Persian] Mangal Pandey
–Before
British, they held top position in Army, Civil –was a sepoy in 34thBengal Native
services,
Judiciary. Infantry regiment of E.I.C.
–Persian
. being replaced by English as official language – known for his involvement in the
affected
t hem a lot. initial stages of revolt of 1857.
–
Some Muslim elite joined the revolt thinking they – originally from Awadh.
could
re-‐establish the old system. – 1stperson to revolt, at Barrackpore.

Sepoy Mutiny or First War of Indian Independence?
Not just a Sepoy Mutiny -‐it was not just confined to the sepoys or soldiers, but was much broader in base.
The civilian population, aristocracy, peasants, religious leaders etc played active role in the revolt.

Not completely the First War of Independence – India was merely a geographical term then, leaders fought
for their own personal reasons to get back what they had lost; there was no broad vision of a unified India
Therefore, the exact nature of the revolt was somewhat between these extreme views.

1
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II. Important centres and their leaders

Centre Indian Leader(s)
Delhi Bahadur Shah II ‘Zafar’ and Bakht Khan

Bareilly Khan Bahadur Khan
Kanpur 1. Nana Saheb [adopted son of BajiRao II]
2 .Tantia Tope [accountant of Nana Saheb]
3. AzeemUllah Khan
Lucknow Begum HazratMahal, mother of BirjisQadar
Jhansi Rani LaxmiBai

Faizabad Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah (Leader of Wahabi movement)
Allahabad Liyaqat Ali
Jagdishpur (Bihar) Kunwar Singh and Amar Singh
Patna MaulviPir Ali (leader of Wahabi movement)

Sepoy Mutiny (May 10, 1857) Wahabi Movement

–Bloody uprising at the garrison in Meerut – The most serious and well-‐planned challenge to

–Sepoys marched to Delhi and “placed British supremacy in India from 1830's to 1860's
themselves
under the leadership” of the -‐ Led by Syed Ahmed of Rae Bareilly
Mughal
E mperor Bahadur Shah. -‐ Influenced by the teachings of Abdul Wahab and
– T he bewildered Emperor reluctantly Shah Waliullah
accepted the sepoy’s allegiance and agreed to –Actively supported the revolt of 1857

give his countenance to the rebellion. – Gave the slogan of ‘Jihad’.

– The Mughal Emperor announced Bakht -‐ declared India as ‘dar-‐ul-‐harb’ meaning land of

Khan as commander-‐in-‐chief. infidels – to be converted to ‘’dar-‐ul-‐Islam’ meaning
land of peace.

III. Reasons for Failure of the Revolt

British forces were better equipped with technology and equipment as compared to the revolutionaries.
It had some brilliant officers which played key role in suppressing the revolt.
The revolt didn’t spread to entire country. South India remained quiet and Punjab and Bengal were only
marginally affected.
There was no vision for the post mutiny institutions and the leaders didn’t have any forward looking
program.
Lack of complete nationalism-‐Scindias, Holkars, Nizam and others actively helped the British.
2

Lack of coordination between sepoys, peasants, zamindars and other classes.

IV. Outcomes
The Govt. of India Act 1858
The Government of India Act 1858. – Company’s territories in India were to be
Secretary of State of India appointed with a council vested in the Queen and be governed by her.
of 15 members to assist him. – The Queen’s Secretary of State received the
Viceroy to be appointed. power and duties of the company’s Court of
Directors.
ü Viceroy – Representative of British – The Crown was empowered to appoint a
Crown governor general & governor of presidencies.
ü Governor General – Head of – Provision created for Indian Civil Services under
Government of India the S.O.S
– All property of E.L.C were transferred to the
Crown
1st Secretary of State – Charter Wood
1st Governor General – Lord Warren Hastings
Queen’s Proclamation
1st Governor General of India – Lord William
Queen Victoria Proclaimed
Bentinck
– No state would be annexed.
Last Governor General of India –
– No more intervention in religious matters.
C Rajagopalachari
– No conversion in religion by force.
1st Viceroy & Governor General – Lord Canning
–No discrimination in recruitment of Army Services.

Measures Adopted by British After 1857
Appease certain sections of Indian Society – ‘divide and rule’ policy
Strategically change the army
ü The proportion of Europeans to Indians in the army was raised and fixed at one to two in the
Bengal army and two to five in the Madras and Bombay armies
ü All sensitive posts were only for the Europeans
ü Caste based battalions were raised
The British government decided not to interfere in the matter of religion of Indians. This derailed the
socio-‐religious reforms by government
Important Books on the Revolt of 1857
Book Author
The First Indian War of Independence-‐1857-‐59 Karl Marx
Rebellion, 1857 : A Symposium P.C. Joshi
The Sepoy Mutiny & the rebellion of 1857 R.C. Mazumdar
1857 S.N. Sen
Causes of Indian Revolt Saiyed Ahmad Khan
The First War of Indian Independence V.D. Savarkar
3


GOVERNOR GENERALS FROM 1862 – 1905

1. Lord Elgin I (1862-‐62) 2. Lord Lawrence (1864 – 1869)
• Indian High Court Act 1862 • Anglo Bhutanese War

3. Lord Mayo (1869 – 1872) 4. Lord Northbrook (1872 – 1896)
• Financial Distribution between centre and • Civil Marriage and Arya Samaj marriage
state introduced for the first time introduced
• First Census in 1872 • Universal Marriage Act introduced in 1872
• Mayo College for the royal elite was set up • Intercaste Marriage allowed
• Lord Mayo was the only Governor General
who was killed in India. He was killed by
Sher Ali in Port Blair

5. Lord Lytton (1876 -‐ 1880) 6. Lord Ripon (1880 – 1884) (Most loved GG)
• Vernacular Press Act, 1878 • Was the most loved Governor General
• Arms Act, 1878 • Repealed the controversial Arms and
• Famine of 1876 had two views Vernacular press act
o Nationalist view – Due to High rate of • I regular census was held
taxation purchasing power had • Set up Local self governments – Panchayats
reduced and Municipal Boards due to which he was
o Government view – Drought is natural known as Father of Self Governement
phenomena due to which people • Hunter Commission – Primary Education
became poor needs to be given importance – Women
• Ignored severe famine and organized Education will be given importance
durbar. Proclaimed Queen Victoria “The • 2 new universities opened – Punjab
Empress of India” University 1884, Allahabad University 1887
• Abolished tax on cotton for British traders • Illbert Bill – Indian judge cannot try English
• Maximum age to take up civil services Judge
exam lowered from 21 to 19

7. Lord Dufferin (1884 -‐ 1888) 8. Lord Lansdown (1888 -‐ 1894)
• III Anglo-‐Burmese war (1885-‐1886) • Indian Councils Act, 1892 (Indirect election
• Indian National Congress was founded in was introduced for first time)
1885

9. Lord Elgin II (1894 – 1899) 10. Lord Curzon (1899 – 1905)
• First British Officer called Rands was killed. • Indian Universities act – to control Indian
• He was killed by Chapekar (Ramkrishna & Universities
Damodar) Brothers. • Raleigh Commission
• This was the first political murder. • Partition of Bengal

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SOCIO RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS IN INDIA DURING THE 19th CENTURY

• General Problems – Education, Gender, Superstition Two Types of Leaders
• Specific Problems – Sati, Widow, Child Marriage, Female Infanticide
• Muslims problems – Pardah System, Polygyny Moderates
o Ready for change
Reformist movements – Responding to time, scientific temper of the modern era o Led by Lala Hansraj,
Revivalist movements – revival of old system Lala Lajpat Rai
o Wahabi Movement o Dayanand Anglo Vedic
o Arya Samaj School started at Lahore

Causes
Orthodox
• Modern education
o Rigid Ideas led by Swami
• Revolutions in other countries (like France)
Shraddhanand
• Pessimistic attitude towards activities of British and Christian Missionaries
o Set up Gurukul parallel
• Sanskritisation by Upper caste to Dayanand Anglo
Vedic School
Impact
• Wave of reforms (removal of Sati, Child infanticide banned,
Widow-‐remarriage, focus on Education)
• National Orientation
• Cultural consciousness
• Woman Empowerment

Negative effects of Socio religious movement
• Communal consciousness
• Caste based identity
• Community orientation rather than national orientation
• Insecure feeling by large masses

REFORMIST LEADERS & MOVEMENTS Brahmo Sabha (1828)
• Main theme
Raja Ram Mohan Roy “Nirgunasapna” (formless
worship)
Well Educated • After Raja Ram M ohan
Learnt various languages as he thought religion can be studied only through Roy’s death,
the language its books were written in. Debendranath headed
Was influenced by the French Revolution. Brahmo Sabha
Used logical reasoning and rational thinking • Brahmo Samaj split,
Founded Vedanta College at Calcutta in 1825 where he introduced Keshub Chandra Sen,
Mechanics & Voltairs Philosophy Anandmohan Bose left
and started “All India
Brahmo Samaj”.
• Under D Tagore, it was Adi
Brahmo Samaj
• AM Bose and Shivnarayan

Downloaded from https://t.me/pdf4exams Shastri started Saddharno
Brahma Samaj


Founded Brahmo Sabha in 1828 which was made an all India Movement
called Brahmo Samaj
Promoted Monotheism – Oneness of God [opposites are polytheism – more
than one god and Pantheism – Everything is God]
Opposed Idol Worship
Fought against Sati practice and got Lord William Bentinick’s support in
1829.
Introduced Essay writing on Contemporary Issues

Henry Vivian Derozio

Started the Young Bengal movement
Due to his early demise the movement came to an end

REVIVALIST LEADERS & MOVEMENTS

Wahabi Movement
Was inspired by Wahab Ibn Arabi who was from Arab Jihad was used as the
Goal was to revive Islamic tradition as according to them Islam was in its Political Slogan during
best form in 7th century Wahabi Movement
In India the movement was lead by Shah Abdul Aziz and Syed Ahmed
It had dual purpose – 1. Reform Islam Society 2. Establish Islamic rule in Jihad Means “Struggle”
India
Gave importance to the tradition of Prophet In present times it is used as
Quran was to be strictly followed inspiration for the
To convert India to Darul Islam meaning Land of Peace Mujahidin (People following
Formed armed guerilla army which led the Wahabis vs East India Company Jihad)
aggression
As Wahabis were ill equipped in terms of arms, arms movement
Darul Uloom – House of knowledge at Deoband in Saharanpur Uttar
Pradesh was established

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
Aligarh Movement
Started the Aligarh movement • Founded Anglo -‐
According to him Muslim women should be given to give them political and Mohammaden School in
economic rights Aligarh
Set up Mohammedan Anglo Oriental College became Aligarh Muslim • Declared Hindu and
University in 1920 Muslims are two eyes of
Mother India
Theosophical Society
Started by Helena Blavatsky, Henry Steel Olcott, William Quan Judge in
new York in 1875
After a few years Olcott and Blavatsky moved to India and established
the International Headquarters at Adyar, in Madras (Chennai).



Was inspired by ancient Asian religion like Hinduism, Buddhism, Parsi
etc
Anne Besant also joined the movement

Mahatma Jyoti Govindrao Phule
Started the Dalit Movement
Satya Shodak Samaj

Swami Dayanad Saraswati
Started the Arya Samaj movement at Bombay and shifted headquarters to Arya Samaj (1875)
Lahore • Comprised of
“Go Back to Vedas” was the slogan Controversial programs-‐
Approved Vedas rejected Purans and anything related to western culture Cow protection
Intercaste marriage act 1872 movement, Shuddi
This movement became anti Muslim and anti Christian movement. Movement
Shuddhi movement began for reconversion of converted Hindus • Promoted studies on
Vedas
Swami Vivekananda • Swarajya was given for
Disciple of Ramakrishna Paramhansa first time by Arya samaj
Believe in Karma ( Action)
Took part in World Religious Conference in US
Ramkrishna Mission started in 1897, Belur, West Bengal


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History Class Notes

Indian National Congress
Moderate Phase Of The Indian National Congress (1885 – 1905)
Objectives and Demands

1. Expansion of the Legislative Council
2. Inclusion of Indians in the Executive Council
3. Reduction of taxes
4. Checking Drain of Wealth (First mentioned by Dadabhai Naroji in “Poverty and UnBritish Rule in
India”)
5. Reduction on expenditure on Army and utilizing the same amount for the Public
6. Indianisation of Civil Services Exam
-‐ To conduct the exam in India also
-‐ Increase in the maximum age limit
-‐ Exam syllabus common to all

Reasons for not demanding Swaraj (Independence) or Purna Swaraj (Complete Independence)
Ø Leaders of INC during this phase had faith in the British system
Ø The movement was in its early stages and was a restricted in nature
Ø It was not a mass movement

Methodology or Style of Functioning

1. Peaceful assembly in the last 3 days of the year
2. Election of President by consensus and voting
3. Discussion of Important National and local issues
4. Passing and adoption of resolution through consensus and voting
5. Resolution presented to the government in form of petitions or request
6. The style of writing these petitions was humble and soft
7. This was an approved and Legal method as prescribed by the government
Achievements

1. These 20 years resulted in creation of an all India Political Base
2. Support for the Party increased from 72 in 1885 to few lakh in 1905
3. Politicization of Local issues as National Issues gave a feeling of Nationalism
4. Various issues were discussed and the government was put under pressure resulting in reforms
like 1892 Indian Council Act which allowed Indians to enter Legislative Assembly

1


Criticism

1. Confined to urban centers – Bombay, Madras and Calcutta which left the rural part untouched
2. Class and Caste Composition of the party focused only on certain sections of society
-‐ Most leaders were from the Upper Caste (Brahmins or Kshatriya)
-‐ Class wise it was dominated by people from upper class like Zamindars, Traders, Lawyers,
Doctors, Capitalist etc
-‐ Peasant class or working class people were not present in the party
3. Communist Party called INC a Bourgeoisie Party or the Middle Class Party
4. From 1893, Nationalism was linked to symbols of Hinduism which alienated the Muslims and
people from other religion
5. INC failed to address the grievances of the minority
6. Number of women members in the party was very low

Partition of Bengal

Reasons for Partition (16 Oct 1905)

Lord Curzon was the brain behind this partition but by the
time actual partition took place, Lord Minto II had replaced
Lord Curzon as the Viceroy.

British Government Explanation
1. Bengal was a very big state
2. Very difficult to manage the administrative work

Nationalist View
1. Divide and Rule Policy as Calcutta was the hub of
Nationalistic activities
2. Division of people in terms of religious and linguistic
demarcations
3. If ease of administration was the only reason why
wasn’t Punjab, Bombay or Madras partitioned

Effect of this demarcation
1. Created divide amongst residents in terms of Hindu
and Muslim religion
2. Created a divide in within Hindi, Oriya & Bengali
speaking population
3. Changed the Fusion to Fission Culture i.e. from
collective thinking to individualism or community ideology

2


Swadeshi Movement (After-‐effects of Partition of Bengal)

Ø People came out on street to protest against decision of partition.
Ø They assembled at Town Hall and formed Swadeshi Banhav Samiti which propagated swadeshi goods and
services
Ø Local industries like textile, paper, glass flourished during this period
Ø Teachers and students boycotted English schools
Ø Lawyers resigned from the bar councils and Panchayats started hearing the grievances of people
Ø Services of barber, milkman, vegetable vendors etc were stopped to the English colonies. This depicted
Social boycott.

Features of Swadeshi movements

1. It was the First Movement under the Indian National Congress.
2. Class composition of the movement was everyone from the high class to low class due to which it was not
only an elitist movement.
3. Mobilization of masses was done by the leaders using religious symbols and organizing festivals which led
to alienation of religious minority.

Moderates v/s Extremists

The leaders of Indian National Congress were divided in the ideology and style of functioning which led to split
between these factions of Congress

Moderates Extremists
1 Believed and practiced through legal means Practiced boycott and mass movement
2 Wanted changes in the system but not Swaraj Demanded Swaraj and mass mobilisation
3 Leaders were:-‐ Leaders were:-‐

• Dadabhai Naroji • Aurobindo Ghosh
• Gopal Krishna Gokhale • Lal Bahadur Shastri
• Feroz Shah Mehta • Bal Gangadhar Tilak
• Surendranath Banerjee • Bipin Chandra Pal

4 Focus of the movement was only in Bengal Wanted an all India Movement

3


Surat Split

Refers to the split between the two factions of Congress namely Moderates and Extremists in the Surat
Session of the INC.
The differences between the two factions became violent for the first time in History.
Rash Behari Bose, a moderate leader, became the president of the session and Extremists were expelled
from INC
This weekend the Nationalist movement between 1907 and 1916. INC’s contribution during this period was
negligible

Muslim League

Ø Formed at Dhaka in 1906 by Aga Khan(Not a name but a spiritual post within Shia muslim community)
Ø Nawab Waqar ul Mulk and Nawab Mohsin ul Mulk were the other notable names in its formation.
Ø First Phase – 1906 to 1912
o Led by Elite Muslims Important Leaders were:-‐
o Were pro British
Ø Second Phase – 1913 to 1937 § Muhammad Ali Jinnah
o Led by Muslim middle class § Muhammad Ali Jauhar
o They were Anti – British § Shaukat Ali
Ø Third Phase – 1937 to 1947 § Hakim Ajmal Ansari
o Other section of society also joined § Raja of Mehmoodabad
o Became a communal party They were also members of Congress

Indian Council Act (1909) -‐ Morley Minto Reforms
Morley was the Secretary of the State and Lord Minto was the Viceroy

Provisions of the reforms:-‐
Central Legislative assembly will be expanded to 68 members
Direct election for some seats along with nominations for the others
Atleast one Indian in the Viceroy’s Executive Council
Two Indians will be made members of Indian Council office in London
Separate Electorate for Hindu Zamindars, Chamber of Commerce-‐Calcutta & Bombay and for Indian Muslims

Delhi Darbar, 1911
Was set up to welcome King George V.
Decisions taken during this were
o Annulment of Partition of Bengal but Separation of Bihar & Orissa from Bengal
o Transfer of capital from Calcutta to Delhi in 1912

4


1912 Events
Ø Attempt to assassinate Lord Hardinge II
Ø Medical Mission sent to Turkey by Dr. M.A. Ansari

1913 events
Ø Ghadar Party founded in San Francisco by
§ Sohan Singh Bhakna
§ Baba Bhagwan Singh Dhosanji
§ Lala Har Dayal

1914 events
Ø India was dragged into the world war to fight for the British
Ø Some INC leaders supported the support in war as they though British will consider the demands atleast
after the war

Lucknow Pact, 1916
Congress and Muslim League sessions were held at the same venue
Moderates and Extremists rejoined
Congress and Muslim League agreed to work for Hindu Muslim Unity
This relationship helped in various national movements like Non Cooperation, Khilfat Movement
Congress agreed not to oppose separate electorate

Home Rule League, 1916
Set up by Bal Gangadhar Tilak in April, 1916 in Pune, Maharashtra
Annie Besant set up The National Home Rule League in September, 1916 in Bombay and Rest of India
It created an environment of patriotism and influenced the youth to join National Movement
Leaders who emerged during this period became leaders of the future
Swaraj became a household slogan

Practice Questions

1. The INC started on a wrong track. Critically analyze. (150 words)
2. What were the events leading to the setting up of the Home Rule Leagues in India? Did the League succeed
in its objectives? (100 words)
3. Discuss the evolution of Muslim League into a party strong enough to dictate terms on the INC. (150
words)
4. Why did the INC not demand Poorna Swaraj from the very beginning? (50 words)
5. Discuss the causes and the effects of the Partition of Bengal in 1905. (150 words)
6. In terms of the freedom movement, what changed between the Surat Split and the Lucknow Pact? (250
words)

5


History Class Notes
Gandhian Era

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, a lawyer who had graduated Principles of Satyagraha are:-‐
from London, became an integral part of the Indian National Ø Identify Truth (Relative Truth or Absolute
Movement from 1917. His first opposition came against the Truth)
st
British Rule in South Africa where he was thrown out of 1 class Ø Fight using Non Violence
compartment of a train as in South Africa only whites were Ø Insist on Truth
allowed to travel in 1st class. Ø Change the mind and heart of opponents
through self-‐suffering.
He vowed to fight the mighty British Empire with just two Ø Make God a witness of your deeds
weapons – Truth & Non Violence. Satyagraha was the term Ø Be Fearless
used to define his policies.

Early Movements of Gandhi

The Champaran Movement – 1917 (First movement of Gandhi)

Ø Raj Kumar Shukla invited Gandhi to Champaran to represent the peasants who were protesting
against planters (British Government) as they were being forced to cultivate Indigo.
Ø Gandhi’s comrades in this movement were – Rajendra Prasad, Mazhar-‐ul-‐Haq, Narahari Parekh,
Mahadev Desai.
Ø Indigo Cultivation was destroying the productivity of the land which was the main reason of the
peasant’s protest.
Ø Gandhi was arrested but then later released by the magistrate. Government formed an Indigo
commission with Gandhi as a member.
Ø This commission ordered that peasants cannot be forced to cultivate indigo and due compensation
needs to be given to them. Also no force can be used to make them grow Indigo.

Ahmedabad Mill strike – 1918
Ø Unlike Champaran, in this case both the workers and employers were Indians.
Ø The workers demanded that bonus given to eradicate plague must be continued whereas
Industrialists stopped the bonus as according to them plague had stopped.
Ø Gandhi advised the workers to go on strike. This was the first strike called by Gandhi in India.
Ø It was changed to hunger strike as the numbers were dwindling. Hunger strike proved to be very
successful as it got a lot of attention.
Ø Industrialist referred the issue to a tribunal which awarded 35% plague bonus to the workers.

Kheda Satyagraha – 1918
Ø The peasants in Kheda, Gujarat complained that they could not pay land revenue as there was
drought and hence no crop output.
Ø According to a 20th century British Government law, land revenue should not be collected from a
peasant who has lost more than 50% of the produce.
Ø Statements of the peasants were observed by Gandhi and he asked the peasants not to pay taxes.
Ø The government observed this and passed a circular stating that revenue must be collected only from
those who were in a position to pay.

1


Events of 1919

Rowlatt Act
Ø According to this act any Indian could be arrested on the charge of sedation even on suspicious ground and
without any trail could be jailed for upto 2 years.
Ø Police had immense power which could be easily misused as the clause of suspicious grounds was not
specified correctly.
Ø Slogan of the movement was “No appeal, no daleel, no wakeel”
Ø Mohammad Ali Jinnah resigned from legislative council.
Ø Gandhi formed a “Sarvadharma Prarthana Sabha” which was a prayer meeting for all religions.
Ø 6 April 1919 was the First “All India Strike Day”

Jallianwala Bagh Massacre – 13 April 1919
Ø Jallianwala was a place in Amritsar, Punjab
Ø There was a curfew imposed in Amritsar on 13 April but people from rural area had no knowledge about it.
Ø 13 April was celebrated as Baisakhi festival all over Punjab and peasants had come to celebrate at Jallianwala
Bagh.
Ø Incidentally a group of protestors protesting the arrest of two leaders Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr. Satypal
Malik had also come to the same place.
Ø Gen. Dyer entered the place and ordered his men to fire at the crowd killing 379 people (according to
government records). Media and local people said that number of people killed were more than 1000.
Ø Hunter Commission was setup to look into the event.
Ø Rabindranath Tagore returned his knighthood when House of Lords called this act by Gen Dyer as act of
bravery.

Government of India Act
Ø It was based on Montagu – Chelmsford Reforms
Ø As the British Government needed India’s help in terms of both resources and manpower for WW-‐1, they
promised the Indian leaders that more number of members will be included in the Executive council.
Ø Main provisions of the act were:-‐
o Dyarchy in the province
o Bicameral Legislature at the Centre
o Separate Electorates also given to Sikhs & Anglo Indians
o Legislators were allowed to discuss budget, could ask supplementary questions.
o 3 Lists were drawn – Union List, Concurrent List, State List

Khilafat Movement
Ø The word Khilafat means institution or office of Khalifa and the Khalifa or caliph of Turkey was regarded as
the spiritual and political head of Muslim world.
Ø In the world war-‐I Turkey with Germany lost to the allied power of England, France, and USA etc.
Ø The victory of allied forces imposed a humiliating treaty on Germany and a similar humiliating treaty was
being planned for Turkey.
Ø The demands of the Khilafat Committee which was set up in India by Ali brothers, Maulana Mohammad Ali
Jauhar and Shaukat Ali , were:-‐
o The Turkish Khalifa must retain control over the Muslim sacred places.
o The Khilafat must be left with sufficient territory to enable him to defend the Islamic faith and
o The Jazirat-‐Ul Arale (Arabic, Syria, Iraq, and Palestine) must remain under the Muslim Sovereignty.

2


NON COOPERATION MOVEMENT

Causes
Ø Government of India Act, 1919
Ø Rowatt Act
Ø Jallianwala Bagh Massacre and the enquiry thereafter
Ø Reasons for which the Khilafat movement was started was a major cause for the Muslim population
Ø Inflation which resulted in India due to post World War – 1 Depression
Ø Unemployment due to closure of many industries

Nature
Ø English clothes (the most commonly used article made by British) were boycotted.
Ø Khadi clothes were propagated. Khadi and Charkha became a symbol of protest, national unity and seld
reliance.
Ø English educational institutions were boycotted
Ø Kashi Vidyapeeth, Gujrat Vidyapeeth, Bihar Vidyapeeth were set up
Ø Indian Lawyers like Motilal Nehru, CR Das resigned from the Bar council
Ø Services like milk vendors, barbers to the English colonies were boycotted

Salient Features
Ø It was the first All India mass movement in the History
Ø All sections of the society ranging from peasants to industrialists, works to urban intelligentsia, students to
women took active part
Ø It was the first movement based on Swaraj or independence against the colonial rule
Ø Strong Hindu – Muslim unity was witnessed

Withdrawal of the Movement

Ø A mob of peasants and Khilafat agitators burnt 22 policemen alive, after the policemen ordered lathi charge
on them, at Chaura Chauri in Gorakhpur district, Uttar Pradesh on 5 February 1922
Ø Congress was planning to launch a “No Tax Movement” as the next phase of this movement and a meeting
was planned to be held on 12 February at Bardoli in Gujarat.
Ø Leftist believed that peasants of Uttar Pradesh had been radicalized and had started targeting Indian
Zamindars
Ø Impact of the Withdrawal was a division of Congress into 2 groups, one led by Gandhi who supported
Jawaharlal Nehru and the other by C.R. Das who supported Motilal Nehru

Militant Movement or Revolutionary Terrorist Movement

Causes of the Emergence
Ø Emerged in first decade of 20th century in Bengal(Kolkata) and Maharashtra(Pune)
Ø Revolutionaries were inspired by the Irish Republican Army and Japan’s victory over Russia in 1904
Ø The British policies and the atrocities were indirect causes of this movement
Ø Unhappiness with both Moderate and Extremist leaders
Ø Anushilan Samiti, Sandhya, Yuganth were the groups formed in Bengal and Mithra Mela, Abhinav Bharat
were formed in Maharashtra

3


Methods of Opposing the Government
Ø Based on Individual heroic acts
Ø They targeted Individuals, railways tracks, posts and telegraph offices
Ø They formed secret societies throughout country
Ø They even had women members of whom many were messengers
Ø They organized people on religious lines and tried to inspire the young minds through the stories and deeds
of gods and goddesses
Ø They started H.R.A. (Hindustan Republican Association) in 1924 at Kanpur. It was led by Chandrashekhar
Azad, ramprasad Bismill, Ashfaqualla Khan and others
Ø In 1925 the looted the government train at Kakori for which Ramprasad Bismill and Ashfaqualla Khan were
hanged
Ø H.R.A. was changed into H.S.R.A (Hindustan Socialist Republican Association) at Ferozshah Kotla in 1928
Ø Bhagat Singh involved himself in this movement who was influenced by Marxist ideology and idolized Lenin
Ø They wanted to abolish Zamindari System and used slogans like Inquilab Zindabad and Rang de Basanti
4


REVOLUTIONARY TERRORIST MOVEMENT (Contd.)

The Movement can be categorised in:-‐
Pre-‐World War:-‐
In the initial period, the movement was centred around religious symbols due to which it lacked mass appeal

These movements were directed towards various British Institutions but lacked proper planning
Post World War:-‐
The Movement was influenced from the Russian revolution of 1917, the movement became more organised and
gained steam

At this time, HSRA emerged. Most prominent leader of HSRA was Bhagat Singh.

Hindustan Socialist Republican Army

Ø They targeted not only British but also Indian capitalists, zamindars, kings and communal forces.
Ø They were influenced by communistic ideologies which had wide appeal among the educated youth.
Ø The republican form of governance was gaining popularity over the monarchy even within the Congress and
Jawaharlal Nehru was also in favour of it.
Ø At this time, communal tensions were on the rise; communal groups paid little heed to the welfare of their own
community and were more concerned about the rights of others.
Ø Lahore Conspiracy Case 1928 – In 1928 Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru and Chandrashekhar Azad murdered a
British Police Officer named Saunders at Lahore. This was to revenge the death of Lala Lajpat Rai who was killed by
Saunders while protesting against Simon Commission. This case eventually led to execution of Bhagat Singh
Ø Bombing of Legislative Assembly – On 8th April 1929, Bhagat Singh along with Batukeshwara Dutt bombed the
central Legislative Assembly, Delhi.
Two Controversial bills namely Trade Dispute Bill and Public Safety Bill were to be passed by the House that day.
The intention of the bombing was to draw attention to the problems of the people. The intention was not to hurt or
kill anyone but to draw attention of the media and public to their cause
Ø Achievements
• They succeeded to a great extent in removing fear of authority in the minds of the common people.
• The revolutionaries were fearless in nature and heroic in their actions which encouraged people to stand up
against authority.
• The Government made some legislative changes bowing to demands from the nationalists.
• It aroused a patriotic feeling among Indians.
• They believed in secularism and promoted it. They believed that secularism was the key to India’s unity and
Independence.
Ø The Movement became weak after the death of Bhagat Singh as his charisma was unmatched. The movement
didn’t die completely and many revolutionaries resurfaced during the 1942 Quit India Movement.

1


Events of 1928
Simon Commission

In 1927, the British appointed the India Statutory Commission headed by Sir John Simon
The purpose of this mission was:-‐
1. To review the Government of India Act, 1919
2. To suggest legal and administrative reforms for the future

In 1928, the members of the commission reached India to widespread protests. The protestors were raising
slogans like ‘Simon Go Back’ and ‘Go Back Simon’

The main reason for protests was that the mission didn’t include any Indian. In the earlier acts of 1909, 1919 also
there was no Indian member but they did not witness such protest. This shows the change in political scenario.

Nehru Committee

• Purpose of this committee was to form a draft constitution for the country
• The first meeting was held at Delhi, followed by Mumbai and Lucknow
• A Sub Committer headed by motilal Nehru was formed. Other prominent members were Tej Bahadur
Sapru, Sir Ali Imam, M.R. Jayakar and Subhash Chandra Bose
Recommendations
1. Dominion Status
2. Secular State
3. Universal Adult Suffrage
4. To end separate electorate
5. Reservations of seats for minorities

Reaction to the report
• Jawaharlal Nehru, Motilal Nehru’s son opposed dominion status.
• Young leaders like Subhash Chandra Bose in Congress and Muslim League demanded ‘Poorna Swaraj’ or
complete independence.
• Jinnah’s fourteen point program

Jinnah’s Fourteen Point Program

5 key demands
1. Separate electorate
2. Reservation of seats for Muslims
3. One-‐third reservation in Union Parliament
4. Weak Centre and strong States
5. If 4/5th members of a particular community oppose a bill; it shall not be passed

2


Lahore Session of Indian National Congress
Ø In this session Congress demanded ‘Poorna Swaraj’ (complete independence) for the first time.
Ø The session was presided by Jawaharlal Nehru. Gandhi supported Jawaharlal Nehru in this session.
Ø On 31 December,1929 the nationalists gathered at river Ravi and hoisted the tricolour flag
Ø On 26 January, 1930 they celebrated Independence Day. Our constitution was formally adopted on 26 January
1949 but was implemented on 26 January 1950 to mark this historic day.
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT
Meaning of the Movement

Ø It means to disobey a law with great civility and humility
Ø It was Gandhi’s movement.
Ø Satyagraha was used as a means of protest as Gandhi said if we believe something is wrong we have every right
to oppose it. This shows opposing was equally important to Gandhi
Ø He believed it would test the courage, patience and sacrifice of the satyagrahi

Causes of the Movement

Ø The British passed a law forbidding Indians to manufacture salt which could only be done by English or European
manufacturers
Ø There were large scale arrests during the anti-‐Simon Commission movement.
Ø 1929-‐33 was the period of Great Depression which affected all capitalist countries including India. It led to
widespread unemployment, poverty and unrest.
Ø Gandhi presented 11 point program to the government.

Nature
Ø Gandhi started Dandi March with only 78 people, from Gandhi’s Ashram in Sabarmati on 12 March, 1930, but
was joined by thousands by the time he reached Dandi.
Ø The entire distance was covered on foot passing through villages, towns. This enabled Gandhi to connect to the
masses with his unique pad-‐yatra.
Ø Gandhian politics was not power-‐centric but focussed more on mobilising people for the cause of nation.
Ø Swadeshi goods became popular again and foreign goods were boycotted
Ø The peasant movement became more radical in regions where their union was strong like eastern UP and Bihar.
Ø In Begusarai, central Bihar, the peasants stopped paying Chowkidari Tax to Zamindars.
Ø In North West Frontier Province, Khan Abdul Gaffer Khan also known as Frontier Gandhi started the Red Shirt
Movement.

Features
Ø It was an all India mass movement.
Ø It was more popular among the peasants and in rural areas.
Ø The unity among Hindus and Muslims was missing. This was due to Jinnah’s demands and differences between
Congress and Muslim League.
Ø The kind of resilience shown by Gandhian Satyagrahis was very unique.

3


Gandhi-‐Irwin Pact – 5th March, 1931
Ø It was the first time that an Indian leader was invited by the British for a dialogue at almost equal footing
Ø It had been almost a year since the movement began which forced the British to initiate a dialogue with Gandhi
Ø Gandhi agreed to suspend the Civil Disobedience movement and government agreed to release all political
prisoners
Ø The salt law was amended and people living in coastal areas were allowed to manufacture salt. Peaceful
agitation against liquor was allowed and confiscated property was returned.
Ø Gandhi agreed to participate in II Round Table Conference.

4


EVENTS OF 1932

MacDonald Award or Communal Award

Ø British PM Ramsay Macdonald announced in 1932 that depressed class (Dalits) is a minority and will get
separate electorate like Muslims, Sikhs etc.
Ø This was a long demand of depressed class leader B.R. Ambedkar as the depressed classes had no
chance of entering the assembly as election was based on limited franchise.
Ø Congress leadership was not happy.
Ø Gandhi was in deep shock and opposed separate electorate. He wanted to restart civil disobedience
movement.
Ø The reasons for this opposition was:-‐
o British government was diving Indians
o This would lead to great damage to community
Ø Gandhi was lodged in the Yerwada Jail. He went of fast unto death in opposition of Macdonald Award.

Poona Pact
Ø Due to Gandhi’s fast unto death, there was huge pressure on B. R. Ambedkar.
Ø He agreed to meet Gandhi for negotiations
Ø After the meeting pact was signed, and its features were:-‐
o No Separate electorate for depressed classes
o Instead of separate electorate reservation of seats would be given
o Candidates would be from depressed class but voters from all communities will vote for
electing one of the candidates

ROUND TABLE CONFERENCE
Ø Round Table conference signifies that all the participants are equal.
Ø It is symbolic that every group will be treated equally
Ø Participants of these conferences were – All political parties of India, Representatives of India Princely states
Ø It was held in Buckingham Palace in London
Ø Purpose of this meeting according to British was that they wanted to understand demands and grievances of Indian
Leadership from different social backgrounds
Ø Nationalist interpreted it as a mere eyewash

First Round Table Conference

Ø It was held in 1930 -‐1931
Ø It was held during the civil disobedience movement
Ø Congress did not participate in the conference

1


Second Round Table Conference
Ø It was held in 1931
Ø Congress participated in this conference as it was a part of Gandhi-‐Irwin Pact
Ø Gandhi represented Congress in this conference
Ø This conference turned aggressive between Gandhi and rival nationalist group leaders.
Third Round Table Conference
Ø It was held in 1932
Ø Congress boycotted this conference
Ø Muslim League, Hindu Mahasabha and Princely states participated
Ø There were no significant outcomes of this conference

LEFT GROUPS IN INDIA – 1934

Ø Congress Socialist Party was formed at Bombay Ø Communist party in India largely
Ø Acharya Narendra Dev was the President and Loknayak formed and supported
Jayaprakash Narayan was the secretary peasants/worker organisations
Ø The movement originated from 1917 October Revolution. Ø Peasant/workers were main target
Ø In 1920, Bhartiya Communist Party was set up at Tashkent (now groups
in Central Asia) Ø In 1928 Local association joined to form
Ø In 1925, Communists assembled in Kanpur to form Communist Workers and Peasants Party
Party of India and it included many famous names
Origin of the Movement
Ø Congress had to satisfy every section of society
Ø Gandhi evolved philosophy of Trusteeship which came which Communist Party could not become
was not idealistic and was very difficult to implement. influential as it suffered from two sides.
Ø All this lead to Congress v/s Communist verbal fights.
Ø Communist labelled Congress as a party of Bourgeoisie (middle) These are:-‐
class 1. From Society
Ø Congress termed Communists as “Russian satellite” Ø Peasants did not connect
Ø As congress had mass support, communist party weakened. Ø The Ideas of the party were very
radical
Purpose of Movement Ø Communism failed to penetrate rural
Ø This movement was started as Congress did not do much majority
about peasants’ and workers’ plight. Ø Members against revolution formed
Ø Number of worker and peasant organizations emerged Socialist group in 1934
but did not join Congress movement 2. From Government
Ø Real issues of peasants were not addressed thus this job Ø Americans, French supported
was left to communist and socialist capitalism
Ø Govt suppressed communist
Methods of Mobilization movement
Ø Strikes in urban areas Ø CPI was banned and members were
arrested. Meerut Trial and Kanpur
Trail were the two famous trials.
2


Ø Writers published journals
Ø Pamphlets were issued

Contribution of Left Movement
Ø Considerable contribution was made in the field of
Literature and Art
Ø Influenced the entire planning system in India
Ø It influenced theatre and cinema
Ø It has been active in student movements

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ACT 1935

Ø Background
1. Simon Commission 4. Issue of paper by Government of England
2. Failure of Round table Conference 5. Pressure from Nationalists
3. Demands made I Nehru Report
Ø Provisions
1. Autonomy to the provinces
2. End of Dyarchy from provinces
3. All – India Federation would be formed
4. Federal court was set up in 1936 (Called supreme court of India later on)
§ To settle dispute between Union Government and Provincial Government
§ To settle disputes between two provinces
5. Burma was separated from British India
6. Orissa was separated from Bihar. Cuttack was made its new capital
7. Sind was separated from the state of Bombay. Karachi was made the capital

Ø Significance
Criticism of the Act
1. This act became the basis of free India’s Constitution and
1. It gave too much power to the
had great impact on the modern Indian federal structure.
governors of provinces
2. Modern Federal Court Structure was taken from this act.
2. All India Federation clause could not
3. This act gave more powers to our legislators
be implemented

All India Kisan Sabha, 1936

Ø All India Kisan Sabha was set up in Lucknow
Ø It was initially known as All India Peasant Union
Ø First President was – Swami Sahajanand Saraswati and the first Secretary was N.G. Ranga
Ø Lot of peasant organisations were found at provincial level, district level and micro level which came
together at Lucknow and formed Kisan Sabha

3


Objectives
Ø They wanted that the Zamindari system must end which the Congress never demanded
Ø They wanted reduction is taxes at some places
Ø They demanded security of land holding
Ø Another demand was institutionalization of credit market
Methods of Mobilization
Ø Peasant organization called various sorts of public meetings
Ø Pledges such as No Tax Movement were taken
Ø Peasant organisations took radical stand which even turned violent sometimes

Outcomes/Achievements Zamindars used religious symbols for
Ø These sabhas politicised peasants of rural India dividing the peasants on the basis of
Ø It made them aware of their rights caste and community.
Ø No tax movement was started at several places They converted the peasant struggle
Ø They attacked houses of several zamindars and mahajans into caste/communal struggle
th
Ø It led to rise in consciousness in 20 century peasants

1937 – ELECTION IN THE PROVINCES

Ø Provinces where election was held
1. Assam 3. Orissa 5. Central Province (C.P.) 7. Bombay 9. Punjab 11.
North-‐West
2. Bengal 4. Bihar 6. United Province (U.P.) 8. Madras 10. Sindh Frontier Province
Ø Political Parties
o National Level Parties All Political parties claimed that they were superior to one
§ Indian National Congress another and would provide better government.
§ Muslim League
§ Hindu Mahasabha Gandhi stayed away for these elections. Nehru proactively
§ Justice Party took part in the election rallies.
o Regional Level Parties
§ Bengal – Krishak Praja Party Muslim League’s manifesto confirmed that it did not defer
§ Punjab/Sindh – Unionist Party much from INC in those days.
o Independent candidates There was no demand of Pakistan or Partition

4


QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT
Salient Features

Ø It was an all India Movement.
Ø The movement was strongest in Bihar followed by U.P. and Maharashtra
Ø Students’ agitation and peasant movements in Bihar made it a strong movement in Bihar.
Ø Jaiprakash Narayan was a very active leader in Bihar where he formed ‘Azad Dasta’ in the terrains of Nepal and
trained them in guerrilla warfare.
Ø Although this movement theoretically was led by Gandhi but in practice it was in the hands of revolutionaries
and the local leaders.
Ø There was a change in stance of Gandhi during this movement. He did not advocate violence but he did not
condemn it also.
Ø Gandhi did not stop the movement due to violence activities as he did in Non-‐Cooperation Movement.
Ø Around 92000 people were arrested by the government.
Ø In its last stage, the movement became an underground movement during which revolutionaries started
planning secret operations.
Ø Hindu Mahasabha leaders did not participate in Quit India Movement as their agenda was Religion specific
whereas Congress was a Secular Party.
Ø Government lifted the ban on Communist party in 1942 which it had enforced in 1934. Government banned
Congress party in 1942 because of its anti-‐British activities.
Ø Communists did not join Quit India Movement as the movement was against English which was a partner of
Russia but Communists did not help British in suppressing the movement.
Ø Government used maximum force to supress this movement which includes aircrafts and machine guns.

Importance of this Movement

Ø There was an institutional breakdown in this movement.
Ø This movement is considered to be the turning point in Indian History
Ø The British hopes of ruling India for 100 years more was crushed due to this movement.

INA Movement

Ø Indian Independence League was setup up by Rash Behari Bose in Tokyo.
Ø In 1943 former prisoners of war formed an army called INA. It was formed by Captain Mohan Singh.
Major Fujiwara helped Captain Singh in setting it up.
Ø The battalions raised were called Gandhi battalion, Nehru battalion, Subhash battalion and Rani Lakshmi
battalion.
Ø In 1943, Subhash took guard of INA after Captain Mohan Singh.
Ø Subhash Chandra Bose was the first person to call Gandhi, Father of the Nation
Ø He set up an interim government known as Arzi Hukumat-‐e-‐Azad Hind.
Ø One battalion of INA led by Captain Shah Nawaaz Khan attacked India via Burma but due to withdrawal
of Japanese support it lost the battle
Ø Red Fort Trial/INA Trial was held in 1945-‐46 in which Captain Shah Nawaaz Khan, Captain Prem Kumar
Sehgal, Captain Gurubaksh Singh Dhillon were trialled.

1


Three commissions were set up to probe the death of Subhash Chandra Bose. These were Captain Shah Nawaaz
Khan commission, Justice Khosla Commission and Justice Mukherjee Commission.
Last Phase of the Freedom Struggle
Wavell Plan
Wavell Plan (1945)
Ø Lord Archibald Wavell was the Governor General and Viceroy 1. Dominion Status to India
from 1943 – 1947. 2. All posts other than the post of Governor
Ø He invited leaders to Shimla to announce a plan for Indian. General and Army Chief will be given to
Ø Muslim League demanded that all 5 Muslim ministers should Indians
be from Muslim League which was rejected by others. 3. Process of framing the constitution of India
Ø Congress rejected Jinnah’s demand as it would portray will start
Congress as a Hindu Party. 4. Head of Govt – Indian, 5 ministers –
Ø The meeting was ended after Jinnah’s demand. Hindus, 5 ministers – Muslims, others –
Dalits, Sikhs etc.
Elections in the Provinces (1945-‐1946)
Ø Muslim League used many slogans
Ø Congress Government which was formed in 1937 failed to sort out the problems and communal
violence started.
Ø Muslim middle class started supporting Muslim League.
Ø Pakistan was one of the big agendas through which Muslim League campaigned.
Ø Muslim league used very strong slogans in their campaign like “If you do not vote for Muslim League
then you will not be buried in Muslim graveyard”.
Ø It is to be noted that the top leaders of Muslim League were not practicing Muslims like Muhammad Ali
Jinnah whereas orthodox Muslims like Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was whole heartedly supporting
Congress, Gandhi and Nationalist movement.
Ø Almost 507 seats were reserved for Muslims from all over India in 11 provinces.
Ø Amongst these 492 seats were of Muslim League.
Ø There were 30 seats reserved for Muslims at Central Legislative Assembly and all 30 were won by the
Muslim League.
Pakistan stood for:-‐
Cabinet Mission Plan P – Punjab
Ø Cabinet Mission plan was sent in 1946. It comprised of Pethick Lawrence, A V A – Afghan
Alexander and Stafford Cripps. K – Kashmir
Ø They took a unanimous decision that India cannot be partitioned. S – Sindh
Ø Muslim League was demanding creation of Pakistan since 1940. The term Pakistan Tan – Baluchistan
was coined by Choudhry Rahmat Ali.
Ø Cabinet Mission Plan comprised of four major parts:-‐
o Grouping of Provinces in terms of:-‐ On 2nd September 1946,
§ Hindu Majority Provinces (11 provinces like UP, CP, Bombay etc.) Jawaharlal Nehru was
§ Muslim Majority Provinces (Western India – Punjab, NWFP ) chosen as the head of
§ Muslim Majority Provinces (Eastern India – Assam and Bengal) interim government.
Each group would form separate constitution for their province and will
collectively make a constitution for India It was boycotted by
o Interim Government would be formed Muslim League.

2


o Princely states were free to join interim government or could remain with
British
o A Constituent assembly would be formed
Ø Cabinet Mission plan was rejected by both Congress and Muslim League
Ø On 16th Aug 1946 Muslim League declared the infamous Direct Action Day and gave
controversial statements like ‘ladke lenge Pakistan’.
Formation of Interim Government
Ø After the initial boycott, Muslim League joined the interim government in the last week of October
1946.
Ø 5 Muslim League members were made ministers in Interim government including Liaquat Ali Khan who
was made the Finance Minister and went on to become the first PM of Pakistan.
Ø Top leaders of Muslim League were kept away from the Interim Government and they were active in
Pakistan movement.
Ø On 7th Feb 1947 Nehru wrote a letter to British PM Clement Richard Attlee to complain about Muslim
League.
Ø On 20th Feb 1947 Clement Attlee declared that India would be freed by June 1948 and also announced
that Lord Mountbatten would be the last Governor General of India.
Ø Lord Mountbatten announced Mountbatten plan on 3rd June.
Ø Clauses of Mountbatten Plan were:-‐
o On 15th August India would be freed.
o If one group of Punjab and Bengal assembly demands for partition, it would be done.
o Sindh assemble would decide whether they want partition or not.
o In NWFP plebiscite will be used which will be based on limited suffrage.
o If partition happened, then there would be boundary commission headed by Radcliffe.
o Princely states had to join either state and were not allowed to remain free.
o India would get dominion status immediately and Lord Mountbatten would remain as the
Governor General (of both India and Pakistan)
o Within Congress two groups emerged, one which accepted the plan and the other which
completely opposed the plan.
Ø On 18th July 1947, the British Parliament passed Indian Independence Act.
Ø On 14th August 1947 Pakistan was created and on 15th August 1947 India was created.

Reasons for the Partition:-‐
ü Communalisation of Indian Politics
ü Role of certain groups, organisations and political parties during and after the elections.
ü Policy of the British (divide and rule)
ü Failure of Congress to win the largest minority of India.

Reasons for Gandhi to accept partition:-‐
ü Demand of partition was not only from Muslims, but Sikhs and Hindus were also demanding for it.

3

HISTORY 9 ANCIENT HISTORY
Zaman – The Period of Study

Makam – The area or place of study
STONE AGE
Paleolithic Age (5 Lakh BC – 10000 BC)
 Locations – Soan (Pakistan), Krishna Valley, Chota Nagpur Plateau

 Tools used – hand axes, borers, choppers, cleavers, pebbles, flakes
 Living pattern – People were food gatherers not producers. They at both veg and non-veg food.
 Clothing – Leaves, Animal skins
 Shelter – Caves
 Fire and communication with each other was known but in later Paleolithic age.
Mesolithic Age ( 10000 BC – 4000 BC )
 Locations – Adamgarh (Madhya Pradesh), Bhimbetka (Madhya Pradesh), Bagor (Rajasthan)

 Tools used – Microlithic tools, blades and arrows
 Living pattern – Domestication of Animals had started. Crude form of farming also had begun
Neolithic Age ( 7000 BC – 1000 BC )
 Locations – Burzahom (Kashmir), Chirant (Bihar), Belan (Uttar Pradesh), Mehargarh ( Baluchistan)
 Tools used – Oval shaped tools, polished stone tools, antelope horn
 Living pattern – People became food producers instead of food gatherers. Wheat and Barley was
grown. Division of labour between man and woman began.
 Burial Practice – Dead bodies were buried in North South direction along with the personal belongings.
This showed that the people believed in life after death.
Chalcolithic Age ( 2800 BC – 700 BC)
 Locations – Ahaar (Rajasthan), Malwa (M.P), Jorwe (Maharashtra)

 Tools used – Stone and copper (the first metal to be used) harpoons, copper axes were used
 Living pattern – Village life developed during this age.
o Agriculture and domestication of cattle
o Houses of mud bricks were built
o People knew the use of cotton
o They also believed in life after death
INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION (2500 BC – 1750 BC)
Discovery
 In 1921, archaeologists John Marshall and Dayaram Sahni excavated a site Harappa, on the banks of
river Rabi in Punjab region of Pakistan.
© Byju’s Classes
 Mohenjo-Daro, another important site of Indus Valley civilization was discovered in Sindh region of
Pakistan on the banks of river Indus.
 Due to the similarities in town planning and seals it was confirmed that both were part of same
civilization.
 Harappan Civilization was named after Harappa which was the first site discovered.
 Also most of the sites discovered were on the banks of river Indus thus the name Indus Valley
civilization.
 There are two criteria for civilization is:-
o It must have cities Boustrophedon – is a kind of bi-
o It must have its own script directional text, mostly seen in
 Harappan Script
ancient manuscripts and other
o Harappan scripts were found on its seals and it is pictographic inscriptions. Every other line of
o It is boustrophedon style writing is flipped or reversed, with
o Harappan Script is closet to Dravidian script of Munda tribe reversed letters. Rather than going
of Jharkhand left-to-right as in modern English or
right-to-left as in Arabic and
Origin of Civilization Hebrew, alternate lines in
boustrophedon must be read in
 As given by Western historians
opposite directions. Also, the
o They considered this civilization as an offshoot of
individual characters are reversed,
Mesopotamian or Byzantinian civilization and that it or mirrored.
originated suddenly
o Drawback of this theory is that there is no evidence
supporting it.
o Also Mesopotamian civilisation’s findings were different
than those of the Harappan civilisation.
 As given by Indian historians
o The civilisation gradually developed and it had indigenous origin
o It evolved from the Neolithic period where agriculture was practised and surplus grains
produced were traded.
Sites of the Civilization
a. Mohenjo-Daro (literal meaning of the term is - mount of the dead)

 Great Bath
 The Great Bath of Mohenjo-Daro is called as earliest public water tank of the ancient
world
 It was a huge bath made of burnt/baked bricks
 It was probably used for public ceremonies and was situated in a public place
 There were rooms around the bath for changing clothes and wells to pour water
 Bronze statue of a Dancing girl
 This shows that use of Bronze (an alloy) was known to the people thus this age is also
known as Bronze Age
 The Great Granary
 Was used to store excess grains
 This also proves the existence of a civic administration which collected surplus grains
and distributed it later
 There was possibly a taxation system
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 There are evidences of use of cotton

 Largest number of seals are found here
 Seals were made of aesthetite which is a form of
clay
 These seals were circular, square and cylindrical
in shape
 Seals were used to depict their script
 Seals were also used as a mark of authority and
a medium of exchange
 One of these seals depicted a form of Shiva
called proto-Shiva.
b. Harappa
 This was the first site to be excavated
 12 granaries of equal size arranged in 2 rows
 It had the second largest number of seals
 Various types of cemeteries were also discovered
proving the fact that the people practiced different
religions and were of different ethnicities.
c. Kalibangan
 It was situated on the banks of river Ghagger
 Evidence of ploughing has been found at his site
 Evidence of pre-Harappan culture is also found here
 Fire Altars or ‘Havan kund’ has also been found in Kalibangan
d. Lothal
 It was on the banks of river Bhogwa in Gujarat (ancient name of Sabarmati river)
 A man made dockyard made of burnt bricks which confirms the maritime activities during that
time
 The Harappans had trade with Iraq, Iran, Mesopotamia and the present day Gulf
 Fire altars were also found here
 Double burial was also practiced in Lothal
Town Planning of Harappan Civilization
 Towns were planned in a chessboard pattern

 The city was divided into 2 parts
a. Citadel – was used by ruling class (Granary, Great bath etc. were part of Citadel)
b. Lower Town – was used by ruled class
 The houses were built of burnt bricks and were both single and double storeyed
 The doors and windows were at the rear of the house instead of being located in front and the doors
were at the corner of the walls
 The streets were straight and cut each other at 90 deg.
 The drainage system was fully covered which was below the city. It was the most advanced system in
the contemporary world
© Byju’s Classes
Crop Pattern of Harappans
 The knowledge of crop pattern was based on granaries. Harappans cultivated rice, wheat, barley and
mustard
 They were the first in the world to grow cotton
 They also grew water-melon, pea and dates
Metals used by Harappans
 They were the first people in the world to use copper and it was the earliest
metal used in India
 They used bronze also which was an alloy
 Evidences of use of Gold and Silver too have been found
 They also knew lead.
 Iron was not used by the people of Harappan Civilization
Animals in the Harappan civilization
 Animals which were domesticated include cows, dogs, sheep, and buffalo.
 There was also evidence was wild animals like rhinos and tigers
 No presence of Horse was found during that time
Trade and Commerce
 Trade and agriculture flourished during the Harappan civilization

 Seal manufacturing and terracotta figurines were made in large numbers
 Terracota articles were obtained by first making them in clay and then baking them in fire
Arts and Crafts
 Pottery was done in this civilization. It was of 2 types:-

o Simple
 Simple pottery included glasses, bowls and dishes which were mainly circular, square
and cylindrical in shape
o Black & Red
 Articles made had black backgrounds with red designs
 Seals of this period suggest that they used wooden carts
 They also knew the art of ship building
 They had very well developed system of both, internal and external trade
Religion and Faith
 The people were nature worshippers and had both personal and public religious beliefs
 Idols founds confirm private worship by the people
© Byju’s Classes
DECLINE OF INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION
There are multiple theories proposed by various scholars which explain the decline of this civilization
Theory by Mortimer Wheeler

 This theory suggested that attack by the Aryans was responsible for the decline
 The main drawback of this theory was that it is confirmed that Aryans came to India around 1500 BC
whereas Harappan civilization ended by 1750 BC
Theory by Riggs
 He proposed that the civilization declined due to earthquake which was followed by floods
 Evidences of floods have been found in Mohenjo-Daro
 The main drawback of this theory was that this theory is confined only to certain regions of
Harappan civilization and not to all the places where the civilization flourished
Theory by Fariservis
 He proposed that ecological imbalance was responsible for decline of the civilization but failed to
provide satisfactory data to prove his theory
Theory by Das and Sood

 They proposed that change in course of Indus River was the reason for decline of the civilization and
as most of the cities were on the banks of river Indus, the civilization was destroyed.
Theory by Malik and Pochal

 They argued that Harappan civilization was not completely destroyed and there was a link between
Harappan and post-Harappan culture but the uniformity of the civilization ended.
7 Rivers mentioned in Rig-Veda are

Ancient Name - Present Name
VEDIC CULTURE – (1500 BC – 600 BC) 1. Saraswati - Ghagghar
2. Kubha - Kabo
Vedic Culture can be divided into two phases:- 3. Parushni - Ravi
o Early Vedic Culture (1500 BC – 1000 BC) 4. Askini - Chenab
o Later Vedic Culture (1000 BC – 600 BC) 5. Vitasta - Jhelum
6. Sutudri - Sutlej
Early Vedic Period 7. Vipasha - Beas
 Rig Veda was composed during the period

 The main source of information of this period is from the Rig-Veda
 The Rig-Veda contains 1,028 mantras, or hymns, directed to the gods and natural forces. The
mantras are organized into ten books called mandalas, or circles
 It contains 10,462 slokas or hymns
 Rig Veda was composed by Aryans and it was recited orally because the Aryans did not know writing
 It talks about Aryans and their struggle with Non- Aryans
 Origin of Aryans
o Aryans migrated from Central Asia (Eurasia) to different places in Europe, India and Persia
o They entered India via Afghanistan and settled down in north-west region of Punjab
o Aryans called India – Sapthasindhu (Land of seven rivers)
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 Life and Occupation

o Domestication of Animals was their main occupation
o Agriculture was their secondary occupation as Rig Veda mentions only one crop – barley
o The main animal domesticated was cow
o Cow was also a medium of exchange  Gopath – man with the highest
o Aryans were ‘pastoral nomads’ who did not settle at number of cows
a place for more than one season.  Gavisthi – search or conflict for cow
o They were mainly divided into tribes known as Jan  Goghan – guests who were served
o Aryan society was male dominated and had no beef
territorial kingdom  Duhitra – person milking the cow
o The king (rajan) of the tribe was assisted by Senani generally a female
(military commander), Purohit (Priest), Gramini (king  Goudhuli – onset of evening
Maker)
o Sabha, Samiti and Vidhat were the assemblies
o Rajan was hereditary and was assisted by these assemblies. He also collected gifts from people
which were known as Bali. Bali is the oldest form of taxation known in India
 Religion
o They were nature worshippers

o Yagya and rituals were parts of religious practices
o There was no temple or idol worship. All gods were supreme in a particular ritual. Aryans
worshiped 33 gods and goddesses
o The chief gods were Indra, Agni and Varun
o Prime goddesses were Aditi, Prithvi and Usha
o The main reasons for worshipping nature was:-
 Fear
 Desire for cattle
 Desire for more children specifically male child
 Society
o There was no class division as the concept of privateness was not fully developed
o Since they all were pastoral nomads so the idea of property and settled life did not develop
o The Varna system though existed in the Aryan Society. Its classifications were:-
 Purohit (priest)
 Kshatriya (Warrior)
 Vish (Common Man)
 Shudra (Labour Class)
o There was discrimination on the basis of colour in the society
o The non-Aryans were called das, panis, dasyus
o There was a lot of freedom give to women during this period. There was no child marriage or
sati practice. Widow Remarriage was allowed.
o Apaala, Lopamudra, Ghosha, Sukanya composed Rig Vedic hymns
© Byju’s Classes
LATER VEDIC CULTURE (1000 B.C. to 600 B.C)
 In this period both Literary Sources and Archaeological sources are available for a comprehensive study.
 Ahichchhatra & Hastinapur in Uttar Pradesh, Nuh in Haryana and Atranjikhera in Uttar Pradesh are the
sites excavated which are related to the Later Vedic Period.
 Iron was used for the first time in Later Vedic period. (It was not known in early Vedic period or
Harappan Civilisation). Iron was called Shyamayas in those days. It was first used as a weapon and not
as a tool.
 Pottery is the most common archaeological finding. If there is no evidence of pottery, historians
conclude that the area was not inhabited.
 In this period pottery which was found was classified as PGW Pottery in other periods
or Painted Grey ware.
 Literary sources for this period include – Yajurveda, Samaveda 1. Simple & Black and Red – Harappan
and Atharvaveda. Civilisation
 Atharvaveda is believed to be a Non Aryan book while all other 2. Ochre Coloured – Chalcolithic Period
books are Aryan Books. Moreover it was written in Lower 3. Painted Grey Ware (PGW) – Later Vedic
Gangetic plain unlike the other three Vedas which were Period
written in the upper Gangetic plain. 4. Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW) –
 Atharva Veda deals with charms, spells and magic and is a Maurayan Period
good source to study the Kingdom of Magadha
 Three other sources of literatures are Brahmanas. Last part of Brahmanas is known as Aranyakas. It was
also known as Forest Book or Jungle Book. Theme of the book is Romanticism – relationship between
man and nature.
 The Upanishads are a collection of philosophical texts which form the theoretical basis for the Hindu
religion. There are 108 Upanishads. Upanishad deal with the relationship between Man and God
 ‘Satyameva Jayate’ was derived from Mundaka Upanishad.’
 ‘Om’ was derived from Rig Veda. Some Famous Upanishads are:-
 It was one of the earliest books which talks about non-violence.
 50 Upanishads were translated from Sanskrit to Persian under the 1. Brihadaranyaka
leadership of Dara Shikoh – eldest son of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. 2. Katha
 4 Vedas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upanishads form the Vedic 3. Kena
Literature. 4. Chandogya
 The changes noticed between Early Vedic and Later Vedic period was 5. Ish
that slowly people were shifting towards agricultural community. 6. Jabala
 Iron, the hardest known substance during that time, was being used in 7. Mundaka
agriculture. Also ploughs and oxen were being used. 8. Mandukya
 Other than agriculture, domestication of animals was the primary
occupation of the people.
 The term Gotra emerged from the later Vedic period.
Changes in the Vedic Society from Early Vedic to Later Vedic Period
 As people’s primary occupation moved to agriculture, Land became more precious than cattle.
 In the settled life, King became powerful and started collecting taxes known as Bali and also started
demanding ‘Bhag’ which was share in production.
 With the help of these taxes he maintained an army. To expand his land area, Kings performed
Ashvamedha Yajna in which a horse was let loose for an year and the amount of area covered by the
horse in that year would then belong to the owner of the horse (The King)
© Byju’s Classes
Ashvamedha Yajna is mentioned in Ramayana when Lord Ram performs the Yajna and the Yajna horse is
captured by his sons – Luv & Kush (who are unaware that Lord Ram is their father).
 Other changes in lifestyle ever since agriculture became the main profession included Emergence of
Janapadas, only men were allowed in Sabha and Samiti etc.
 Gods like Brahma and Vishnu emerged in the late Vedic period apart from Indra, Varun and Prithvi
which were prominent in Early Vedic Period.
 In the early days, Shiva was known as Rudra.
 Number of Samskarans changed to 16 in the later Vedic Period.
 Upanayan was the most famous samskara. It was performed when a child joined school for the first time
and was initially for both male and female but later females were forbidden from Samskara.
Vajpeya Yajna
o Was performed for gaining supernatural powers
o Chariot Race was performed in this Yajna
Rajsuya Yajna
o Was performed when a king was coroneted and was then performed every year on the same date
 In the later Vedic period, castes and classes were established which was known as Varna
 The people who were strong and were able to control the resources became rulers and warriors.
 These warriors claimed themselves to be Kshatriyas which became dynastic and hereditary.
 The priest class began writing the literature in such a way that no one else would be able to become
priests.
 The traders, peasants and craftsmen were of a class called Vaishyas and labour class or working class
were being called Shudras
 The occupation of a person depended solely upon his entire genealogy.
 First mention of the four castes was in the Rigveda.
 The condition of women started deteriorating in the later Vedic period. Polygyny increased in this
period.
 Women were condemned by certain Brahmanas which compared them to wine and gambling and were
also referred to as one of the evil.
EMERGENCE of JANAPADAS and MAHAJANAPADAS (6th - 5th century B.C.)
 This era is known in History as second urbanisation. The first period was during the Harappan period.
 There were 16 Mahajanapadas most of which were in the Gangetic Plain.
 Gangetic plain was very fertile region and agriculture was the main occupation.
 Among the 16 Mahajanapadas, 5 were more powerful than others.
 These were – Magadha (Capital – Rajgriha), Avanti (Capital – Ujjaini), Kashi (Capital – Varanasi), Kosala
(Capital – Shravasti), Vajji (Capital – Vaishali)
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1. Haryanka Dynasty
 This dynasty ruled from 6th century B.C. to 5th century B.C.
 Bimbisara and Ajatashatru were famous kings. Ajatashatru was the son of Bimbisara.
 They were contemporaries of Buddha and Mahavira.
 Ajatashatru killed Bimbisara and was later killed by his son Udayan.
2. Shishunaga Dynasty
 Shishunaga and Kalashoka were the famous kings of this Darius, an Iranian, was the first individual to
dynasty. attack India in 510 B.C
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3. Nandas
 Mahapadma Nanda was the famous king of this dynasty
 First to annex Kalinga (modern day Orissa) Alexander the Great
 Dhanananda was the ruler during which Alexander the  Alexander III of Macedon, commonly
Great invaded India. known as Alexander the Great, was a
king of Macedon, a state in northern
JAINISM ancient Greece.
 He was born in Pella in 356 BC and was
 Jainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non- tutored by Aristotle until the age of 16
violence towards all living beings.  Invaded India during 326 B.C. to 324
 Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self- B.C.
effort to move the soul toward divine consciousness and  He came through Hindu Kush through
liberation. Afghanistan and Pakistan
 Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and  He returned back via Sindh
achieved the state of Supreme Being is called a jina.  The first Indian King who surrendered
 According to Jain belief there were 24 Tirthankars (Spiritual to Alexander was Ambhi
Gurus) in Jainism.  He was known as Sikander in Iran and
 The first Tirthankara was Rishabdev, second was Arishtanemi, Alakshendra in India.
twenty third was Parshvanath, and Twenty fourth was  He did not attack major parts of India
Vardhaman. due to:-
 Parshvanath was from Varanasi and his followers were known o Hot Climate of India
as Nirgranths which means free from all bonds. o Soldiers of Alexander were very
 Vardhaman’s parents were also Nirgranths thus Vardhaman tired
was also a Nirgranth o Fear that they won’t be able to
defeat Nanda’s huge army.
Vardhaman Mahavira
 He is believed to be born in 540 B.C. in Kundalagrama in

Vaishali. His father’s name was Siddharth and mother’s name Teachings of Jainism:-
was Trishala. He belonged to Jnatrika clan. 1. Non-violence
 His wife’s name was Yashoda and daughter’s name was 2. Not to steal
Priyadarshika. 3. Always tell the truth
 He left home at the age of 30 years and the age of 42 he 4. Not to accumulate wealth
attained supreme knowledge at Jrmbhakagram. 5. Celibacy
 He gave his first sermon in a place called Vipulchal in Nalanda.
 He died in 468 B.C. at the age of 72 at a place called Pawapuri First four were given by Parshavanath and
in Nalanda in Bihar. the fifth was given by Vardhaman Mahavir
 Main reason for less numbers of Jain followers was extreme
non-violence practice.
Philosophy of Jainism
1. Concept of God – Tirthankaras are superior to God and God is not the creator of Universe
2. Regarding the Universe – Universe has no beginning or end. Phase of rise – Utsarpini; Phase of Decline -
Avasarpini
3. Concept of Soul – Universe is full of souls and it exists in living and non – living things. Wherever there is
soul, there is suffering
4. Concept of Nirvana – It means free from cycle of birth and death. Santhara has to be performed (fasting till
death). Chandragupta Maurya performed Santhara.
5. Five stages of Knowledge – Mathi, Sruti, Avadhi, Manahpraya, Kevalya
6. Syadvad – 7 possibilities of truth. Also known as Anekantvad
© Byju’s Classes
 Two famous sects in Jainism are:-

o Svetambar – To wear white clothes
o Digambar – Followers of this do not wear clothes  Monks led by Sthulabhadra went to Magadha
 Svetambaras compiled the teachings of Mahavira in a and were of the Svetambara sect.
book form called Purvas. It was in Prakrit Language.
 In 5th and 6th century A.D. Jain munis assembled at
 Monks led by Bhadrabahu migrated to
Vallabhi and compiled the teachings known as Angas
Sravanabelagola and were of the Digambara
and was written in Prakrit
sect.
 Digambaras rejected the teachings of Purvas and Angas
BUDDHISM
 Siddharth (Buddha) was born in the year 566 B.C. in the city of Kapilavastu which is in Lumbini in Nepal
 Siddhartha was born in a royal Hindu family. His father was Suddhodana and mother was Mahamaya.
He was brought up by Gautami.
 He belonged to the Shakya clan and was also a Kshatriya. He was also known as Shakyamuni.
 His was married at the age of 16 to Yashodhara and had a son called Rahul
 Four sights of Buddha were – An old man, a sick man, a dead corpse and a monk.
 He left the house at the age of 29 on his horse chariot.
 At the age of 35 he sat under a Pipal tree near the river Niranjana (modern day Phalgu River) at
Bodhgaya.
 It is believed that Buddha meditated at this place for 7 weeks (49 days) and by 49th day he attained
supreme knowledge and was called “the enlightened one”.
 He meditated again for 49 days after attaining supreme knowledge.
 Buddha gave his first sermon at Sarnath in Varanasi which was known as Dharma Chakra Pravartan.
 He preached in all seasons except monsoon.
 He returned back home after attaining knowledge and all his family members became his followers.
 He passed away at the age of 80 at a place called Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh.
Philosophy of Buddhism or Arya Satya
Four Noble Truths

1. The world is full of sorrow
2. The cause of sorrow is desire of materialistic things
3. There is a way to get rid of sorrow
4. To follow eight fold path is the solution for getting rid of sorrow which is popularly known as Ashtangika
Marg – It is also known as the middle path (avoiding extremes of both materialistic life and austere life)
Buddha gave a balance between material life and austere life which was previously very difficult to attain.
Ashtangika Marg
1. Right View 5. Right livelihood
2. Right Resolve 6. Right exercise
3. Right Speech 7. Right recollection or memory
4. Right Concentration 8. Right Meditation
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BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY
 The concept of God was not well defined which led to the belief that Buddhism is an atheist religion
 It is believed that the universe has a beginning and an end unlike Jainism
 In Buddhist philosophy, soul of a person dies with the body. Most other religions like Jainism and
Hinduism believe that soul is eternal.
 Samuth Pratyuth Prathipath
o Cause and effect theory
o There are twelve cycle as this is a cyclic effect
 Concept of Kshan(moment) – A person is different than what he was a moment ago.
 The concept of Nirvana is an 'ultimate' peace that is achieved after a lengthy process of mind-body
transformation during which the uprooting and final dissolution of the volitional takes place.
 Buddhist Sangha
o Members of Sangh were called Bhikshus or Bhikshunis
o Viharas were the place were Buddhist monks lived
o The prayer hall was called Chaitya
o Rules for living in the Viharas were given in a book called Vinaya Pitaka compiled under the
leadership of Monk Upali
o A strict dress code was to be followed which was generally deep red and the Bhikshus were
supposed to have only one meal a day and that meal had to be begged for.
o No ornaments were allowed, alcohol was strictly banned and Brahmacharya lifestyle was
supposed to be followed.
 No discrimination on the basis of caste was done though Buddhism did not fight the casteism.
Four Buddhist Councils
 The First Buddhist Council was held under the patronage of

king Ajatasatru. Reasons for the Popularity of Buddhism
o Monk Mahakasyapa presided the council a) Simplicity of the religion
o It was held at Sattapanni caves Rajgriha (now Rajgir). b) Buddhist Sangha was well
organised and disciplined
 Second Buddhist council was held at Vaisali c) Use of common man language –
o It was presided by Shatakambri Prakrit; Buddha used Ardha
o For the first time Buddhism was divided into two sects Magadhi, a form of Prakrit
– Mahasamghika and Sthaviravada d) Personality of Buddha
 Third Buddhist Council was held at Pataliputra Reasons for decline of Buddhism
o It was held during the time of Kind Ashoka a) It lost its Identity
o It was presided over by Moggaliputta Tissa b) Corruption in Sangha
o Abhidhamma Pitaka was compiled during this council c) Revivalism of Brahmanical
religion
 Fourth Buddhist Council was held at Kundalwan in Kashmir d) Physical attack supported by
o It was held during the reign of Kind Kanishka Brahmanical priests and
o The council was presided over by Vasumitra supported by the kings
o Asvaghosa, a great philosopher and poet who wrote e) Lack of Royal Patronage
Buddhacharita was present in this Council f) Arrival of Islam
© Byju’s Classes
MAURYAN DYNASTY
 The Mauryan Dynasty was founded by Chandragupta Maurya who was the king from 321 to 298 B.C.
 The other important rulers of this dynasty were Bindusara and Ashoka.
Chandragupta Maurya
 Greeks called him Sandrokottos or Androkottos
 According to Puranas he was the son of Dhana Nanda
 He killed his father and became the king with the help of a Indika
man named Chanakya, also known as Vishnu Gupta
 With the help of Chanakya he became the king of Magadha. o Megasthenes mentioned that there
Pataliputra became his capital. were 7 classes in India
o These were Philosophers, craftsmen,
 He defeated Seleucus Nicator who became his friend later.
soldiers, inspectors, counsellors &
Nicator also sent an ambassador Megasthenes to
chauffeurs
Chandragupta’s court in 304 BC
o The state collects 1/4th of the
 Accounts of Megasthenes are found in a book written by
produce as revenue
him called Indika.
o Pataliputra was 16-18 km long and
 Chandragupta was the empire builder of Mauryan Empire
323.5 km wide
 He introduced an organised revenue system
 He divided the empire into four provinces
 During his last days, Chandragupta migrated to
Sharavanabelagola with a Jain scholar and performed
Santhara or Sallekhan i.e. fast to death. The Province Capitals were:-
 Kautilya’s Arthashastra mentions 18 Tirthas(head posts) and 28 1. North – Taxila
Adhyakshas. These helped in managing the empire. 2. South – Suvarnagiri
 Mantri (Prime Minister) and Chief Priest were the important 3. East – Tosali
posts in the empire and it is believed that Chanakya (Kautilya) 4. West – Ujjain
held both the posts during the reign of Chandragupta Maurya
and Bindusara.
 Bhaga was one of the most The ARTHASHASTRA mentions the important functionaries known
important tax collected as MAHAMATRA or TIRTHAS. These are:-
 Hiranya was cash only tax
 Pranaya was the tax collected 1. YUVARAJA: Crown prince
during emergency period 2. SENAPATI: Commander-in-Chief
 The coins used were made of silver, 3. MANTRIPARISHAD ADHYAKSHA: Head of the council of Ministers
copper or bronze and were called 4. MANTRIN: Minister
Karshapana or Pana 5. PUROHITA: Chaplain
6. DAUVARIKA: Palace usher
7. ANTARVAMSIKA: Officer of the Royal Harem
According to Kautilya, the 8. PRASASTA; Minister in charge of Encampment
elements of the state are:- 9. SAMAHARTA: Chief Revenue collector
10. SANNIDHATA: Controller of Stores
1. The King 5. Fort 11. NAYAKA: Commandant
2. Minister 6. Army 12. PRADESTA: Magistrate
3. Country 7. Ally 13. KARMANTIKA: Chief Architect
4. Treasury 14. DANDA PALA: Chief Army officer
15. DURGA PALA: Officer-in-charge of Fort
16. ANTAPALA: Officer-in-charge of Frontier post
© Byju’s Classes
17.
Downloaded ATAVIKA:
from https://t.me/pdf4exams Chief of the Forest tribe
Bindusara
 Bindusara was the son of Chandragupta Maurya and Queen Durdhara.
 According to a Jain work Rajavalikatha, his original name was Simhasena.
 During his reign the Maurya Empire saw significant expansion southwards.
 He was also known as Amitraghata or Amitrakottos (Greek term meaning killer of enemies)
 He was a follower of Ajivika sect.
 Deimachus, Ambassador from Seleucid Empire, came to India during his reign. He was sent by
Antiochus I
Ashoka
 King Asoka, the third monarch of the Indian Mauryan dynasty, has come to be regarded as one of
the most exemplary rulers in world history.
 He was born in about 304 B.C. and became the third king of the Mauryan dynasty after the death of
his father, Bindusara.
 His given name was Ashoka but he assumed the title Devanampiya Piyadasi which means "Beloved-
of-the-Gods, He Who Looks on with Affection."
 In 262 B.C., eight years after his coronation, Asoka's armies attacked and conquered Kalinga, a
country that roughly corresponds to the modern state of Orissa.
 The loss of life caused by battle, reprisals, deportations and the turmoil that always exists in the
aftermath of war so horrified Ashoka that it brought about a complete change in his personality.
 After the war Ashoka dedicated the rest of his life trying to apply Buddhist principles to the
administration of his vast empire. He received help from Upagupta in his conversion to Buddhism.
 He had a crucial part to play in helping Buddhism to spread both throughout India & abroad and
probably built the first major Buddhist monuments.
 He visited Bodh Gaya in his 10th year of coronation and Lumbini in his 20th Year of coronation.
 Ashoka’s edicts (medium used by kings to converse with his people) were of different type like
major rock, minor rock, pillar rock, cave rock.
 Languages used were Prakrit, Greek and Aramaic and the Scripts used were Brahmi, Kharosthi,
Greek and Aramaic.
© Byju’s Classes
ASHOKAN EDICTS
1. Major Rock Edicts

o There are 14 Major Rock Edicts found from 8 places
o The Language used is Prakrit and the script used is Kharosthi and Brahmi(Oldest form of
Devnagiri)
o Places where rock edicts were found are – Kalsi, Uttarakhand; Sopara, Maharashtra; Girnar,
Gujarat; Yerragudi, Andhra Pradesh; Dhauli, Orissa; Jaugada, Orissa.
o First edict – Ashoka gives the message of non-violence & not to waste money for useless social
ceremonies.
o Ninth edict – In this also Ashoka instructs his subjects not to waste money on social ceremonies.
o Second edict – instructed his physicians to visit far fledged areas and cure people and animals
and also to grow more plants.
o Seventh edict – Ashoka gives the message of religious tolerance. This is also repeated in twelfth
edict.
o Thirteenth edict – Ashoka mentions the details of Kalinga War. Some western kings were also
discussed in this. These are: Antiochus II Theos of Syria, Ptolemy II Philadelphos of Egypt, Magas
of Cyrene, Alexander II of Epirus and Antigonus II Gonatas of Macedonia.
2. Pillar Rock Edicts

o There are 11 pillars and these have been found in India and Nepal
o Sites where these pillars have been found are: Inside Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi (was orginally in
Meerut); Delhi’s Ridge, near Delhi University; Topra, Haryana (later shifted to Delhi); Allahabad,
U.P (originally at Kosambi); Lauriya-Areraj, Bihar; Lauriya-Nandangarh, Bihar; Sankissa,
Rampurva; Sarnath; Sanchi; Nilgriva.
o We find the message of ‘Dham’ (Dharma) in these pillars.
o These Ashokan pillars were all Sandstone pillars. The sandstone was brought from Chunar, UP.
o These pillars are all Monolithic structures (built from a single rock). The capital part was carved
from a different stone and mounted onto the pillar. These were usually animal figures.
o The Lion Capital found in both Sanchi and Sarnath became our national emblem.
o Other animals are Horse, Elephant and bull. Horse signifies Buddha leaving home on his horse –
Kanthaka; Elephant is in reference to the dream that Buddha’s mother had about conceiving a
white elephant.
o Bull refers to the zodiac sign of Buddha which was Tauras.
o Dham is a Pali word. It is called Dharma in Sanskrit and means Established Social Order. It was
only a Code of Conduct.
Messages given by Ashoka in his Dham are:
 Religious tolerance
 Non-violence
 Respect towards elders
o To implement Dham, Ashoka appointed a new officer called Dhamma Mahamatra.
3. Minor Rock Edicts

o These are inscribed on 15 rocks found in different parts of India. These are called minor rock
edicts as the message
© Byju’s Classes
o Some places where Minor Rock Edicts were found are: Maski, Raichur district in Karnataka;
Brahmagiri, Karnataka; Gujarra, Madhya Pradesh; Nettur, Andhra Pradesh
o Only at these four places Ashoka has used his name. In all other places he used his title –
“Devanam Piyadasi”
Mauryan Art
Buildings and Monuments are examples of State
It is categorized into:- sponsored art
 Art which was patronized by the state
 Folk Art Sculptures and pottery are examples of Folk art
 Sanchi Stupa
o It was built by King Ashoka
o It is near Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh
o It was made of mud, bricks and stone
o Central chamber of all stupas are generally with relics of Buddha or any other Buddhist monks
o The topmost part of a stupa in called ‘Harmika’
 Pillar of Ashoka
o It was an important piece of Mauryan Art and was a monolith structure
o It was about 50 feet tall and weighed about 50 tonnes
 Folk Art
o The most important in folk art is pottery
o It is called “Northern Black Polished Ware” Terracotta structures are one of the great contributions
of Mauryans in the field of art.
Decline of Mauryan Empire Ringwell is another important thing which developed

 Ashoka was followed by weak kings which led to during the Mauryan period.
the downfall of the empire
 Brihadrata was the last ruler of Mauryan dynasty
 He was killed by the commander In chief of his guard Pusyamitra Sunga who then established the Sunga
dynasty.
 The arrival of foreign rulers like the Indo-Greeks and others were also factors in decline
 Spread of knowledge and technology making several rulers less dependent on the Mauryan Empire was
another major factor.
POST MAURYAN PERIOD
 2nd century BC to 3rd century AD – 500 years

 This refers to the period after Mauryans and before Guptas
 Influx and influence of foreigners
o Indo – Greeks also known as Bactrians (Originally Greek by origin but settled in Bactria)
 Demetrius was one of its first kings to attack India.
 First to introduce gold coins and first to inscribe dates on coins
 The concept of 7 days in a week was given by the Indo – Greeks
 They developed structural art famously known as Gandhara School of Art. The
others during this time were Mathura School of Art and Amaravati School of Art
o Shakas, also known as Scythians, were Central Asian tribe.
 They regularly attacked South Asia and Southeast Asia
© Byju’s Classes
 These type of tribes were known in ancient times as barbarics

 One of their headquarters was Ujjain (MP)
 The Junagarh inscription in Gujarat which is attributed to King Rudradaman is
the first ever inscription written in chaste Sanskrit
o Parthians, also known as Pahlavas

 They were basically Iranians and came to India in 1st century AD
 Famous Parthian king was Gondaphernes
o Kushans, also known as Yeuchi tribe

 They came in 1st century AD and had their empire from western part of China to
Afghanistan, Kashmir and all the way till Allahabad.
 Peshawar and Mathura were their headquarters
 Kujul Kadhphises, Vema Kadphises and Kanishka were their great kings who
came to India.
 Charaka, a great medical scientist is believed to have been in Kanishka’s court.
He wrote the first scientific book on medicine in India called Charaka Samhita.
 They introduced the tradition of Devkul (worshipping the ancestors) and
stirrups which made horse riding safer and more comfortable.
 They introduced trousers, overcoats, leather shoes, hats etc.
o Satavahans, also known as Andhras
 This dynasty was founded by Simuka in 1st century BC
 Other Famous kings are Pulomavi, Gautamiputra and Satakarni.
 Official language was Prakrit.
 According to archaeological sources, Satavahanas were the first in India to give
land grants and they gave it to the priest class.
 They introduced lead coins and promoted trade & commerce.
 SANGAMA DYNASTY
o The Sangama Dynasty was founded by Harihara I and Bukka
o Bukka's successor, Harihara II, continued Bukka's campaign through southern India and
managed to take control of coastal Andhra between Nellore and Kalinga and conquer the
Addanki and Srisailam areas as well as most of the territory between the peninsula to the south
of the Krishna River.
o Harihara II also managed to conquer many Indian ports such as that of Goa, Chaul, and Dabhol.
o After Harihara II died the throne was in conflict between Virupaksha Raya, Bukka Raya II, and
Deva Raya of which Deva Raya eventually would come out as victor.
o During his reign, Deva Raya managed to successfully control the vast amount of territory in the
empire.
o The kings after Deva Raya on the other hand did not manage to do anything significant at all for
the kingdom. This was until Deva Raya II, who would bring about the golden age of the Sangama
Dynasty.
Tamil Sangams
o The Tamil Sangams were assemblies of Tamil scholars and poets.
o The word sangam has its mention in the sense of an 'academy' in several Tamil literary works
like Tevaram, Thiruvilayadal puranam, periyapuranam and Irayanar Ahaporul.
© Byju’s Classes
o The earliest extant works of Tamil literature date back to the period between 300 BCE and 200
CE and deal with love, war, governance, trade and bereavement.
o The literature of this period has been referred to as The Sangam literature and the period in
which these works were composed is referred to as the Sangam period, alluding to the legends.
o Although the term Sangam literature is applied to the corpus of the earliest known Tamil
literature, the name Sangam and the legend were probably from a much later period.
© Byju’s Classes
HISTORY 13 GUPTA AGE 319 – 550 A.D.
The Gupta period marks the important phase in the history of ancient India. The long and efficient rule of
the Guptas made a huge impact on the political, social and cultural sphere. Though the Gupta Empire was
not widespread as the Maurya Empire, but it was successful in creating an empire that is significant in the
history of India. The Gupta period is also known as the “classical age” because of progress in literature and
culture. After the downfall of Kushans, Guptas emerged and kept North India politically united for more than
a century.
Early Rulers of Gupta Empire:-
 Srigupta – I (270 – 300 C.E.):

o He was the first ruler of Magadha (modern Bihar) who established Gupta dynasty with
Pataliputra as its capital.
 Ghatotkacha Gupta (300 – 319 C.E):
Both were not sovereign, they were subordinates of Kushana Rulers
Chandragupta I (319 C.E. to 335 C.E.),

 Laid the foundation of Gupta rule in India.
 He assumed the title “Maharajadhiraja”.
 He issued gold coins for the first time.
 One of the important events in his period was his marriage with a Lichchavi (Kshatriyas) Princess.
 The marriage alliance with Kshatriyas gave social prestige to the Guptas who were Vaishyas.
Calendars in India
o 58 B.C. Vikram Samvat (Oldest Calendar in India)
o 78 A.D. Kanishka
o 248 A.D. Kalchuri Samvat
o 319 A.D. Gupt Samvat
o 606 A.D. Harsha Samvat
o 622 Hijri (Islamic Calendar)
All calendars mentioned above are Lunar calendars (Based on one cycle of moon)
Gregorian calendar (Pope Gregory XIII, 1582) is solar calendar.
Samudragupta (C.E. 335 – 375)
 Referred to as the “Napoleon of India” by historian Vincent. A. Smith.

 He was magnificent empire builder and great administrator and greatest among Guptas.
 His achievements, successes and 39 victories are mentioned by his court poet “Harisena”. He wrote
a long inscription engraved in Allahabad in Sanskrit on the Ashoka Pillar known as “Prayag Prashasti”
 Two types of rule were prevalent. Direct rule in Bengal, Bihar, U.P., and parts M.P. and indirect rule.
After defeating the kings he returned the kingdom to them on conditions of 1) Tribute, 2) personal
appearance in court of Samudragupta and 3) had to marry their daughters with him.
 He performed an Asvamedha, adopted title “Parakramanka”.
 He wrote poems and earned the title “Kaviraja”.
 He minted gold coins with his own image and Laxmi’s image, Garuda, Ashvamedha yagya & playing
veena

Chandragupta II (380 C.E. to 415 C.E.) also known as Chandragupta Vikramaditya
 The drama ―Devichandraguptam” written by Vishakhadutta is about Chandragupta‘s succession by

displacing his brother Ramagupta.
 He defeated Shaka Rulers
 He made Ujjain his second capital.
 He adopted the titles Vikramaditya.
 He was the first Gupta king who issued silver coins.
 Naratnas adorned his court. The famous poets like Kalidas, Amarasimha, Vishakhadatta and Physician
Dhanvantri adored his court.
 Fahien, the Chinese traveler visited India during his time (399 A.D.-410 A.D.)
 The inscriptions engraved on the ―Iron Pillar at Mehrauli (near Delhi) give account of his conquest.
Kumaragupta (415 C.E. to 455 C.E.)
 17 Inscriptions mainly in Mandasur M.P. and Mathura written in Sanskrit give evidence of his reign.
 He adopted the title of Mahendraditya.
 First Huna (Central Asian tribe) attack took place
 Introduced the concept of worshipping God Kartikeya.
 According to the Bhitri inscription of Skandagupta, some Pushyamitras invaded the Guptas during his
period.
 Nalanda Buddhist Monastery (later became Nalanda University) was built during his period.
Skandagupta (455 C.E. – 467 C.E.)
 He was the last greatest Gupta ruler. He assumed the titles Parambhattaraka, Paramdevta,
Maharajadhiraj, etc.
 He successfully resisted the Huns invasion.
 The Junagadh inscription mentions the restoration of the embankment of Sudarshana Lake.
 The Bhitari inscription records the career of Skandagupta.
 He erected a pillar of victory surmounted by the statue of God Vishnu.
 He issued the Lion type coins.
 Purugupta ascended the throne after Skandagupta.
 Vishnugupta was the last king.
POLITICAL AND ADMINISTRATITIVE SET UP OF GUPTAS
o The Guptas provided a sound system of administration. The king was the head of state as well as
that of administration (Centralized Administration).
o Some of officials and ministers were hereditary. Feudalism started emerging as compensations
would be in form of land. The ministers were appointed by the king on merit and one of their
important qualifications was their capability to lead the army.
o The primary source of income was land revenue (Udranga) and the taxes were 1/6th of their produce
which was collected in cash as well as kind.
o Arthashastra written by Kautilya contains chapters belonging to Mauryans, post-Mauryan and Gupta
period

SOCIETY AND RELIGION
o The structure of the society was basically the same as mentioned in the Hindu Dharmashastra. The
period marked the revival of Hinduism under the patronage of the Gupta rulers.
o Brahmins started getting donated land known as Agrahagar or brahmadeya which weakened the
position of later Gupta rulers.
o Vaish community was most productive but had to pay most taxes.
o Remarkable impact of Ahimsa and vegetarianism on society.
o Shudras were mostly engaged in labor and crafts as well as agriculture.
o Even below shudras there were people who were untouchables and outcasts.
o Rise of a new caste Kayastha (mentioned in Yajnavalkya Smriti), they used to keep the land records.
o Women were subordinate to men and their conditions was deteriorating . Polygamy was widely
prevalent.
o Widow remarriage was banned. Basic education was denied to them. Sati system came into light
from the “Eran Inscription” in 510 A.D.
o Devadasi system also was vogue in this period.
ART AND ARCHITECTURE
o Religious Literature:
o The age of Guptas has been regarded as the age of the classic age in India. It is primarily because of
its progress in the field of literature.
o Sanskrit language had become virtually the national language of India and so most of the works were
prepared in Sanskrit in their age.
o Many Smiritis like Manu, Narada, Brahaspati, Gautam, Prashar and different Dharmashastras were
also written or completed in this period.
o Oldest Smriti – Manu Smriti (Most comprehensive but biased in favor of upper castes and males)
o Some of Puranas like Vishnu, Shiv, Agni, Matasya were written during this period.
o Puranas are tales of Gods and Goddesses. They give chronology of ancient Indian rulers and
dynasties. Good source to know about prevalent culture and society. Style of Puranas was future
tense.
o The epics, Ramayana (12,000 shlokas added to already 12000 shlokas) and Mahabharata (longest
epic 1,00,000 shalokas, Shat Sahastra Samhita) received present shape during this age.
Kalidasa
 He has been regarded as the greatest poet and dramatist of ancient India. Probably he was a
contemporary of Chandragupta II.
 Kalidasa wrote the Ritusamhara, the Meghadutta, the Kumarasambava, the Raghuvansa, the
Viramavamsiya, the Malavikagnimitra and Abhijnana Sakuntalam have been regarded as the best
ones of Kalidasa during this time.
Other important Indian literature (Not related to Gupta Period only)

o Daridra Charudatta (By Bhasa)
o Mrichchakatikam (By Charudatta)
o Devi Chandraguptam m Mudra Rakhshasa (Both by Vishakha Datta)
o Kadambri (Banabhatta in 7th century A.D.)
o Jambavati Kalyanam (16th Century by Krishnadev Raya)
o Amarakosha (by Amar Simha dictionary in Sanskrit)
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o Panchatantra (by Vishnu Shastri)

o Kamasutra (by Vatsayana)
Science, Grammar, Astrology, Medicine, etc., also made tremendous progress during this age.
o Aryabhata has been accepted as the greatest scientist and mathematician of this age.
o His text Aryabhatiyam contains solutions for many problems of algebra, geometry and trigonometry.
o He was the first Indian astronomer to discover that the earth rotates on its axis.
o It is also believed that decimal system was discovered by the Hindus during this period.
o Panch Diddhhanitika was written by Varahamihira was the greatest astrologer of this age.
o Nagarjuna, the famous Buddhist scholar was also a great student of medicine, chemistry and
metallurgy.
o Dhanavantri was the most renowned physician of Ayurvedic medicine during this age.
Authors and Books During The Gupta Age
o Iswarakrishna - Sankhyakarika
o Vatsayana’s - Kamasutra
o Panini’s - Astadyayi
o Patanjali’s - Gita Govinda
o Vajikas - Kaumudimahotsava
o Somadeva’s - Kathasaritsagara
o Bhasa - Swapnavasadatta
o Suband - Vasavadatta
o Bhattin - Ravanavadha
o Visakadatta - Mudrarakshas
o Sudarak - The Mrichchakatikam
o Dandi - Dasakumaracharita
o Bharavi - Kiratarjuniyam
Sources
 The writings of foreign travelers like Fahien, Huan-Tzang and It-Sing along with sources like
literature, coins, inscriptions, monuments, constitute major sources of Guptas History.
 The Allahabad Pillar inscription.
 The Sanskrit Drama ―Kaumudumahotsava, written by Kisorika.
 The Mehrauli inscription.
 The Bilsand inscription.
 The Bhitari inscription etc. throws lights on imperial Gupta kingdoms.
Literary Sources:
1. Vayu Purana
2. Madhya Purana
3. Vishnu Purana
4. Brahma Purana and
5. Bhagvat Purana
o Dharmashastras such as ―Narada Smriti and ―Brahaspati Smriti.

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o Kamadaka Nitisara and Kavya Nataka.

o The Kamudi Mahotsava is a drama in five sets which lays down the political condition of
Magadha on the eve of ascending of Guptas.
o Fahien, the Chinese traveler during Chandragupta II tells about the social, religious, political
conditions of Guptas.
o Seals: A large number of seals have been found in Vaishali.
o The seal of ―Mahadevi Dhruvaswami, the Queen of Chandragupta II and
o The Variety of seals gives us an insight of provincial and local administration.
o Monuments: The monuments of the Gupta period also are a reliable source of the artistic and
religious history of Gupta period.
o Schools like Mathura, Banaras and Nalanda depict and illustrate the different Art and
Architecture of the Guptas.
Numismatic: A lot of useful and authentic information has been found in the coins of Guptas Empire.
 Various types of coins of Gupta Dynasty have been unearthed. Some of the types are: Tiger
Type, Lyrist Type, Archer Type, Houseman Type, Landlord Type, Elephant Rider Type,
Asvamedha Type
 The Archer type coins of Skandagupta are mainly of Gold.
 Samudragupta and Chandragupta issued as many as six types of gold coins.
Remarkable progress was made in the field of Art and Architecture during the Gupta age.
 Different coins of gold and silver of artistic taste were issued, with queen Kumaradevi standing
face to face with Chandragupta I on one side and Durga seated on the Lion on the other side.
 Samudragupta has been shown in different poses with his Queen Dattadevi, with battle axe or
slaying a tiger.
 Kumaragupta I issued a variety of coins like peacock type, elephant rider type and archer type.
 Music, dance and drama were patronized by the Gupta emperors and women were trained in
fine arts.
 Terracotta (pottery, images, etc. of clay) were most popular during the Gupta age. It was
considered a poor man‘s art.
 Iron and stone pillars near the Qutab Minar were constructed; probably by Chandragupta II.
They were the lone example of its own kind.
 They constructed pillars at different places which were used for engraving their inscriptions.
 The construction of Stupas, Chaitya Halls, Monasteries, Cave temples and Cave dwellings were
prominent during the Gupta age. Buddhist buildings, the Stupas at Rajagiri and the Dhamekha
stupa at Saranath are most prominent.
 The frescos of Ellora caves, the Bagh caves, the Sittana Vasal Temple in Tamil Nadu and Rocket
chambers at Sigiriya in Sri Lanka are examples of Gupta paintings.
 The period also produced magnificent Brhamainical temples, Dasavatara temple of Devgarh,
Vishnu temple of Tigawa, Shiva temple at Bhumarah and Khohand, two Buddhist shrines at
Sanchi & Bodh Gaya.
 Greek influence resulting into Gandhara cult and late Mathura art and Saranath schools are fully
Indianized.
 The Ekamukhi (one faced) and Chaturmukh (four faced) Sivalinga and the Ardhanarisvara form
of Siva representing the synthesis between male and female deity represent a few fine
specimen of the art of sculpture the Gupta age.

Important inscriptions of Gupta period

 Mathura inscriptions of Chandragupta II
 Eran stone inscription of Samudragupta.
 Gadhwa inscription of Chandragupta II
 Gadhwa stone inscription of Kumaragupta
 Indore Copper Plate inscription of Skandagupta.
Different styles of architecture in the Gupta period

o Dravida Style - a second storey (Vimana - South Indian style )
o Nagara Style - Shikara (North Indian style)
o Besara Style - Mixed North and South Indian style.

HISTORY 14 GUPTA AGE (contd) & MEDIEVAL INDIA
GUPTA AGE (319-550) Art and Architecture
Architecture
 There are no surviving palaces or forts of Gupta period but a few temples survive.
 Gupta period marks the advent of structural temple architecture.
 Oldest temple in Indian subcontinent is Sanchi Temple
 2nd oldest Dashaavatar temple (Deogarh Jhansi) dedicated to Vishnu
 Deogarh temple became trendsetter in temple design and architecture. It had two important
features:
 First temple in India with pyramidical shape (Shikhar Style) and
 Mandap (Raised platform in temple’s courtyard where spiritual ceremonies take place.)
 Garbh Griha is most important part in temple. Presiding deity of the temple is kept here.
DIFFERENT STYLES OF ARCHITECTURE IN THE GUPTA PERIOD:
Dravida Style - a second storey (Vimana - South Indian style ) The tower/shikhar consists of
Progressively smaller storeys of pavilions.
Nagara Style - Shikara (North Indian style) Himalayas to Vindhyas. The tower/shikhar is
beehive/curvilinear shaped.
Vesara Style - Mixed North and South Indian style. Vindhyas to Krishna
The styles portrayed local culture, faith, availability of local material as well as skill of craftsmen
 Bhitargaon temple (Kanpur UP) was dedicated to Shiva is the first brick temple; earlier temples
were made of stone.
 Nachna Kuthar temple MP dedicated to Parvati
Sculptures
 The icons and standards of Brahmanical, Jain and Buddhist divinities were perfected, which served
as ideal models of for later centuries.
 They were different from Gandhara (Greco-Roman), Mathura, and Amravati. Gupta style was
indigenous.
 Some typical highlights of Gupta style architecture:
 Sculptures and paintings of Buddha and his life predominantly depicted in Jataka Tales
 Sculptures of Buddha were with curly hair style like that of Indo-Greek Style
 Facial expressions were much better depicted, statues depicted were fully clothed and not
erotic
 Abhaya Mudra (Blessing form)
 Hollow-divine light (aura) in background
 Three statues became very famous : Mathura (Standing Buddha), Sarnath (Sitting Buddha) and
Sultanganj (Standing Buddha, Bhagalpur, Bihar, made of Copper)
 Evidences of Brahminical sculpture are found on walls of Dashavtar temple, where Vishnu is shown
resting on Sheshnag

Paintings
 Evidences from Ajanta (Maharashtra) and Bagh (MP)

 Significance of Ajanta and Bagh
 Highly detailed, long lasting colors, perfection in technique
 Ajanta caves are 29 rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments which date from the 2nd century BCE to
about 480 or 650 CE. The site is a protected monument in the care of the Archaeological Survey of
India, and since 1983, the Ajanta Caves have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
 Like other ancient Buddhist monasteries, Ajanta was a kind of college monastery.
 The earliest group of caves consists of caves 9, 10, 12, 13 and 15A credited to Satvahanas
 Paintings are in 10, 11, 16, 17 & 19. Last three caves have paintings are from Gupta period
Style and theme of paintings
 Paintings are done in Frescoe style, in this style paintings are executed when the plaster on walls is
still wet.
 The themes are derived from Jataka tales, (Part of last Segment of Sutta Pitaka)
 According to this legend Buddha had more than 550 lives which are described in Jataka tales
 In Cave #16 the theme is of dying princess (depicted dying scene of Buddha’s sister-in-law)
 Cave #17 depicts Mother and Son, Rahul and wife Yashodhara meeting Buddha when he was
leaving the palace.
 Importance of paintings: We can get a fair idea of life and culture dating back to 1600 years.
Bagh Caves
 The Bagh Caves are a group of nine rock-cut monuments, examples of Indian rock-cut architecture,
situated among the southern slopes of the Vindhyas in Dhar district in Madhya Pradesh
 Most significant of these caves is Cave 4, commonly known as the Rang Mahal (Palace of Colors).
 Most paintings were carefully removed in 1982 and today can be seen in Archaeological Museum of
Gwalior.
 Theme is derived from Buddhism
 Paintings also depict the life of common man, flora & fauna is also present.
Decline of Gupta Dynasty
 Gupta’s didn’t have direct control over their entire kingdom. When their kingdom became weak,
after death of Skandagupta, defeated kings became independent
 In areas of direct control, they had given land grants to ministers and monasteries and these
feudals became very prosperous as well as powerful. Concept of state-within a state started
emerging, which weakened imperial authority of the Guptas.
 Rulers after Skandagupta were weak both in terms administration as well as military strength.
 Economy was on decline. There was a general lack in growth of trade, crafts and industry.
 This in turn affected military power of Guptas and regional powers became stronger.
 Guilds were operating independently, so there were multiple factors for the decline of Guptas.
After Guptas there was a political vacuum. There were no major kings. Regional dynasties became
prominent.
Hunas, Pallavas etc. were some larger regional dynasties. This trend continued till 6th century A.D.

Harshavardhana (606-647)
 He was last great king of ancient times, he belonged to Vardhan or Pushyabhuti dynasty
 His father Prabhakarvardhana was a king in Thanesar, who gave his kingdom to his elder son
Rajyavardhana. He was killed in a conspiracy by rulers of Malwa and Bengal. Harshvardhana
ascended to the throne thereafter.
 Harshvardhana was a great empire builder. His capital was in Kannauj.
 He was good Administrator; administration was centralized and similar to Gupta Empire.
 Empire extended from Bengal to Sindh and Himalayas to Vindhyas
 Kashmir and Kamarup (Assam) were not part of his kingdom though they acknowledged his
sovereignty.
 He maintained a very large army.
 He made Kannauj (UP) as his capital
 He wrote three dramas,
 Priyadarshika
 Naganad and
 Ratnawali
 Banbhatta was the Court poet and biographer of Harsha and wrote two works which provide
insight to his kingdom. His famous works are:
 Harsha Charita (Sanskrit)
 Kadambari - a drama (Sanskrit)
 Harsha Vardhan divided his income in four parts for family, army-administration, religious
endowments & charity.
 Harsha was first North Indian King to be defeated by a South Indian Ruler when he invaded
southern region.
 In South India Harsha’s contemporary was a very famous king Pulakeshin II (Chalukya) with
kingdom at Badami/Vatapi (modern day Karnataka). Aihole inscriptions provide evidence of this
defeat though Banbhatta didn’t mention Harsha’s defeat in his books
Kannauj Assembly
o An all religions conference took place in his capital Kannauj in which scholars and priests of
different sects were invited. Presidential address was given by Hiuen Tsang who supported
Mahayanist sect of Buddhism
o Priest class of Brahmins got very annoyed and burnt down the conclave. Harsha punished about
500 Brahmins
o Except for this incident he is regarded as tolerant king
Festival in Prayag- Mahamoksha Parishad
o It was held every 5th year and in this festival Shiva, Ganesh, Buddha were revered, one day was
for devoted for charitable purposes.
o Harsha personally participated in these festivals. Here he met Hiuen Tsang for the 6th and the
last time
The two famous Chinese travelers; Fa Hien and Hiuen Tsang
Fa Hien (Faxien) was first Chinese pilgrim as well as Buddhist monk who visited during 399-415 during
the reign of Chandragupta Vikramaditya (380-415)
 Purpose: to collect the holy Buddhist texts (Pitakas, Jataka tales) from Northern India

 He came through land route but went by sea route via Sri Lanka.
 His travelogue didn’t mention any king (Chandraputa II of Pataliputra)
 He explains about the society; various castes, faith and culture of India, was shocked by practice
of untouchability.
 He also gives details about lavishness of Pataliputra, and throne of king.
Hiuen Tsang
 He was also a Chinese pilgrim who visited India for 15 years during first half of seventh century
to study and collect the holy Buddhist texts from Northern India
 He wrote his impressions in book called Shi-yu-Qui or “The Records of Western World”
 He came and went back by land route.
 Mentioned three kings of that period, Harshavardhana, Narshimhavarman (Pallavas Kanchi, TN),
Pulakeshin II (Chalukyas – Badami Karnataka)
 He studied yoga shastra for one and half years in Nalanda, he also taught in the same university
for 9 years
 Information that is available about Nalanda University during the 6th and 7th centuries A.D. is
due to the accounts left by Hiuen-Tsang.:
o Nalanda attracted students from places as distant as China and South-east Asia.
o Nalanda was supported by the income from a number of villages which the monastery
acquired over the years through donations.
o Built during the days of Kumar Gupta
o 1000 resident monks and 10000 students
o Evidence of 3000 students was given I-tsing (7th century)
o Admission to studentship in the University was extremely strict. Intending students had to
undergo entrance test. Swarpda was in charge for conduct of examination and Chief of
monastery was Sheelbhadra
Important inscriptions of Gupta period
 Mathura inscriptions of Chandragupta II
 Eran stone inscription of Samudragupta.
 Gadhwa inscription of Chandragupta II
 Gadhwa stone inscription of Kumaragupta
 Indore Copper Plate inscription of Skandagupta.
Medieval India can be classified broadly into three parts:

1. Early Medieval 8-12th Century A.D.
2. Delhi Sultanate 12th-16th Century
3. Mughals 16-18th century
Why 8th century is considered as turning point? It is because a new phase in economy, politics and society was
emerging
1. Early Medieval 8-12th Century A.D.
a) Tripartite struggle:
The Tripartite struggle describes the period between the 8th century and the 10th century
which witnessed a struggle for the resources of the rich Gangetic Doab and town of Kannauj. The three
kingdoms involved in this struggle were - The Pala dynasty of Bengal, the Gurjaara Pratihara dynasty
of Malwa and The Rashtrakutas in the South. All these rulers emerged almost together and vanished at
similar time
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Palas (Bengal and Bihar)

 First King was Gopala, who was elected by people
 His capital was at Gauda (N. Bengal)
 Two great rulers: Dharampala and Devpala
 Dharamapala built Vikramshila Buddhist Monastery in Bhagalpur (Bihar)
 In Devpala’s period empire expanded from Bengal to Punjab (Kannauj and Ganga Doab)
 Palas were patron of Buddhism (last political patrons of Buddhism). They sent monks to Tibet
 Palas also patronized various arts, sculpture and paintings (Popular in folk traditions of Bihar)
Gurjara Pratiharas (Literal meaning Protector)
 They were called Gurjara because of their origin from Gujarat.
 Pratiharas (Agni Kuleen) claimed to be descendants of Lakshman
 Important Kings of dynasty; Nagabhatta I, Nagabhatta II, Mihir Bhoj
 Last two were two great kings with capital at Jodhpur, they also controlled Kannauj and Ganga
Doab
 Rajshekhar famous courtier of Dharamapala was Sanskrit poet
Rashtrakutas
 They were rulers of Maharashtra with capital at Manyakhet
 Important Kings: Dhruva, Govinda III
 Dhruva was first south India king to come to north and defeat a North Indian King
 Govinda III defeated Nagabhatta II of Pratiharas and established control of Kannauj and Ganga
Doab
 He built Ellora caves (37 caves)
 Ellora caves are associated with all three religions Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, while Ajanta
mainly with Buddhism
 He also built Kailashnath temple caves.
 Parsis came to India during this period and were given shelter by Rashtrakutas. Parsis were
persecuted by Muslims in their native land of Iran.
2) RAJPUTS 8TH- 12TH CENTURY

Origin of Rajputs (Rajput word means horse traders)
 Most accepted theory was given by Col. James Todd in his book, “Annals and Antiquities of
Rajasthan”
 According to him Rajputs were not indigenous; they were foreigners; Hunas & Shakyas settled in
India
 Since Hindu society was hierarchial, so they were given status of Kshatriya caste. Kshatriyas now
had had two branches (Original from Vedic Ages and Rajputs)
 Originals didn’t treat them equally and they were called as Patit Kshatriyas
 To claim that they were not ordinary, Rajputs developed various theories for social acceptance like.
 Agnikulin vanshi
 Suryavanshi vanshi
 Chandravanshi
 Stories of their origin are written in “Rajataringinis”
 This legend is also described in Bhavishya Purana, Agnikulin Rajputs originated from yagya
performed by Vashishta.
 Four clans of Agnikulin origins were:
i. Pratihars –Oldest of Rajputs e.g. Nagabhtta II, Mihir Bhoj,
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ii. Parmars: e.g. Raja Bhoj

iii. Solankis/Chaulikyas Maharashtra e.g. Mulraj I, Mulraj II
iv. Chauhans Rajasthan Delhi and Punjab e.g. Prithviraj Chauhan
 Clan of Chandravanshi linked themselves to Lord Moon
 Chandellas Madhya Pradesh built Khajuraho temples
 Clans of Suryavanshi origin claimed to be descendents of Sun
 Cholas and Chalukyas (Southern Part)
 Rajputs were further divided into 36 clans
Political system during the Rajputs
 This period is considered to be the period of feudalism in India
 Military officers were powerful and controlled administration, right to collect taxes, maintain law
and order, and punish people. Since military officers were powerful war was inevitable.
 Rajput Kings claimed that they had divine powers.
 A king was considered ideal when he attacked his neighbour after Vijayadashmi Day, the day on
which Lord Rama defeated Ravana (King was Ram and neighbour was Ravana)
 Cause of frequent wars: Fertile lands had been given as grants to temples and priests. They had to
fight wars to get more lands by defeating other kings. Wars were frequently undertaken for making
and remaking of kingdom.
 Also a king was judged by the number of wars he had won; so great kings had to win many wars
 The same theory applied to soldiers. Veergatha written by poets described the bravery of the
soldiers.
 Martyrs were glorified by the poets and writers to encourage more people to join army.
 Rajputs were told that they had only two options; either win in a war or achieve martyrdom.
 Those who tried to escape were condemned.
 Top posts in administration were given to upper caste Rajputs.
 Lineage was very important, only at soldier level, all castes were recruited.
 Social composition of Rajput Army was one important reason for their defeat from Turks
Society of the Rajput Kingdoms
 Society depends on economy of kingdom. In Rajput period craft and industry had almost declined.
 It further led to decline in both external and internal trade and commerce.
 Villages were forced to become self-sufficient and isolated. They were not exposed to external
circumstance/ changes/ progress leading to social orthodoxy.
 Rajput period was actually strengthening the caste system.
 Professions which were originally their class now became their castes.
Caste System
 Existence of 4 major castes

 Priest class were getting huge land grants and donations from the kings
 Rituals of yagna and sacrifice became popular in this period which was monopolized by priest class.
 Temples and education centers were controlled by priests
 Brahmins even had power to punish people in their lands (agrahar land)
 Kshatriyas and Rajputs had top posts in army.
 Ruling class, Rajputs, enjoyed great financial privileges.
 Vaisya: Maximum tax burden on this class, trade and commerce were not flourishing, decline in
urban centres, very less no. of coins were in circulation, signifying decline in trade.
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Rajput Architecture
 The Rajput Rulers had a keen sense of beauty in Art and Architecture which is seen in the artistic
excellence of their temples, forts and palaces. The Indo-Aryan style of architecture developed in
North India and Upper Deccan and the Dravidian style in South India during the Rajput period. Both
sculpture and architecture attained a high degree of excellence.
 The Khajuraho Temple at Bundelkhand (the present Chatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh) was
constructed by the Chandela ruler of Jejabhukti between 950 A.D. and 1050 A.D. About twenty five
temples in all, these belong to the Shaiva, Vaishnava, and Jain sects.
 The Khandariya Mahadeva Temple also enshrining a linga is the largest monument of Khajuraho.
 The Parswanatha temple built in 950-70 AD dedicated to the first Jain Tirthankara is the finest and
largest of Jain temples in Khajuraho.
 Architecture reached a high degree of artistic excellence in the 11th and 12th century AD. During
the rule of the Chalukyas as seen in their Jain temples at Girnar and Palitana in Gujarat.
 The 11th century Jain temples at Mount Abu in Rajasthan built by the ministers of the Solanki rulers
show the heights of perfection reached the artists of that time.
 The Dilwara Jain Temples, famous for architectural beauty, were built about 1088 AD during the
reign of Vimalasah
Position of women in Rajput society
 Conditions of women had deteriorated both socially and politically because of decline in societal
values.
 Women’s condition had to suffer from issues like: Polygyny, Sati, Child marriage, Female
infanticide, Purdah system
 Jauhar (Mass suicide). Women were denied basic education, social and political rights
THE PALLAVAS
 Pallav stands for creepers (lata in Sanskrit). They were rulers in South India (modern Tamil Nadu)
 The founder of dynasty was Singh Vishnu, who had his capital at Kanchi (Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu)
 There were two great kings in Pallava dynasty: Mahedravarman & Narsimhavarman (7th century)
 Pallavas had contributed in field of Temple architecture:
o Temple located in Mahabalipuram (Mamallapuram) Near Chennai, TN
o Famous eight ‘Rath Temples’ built by Narshimhavarmana
o Ganesha temple, Padiri-rath temple, Velayankutti rath temple, Draupadi rath temple, Bhim-rath
temple, Arjun rath temple, Nakul-Sehdev temple
 The Pallavas started declining in 8th century A.D.
THE CHOLAS (9th to 12th century)

 They were feudatories of Pallavas and are known for contribution in field of administration and
architecture.
 Their capital was in Tanjore (Tanjavur)
 Two important kings of Chola dynasty were: Raj Raja I 985-1014, Rajendra Chola 1014-953
 King Raj Raja I attacked and annexed northern part of Sri Lanka and Maldives
o He built a temple in Tanjore – Brihadeswara temple, which is first granite temple in India and is
dedicated to Shiva
o He also installed own statue along with wife’s statue, which was a unique tradition started by
Cholas and carried on by later empires.

o His son Rajendra Chola I 1014-1044 was the greatest king of the Cholas
o Annexed entire Sri Lanka and Lakshwadweep Islands
o He is said to have controlled three seas surrounding India
o He also attacked (Not annexed) Java and Sumatra, with a purpose to protect the interest of Indian
traders
 Cholas had strongest navy empires of early medieval times in India
o Some historians call Bay of Bengal as Chola’s lake
o Raj Raja I was first king of deep south India to attack North India (upto Bengal/Ganga)
o He adopted the title of Gangaikonda Chola
o Built a new city “Gangaikonda Cholapuram” (Tamil Nadu)
o Built a famous temple Brihadeshwara temple in Gangaikonda Cholapuram
o Built a lake Ganga Chola Lake in the new city
o Sculpture in Temples were of two types which are: temples sculptures and sculpture which stood
alone
o Bronze Nataraja in dancing form of Lord Shiva with four hands is a very famous sculpture
 Administration Of Cholas
o They had unique village administration. It was very autonomous in nature with little interference
from the Kings.
o In matters of local administration representatives were elected by people
o Assemblies were of three kinds:
 Ur: assembly of villages
 Sabha: assembly of Brahmins
 Nagaram: assembly of traders
o Uthiramerur Inscription during the reign of King Prantaka 903-953 gives description of Chola’s
administration.
o According to the inscription there was an executive council of 30 members, further divided into
committees
 Garden: Taking care of plantation
 Golden: fixing price of gold
 Tank Committee: water management in villages
o A representative for each of 30 wards was elected through Kudavolai system. Names of the
contestants from whom one could be chosen were written on palmleaf tickets. These palmleaves
were put into a pot and shuffled. A Child would pick up a slip and the member was thus chosen
o Sabha members had to satisfy certain qualification conditions like age limit (35-70), education in
Vedas, he should be land owner (one veli of land, atleast 1.5 acres), Not involved in any sin or
crime (thieves, drunkards, or those who had killed Brahmin, women or cow)
o After demitting his office term of 1 yr he could not contest for the next 3 years
o Members of centre administration were present but did not interfere in the elections (observer)
HISTORY OF ISLAM
 Islam stands for peace; second meaning is surrender before Allah/God.
 Derived from word “slim”; peace. Complete meaning is “peacefully surrender before Allah”. F
 Founder of Islam is Prophet Mohammed was born in 570 A.D. at Mecca. He died in 632 in Medina.
Fundamentals of Islam
According to Islam there are two important books; Quran and Hadith
 Quran was revealed by God to Prophet Mohammed and recorded during his life time
 Hadith records sayings, doings and approvals of Prophet Mohammed
8

First principal of Islam

 God is one and formless
 Belief in Prophet hood (Messengers) and holy books;
 In Islam it is believed that there were a series of Messengers starting from the first man on earth i.e.
Adam and the last messenger was Prophet Mohammed.
 The major revelations were Torah (Old Testament), Zaboor (revealed to David), Anjeel (New
Testament), Quran.
 It is believed in Islam that all previous books before Quran were lost either partially completely.
 They carried early laws which were meant for particular period or place.
 Quran is book for all mankind irrespective of place or origin and will last till Qayamat.
 Belief in Qayamat (day of judgement) when a person’s deeds would be judged. Similar to Moksha,
Parinam Nirvan
 In Islam concept of rebirth is rejected, they believe in resurrection. It is believed that a person will be
reawakened on “Day of Judgment” as same person to send them to Heaven or Hell (Jannat or
Jahannum)
 Followers would get Heaven (eternal life) and non-followers will get hell.
 Those who accepted the principals would be Muslims and have to adhere to certain conditions:
 He has to perform Namaz – 5 times a day
 Zakat (Alms/tax) – He has to give alms of value of 2.5% of his wealth provided his total annual
income in lunar year is more than equivalent of 7.5% tolas of value of gold. One tola is 10 grams.
 Roza in month of Ramzan – He has to undertake fasting in entire 9th calendar month of lunar
calendar. Muharram is first month of this calendar. Women are exempted under some
conditions
 Hajj – A Muslim has to undertake pilgrimage to Mecca in last Islamic month Zi-ul-Hajj (12th
month) out of his legal income at least once in lifetime provided he has financial ability.
Fiqh (jurisprudence)
It is the interpretation of Quran and Hadith in simple language by the medieval scholars. Based on
interpretations of scholars where schools have emerged
 Hanafi school is mostly followed in India
 Ja’fari school followed by Shia
 Shaafi’I School followed by Kerala Muslims
Shia and Sunni Muslims
 After the death of Prophet Mohammed, issue arose for the post of next Khalifa (religious-cum-
political head of the Islamic Community. There was struggle for power between various sects. The
first three caliphs were elected/chosen.
 The first four Caliphs were
 Abu-bakr, Omar, Usman, Ali
 The followers of fourth Caliph, Shian-e-Ali were known as Shias.
Advent of Islam in India
 Islam didn’t come through invaders. It came through Arab traders in south India.
 The first group of Muslims who came to India was of traders
First recorded attacks of Arabs in India

 711-712 by Muhammaed Bin Qasim, he invaded Sindh because Arabs believed that Muslim traders
were being persecuted by Indians.
 The ruler at that time was Dahir (king of Sindh) of Chacha Dynasty
 Chachnama – History of Sindh later written by Ali Kufi
9

 Arabs established rule in Sindh after the attacks and ruled for almost 300 yrs.
 They could not invade other parts of India mainly because of strong kings (Gurjar Pratiharas)
 Turks were a group of tribes of central Asia. They were not one homogenous group.
 The initial group of Turks who invaded India were:
 Mahmood of Ghazni
 Shabuddin Mohammed Ghori
Mahmood of Ghazni
 Ghazni was king of Afghanistan (998-1030 AD)
 He invaded India 17 times, the first attack was in 1000 AD
 Most famous attack was 1025 A.D. at Somnath Temple
 Purpose of his attacks was simply to plunder wealth, since temples were very rich they wanted to
exploit wealth.
 He earned title of ‘Butt Shikan’ destroyer of idols
 Al Beruni, a great scientist came to India along with him (11th century A.D.) but settled in Varanasi
and learnt Sanskrit
 He wrote a book Tahqiq –I – Hind or Kitab-ul-Hind. In this book he explained about culture,
society, prevalent system of untouchability
 This book is known as “Mirror of 11th century of India”.
 The short coming of the book was that it relied too much on Indian sources
10

HISTORY 15 Delhi Sultanate & Other Kingdoms
TURKISH INVADERS IN INDIA
Shahbuddin Mohammed Ghauri; also known as Muhammed bin Sam or Muizzuddin was ruler of Afghanistan
for period 1173-1206.
 His first attack on India was on Multan in 1175 which he conquered.

 His first attack on a Hindu Ruler in India was on Gujarat. (Battle of Anhilwara- 1178) Ghauri lost this
battle against the Solanki ruler Bhim II. (One of several Chalukya Dynasties)
 He again attacked in1191 but Prithviraj Chauhan defeated him because Ghauri underestimated Chauhan
 In 1192 he again attacked but this time he was better prepared and defeated Prithviraj in second battle
of Tarain
 He came again in 1194 and fought battle of Chandwar against Raja Jai Chandra, ruler of Kannauj of
Gharwal dynasty
 His last attack was in 1206 against Jats. He was killed while going back to Afghanistan by some of his
rival sects
 Md Ghauri had no sons and he didn’t nominate any particular one as his successor.
 His death resulted in a scramble for supremacy among his three important generals – Qutbuddin Aibak
(a viceroy of Md Ghauri and commander of his army in India), Tajuddin Yalduz (ruled Karman and
Sankuran between Afghanistan and Sind), and Nasiruddin Qubacha (held Uchh).
 The assumption of sovereign powers by Qutubuddin Aibak in 1206 is regarded as the foundation of the
Sultanate of Delhi and the first ruling dynasty of the sultanate.
Ikhtiyar Uddin Muhammed Khalji came from Turkey and attacked Bihar. He destroyed Nalanda and
Vikramshila monasteries. He also attacked Bengal, which was ruled by Lakshman Sen of Sena dynasty, and
defeated him.
He ruled till 1206. Bengal was eventually annexed as a part of Delhi Sultanate by Iltutmish in the year 1218
DELHI SULTANATE
Five dynasties ruled during this period
Dynasty and period Founder
1. the Ilbari 1206-90 Qutub-ud-din Aibak (Turkish descent)
2. the Khalji 1290-1320 Jalaluddin Khalji (Turkish descent)
3. the Tughlaq 1320-1413 Ghiyas-ud-din Tuglaq (Turkish descent)
4. the Saiyid 1414-51 Khizr Khan (Descent disputed)
5. the Lodis 1451-1526. Bahlul Lodi (Afghan)
Mamluks: Ilbari Turks, ruled between 1206-1290

 Mamluk stands for slaves who were bought for the army. They were not ordinary/domestic slaves.
 Ilbari: Name of Turkish Tribe (Qutub-ud-Din was only King who was not from Ilbari tribe; all
remaining kings were from this tribe. Infact only three kings of this dynasty were slaves.
Qutb-ud-Aibak ruled only for 4 years from Lahore (1206-10).

 He expanded empire from Sindh to Bengal and Himalayas to Vindhyas
 He gave sound administrative set up & followed modified Turkish administration
 He was famous for his generosity and earned the sobriquet of lakh-baksh (giver of lakhs)
 One of few kings who died accidentally, fell from horse while playing Polo (Chaugan)
1

 (Ghiyas-ud-din Tuqlaq, Sher Shah Suri and Akbar all died accidently)
 Contributions in Architecture:-
 He constructed Quwwat-ul-Islam, earliest mosque in India, at Mehrauli
 This mosque was earlier a Vishnu temple and a Jain temple before that. Generally symbols were
destroyed by the new rulers to establish and prove superiority of culture, religion and dynasty.
 Adhai-din-ka-Jhompra at Ajmer ( It is a mosque, but named such by Marathas)
 Laid foundation of Qutub Minar (victory tower) 52.5 m
Qutub Minar
 Qutab Minar is the tallest minaret in India and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
 It is named after Sufi Saint Qutb-ud-Din Bakhtiyar Kaki
 It was completed by Iltutmish, who constructed 4th and 5th floor.
 Over the period of history it has been repaired by Firoz Shah Tughlaq, Sikander Lodi and Major
Smith
Iltutmish (1210-36):
 After Qutub-ud-Din Aibak’s death governor of Badayun, Iltutmish annexed throne in 1210
 Shamsuddin Iltutmish was the real founder of the Delhi Sultanate.
 He shifted capital from Lahore to Mehrauli (Delhi)
 It was he who gave the country a capital, a sovereign state, a monarchical form of government and
a governing class or nobility, known as Turkan-i-chahalgani or Chalisa (a group of 40).
 Contributions:-
 Iltutmish constructed 2nd, 3rd and 4th floor of Qutub Minar.
 Built Hauz e Shamsi water tank, Gandhak ki Baoli step well in Delhi
 He issued coins; Tanka in Silver, Jital in copper 1 tanka: 48 Jital. Coins were in Arabic script
 Coins issued by Ghauri and Aibak were in Devanagiri script. In some of coins carried images of
Ghauri along with images of Hindu goddess Lakshmi
 King was known as Sultan (term used in Turkish subordinate to Caliph) but Sultans were actually
sovereign
 Iltutmish brought a certificate from caliph of Baghdad which recognized him as the king to please
Muslim theologists and adopted title of Nasir amir ul muminin (Deputy of Caliph) but actually there
was no direct control of Caliph.
 Kings from Balban onwards started claiming that they had divine powers, also known as “Divine
Theory of Kingship”
 They called themselves as Naib-e-Khudai, i.e. Deputy of God and Zille Illahi meaning Shadow of
God.
 The basic aim was strengthen power, prestige to avoid treachery from contemporaries as well as
relatives, infact slaves were trusted more than relatives
 Iltuttmish had maintained a corpus of 40 slaves who were known Turkan-i-Chahalgani holding
important departments. Interestingly one of them was Balban who killed Iltutmish and also all
other members of Chahalgani
 He introduced concept of Sajda (prostration before a person. In Islam this respect is reserved only
for god, not even for prophet, or parents of a person) It obviously was a violation of Islamic tenets.
 Another tradition was “Paibos” i.e. to kiss the feet of the Sultan.
 The aim was psychological dominance. Balban introduced these because five sultans before his
reign had been killed at hands of relatives because of conspiracy and treachery.
 Sultan held many important positions
 He was Commander in Chief of army and was present in most important battles
2

 He was also chief of civil administration as well Supreme Justice.

 Normally a court of law would try out the criminals
 Though his position was hereditary, in Islamic law there was no clear cut instruction on succession.
 It was meant to be passed to most able person, which often led to conflict when there were many
powerful successors.
UMRA & ULEMA

 One important group which emerged during Delhi Sultanate was Umra.
 Umra was a group of influential nobles. When the king was weak, he became a puppet of Umra.
 Ulema (holy men) had support of public, the king feared a public backlash if he defied ULEMA
 Umra and Ulema were very powerful and there was constant struggle of power and clash of
interests with the Sultan
 Muslim ruler invented new concept that during Khutba (religious sermon recited on Fridays) the
name of Sultan should be recited along with Prophet.
 Whenever a new Sultan came, he sent an order to all mosques in his kingdom to include his name
in Khutba
 The purpose was to maintain power and glorify him among common people.
 The king was assisted by a set of ministers who took care of different departments
 Close group advising King known as Majlis-e-Khalwat
 One of important officer in Majlis was Wazir who had basic role of PM, after the king he held
the most powerful position..
 Second important officer was Diwan-i-Ala or finance minister (developed further under Mughal
times)
 Mir Bakshi or Mir-e-Arz, was incharge of army but not Commander in Chief, he was incharge of
recruitment, salary
 Amir-i-Insha was incharge of correspondence which in medieval times was important position.
He had to maintain diplomatic relations with external empires as well as correspondence with
various province heads
 Qazi-ul-Quazat: He was the chief Justice of the kingdom, he also sometimes took charge of Sadr-
us-Sudur incharge of grants for the mosques, students etc. Scholarship was called Wazifa
 Amir-i-Hajib: Basically maintained protocol, and agenda of king in terms of meeting officials and
common people.
 Amir-i-Shikar: Incharge of royal hunting, to keep army fit and active
 Amir-i-Akhur: Incharge of royal stable, though it was not a powerful position but very influential
position because of proximity to the king.
Three Sultans contributed to the additions in the portfolios of officers

 Alau-ud-Din Khalji
Introduced two new departments
o Diwan-i- Mustakharaj: - was incharge of collecting revenue
o Diwan-i-Riyasat: - was looking into the market control policies
 Muhammed Bin Tughlaq
o Diwan-i-Kohi or Amir-i-Kohi: Role was to improve agricultural lands and facilities as there
was a famine during this period..
 Feroz Shah Tughlaq:
o He was known as a welfare king as he had introduced many public welfare reforms
o He introduced the following new officers:-
 Dawa-i-Khairat: For charitable purposes
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 Diwain I Risalat: Believed to be used for religious purposes

 Diwan I Imarat: For architectural purposes
 All of the above were highest ranking officials
 Revenue management
 Most important was Kharaj – Land revenue (Bhag)
 Others were Zakat, Jazia, Khams or Mal-e-Ghanimat
 There were two methods of collecting Kharaj:
 State would demand a fixed share based on total produce of the peasant
 In this case assessing state official estimated the maximum possible total produce and fixed the
tax beforehand
 Even if the actual produce is less of more than the predicted production, the state would collect
its fixed share irrespective of crop.
 The Kharaj could be collected both in cash and kind.
 In case of cash the market price played important role.
 Cash price could be determined by market price or price decided by state
 In fact there was no uniformity all over the empire.
 Cash was needed and Sultans preferred to collect Kharaj in cash as it was easy for state to
collect.
 Collecting grains entailed procuring, weighing, transporting and storing.
 The collection of revenue by cash had a very positive impact on the society.
 The peasants were forced to sell as they had to pay land revenue
 The places where they sold was called Kasbah
 These Kasbahs developed into towns and cities in the future
 Collection of revenue in cash was one of the main reason for urban revolution in 13th and 14th
century
 Other taxes
o ZAKAT
It was collected only from Muslims at rate of 2.5% of total wealth. It was collected from only
those Muslims who had savings of more than 7.5 tolas of gold or its equivalent based on lunar
calendar. It was compulsory from both men and women
o JAZIYA
Jaziya originated in Arab world ever since the early days of Islam. In that period and region,
there were generally only Muslims and Christians. Non-Muslim (called Zimmis or Dhimmis) had
apprehension in joining army, so they paid additional tax in lieu of protection. There are
evidences that if they joined army Jazia was refunded to them.
 Technically it was wrong to impose Jazia in india, as there were large number of Hindu
soldiers. So it was against tenets and spirit of Islam.
 Institution of Islam was being used by Muslim Kings for their political and personal gains.
The problem arose during the reign of Feroz Shah Tughlaq when he separated Jaziya from Kharaj
 In earlier kingdoms, since Jaziya was collected along with Kharaj, it was a small amount
compared to total amount.
 Once it was separated, peasants resented additional tax.
 Jaziya was also getting collected from Brahmins, which caused huge controversy as
throughout history Brahmins never paid taxes and were considered a privileged sect.
 The right to collect Jaziya was given to the Ullemans but they started maligning the
Brahmins which led to strikes in Delhi.
Akbar stopped collecting Jaziya during 1564 but it was re-imposed by Aurangzeb again.

o KHAMS
It was also known as Mal-e-Ghanimat, it related to war booty
According to Islam out of the total war booty, four-fifth would go to the soldiers and one-fifth to
the state.
Sultan Alla-ud-din Khalji reversed the collection i.e. 4/5th to state and 1/5th to soldiers.
 Most important source of revenue was Kharaj
 Ala-ud-din Khlaji collected 50% of income as Kharaj.
 There were no revenue records before the time of Ala-ud-Din Khalji. After him revenue
records were maintained very strictly. Mushrif-e-Mamalik were auditors
Provincial and Local Administration

 Iltutmish gave a structure to entire administration in his vast territory, before him due to feudalism
prevalent in India, kings were very weak.
 Iltutmish brought major changes in provincial and local administration
 He divided his empire into various Iqtas – Territories
 Iqta was divided into Shiqq, Shiqq into Pargana under which villages would lie
 Iqta was similar to modern day state, it was called Suba by Mughals and Province in days of the
British
 Iqta-dar was incharge of territory
 There were 3 types of Iqta-dars; Wali, Mukta and Iqtadar.
 Wali was governor of bigger iqta and had 3 responsibilities; collection of revenue, law and
order and maintenance of army on behalf of sultanate.
 Muqtadar was similar to Wali, Iqtadar was responsible for first two functions but he did not
maintain army. Majority of officers were Iqtadars. Wali and Muqtadar were senior positions
and fewer in numbers.
 There were two major differences in administration in Rajput period and Delhi Sultanate;
 The positions of Wali, Muktadar and Iqtadar were not hereditary. They were regularly
transferred, removed or changed, so that could not establish local rapport or followings.
Rajput officials were almost permanent in nature.
 Each iqta was sub-divided into Shiq. At this level there were two kind of officials having equal rank
but different job profiles
 Shiqdar I Shiqdaran Incharge of law and order
 Munsif I Munsifan Revenue and Civil Justice
 Below Shiq was Pargana, here the official were
 Shiqdar; Incharge of law and order
 Munsif ;Incharge of revenue
 All the Shiqdars were headed by Shiqdar-i-Shiqdaran
 Delhi sultanate did not change the rural administrative structure in India. The British were the
first ones to change the rural structure
 Muslim rulers made agreements with the village chiefs for the collection of revenue
 The village chiefs had different names; Khut or Zamindar, Mokaddam or village headman and
Chaudhari who was head of 100 villages.
 These people were not officials and were not paid salary but received commission in return for
services provided for revenue collections.

ARMY ADMINISTRATION
 Alau-ud-Din Khalji was the first to maintain a regular army.
 Initially there was no regular army; recruitment was done during war and for period of war. Soldiers
were peasants only, who came back to agriculture after the war.
 But there are evidences that it used to exist even during the period of Balban and Itutmish as they
had maintained a separate department for army i.e. Mir-e-Arz
 Alau-ud-din is believed to have maintained a large of army of around 3 lac soldiers
 He paid salary to soldiers in cash. Each soldier was paid 312 tanka for if he maintained two
horses, and 243 tankas if he if he was maintaining one horse
 Hierarchy of army from top to bottom was; Khan, Malik, Amir, Sipah-e-salar, Sirkhail
 Alau-ud-Din introduced Dagh (Horses were branded with royal seal to check corruption) and
Chehra (depiction of facial details or soldier along with identification marks) to avoid impostors
 Soldiers were mainly Hindus
 Officials were Muslims who spoke Turkish, Persian or Arabic
 Braj and Khadi were local dialects which became polished when they came in contact with above
mentioned languages. This led to development of Urdu
 Urdu means Camp also Lashkar or Battalion of Army
 Urdu was language of Hindu soldiers
 It originated in and around Delhi
 First poet of Urdu was Amir Khusro
 He created a new style of Persian called sabaq-i-hindi or the Indian style.
His important literary writings are mutla-ul-anwar, shirin khusrau, laila majnun, ayina-i-sikandari
and hasht-bihisht.
RAZIYA SULTAN
After the death of Iltutmish in 1236, his son, Rukknuddin Feroz Shah became the ruler with help of Umara
but he was not a capable ruler
So his sister Raziya got help from people of Delhi and some of the Umara and became the ruler.
 She became the first woman ruler of India
 Contemporary writer Minhau us Siraj wrote about Sultan in his book Tabaqat-i-Nasiri
 He described Raziya as beautiful, intelligent and courageous woman who had all the qualities to
become a successful ruler, but was born with a wrong sex.
 Umara thought they could use Raziya to govern the Sultanate
 But they were shocked when Raziya arrived wearing the attire of her father, Qula and Kuba and
started dictating her own terms
 Even Raziya’s mother and own brothers were against her
 Jamalludin Yaqut an Abyssinian slave was given the post of Amir-i-Akhtur by Raziya. There were
rumours that they had an affair but there was no authentic proof of this fact.
 Raziya actually married Altunia, who was the Governor of Bathinda.
 Raziya was followed by Bahram Shah (1240 C.E. – 1242 C.E.) his rule witnessed the first sack and
plunder of Lahore by Mongols, he also created the post of Naib-e-Mamlakat (the regent) for the
first time, who was the de-facto ruler and sultan was the de-jure ruler. Later Bahram Shah was put
to death by the Chalgani nobles.

HISTORY 16 Delhi Sultanate (contd.)
Sultans who came after Razia Sultan

o Behram Shah (1240-42)
o Allauddin Shah (1242-46)
o Nasiruddin Mehmood (1246-1266). Literary source Kat-e-Nassiri dedicated to Nasaruddin Mehmood.
Most important king in this period was Balban
Balban (1266-1287 A.D.)
 He was one of the greatest Sultans of Delhi.

 His title was Ulluk Khan or Ulugh Khan (great Khan)
Others great Sultans were:-
 He was famous for consolidating the Delhi Sultanate
o Ilttutmish
 He proposed “Divine Theory of Kingship”. He proclaimed
o Alauddin Khalji,
himself to be; Naib-e-Khudai
o Mohammad Bin Tughlaq
 He also claimed to be descendent of Iranian dynasty “Afrasia”
o Firoz Shah Tughlaq
(mythological dynasty described in Shah Nama of Firdausi).
 He named his grandsons after Afrasia dynasty: Kaikobad, Kai
Khusro, and Keimur.
 He made strict rules and maintained high level of discipline in court.
 Everybody had to remain standing and serious conduct had to be maintained in the court.
 He introduced “Sajda and Paibos” (Prostration before Sultan and kissing the feet of King)
Administration
 He ruled with “Blood and Iron Policy”. Reason for Divine Theory and court
 He mercilessly suppressed all revolts very severely so that discipline and gestures
no group including Umra and local ruler could dare stand
against him  Kings were insecure, and tried to
 Balban was first king in India who realized importance of consolidate their position.
protecting borders especially fragile areas of North Western  Earlier Sultans had unnatural
boundaries. deaths. Even Balban was also
 In Balban’s period greatest threat was from the Mongols (In rumoured to have killed previous
Mughal India threat was from Afghans and Uzbeks) emperor
 Special officers were appointed at border known as  Another reason was that he
“Warden of Marches” wanted to restore the power,
 He maintained a chain of forts manned by soldiers and position and grandeur of
these Wardens Iltutmish
 Halaku Khan, the Mongol king was most hated person in  For this very reason Balban could
Islamic world as he had assassinated Caliph of Baghdad. rule without any major rebellions
Balban maintained diplomatic ties even with Mongols in his 20 years of rule.
despite the religious and emotional reasons.
 Mewat region of Haryana was problem area during this period as people from jungles of Mewat
attacked and looted travellers and common people. Balban responded by cutting down jungles,
established Thanas manned by Afghans, and arrested and even killed a lot of looters.
 He could maintain and administer entire kingdom with strong hand.
 After his death his tomb was built at Mehrauli. This tomb is first true arch (Mehrab) building in India
and became trendsetter in later periods.

 The second building of this style was Alai Darwaza constructed by Alauddin Khalji.
 He was succeeded by his grandson Kaikabad.
KHALJI DYNASTY (1290-1320)
 1287-90 was period of weak kings

 Ilbari dynasty was over thrown by Jalaluddin Khalji, (Khalji is name of Turkish Tribe.)
 The most famous sultan was Allauddin Khalji
Literary Sources:
o The source of information of earlier Sultans was Qat-e-Nasiri
o Tahrikh-e-Firozshahi (literally means History of Firoz Shah) by Ziauddin Barni covers history of
around 100 years very professionally (1258-1347). He was present during Tuglaq period and was
not state sponsored.
o Another book which gives details of this period is “Ashika” written by Amir Khusro and “Muftab-
ul-Futooh” also by Aamir Khusor about victories by Jalaluddin and “Khazain-ul-futooh
Jalaluddin Khalji (1290-1296)
 He ended Mamluk or Ilbari dynasty and event is known as “Khalji Revolution”

 He was first Sultan who went beyond Vindhyas (low range hills in M.P.) upto Devagiri in Maharashtra.
 Allaudin Khalji led this campaign. He also defeated Raja Ramchandra Dev and looted the palace.
 Allaudin killed Jalaludin after he came back to capital and captured the power.
Alauddin Khalji (1296-1316 A.D.) (real name was Ali Gurshasp)
 Important areas of his era: Conquests, military reforms, revenue reforms, market control policy, “Turn-
Coat-Policy”, Cultural development in this period (art and literature, sculptures were notably absent as
sculptures are banned is Islam)
Military Reforms
o He was the first person to keep a permanent army of 3.5 lacs

o He paid soldiers in cash rather than in kind
o He organized the army in decimal system
o He introduced Dagh (branding of Horses and Chehra (Identification of soldiers)
Military conquests
o Gujarat was conquered by his commanders in 1299 A.D.

o Local king (Raja Karan of Bhagela dynasty) was defeated and his wife was brought to court
o He attacked Ranthambore in 1301 A.D. it was strongest fort in this period in India.
o Forts were conquered by method of Qilabandi (Siezure of fort, cutting off supplies and wait for
months for the defenders to wear out and run out of supplies)
o King of Ranthambore was Hammir Dev and his queen committed Johar (Sati)
o In 1303 A.D. he attacked Chittor (King was Rana Rattan Singh)
o Chittor was described by Amir Khusro as Seventh Heaven
o Chittor conquest was also described in romanticized and poetic form in “Padmavati”, a Hindi
drama by Malik Muhammed Jayasi.

o His commander Malik Kafur attacked south India in 1308 A.D.

o The Yadav dynasty (Devagiri), earlier defeated by Alauddin was again defeated by Malik Kafur.
o Malik also defeated Kakatiyas of Warangal, Hoysalas of Dwarasamudra & Pandyas of Madurai
o Policy of Alauddin Khalji was not to annex. He didn’t rule the kingdom but allowed the defeated
rulers to rule, but they had to pay him some compensation.
o This was a major difference between Tughlaq and Khalji
Revenue Administration
o Land was measured to ascertain ownership

o Revenue assessment was done on basis of land which was sown.
o Half of assessed produce (not the actual produce) was collected as
revenue (Kharaj). Alauddin Khalji (1296-1316)
o Perhaps for first time such high rates were imposed along with Shershah Suri and
Akbar are three main kings
o He set up a new department of Diwan-e-Mustakhraj to collect
which are important in history
details about the areas of revenue.
for changes they brought in
o He crushed the powers of intermediaries like Kuth, Muqaddam
revenue administration.
and Chaudhary who were reduced to penury.
o There are no records for earlier emperors for revenue collection.
Hence Allauddin is credited for changes in revenue
administration.
Market Control Policy
o This was a very unique policy which was enacted to maintain a large army
o Three markets were set up in Delhi: 1. Grains, 2. Clothes and 3.Manufactured items and for sale of
animals and slaves
o He introduced 16 regulations for these markets in 1302 A.D., the highlights of these regulations
were;
 Price Control- commodity would be sold at a price fixed by state and not market. This ensured
there was no price fluctuation.
 Procurement- State would procure grains from peasants directly. Delhi was only authorized
market.
 Registration- Each trader had to be registered with the market and there was a centralized
market
o Facilities were provided for traders and Banjaras (Transporters)
o Reason of success of markets was very good intelligence network; both institutional and direct
(king’s informants known as “Munhinyas”)
o Intelligence department was very well developed. He appointed superintendent of markets and
officials below him. Superintendent (Daroga-e-Mandi) reported to Diwan-e-Riyasat.
Turn Coat Policy of Alauddin Khalji

o It refers to policy in which there are group of people who are considered elite (Umra) and this
policy is about controlling these people.
o Allauddin was autocrat and didn’t believe in sharing power with Umra so he made policies to
reduce their influence and power.
 This group practiced drinking a lot and to counter this, he banned social gatherings.
 He banned marriages within Umrah to prevent consolidation of their relations.

Cultural Developments during his period in architecture

o Allahi Darwaza: Second true arch building and lay out in shape of horse shoe
o Jamat –e- Khana: The first building in India built in completely Islamic style
o Siri Fort in Delhi
o He attempted to build another minaret near Qutub Minar known as Alla-e-Minar
o He built a house Hauz-e-Alae which was renovated by Firozshah Tughlaq and named as Hauz-e-
Khas
Literature
Amir Khusro (1251-1325 A.D.)
 Amir Khusro was disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya

 Amir Khusro served 5 Sultans of Delhi
 He was historian and wrote a book known as Tughlaq Nama (Ghiyas-ud-din-Tughlaq)
 Another important book was on Indian culture “Noh-e- Sepehr”
 He was pioneer of Qawwali singing in India. (Qawwali is chorus in praise of Sufi saint in the
shrines)
 He is also credited with invention of Sitar (three stringed instrument)
 He was also credited with 3 Ragas (Yaman, Sanam and Ghora)
 He was believed to be first Urdu poet.
 He was popularly known as Tootai-e-Hind (Parrot of India)
The rulers after Allauddin Khalji were not powerful. The first Indian origin Muslim King was Naseeruddin
(1321 A.D.) who came in power for few months during this dynasty. He was a Hindu Convert.
TUGHLAQ DYNASTY
 Main Kings were Ghiyas-ud-din-Tughlaq (1320-1325 A.D.) & Muhammad Bin Tughlaq (1325-1351)
Ghiyas-ud-din was founder of dynasty and his real name was Ghazi Malik
 He reversed policies of Allauddin Khalji’s policies of Kharaj.
 He collected revenue which was 1/3 or ¼ of the produce on basis of actual production.
 A famous fort of Tughlaqabad Fort, near Delhi is credited to him.
 First marble built tomb was built by him opposite this fort.
 According to legend the Chishti saints disliked sultans because of their opulent life style of elite.
 Relations between Nizamuddin Auliya and Ghiyas-ud-din were not good.
Mohammed Bin Tughlaq 1325-1351 A.D.

 His real name was Jauna Khan
 He was most educated and also, the most controversial sultan of Delhi
 Historians consider him as a man of paradoxes, he is also known in history as the “wisest fool”.
 The reason for him being called wisest fool was that he experimented too much, and many of his
experiments resulted in failures which caused huge economic losses.
 His court patronized scholars from different backgrounds like Jin Prabha Suri ( a Jain Scholar)
 A traveller from Murakhpur, Ibn-e-Batuta (book Kitab-ul-Rihla) was made Qazi of Delhi and was also
sent to China on behalf of the king
4

 He was the first Sultan who celebrated Hindu festivals

 (Akbar’s most favourite festival was Janamashtmi)
 He was very secular person, he appointed people on basis of merit instead of religion or ethnicity.
Policies and Programmes of Mohammed Bin Tughlaq which failed

 Transfer of Capital from Delhi to Devagiri (1327 A.D.) and renamed Daulatabad.
 The reason for transfer was that the sultan wanted to rule Deccan region directly, and Devagiri was
gateway of South India.
 He had to return to Delhi because of threats of Mongols in North. Transfer of capital caused
financial loss as well as death of people. A lot of people perished because the transfer was done in
peak of summer.
Impact of transfer of capital

 Many people of North settled in Deccan bringing about influences of culture and language.
 Locals were called Deccani and Afaqis were people who settled from north.
 This linguistic group led to creation of Bahmani Kingdom.
Token currency
 He introduced coins in copper, brass and bronze.
 Brass coins were introduced for the first time in India.
o Value of brass coin was kept equivalent to one silver tanka, earlier it was 48 brass coins to 1
silver coin.
o In medieval ages value of metal was more important than the face value of coin.
o Thus he gave value for money instead of just the metallic value of coin.
o People started minting coins locally as brass was much cheaper than their face value.
o It resulted in large currency flow in market causing huge inflation and hampering trade.
 So he had to withdraw this currency.
Expedition to Khurasan
 He raised an army of 3 lac soldiers exclusively for this expedition but later on abandoned the idea.
 This caused huge financial loss and soldiers became unemployed.
 These soldiers were armed and trained and started indulging in looting etc. which created problems
in civil administration
Expedition to Karachi
 There was a rebellion in Kangra, Mohd Tughlaq sent an army of 10,000 soldiers to suppress this
rebellion.
 The soldiers were not trained for fighting in hilly terrain but opposition were fighting guerrilla war.
 Cold weather and injuries along with diseases caused huge loss of lives of soldiers which created
unrest.
Taxation in Doab:
 Doab was most fertile land in Indian Sub-continent
 He ordered the collection of revenue through land assessment at 50% of produce in this area.
 There was a huge unrest in Doab region due to this heavy taxation.
 Situation was compounded by serious drought in this region; hence people were in no position to
pay taxes.

 This led to violence in region, tax officials were attacked and crops were burnt.
o He setup a separate department of agriculture, Diwan-e-Kohi, to rectify this situation
o He provided loans named Takvi and Saundhar to the peasants
o He collected sample of the land tried to experiment with them making the barren lands fertile,
spending a lot of finances on these experiments
o He tried to change cropping patterns and encouraged farmers to grow cash crops
Firoz Shah Tughlaq (1351 a.d. – 1388 a.d.)
 He is known in Medieval History as the “Welfare King”

 He set up 3 departments for public welfare and better
administration. Literary evidence of this period
o Diwan-e-Khairat  Tariqh e Firoz Shahi written by
o Diwan-e-Imarat Ziauddin Barni, this privately
o Diwan-e-Risalath written book describes four
 He built maximum number of irrigation canals on river different reigns or Sultans of Delhi
Yamuna and Sutlej (Some more than 100km Long)  Tarikh e Firozshahi written by
 He collected tax, Haq-e-Shirb (10%) from peasants who Shams Siraj Afif (Official book, as
were using water from irrigation canals. writer was employed with Firoz
 He built many hospitals (Shifa Khanas) Shah Tughlaq)
 He built many orphanages and widow homes  Fatawa-e-Jahandari by Ziauddin
 He also started marriage bureaus to help poor people in Barni (Political philosophy of
marriages and employment bureaus to help youth in Medieval Indians)
employment  Futuhat-e-Firozshahi an
 There was large no. of slaves in his empire. He trained the autobiography of Firoz Shah
slaves and helped them in providing self-employment
Orthodox Religious Policies

o He separated Jazia from Kharaj (Earlier it was collected along with Kharaj, the revenue on
agriculture)
o He collected Jazia even from Hindu theologists (pundits). This created anger among hindus.
o He attacked Hindu temples – Jwala Temple in H.P. and Puri in Orissa
o He banned female entry into shrines of Sufi saints
o He tried to ban some Muslim festivals because he declared it un-Islamic e.g. Shab-e-barat
o His most serious crime was to burning alive a Brahmin for converting Muslims to Hinduism.
Architecture
o Firoz Shah Kotla in Delhi
o He repaired Hauz-e-Allai
o He repaired and constructed one floor of Qutub Minar
o Qala Masjid in old Delhi
LAST FEW DYNASTIES
1. Sayyed Dynasty (1414-1451) - Its founder was Khizr Khan
2. Lodhis (1451-1526)
 Three important kings were Bahlol Lodhi, Sikandar Lodhi & Ibrahim Lodhi
6

 Lodhis were the first Afghan rulers in India

 They introduced a new currency “Pehloyi”
 Bahlol Lodhi was the first Sultan of Delhi to capture Kashmir
 Sikander Lodhi built Agra in 1504 A.D. and shifted capital from Delhi to Agra in 1506 A.D.
 Ibrahim Lodhi was last king
 He faced attack from Babur
 Babur invaded India five times
 First Battle of Panipat was in 1526 AD
 In his period famous Lodhi gardens of Delhi was built
 Another important monument is Tomb of Sikander Lodhi which has the first evidence of Double
dome in India inside Lodhi gardens in Delhi
DECLINE OF DELHI SULTANATE
 Success of Babur is mainly because of failure of Indian Rulers

 Iktadari system was made hereditary by Firoz Shah Tughlaq.
 Iktadaar’s son or son-in-law would get Ikta after his death. This policy was used in Army as well.
 Regular conspiracies in court caused by Umra weakened the State
 Rulers after Firoz Shah were not great and could not control the vast empire
REGIONAL KINGDOMS IN DECCAN REGION
 Vijaya Nagar Kingdom (1336) and Bahmani Kingdom (1347) emerged almost together during
Mohammed Bin Tughlaq’s rule
 Both empires fought against each other for over two centuries over Raichur Doab between Krishna
and Tunghbhadra and also fought for Krishna Godavari Delta and Marathwada region.
 Battleground of these two kingdoms was in Raichur Doab
 Even after split of Bahmani kingdom, the separated kingdoms continued to fight with Vijaya Nagar
Kingdom.
 Though the kings of divided Bahmani Kingdoms fought amongst themselves, whenever anyone
kingdom fought with Vijayanagar they pooled their resources together against Vijaynagar Empire.
 Main reason for this factor was that Vijayanagar was Hindu kingdom and rest of Bahmani Kings were
Muslim.
 Two famous battles which were fought between these kingdoms were:
 Battle of Talikota – decisive battle – 1526 A.D.
 Battle of Bannihatti 1565 A.D. (Battle of Rakkasa Tangadi
 They defeated Vijayanagar in both the battles.

HISTORY 17
The Vijayanagar and Bahamani kingdom
Two powerful kingdoms emerged in Deccan region i.e. upper part of south India (Region of Andhra and
Karnataka): Vijayanagar and Bahamani Kingdoms
VIJAYANAGAR KINGDOM
This kingdom emerged in mid of 14th century and lasted for 200 years
Three important dynasties ruled Vijayanagar Empire.
 Sangama dynasty (1336-1486 C.E.)
 Saluva dynasty (1486 – 1505 C.E.)
 Tuluva dynasty (1505 – 1569 C.E.)
 Aravidu dynasty (1569 – 1672 C.E.) (Not very significant dynasty)
Sangama Dynasty : (1336 – 1486 C.E.)

This dynasty was founded in 1336 C.E. by two brothers Harihara and Bukka.
 These two brothers were feudatories in Kampli of Karnataka
Legend associated with founders

They originally served under the Kakatiya ruler Pratap Rudra Deva II and when the kingdom was overrun
by Tughlaqs, they shifted to Kampli. Kampli was also overtaken by Muhammad Bin Tughlaq, and they
were taken to Delhi and were converted to Islam.
Later they were sent by the King to suppress the rebellion in Kampli. They converted back to Hinduism
and with the assistance and advice of sage Vidyaranya of Sringeri, they laid the foundation of the
kingdom of Vijayanagar on the banks of the river Tunghabhadra.
Their capital was city of Vijayanagar. This city is nowadays known as Hampi (Karnataka). Though Hampi
is a small city but it has many buildings of architectural splendor. It is also a World Heritage Site.
 Harihara (1336 – 1356 C.E.), was the first ruler of the Vijayanagar empire and also the Sangama
dynasty.
 Bukka Rai I (1356 –1377 C.E.) succeeded Harihara.
Their father was Sangama, hence the name of dynasty.
 Dev Raya I and Dev Raya II in 15th century were two great rulers of Sangama dynasty
Nicolo Conti visited during this period of Devraya I.
Devraya II recruited a large number of Muslims soldiers in his army as archers. At the same time the
Muslim Bahmani kingdom also had large number of Hindu soldiers. Both kingdoms used religion as
political tools.
The last ruler of Sangama dynasty was Virupaksha II. He was deposed and assassinated by his
commander in chief Saluva Narasimha in 1485 C.E. who laid the foundation of the Saluva dynasty. The
Saluva dynasty lasted only two decades and in 1505 C.E Vir Narasimha, the commander in chief of the
last Saluva ruler Immadi Narasimha usurped the throne thus laying the foundation of Tuluva dynasty.
TULUVA DYNASTY
 Tuluva Krishna Deva Raya (1509-1529) was most the most famous king of this dynasty
 He was also known as Andhra Bhoj (Bhoj is term used in South for King)
 He was very good writer and wrote famous books; Amuktamalyas and Jambavati Kalyanam in
Sanskrit
 His court had 8 poets , popularly known as Ashta-dig-gajas (literal meaning big elephant)
 Tenali Rama, known for his humor and wit, was present in his court.
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HISTORY 17
 Domingo Paes and Duarte Barbosa (Portuguese) and Fernao Nuniz (Italian) visited during his
reign
 Krishna Dev Raya was praised in Tuzuki-i-Babri; autobiography of Babur.
Administration under Vijayanagar Empire

They gave centralized administration in which king was supreme and generally a Brahmin
Kings were assisted by Mantri Parishad, whose members were also mainly Brahmins
Sachivalaya was the department in which officials worked
Empire was divided into various segments
 Rajya or Manadlam was biggest administrative division where princes were appointed as
Governors. Rajyas were further divided into; 1) Valanadu, 2) Nadu or District,3) Melagram, 4)
Gram
 Governor working in those Rajyas had powers to levy taxes and issue coins but were under total
control of central authority.
Feudal system developed which was known as Nayankar System. The military officers called as Amar
Nayaks who got land in lieu of their salary and that land was called as Amaram. Amaram did not fall
under Rajya directly. Amar Nayaks couldn’t introduce coins and taxes though they could maintain army
and collect revenue themselves. Over the period Amar Nayaks became hereditary.
There were 200 such Amar Nayaks who became very powerful as they had their own armies, source of
revenue, and maintained law and order themselves in their areas.
Many of them declared themselves independent especially after the central authority declined.
Unlike Chola dynasty, Grams did not enjoy similar level of autonomy. Under Cholas they could elect their
executive bodies. In Vijayanagar Empire central authority had direct role in village administration.
Revenue system
 Vijayanagar rulers also collected taxes from various sources and land revenue was the greatest
sources. It was 1/6th of the produce
 Trades, crafts and industries were taxed.
 A unique tax on marriage was also imposed which had to be paid by both bride and groom.
 In case of widow remarriage tax was not imposed implying that widow remarriage was
encouraged by state
 Even prostitutes and gamblers were taxed thereby legitimizing these professions.
Society and Culture

 There was evidence of influence of Aryan culture.
 Brahmins were politically very influential. All top positions in army, revenue and judicial
administration as well as priest class were Brahmins
 Priest class and temples got certain land which were taxed but at very low rates; 1/40th in case
of temples and 1/30th in case of priests
 Brahmins had monopoly over education, it was reserved for upper castes only and women were
generally ignored.
 Temples were one of the largest employers. They also worked as a bank giving loan to the traders
(rate of interest 3-30%) External trade was charged at higher rates as external trade had greater
degree of risk. Sometimes even kings had to take loans from temples
 Temples had great role in developing various cultures, like drama, music, paintings and this in
turn encouraged various craftsmen and artisans.
 Temples in south India thus played an important role, both for developing economy as well as
culture.
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HISTORY 17
 ‘Kalyanmandap’ was unique feature of south Indian temples. In this mandap marriage of Devis
and Devtas were celebrated with great pomp and show.
 Some of famous temples constructed in Vijayanagar empire are Virupaksha Temple (built by
Krishna Deva Raya) and Temple of Thousand Pillars. They are very important for their
architectural excellence.
Condition of Women:
 Condition of women was generally poor. Though there was no purdah system polygyny was
prevalent
 Widows were discouraged by society to remarry (but State encouraged it by not taxing widow
remarriage)
 Sati was prevalent, though a unique system was also prevalent wherein male guards of king
jumped in pyre of king.
 Child marriage was not very common but there were some instances of this practice.
BAHMANI KINGDOM
 Bahmani Kingdom was a parallel kingdom north of Vijayanagar in the same period.
 It was founded in 1347 by Allaudin Hassan who claimed himself to be descendent of a famous
Iranian Royal family and assumed title of ‘Bahman Shah’
 He also had a Brahmin Guru, Gangu, hence he is also known as ‘Hassan Gangu’
 He made his capital in Gulbarga in Karnataka.
Three important people who played a key role in expanding and consolidating the Bahmani Kingdom:
1. Firoz Shah Bahman (1397-1422) was educated and learned man and knew many languages. He had
wives from different linguistic backgrounds. He built astronomical observatory in Daulatabad.
He married daughter of Dev Raya I. He was later defeated by Dev Raya I
He gave up the power to his brother Ahmad Shah.
2. Ahmad Shah was also known as Wali as he was treated as Sufi Saint.
Ahmad Shah shifted the capital from Gulbarga to Bidar
A famous north Indian saint Gesu Daraz (Long Haired) a saint of Chisti Silsila visited during this period
3. Mahmud Gawan
He was not king but Wazir-e-Sultanate under Muhhammad Shah III, who was weak and was merely a
puppet in hands of Mahmud Gawan
 Gawan brought Bahmani kingdom to its Zenith and its boundaries touched Orissa
 He divided the kingdom into 8 Atraf (provinces), each headed by a Governor
 He built a madrasa at Bidar known as Mahmud Gawan Madrasa which attracted students from
India and Central Asia. Delhi, Jaunpur and Bidar became three important head quarters of
Islamic religion
 In his period there was a clash of Deccani and Afaquis in the court.
 Local population was known as Deccani and Afaquis were basically outsiders, generally from
north (from India, Persia and Central Asia). Deccanis themselves were outsiders but had settled
earlier than the Afaquis. Gawan an Afaqui himself was killed by Deccanis
After his death the kingdom was divided into 5 kingdoms, which though were not large, but very strong.
Kingdom Founder Year Dynasty

Berar (Maharshtra) Fatehullah Imad Ul Mulk 1484 Imad Shahi dynasty
Bijapur(Kar) Yusuf Adil Shah 1489 Adil Shahi dynasty
Ahmadnagar(Mah.) Malik Ahmad 1490 Nizam Shahi dynasty

HISTORY 17
Kingdom Founder Year Dynasty

Golkonda (Andhra) Qutub Shah 1512 Qutb Shahi dynasty
Bidar( Karnataka) Qasim Barid 1527 Barid Shahi dynasty
Bahmani Empire and Vijayanagar Empire had almost parallel existence. These two kingdoms fought for
almost 200years over three regions:
 Raichur Doab (Between Krishna and Tungabhadra)
 Area between Krisha and Godavari Delta
 Marathwada Region
Raichur Doab was battle ground and the main bone of contention between these Kingdoms.
In 1565 in battle of Talicotta also known as battle of Banihatti, or Rakkasa Tangdi, Vijaynagar was
defeated.
They fought over trade, economy, commerce as well as agriculture, but in case if any one of five
Bahmani kingdoms had to fight with Vijayanagar Empire, they united to fight against it.
AdilShahi, NizamShahi and Qutub Shahi were important and stronger than the other two kingdoms.
These kingdoms had great contribution in literature especially Urdu literature which had no scope to
flourish in north India as Persian was there official language.
In South Urdu was facing Telugu, Kanadda and Marathi. Urdu became a lingua franca and was official
language of Bahmani Kingdoms, thereby providing support and benefits to the language and enabled it
to flourish.
Quli Qutub Shah is regarded as first Urdu poet, his collection of poems is knowns as Diwan-e-Qutub-e-
Shahi
Wali Deccani was another famous Urdu poet in Bahmani Kingdom
A few additional points about Bahmani Kingdoms

 Bijapur: Gol Gumbaj was a biggest dome in India built by Bijapur.
 Golconda: City of Hyderabad and Charminar were built by Golconda empire
 Ahmad Nagar Kingdom;The last decade of 16th century witnessed the rise of Chand Bibi, the
daughter of Hussain Nizam Shah I, as the defacto ruler of Ahmed Nagar. She fought against the
Moghul army valiantly but was killed in 1600 C.E. by her own general. She was the only women
ruler of the Deccan sultanate in the medieval period.
 Berar stayed away from the confederate of Deccan sultans against Vijay Nagar Empire in the
battle of Talikotta in 1565 C.E., Berar was annexed by Ahmed Nagar Empire in 1572 C.E.
 In 1618 C.E., Sultan Ibrahim Adil Shah II invaded Bidar and annexed it to Bijapur kingdom.

HISTORY 17
BHAKTI MOVEMENT
Bhakti stands for ‘Devotional surrender to a perceived God’

 God is perceived in different ways.
 He may have a form (& forms may be different e.g. Ram or Krishna) and
 He may be perceived to be without any form
Literary source of this movement can be traced from Upanishads, Bhagwad Gita and Bhagvata Puranas.
In second century B.C. Vasudev Krishna (Agra and Mathura) is credited by some scholars for Bhakti
origin of Bhakti Movement. In his movement Krishna was most important character.
Brahminical religion had been jolted due to emergence of Buddhsim and Jainism
This movement focussed on direct relations between man and god instead of rituals of Vedas, Karma
kands, ceremonies and sacrifices.
It was a simplified form of Vedic Religion but could become popular only in some isolated pockets in
North India. Bhakti as mass movement originated in 6-8th centrury, led by Alwars Saints (Vishnaivaite
Sects ) and Nayanars Saints (Shaivaite Sects)
 It originated in region of Andhra Pradesh & Tamil Nadu
 These movements had both female and male saints
 It did not encourage vedic rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices.
 It simplified religion and brought is closer to masses.
 Saints who came in this period who used local language of masses (Tamil and Telugu), not
Sanskrit the language of educated class.
Shankaracharya (8th-9th century A.D.)

 Shankaracharya made an important impact on Bhakti movement.
 He belonged to Kerala and propogated his philosophy of Advaityavad (Non Dualism)
 He was young, learned vedas by heart and travelled a lot. He conversed and debated with
Buddhist and Jainasim and established supremacy of Vedas and Vedic knowledge.
 He set up four famous Mutts in four directions; Badrinath (Uttarakhand) in North, Shringeri
(Karnataka) in South, Puri (Orissa) in East and Dwarka (Gujarat) in West.
 He was scholar saint, a well educated saint and popular among educated class during his life
time. He could become popular among masses only after his death.
Two important points of Advaitavad (Non dualism)
 God is one. Concept of Trimurthy (Tidev/Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh as separate
Gods) was rejected by him and he cited Veda and Upanishads to reinforce his views. In Rigveda
concept of one God is clearly mentioned.
 Creator (God) and created being (Soul) are not two enitities separately but one singular entity.
Creator is perceived as having three separate entities because of ‘Maya’ (illusion) which is because of
‘Agyanta’ (ignorance). Agyanta can be removed only through Vedic Gyan or knowledge. The Path he
suggested is known as Gyan Marg. To realize god one has to go through this path of Vedic Path and than
only he will realize oneness of God clear
11th century great saint Ramanuj

 He gave philosophy as pure dualism; Vishishtadvatia

HISTORY 17
 He rejected the idea of Gyan Marg and said that devotional surrender with love before the
perceived god was the key to get blessings of god (Prasad).
 For this purpose knowledge of Vedas was not required.
 So he became more popular among the masses.
 He opened the doors of Bhakti for poor and low castes
In north India Bhakti did not emerge at same time due to political reasons.
 In 8-12th century A.D. Rajputs in north India and orthodox Brahminical religion were very
dominant.
 Religion was institutionalized. Temple had major roles, rituals, yagyas karma-kand and sacrifices
were very prominent and didn’t tolerate any new ideas.
 They suppressed and even crushed any new ideas which could challenge their authority and
strangle hold on society.
Rajputs needed priest class help to legitimize their position as Kings sent by God. Brahmins supported
this view through yagyas and religious ceremonies and got huge financial help in form of land grants. So
no great saints could emerge.
Between 12-13th century Rajputs were defeated by Turks who established a vast empire and ruined
Rajput Empire. This inturn had great impact on society
 Alliance between Brahmins and Rajputs got weak because protectors, patrons and financers of
Brahmins (Rajputs) had lost their political and economic powers.
 New social reality and environment developed, Turkish in comparison with Brahminical religion
were liberal
 Hetrodox group got opportunity and better environment to flourish, profess, preach and
propagate new ideas.
Saints of Maharashtra in early medieval period
1) Gyan Dev or Jyan Dev (11th Century) 2) Namdev (who migrated to North) (Some of his teachings/doha
are compiled into part of Guru Granth Sahib) 3) Eknath 4) Tukarram 5) Samarth Ramdas (Spiritual Guru
of Shivaji)
(GNETS key to remember)
These saints for the first time helped the divided Marathis, who were divided by caste and class, to
come together under one umbrella of ‘One God and One Mankind’
Bhakti saints are created with uniting Marathis culturally even before their political unity, done by
Shivaji.
Feeling of belonging to one common root started developing first of all among Marathis
Northern Indian Saints are generally divided in two groups based on their beliefs; Nirguna and Saguna
Nirguna didn’t believed that God is formless and main saints were; Namdev, Kabir and Nanak
Namdev in 14-15th century come from Maharashtra and settled in north India.
 He was a tailor by caste
 His message was one god and one mankind
 He opposed hierarchy of society based on caste, class or gender
 He ridiculed the social ceremonies and many religious practices including idol worship
 He started giving logical answer to questions that how can god be a rock?
 Some of his dohas were included in Guru Granth Sahib, the religious text of sikhs
KABIR 15-16TH CENTURY

 He is among very few saints in India who was popular among both masses and classes.
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HISTORY 17
 He lived in eastern U.P., mainly in Benares

 He was born in Hindu Brahmin family, but was abandoned and raised by Muslim weaver family.
 He left Benares because he believed that it was headquarter of all Brahminical activities, he left
Kashi to oppose institutional form of religion. He questioned the whole concept of holy places
like Kashi and Kaba. His logic was simple that God lies within you, not in a temple or mosque.
God is not pleased by offering, prayers or rituals but is pleased more when you help the poor
 He was not educated but his ideas were great.
Bijak & Sukh Nidha are two books of Kabir’s Dohas in Awadhi dialect of Hindi language
Since they were compiled after 100 years some of dohas of other poets are also included in these books.
Though Dohas were written in simple language but they could touch hearts.
 He raised questions challenging existing religious dogmas in witty and logical and manner
 He was very vocal and outspoken and dared to speak against priest class in sixteenth century,
which was not easy. He dared to speak against mahajans, maulvis, zamindars and called them as
parasites; those who live on hard-work of others.
 He was famous for giving importance to dignity of labour
Physical labor was assigned to lower castes, he questioned the logic of societal prevalence of this
division.
Another important aspect of teachings of Kabir was religious tolerance; for him there was no difference
in Ram and Rahim.
He called God with several names like Allah, Sahib, Sai, Ishwar, Rahim, Ram
He clarified that he didn’t use Ram, as Ram of Ayodhya, as it would give Ram a distinct form. Since he
belonged to Nirguna Sect (Formless) Ram signified just another name of God.
His philosophy united the people together despite the differences in their beliefs, faiths and classes.
Followers of group formed Kabir Panth but this sect could not flourish much.
Nanak (Nirgun Saint) 1469-1530 A.D.

 Nanak was brought up under training of Sufi saints in Talwandi in Punjab (Nankana Sahib in
Punjab)
 Like Kabir he strongly believed in concept that God is one and formless and propagated this
view.
 He condemned hierarchy of society and institutional form of religion.
 He was not as outspoken as Kabir but he travelled widely; Sri Lanka, Mecca and Medina
 The concepts associated with Nanak and still practiced by Sikhs are: Sangat and Pangat
Pangat is langar or community kitchen (not originated by him, it was Sufi saints who brought this idea)
Common kitchen signifies that when you eat together, the taboos of separate class & caste will cease to
exist, idea is that no one is superior or inferior
Sangat is addressing together, generally in Indian society women and low castes were kept away from
religious gatherings and discourses. This would automatically challenge the caste and class hierarchy,
and even the concept of untouchability. This form of democracy is not seen even now in Hindu temples.
He used to roam around cities and villages (rural areas) and became famous among peasants of Jats and
traders of Khatri communities
On the other hand Kabir had mainly confined himself to urban areas
Nanak had no intention to start a new religion but after death, his followers formed a sect and gradually
developed into religion.
Each of following gurus took played some role in establishing it as a religion.
His disciples formed a unique form of silsila known as guruship. Initially it was not hereditary but from
fifth Guru, it became hereditary.

HISTORY 17
Guru Nanak was the first guru then it was Guru Angad (Pioneer of Gurumukhi script)
Punjabi is also written in Urdu script in Pakistan
They were followed by 3rd Guru Amardas and 4th Guru Ramdas (Akbar gave piece of land at Amritsar to
Guru Ramdas and at this place 5th guru Arjun Dev, made Harmandir Sahib.
Arjun Dev compiled the holy books of Sikhs known as Adi Granth Sahib (Guru Granth Sahib) during 1604
during the reign of Akbar
 Teachings and dohas of other Bhakti Saints: Namdev, Kabir and Muslim saint Baba Farid are
integral part of this book.
 He was son of previous Guru, Guruship became hereditary
 He was killed by Mughals, Mughals blamed that Arjun Dev sheltered Khusrau the son of Jahangir
Sikhs tradition says that Mughals wanted to crush Sikhism, so they killed Guru Arjun Dev.
Satish Chandra wrote about Arjun dev’s death and opined that it was result of political clash between
Mughals and Sikhs since Sikhs were not only a spiritual identity but had become became political entity
as well.
Mughal Mansabdars exploited local peasants and oppressed them and political clash developed into
religious clash, leading into major differences between Sikhs and Mughals.
Relations between Mughlas and Sikhs were not same level during the Mughal history, as many ups and
downs were witnessed.
 6th Guru Hargobind started using arms and weapons
 7th Guru was Harrai
 8th Guru Harkrishan was only 8 when he became a Guru.
 9th Guru Teg Bahadur was also killed by Aurangzeb in 1674.
 10th Guru Gobind Singh gave the famous five Ks Kachhera, Kirpan, Kesh, Kangha, and Kara; the
Sikh identity symbols. In1699 he formed Khalsa Panth.

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INDIA IN 18th CENTURY

Emperor Reign Notes

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From within Mughal From rivals of Mughals

EMERGENCE OF SIX STATES MurshidQuli Khan. He became Deputy

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THE GOLDEN TEMPLE

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EMERGENCE OF EAST INDIA COMPANY AS A MAJOR POWER BLOCK IN INDIA

• 1803- East India Company under Gen. Lake captured Delhi

BATTLES FOUGHT BY BRITISH

Portuguese (Battle of Swallyhole, 1612)

II. In India ANNEXATION PERIOD: 1757-1856

(a) Against Bengal (Anglo-Bengal wars)

(b) Against Mysore (Anglo Mysore wars)

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(c) Against Marathas (Anglo-Maratha wars)

(d) Against Punjab

• These were two wars

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LECTURE NOTES – HISTORY SESSION 2

Treaty of Allahabad

-­‐ signed in October 1765, post Battle of Buxar

-­‐ two different treaties were signed:

1. Nawab claimed he didn’t have money to help

1. E.I.C didn’t employ anyone for the collection of revenue

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Problems faced by British after Regulating Act:

Other key points:

Pitts Act of 1784

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Charter Act of 1833

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Appendix – Governor Generals and important events in their rule

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• 3rd Maratha war(1817-­‐19) and dissolution

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Delhi Bahadur Shah II ‘Zafar’ and Bakht Khan

Lucknow Begum HazratMahal, mother of BirjisQadar

Jhansi Rani LaxmiBai

The First Indian War of Independence-­‐1857-­‐59 Karl Marx

Rebellion, 1857 : A Symposium P.C. Joshi

1857 S.N. Sen

Causes of Indian Revolt Saiyed Ahmad Khan

The First War of Indian Independence V.D. Savarkar

GOVERNOR GENERALS FROM 1862 – 1905

India’s Most liked Education Company on . 3 Lakh+ likes.

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India’s Most liked Education Company on . 3 Lakh+ likes.

www.byjusclasses.com 099808 37187

Objectives and Demands

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Swadeshi Movement (After-­‐effects of Partition of Bengal)

-‐ signed in October 1765, post Battle of Buxar

-‐ two different treaties were signed:

• 3rd Maratha war(1817-‐19) and dissolution

The First Indian War of Independence-‐1857-‐59 Karl Marx

Swadeshi Movement (After-‐effects of Partition of Bengal)

3 Leaders were:-‐ Leaders were:-‐