Ancient History

Importance of Ancient History

• It tells us how, when and where people developed the earliest cultures in
our country.

• It indicates how they started agriculture which made life secure and settled.

• It showed as how the ancient Indians discovered and utilized natural

resources, and how they created the means for their livelihood.

• We come to know how they took to farming, spinning, weaving, metal-

working and so on; how they cleared forests; and how they found villages,
cities, and finally large kingdoms.

Types of Sources and Historical Construction

• Material Remains: Archaeology: the science which enables us to dig the old
mounds in a systematic manner.

• Coins: Numismatics: the study of coins is called numismatics. We get the

largest number of coins in the post Mauryan times – made of lead, potin,
copper, bronze, silver and gold – indicating that trade and commerce
flourished, especially in Post-Maurya and a good part of the Gupta times.

• Inscriptions: study of Inscriptions is called epigraphy. Harappan inscription,

Ashoka’s, Samudragupta’s etc.

• Literary Sources: Ramayana and Mahabharata, Vedas, Upanishads,

Manusmiriti, Buddhist texts etc., E.g., Arthashastra of Kautilya.
• Foreign Sources: travelers etc.

• Fa-Hsien – beginning of the 5th century AD (Gupta Period)

• Huan Tsang – 2nd quarter of the 7th century AD (Harsha Period)
• Magasthenese- Indica
Historical Terms
Evolution of Humans
Stone Age: Early Man
• The Paleolithic Period (5
Lakh BC – 10000 BC):
Hunters and Food
Gatherers:

 Pleistocene (most
recent) – lasted
between 200,0000
to 10,000 years.

 Holocene
(present) – began
about 10,000
years ago.

• Man is said to have

appeared on the earth in the
early Pleistocene – when
true ox, true elephant, true horse also originated.

• Crude chipping – the chipped stone tools and the chopped pebbles were
used for hunting, cutting and other purposes – in this period, the many
barely managed to gather his good and lived on hunting.

• No knowledge of cultivation and house building.

• Sites: Valley of Soan in Pakistan/Punjab, Kashmir and Thar Desert, Belan

valley in Mirzapur in UP.

The Mesolithic Age: Hunters and

Herders & Domestication of
animals (10000 BC – 4000 BC).

• Locations – Adamgarh
(Madhya Pradesh),
Bhimbetka (Madhya
Pradesh), Bagor
(Rajasthan).
 • – Microlithic tools, blades and arrows.

Neolithic Age: Food Producers:

• Neolithic people lived on a

lake-side in pits, and probably
had a hunting and fishing
economy – they seem to have
been acquainted with
agriculture.

• Sites in Burzahom, Mehargarh.

• 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.

Chalcolithic Age (2800 BC – 700 BC)/Metal Age

• 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. Agriculture and
domestication of cattle.

• Houses of mud bricks were built.

• People knew the use of cotton.

• They also believed in life after death.

Indus Valley Civilization

The Harappan Culture: Bronze Age Civilization

• Geographical Extent:

o The Indus or the Harappan arose in the NW part of the sub-continent.

o It is called Harappan because this civilization was discovered first in

1921 by John Marshall and Dayaram Sahni at the modern site of
Harappa (west Punjab – now in Pakistan).
 o Boundaries

o Suktazendor (Sind) in west.

o Alamgirpur (U.P) in east.

o Manda (Kashmir) in North.

o Dimabad in South.

Features of IVC
• Town Planning and Structures:

o The Harappan culture is distinguished by its system of town planning:

 Citadel – probably occupied by the members of the ruling class,

and

 Lower town – perhaps occupied by the common people

 Remarkably, the houses in the cities followed a grid system.

Great Bath
• Comprising a tank, which
is situated in the citadel
mound (11.88 x 7.01m x
2.43m deep).

• Flights of steps at either

end, leads to surface.

• There are side rooms for

changing cloths.
• The floor of the bath was
made of burnt bricks.

• Water was drawn from a large well in an adjacent room, and an outlet from
the corner of the Bath led to a drain.

• It is suggested that the Great Bath served ritual bathing.

Granary
 • In Mohenjo-Daro, the
largest building is Granary
– 45.7 m long and
15.23m wide.

• In the citadel of Harappa,

we find as many as six
granaries:

o Wheat and Barley

have been found in
the crevices of the
floors.

• The use of burnt bricks in the Harappan cities is remarkable – because in the
contemporary buildings in the Egypt only ordinary dry bricks were used –
though, we find use of baked bricks in Mesopotamia.

Drainage System
• In almost all cities, every house, big
or small had its own courtyard and
bathroom.

• In Kalibanga, many houses had their

own wells.
• Water flowed from the houses to the
streets which had drains – covered
with bricks/stone slabs.

• Street drains were covered with manholes.

• The drains were made of mortar, lime and gypsum.

• At Lothal for example, while houses were built of mud bricks, drains were
made of burnt bricks.

• Altogether the quality of the domestic bathrooms and drains is remarkable,

and the drainage system of Harappa is almost unique – perhaps no other
Bronze age civilization paid so much attention to health and cleanliness as
the Harappans did.
Domestic architecture
• The Lower Town of Mohenjo-Daro
provides examples of residential
buildings.

• Many were centered on a courtyard,

with rooms on all sides. The
courtyard was probably the center
of activities such as cooking and
weaving, particularly during hot and
dry weather.

• There were no windows along the

walls on the ground floor and the
main entrance did not provide view
of courtyard and interior. So, privacy could be maintained.

• Every house had bathroom paved with bricks which was connected through
the wall to the street drains.

• Some houses have remains of staircases to reach second storey or roof.

• Many houses had wells which were reachable from outside for the use of
outsiders.

Burials
• At burials in Harappan sites the dead
were generally laid in pits.

• Some of the pits were lined with

bricks.

• Some graves contain pottery and

ornaments, perhaps indicating a
belief that these could be used in the
afterlife.
• Jewelry has been found in burials of both men and women which mean that
both men and women used ornaments.
 • In some instances, the dead were buried with copper mirrors. But in
general, it appears that the Harappans did not believe in burying precious
things with the dead.
Agriculture
• They were situated along
the flood plains and
produced enough to feed
themselves and also the
town people – wheat,
barley, rai, peas,
sesamum, mustard, also
rice (found at Lothal 1800
BC).
• Food grains were stored in huge granaries.

• Probably cereals were received as taxes and stored in granaries and paid as
wages as well as used during any emergencies.

• The Indus people were the earliest people to produce cotton – because it
was first produced in the Indus areas, the Greeks called it Sindon.

Domestication of Animals
• Although the Harappans practiced
agriculture, animals were kept on a
large scale – oxen, buffalo, goats,
sheep and pigs were domesticated –
the humped bulls were favored by the
Harappans.
• They didn’t seem to be using horses –
and was not horse centered – it was
perhaps later brought by the Aryans.

Arts and Crafts

• Pottery was done in this
civilization. It was of 2
types: -
 • Simple & Black & Red - Simple pottery included glasses, bowls and dishes
which were mainly circular, square and cylindrical in shape.

o Seal-making and terracotta manufacture were also important crafts.

o The goldsmiths made jewellery of silver, gold and precious stones.

o The Harappans were experts in bead-making.

o Potter’s wheel was in full use and the Harappans produced their own
characteristic pottery - glossy and shinning – mainly Red-and-Black
(red background, black to paint).

• Articles made had black backgrounds with red

designs.

• Seals of this period suggest that they used

wooden carts.

• Chanhudaro is a tiny settlement almost exclusively

devoted to craft production, including bead-
making, shell-cutting, metal-working, seal-
making and weight-making.

• The variety of materials used to make beads are:

o Stones like carnelian (of a beautiful red color), jasper, crystal, quartz
and steatite.

o Metals like copper, bronze and gold.

o Shell, faience and terracotta or burnt clay.

• They also knew the art of ship building.

• They had very well-developed system of both, internal and external trade.

Tools and Equipments

• Special tools were used for craft work.

• Grinding, polishing and drilling completed the

process.

• Specialized drills have been found at

Chanhudaro, Lothal and at Dholavira.
 • These were specialized centers for making shell objects – including bangles,
ladles and inlay – which were taken to other settlements.

• Similarly, it is likely that finished products (such as beads) from Chanhudaro

and Lothal were taken to the large urban centers such as Mohenjo-Daro and
Harappa.

Materials from the subcontinent and beyond

• The Harappans procured materials for craft production in various ways.

• They established settlements such as:

o Nageshwar and Balakot in areas where shell was available.

o Shortughai, in far-off Afghanistan, near the best source of lapis lazuli,

a blue stone that was apparently very highly valued.
o Lothal which was near sources of carnelian (from Bharuch in Gujarat).

o Steatite (from south Rajasthan and north Gujarat).

o Metal (from Rajasthan).

o Khetri region of Rajasthan (for copper).

o South India (for gold).

Trade
• Presence of numerous seals, uniform script and regulated weights and
measures in a wide area.

• They didn’t use metal money – most likely carried on trade through barter
exchange.

• They had commercial links with Mesopotamia, Afghanistan, and Iran / Gulf –
used them to trade with C Asia.
• The ancient Mesopotamian records from about 2500 BC mention two
intermediate trading stations – Dilmun (Bahrain) and Makan (Oman), which
lay between Mesopotamia and Meluha (old name for Indus valley).

Weights & Measures

 • In weights mostly the 16 or it’s multiples were used – 16, 64, 160, 320, 640
etc. – something which is still prevalent in parts of rural India – 16 annas
meant a rupee until recently.

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.

The Harappan Script:

• The Harappans invented the art of
writing – like the people of
Mesopotamia – their script was
discovered in 1923, but haven’t been
deciphered so far – doesn't show any
connection with the scripts of W Asia.

• Altogether, we have about 250 - 400

pictographs, and in the form of a
picture, each letter stands for some
sound, idea or object – it’s not
alphabetical, but pictographic – written Right to Left.
Religious Practices
• Numerous terracotta figurines of women have been
found.

• The Harappans, perhaps looked upon the earth as

a fertility goddess (mother goddess) and
worshipped her in the same manner as the
Egyptians – but, not sure if they were a matriarchal
society.

• In sharp contrast to Egypt and Mesopotamia, no

temples have been found at any of the sites – no
 religious structure of any types, except (probably) the Great bath.

o The male deity (Pasupathi Mahadev) is represented on the seal – three

horned head – sitting yogic posture – surrounded by an elephant, a
tiger, a rhinoceros and a buffalo below his throne – at his feet appear
two deer.

Tree and Animal Worship

• They worshipped trees – seals with pipal tree have been found

• Animals were also worshipped – many of them represented on the seals –

most important and frequent is the one horn unicorn – next in importance is
the humped bull.

Sites of the Civilization

• Mohenjo-Daro (literal meaning of the term is - mount of the dead).

• Located in Larkana District of Sind on the bank of Indus.

• Excavated by R. D Banerjee

• Great Bath

• 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.

• There are evidences of use of cotton.

• Largest number of seals are found here. of authority and a medium of

exchange. One of these seals depicted a form of Shiva called proto-Shiva.

• Steatite statue of beard man.

• Bronze buffalo.

Harappa
 • Located in Sahiwal District,
Punjab in the banks of Ravi

• Excavated by Daya Ram Sahni

• Piece of Pottery with Indus Script

• Cubical Limestone Weight

• Sandstone statues of Human

anatomy

• Copper Bullock cart

• 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, Coffin
burials (Only founded in Harappa)

• Stone image of male (above waist)

Kalibangan
• It was situated on the banks of
river Ghagger

• Witnessed proto Harrapan and

Harrapan stages.

• Important for bangles and bead

manufacturing.

• Evidence of ploughing has been

found at his site, Wooden plough,
Furrowed land

• Fire Altars or ‘Havan kund’ has also been found in Kalibangan

• Kalibangan culture also known as Soti Culture.

• Lower fortified town, Copper Ox

• Evidence of earthquake
 • Camel’s bone

Lothal (Centre for trade and Commerce)

• 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

• Fire altars were also found

• First to cultivate rice.

• Chess-playing

• Rakhigiri (Biggest Site of

IVC- in Hisar, Haryana).

• Banwali (Haryana)- Witnessed proto Harappan and Harappan, Beads:

o Barley.

o Oval shaped settlement.

o The only city with radial streets.

o Toy plough.

• Chanhu-Daro- only site without Citadel, no brick used, image of male

dancer and lord shiva found, major centre for bead making industry, Cart
with a seated driver.

Dholavira.
• Exclusive water management.

• Only site to be divided into three parts.

 • Giant water reservoir.

• Unique water harnessing system.

• Dams.

• Embankments.

• Stadium.

• Rock – Cut architecture.

End of IVC
• The exact cause of the decline of the Harappan civilization is not yet fully
ascertained – flooding, excessive rainfall, tectonics (seems to be the most
plausible reason – leading to shifting of river courses, particularly river
Saraswati – leading to non-availability of water) leading to shifting of river
courses etc. etc.

Vedic Age
 Advent of Aryans
Original Home and Identity:
 The exact origin of
the Aryans is quite
disputed, but they
seem to have lived
in the steppes,
stretching
somewhere from
southern Russia to
Central Asia.

 They were
distinguished by
their common
language – they
spoke the Indo-
European languages, which are currently used (in changed form) all over
the Europe, Iran and greater parts of the Indian subcontinent.

 Their earliest life seems to have been mainly pastoral, agriculture being a
secondary occupation.

 On their way to India, they first appeared in Iran – we know about Aryan first
from the Rig Veda, Avesta (which is the oldest text of the Iranian language).

 A little earlier than 1500 BC, the Aryans appear in India, but we don’t have a
clear archaeological trace of their advent to the subcontinent.

 The earliest Aryans lived in the geographical areas now covered by eastern
Afghanistan, NWFP, Punjab and fringes of western UP.

 The whole region in which the Aryan first settled is called as the Land of the
Seven Rivers (around and including Indus).
 The Aryans came
to Indian in
several waves,
with the first wave
in about 1500 BC
– they got into
conflict with the
indigenous
inhabitants called
as the dasas,
dasyus etc. – soft
towards dasas,
but strongly
hostile to the
dasyus.

 The Aryans
succeeded
everywhere, because they had chariots driven by the horses, and
introduced them for the first time into W Asia and India – the Aryan soldiers
were probably equipped with coats of mail (Varman) and better arms.

 Dasaraja battle- ego clash

between b/w two saints –
Vashistha (Aryan) &
Vishwamitra (Aaryan).
Vashistha replaced
Vishwamitra as guru of
Bharata clan.

 A number of tribes were hostile to Bharat clan and the Battle of Ten Kings
was fought between them and 10 other tribes (5 Aryans and the rest 5 non-
Aryans) – fought on the river Ravi/Parushni – the most important among the
defeated were the Purus – but eventually, the Bharats and Purus joined
hand and founded the Kuru dynasty – the Kurus joined hands with the
Panchals and together established their rule in the upper Gangetic basin.
  The Aryan were
divided into five
tribes called the
panchajana and
fought among
themselves,
sometime with
support of non-
Aryans

 The Rig Vedic

Aryans were
primarily pastoral
people – so many
references to the
cow and the bull in
the Rig Veda – most of their wars were fought for the sake of cows – cow
seems to have been the most important form of wealth then – gavishthi
(search for cows) – gifts to the priests were usually in the form of cows and
women slaves and never of land – the land didn’t form a part of the private
property in the early Vedic period (it was the cattle wealth which was all
important.

Tribal Polity
• The king (rajan) of the tribe was assisted by
Senani (military commander), Purohit (Priest),
Gramini (king Maker)

• Sabha, Samiti and Vidhat were the assemblies.

• 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(voluntary).

• Even women attended the Sabha and vidatha (Gargi, Maitreyi).

• The most important were the Sabha and samiti and the king was always
eager to win their support. Any decision by them was binding on king.
 • The king didn’t maintain a regular standing army, but mustered a militia at
the times of war – by different tribal groups called vrata, gana, grama,
sardha

• The officer who enjoyed authority over a large land or pasture ground is
called vrajapati. The gramini was the head of a small fighting unit –
eventually he became the head of the village and similar to vrajapati.

Social Division
• The Rig Veda shows some consciousness
of the physical appearance of the people
in the NW India in about 1500 – 1000 BC –
Varna was the term used for color – seems
like the Aryan language speakers were fair
and the indigenous habitants darker in
color.

• The dasas and the dasusys – who were

conquered by the Aryans – were eventually
treated as Shudras in the social hierarchy.

• Gradually the tribal society got divided into

three groups – warriors, priests and the people.

• Differentiation based on occupation started, but not that sharp yet.

• Unequal distribution of the spoils of the war created social inequalities – and
this helped the rise of princes and priests at the cost of the common tribal
people.

Rig Veda
• It is a text, offering prayers to the gods.

Rig Vedic Gods

• Indra – he played the role of warlord/ breaker of forts

• Agni – the cult of fire

• Varuna – who personified water

• Soma was considered to be the god of plants

 • Maruts personify the storm

• Also, the female divinities – Usha and Aditi – represented the appearance of
the dawn(light) – but not that prominent in the time of the Rig Veda – the
male god appear to be far more important than the female gods

• The dominant mode of worship was through the recitation of prayers and
offering of sacrifices - without any significant rituals, sacrificial formulae or
assistance of priests

• They worshipped gods not for spiritual upliftment or for ending miseries of
life, but asked mainly for praja (children), pashu (cattle) food, wealth, health
etc.

Later Vedic Period

Transition to the State and Social Orders
• The history of later Vedic period is based mainly on the Vedic texts which
were compiled after the age of Rig Veda

• The collection of Vedic hymns or mantras were knowing as Samhitas

• The Rig Veda Samhita is the oldest Vedic text, on the basis of which Vedic
period is described

• For the purpose of recitation, the prayers of the Rig Veda were set to tune,
and this modified collection was known as Sam Veda Samhita (Sama
bandhana)

• Yajur Veda Samhita – contains not only hymns, but also rituals which have to
accompany their recitation

• Atharva Veda contains charms and spells to ward off evils and diseases (a
mixture of Aryan and Tribal cultures)

• The texts show that the Aryans expanded from Punjab over the whole of
western UP – covered by the Ganga-Yamuna doab.

• The Bharatas and Purus, the two major tribes, combined to form Kurus –
gradually they coalesced with people called the Panchals, who occupied the
 middle portion of the Ganga-Yamuna doab – set up their capital at
Hastinapur (Meerut).

• The great war of Mahabharta is supposed to have been fought around 950
BC - no evidence of such an elaborate city has been found till date.

• Around a 1000 BC, iron appears in Dharwad (KN) district.

• Agriculture supported with iron implements was the chief means of livelihood
of the later Vedic population – ploughing was done with the wooden
ploughshare.

• Enough bullocks were not available because of cattle slaughter in rituals and
sacrifices – therefore agriculture was primitive.

• Wheat and rice became their chief crops during this period.

• Agriculture and various crafts enabled the later Vedic people to lead a settled
life.

• Although the term nagara is mentioned in the later Vedic texts, but only faint
beginning of towns towards the end of later Vedic period.

• On the whole, the later Vedic period registered a great advance in the
material life of the people.

• Agriculture became the primary source of livelihood, and life became settled
and
sedentary
.

• The texts
show that
the
Aryans
expanded
from
Punjab
over the
whole of
western
UP –
covered
 by the Ganga-Yamuna doab

• The Bharatas and Purus, the two major tribes, combined to form Kurus –
gradually they coalesced with people called the Panchals, who occupied the
middle portion of the Ganga-Yamuna doab – set up their capital at
Hastinapur (Meerut).

• The great war of Mahabharata is supposed to have been fought around 950
BC - no evidence of such an elaborate city has been found till date.

• On the whole, the later Vedic period registered a great advance in the
material life of the people. The pastoral and semi-nomadic forms were
relegated to the background. Agriculture became the primary source of
livelihood, and life became settled and sedentary. Equipped with diverse arts
& crafts, the Vedic people now settled down permanently in the upper
Gangetic plans. They produced enough to sustain themselves and could
also spare a marginal portion for their chiefs, princes and priests

Political Organisation:
• In later Vedic times, the popular assemblies lost importance, and royal power
increased at their cost – the vidhata completely disappeared, Sabha and
samiti continued to hold their ground, but their character changed – they
came to be dominated by chiefs and rich nobles, women were no longer
permitted to sit on the Sabha, and it was dominated by the nobles and the
Brahmans.

• In this period, collection of taxes and tributes seems to have become

common and they were collected by an officer called sangrihitri.

• The formation of bigger kingdoms, made the chief or the king a lot more
powerful – the term rashtra, which indicate territory first appeared in this
period.

• Even in later Vedic period, the king still didn't possess a standing army – but
instead, tribal units were mustard in times of war.

• In the discharge of his duties, the king was assisted by the priest, the
commander, the chief queen and a few other functionaries.

Social Organisation:
• The later Vedic society
came to be divided into
4 varnas and the growing
cult of sacrifices
enormously added to the
position of the
Brahmans – in the
beginning the Brahmans
were one of the 16
classes of priests, but
slowly they managed to
outsmart the others and emerged as the most important priestly class – the
rise of Brahmans is a peculiar development, which is not found anywhere
else in the Aryan societies.

• The Brahmans concluded sacrifices for their client and also for themselves
and also officiated at the festivals associated with agricultural operations.
Sometimes they came into conflict with the rajayans / nobles.

• The Vaishya constituted the common people and they were assigned to do
the producing functions – agriculture, cattle-breeding etc. Towards the end
of Vedic period, they also started to engage in trade and commerce. Both
the Brahmans and the Kshatriyas lived on the tributes from the Vaishyas.

• All the three higher varnas

were made entitled to
upanayana or investiture
with the sacred thread
according to the Vedic
mantras, but the fourth
varna (shudras) was
deprived of the sacred
thread ceremony and the
gyantri mantra – and with
this, began the imposition
of disabilities on the shudras.

• The institution of gotra appeared in the later Vedic period – people began to
practice gotra exogamy.

• Ashramas or four stages of life were not well established in the Vedic times,
but in the post-Vedic times, the four ashrams came into existence – but, in
 the post-Vedic time only the stage of the householder was commonly
practiced by all the varnas.

Religious Practices
• The outstanding gods, Indra
and Agni lost their importance
and on the other hand,
Prajapati (the creator) came to
occupy the supreme position.
Rudra, the god of animals
became prominent and Vishnu
came to be conceived as the
preserver. Also, some objects
began to be worshipped to be as symbols of divinity – signs of idolatry appear
in the later Vedic times.

• sacrifices became far more important and assumed both domestic and
character – public sacrifices involved the king and the whole of the
community – sacrifices involved killing of animals on a large scale and
especially the destruction of cattle wealth (the guest was known as goghana
– the one who was fed on cattle)

• Sacrifices had to be accompanied by formulae, which had to be carefully

pronounced by the sacrificer – these formulae and sacrifices were invented,
adopted and elaborated by the priests called the brahmans and they claimed
a monopoly of priestly knowledge and expertise.

Upanishads / Vedantas
• Upanishads were compiled – these
philosophical texts criticized the rituals and laid
stress on the value of right belief and
knowledge – they emphasized that the
knowledge of the self or atman should be
acquired. They are sources of Indian
philosophy. They are last chapter of Vedas.

• There are 108 Upanishads. Upanishad deal

with the relationship between Man and God
 • Katho Upanishad- concept of death in from of dialogues between Nachiketa,
his father and lord of death Yama.

• ‘Satyameva Jayate’ was derived from Mundaka Upanishad.

• ‘Om’ was derived from Rig Veda.

• It was one of the earliest books which talks about non-violence

• 4 Vedas, Brahmanas (related to conduct of various ceremonies), Aranyakas

(text related to forest life) and Upanishads form the Vedic Literature

Vedangas

6 Philosophical Systems

Six schools of Philosophy

1. Samkhya:

• Means "count" - believes that the presence of divine agency is not

essential for the creating of the world, rather, the world owes its creation
and evolution more to Nature or Prakriti

• Scientific and materialistic theme

2. Yoga:

• A person can attain salvation through meditation and physical application

- recommended Prayanam etc.

3. Nyaya:

• Developed as a system of logic - salvation can be attained through

acquisition of knowledge and what is more important is the veracity of a
proposition or statement can be tested through inference, hearing and
analogy

4. Vaisheshika:

• Gives important to the discussion of material elements - propounded the

atom theory - all material objects are made up of atoms

• Scientific and materialistic theme

5. Mimamsa:

• Based on Vedic, ritualistic, Brahmanical theory - to attain salvation,

Mimansa strongly recommended the performance of Vedic sacrifices,
which needed the services of Priests and legitimized the social distance
between the various Varnas

6. Vedanta/UttraMimansa

• Denotes the end of the Vedas - Souls are eternal and indestructible

• The theory of Karma and Punarjanma (reincarnation) was emphasized.

Jainism
Reasons for their rise (Jainism/Buddhism)
• Strong reaction from the Kshatriya's against the dominance of
the ritualistic Brahman class.

• Emergence of surplus agricultural economy, which required

abundant availability of the cattle for the agricultural purposes
- but due to the sacrificial, ritualistic nature of the Brahmanical
religion, they were being killed in sacrifices and as food by the
non-Aryans - thus paucity of the cattle (cows, ox etc.).

• Trading started to gain significance in the 5th century BC -

first punch marked coins found in the 5th century BC - thus, the Vaishya's
called as setthis wanted as religion, through which they could achieve a
more dignified position in the social hierarchy.

• Due to the advent of materialistic, private property culture, emergence of

social inequalities - causing misery and suffering - so the common people
yearned to return to primitive life

• The Shudras, women and Vaishays didn't enjoy a dignified life in the
Brahmanical scheme of society, and thus, an alternative, such as Jainism
and Buddhism appealed to them enormously.

Jainism:
• According to the Jains the
origin of Jainism dates back
to start of orderly social life
in human kind

• Mahavir was the 24th of the

24 Tirthankaras - Rishabdev
was the 1st one, and
Parashavnath was the 23rd
Tirthankara

• Mahavira was born in 540 BC

in Kundagram, near Vaishali (North Bihar) - his mother was the sister of the
Licchvi king, who married his daughter to the Magadha emperor Bimbiasara
- thus related to the Magadha empire in this way
 • At the age of 30, he left his family in the search of truth and became an
ascetic. After 12 years of wandering, meditation, he finally managed to
attain Kaiwalya (Juan) - the conquest over the misery and happiness and
thus called Jaina and his followers as Jains.

• 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 in Nalanda

in Bihar.

• Main reason for less numbers of Jain followers was extreme non-violence
practice.

Doctrine of Jainism
• Do not commit violence

• Do not lie

• Do not own private property

• Do not steal

• Observe continence (self-restraint, especially with regard to sex)-the one

added by Mahavira - others were already given by the previous 23
Tirthankaras.

Shvetambara Vs. Digambara: Two theories prevail

• The followers of the previous 23 Tirthankaras, who didn't ask for shunning of
clothes completely, were
called the Shvetambara;
whereas, Mahavira imposed
an even more austere life
and suggested of complete
shunning of clothes, came to
known as the Digambara.

• 200 years after the death of

Mahavira, due to a severe
famine in Magadha, some of
the followers migrated to S. India (Karnataka), and when they came back,
called themselves the true followers of Jainism (Digambara) and the ones
who stayed back on Magadha as Shvetambara.
• Monks led by Sthulabhadra went to Magadha and were of the Svetambara
sect.

• Monks led by Bhadrabahu migrated to Sravanabelagola (Karnataka) and were

of the Digambara.

• It didn't really condemn the Varna system, as the Buddhism did - according
to Mahavira, a person being born in high or lower Varna is due to the
consequence of the sins or virtues acquired by him in the previous birth -
according to him, through pure and meritorious life, the members of the
lower castes can attain liberation - due to these reasons, it didn't really
appeal the masses, as the Buddhism did

• Triratna (three jewels):

o Right knowledge

o Right faith

o Right action

• Jainism couldn’t manage to become a religion of the masses due to the

characteristics/weaknesses as described above - it primarily managed to
spread to areas, where the influence of Brahmanical religion was relatively
weak - west and S. India.

• Chandragupta Maurya (322-298 BC), gave up his

empire, embraced Jainism and spent last years of
life as a Jaina asectic - he seems to have been the
primary reason for spread of Jainism to Karnataka -
even though this anecdote is not corroborated by any
other source

• Jainism spread to Orissa/Kalinga in the 4th century

BC and in the first century BC, it enjoyed the
patronage of the Kalinga king Kharavela, who
defeated the kings of Andhra and Magadha.

• All though Jainism didn't win as much state patronage as Buddhism and did
not spread very far and fast in the early times, it still retains its hold in the
areas where it spread (India - Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka
etc.)
Jain Councils
• Patliputra- presided by Sthulabhu- Jainis divided into swetambars and
digambars.

• Vallabhi, Gujrat- Presided by Devavrata Kshamaramana.

• Architecture- Dilwara temple in Mt. abu by Bhima 1 of Solanki Dynasty

• First to develop Cave architecture- Kandagiri and Kumaragiri in Orissa.

Ghatikas were the learning centres for Jainism in South India.

Buddhism
• Gautama Buddha (563 - 483 BC)
Siddhartha was a contemporary of
Mahavira - born in a Shakya Kshatriya
family in Lumbini at Kapilvastu - his
father seems to have been the elected
ruler of Kapilvastu.

• Siddhartha was born in a royal Hindu

family. His father was Suddhodana
and mother was Mahamaya. He was
brought up by Gautami.

• He 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”

• Buddha gave his first sermon at Sarnath in Varanasi which was known as
Dharma Chakra Pravartan.

• He passed away at the age of 80 at a place called Kushinagar in Uttar

Pradesh.

Four Noble Truths/ Buddha Philosophy

• 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.

• The concept of God was not well defined which led to the belief that
Buddhism is an atheist religion

• In Buddhist philosophy, soul of a

person dies with the body. Most other
religions like Jainism and Hinduism
believe that soul is eternal.

• 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.

• No discrimination on the basis of caste

was done though Buddhism did not
fight the casteism
 • Concept of Kshan (moment) – A person is different than what he was a
moment ago

Buddhist Sangha
• Members of Sangh were called Bhikshus or Bhikshunis.

• Viharas where the place were Buddhist monks lived.

• The prayer hall was called Chaitya.

• Rules for living in the Viharas were given in a book called Vinaya Pitaka
compiled under the leadership of Monk Upali.

• Sutta Pitaka contains teachings of Buddha.

• 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.

• No ornaments were allowed, alcohol was strictly banned and Brahmacharya

lifestyle was supposed to be followed.
Four Buddhist Councils

• The First Buddhist Council

was held under the patronage
of king Ajatasatru.

o Monk Mahakasyapa
presided the council

o It was held at
Sattapanni caves
Rajgriha (now Rajgir).

• Second Buddhist council was held at Vaishali.

o It was presided by Shatakambri.

o For the first time Buddhism was divided into two sects –
Mahasamghika and Sthaviravada

• Third Buddhist Council was held at Pataliputra

o It was held during the time of King Ashoka.

o It was presided over by Moggaliputta Tissa

• Fourth Buddhist Council was held at Kundalwan in Kashmir.

o It was held during the reign of Kind Kanishka

o The council was presided over by Vasumitra

o Asvaghosa, a great philosopher and poet who wrote Buddhacharita

was present in this Council

Hinayana and Mahayana Buddhism

• Hinayana - The other names of Hinayana is Lesser Vehicle. It believes in the
original teaching of Buddha
• Does not believe in Idol worship and tries to attain individual salvation
through self-discipline and meditation. Ultimate aim of Hinayana is thus
nirvana.

• Asoka Patronized Hinayana.

• Pali, the language of masses was used by the Hinayana scholars.

• Mahayana or “great vehicle” believes in the heavenliness of Buddha and Idol

worship of Buddhas.

• It spread from India to various countries including China and South East
Asian nations.

• Mahayana believed in universal liberation from suffering for all beings (hence
the “Great Vehicle”). Ultimate aim of Mahayana is “spiritual upliftment.

• It believes in Mantras. Language of Mahayana was predominantly Sanskrit.

• In conclusion, Hinayana and Mahayana Buddhism both started of with one

goal, Nirvana. But both took different ways to get there.

• Mathura School of art and Gandhara School of art (Roman influence).

Jainism
• The thirthankaras are teachers who guide men and women across the
river of existence.
• The main teachings of Mahavira are: The entire world is animated: even
stones, rocks and water have life.

• No-injury to living beings, especially to humans, animals, plants and

insects.

• The principle of ahimsa, emphasized within Jainism

• The cycle of birth and rebirth is shaped through karma.

• Asceticism and penance are required to free oneself from the cycle of karma.
This can be achieved only by renouncing the world; therefore, monastic
existence is a necessary condition of salvation

• Jaina monks and nuns took five vows: ffTo abstain from killing

• To abstain from stealing

• To abstain from lying

• To observe celibacy

• To abstain from possessing property.

• Jaina scholars produced a wealth of literature in a variety of languages such as

Prakrit, Sanskrit and Tamil and preserved in libraries attached to temples.

• Gradually, Jainism spread to many parts of India

• Many stone sculptures connected with the Jain traditions have been recovered
from several sites.

Buddhism
• One of the most influential teachers of the time was the Buddha.

• Over the centuries, his message spread across the subcontinent and beyond –
through Central Asia to China,

• Korea and Japan, and through Sri Lanka, across the seas to Myanmar,
Thailand and Indonesia

• The traumatic incidents that changed the life of the Buddha:

• Buddha was named Siddhartha at birth and was the son of the chief of Sakya
clan.

• He led a sheltered upbringing in the palace detached from the harsh

realities of life.

• He undertook a journey into a city which was a turning point in his life.

• He was deeply anguished when he saw an old man, a sick man and a corpse.

• It was at the moment that he realized that decay of human body was
inevitable.

• He saw a mendicant who had come to terms with old age and disease and
death and found peace.

• Soon after, Siddhartha left the palace in search of truth.

• He explored many paths including bodily mortification.

• He abandoned the extreme path and meditated for several days and finally
attained enlightenment and came to be known as Buddha or the enlightened
one.

• For the rest of his life he taught dhamma or the path of righteous living.
Teachings of the Buddha
• Sources: Sutta Pitaka contains the teachings of Buddha in the form of stories

• The world is transient (anicca) and constantly changing.

• It is also soulless (anatta) as there is nothing permanent or eternal in it.

• Within this transient world, sorrow (dukkha) is intrinsic to human existence

• It is by following the middle path between severe penance and self-

indulgence that human beings can rise above these worldly troubles

• In the early forms of Buddhism whether or not God existed was irrelevant.

• The Buddha emphasized individual agency and righteous action as the means
to escape from the cycle of rebirth and attain self-realization and nibbana,
literally the extinguishing of the ego and desire – and thus end the cycle of
suffering for those who renounced the world.

• According to Buddhist tradition, his last words to his followers were: “Be
lamps unto yourselves as all of you must work out your own liberation.”

Followers of the Buddha

• Buddha founded a sangha. The body of disciples of the Buddha or an
organization of monks is called sangha.

• It was an organization of monks who became teachers of dhamma.

• These monks lead a simple life possessing only the essential requisites for
survival, such as a bowl to receive food once a day from the laity.

• As they lived on alms, they were known as bhikkus.

• Initially, only men were allowed into the sangha, but later women also came
to be admitted. The Buddha’s foster mother, Mahaprajapati Gotami was the
first woman to be included as bhikkuni.

• Many women who entered the sangha became teachers of dhamma and went
on to become theirs, or respected women who had attained liberation.
• The Buddha’s followers came from many social groups. They included kings,
wealthy men and gahapatis, and also humbler folk; workers, slaves and crafts
people.

Stupas
• From earliest times, people tended to regard certain places as sacred. These
included sites with special trees or unique rocks, or sites of awe-inspiring
natural beauty. These sites, with small shrines attached to them, were
sometimes described as chaityas

• This was because relics of the Buddha such as his bodily remains or objects
used by him were buried there. These were mounds known as stupas

• The entire stupa came to be venerated as an emblem of both the Buddha

and Buddhism

• According to a Buddhist text known as the Ashokavadana, Asoka distributed

portions of the Buddha’s relics to every important town and ordered the
construction of stupas over them.

• By the second century BCE a number of stupas, including those at Bharhut,

Sanchi and Sarnath, had been built.

• Some donations were made by kings such as the Satavahanas; others were
made by guilds, such as that of the ivory workers who financed part of one of
the gateways at Sanchi

The structure of the Stupa

• Stupa is a Sanskrit word meaning a heap. The structure of stupa originated as a
simple circular mound of earth called anda. Gradually, it developed into a more
complex structure.

• Above the anda was the harmika, a balcony like structure that represented the
abode of the gods. Arising from the harmika was the mast called the yashti
surrounded by a chhatri or an umbrella.
Stories in Stone
• The sculptures at Sanchi are scrolls of stories which depict scenes from
Jatakas.

• There were stories of Vessantara Jataka where the prince gives up everything
to the Brahmana and goes to live in forest with his wife and children.

• Symbols of Worship

• The early sculpture does not have the image of Buddha.

• Instead it uses symbols like an empty seat represents meditation of the

Buddha and stupa represented the mahaparinibbana.

• Elephant was carved which signified strength and wisdom.

Event - Symbol
Buddha’s Birth - Lotus & Bull
The Great Departure - Horse
Enlightment (Nirvana ) - Bodhi Tree
First Sermon (Dhammachakraparivartan) - Wheel
Death (Parinirvana) - Stupa

Mahajanpadas
Rise of the Mahajanpadas (6th – 5th century BC):
 Use of iron in eastern UP and western Bihar.
 Use of iron implements allowed overproduction, leading to excess and thus
settled life and maintenance of large armies and an organized tax system –
key ingredients for empire building.

 These material advantages allowed people to stick to their land and expand
at the cost of the neighbors – people owed strong allegiance to their
Janapadas or the territory to which they belonged and not to the Jana (their
tribe) anymore

The Mahajanpadas

 16 large states called the Mahajanpadas – mostly situated north of the

Vindhyas and extended from NWF to Bihar; powerful ones – Magadha,
Koshala, Vatsa and Avanti, Finally, Magadha emerged victorious and was
able to gain sovereignty.
 o Magadha: embraced former Patna, Gaya and parts of Shahbad.

o Vajjis: included 8 clans – most powerful were the Lihchhavis with their
capital at Vaishali

o Kashi: capital at Varanasi – initially it appears to be the most powerful

state, but eventually submitted to the power of Koshala

o Koshala: embraced the area occupied by E-UP; capital at Shravasti.

Contained Ayodhya and Shakyas of Kapilvastu (birthplace of Buddha)

o Mallas: touched the boarder of Vajji state. One of the capitals at

Kushinara - Gautam Buddha passed away at Kushinara
o Vatsas: along the bank of Yamuna, capital at Kaushambhi - from the
Kuru clan

o Kurus & Panchals: situated in the W-UP, but no longer as important

as they were during the Vedic period

o Avantis: central Malwa and adjoining parts of MP; N part capital @

Ujjain and the S part capital @ Mahismati – eventually Ujjain became
more prominent due to large scale use of iron and strong fortification

Overview
 Bimbisara (544 – 492 BC):

o Belonged to Harayanka dynasty – he was a contemporary of Lord

Buddha and Mahavira.

o He started the winning conquest which finally ended with the Kalinga
War by Ashoka.
o Bimbisara placed acquired Anga under his son Ajatashatru (1 Buddhist
Council).
o The earliest capital of Magadha was Rajgir (Called Girivraja at that
time) - surrounded by 5 hills, the openings in which were closed with
stones on all side - making Rajgir impregnable - one of the key
reasons for success of Magadha.

 Ajatashatru (492 – 460 BC):

o He killed his father Bimbisara and seized the throne
 o Unlike his father, he didn’t believe much in alliance and marriages,
rather aggressive in his style - he fought two wars and made
preparations for the third (with Avanti).

 Udayin (460 – 444 BC):

o He was the one who built the fort at the confluence of Ganga and Son
at Patna.

o Udayin was succeeded by dynasty of Shishunagas – who temporarily

sifted the capital to Vaishali – their greatest achievement was the
destruction of Avanti – which brought an end to the 100 years rivalry
between Maghadha and Avanti – and this made Avanti a part of the
Maghadha empire and continued to be so

o (2nd Buddhist Council)

o They were followed by the powerful dynasty of the Nandas

 Nanda Dynasty:
 o They proved to be the most powerful rulers of Maghadha – so great
was their power that even Alexander didn’t dare to move towards the
east.
o Nandas added to the Maghadha power by conquering Kalinga, from
where they brought an image of Jina as a trophy of victory

o All this took place during the time of Mahapadma Nanda – claimed to
be ekrata – sole power

o They possess 200,000 infantry, 60,0000 cavalry and 3000-6000 war

elephants.

o Harayanka  Sishunga  Nandas  Mauryan

Reasons of Magadha’s Rise:

 The rise of the
Maghadha
empire in India,
was
contemporary
to rise and
march of the
Iranian empire.

 Several
enterprising and
ambitious rulers
such as
 Bimbisara, Ajatashatru and Mahapadma Nanda.

 Maghadha enjoyed an advantageous geographical position in the age of iron

age – richest iron deposits were not situated too far off from Rajgir – enabled
them to equip themselves with effective weapons, which were not readily
available to their rivals:

 Their capitals - both Rajgir and then Patliputra were situated at very strategic
points:

o Rajgir was surrounded by 5 hills, entrances were blocked/guarded by

stone, making it impregnable in those times – when there were no
means of storming citadels, such as canons etc.

o In the 5th BC, they shifted their capital to Patliputra, which occupied a
pivotal position, commanding communication from all sides - at the
confluence of Ganga, Ghandhak, Son, Ghagra (a true water fort –
jaladurga) – this allowed a hugely advantageous maritime
communication network – the army and trade could move around very
efficiently – following the courses of the rivers.

o Maghadha lay at the center of the middle Gangetic plain – once

cleared of jungles, the extremely fertile alluviums and rainfall, it
allowed for high productivity and surplus.

o First to use elephants on large scale in wars - the eastern part of it

could supply elephants

Age of Mauryans
Chandragupta Maurya
  He founded the Maurya dynasty – he took
advantage of the growing weakness of
the Nandas and with the help of
Chanakya, he overthrew the Nandas and
established the Mauryan dynasty – their
machinations are described in details in
Mudraraksha – drama by Vishakhadatta in
the 9th AD.

 He ran over the whole of Indian with an army

of 600,000 and liberated the NW India from
Selucus Nicator – eventually as a part of the
peace treaty gave him eastern Afghanistan,
Baluchistan and areas west of Indus.

 Leaving Kerala, TN and parts of N-E India

the Mauryans ruled over the whole of the subcontinent.

Imperial Organisation:
 Organized a very elaborate system of administration – from the accounts of
Magasthenese (Selucus’s ambassador in the court of Chandragupta; wrote
Indica) and Arthashastra
o Indica is a collection of the Magasthenese work, which has got spread all over
o Arthashastra was compiled a few centuries after the Mauryan rule, it’s
probably one of the most authentic account of the administration and
economic conditions of the times.

 The empire was divided

into provinces, each was
placed under a prince –
they were further divided
into smaller units, and
arrangements were
made for both rural and
urban administrations

 The administration of
Patliputra was carried out
by six committees - each
consisting of 5 members
 – responsible for sanitation, care of foreigners, registration of birth and
death and regulation of weights and measures etc.

 In addition, the central Govt maintained about two dozen departments of the
state, which controlled social and economic activities

 Huge army: according to Roman writer Pliny, Chandragupta maintained

600,000 soldiers, 30,000 cavalry and 9000 elephants – far bigger than the
Nandas (almost 3 times – much larger empire and far more resources). They
also seem to have maintained a navy.

 State controlled almost every economic activity – new land was brought
under cultivation with the help of cultivators and shudras Labourers.

 Taxes ranged from 1/4th to 1/6th.

Ashoka (273 – 232 BC)

 Chandragupta -> Bindusara ->
Ashoka

 This history of Ashoka is

reconstructed based on his
inscriptions – 39 of them Major, Minor
and Separate Rock Edicts, Major and
Minor Pillar edicts.

 The name ‘Ashoka’ appears only in

some inscriptions– all others mention
him as ‘devnamapiya piyadasi’ – which
meant, dear to god
 His inscriptions are found in India,
Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan – all
together at 47 places – generally
placed along the ancient highways

 Composed in Prakrit (and not Paoli)

and in Brahimi script

 In the NW part, written in Kharoshthi script and in Afghanistan, they are found
both in Greek and Aramaic scripts/lang.
  He is the first king to speak to his people directly through inscriptions, which
actually carry royal orders – throw light on his external and domestic policies,
and the extent of his empire.

Impact of Kalinga War

 The only major war Ashoka fought was the Kalinga war – he won it eventually,
but almost 100,00 people got killed in it and 150,000 were taken prisoners

 He was moved by the massacre and he abandoned the policy of physical

occupation and instead from thereon followed the policy of cultural conquest
– in other words, bheroghosha was replaced with dhammaghosha –
Thirteenth Edict mentions the whole episode and the remorse towards
killings etc.

 He now made an ideological appeal to the tribal people and the frontier
kingdoms to obey king as
their father and repose faith
in him – the officers
appointed by him were
instructed to propagate this
idea among all sections
and people were primarily
told to follow the principles
of dhamma (dharma).

 As an enlightened ruler, he
shunned physical
conquests and instead
tried to conquer
ideologically, sent
ambassadors of peace to
the Greek Kingdoms in
West Asia and Greece

 Within his empire he

appointed a class of
officers known as rajukas,
who were vested with the
authority of not only
 rewarding people, but also punishing them, where necessary – not a sign of
being a pacifist

 The policy of Ashoka to consolidate his empire bore fruit – the Kandhar
inscription speaks of the success of his policy with hunters, fishermen, who
gave up killing and possibly took to a settled agricultural life.
Internal Policy and Buddhism
 Ashoka got converted to Buddhism as a result of Kalinga war – became a
monk, made huge gifts to Buddhists and undertook pilgrimages to Buddhist
shrines – dhamma yatras.

 3rd Buddhist Council (Sangiti) was held by Ashoka and missionaries were sent
not only S India, but also to Sri Lanka, Burma and other countries – to
convert the people there.

 Ashoka set a very high ideal for himself, and this was ideal of paternal
kingship – looked upon his subjects as his children.
 Appointed dhamma mahamatras to propagate dharma among various social
groups – including women.

 He disapproved of the rituals, forbade killing of certain animals and birds and
completely prohibited animal slaughter in the capital

o But Ashoka’s dharma wasn’t a narrow dharma, Ashoka’s teachings

thus were universal in nature and were intended to maintain the
existing social order on the basis of tolerance.

Ashoka’s Dhamma (or Dharma in Sanskrit)

 Ashoka established the idea of
paternal kingship.

 He regarded all his subjects as his

children and believed it the king’s
duty to look after the welfare of the
subjects.

 Through his edicts, he said

everybody should serve parents,
revere teachers, and practice
ahimsa and truthfulness.
  He asked everyone to avoid animal slaughter and sacrifice.

 He expounded humane treatment of animals, servants and prisoners.

 He advocated tolerance towards all religions.

 He sought conquest through Dhamma and not war.

 He sent missions abroad to spread the word of the Buddha. Notably, he

sent his son Mahinda and daughter Sanghamitra to Sri Lanka.

 Most of his edicts are written in Pali and Prakrit in Brahmi script. Some are
written in the Kharoshti and Aramaic scripts also. There are some edicts
written in Greek as well. The language depends on the location of the pillar
Sources of information about Ashoka
 There are two main sources: Buddhist sources and Ashoka’s edicts.

 James Prinsep, a British antiquary and colonial administrator was the first
person to decipher Ashoka’s edicts.

 Ashokavadana (Sanskrit) written in the second century AD, Dipavamsa and

Mahavamsa (Sri Lankan Pali chronicles) give most of the information about
Ashoka.
Ashokan inscriptions
 Maski and Gurjara- his actual name.

 Babru- his faith in Buddhism

 Sarnath- called himself Dharma-Ashoka

 Barabar cave – his secular policy

 Rumandei- talk about land grants

 Rock edicts 2,11- Ashoka elaborates on his Dharma.

• Initially, Rajagaha (the Prakrit name for present-day Rajgir in Bihar)
was the capital of Magadha which means “house of the king”.
Rajagaha was a fortified settlement, located amongst hills.

• In the fourth century BCE, the capital was shifted to Pataliputra, present-day Patna,
commanding routes of communication along the Ganga.

• Chandragupta Maurya, who founded the empire (c. 321 BCE), extended control as far northwest
as Afghanistan and Baluchistan, and his grandson
• Asoka, arguably the most famous ruler of early India, conquered Kalinga (present-day coastal
Orissa).

• Megasthenes (a Greek ambassador to the court of Chandragupta wrote Indica.

• Arthashastra, parts of which were probably composed by Kautilya or Chanakya, traditionally

believed to be the minister of Chandragupta.

• Five Major Political Centres

• The capital Pataliputra and the provincial centres of Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali and Suvarnagiri, all
mentioned in Ashokan inscriptions

• Taxila and Ujjayini being situated on important long-distance trade routes, while Suvarnagiri
(literally, the golden mountain) was possibly important for tapping the gold mines of Karnataka.

• Communication along both land and riverine routes was vital for the existence of empire

 Sub committees
• Megasthenes mentions a committee with six subcommittees for coordinating military activity.

• First looked after the navy

• Second managed transport and provisions

• Third was responsible for foot-soldier

• The fourth for horses

• The fifth for chariots

• The sixth for elephants

• Kushanas (c. first century BCE first century CE), who ruled over a vast kingdom extending from
Central Asia to northwest India

• Huge Statues of Kushan rulers have been found in U.P and Afghanistan and adopted the title
devaputra, or ‘son of god’.

• By the fourth century there is evidence of larger states, including the Gupta Empire

• The Prayaga Prashasti (also known as the Allahabad Pillar Inscription) composed in Sanskrit by
Harishena, the court poet of Samudragupta, arguably the most powerful of the Gupta rulers

 Trade, Commerce, Coins etc…..

• Trade was not confined within the subcontinent but extended to East and North Africa and
West Asia and to Southeast Asia and China.

• Successful merchants, designated as masattuvan in Tamil and setthis and satthavahas in

Prakrit, could become enormously rich.

• Coins were issued by kings, merchants, bankers and town people.

• The first coins bearing the names and images of rulers were issued by the Indo-Greeks

• The first gold coins were issued in first century CE by the Kushans

• Guptas also issued gold coins. These were remarkable for their purity. These coins facilitated
long distance transactions.

• KEY WORDS

• Janapada: The land where a Jana (a people, clan or tribe) sets its foot or settles.

• Oligarchy: A form of government where power is exercised by a group of men

• Girnar Inscription: The inscription mentions the achievements of the Shaka ruler Rudradaman
and Sudarsana Lake

• The Manusmriti: Legal texts of early India

• The Harshacharita: A biography of Harshavardhana, the king of Kanauj composed by his court
poet Banabatta.

• Agrahara land: Land granted to a Brahmana. He was exempted from tax but had the right to
collect tax dues from local people

• Votive Inscriptions: Votive inscriptions record gifts made to religious institutions.

• Initially, Rajagaha (the Prakrit name for present-day Rajgir in Bihar) was the capital of Magadha
which means “house of the king”. Rajagaha was a fortified settlement, located amongst hills.

• In the fourth century BCE, the capital was shifted to Pataliputra, present-day Patna,
commanding routes of communication along the Ganga.

• The Mahajanpadas:

• Magadha: embraced former Patna, Gaya and parts of Shahbad

• Vajjis: included 8 clans – most powerful were the Lihchhavis with their capital at
Vaishali
 • Kashi: capitall at Varanasi – intially it appears to be the most powerful state, but
eventually submitted to the power of Koshala

• Koshala: embraced the area occupied by E-UP; capital at Shravasti. Contained Ayodhya
and Shakyas of Kapilvastu (birthplace of Buddha)

• Mallas: touched the boarder of Vajji state. One of the capitals at Kushinara - Guatam
Buddha passed away at Kushinara

• Vatsas: along the bank of Yamuna, capital at Kaushambhi - from the Kuru clan

• Kurus & Panchals: situated in the W-UP, but no longer as important as they were during
the Vedic period

• Avantis: central Malwa and adjoining parts of MP; N part capital @ Ujjain and the S
part capital @ Mahismati – eventually Ujjain became more prominent due to large
scale use of iron and strong fortification

 After the decay of the Mauryas around 200 BC, they were succeeded by a
number of smaller kingdoms such as the Shungas, Kanvas and the Satvahans
in the eastern, North and C India. In the W Indian, they were succeeded by a
number of ruling dynasties, the most prominent being the Kushans

 First to invade India were the Indo-Greeks or the Bactrian Greeks in the 2nd
Century BC – they managed to push as far as Patliputra and Ayodha (much
larger area than what Alexander could manage to win), but failed to
consolidate their conquests, and eventually settled ruling the NW part of
India.
 The most famous ruler was Menander (165-145 BC). Also known as Milinda

 He was converted to Buddhism after a spiritual/intellectual argument with a

Buddhist monk Nagasena – captured in Milinda Panho or The Questions of
Milinda.
 Introduction/issuance of a large number of coins – they were they first ones to
issue coins, which can definitely be attributed to the kings – the early punch-
marked coins couldn’t be assigned (with certainty) to particular kings.
  They were the first ones to issue Gold Coins in India – which increased in
number under the Kushans.

 They also introduced the Gandhara Art in the NWF of India.

The Shakas
 Greeks were followed by Shakas – controlled much larger part of India than
the Greeks

 There we five branches of the Shakas:

o Settled in Afghanistan

o 2nd branch in Punjab, with Taxila as its capital.

o 3rd branch in Mathura

o 4th branch in Western India – where they continued to rule for

the longest – until 4th AD.

o 5th branch in upper Deccan

 In 57-58 BC, an Ujjain king managed to successfully fight them out and
drive them out, giving himself the title of Vikramaditya and called the time as
the ‘Vikram era (58 BC)’ – this led to assumption of the title by some of the
significant kings – a total of 14 times the tile was assumed by various kings
– Chandragupta II was the most famous Vikramaditya.
 The most famous ruler was Rudradaman (AD 130 – 150):

He repaired the Sudarshan Lake in the semi-arid zone of Kathiawar – an

The Parthians (Indo-Greeks -> Shakas - > Parthians):

 The Shaka domination in the NW was followed by that of the Parthians – in
many Sanskrit texts, they together are mentioned Shaka-Pahlavas.

 Like the Indo-Greeks and Shakas, they also got assimilated into the Indian
society

The Kushans (Indo-Greeks -> Shakas - > Parthians -> Kushans):

  Parthians were followed by the
Kushans, who were also called
as the Yuechis or Tocharians.

 They came from North C Asia

(close to China) and first
occupied bactria or N
Afghanistan displacing Shakas
and then gradually moved to
Kabul valley and seized
gandhara crossing the
Hinduskuch – displacing the
Shaka-Phalavas.

 Kushans/Kanishka issued large

amount of Gold coins, with
purity higher than the ones
issued during the Gupta period.
 Their first capital was at
Purushpara/Peshawar and the
2nd one at Mathura.

 Kanishka was the most famous Kushan ruler:

 He started the Shaka Era – AD 78

o Extended wholehearted patronage to Buddhism

 He held the 4th Buddhist council at Kashmir, where the doctrines of

Mahayana were finalized
 He was also a great patron of Sanskrit and Art & literature

Satavahanas
 The Satavahana rule is believed to have started around the third century BC,
in 235 BC and lasted until the second century AD.

 Some experts believe their rule started in the first century BC only.

 They are referred to as Andhra’s in the Puranas.

  The Satavahana kingdom chiefly comprised of modern-day Andhra Pradesh,
Telangana and Maharashtra. At times, their rule also included parts of
Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

 Their capital cities varied at different times. Pratishthana (Paithan) and

Amaravati were its capitals.

 Simuka founded the dynasty.

 They were the first native Indian rulers to issue their own coins with the
portraits of the rulers. This practice was started by Gautamiputra Satakarni
who derived the practice from the Western Satraps after defeating them.

 The coin legends were in Prakrit language. Some reverse coin legends are in
Telugu, Tamil and Kannada.

 They patronised Prakrit more than Sanskrit.

 They supported both Buddhism and Brahminism although they were Hindus
and claimed Brahminical status.

 They successfully defended their territories against foreign invaders and had
many on-going battles with the Sakas (Western Satraps)

GUPTAS
Important Rulers (AD 285 – AD 550):

 Chandragupta-I (319-334)

 Samudragupta’s (335-380)

 Chandragupta-II

Chandragupta-I (319-334)
 He was the first important king -
320AD
Samudragupta’s (335-380)
 The most powerful of all and very
aggressive, a conqueror

 His court poet Harishena has written

 about his military, expansionist expeditions

 Considering his military conquests and warrior nature, he is called as the

Napoleon of India

 Conquered:

o Ganga-Yamuna-Doab provinces
o Eastern Himalayan states such as Nepal, Assam, Bengal etc.
o Forest kingdoms of the Vindhya region - known as the Atavika
rajyas
o 12 rulers of Deccan and South India - down to Kanchi in TN
(even Pallavs in the South recognized their suzerainty).
o Shakas and Kushans some of whom were ruling in Afghanistan.
Chandragupta-II (380-412):
 He further extended the empire - through marriages and alliance

 Through his daughter's marriage to a Central Indian prince (Vakataka Prince)

he managed to extend his control all the way to Malwa and Gujarat in the
west - providing him the trade access with Europe/Roman empire

 Made Ujjain as his 2nd capital.

 Got himself the title of Vikramaditya - this title was first adopted by an Ujjain
ruler in 57 BC by defeating the Shakas and Kushans.

Features
 King was considered equivalent of Vishnu - goddess Lakshmi is presented
invariably on the Gupta coins as the wife of Vishnu
 For the first time, civil and criminal laws were clearly demarcated - several
law books were written

 Professional bodies (merchants, artisans etc.) were organized into guilds.

 Grant of fiscal and administrative concessions to the priests/Brahmins was

very prominent and in return, the Brahmins glorified the king and his
legitimacy

 The coins were called as Dinaras.

 Chinese scholar Fa-Hsien records reveal the following:

  Guptas issued large no of gold coins, with portrays of kings on them - not
as pure as the gold coins of the Kushans.
o Very few cooper coins found - some silver coins found

 Trade with Roman empire declined after 550AD as the Roman's learned the
art of growing silk from the Chinese around that time.

 Due to large land grants to the priestly class, emergence of priestly landlords
at the cost of local peasants

 Brahmans accumulated enormous wealth on account of numerous land

grants - listed in Narada Smriti

 Position of Sudras improved:

o Allowed to listen to Ramayana, the Mahabharata and Puranas

o Allowed to worship a new god called Krishna.

Position of Women:
 Allowed to listen to Ramayana, the Mahabharta and Puranas.

 Allowed to worship a new god called Krishna.

 The upper caste (Brahmin

and Kshatriya) women were
not allowed to work, but the
Vaishyas and Sudra women
were allowed to work
independently (thus in a bit
better condition, compared to
their upper caste
counterparts).

 Instances of Sati (immolation

of widow after the death of
her husband) is evident from 510 AD.

 Buddhism was flourishing, but did not get the royal patronage anymore.

 Nalanda became the center of Buddhist teachings.

  By the 200 BC all three (Narayana, Vishnu and Krishan-Vasudeva) merged
and resulted into the creation of Bhagvatism or Vaishnavism.

 By the 6th century AD, Vishnu became a part of the Trinity (Brahma, Vishnu
and Shiva).

 Worship in temples became quite common.

Art
 Gupta period is called as the Golden Age of ancient India:

o They possessed a large number of gold coins and issued the

largest number of gold coins.

 Both Chandragupta-II and Samudragupta’s were patrons of art and

literature:

o Chandragupta-II maintained the nine luminaries (navratna) in his

court, including Kalidas and Amarshima.

 Supported a lot of large Buddhist stupas and bronze statues of Buddha

 Most incredible piece of work is Ajanta paintings:

o They cover the 1st-7th century AD, but most of them belong to
the Gupta period.

o They depict various events in the life of Buddha and previous

Buddha's.

 Since supporters of Brahmanism

 For the first time, images of Vishnu, Shiva and some other Hindu gods.

 Chief god appears in the middle as higher picture and the others as smaller
one - clear social hierarchy and discrimination.

 Buddhist university at Nalanda was set-up in the 5th century AD, and its
earliest structures, made of brick, belong to this period.
Literature
  Remarkable for the
production of secular
literature.
 Mrichhakatika of the Little
Clay Cart written by Shudraka
- love affair between a poor
Brahmin boy and daughter of
a courtesan

 Abhijanashankuntalam - written by Kalidasa - among the world's best 100

literary works

Malvikagnimitra (love affair of son of Pushyamitra Sunga – Agnivarsha) and

Meghdoot – by Kalidas.
 Bhagavad-Gita, Ramayana and Mahabharata were written - almost
complete by the 4th century AD.

 Overall, the period witnessed a good deal of Brahminical, religious literature,

but also,
produced
some earlier
classic pieces of
literature.
Harsha Empire

Background:
 Harshvardhan (AD 606 - 647).

 Emerged on the ruins of Gupta empire

 After the fall of the Gupta empire, the North India was dominated by
individual feudal lord.

 Harsha, starting with Thanesar in Haryana consolidated his hold over the
feudatories and extended his authority over all the other feudatories.

 Initially a Shaivaite, but under the influence of Hsuan Tsang patronized

Buddhism:
Organized a grand assembly at Kanauj, kings from around 20 countries and several
thousand priestes belonging to different sects gathered.

Sources
 Bhanbhatt, who wrote Harshacharita - in such a
flattering and ornate way, that this became the
beginning of such writing going forward.
 He is believed to have authored three dramas
Priyadarshika, the Ratnavali and the Nagananda.

 More credible has been the account of the Chinese

traveler Hsuan Tsang:
  Came to India in AD 629, travelled around and stayed in Harsha courts and went
back in AD 645

 He came to India to study in the Buddhist university at Nalanda - Mahayana

philosophy of Buddhism

 Buddhist university at Nalanda was flourishing center for Mahayana philosophy:

o Had a capacity to accommodate up to 10,000 students
 He did not issue many coins, as he started the practice of paying/rewarding his
officers/feudal lords with land grants - similar to the land grants made to the
Brahmins

Expansion in the Peninsula

Background:
 South India (AD 300 - 750)
o Vakatakas
o Chalukyas
o Pallavas
o Pandayas
o Rasthrakutas

Satvahans -> Vakatakas -> Chalukyas ->

Rasthrakutas
 The period from AD 350 - 700 marks the
second historical phase in the regions south of
Vindhayas:

 A dozen new kingdoms emerged and perished

during this interval.

 By the beginning of this 2nd phase, South

India had ceased to be the land of megaliths,
and towards it's end we notice the process
which eventually made it a land of temples.
Vakatakas
 In northern MH and Vidharbha (Berar), the
Satvahanas were replaced by Vakatakas - a
 local power

 Chandragupta-II got his daughter married to the Vakatakas to extend his

power down to Ujjain and Malwa

 Vakataka kingdom became a channel for transmitting Brahmanical ideas

and social institutions to the South
Chalukyas (of Badami)
 They replaced the Vakatakas and played a key role until AD 757 - eventually
were replaced by the Rasthrakutas

 They established their capital at Vatapi (modern Badami, in the district of

Bijapur - Karnataka)
Pallavas
 The Pallavs were possibly a local tribe who established their authority in the
Tondainadu or the land of creepers

 Their authority extended both southern Andhra and Northern TN - with capital
at Kanchi (modern Kanchipuram) - town of temples and Vedic learning.
Kalabhras
 In the deep south (around TN) as a reaction to the Brahmanical dominance
and the social order, emerged the Kalabhras - called the evil rulers

 They defeated and imprisoned the Chola, the Pandya and Chera kings

 They confiscated the land grants given to the Brahmans, and seems like they
had Buddhist persuasions and patronized Buddhist monks

 It required the combined might of the Pandayas, the Pallavs and the
Chalukyas to suppress their uprising
Misc
 The Chalukyas and Pallavas were always at war to establish their supremacy
in the area - particularly the land lying between the Krishna and
Tungabhadra:

 Pulakeshin II (609-642), the most famous Chalukyas king defeated Harsha's

army on the Narmada and checked his advance to the South.
  He also conquered the entire area between Krishna and Godavari, which
came to be known as the
province of Vengi.

 He eventually was defeated by

the Pallavas king
Narshimavarman (AD 630-668).
 Narshimavarman gave himself
the title of vatapikonda - after
winning Vatapi

 He is also said to have defeated

the Cholas, Cheras, the
Pandayas and the Kalabhras.

 Towards the end of 7th century

AD, the Chalukyas king
Vikramaditya II (AD 733 - 745) is
said to have overran Kanchi
three times and completely
routed the Pallavas in 740 AD.

 Eventually, their feudatories the Rasthrakutas replaced the Chalukyas.

Social/Religious/Art
 The Pallavas, Chalukyas of Badami and their other counterparts were great
champions of Vedic sacrifices.

 They performed ashvamedha and vajapeya sacrifices to legitimize and

enhance their prestige - with the help of Brahmins:

o Brahmins gained important position - at the expense of other

communities, particular the peasantry.

 Pallavas Kings constructed a number of stone temples in the 7th-8th century

AD: the Ratha temple and Shore temples at Mahabalipuram - constructed by
Narshimavarman.

 The Chalukyas of Badami erected a number of temples at Aiohole from about

AD 610 - Aiohole contains as many as 70 temples.
  Three types of villages:

o Ur - inhabited by all peasantry class - tax collected by the

village headmen.

o Sabha - consisted of brahamadeya villages - independent

lands granted to the Brahmins.

o Nagram - combination of traders and merchants.

Northern India: Age of the Three

Empires (8th-10th CE)
• A number of powerful empires arose in N India and the Deccan between 750
AD-1000 AD:

Pala Empire – dominated the eastern India till middle of 9th CE.
Pratiharas empire – dominated western India and the upper Gangetic valley till the
middle of the 10th CE.

Rasthrakutas empire – dominated Deccan

and also controlled territory in N and S
India at various times – it lasted the
longest of the three – not only the most
powerful empire of the times, but also
acted as a bridge between N and S India.

The Struggle for Domination: The Palas

 They had a powerful navy and
dominated the sea trade to China.

 Following the reign of Harsha,

Kanauj was considered the symbol
of the sovereignty of N India – a position which Delhi was to acquire later –
control of Kanauj implied control of upper Gangetic valley and its rich
resources in trade and agriculture.
  The Pala empire was founded by Gopala around 750 CE.

 They tried to extend their control to further North and West, but were
repulsed by the Pratiharas, thus for about a hundred years, form 8th CE to
middle of the 9th CE, they dominated East India – attested by an Arab
merchant Sulaiman (visited India in the middle of the 9th CE).

 Pala rulers were great patrons of Buddhist learning and religion – Nalanda
University was revived by Dharmapala and 200 villages were set aside for
meeting its expenses.

 He (Dharmapala) also founded Vikramshila University – which became 2nd

only to Nalanda in fame.

 The Palas built many viharas in which a large number of Buddhist monks
lived.
 Close contact with Tibet – invited noted Buddhist scholars Santarakshits and
Dipankara (called Atisa), who introduced new form of Buddhism there – as a
result many Tibetan Buddhists flocked to the universities of Nalanda and
Vikramshila.

 The Palas had great trading links with the SE Asia, including the all-powerful
Sailendra dynasty (ruled over Sumatra, Java and Malaya peninsula).

The Pratiharas
 They are also called as Gurjar-Pratihars – they were probably local officials
to start with, but gained fame due to their resistance to the Arabs.

 Their initial attempts to gain control over the Upper Ganga valley were
thwarted by the Rasthrakutas.

 The real founder of the dynasty was Bhoj – later he revived the conflict with
the Rasthrakutas, and in one of the battles on the banks of Narmada, he
managed to retain his control over Malwa, some parts of GJ.

 Arab travelers tell us that they had the best cavalry in India and horse trade
with C Asia was a key affair – following the death of Devpala and the
weakening of the Pala empire, Bhoja also extended his empire in the east.

 The Pratiharas dominated N India for over a hundred years – from the first
quarter of ninth to middle of 10th CE.
  They were great patrons of
learning and literature – the
dramatists Rajasekhara lived in
the court of Mahipal (grandson of
Bhoja) – also built several fine
buildings and temples in Kanauj.

 During the 8th and 9th CE, many

Indian scholars went with
embassies to the court of the
Caliph at Baghdad – these
scholars introduced Indian
sciences, especially mathematics,
algebra and medicine to the Arab
world.
 Between 915-918 Indra-III
(Rasthrakutas) devastated Kanauj
and Kanauj passed into the hands of Rasthrakutas.

The Rasthrakutas
 While the Palas and Pratiharas
were ruling over N India, the
Deccan was being ruled by the
Rasthrakutas – a remarkable
dynasty which produced a
number of warriors and able
administrators.

 They were engaged in

continuous fight with the
Chalukyas of Vengi (AP) and in
south against Pallavas of Kanchi
and the Pandayas of Madurai.
 Amoghavarhsa ruled for 68 years but by temperament, he preferred the
pursuit of religion and literature to war – he himself was the author of the first
Kananda book on poetics.
 The Rashtrakuta rule in Deccan lasted for almost 200 years till the end of
10th CE.
 They were tolerant and patronized not only Shaivism and Vaishnasim, but
also Jainism – the famous rock cut temple of Shiva at Ellora (Kailashnath at
Ellora – Ravan Shaking/lifting Kailash etc.) was built by them (Krishan-I in
the 9th CE).

 They allowed Muslims to be settled and Islam to be preached in their

dominions.
 The king dispensed justice and the court was not only a center of political
affairs, but also of cultural life – dancing girls, music – ladies of the king’s
household also attended the courts occasionally.

 Vasal rulers and autonomous chief limited the area under direct
administration.

 The kings were generally advised by a number of ministers – the kings were
chosen by the kings, generally from the leading families – often hereditary.

 The areas consisted of areas directly administered and the areas ruled over
by the vassal chiefs – the latter were autonomous as far as their internal
affairs were concerned – having a general obligation to loyalty, paying a
fixed tribute and supplying a fixed quota of troops to the overlord.

 The directly administered territories in the Pala and Pratiharas were divided
into bhukti (provinces) and mandala or visaya (districts) – the governor of a
province was called uparika and the head of a district was called a visapati –
the uparika was expected to collect land revenue and maintain law and
order. During this period, there was an increase in small chieftains –
samants and bhogapatis.
 Under the Rasthrakutas, the directly administered areas were divided into
rashtra (provinces), visaya and bhukti (district) – a bit opposite of the Pala
and Pratiharas terminology.
 Below these territorial divisions was the village – basic unit of administration
– administered by the village headman and the village accountant – paid by
grants of the rent-free lands.

 In the Rashtrakuta kingdom, there were village committees to manage local

schools, tanks, temples and roads.
 An important feature is the rise in Deccan of hereditary revenue officers
called nad-gavundas or desa-gramakutas – similar to the later Deshmukh
and Deshpande – the central rulers found these chieftains to control and
assert his authority over them – the Govt was becoming even more
feudalized.

 In general, irrespective of
the personal belief of the
rulers, they were very
tolerant towards the other
religions – they gave
patronage to all the faiths,
and did not persecute
anyone for his or her
religious beliefs – even
Muslims were welcomed
and allowed to preach
their faith by the
Rashtrakuta kings.

 This really meant that the politics and religion were in essence kept apart – the
kings were not dominated by the
priesthood, or by the laws
expounded by them.

The Chola Empire

(9th – 12th CE)
 The Chola empire which arose in
the 9th CE, brought under its
controls a large part of the
peninsula – developed a powerful
navy, which enabled them to
 develop India’s sea trade in the Indian Ocean and to conquer Sri Lanka and
Maldives Islands – their influence was felt even in the SE Asian countries –
they may be said to mark a climax in South Indian history.
 The founder was Vijayalaya – who was first a feudatory of the Pallavas – he
captured Tanjore in 850 CE – by the end of 9th CE, the Cholas had defeated
both the Pallavas of Kanchi and Pandayas of Madurai, bringing the Tamil
country under their control.

Age of Rajaraj and Rajendra-I:

 The greatest were Rajaraj (985-1014) and his son Rajendra-I (1014-1044
CE).

 Rajaraj also invaded Sri Lanka and annexed its northern part to his empire –
also, he conquered Maldives as well – primarily driven by trade incentive.

 Rajendra-I carried forward his father’s legacy and completed the annexation
of Sri Lanka – under Cholas for next 50 years; defeated Cheras and
Pandayas.
 They marked their victories with erection of a number of temples –
Rajarajeshwara/Bridhseshwara Temple at Tanjore (1010 CE) – they followed a
tradition of having long inscriptions of their victories engraved on the temple
walls – resourceful.

 To commemorate the occasion of victories over Kalinga and Bengal,

Rajendra-I built Gangaikondachola Temple (meaning, conqueror of Ganga) –
and built his new capital at Kaveri calling it Gangaikondacholapuram.

 He also got head-on with Sri

Vijaya (Sailendra Dynasty – the
Buddhist patron in SE Asia).

 The expeditions and

conquests of Kadram or
Kedah and a number of other
places in the Malay peninsula
and Sumatra, the Chola navy
was the strongest and for
some time the Bay of Bengal
 was converted into ‘Chola Lake.
 It started to decline during the early part of the 13th CE.

 The places of the Cholas were taken by the Pandayas and the Hoysalas in
the south and of the later Chalukyas by the Yadav’s and Kakatiya.

Chola Government:
 The all-powerful king had a council of ministers to advise him.

 Marco Polo who visited Kerala in the 13th CE during the end of Chola period.

 Chola empire was divided into mandalams, which in turn were divided into
valandau and nadu – princes of royal families were appointed as the
governors of the provinces.
 Trade flourished during their time and there were some gigantic trade guilds
trading with Java and Sumatra.

 They also paid attention to irrigation - many tanks for irrigation were built.

 Two assemblies – ur and Sabha (or Mahasabha): ur was general assembly,

while the Sabha/Mahasabha was the gathering of the adult men in the
brahman villages which were called the Agraharas (Brahman villages – rent
free, largely autonomous).

 The Mahasabha could settle new lands and exercise ownership rights over
them – it could also raise loans for the village and levy taxes.
 The self-government enjoyed by these Chola villages was very fine system!

Cultural Life
 The extent and resources of the
Chola empire enabled the rulers to
build great capitals, such as Tanjore,
Gangaikondacholapuram, Kanchi
etc.

 Temple architecture in the south

attained its climax under the Cholas –
the style of architecture which came
 into vogue during this period is called the Dravida (as was confined largely to
S India):

o Building of storey upon storey above the chief deity room

(garbhagriha) – and also the construction of Vimana.

o A pillared hall called mandap – acted as an audience hall, other

activities such as dances were performed by the devadasis.

o The entire structure was enclosed in a courtyard, surrounded by

high walls, which were pierced by lofty gates called the
gopurams.
o In course of time the vimanas rose higher and higher, the
number of courtyards were increased to two/three and the
gopurams also became more and more elaborate.

 The temples used to get rent-free land – and over course of time, some of
the temples became so rich that they entered business, lent money, and took
part in business enterprises.
 Kailashnath temple at Kanchipuram, Gangaikondacholapuram and
Brihadiswara temple at Tanjore – also called as the Rajaraj temple, as the
Cholas were in the habit of installing the images of the kings and queens in
the temples, in addition to the deity.
 After the fall of the Cholas, temple building activity continued under the later
Chalukyas (of Kalyani) and Hoysalas – the district of Dharwar and the
Hoysala capital, Helebid had a large number of temples.

 The most magnificent of these is the Hoysaleswara temple.

 For the common man,

the temple was not
merely a place of
worship, but the hub of
social and cultural life as
well.

 The art and sculpture

attained a high in S India
during this period – one
of the examples is the
 giant statue of Gomateswar at Sravana Belgola – another aspect was image
making, which reached its climax in the dancing figure of Shiva, called the
Nataraja – figure of this time, particular of bronzes are considered
masterpieces.

 While Sanskrit was considered as the court and intelligentsia language, a

remarkable feature of this period is the development of the regional
languages and literature.
 A number of popular saints called nayanars (Shiva) and alvars (Vishnu)
flourished in Tamil area between the 6th-9th CE – they composed their works
in Tamil and other languages of the area – their writing was collected into
eleven volumes named Tirumurais in the early part of the 12th CE and are
looked upon as the 5th Veda.

 Another one is Kamban’s Ramayan in Tamil – considered as a classic.

 Though, younger than Tamil, Kananda also became a literary language – the
Rasthrakutas, Chalukyas, as well as the Hoysalas patronized Kannada and
Telgu – many Jain scholars also contributed to Kannada – Pampa, Ponna
and Ranna are regarded as three gems of Kananda poetry.
 Thus, the period 8th-12th CE was not only remarkable for political integration
in S India, but also for cultural development – trade and commerce also
flourished during this period and agriculture expanded, making it one of the
great periods in the history of S India.

Bhakti-Sufi Tradition
Bhakti movements and Tantric
  There were conflicts between
those who followed the Vedic
tradition and those who
practiced the Tantric way of
worshipping deities.

 Those who valued Vedic

tradition often condemned the
practices that went beyond
the performance of sacrifices
and chanting of mantras.

 On the other hand, those who

engaged in Tantric practices ignored the authority of the Vedas.

 Brahmanas remained important intermediaries between gods and devotees in

several forms of bhakti.

Saguna and Nirguna Bhakti

 Bhakti traditions classified into two broad categories: Saguna (with attributes)
and Nirguna (without attributes).

 Saguna included traditions that focused on the worship of specific deities such as
Shiva, Vishnu and his avatars (incarnations) and forms of the goddess or Devi.

 Nirguna bhakti on the other hand was worship of an abstract form of god.

Alvars and Nayanars of Tamil Nadu

 Alvars (literally, those who are “immersed”
in devotion to Vishnu).

 Nayanars (literally, leaders who were

devotees of Shiva).

 They travelled from place-to-place singing

hymns in Tamil in praise of their gods.

 During their travels the Alvars and Nayanars

identified certain shrines as abodes of their
chosen deities.
  One of the major anthologies of compositions by the Alvars, the Nalayira
Divyaprabandham, was frequently described as the Tamil Veda.

 Nalayira Divyaprabandham (“Four Thousand Sacred Compositions”)- 12

Alvars were compiled in an anthology known as the Nalayira
Divyaprabandham.

 The saint –poets the Alvars and the Nayanars opposed Buddhism and
Jainism.

Patronage of Chola rulers

 Religious traditions received
occasional royal patronage
from Pallavas and Pandayas
and Cholas.

 Chola rulers supported

Brahmanical and bhakti
traditions, making land
grants and constructing
temples for Vishnu and
Shiva.

 Chola kings, tried to win the support of these popular saints and often
attempted to claim divine support and proclaim their own power.

 Some of the most magnificent Shiva temples, including those at

Chidambaram, Thanjavur and Gangaikondacholapuram, were constructed
under the patronage of Chola rulers.
 Chola kings introduced the singing of Tamil Shaiva.

 Tevaram (initiative to collect and organize singing of Tamil Shaiva hymns into
a text).

 Chola king Parantaka I constructed the metal images of Appar, Sambandar

and Sundarar in a Shiva temple.

Virashaiva Tradition in Karnataka/ Lingayat’s

  Started by Brahmana named Basavanna (1106-68) led thr movement, his
followers were known as Vaishnavas (heroes of Shiva) or Lingayat’s (wearers
of the Linga).

 They worship Shiva in his manifestation as a

Linga.

 They wear a small Linga in a silver case on a

loop strung over the left shoulder.

 Lingayat’s believe that on death, the devotee will

be united with Shiva and will not return to this
world.

 The Lingayat’s challenged the idea of caste and

the “pollution” attributed to some groups by
Brahmanas.

 Lingayat’s also encouraged certain practices

disapproved in the Dharma shastras, such as
post-puberty marriage and the remarriage of widows.

The five pillars of faith in Islam. Those who adopted Islam follow five “pillars “of
faith.

There is one God, Allah, and Prophet Muhammad is his messenger (shahada).

 Offering prayers five times a day (namaz/salat).

 Giving alms (zakat).

 Fasting during the month of Ramzan (sawam).

 Performing the pilgrimage to mecca (hajj).

Sufiism - Khanqahs and silsilas
 Sufis began to organize communities
around the hospice or Khanqah controlled
by a teaching master known as sheikh,
 pir or murshid. The word used for Sufism in Islamic texts is tasawwuf.

 He enrolled disciples (murids) and appointed a successor (Khalifa). He

established rules for spiritual conduct and interaction between inmates as
well as between laypersons and the master.

 Ulama (plural of alim, or one who knows) are scholars of Islamic studies.

 Sharia: The sharia is the law governing the Muslim community.

 Silsila literally meaning a chain signifies a continuous link between master

and disciple, stretching as an unbroken spiritual genealogy to the Prophet
Muhammed.

 Dargah is a Persian term. Its meaning is tomb-shrine. When the sheikh died,
his tomb shrine became the center of devotion for his followers.

 Wali (plural Auliya) or friend of God was a Sufi who claimed proximity to
Allah, acquiring His Grace (barakat) to perform miracles (Karamat).

Chishti devotionalism: Ziyarat and qawwali

 Pilgrimage called Ziyarat tombs of
Sufi saints is prevalent all over the
Muslim world. This practice is an
occasion for seeking the Sufi’s
spiritual grace (barakat).

 The Sufis remember God either by

reciting the zikr (the Divine Names)
or evoking His presence through
sama or performance of mystical music known as qawwali.

Dargah of Khawaja Moinuddin

 Muhammad bin Tughlaq (ruled, 1324-51) was the first Sultan to visit the
shrine.

 Earliest construction to house the tomb was funded in the late fifteenth
century by Sultan Ghiyasuddin Khalji of Malwa.

Kabir
  Kabir Bijak is preserved by the Kabirpanth
(the path or sect of Kabir) in Varanasi and
in Uttar Pradesh.

 Kabir Granthavali is associated with the

Dadupanth in Rajasthan.

 According to him the Ultimate Reality was

Allah, Khuda, Hasrat and Pir. He also used
certain Vedic terms such as Brahman and
Atman.

 He also used some yogic traditional terms

such as shabda(sound) or shunya
(emptiness).

 Some poems attacked Hindu polytheism

and idol worship and others use Sufi
concept of zikr and ishq (love) to express the Hindu practice of nam-
simaran (remembrance of God’s name).

 he was born a Hindu, Kabirdas but brought up by a poor Muslim community

of weavers, he was initiated into bhakti by a guru, Ramananda.

 The poems of Kabir used words guru and sat guru but do not mention the
name of any specific guru.

 Historians pointed out that it is very difficult to establish that Ramananda and
Kabir were contemporaries.

Baba Guru Nanak

 Baba Guru Nanak was
born in a village called
Nankana Sahib near Ravi
in Punjab in 1469.

 His teachings are well

reflected in his hymns.
These hymns suggest that
he advocated a form of
Nirguna bhakti.
  He rejected sacrifices, ritual baths, image worship and the scriptures of
Hindus and Muslims.

 According to him, the Absolute or ‘rab’ had no gender or form. He proposed

a simple way to connect to the Divine by remembering the Divine Name.

 He expressed his ideas through hymns called “shabda” in Punjabi.

 He set up rules for congregational worship (sangat). He appointed one of his

disciples, Angad, to succeed him as the preceptor
(guru).

 Guru Nanak did not want to establish a new religion.

After his death, his followers consolidated their own
practices to form a distinct community.

 The fifth guru, Guru Arjun compiled Guru Nanak’s

hymns along with those of his four successors and
other religious poets like Baba Farid, Ravidas and
Kabir in the Adi Granth Sahib.

 These hymns called “Gurbani” are composed in various languages.

 The tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, included the compositions of the ninth
guru; Guru Tegh Bahadur. This scripture was called the Guru GranthaSahib.

Guru Gobind Singh

 Guru Gobind Singh also laid the foundation of
the Khalsa Panth (army of the pure).

 He also defined its five symbols: Uncut hair, a

dagger, a pair of shorts, a comb and a steel
bangle. It was under the leadership of Guru
Gobind Singh that the community became a
socio-religious and military force.
Mirabai
 Mirabai was the best-known woman
poet within the bhakti tradition. She
was a Rajput princess from Merta in
Marwar.

 She was married to a prince of the

Sisodia clan of Mewar against he
wishes. She defied her husband and
not submit to the traditional role of
wife and mother.

 She recognized Krishna, the avatar

of Vishnu as her lover.

 Her most famous preceptor was Raidas; a leather worker.

 We get information about her from the bhajans attributed to her.

Travellers
AL-Bruni and the Kitab-ul-Hind
 Al-Bruni was born in 973, in Khwarizmi
(present day Uzbekistan)

 Mahmud Ghazni invaded Khwarazm in 1017

and brought Al-Biruni with him to Gazni.
When the Punjab became a part of the
Ghaznavid Empire, Al-Beruni who also
followed Ghazni and settled there

 The accounts of Al-Bruni came to be called

Kitab-ul-Hind or Tahkik-e-Hind.

 The Kitab-ul-Hind was written in Arabic

language and a voluminous text.
  It dealt with subjects such as religion and philosophy, festivals, astronomy,
alchemy, manners and customs, social life, weights and measures,
iconography, laws and metrology.

 Al-Bruni depended almost exclusively on the works of Brahmanas, often

citing passages from the Vedas, the Puranas, the Bhagavad Gita, the works
of Patanjali, the Manusmiriti, etc., to provide an understanding of Indian
society.

Ibn Battuta’s Rihla

 Ibn Battuta was an African traveller who came from Morocco. He

considered that knowledge gained through travels is more important source
than books.

 He set off his travel to India in 1332-33 and reached Sind in 1333.

 He was able to get the reputation of the Sultan of Delhi, Muhammed bin
Tughlaq.

 The Sultan was impressed by the scholarship of Ibn Battuta and appointed
him as the Qazi or judge of Delhi.
  He remained judge for many years. The sultan appointed him as his
ambassador to China.

 During his journey to China, he also visited Malabar Coast, Maldives, Bengal,
Assam and Sumatra

 Ibn Battuta’s book of travels called Rihla was written in Arabic provides the
social and cultural life in the subcontinent in the 14th century

 He described Delhi as a vast city, with a great population, the largest in India

 Ibn Battuta noted that the cities obtained its wealth from villages. This was
because of the agricultural production with two crops a year.

 Bazaars were not only places of economic transaction but also the hub of
social and cultural activities

 Ibn Battuta was amazed by the efficiency of the postal system. The Postal
system was of two kinds.

o Uluq (horse post)

o Dawa (foot post)

Francois Bernier (a doctor with a difference)

 Francois Bernier was French by birth and doctor by profession.

 Once the Portuguese arrived in India in about 1500, a number of them wrote
detailed accounts regarding Indian social customs and religious practices

 He came to the Mughal Empire in search of opportunities. f He lived in India

for twelve years from 1656 to 1668.

 He was a physician to Prince Dara Shukoh, the eldest son of Emperor Shah
Jahan and intellectual and scientist with Danishmand Khan, an Armenian
noble at the Mughal court

Women: Slaves, Sati and Labourers

 Slaves were openly sold in markets. Like any other commodity, slaves were
exchanged as gifts.

 When Ibn Battuta reached Sind, he purchased “horses, camels and slaves”
as gifts for sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq.

 There was considerable differentiation among slaves.

  Some female slaves in the service of the Sultan were experts in music and
dance.

 Female slaves were also used to keep a watch on his nobles by the sultan.

 Slaves were used for domestic labor.

 The practice of sati, Bernier has provided a detailed description of sati in his
account. He mentioned that while some women seemed to embrace death
cheerfully, others were forced to death. He also noticed the child satin
which a twelve-year-old young widow sacrificed.

Important Foreign Travellers to India

Foreign Travellers Period of Stay Description

Abdur Razzak 1443 A.D. – 1444 A.D.  He was a Persian scholar.

 He was also an
ambassador of Persia.
 He visited India during the
rule of Deva Raya II of
Vijayanagar.

Alberuni/Abu al-Rayhan 1024 A.D. – 1030 A.D.)  He was a Persian scholar.

Muhammad ibn Ahmad  He accompanied Mahmud
al-Biruni of Ghazni and wrote a book
titled ‘Tahqiq-i-hind’.
 He is considered the father
of Indology.
Al-Masudi 957 A.D.  Al-Masudi was An Arab
traveller.
 In his book Muruj-ul-Zehab
he has explained his
journey.

Captain William Hawkins 1608 A.D. – 1611 A.D.  Captain William Hawkins led
the first expedition of the
English East India Company
to India in 1609.
 He visited India during the
reign of Jahangir.
 He carried a personal letter
from King James I of
England.
 He did not succeed in
getting Jahangir’s
permission to start a
factory.

Fa-Hien 405 A.D. – 411 A.D.  He was a Chinese Buddhist

monk.
 He visited India during the
reign of Vikramaditya
(Chandragupta II).
 He is known for his visit to
Lumbini.
 His voyage is described in
his travelogue “Record of
Buddhist Kingdoms”.

Francois Bernier 1656 A.D. – 1668A.D.  He was a French physician

and traveller.
 He was in India from 1656-
1668
  He visited India during the
reign of Shah Jahan.
 He was physician to Prince
Dara Shikoh and later was
attached to the court of
Aurangzeb
 ‘Travels in the Mughal
Empire’ was written by
Francois Bernier.
 The book mainly talks about
the rules of Dara Shikoh
and Aurangzeb.

Hsuan Tsang 630 A.D. – 645 A.D.  He was a Chinese traveller.

 He visited India during the
supremacy of Harsha
Vardhan.
 Si-yu-ki or ‘The Records of
the Western World’ was
written by him.

Ibn Battuta 1333 A.D. – 1347 A.D.  He was a Moroccan

traveller.
 He visited India during the
rule of Mohammed Bin
Tughlaq.
 Rihla is a book written by
Ibn Batuta.
Marco Polo 1292 A.D. – 1294 A.D.  He was a European
traveller.
 He visited Southern India
during the reign of
Rudramma Devi of the
Kakatiya’s.

Magasthenese 302 B.C. – 298 B.C.  He was the ambassador of

Selucus.
 He visited India during the
supremacy of
Chandragupta Maurya.
 Chandragupta was known
to the Greeks as
Sandrocottus.
 He was also the author of
the book ‘Indica’.

Nicolo Conti 1420 A.D. – 1421 A.D.  He was an Italian merchant.

 He visited India during the
reign of Deva Raya I of
Vijayanagar.

Thomas Roe 1615 A.D. – 1619 A.D.  Sir Thomas Roe was an
English diplomat.
 He visited India during the
reign of Jahangir in 1615.
 He came to seek protection
for an English factory at
Surat.
 His “Journal of the Mission
 to the Mughal Empire” is a
treasured contribution to the
history of India.

Gauri Gajni
The Age of Conflict
 Mahmud of Ghzani ascended
to the throne (998-1030) at
Ghazni – he is considered as a
hero by medieval Muslim
historians because of his stout
defence against the C Asian
Turkish tribal invaders – the
Ghazni spirit therefore further
increased during his reign.

 Firdausi was a poet-laureate in

the court of Mahmud – he
transported the struggle between Iran and Turan to mythical times, and
glorified the ancient Iranian heroes.

 While Mahmud played an important role in the defence of the Islamic states
against the Turkish tribes and in the Iranian cultural renaissance, in India, his
memory if only that of a plunderer and a destroyer of temples – made 17
raids to India.
  He started from the NW Frontier and eventually subdued up to Multan in the
battle of Waihind.
 The subsequent raid of Mahmud into India were mainly aimed at plundering
the rich temples and cities of northern Indian in order to continue his struggle
against his enemies in C Asia – for his plundering raids into India, ghazis
came handy to him – he also posed as a great but shikan, or destroyer of
images for the glory of Islam – his most famous raids were on Kanauj in 1018
and Somnath in 1025 – he could do all this with great impunity as no strong
states exited in Indian during this time – his only aim was to plunder and
strengthen his position back home and thus he didn't attempt to annex any of
the Indian territories – died in 1030 at Ghazni.

The Rajput States:

 The exact origin of the Rajput’s
has been a great point of
disagreement, but the
important of these were –
Ghadavaals of Kanauj, the
Paramars of Malwa and the
Chauhans of Ajmer.
 Most of the Rajput rulers of the
time were champions of
Hinduism, though some of
them also patronized Jainism –
they stood forth as protectors
of privileges of the brahmans
and the caste system, charging
lower or no land revenue from
the brahmans – and in return,
the brahmans were prepared to
recognize the Rajput’s as
descendants of the old lunar
and solar families of the
Kshatriyas which were believed to have become extinct.
  The period after the 8th CE, and particularly between the 10th-12th CE may
be regarded as marking a climax in temple-building activity in north India.

 The style of temple construction which came into prominence was called
nagara:
• The Parshavnath temple, the Vishvanath temple and Kandarya
Mahadeo temple at Khajurao illustrate this style in most finished and
richest form.

• Most of these temples were built by the Chandella, who ruled the area
from the beginning of the 9th to the end of 13th CE.

 In Orissa, the most magnificent examples of temple architecture are the

Lingaraj temple (11th CE) and Sun temple of Konark (13th CE) and the famous
Jagannatha temple at Puri.
 Both in N and S, the temples continued to become more and more
elaborate and wealthy – some like Somnath became extremely wealthy and
ruled over many villages and took part in business activities.

The Turkish Conquest of Northern India:

 After the decline of Ghaznavid empire, the Rajput’s were in constant battles
with the invaders form the N W – but, at the same time allowed the Muslims
 traders freely and let them settle down.

 Colonies of Muslim traders sprang up in some of the towns in N India and

eventually came a number of Muslim religious preachers called the Sufis –
they preached the gospel of love, faith and dedication to the one God – in
course of time, along with Muslims, they started to have Hindu following as
well.

 Meanwhile, the Chauhan power in the N India had been steadily growing –
they captured Delhi from Tomars around 880 AD.

The Battle of Tarain

 1st Battle of Tarain (1191): a
battle between the two
ambitious rulers –Vs.
Mauizzuddin Muhamad
(Mahmud Ghori) in 1191 –
Chauhan won and extended his
reach further NW Prithiviraj
Chauhan.
 2nd Battle of Tarain (1192): this
proved decisive, with careful
preparation, Gauri managed to
defeat Prithiviraj.
• Between 1192 and 1206, Turkish rule was extended over the Ganga-
Jamuna doab and its neighboring area, and Bihar and Bengal were
also overrun.

• After Tarain, Gauri (Mauizzuddin) returned to Ghazi, leaving Indian

affairs in the hands of his trusted slave Qutbuddin Aibak.

 Battle of Chandawar: Gauri returned and crossed Jamuna, and the battle of
Chandawar with Jaichandra – Jaichandra almost won, but got killed with an
arrow – then he overrun Banaras, ravaged and destroyed a large number of
temples – the Turks established a huge empire extending up to the borders
of Bihar!
  Thus, the battle of Tarain and Chandawar led the foundation of the Turkish
rule in N India
 Gauri lived up until 1206 and he along with Qutbuddin Aibak continued to
expand his empire – the most successful was the expansion in the east
under the generalship of Bakhtiyar Khalji – he had attacked and destroyed
some of the famous Buddhist monasteries of Bihar, Nalanda and
Vikramshila.

Delhi Sultanate
The period from 1206 A.D. to 1526 A.D. came to be
known as the Delhi Sultanate period. This period
witnessed many dynasties and various rulers.
Some of the major dynasties and rulers this period witnessed are listed below.

Sr. No. Dynasty Name

1 Slave (Ghulam) or Mamluk Dynasty

2 Khilji Dynasty

3 Tughluq Dynasty

4 Sayyid Dynasty

5 Lodi Dynasty

Slave (Ghulam) or Mamluk Dynasty

Ruler Period Events

Qutab-ud-din Founder of Mamluk Dynast and Slave of

(1206–1210)
Aibak Muhammad Ghori

Aram Shah (1210–1211) Eldest son of Qutab-ud-din Aibak

Shams-ud-din
(1211–1236) Son-in-law of Qutab-ud-din Aibak
Iltutmish

Ruknuddin Feruz
(1236) Son of Iltutmish
Shah

Daughter of Iltutmish and Grand Daughter of

Razia Sultana (1236–1240)
Qutab-ud-din Aibak.

Mauizzuddin
(1240–1242) Son of Iltutmish
Bahram

Allaudin Masud (1242–1246) Son of Ruknuddin Feruz Shah

Nasiruddin (1246–1266) Razia’s Brother who had died in 1229

Mahmud

Ghiyas-ud-din Father-in-law of Nasiruddin Mahmud and the

(1266–1286)
Balban most powerful ruler of the Slave Dynasty

Muiz ud din
(1287–1290) Grandson of Ghiyasuddin Balban
Kaiqubad

Kaimur 1290 Son of Muiz-ud-din Kaiqubad

Qutub ud-Din Aibak

 He got Ghori’s Indian

possessions after 1192.

 When Ghori was killed in

battle, Aibak declared
himself the Sultan of Delhi
in 1206.

 He Started construction of
the Quwat-ul-Islam
Mosque in Delhi. This is
one of first Islamic
monuments in northern
India.

 He began the construction of Qutub Minar in Delhi.

 He was also known as Lakh Bash (Giver of Lakhs) for his generosity.
However, he was also responsible for the destruction and desecration of
many Hindu temples.

 He reigned till his death in 1210. He was said to have been trampled to
death by a horse while playing chaugan (polo)

Iltutmish (1210-1236):

 Iltutmish, son-in-law of Aibak. must be regarded as the real consolidator of

the Turkish conquests in N India
  He shifted his capital from
Lahore to Delhi.

 He defended his empire

against Mongol invaders
and also resisted the
Rajput’s.

 In 1221, he stopped an
invasion led by Chengiz
Khan.

 He completed the construction of the Quwat-ul-Islam

Mosque and the Qutub Minar.

 He set up an administrative machinery for the kingdom.

 He built mosques, waterworks and other amenities at

Delhi, making it fit to be the seat of power.

 He introduced the two coins of the Sultanate, the

silver tanka and the copper jital.

 Also introduced the Iqtadari system in which the

kingdom was divided into which were assigned to
nobles in exchange of salary.

 First to introduce hereditary land succession system.

 First to construct Sarais

 Constituted an association of 40 nobles, Chihalgani

Razia Sultana (1236-39)

 Worried about his successor, as Iltutmish

didn’t consider any of his son capable
enough to take on the reign of the
Sultanate, he appointed his daughter
Razia to be his successor

 the first and last Muslim woman to rule

over Delhi.
  She managed to rule only for 3 years – and marked the beginning of the
struggle for power between the monarchy and the Turkish chiefs –
sometimes called the forties or Chihalgani.

 Eventually the nobles realizing that she won’t dance to their tune, managed
to upstage her – she fought valiantly, but was defeated and killed by the
bandits in a forest while she was in flight (Kaithal).

Era of Balban (1246-87)

 The struggle between the Turkish chiefs continued, till one of

the Turkish chiefs, Ulugh Khan, known in history by his later
title Balban gradually arrogated all power and finally
ascended to the throne in 1265.

 was purchased as a slave by Iltutmish. He rose up the ranks

quickly.

 introduced the Persian festival of Navroz in India.

 He constantly sought to increase the prestige and power of

the monarchy, because he was convinced that, that was the only way to
face the internal and external dangers facing him – during those days
kingship was the prerogative of the noble blood and to continue to gain
noble support, he stood forth as the champion of the Turkish nobility – he
refused to entertain for important Govt posts anyone with did not belong to a
noble family – leading to exclusion of Indian Muslims from the positions of
power and authority.
 Eventually, he was determined
to break the hegemony of the
Turkish nobility (Chihalgani) –
and to gain public support, he
administered justice with
extreme impartiality – not even
the highest in the land were to
be spared.
 To keep himself well informed,
he appointed spies in every
 department – also, organized a strong centralized army.

 The law-and-order situation in the area around Delhi in the doab had
deteriorated in the Ganga-Jamuna doab and Awadh – the roads were
infested with dacoits and robbers – the Mewatis had become so bold as to
plunder the people up to the outskirts of Delhi – to deal with this, he adopted
a policy of “blood and iron” – merciless suppression of offenders Rajput’s
strongholds was destroyed (some of them also were a part of the problem)
etc.

 Royal customs-

 First to introduce Jile-I-illahi.

 He died in 1286 – he was undoubtedly one of the main architects of

the Sultanate of Delhi.

 There has been a good deal of resentment and opposition at the attempt of
the Turkish nobles to monopolize high offices – many non-Turks, such as
Khilji’s, had come to Indian at the time of the Ghurid invasion (overthrow
Ghazni Empire – they had never received sufficient recognition in Delhi, and
had to move to Bengal and Bihar for an opportunity for advancement

 For the first time, Muslim armies penetrated as far south as Madurai, and
brought back untold wealth.

 Malik Kafur, except for the Tamil armies, managed to defeat others and
make them pay a regular tribute – he plundered as much as he could
including a number of wealthy temples, such as those at Chidambaram
(near Madras), but had to return to Delhi without being able to defeat the
Tamil armies.

Khilji Dynasty (c. 1290 – 1320 CE)

Rulers Period Events

Jalal-ud-din Firoz Founder of the Khilji/Khalji Dynasty and son of

1290–1296
Khilji Qaim Khan

Allaudin Khilji 1296–1316 Jalal-ud-din Firoz Khilji’s nephew and the most
 powerful ruler of the Khilji period

Qutub-ud-din
1316–1320 Son of Allaudin Khilji
Mubarak Shah

 A group of Khalji nobles

led by Jalauddin Khalji
(most democratic),
overthrew the weak
successors of Balban in
1290 – it was welcome
by the non-Turkish
elements of the Sultanate
– the Khilji’s of mixed
blood and didn’t exclude
the Turks from high
offices, but it certainly
ended the Turkish
monopoly of high
offices.
 He ruled for a brief
period of 6 years, and
tried to do way a lot of
harshness which was brought in by Balban - he was the first ruler of Delhi
Sultanate to clearly put forward the view that the state should be based on
the willing support of the governed and that since the majority of the people
in India were Hindus, the state in Indian couldn’t be a truly Islamic state.
 Defeated Mongols, convert them into Islam and they called Naya
Musselman.
 His policy was reversed by his successor Allaudin Khalji (1296-1316) who
awarded drastic punishments to all those who dared to oppose him – he
came to power by treacherously murdering his uncle and father-in-law
Jalauddin Khalji.
  To overawe his opponents, he adopted methods of utmost severity
and ruthlessness – severe punishments were given to the rebellions –
he resorted to a wholesale massacre of the Mongols
 captured Ranthambore and killed Hamir Deva its ruler, Malwa, Chittoor,
Dhar, Mandu, Ujjain, Marwar, Chanderi and Jalor.

 He framed a series of regulations to prevent the nobles from conspiring

against him – they were forbidden to hold banquets or festivities, or to form
marriage alliances without the permission of the sultan etc. – by these harsh
methods, he cowed down the nobles, and made them completely
subservient to the crown.
 In 1320, a group of officers led by Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq raised a banner of
revolt in the name of Islam – and in a hard-fought battle overthrew/ended
the Khilji dynasty at Delhi

 He banned social parties and wine.

 He introduced a permanent standing

army.

 He started the system of branding of

horses and descriptive roster of
individual soldiers to inhibit corruption.

 He fixed the prices of necessary

commodities which were below the
normal market rates.

 He strictly prohibited black marketing.

 Revenue was collected in cash and not in kind.

 He followed discriminatory policies towards the Hindus and imposed the

Jizya, a grazing tax and a house tax on the Hindu community.

 He was the first to bring the standing army system.

 He constructed Alai Darwaza, the Palace of a thousand pillars and the Fort
of Siri.

 Stop Iqta system

  Allaudin himself was not in favor of direct administration of southern
states, but within a decade of his death, all the southern kingdoms
mentioned above were wiped out, and their territories brought under
the direct administration of Delhi.

Tughluq Dynasty (c. 1320 – 1414 CE)

Rulers Period Events

Ghiyath al-Din (Ghiyasuddin)

1320–1325
Tughluq

Muhammad bin Tughluq 1325–1351 Also called Muhammad Shah II

1351
Mahmud Ibn Muhammad
(March)

Cousin of Muhammad bin

Firoz Shah Tughlaq 1351–1388
Tughlaq

Ghiyas-ud-Din Tughluq II 1388–1389

Abu Bakr Shah 1389–1390

Nasir ud din Muhammad Shah III 1390–1393

Ala ud-din Sikandar Shah I 1393

Mahmud Nasir ud din 1393–1394 Also called as Sultan Mahmud II

Nasir-ud-din Nusrat Shah Tughluq 1394–1399 Grandson of Firuz Shah Tughlaq

Nasir ud din Mahmud 1399–1412 Son of Mahmud Nasir-ud- din

This dynasty is also called Qaraunah

Turks, as the father of Ghazi Malik was a
Qaraunah Turk in origin.
Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq/Ghazi Malik (c. 1320 –
1325 CE)

 Founder of the Tughlaq dynasty.

 Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq laid
the foundation for Tughlaqabad (a
strong fort) near Delhi.
 Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq sent his son
Jauna Khan/Muhammad bin Tughlaq
against Warangal (Kakatiya’s) and
Madurai (Pandayas).
 His relationship with the Sufi saint
Sheikh Nizam ud din Aulia was not
cordial.
 It is believed that Jauna Khan treacherously killed his father and ascended
the throne with the title Muhammad bin Tughlaq in c. 1325 CE.
Muhammad Bin Tughlaq

• Most enlightened of all sultans

• To fill the empty treasury, he raised taxes

to 50% in the Doab region.

 He shifted his capital from Delhi to Devagiri

(Daultabad) to protect his capital and ordered the common people and
government officials to shift to Devagiri, after many difficulties he ordered
them to return to Delhi.
  He introduced the copper currency system.

 The value of coins dropped; hence he had to withdraw the copper token
currency.

• Mohammed-bin-Tughluq’s
domestic policies were
good but due to faulty
implementation measures,
they failed.

 Sanction loans to peasants,

founded department Diwan- i-
Kohli.

 First to celebrate Hindu festivals

like Holi and go temples

 Ibn Batutta- Qazi of Delhi (Kitab-

i- Rahela)

 First to conduct Census.

 First to Ban Sati

 Sultanate expanded max. but started to Decline as well.

Firoz Tughlaq (1351-1 388 A.D.)

 In 1351A.D. Firoz Tughlaq was the son of

Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq’s younger brother.
He succeeded the throne.

• Once Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq took over

in 1320, a sustained and vigorous
forward policy was embarked upon,
and by 1324 the territories of Delhi
sultanate reached up to Madurai

• The sudden expansion of the Delhi

Sultanate to the far south and to the
east, including Orissa, created
tremendous administrative and
 financial problems which had to be faced by Muhammad bin Tughlaq

Administrative Reforms
 He withdrew all Taquavi (agricultural) loans granted by Mohammed-bin-
Tughlaq.

 He collected four important taxes which are:

• Kharaj- 1/10 of the produce of the land (land tax)

• Khams- 1/5 of the war booty (Spoils of war)

◦ Jizya-Religious tax

◦ Zakat-Tax on Muslims for specific religious purposes/Charity.

 He constructed 150 wells, 100 bridges, and 50 dams, and also dug many
irrigation canals.

 He levied Jizya on the Brahmins.

 He established hospitals (Dar-ul-shafa), Marriage Bureau, (Diwani-i-kherat)

and an Employment Bureau.

 He also established Diwan-i-lstibqaq to give financial aid to the poor.

 Founded Firoz Pur, Fatehbad, Fatehpur.

 He wrote his Auto biography- Futuhat-I – Ferozshahi

 Ziauddin Barani and Shams Siraz Atif- wrote two diff books with same title-
Traik- i- Ferozshahi.

 Mohammed Shah Tughlaq was last, he took shelter in Gujrat

Foreign Policy
 Firoz Tughlaq surrounded Bengal in 1353 A.D. and 1359A.D.

 He devastated the Jagannath Temple at Puri.

 Importance of Firoz Tughlaq in Medieval Indian History

 During his reign, a number of Sanskrit books on medicine, science and arts
were translated into Persian.

 Kutab- Firoz Shahi – a book which dealt with Physics

  In 1398 A.D. Timur captured Delhi and caused the annihilation of the
Tughlaq dynasty by pillaging and slaughtering people.

Sayyid Dynasty (c. 1414 – 1451 CE)

Rulers Period

Khizr Khan 1414–1421

Mubarak Shah 1421–1433

Muhammad Shah 1434–1445

Alam Shah 1445–1451

 Khizr Khan (1414- 1421 A.D.)

 He was the founder of Sayyid Dynasty

 Mubarak Khan was greatest, his poet Yahyabin Ahmad Sirhindi wrote Tahrik-
i-Mubarakshahi.

 Allaudin Alam Shah the last deposed by Behlol Lodhi.

Lodi Dynasty (c. 1451 – 1526 CE)

Rulers Period Important points

Bahlul/Bahlol 1451–
Founder of the Lodi Dynasty
Lodi 1489
 1489– The most prominent ruler of the Lodi Dynasty, founded
Sikander Lodi
1517 Agra city

1517– Defeated by Babur in the First Battle of Panipat (in 1526)

Ibrahim Lodi
1526 and thus ended the Delhi Sultanate

 Bahlul Lodi {1451 -1489 A, D.)

 Bahlul Lodi was the founder of Lodi Dynasty.

 Sikander Lodhi founded city of Agra.

 He preached Kabir for Hindu Muslim unity.

 Daulat Khan, the most powerful noble of Punjab,

who was discontented with Ibrahim Lodhi, Alam
Khan and Rana Sanga invited Babur the ruler of
Kabul to invade India.

 Babur invaded India and defeated Ibrahim Lodi

in the first battle of Panipat in 1526 A. D.

Expansion of the Delhi Sultanate:

 Eventually, the Sultanate got expanded quite rapidly under Allaudin Khilji and
then the Tughlaqs – brought GJ and Malwa under their control and subdued
the most of the princes in RJ – also, overran the Deccan and S India down
to Madurai
Rajasthan:
 After the conquest of GJ, Allaudin turned his attention to the consolidation of
his rule over RJ – the first to invite his attention was Ranthambhore which
was being ruled by the Chauhan’s – successors of Prithiviraj

 The Chauhan’s put up a stout fight against the Khilji’s and finally Allaudin
himself had to march against Ranthambhore – the famous poet Amir
Khushrau, who went along with Allaudin, has given a graphic description of
the fort and its investments – also the Jauhar

 Then he turned his attention to Chittoor – after a valiant resistance for several
months, he managed to conquer Chittoor.
  Almost all the other major states were forced to submit to him – however he
didn’t try to establish
his direct rule over
the Rajput’s – the
Rajput’s rulers were
allowed to rule, but
had to pay regular
tribute – Muslim
garrisons were
posted in some of
the important towns,
such as Ajmer,
Nagpur etc. –
Rajasthan was
thoroughly subdued!

Deccan and South India:

 Unlike Rajasthan,
Malwa was brought
under direct control
and a governor was
appointed to look
after it.

 Between 1309-
1311, Malik Kafur
took two campaigns
in South India – the first one against Warangal and the other one against
Dwar Samudra (KN) and then TN

Internal Reforms and Experiments:

 By the time Allaudin Khalji came to the throne, the position of the Delhi
Sultanate was fairly well consolidated in the central portion of the empire –
which emboldened the sultans to undertake a series of internal reforms and
experiments, aimed at improving the administration, strengthening the army,
 to gear up the machinery of land revenue, and to take steps to expand and
improve cultivation – some failed on account of lack of experience or
because they were not well conceived, or on account of vested opposition
interests

Market Control and Admin Policy of Allaudin:

 Al Barani has provided details of the whole administration.

 Realization of land revenue in cash, allowed him to pay his soldiers in cash –
he was the first sultan in the sultanate to do so.

 After his death, some of his measures continued by his successors, and
later provided a basis for the agrarian reforms of Sher Shah and Akbar

Muhammad Tughlaq’s Experiments

 Next to Allaudin Khalji, Muhammad bin Tughlaq (1324-1351) is best
remembered for a number of bold reforms and keen interest in agriculture.

 He was deeply read in religion and philosophy and had an open mind – he
conversed not only with the Muslim mystics, but also with the Hindu yogis
and Jain saints. He was also prepared to accept religious concepts as a
matter of faith – and give high offices on the basis of merit, irrespective of
whether they belonged to noble families or not.
 Unfortunately, he was inclined to be hasty and impatient – that’s why many
of his experiments have been dubbed as ’ill-starred idealist’ – his father dies
when a hastily ordered (but well intentioned) stage collapsed during a
reception (after winning Bengal) for father Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq.

 The most controversial was the shifting of capital to Deogir from Delhi – the
attempts to bring S Indian under direct control had led to serious
administrative difficulties and to address the sultan wanted to make Deogir a
second capital so that he might be able to control S India better – he
ordered many of his able men, including Sufi saints to Deogir, which he
renamed as Daultabad – no attempt was made to shift the rest of the
population from Delhi and Delhi remained a large and populous city in
absence of Sultan.
  Daultabad was more than 1500 km away- many people died due to rigors of
journey and heat, many felt homesick – leading to a good deal of discontent
– after a couple of years, he abandoned the idea as he soon realized that
now, he couldn't’t control North from South.

 Another step was the introduction of the ‘Token Currency’ – there was a
shortage of silver in the world in the 14th CE, and also a number of rulers in
other parts of the world have already successfully experimented with Token
Currency, he introduced ‘bronze coin’ which was to have same value as the
silver tanka – people started forging the new coins, which the administration
failed to control – the idea failed, and Tughlaq withdrew the idea!
 The Moroccan traveler, Ibn Battuta, who came to Delhi in 1333, couldn’t see
any harmful after-effects of these experiments

Decline and Disintegration of the Delhi Sultanate: Firuz and his

Successors

 During the latter half of the Muhammad Tughlaq’s reign, there were repeated
rebellions in different parts of the empire – he didn’t trust anyone, and he
dashed from one part of the country to the other to suppress the rebellions
and worse out his armies
 Soon after his returns from South, there was a rebellion led by two brother
Hari Har and Bukka – they set-up the Vijayanagar Empire, which gradually
embraced the entire South.
  While still in Sindh (trying to put down a rebellion) he died and was
succeeded by his cousin, Firuz Tughlaq

Govt, Economic and Social Life under the Delhi Sultanate

• The Delhi Sultanate disintegrated towards the beginning of the 15th CE and a
number of independent states sprang over up all over the country – however,
the influence of Delhi Sultanate administrative structure/style could be seen
in them, including the later established Mughal empire

The Sultan
• His office was the most important of all – responsible for almost everything,
including law and justice – appointed judges to discharge justice – sultan
acted as a court of appeal form the judges– a direct appeal could be made
to him against the high-headedness of any of the officials

• Like of Balban, delivered justice in a fair manner – not even sparing the high
and mighty – Mohammad Tughlaq extended this to even the religious classes
(ulama), which had previously been exempted from harsh punishments
• Even though Islamic rules advocated election as the rule of succession, but
there was not clear doctrine of succession – and whoever managed to
muster the military strength, managed to claim the throne

Central Administration:
• A definite system of administration developed towards the end of the 13th
CE:

• Wazir – expert in revenue affairs, and presided over a large

department dealing both with income and expenditure.
 • Diwan-i-arz – the military department: the next most important
department after wazir:

• To maintain authority, it was under direct control of the Sultan

• Balban was the first one to set-up a separate arz department –

he and Allaudin Khilji paid close attention to its working –
Allaudin insisted upon regular muster and also introduced the
branding system (dagh) of the horses so that the soldiers may
not bring poor quality to the muster

• Of all the Delhi rulers, Allaudin Khalji had the largest standing
army – he was also the first sultan to pay the soldiers fully in
cash – earlier, the Turkish rulers had assigned a number of
villages for payment of the salary – the efficiency of Allaudin’s
army was the main factor in his ability to contain the Mongol
invasions while conquering the Deccan at the same time.

• Diwan-i-risalat:
• Dealt with the religious matters.

• Was presided over by the chief Sadr, who was generally a

leading Qazi – mostly the chief Qazi – he was the head of the
department of justice.

• The Qazi’s dispensed justice as per Saria law to the Muslims

and Hindu’s according to their own personal law (dispensed by
the Panchayats in the villages).
• Criminal law was based on the regulations framed for the
purpose by the rulers
• Diwan-i-insha:
• Dealt with state correspondence – between the ruler and the
states etc.

• Barids – intelligence officers

• Kharkhanas – in which goods and articles needed by the king and the
royal household were stored.

Local Administration:
 • Iqtas – tracts of lands, which were parceled among the leading Turkish
nobles – holders of these were called the muqtis or walis – it was these
tracts, which later became Subas:
• They were semi-independent – they were expected to maintain law and order
in their tracts and collect the land-revenue due to the Govt – out of the
money collected, they were expected to meet the salaries of the soldieries
and keep the balance
• But, as the Sultans started to become strong, they started to exercise a
closer control over the muqtis and start to expect them to remit the rest of
the amount

• Below the Iqtas, were the shiqs and below them were the parganas – the
parganas were headed by amil

• The most important people in the village were the khut (landowners) – we
also hear of the patwari

Economic and Social Life:

• Ibn Battutah, a resident of Tangier in N Africa (Morocco) visited Indian in the
14th CE. And lived at the court of the Muhammad Tughlaq for eight years

• He says that the soil was so fertile that the peasants could produce two
crops every year.
Trade, Industry and the Merchants:

• Ib Battutah called Delhi as the largest city in the eastern part of the Islamic
world
• Some of the important crafts introduced by the Turks were the
manufacturing of paper – paper manufacturing was discovered by the
Chinese in the 2nd CE, got known to the Arabs by the 5th CE, and travelled to
Europe only during the 14th CE.

• During this period fine Indian textiles were introduced to China as well, where
it was valued more than silk.

• Indian imported high-grade textiles (satin etc.) from W Asia, glassware and
of course horses – imported raw silk and porcelain from China.
 • India’s foreign trade both overland and overseas was truly an international
enterprise – although the Arabs were the dominant partners in the Indian
Ocean trade, they had by no means ousted the Indian traders.

• In those time, travel was always a risky affair due to robbers and dacoits and
various marauding tribes, but the royal roads were kept in good shape and
there were many Sarais on the way for the comfort and safety of the
travelers.

• Introduction of new crafts such as iron stirrup, large scale use of armor,
cavalry etc. led to the growth of the metallurgical industry, and metal crafts.

• Also, introduction by the Turks of the superior mortar (cement), which

enabled Turks to erect magnificent buildings based on the arch and dome.

Period Examples

Mamluk (Slave) Dynasty  Qutub Minar

 Quwat-ul-Islam Mosque
 Tombs of Nasir-ud-din Muhammad
 Siri, new town in Delhi

Khilji Dynasty  Dargah of Hasrat Nizam-ud-din Aulia

 Alai Darwaza

Lodi Dynasty  Lodi Gardens

 Moti Masjid in New Delhi
 Tomb of Sikandar Lodi
Mughal Dynasty
Babur (1526- 1530)
 was related to Timur from his father’s side and to
Chengiz Khan through his mother.

 Babur succeeded his father Umar Shaikh Mirza as

the ruler of Farghana, but was soon defeated by his
distant relative and as a result lost his kingdom

 Political situation in north-west India was suitable for

Babur to enter India.

 Sikandar Lodi died in 1517 and Ibrahim Lodi

succeeded him. Lodhi tried to create a strong
centralized empire which alarmed Afghan chiefs as
well as Rajput’s.

 So, in 1526 he defeated the Sultan of Delhi, Ibrahim Lodi and his Afghan
supporters, at (First) Panipat (War) and captured Delhi and Agra.

 Most of the soldiers and officers of Daulat Khan Lodhi joined the ranks of
Babur.

 recorded in his diary that the Indian soldiers knew how to die and not how
to fight.

 Battle of Khanua (near Agra) held in 1527 Rana Sangha of Mewar

 In 1528, Babur captured Chanderi from another Rajput ruler Medini Rai.

 In 1529, Babur defeated the Afghans in the Battle of Gogra in Bihar.

 By these victories, Babur consolidated his power in India.

 Babur died at Agra in 1530 at the age of forty-seven.

  Wrote Tuzak-iBabri/ babarnamah. It was translated in Persian by Abdur
Rahim
Khan.

Humayun [1530-1540, 1555-1556]

 Humayun divided his inheritance according to
the will of his father. His brothers were each
given a province.

 The newly established Mughal empire had

two centers of power; Humayun was in
control of Delhi, Agra and Central India, while
his brother Kamran had Kabul and Kandhar
and by subsequently annexing the Punjab,
had deprived him of the main recruiting
ground of his army.

 In A.D. 1532, Humayun first turned his arms

against the Afghans, defeated the Afghan force

 after this success Humayun besieged Chunar then held by the able Afghan
chief named Sher Khan

 Humayun defeated Bahadur Shah (Guj) but could not retain his conquest as
he was soon recalled to the east to meet the revolt of Sher Khan.
  In the Battle of Chausa (A.D. 1539) Humayun was completely defeated by
Sher Khan.

 In 1540 Humayun had one more encounter with Sher Shah at Bilgram near
Kanauj but again met with a crushing defeat and was compelled to leave
Hindustan.

 Humayun now became a prince without a kingdom; Kabul and Kandhar

remaining under Kamran.

 Wandering Humayun found temporary refuge at Amarkot from where he

made his way to Persia.

 Humayun yielded to the necessity and conquered Kabul and Kandhar from
his brother Kamran, with the help of Persian troops.

 Humayun defeated the Afghan forces of Sikandar Sur in battle of Sirhind and
occupied Agra and Delhi (A.D. 1555).

Sher Shah (The Second Afghan Empire)

 Sher Khan was a great tactician and able military
commander.

 Sher Shah waged extensive wars with the

Rajput’s and expanded his empire.

 His conquests include Punjab, Malwa, Sind,

Multan and Bundelkhand.

 His empire consisted of the whole of North India

except Assam, Nepal,
Kashmir and Gujarat.

 Islam Shah(son) had to face

a number of conflicts with
his brother Adil Khan and
many Afghan nobles.

 The Afghan empire was

substantially weakened.
Humayun saw an opportunity
and moved towards India
who again captured his lost
 kingdom by 1555 and ended the second Afghan Empire

Reforms

 Introduced Zabt system- became basis of Todarmal revenue system

 First to introduce Ryotwari System

 GT road- Soargaon to Rohtasgarh, Agra to Jodhpur, Jodhpur to Sasaram

and Lahore to Multan.

 Standard Silver rupee called Dam- accepted by Britishers.

 Purana Qila in Delhi and his own Tomb in Sasaram- middle of lake.

 Abbas Khan Sherwani wrote Tarikh-i-Shershahi on his administration.

 Died in Battle of Kalinjar in 1545 after defeating Rana maldev due to

explosion.
Akbar (1556-1605)
 Akbar was at Kalanaur in Punjab at the
death of Humayun’s death and therefore his
coronation took place in Kalanaur itself in
1556.

 Humayun’s favorite and confidant Bairam

Khan, who served as the regent and tutor of
the Mughal emperor from 1556 to 1560. He
became the wakil of the kingdom with the
title of Khan-i-Khanan.

 One of the major achievements of Bairam

Khan’s regency period was the defeat of
Hemu and the Afghan forces who were
posing a serious threat to the Mughal Empire. In the second Battle of Panipat
in 1556, Hemu was almost on the point of victory. But an arrow pierced his
eye and he became unconscious.

Akbar Conquests

 1562- Rani Durgavati of

Gondwana

 1564- Baz Bahadur of Malwa

 1570- Dawodd Khan of Bengal

 1572- Muzaffar Shah of Gujrat

wasa defeated.

 1585- Kashmir- Md. Padshah

 1600- rani Chand biwi of

Ahmednagar

 The Rajput policy of Akbar was

notable.

 He tried to win over the Rajput’s

wherever possible and inducted
them into Mughal service
  He also entered into matrimonial alliances with the Rajput rulers. He married
the Rajput princess, the daughter of Raja Bharamal.

 Battle of Haldighati (1576)- Maharana Pratap and Raja Man Singh

 Mewar was remained undefeated.

Akbar Religious Policy

 Banned forced
conversions

 In 1564- Jizya was

abolished

 Ibatkhana at
Fatehpur Sikri for
religious
discourses- invited
father Monserrate
and father Aquinois
on Christianity, Pt.
Purshotam on
Hinduism,
Jainsena, Raza on
Parsi.

 In 1579- Decree of
Infallibility called
Mahazir or
Mahzaranama.
Akbar became Mir-
i-Adil (Chief
interpreter of
Koran)

 1582- Din-i-illahi
meaning universal
 faith

Jahangir [1605-1627]
 Sheikhu Baba

 Executed his son Khushrau and fifth Sikh

guru Arjun Dev for supporting khusrau.

 Mehr-un-nisa begum was given title Noor

Jhan and she was popular as Padshah
begum

 Khurram (Shahjahan) made Rana Amar

Singh of Mewar accept Mughal suzerainty
in 1615.

 In 1616 Khurram conquered Ahmednagar

and given title Shahjahan

 1620 Persians lost Kandhar and Mughal

lost Kandhar forever

 Jahangir died at Lahore and was buried at Shahdar near Lahore.

Shah Jahan [1627-1658]

 1629 Gujrat and Deccan Famine

 1631 Mumtaz died.

 Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his son

Aurangzeb for the rest of his life in Agra.

 Civil war- B/w Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb

  Begum Jahanara supported Dara and Roshanara Aurangzeb. Aurang
defeated Dara in battle of Dharmat and Samugarh, Deorai

Aurangzeb [1658-1707]
 Abolished kalimas. Mohitisib, royal censor
officer was entrusted with responsibility of
enforcing Koran.

 Custom duties for Hindu-5%, Muslim 2.5%

 In 1669- destruction of temples- Kashi

Vishwanath, Keshavraya at Mathura.

 1679 Jizya was reimpose

 Abolished both vocal instrument music,

removed court astrologer, historians, banned
Diwali in court, Navroz.

Revolts

 Bundelas under leadership of Chatrasal.

 Satnamis- peasant tribe of Haryana

 Jats under leadership of Gokul and then under Churamal and Badan Singh
and Est. Independent Bharatpur.

 9th Sikh guru was executed Guru Teg Bhahdur. Therefore, Sikh revolted
(Sheesh Ganj)

 Rajput’s- Raja Jashwant died without Successor. Prince Akbar revolted

under Aurang. He shelters at court of Samba Ji. In 1682 Aurang left Agra
and come down to Deccan and remained there till death.

 Died in 1707 at Ahmednagar and was buried at Aurangabad.

 In 1690 he declared war on English and captured their settlements. He

conferred Farman on EIC with certain terms and conditions.

Mughal Administration
 Ain-i-Akbari by Abul Fazal on Akbar Admin.

 Akbarnama- by Abul Fazal with admin.

 Muntaqab uth Tawarikh by

Mullah Baduni deals with
Akbar religious policy,
critique.

 Iqbalnamah Jahangiri on
Jah Admin

 Padshahnamah written by
Abdul Hamid Lahori on
Shahjahan admin.

 Muntakab-ul- Lubab by
Khafi Khan on Admin of
Aurangzeb.

 Diwan- FM

 Mir bakshi- Chief

Commander.

 Mir Saman (royal palace in

charge)

 Mir-i-Dakchowki (post
master)

 Harkhara(spy), Mohitsib- Censor Officer.

 Empire divided into Subas, headed by Subedar from times of Akbar, Qazi for
Judicial, Paraganahwas was group of villages.

 Akbar followed Sher Shah Zabt system

 Raja TodarMal as Revenue Minister and known as Diwan-i- Ashraf-

Bandobast. Classified land into Polaj(best), Parauti (second best), Checher
(third cat), Banjar.

 Mansabdari system
Indo Islamic Architecture
 Qutbuddin Aibak- Quwat-ul-Islam
mosque, first pure Islamic, Adhai-
din ka Jhopra, laid foundation of
Qutub Minar dedicated to Bakhtiyar
Kaki (to commemorate victory of
Islam.)

 Alai Darwaza by Allaudin- entrance

to Qutub Minar, Siri city, Jamat
Khana Masjid

 Ghiazuddin Tuglaq-Tughlaqabad,
Firoz Hauz Khas, Firoz Shah Kotla.

 Lodhi- Double domed str, Gardens, Octagonal stru in Gardens.

Mughal Arch.
 Babur- Aram Bagh in Agra, His tomb
in Kabul.

 Humayun- Humayun tomb in Delhi

by his wife Salima Begum. First str.
of Grand Persian style. Under
Mughals.
 Akbar completed fortification of red fort, Akbari Mahal, Jahangir Mahal Birbal
mahal. Diwan-i-Aam, Diwan-i-Khas.

 Fatehpur Sikri- Akbar- Sheikh Salim Chisti, Buland Darwaza (mark victory on
Gujrat), Jodha Bai Palace, Mariam Mahal, Panch Mahal.

 Jahangir- Father tomb at Sikandara, Shalimar Bagh in Kashmir, Noorjahan

constructed Itamad ud Duala (Petra) in Agra, tomb of Jahangir in Lahore.
Petradurra introduced- basis for Taj Mahal.

 Shahjahan- Golden age in arch.

 Khas Mehal, Shees Mahal, Angoori Bagh, Machei Mahal, Mausambari and
Moti Masjid in Agra red Fort. Taj Mahal 1631-1653, till them Mumtaz burials
kept at Berhampur. Estimated cost of 3 crore Dams. Usha Isa khan- Chief
Arc.,

 Petradurra- introduced in time of Jahangir and was used in Itamad-ud-

Duala, tomb in Agra and tomb of Jahangir at Shahdra near Lahore.

 Red fort in Delhi, Jama Masjid by Shahjhan.

 Prince Mauzam- Bibi Ka Makbara.

 Music- Amir Khusrau- parrot of India. Introduced ragas, Sitar, Tabla,

Qawwali.

 He wrote- Miftah ul Futuh on conquests of Allaudin, Futuh-us-Khazin on

Khilji coming to power, Tughlaknama-collection of 5 stories called Khamsa
(Laila majnu is one of
them). Kashmir is Beautiful
place.

 Gulbadam begum sister of

Humayun- Humayunnama.

 Akbar got Mahabharta

translated to Persian call it
Razamnama.

 Mian Tansen in Akbar

court.
  Mankuthal (text deal with nodes of Hindustani Music) by Raja Man Singh of
Gwalior.

 Under Jahangir technique of drawing straight faces started.

Later Mughals (1707-1857 A.D.):

 The Mughal Empire was vast and extensive in the beginning of the eighteenth
century. But by the close of the century it had shrunk to a few kilometers
around Delhi.

 After the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, a war of succession began amongst

his three surviving sons, Muazzam – the governor of Kabul, Azam-the
governor of Gujarat, and Kam Baksh-the governor of Deccan. Muazzam
emerged victorious and ascended the Mughal throne with the title of Bahadur
Shah I. He was also known as Shah Alam I.

Bahadur Shah:

 Bahadur Shah I (1707-12) was the first and the last of the later Mughal
rulers to exercise real authority

 Abolished Jizya

 Recognized Raja Ajit Singh as ruler of Marwar

 Released Shahu from Agra jail.

 Also called Sheikh-i-Bekhbar for his liberal policies.

Jahandar Shah (1712-1713):

 was a weak ruler and came to the throne chiefly – with the help of Zulfikar
Khan, the powerful noble who as a reward was made the
wazir (prime minister).

Farrukh Siyar (1713-1719):

 Farrukh Siyar came to power with the help of Sayyid

brothers, Abdullah Khan and Hussain Ali Khan Barha – the
kingmakers. They were given the office of the wazir and
 mirbakshi respectively. The two brothers soon acquired dominant control
over the affairs of the state.

 In 1715, Banda Bahadur, last Sikh ruler was executed. He preserved Mughal
Paintings at Red Fort.

 Killed by Syyid brothers.

Muhammad Shah (1719-48)

 As successors Sayyid the brothers quickly

raised two young princes, Rafi-ud-Darajat
and Rafi-ud- Duala (Shah Jahan II) who died
within months. Finally, Roshan Akhtar, the son
of Jahan Shah was placed on the throne
under the title of Muhammad Shah

 Syyid bothers were killed by Turani faction led

by Sadat Khan and Asafzha Nizam ul Mulk.

 Mughal empire disintegrated and Bengal

become independent under Murshid Quli
Khan. Sadat Khan found state of Oudh
(Ayodha) and Asafza Jhan found the state of
Hyderabad.

 Nadir Shah attacked Delhi in 1739 and took away Kohinoor Diamond and
Peacock Throne to Persia.

Ahmed Shah (1748-1754)

Alamgir II (1754-1759 A.D.):

 Battle of Plassey in 1757.

 Ahmed Shah Abdali, king of Persia attacked several times

Shah Alam II (1759-1806 A.D.):

  Ali Gauhar, the son of Alamgir II became the Mughal emperor in 1759 and
took up the title of Shah Alam II

 Third battle of Panipat in 1761 and battle of Buxar in 1764

 In 1765, Allahabad treaty and grant Diwani rights to EIC in Bengal, Bihar and
Orrisa.

Akbar II (1806-1837)

 Ali Gauhar, the son of Alamgir II became the Mughal emperor in 1759 and
took up the title of Shah Alam II

Bahadur Shah II (1837-57 A.D.):

 Nominal head of 1857 mutiny, Mirza Galib was patronized by him. Deported
to Burma
Vijayanagar Empire
  The Vijayanagar Empire was founded by Harihara and Bukka and the reign
was from 1336 A.D to 1646 A.D.

The Vijayanagar Empire (1336-1646 A.D.)

 By the end of the Sultanate Period, Multan and Bengal were the first
territories to break away from the Delhi Sultanate and declare independence
and many other territories in the Deccan region rose to power.

 Harihara and Bukka are the founders of the Vijayanagar City in 1336 A.D. on
the southern banks of Tungabhadra

 They made Hampi as the capital city.

 They served under Vira Ballala III, the Hoysala King

Vijayanagar Empire was ruled by four important dynasties and they are:
 Sangama

 Saluva

 Tuluva

 Aravidu

Harihara I
 In 1336 A.D. Harihara I became the ruler of Sangama
Dynasty.

 He captured Mysore and Madurai.

 In 1356 A.D. Bukka-I succeeded him

Krishnadeva Raya (1509-1529 A.D.)

 Krishnadeva Raya of the Tuluva dynasty
was the most famous king of the
Vijayanagar Empire

 According to Domingo Paes, a Portuguese

traveller “Krishnadeva Raya was the most
feared and perfect king there could
possibly be”.

Krishnadeva Raya ‘s Conquests

 He conquered Sivasamudram in 1510A.D

and Raichur in 1512A.D

 In 1523 A.D. he captured Orissa and

Warangal.
  His empire extended from the river Krishna in the north to River Cauvery in
the south; the Arabian Sea in the west to Bay of Bengal in the east.

His Contributions

 An able administrator.

 He built large tanks and canals for irrigation.

 He developed the naval power understanding the vital role of overseas trade.

 He maintained friendly relations with the Portuguese and Arab traders.

 He increased the revenue of his government.

 He patronized art and architecture.

 It was during his period the Vijayanagar Empire reached its zenith of glory.

 Krishnadeva Raya was a great scholar.

 Ashtadiggajas: A group of eight scholars adorned his court and they were:

o Allasani Peddanna – the author of Manucharitram, he was also known

as Andhra Kavitapitamaha.

o Nandi Thimmana – the author of Parijathapaharanam

o Madayagari Mallana

o Dhurjati

o Ayyalaraju Ramabhadra Kavi

o Pingali Surana

o Rama raja Bhushanam

o Tenali Ramakrishna

Battle of Talikota (1565 A.D.)

 The successors of Krishnadeva Raya were weak.

 The combined forces of Ahmednagar, Bijapur, Golconda and Bidar declared

war on Vijayanagar during the rule of Aliya Rama Raya.
 Aliya Rama Raya (Vijayanagar) was defeated. He and his people were killed
mercilessly.

 Vijayanagar was pillaged and ruined.

The Glories of the Vijayanagar Empire
Administration

 Well-organized administrative system

 The king was head of all powers in the state.

 Council of Ministers – to assist the King in the work of administration.

 The Empire was divided into six Provinces.

 Naik – a Governor who administered each Province.

 The provinces were divided into districts and the districts were further divided
into smaller units namely villages.

 The village was administered by hereditary officers like accountants,

watchmen, the weights men, and officers in charge of forced labour.
 Mahanayakacharya: He is an officer and the contact point between
the villages and the Central
administration.

The Army

 The army consisted of the

infantry, cavalry and elephantry.

 The commander-in-chief was

in charge of the army.

Revenue Administration

 Land revenue was the main source of income.

 The land was carefully surveyed and taxes were collected based on the
fertility of the soil.

 Major importance was given to agriculture and in building dams and canals.
Judicial Administration

 The king was the

supreme judge.

 Severe punishments
were given for the
guilty.

 Those who violated

the law were levied.

Position of Women

 Women occupied a
high position and took
an active part in the
political, social and
literary life of the
empire.

 They were educated

and trained in wrestling, in the use of various weapons of offence and
defence, in music and fine arts.

 Some women also received an education of high order.

 Nuniz writes that the kings had women astrologers, clerks, accountants,
guards and wrestlers.

Social life

 The society was systemized.

 Child marriage, polygamy and sati were prevalent.

 The kings allowed freedom of religion.

Economic conditions

 Controlled by their irrigational policies.

 Textiles, mining, metallurgy perfumery, and other several industries existed.

  They had commercial relations with, the islands in the Indian Ocean,
Abyssinia, Arabia, Burma, China, Persia, Portugal, South Africa, and The
Malay Archipelago.

Contribution to Architecture and Literature

 The Hazara Ramasami temple and Vittalaswamy temple was built during this
period

 The bronze
image of
Krishnadeva
Raya is a
masterpiece.

 Sanskrit, Tamil,
Telugu and
Kannada
literature were
developed.

 Sayana wrote
commentaries
on Vedas.

 Krishnadevaraya
wrote Amuktamalyada in Telugu and Usha Parinayam and Jambavathi
Kalyanam in Sanskrit.
 (Typical style of Dravidian Architecture)

The Decline of the Empire

 The rulers of the Aravidu dynasty were weak and incompetent.

 Many provincial governors became independent.

 The rulers of Bijapur and Golconda seized some areas of Vijayanagar.

Bahmani Kingdom
The Bahmani Kingdom (1347-1526 A.D.)
 The Bahmani Sultanate was a Persianized Muslim state of the Deccan in
South India and one of the major medieval Indian kingdoms.

Bahmani Kingdom Political History

 Hasan Gangu Bahmani was the founder of the Bahmani Kingdom.

 He was a Turkish officer of Devagiri.

 in 1347 A.D. he established the independent Bahmani kingdom.

 His kingdom stretched from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal, included
the whole of Deccan up to the river Krishna with its capital at Gulbarga.

Muhammad Shah-I (1358-1377. A.D.)

 He was the next ruler of the Bahmani Kingdom.

 He was an able general and administrator.

 He defeated Kapaya Nayaks of Warangal and the Vijayanagar ruler Bukka-I.

Firoz Shah Bahmani (1397-1422 A.D.)

 He was a great general.

 He defeated the Vijayanagar ruler Deva Raya

I.

 He was determined to make the Deccan the

cultural center of India – the decline of Delhi
Sultanate helped him, as many learned
people migrated to Deccan from Delhi post
Sultanate decline.
Ahmad Shah (1422-1435 A.D.)

 Ahmad Shah succeeded Firoz Shah Bahmani.

 He conquered the kingdom of Warangal.

 He changed his capital from Gulbarga to Bidar.

 He died in 1435A.D.

The Five Kingdoms

 Muhammad Shah-III died in
1482.

 His successors were weak and

the Bahmani Kingdom
disintegrated into five kingdoms
namely:

o Bijapur

o Ahmednagar

o Bera

o Golconda

o Bidar

Administration

 The Sultans followed a Feudal type of administration.

 Tarafs – The kingdom was divided into many provinces called Tarafs
  Tarafdar or Amir – Governor who controlled the Tarafs.

Contribution to Education

 The Bahmani Sultans gave great attention to education.

 They encouraged Arabic and Persian learning.

 Urdu also flourished during this period

Art and Architecture

Numerous mosques, madrassas and libraries were built.

 The Jumma Masjid at Gulbarga the Golconda Fort

 The Golgumbaz at Bijapur

 The Madrasas of Muhammad Gawan

Decline of Bahmani Kingdom

 There was a constant war between the Bahmani and Vijayanagar rulers.

 Inefficient and weak successors after Muhammad Shah III.

 The rivalry between the Bahmani rulers and foreign nobles.

 ADVENT OF EUROPIANS

Who come to India (sequential)

➢ Portuguese

➢ Dutch

➢ English

➢ Danes

➢ French

❑ Bartholomew Diaz was the first navigator to cross the Equator.

❑ Wasco da Gama discovered the sea trade route to India and landed at Calicut on May 17,
1498,
❑ He was received by King Zamorin of Calicut (Manuvikrama Varma).

❑ In 1502 A.D., the Portuguese established their settlements at Cochin, Calicut and Cannanore.

❑ Vasco da Gama was buried at Cochin.

Portuguese Governors

❑ Fransisco de Almada- He was the first Portuguese Governor and founder of Blue Water Policy.

❑ Alphanso de_Albuquerque was the second Portuguese Governor.

❑ He conquered Goa from the Sultan of Bijapur in 1510 A.D.

❑ Nino de Cunha shifted the capital city from Cochin to Goa in 1530.

❑ St. Xavier, the popular Jesuit father visited India during the tenure of Alfanso de D’souza.

Settlements

❑ On the West Coast, the Portugese had settlements at -Ormuz, Dabool, Cambay, Surat, Goa, Daman and Diu,
Salsette, Bassein, Kalyan.

❑ The East Coast settlements were-Santhome near Chennai and Hugli in Bengal.

❑ On the Malabar Coast Portugese settlements were -Cochin, Calicut and Cannanore.

❑ Trade- Their maximum trade was carried out in spices.

Downfall of the Portugese in India

❑ In 1612, Captain Best of the English defeated the Portuguese in the Battle of Swalley and they’ lost Surat to
the English.

❑ In 1668, Mumbai was given away as dowry to Prince Charles II of Enginad who married the Portuguese
Princess Catherine of Briganza.

❑ In 1739, Peshwa Bajirao I occupied the Salsette and Bassein islands.

❑ They were only left with Goa, Daman and Diu upto 1961.

DUTCH/Netherlands
❑ Dutch East India Company was founded in Machilipatnam (in Andhra Pradesh) in 1605

❑ They trade max in Textile, salt petre and Indigo.

❑ Batavia in Indonesia was the main centre for entire Dutch trade in Asia and hence the Dutch trade was
called Batavian Trade.

❑ Anglo-Dutch Rivalry In 1622, 23 English merchants were killed by the Dutch at a place called Ambayano in
Indonesia (Ambayao Massacre).

❑ In retaliation, the English defeated the Dutch in the Battle of Bedara in 1759

❑ The Dutch surrendered all their settlements in India in return for all English settlements in Indonesia

English

❑ John Mindan Hall was the first English to visit India in 1599, the court of Akbar in Agra.

❑ In December 1600, East India Company was founded as a Joint Stock Company of shareholders.

❑ It was given a Charter with monopoly rights for 15 years by Queen Elizabeth.

❑ In 1604, the monopoly was extended for an indefinite period by James I.

❑ They founded their first settlement/factory at Machilipatnam in 1611 A.D. with the permission of Md. Quti
Qutub Shah of Golconda through a Golden Farmana. Surat in 1612.

❑ In 1655, Chennai/Madras became the first Municipality, m (Chennai)./ St Fort George

❑ In 1690, Job Charnock fortified three villages: Sutanuti,Gobindapur and Kalikatta, founded the city of
Calcutta.

❑ In 1700, The English constructed Fort William

❑ In 1667, Bombay became the main centre of English trade on the West coast.

❑ English trade- Their maximum trade was in printed textiles called ‘Calicoes

Anglo - Mughal Relations

❑ Captain Hawkins, Captain Edwards and Sir Thomas Roe were the English ambassadors to visit the court of
Jahangir.

❑ In 1690, Aurangzeb defeated the English but permitted them to trade on the condition that they would pay
Rs.3000 per annum.

❑ In 1717, Mughal Emperor Fraukh Siyar conferred Golden Farmana exempting the English from customs
duties in Deccan and Gujarat.

❑ The farmana was given to Sir John Surman’s delegation.

DANES

❑ Danish East India Company was founded in 1616 A.D. Their two settlements in India were

❑ Trancuber near Chennai and Serampur in Bengal.

❑ Of all Europeans, the Danes were the formost promoters of Chistianity in India.

FRENCH
❑ The French East India Company was founded in 1664 A.D. at the instance of Jean Coulburt, the Finance
Minister of Louis XIV who was called the ‘Financial Wizard of Europe’.

❑ The French founded their first settlement at Surat in 1666 at the instance of Francois Karan.

❑ Their other settlements were Machillipatnam, Pondicherry, Yanam, Mahe, Karaikal, and Chandernagore.

❑ The city Pondicherry was the main centre of French trade

ANGLO-FRENCH RIVALRY / CARNATIC Ws First Carnatic War (1746— 1748.)

❑ Dupleix, the French Governor was the founder of the idea ‘French Empire in India’.

❑ The First Carnatic War started with Austrian War of Succession between England and France in Europe.

❑ Dupleix defeated the English and captured Fort St. George (Madras).

❑ The Nawab of Carnatic, Anwaruddin sent armies in support of the English. Dupleix defeated the armies of
Anwaruddin in the Battle of Santhome (1747 A.D.) near Adyar (Chennai).

❑ It was the first Battle in modern India between native and foreign armies and it exposed the weaknesses that
marred the Indian army. The war ended with Aixla Chapelle Treaty / Paris Treaty signed in 1748 A.D.

Second Carnatic War (1749- 1754)

❑ In the Civil war that started at Hyderabad after death of Asaf Jhah Zizam ul Mulk , the French supported
Muzaffar Jung and English supported Nasir Jung.

❑ In Carnatic, French supported Chanda Sahib and English supported Anwaruddin.

❑ Dupleix defeated the English armies in the Battle of Ambur (1749), However, Muzaflar Jung was killed by
the Nawabs of Kurnool and Cuddapah. Rench Declare Salabat Jung as Nawab of Hyderabad

❑ Salabat Jung gave Coastal districts (Northen Circars) to french. Chanda Sahib was Killed in battle of Arini

❑ The French declared Salabat Jung as the Nawab of Hyderabad.

❑ In 1751, Salabat Jung gave away Northern Circars (Coastal Andhra districts) to the French.

❑ Robert Clive, an accountant in the East India Company captured Arcot which was the capital city of Carnatic
and held the fort for 53 days, following which Dupleix was suspended.

❑ The war ended with Pondicherry Treaty in 1754.

Third Carnatic War(1756-1763)

❑ Started with 7 years of war between England and France in Europe

❑ Battle of Chendurti(English won/hyderabad lost)

❑ Battle of Wandiwash(Entire french Naby was defeated in 1760

❑ War ended with Paris treaty in 1764

 REGIONAL KINGDOM
Bengal
➢ Richest Suba under Mughals
➢ Murshid Quli Khan was the founder. In 1700 he was appointed Deputy Governor of Bengal
➢ He introduce Izradari sys(get revenue via Auctioning)
➢ Grant emergency loans called Teccavi to cultivators.
➢ Nullified golden farmana (Farukh Siyar) and forced the English to pay custom duties
➢ He got Orissa added to Bengal. Second Nawab- Sujauddin, son in law of Murshid got Bihar added in time of
Md. Shah.
➢ Third Nawab Sarfraz killed by Alivardi Khan (dept gov)
➢ Alvardi Khan- Renovated Calcutta port
Siraj-ud-Daula(1756-57)
➢ On June 18 1756 he declared war on English, defeated them at Futa Islands.
➢ On June 20 Black Hole incident supposed to have taken place(Howell, president of Calcutta council).
➢ Battle of Plassey(23 June 1757)- First revolution.
➢ Robert Clive v/s Siraj- Mir Madan and Kishan Lala led the troops of Siraj.
➢ Battle was fought on bank of River Bhagirathi.Clive conspired with Mir Zafar (Chief Commander of Siraj)
➢ EIC got 24 paraganas.
➢ Mir Zafar exempted EIC from paying custom duties in external trade
➢ In 1759, the Dutch was defeated by English I battle of Badra.
➢ In 1760, Mir Zafar was replaced by Mir Qasim as Nawab of Bengal.
Mir Qasim(1760-63)
➢ Granted 3 Zamindaris(Midanpore,Chittagong and Burdwan) to EIC. Offered 50% share in Churnam
trade(betlenut trade) to English.
➢ Shifted capital city from Morshodabad to Monghyr.
➢ Employed Armenians to train army.
➢ Main cause of Difference is because of Dataks- licenses issued to EIC to clain exemption from custom duties.
➢ In 1763 he abolished custom duties for all the merchants.
Battle of Buxar Oct 22, 1764- 2nd revolution.
➢ Mir Qasim fled to Oudh
➢ He planned a confederacy with Shuja-ud-daula, the Nawab of Oudh and the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II
in a final bid to overthrow the English from Bengal.
➢ Mir Qasim’s soldiers met the English army troops directed by Major Munro in 1764.
➢ Joined armies of Mir Qasim were defeated by the British.
➢ The battle of Buxar ended with the Treaty of Allahabad in 1765.
➢ Clive and Shuja on one hand- paid 40 lakh and also surrendered Allahabad and kara to English
➢ Clive transferred these districts to Mughal and agreed to pay 26 lakh rupees per annum and retain diwani
rights.
➢ Dual govt in Bengal- Diwani rights(revenue) and Nizamat rights(general Administration). Warren Hastings
suspended this in 1772
 ➢ Mir zafar was the Nawab of Bengal during the war
Mysore
City of Bengluru founded by Kempe Gowda. Modern state of Mysore founded by Krishnaraj Wadiyar
Hyder Ali (1721 – 1782)
➢ He Started his career as a soldier in the Mysore Army.
➢ He rose to prominence in the army owing to his military skills.
➢ He was made the Dalavayi (commander-in-chief), and later the Chief Minister of the Mysore state under
Krishnaraja Wodeyar II, ruler of Mysore.
➢ Through his administrative prowess and military skills,
➢ he became the de-facto ruler of Mysore with the real king reduced to a titular head only.
➢ He set up a modern army and trained them along European lines.
➢ He made Srirangapatnam as his capital
First Anglo-Mysore War (1767 – 1769)
➢ The British (Warren Hastings- gov of Bengal), along with the Marathas and the Nizam of Hyderabad declared
war on Mysore.
➢ Hyder Ali was able to bring the Marathas and the Nizam to his side with skillful diplomacy.
➢ War ended with madras Treaty(Ratified by Queen)
Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780 – 1784)
➢ The Marathas attacked Mysore in 1775.
➢ But the British refused to honour the Treaty of Madras and did not give support to Hyder Ali.
➢ English attacked Mahe, a French possession under Hyder Ali’s dominion, he declared war on the English in
1780.
➢ Hyder Ali died in 1782 beacuase of cancer and the war was continued by his son Tipu Sultan.
➢ Sir Eyre Coote, who had earlier defeated Hyder Ali many times, ended the war inconclusively with the Treaty
of Mangalore. (liberal terms)
Third Anglo-Mysore War (1786 – 1792)
➢ Tipu declared war on Travancore in 1789. Travancore was a friendly state of the British.
➢ In 1790, the Governor-General of Bengal, Lord Cornwallis declared war on Tipu.
➢ Tipu was defeated in the first phase of the war and his forces had to retreat.
➢ The war ended with the Treaty of Seringapatam in 1792.
➢ He also had to pay Rs.3 Crore as war indemnity to the British.
➢ As per the treaty, Tipu had to cede half of his kingdom to the English including the areas of Malabar,
Dindigul, Coorg and Baramahal.
➢ Tipu also had to surrender two of his sons as surety to the British till he paid his due.
Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1799)
➢ Tipu also refused to accept the Subsidiary Alliance of Lord Wellesley.
➢ Tipu aligned with the French which the British saw as a threat.
➢ The British secured a decisive victory at the Battle of Seringapatam in 1799.
➢ Tipu died while defending the city.
➢ Tipu’s territories were divided between the British and the Nizam of Hyderabad.
➢ The core area around Seringapatam and Mysore was restored to the Wodeyar dynasty
 ➢ Mysore entered into a Subsidiary Alliance with the British and a British resident was placed at the Mysore
Court.
➢ The Kingdom of Mysore remained a princely state not directly under the British until 1947 when it chose to
join the Indian Union.
Tipu Sultan
➢ First to introduce Missile in modern India.
➢ Send deligations to Islamic countries.
➢ Liberal, secular- donations at Ranganatha Temple
➢ Banned polygamy in Muslims
➢ Introduce unifrom currency and weigh system
➢ Became member of Jacobian Club of France and called himself Citizen Tipu.
➢ Planted tree of Liberty at Srirangapatnam and introduce new calendar with 3 weeks
Punjab
➢ Guru Angad was the Second Sikh Guru, who also introduced the Gurumukhi script, He composed
Janamsakhi, the life and mission of Guru Nanak.
➢ Guru Amardas the third Sikh Guru composed Anand which is recited by Sikhs on all happy occassions.
➢ He also introduced Manji System (selecting disciples to preach and promote Sikhism).
➢ Guru Ramdas, the fourth Sikh guru introduced Masand System of collecting donations.
➢ He constructed Amritsar and Santokhsar lakes in the land granted by the Mughal Emperor Akbar to his
daughter.
➢ The fifth Sikh guru Arjun Dev got Adi Granth compiled , the most sacred text of the Sikhs.
➢ He assumed the title Satya Padshah (The true emperor),
➢ He supported Khusroo against Jahangir for the Mughal throne and therefore was executed.
➢ Guru Hargobind, the Sixth Guru, fpunder of idea Akal takht and constructed Harminder Sahib in Amritsar.
➢ Guru Harirai and Harikishen were 7 & 8th
➢ Ninth Guru Teg Bahadur was offered Mansabdari of 5000 rank and also executed by Aurengzeb
➢ Guru Gobind singh last guru- Anandpur first to start 5 K-s .Sikh community transformed into Khalsa — the
Sikh army.
➢ The Guru was killed at Nanded (Maharashtra). Banda Bahadur was the last Sikh leader who was executed by
Farukh Siyar in 1715.
Raja Ranjit Singh (1780- 1839)
➢ He belonged to the Sukharchakia Misl.
➢ Born at Guzranwala, he was appointed Governor of Lahore by Zaman Shah of Persia
➢ Ranjit Singh defeated the confederacy of the Misldars in the Battle of Bhasith in 1803 and united the whole
of Punjab.
➢ His Chief Commander Hari Singh conquered Peshwar and Sind.
Anglo-Sikh Relations
➢ In 1809, Amritsar Treaty was signed between Lord Minto and Ranjit Singh, recognizing river Sutlej as the
border.
➢ In 1832, Ranjit Singh and Governor General William Bentick joined hands with each other in making Shuja as
the Emperor of Persia.
➢ Shuja gave the Kohinoor diamond to Ranjit Singh.
 ➢ Ranjit Singh’s administration was known for simplicity and secularism.
➢ He commanded one of the best armies in Asia called Fauz Khas, trained by Italians, Germans and French.
➢ Zamzama was the most sophisticated cannon used by the Raja.
Anglo-Sikh Wars
➢ First Anglo-Sikh ( 1845 — 1846), War because English make Amritsar treaty Null and void.
➢ Daleep Singh became the king of Punjab. Rani Zindan was the regent of the king.
➢ Teja Singh commanded the Sikh armies.
➢ The war ended with Lahore Treaty in 1846.Sikhs paid 50 lac. pounds as compensation and further
surrendered Kashmir.
➢ Later the English sold / disposed off Kashmir to Gulab Singh for I crore.
Second Anglo-Sikh War (1849)
➢ Mulraj, the Governor of Multan kil'ed two British officers. Governor General Dalhousie declared a war.
➢ The Sikh armies were led by Mulraj. The Battle of Gujarat(village in Punjab) was called the ‘Battle of Guns’.
RESULTS
➢ King Daleep Singh was deposed.
➢ He embraced Christanity and got settled in London. Rani Zindan was deported to Varanasi.
➢ Sir John Lawrence was made the Chief Commissioner of Punjab.
➢ During his tenure, Punjab became the richest province in India.
➢ He was able to win the loyalties of the Sikhs to the English during 1857 revolt.
JAIPUR
The modern State of Jaipur was founded by Maharaj Sawai Jai Singh. He was deeply interested in astronomy and
hence founded Jantar Mantars in Delhi and Jaipur.
BHARATPUR
➢ Bharatpur was an independent kingdom of the Jats, founded by Churamal and Badan Singh.
➢ Suraj Mal, the greatest leader of the Jats, was called ‘Plato of Jats’ for his deep interest in natural sciences
TRAVANCORE
➢ Travancore was founded by Raja Martandavarma.
➢ It was the first state to accept English education and to ban the custom of Sati. Raja Ravi Varma, the father
of modern Indian painting belonged to the court of Martandavarma.
➢ The State of Travancore was annexed in 1805, when Velutambi, the Dewan of Travancore revolted against
the British.
AYODHYA (OUDH)
➢ The independent state of Oudh was founded by Sadat Khan.
➢ He was the mediator between Nadir Shah and the Mughal Emperor Md. Shah. Suja-ud-Daula of Oudh signed
the Allahabad Treaty in 1765 with Robert Clive and the Varanasi Treaty with Lord Warren Hastings in 1774,
As per the Varanasi Treaty, Warren agreed to merge Rohilkhand with Ayodhya for Rs 20 lacs.
➢ Wajid Ali Shah was the last nawab of Ayodhya. Lord Dalhousie suspended Wajid Ali on the grounds of
maladministration and annexed Ayodhya in 1856.
HYDERABAD
➢ The autonomous State of Hyderabad was founded by Asaf Zha Nizam Nizam Ali was the first Indian to sign
Subsidiary Alliance System
➢ Mir Usman Ali Khan was the last Nawab. By police action called Operation Polo, the Union government of
India annexed Hyderabad into the Indian Union on September 17 1949
 MARATHAS
Shivaji (1627-1680)
➢ Shivaji (1627-1680) was born at Shivnir in 1627.
➢ At the age 19, he became jagirdar of Pune. He conquered the forts of Bijapur -Torna, constructed fort
Raigarh near Torna which became his capital city.
➢ defeated the Mughal armies sent by Aurangzeb under the leadership of Shasta Khan.
➢ In 1664, he attacked Surat, the richest city in 17" Century India.
➢ In 1663, Shivaji was defeated by Raja Jai Singh sent by Aurangzeb and was forced to sign the Treaty of
Purandhar
➢ As per the treaty, Shivaji surrendered 22 Mughal forts (out of 35 that he had captured).
➢ Sambhaji, son of Shivaji became the Mughal Mansabdar.
➢ Both Shivaji and Sambhaji were to pay a personal visit to the Emperor.
➢ In 1666, both Shivaji and Sambhuji visited Agra but they were imprisoned.
➢ They escaped from Agra jail and returned to the Maratha State via Mathura, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna,
Bhubaneshwar and Telangana.
➢ In 1670, Shivaji attacked Surat for the second time. Surat lost its importance and Bombay rose to
prominence.
➢ In 1674, Shivaji declared the formation of Swaraj, performed his coronation and took the titles ‘Chatrapati’ a
priest named Gagabhatt officiated the ceremony.
➢ Lohan Nischal Puri, another priest conferred the status of Kshatriya upon Shivaji.
➢ In 1680. he died of cancer.
Shivaji’s Administration:
Shivaji was influenced by the famous Wazir of Ahmeadnagar Malik Ambar in his administration. There were 27
departments at the Central level. Chatrapati was assisted by a Council of 8 ministers called Astapradhans-
1. Peshwa — PM
2. Amatya — Finance Minister, also known a” Majumdar.
3. Mantri — Chronicler; also known as Waqa-i-Navis.
4. Senapati — Chief Commander; also known as Sar-i-Naubath.
5. Sachiva — For internal affairs
6. Sumanth- incharge of external affairs
7. Pandit Rao- ceremonies, education, religious
8. Nyayadesh- In charge of law
Swaraj was divided into — Pranth (provinces), Tarafs, Paraganahs and Gramas (Gaam).
REVENUE ADMINISTRATION
➢ The land tax in Swaraj was initially 30% but later made 40%. The two controversial taxes collected by Shivaji
were Chauth and Sardeshmukhi
➢ Chauth – collected by Shivaji from Marathas and Non marathas outside swaraj for not attacking them.
➢ Sardeshmukhi- for protecting Marathas and Non Marathas outside swaraj for protecting them from external
threats. It became basis for Subsidiary alliance
➢ Sambhaji (1680 — 1689) gave shelter to Prince Akbar, who had revolted against Aurangzeb.
➢ He was and killed by Mukarab Khan at Tolapur on 11" March 1689, one day before Gudipadwa, New Year
festival.
 ➢ Sahu, son of Sambhaji and Yesubai wife were deported to Agra.
Tarabai (1700-1714)/Wife of RajaRam)
➢ Sahu was released by the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah. Sahu defeated Tarabai in the Battle of Khed.
➢ The Maratha State was divided into two parts. Sahu became Chatrapati at Satara and Tarabai remained
powerful at Kolhapur.
AGE OF THE PESHWAS (1713 -1818)
➢ The of Peshwa was made hereditary on the request of Balaji Vishwanath, In 1719, Balaji struck a treaty with
Syyid Brothers called Delhi Treaty.
➢ Under it, they would collect chauth 6 Mughal subahs in Deccan. And have to maintain law and order in
Deccan. Yesubai, mother of Sahu was released from Agra jail under the treaty.
First Peshwa found the Maratha confederacy of 5 states with himself as the Head of the it.
➢ Peshwa of Pune
➢ Bhonsle of Nagpur
➢ Scindias of Gwalior
➢ Holkars of Indore
➢ Gaikwads of Baroda
Bajirao 1 (1720 - 1740)
➢ Become Peshwa at the age of 19
➢ He was founder of idea - Hindupad Padshahi’ (Hindus to rule India) and further declared that it was his
ambition to see the Maratha Empire upto Attok in Sind, and in 1738.
➢ Peshwa defeated the Nizam of Hyderabd twice in 1728 ishgaom and Durulsarai treates respectively.
➢ In 1739, the Peshva defeated the Portuguese and occupied their settlements, Salesette and Bassain.
➢ In 1739, when Nadir Shah, the king of Persia attacked Delhi, the Mughal Emperor Md. Shah called for the
services of Bajirao I.
➢ He was called second Shivaji for his expertise in Guerilla warfare. He is connected with Mastani episode.
Balaji Bajirao (1740 - 1761)
Became Peshwa at the age of 18. His actual name was Nana Sahib.
THIRD BATTLE OF PANIPAT
➢ Between Marathas and Ahmad Shah Abdali of Persia.
➢ He attacked India for the first time in 1757 A.D.
➢ Dati Shinde sent by the Peshwas, defeated Timur Shah , son of Abdali. Bahu was the supreme commander
➢ The main cause for the defeat of Marathas was the lack of support from Sikhs and Jats.
FIRST ANGLO MARATHA WAR (1779-1782 A.D.)
➢ In 1775 Raghuba signed Surat Treaty with General Goddard of Bombay.
➢ In 1776 Nana signed Purandhar Treaty with Governor General Warren Hastings,
➢ Pune defeated General Goddard and forced him to sign Wedgaon Convention in 1779, by which the English
lost all their settlements.
SECOND ANGLO MARATHA WAR (1803 — 1805 A.D.)
➢ It was Mahdaji Scindia that escorted the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II from Ayodhya to Delhi.
➢ Peshwa Bajirao II, with the support of Scindia got the brother of Jaswant Rao Holkar murdered/
➢ Holkar retaliated by defeating the Peshwa and by looting Pune.
 ➢ In 1802 the Peshwa Signed a treaty with Lord Wellesley called Bessain Treaty, requesting the help of the
English & signed Subsidiary Alliance System.
THIRD ANGLO MARATHA WAR (1817 — 1818)
➢ Peshwa Bajirao II got the ambassador of Gaikwads, Gngadhar Shashtri murdered by Triam bakji Dengle.
➢ Peshwa refused to hand over Triambakji to the English and declared war.
➢ He was defeated in battles of Kirki, Asti and Koregaon.
Results of the Anglo-Maratha War
➢ Maratha confederacy got dissolved.
➢ A State called Satara was created and Pratap Singh, a distant relative of Shivaji was made King of Satara.
➢ The last Peshwa, Bajirao II was granted pension of 6 lacs per annum and was deported to Bethur
 Revolts
Reasons
➢ the rapid changes the British introduced in the economy, administration and land revenue system.
➢ These changes led to the disruption of the agrarian society, causing prolonged and widespread suffering
among its constituents.
➢ Thousands of zamindars and poligars lost control over their land and its revenue either due to the extinction
of their rights by the colonial
➢ Increasing demands for land revenue were forcing large numbers of peasants into growing indebtedness or
into selling their lands
➢ The new courts and legal system gave a further fillip to the dispossessors of land and encouraged the rich to
oppress the poor.
Classification of the popular uprisings
➢ Political-religious Movements - Fakir Uprising, Sanyasi Uprising, Pagal Panthis, Wahabi Movement, Faraizi
Movement, Kuka Movement and Moplah Rebellions
➢ Movements by the dependents of the deposed ruler- Ramosi Uprising, Gadkari Revolt etc…
➢ Tribal Movements
Political-religious Movements
Sanyasi Rebellion 1772
➢ It was the first civil rebellion of modern India,led by the Sanyasis of Giri order.
➢ started when Lord Warren Hastings banned the movement of Sanyasis visiting pilgrim centres in naked form.
Pagal Panthis(1827)
➢ Karam Shah was the fouder of the pagalpanth- a semi religious sect having influence in the northern district
of Bengal.
➢ An activist fervor to the sect was imparted by Tipu, the son and successor of Karam Shah.
➢ Tipu was motivated by both religious and political motives and took up the cause of the tenants against the
oppression of the Zamindars.
Wahabi Movement
➢ An Islamic revivalist movement founded by Syed Ahmed of Rai Bareilly, who was inspired by the teachings of
Abdul Wahab (1703-87) of Saudi Arabia and Shah WaliUllah of Delhi.
➢ Syed Ahmed condemned the western influence on Islam and advocated a return to pure Islam and society.
➢ Preached Hindu Muslim Unity.
➢ Commendable role in 1857 mutiny.
Faraizi Revolt
➢ In Eastern Bengal.
➢ Reform movement in beginning but later opposed Hindu Land aristocracy and British in Bengal.
Moplah Rebellions
Malabar 1835-1921) The Moplah rebellions of Malabar, South India, were not only directed against British but
also the Hindum Landlords.
Kuka Revolt
➢ This movement was founded in 1840 by Bhagat Jawahar Mal (also called Sian Saheb) in western Punjab.
➢ Its basic tenets were abolition of caste and similar discriminations among Sikhs, discouraging the eating of
meat and intake of alcohol and drugs, and encouraging women to step out of seclusion.
 Fakirs
➢ Fakirs were a group of wandering Muslim religious mendicants. Shortly after the annexation of Bengal in
1776-77
➢ The Fakir led by Chirag Ali Shah gained considerable strength and attacked English factories, seized their
goods, cash, arms and ammunitions.
➢ The fakirs were finally brought under the control at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
Movement by the Dependents of the Deposed Rulers
Bundela Uprising
➢ The Bundelas of Sagar revolted under the leadership of Mdhukarshah and Jawahir Singh against the revenue
policy. Both the leaders were executed.
Ramosis Rebellion — (1822)
➢ The peasant tribe around Pune lost their land holdings with the Third Anglo Maratha war in 1818.
➢ They revolted under the leadership of Chittor Singh and Ummaji. The revolt ended when British agreed to
provide employment to the Ramosis in the British army.
Gadkari Rebellion
➢ Gadkaris were the peasant tribes around Kolhapur. In 1845,
➢ they revolted against the repressive revenue policy of Diwan D.K.Pandit-who was supported by the English.
Indigo Rebellion 1858 — 1860
➢ It was against the unjust system of ‘advances’m called “Tinkathia System”. The Indigo cultivators of Bihar
and Bengal organised the rebellion under the leaders - Biswas brothers- Bishnucharan Biswas and Digambar
Biswas.
➢ The Bengali intellectual, Dinabandhu Mitra wrote the popular play, Nildarpan, depicting the plight of Indigo
cultivators.
➢ The movement ended with the appointment of the First Indigo Enquiry Commission in 1860. It was the first
Satyagraha Movement in Modern India.
Tribal Movements:
Reasons
➢ British land revenue policy. Particularly Permanent Settlement introduced in 1793 was the single most
important factor for the tribal movements.
➢ New administrative system with Police, Courts and Lawyers was also being resist tribes.
➢ The Christian Missionary activities in the agency areas and the British deploying army in the agency was the
other factors for the revolts as it was perceived as interference in the lives of the tribals.
➢ Lord Hardinge I, the Governor General introduced Forest Laws in 1840, prohibiting , Cultivation (Shifting
Cultivation), imposed taxes on forest products and banned the customs like human sacrifice practiced by
Khonds of Orissa.
SANTHAL REBELLION
➢ it took place in the Rajmahal hills in Bihar from 1854-
➢ It opposed British land revenue policy, under the leadership of Siddhu and Kanhu.
➢ They defeated the British armies under General Borraugh and declared the formation of 1st independent
tribal kingdom in modern India in the region between Bhagalpur and patna.
KHONDS
Orissa
➢ Revolted in 1846-1848, under the leadership of ChakraBesai against the British policy of interference when
Lord Hardinge banned the custom of human sacrifice.
➢ KHASIS — Assam: Revolted in 1828 – 1832 under the leadership of Tiruth Singh and Darmanik against the
presence of Army in the agency area and British revenue policy.
MUNDA - Bihar
➢ 1899 — 1900, revolted under the leadership of Birsa Munda against the Missionary activities in the agency
area and demanded their own rights in the soil.
➢ Started a new cult called ‘Singabonga’ and started the ‘Sons of the Soil’ movement.
➢ He was deported in 1900, as a political prisoner.
KOLS
KOLS — Chota Nagpur: Revolted in 1832, under the leadership of Buddho Bhagath against British Policy of
expansionism.
Naikads
Panchmahal hills, Gujarat: 1858 — 1868, revolted under the leadership of aria Bhagath against British policy of
expansionism and interference. They form the 2nd independent tribal kingdom with Roop Singh as the head of
the head of the religion.
1857 Revolt
The British policy of expansionism from the beginning-
➢ Warren Hastings followed ‘Ring fencing policy’ friendly states around enemy States and occupying both in
course of time.
➢ Lord Wellesley ‘Subsidiary Alliance’ system and forced that upon the native princes and conquered half of
British India. In the same style.
➢ Lord Dalhousie with his ‘Doctrine of Lapse annex the Indian States Satara in 1848, Jaitpur in 1849, Sambalpur
in 1850, Hill State of a 1852, Jhansi in 1853 and Nagpur in 1854.
➢ In the social sphere, the progressivenlegislation of the British was held in contempt and— suspicion by
majority of Hindus and Muslims.
➢ In 1802, Lord Wellesley abolished the custom of female infanticide practiced by the Rajputs with his
Regulation VI.
➢ In 1829 A.D, Lord William Bentick abolished the custom of Sati at the instance of Ram Mohan.
➢ In 1856 A.D, Lord Dalhousie passed Widow Remarriage Act at the instance of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.
➢ 1856 Religious Disabilities Act or Indian Inheritance Act that retained property rights for the converted
against the spirit of Dharmashastra.
➢ The Company historian Willian - “It was divinely ordained task to transform India into Christianity.
➢ impoverished peasantry, the deposed Zamindars and the unemployed youth in urban were the major
participants in the revolt.
Subsidiary Alliance
➢ An Indian ruler entering into Subsidiary Alliance with the British had to dissolve his own armed forces and
accept British forces in his territory.
➢ He also had to pay for the British army’s maintenance.If he failed to make the payment, a portion of his
territory would be taken away and ceded to the British.
➢ In return, the British would protect the Indian state against any foreign attack or internal revolt.
➢ The Indian state could not enter into any alliance with any other foreign power.
 ➢ The Indian state could also not enter into any political connection with another Indian state without British
approval.
➢ A British Resident was also stationed in the Indian Court.
➢ Hyderabad (1798)
➢ Mysore(1799)
➢ Tanjore (1799)
➢ Awadh (1801)
➢ Peshwa (Marathas) (1802)
➢ Scindia (Marathas) (1803)
➢ Gaekwad (Marathas) (1803)
➢ Holkars
Doctrine of Lapse
➢ According to this, any princely state under the direct or indirect (as a vassal) control of the East India
Company where the ruler did not have a legal male heir would be annexed by the company.
➢ any adopted son of the Indian ruler could not be proclaimed as heir to the kingdom.
Grievances of Sepoys
➢ Revolted first time in 1765, Burhampore regiment was the first to revolt against Robert Clive. Called as
White Mutiny b/c English revolted.
➢ 1806 Vellore Mutiny. 1806
Immediate reasons
➢ No Indian Sepoy promoted beyond Jotedar.
➢ Batta only to English.
➢ 1856 Service act prhibited sepoys to observe rituals and customs.
➢ 1857, Royal Enfield Gun- Suspect of Cow and pig fact.
➢ Marc 29- Mangal Pandey and his cousin Ishwar pandey of 34 Native Infantary Regiment at Barrackpore
organised the revolt.
➢ Capt. Bakht Khan of 3rd cavalary regiment at Merrut led the revolt.
➢ May 11, Sepoy occupied Delhi- Bhahudur Shah Zafar the Head.
Centres and Leaders of the revolt
➢ Arrah in Bihar - Kunwar Singh and his brother Amar Singh, the Zamindars of Jagadishpur organised the
revolt.
➢ Bareilly in U.P - Khan Bahadur Khan, the head of the Rohillas was the leader of the Revolt.
➢ Delhi - Bahadur Shah was the titular head. Capt.Bakht Khan was the real head of the revolt.
➢ Lucknow - Begum Hazrat Mahal led the revolt for the sake of her son, Buzris Qadr.
➢ Faizabad — Maulvi Ahmedullah, the head of Wahabi sect led the revolt in support o Begum Hazrat Mahal,
wife of Nawab Wajid Ali. The Muslims handed over the disputed Ram janmbhumi site to the Hindus.
➢ Jhansi - Laxmi Bai, the widow of Gangadhar Rao organised the revolt for the sake of her son.
➢ Kanpur -was the the main centre of the revolt. Nana Sahib, actually called Dondu Pandit led the revolt
assisted by Anna Saheb, Azimullah and Tantia Tope. Nana perpetuated atrocities.
Supression
➢ Lord Canning was the Governor General and Collin Campbell was the Chief Commander.
➢ John Nicholson got back Delhi but died in the fight. Hudson.
➢ Collin Campbell took back Kanpur.
➢ Sir Hugh Rose defeated Laxmi Bai.
➢ Sahib, Khan Bahadur Khan and Begum Hazarat Mahal took asylum in Nepal.
➢ Tantia Tope offered guerrilla warfare but was handed over to English by Man Singh, a friend of Scindia. He
was executed on April 18.
Causes of Failure
➢ lack of co-ordination among the leaders of the revolt.
➢ sections of the society who participated in the revolt had their personal agendas. There wasn’t any common
objective.
➢ not spread to south.
➢ Moreover, many sections of the society either stay neutral or supported the English against the rebels.
Results of the Revolt
➢ Lord Canning held the Allahabad Durbar and read out the Queen’s proclamation pare promised no further
conquests in India.
➢ no further interference in the internal affairs of the Indians and that Indians would be promoted in decision
making.
➢ the 1861 Indian Councils Act, 1861 Indian Judiciary Act and 1861 Indian Executive Act were passed.
➢ The administration of company ended, Its two agencies- Court of Directors and Board of Control were
abolished.
➢ The office of the Governor General also became the office of Viceroy (He was Governer General when he
administrated British India, he acted as Viceroy when he dealt with Princely States). Lord Canning was the
1st Governor General — cum — Viceroy.
➢ An agency of 15 members called Indian Council was created in London to monitor the functioning of Viceroy
and his staff. It was to be headed by Secretary of State for India (Lord Charles Wood became the first
Secretary of State for India).
➢ They divided Army on regional, racial and communal grounds.
➢ To cover up the losses during the revolt, Income Tax was being levied from 1860.
➢ The revolt was described as a “Sepo Mutiny” by the British historians like Col.Malleson. For Lord Canning it
was a ‘Revolution’.
➢ For nationalist historian, V.D.Savarkar, it was the “First war of Indian Independence”.
➢ For Tara Chand, it was the last attempt of medieval order to regain their lost power, prestige and privileges.
 Freedom Struggle
The unique aspects of the freedom struggle were:
➢ Most Prolonged, The longest mass based struggle in the history of mankind
➢ The only struggle that accepted non-violence or Satyagraha as the means of freedom.
The Factors responsible were:
➢ The repressive and reactionary policies of Lord Lytton and the progressive — policies of Lord Ripon, both
substantially contributed to the spirit of nationalism.
➢ A Lytton held the Grand Imperial Durbar in 1877 in Delhi, wasting public money when Deccan was reeling
under severe famine.
➢ Queen Victoria was declared as the Empress of India for the first time.
➢ In 1878, Lytton introduced Vernacular Press Act for curbing the autonomy of Indian Journalism and in 1879
to discourage the Indian middle classes from entering into the Civil Services
➢ he reduced the upper age limit from 21 to 19 and also introduced Statutory Civil Services (reserving 1/6 of
the total number of posts for the Indian princely families and landed aristocracy).
➢ Lord Ripon on the other hand, introduced a series of liberal and progressive reforms.
➢ In 1881, the first Indian Factory Act was passed, regulating the working hours for the women and children.
➢ In 1882, the Statutory Civil Services were abolished and Indian Famine Code was introduced (the first Indian
Famine Commission was appointed under Sir Richard Stratchy, 1878).
➢ In 1882, in order to promote the primary education, Lord Ripon founded the first Indian Education
Commission (also called Hunter Committee). The Committee recommended the privatisation of education.
➢ In 1882, the Vernacular Press Act was abolished, reviving the freedom of press. he was regarded as the
“Father of Modern Local Self Governance”
➢ In 1883, to give an effect to Equality before Law and the Rule of Law, Lord Ripon introduced Ibert Bill.
➢ When the bill was passed with amendments in Jan 1884, it marked the beginning of India’s national
movement.
➢ The pre-congress Political organisations were equally responsible for the political consciousness.
➢ The Bengal Land Holder’s Society, founded by Dwarakanath Tagore in 1839 in Calcutta, was the first political
party in Modern India,
➢ In 1852, Madras Native Association was formed- the first political party in Madras Presidency founded by G.
lakshminarasimham Chetty
➢ In March 1852, the Bombay Native Association was founded. It was the first political party in Bombay
Presidency started by Jagannath Shankar Seth,
➢ In 1866, Dadabhai Naoroji founded the East India Association in London.
➢ In 1867, Mary Carpenter, founded the National Indian Association in London
➢ In 1870, Poona Sarvajanik Sabha was founded by M.G.Ranade and G.V.Joshi.
➢ In 1872, Indian Society was founded by Ananda Mohan Bose in Kolkata. It became Indian Association under
Surendranth Banarjee in 1876. It was the most dynamic political party before the Congress.
➢ In 1884, Madras Mahajanasabha was founded by G.S.Ayyer, eeraraghavachar! and P.Anandacharyulu.
➢ In 1885, Bombay Presidency association was founded by Pherozesahah Mehta, Badruddin Tyabji and
K.T.Telang.
➢ Mitra Mela→ Abhinav Bharat by Savarkar brothers.
➢ Journalism also played a commendable role..
 ➢ The “Bengal Gazette” started by James Aguestes Hickey was the first journal in Modern India founded in
1780 in Kolkata.
➢ The “Bengal Gazette” founded by Harishchandra Ray was the first journal by an Indian in 1818.
➢ “Rastgoftar” was the first journal in Marathi, founded by Dadabhai in 1852.
➢ Sisir Kumar Gosh started “Amrit Bazar Patrika”(1868),
➢ Girirsh Chandra Gosh founded “Hindu Patriot”,
➢ Bankim Chandra Chattarjee founded ‘Bangadarshan’,
➢ Tilak founded “Kesari” in Marathi and “Maratha” in English [both edited by Kelkar],
➢ G.S.Ayyar and Veeraraghavachari founded the newspaper “The Hindu” and
➢ G.S.Ayyar also started _ “Swadesi Mitran”
Formation of Congress
➢ In 1885, at the instance of A.O.Hume, 72 delegates from different political parties met at Sir Tejpal Sanskrit
College from December 28 - 31 in Bomaby.
➢ The name “Indian National Congress” for the new party was suggested by Dadabhai Naoroji.
➢ W.C.Banerji became the first President.
➢ A.O.Hume was the general secretary who was also called the Founder Father of Congress. ,
➢ The “Safety Valve Theory” is actually a criticism against Hume attributing ulterior motives in forming the
Congress. Lala Lajpat Rai and Lala Hansraj were the critics of Hume.
➢ Hume wrote two pamphlets — “A Rising Star in the East’ and ‘Old Man’s Dream’.
➢ Lord Dufferin, the Governor General and Lord Cross, the Secretary of State welcomed the formation of INC
Age of Moderates (1885 — 1905)
➢ Congress since its inception was dominated by educated middle class, the landed aristocracy and the
capitalist classes.
➢ The moderate ideology Was - The British colonialism and Indian nationalism were not contradictory rather
complementary.
➢ For the moderates, development of England was development of India.
➢ The British were invincible. As such, by a policy of cooperation India should secure her interests
➢ England, the mother of parliamentary institutions, would encourage the same in India. therefore Indians
should remain loyal to British
➢ The moderate method of struggle was defined as “Constitutional means of Agitation’ which opposed to the
popular means of agitation and sedition).
➢ It was well explained by Gokhale in his Journal ‘Sudharak’. It is also called as the method of “Petition, Prayer
and Protest”.
➢ The demands of the moderates included —
➢ Expansion of legislative councils.
➢ Meaningful representation of Indian members.
➢ Separation of Executive from Judiciary, Increasing the upper age limit for Indian Civil Service aspirants and
for conducting Civil Service examinations in India and England simultaneously.
➢ 50% reduction in rent, export duties and military expenditure.
➢ The relation between the moderates and the British became strained for the first time in Madras session in
1887, presided over by Badruddin Tyabji (the first Muslim president of INC). The word ‘Self — Governance’
was mentioned for the first time. Lord Dufferin criticised congress as a “Microscopic Minority”,
 ➢ The 1888 Allahabad Session of INC was presided over by George Yule. He was the first Englishman to preside
over INC.
➢ On the request of the Moderates in 1886, Lord Dufferin appointed Aitchison Committee on Indian Civil
Services. The upper age limit was increased to 22 years on the recommendation of the committee.
➢ The 1892 Indian Council Act was passed leading to the expansion of legislative councils,
➢ On the request of moderates, the Calcutta University Act of 1902 and Calcutta Municipal Corporation Act of
1902 , Which curbed the autonomy of the local bodies were revoked in 1904 by Lord Curzon.
➢ achievement of the moderates was their economic critique of the Drain Theory that exposed the exploitative
nature of colonialism.
Failures of Moderates
➢ They restricted the social base of the Congress to the elites.
➢ They failed to understand the clash of interest b/w colonialism and Nationalism.
➢ Their major failure was that they could not stop the partition of Bengal from taking place which was done
much against the public will.
Age of Extremists-(1905-1915)
➢ Aurobindo Ghosh was the founder of extremist thought. His pamphlet ‘New Lamps for the Old’ served as
the basis of the Extremism.
➢ He wrote a series of articles in Bangadarshan ,the journal of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, criticising the
moderate method of struggle as ‘political mendicancy’.
➢ He potrayed India as ‘Mother’ and appealed to the emotional aspects of Indian nationalism.
➢ Rajnarayan Bose and Ashwini Kumar Dutta were the other early extremists.
➢ Vishnu Shastri Chiplunkar wrote Nibandhamala, a collection of poems with extremist thought
➢ Within the Congress ,Bal Gangadhar Tilak, the Lokmanya was the foremost extremist. He was also called the
Father of Indian Unrest by Valentine Chirole.
➢ He founded Ganesh Festival Committee in 1893, organised no tax campaigns in the famine affected Bombay
Presidency in 1894 and founded Shivaji Festival Committee in 1895.
➢ He was sentenced for 18 months imprisonment for supporting Chapekar brothers who killed the English
officers, Iryst and Rand in 1897
➢ He wrote ‘Gita Rahasya’.
➢ Lala lajpat Rai was known as ‘Punjab Kesari’ and wrote ‘Unhappy India’
➢ Bipin Chandra Pal, the founder of the journals ‘New India’ and ‘Bengali opinion’ was the other extremists in
the Congress.
Vande Maataram Movement (1905-1909)
➢ Lord Curzon announced officially the partition of Bengal on July 4,1905.
➢ On October 16, 1905 partition came into effect.
➢ The official version of partition was ‘administrative convenience’.
➢ However, the real reason behind the partition was to divide Indian society into Hindus and Muslims and
further to divide Congress by creating a rift between Moderates and Extremists.
➢ Bipin Chandra Pal startedthe movement with Kali Puja and festival and became the first Indian leader to tour
India before Gandhi.
➢ Rabindranath Tagore and Nabakrishna Chakraborthy composed the patriotic songs
➢ The slogans of the movement were “Swdeshi’ and ‘Swaraj’
 ➢ Under The Swadeshi Movement , Rabindranath Tagore founded Shantiniketan and Satish Mukharjee
founded Dawn Soceity to impact a native education
➢ Tagore gave a call for Rakhi Bandhan as a token of Hindu –Muslim unity and wrote articles under the title
‘Atma Shakti’.
➢ While the movement was going on, differences started between Moderates and Extremists for the first
time in Calcutta Session in 1906 on the question of whether to make the movement national or restrict it
only to Bengal
➢ The extremists wanted Tilak to be the President. However, Dadabai Naoroji became the President as a
compromise candidate.The Calcutta Session was a victory for extremism as:
• The extremist ideas ‘Swdeshi’ and ‘Swaraj’ were accepted by the Congress for the first time.
• Congress condemned the decision of Partition.
• Tilak became the Chairman of the Reception Committee
➢ In 1906, the All India Musim League was founded by Salim Ullah, the Nawab of Dacca and Aga Khan.
➢ In 1907, the Surat session was held. Congress was divided for the first time (First Split) on the issue of
election of the President
➢ The extremist candidate Tilak was defeated by the moderate candidate Rasbehari Ghose.
➢ The moderates expelled the extremists from the Congress
➢ The extremists founded the Liberal Party and called themselves ‘Neo — Nationalists’.
➢ Tilak was trialled on charges of disturbing public order and was sentenced for 6 years imprisonment,
➢ Lala Lajpat Rai took asylum in Afghanistan. Following this extremism suffered a setback.
➢ The Vande Mataram movement ended with Morley — Minto Reforms in 1909.
Differences between Moderates and Extremists
➢ Moderates demanded Self Governance; extremists demanded Swaraj.
➢ Moderates believed in co -operation; extremists believed in confrontation.
➢ Moderates followed constitutional means of agitation; whereas extremists followed popular means of
agitation and passive resistance (non-cooperation).
➢ In 1911, Governor General Lord Hardinge II annulled the partition of Bengal.
➢ In the same year, Imperial Capital city was shifted from Calcutta to Delhi
➢ In 1915, Gandhi retuned from South Africa on the invitation of his Guru, Gokhale.
➢ Tilak returned from Mandalay ‘jail and Madame Anne Besant announced her entry into Indian Politics.
Home Rule Movement (1916 — 1917)
➢ Madame Anne Besant suggested the idea of “Home Rule”for the first time in 1915 Bombay session presided
over by Lord S.P.Sinha.
➢ However, Tilak was the first to form ‘Home Rule League’ in April, 1916.
➢ Madam Anne Besant started her “Home Rule League’ in Madras in October 1916.
➢ Tilak gave his historical statement “Swaraj is my Birthright” during the Home Rule movement.
➢ She started two journals — “New India” and “Commonweal” for promoting the ideas of Home Rule
➢ The movement demanded self governance and native education.
➢ The movement attracted Md.Ali Jinnah and Motilal Nehru
➢ The movement ended with the August Declaration ,1917 made by Viceroy Lord Chelmsford,promising self-
governance after the end of World War1.
 ➢ In the Lucknow Session in 1916, presided over by A.C.Majumdar, the expelled extremists were welcomed to
join back Congress.
➢ At the instance of Madame Anne Besant, Lucknow Pact was also signed by Congress and Muslim League ,
extending mutual support against the British.
➢ The Congress was represented by Rajendra Prasad and Jinnah represented the Muslim league.
➢ In 1917, the Calcutta session was presided over by Madam Anne Besant, the first women President of the
Congress.
Gandhian Era (1915 onwards)
➢ Gandhi left for South Africa to plead for Abdullah and company and effectively championed the cause of
Indian indentured labour against the white racist regime.
➢ He was thoroughly influenced by Leo Tolstoy’s ‘The Kingdom of God is within you’, John Ruskin’s ‘Unto the
Last’, Edwin Arnold’s ‘Song Celestial’(commentary on Bagawad Geeta) and French Philospher Thoreu’s ‘Civil
Disobedience’.
➢ Near Durban, he founded the ‘Phoenix Ashram’ (Tolstoy Ashram)
➢ and also the journals ‘The Indian Opinion’ an ‘Hind Swaraj’ in South Africa.
➢ In India in 1916, he founded Sabarmati Ashram near Ahmadabad.
➢ In 1917, he started his first political campaign at Champaran in Bihar for supporting the case of Indigo
cultivators.
➢ He was invited to Champaran by Rajendra Prasad and was assisted by A.N.Sinha and Mahadev Desai.
➢ In 1917, his second campaign started at Kheda in Gujarat called Kheda Satyagraha against the hike in land
revenue demand.
➢ In 1918, Gandhi mediated between the workers and the management in Ahmadabad Mill Workers strike.
With these three movement he emerged as the “Messiah of the working classes”.
Non-cooperation movement
Reasons
➢ In 1918, a Sedition Committee was constituted under Justice Rowlatt called the Rowlatt Committee to
suggest ways and means of handling the problem of terrorism.
➢ The committee recommended Two Acts, popularly called “Black Acts” as they severely undermined the civil
liberties.
➢ Justice Shankaran Nair, the Indian member of the committee and the member of the Viceroy’s Executive
council resigned in protest against the Acts.
➢ Gandhi gave a call for National Protest Day against the Act on April 6, 1919.
➢ Kesar-i-Hind & recruiting sergeant
➢ On April13, 1919 ,on the day of Baisakhi festival, Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, took place in Amritsar.
➢ General Dyre ordered for indiscriminate firing that left more than 540 dead and many more injured.
➢ Rabindranath Tagore surrendered his Knighthood in protest against the act.
➢ The 1919 Government of India Act, also called Montague- Chelmsford Reforms were announced. However, it
disappointed the Indian leadership as it did not provide for self governance.
➢ Instead, Dyarchy was provided against the spirit of August Declaration made in 1917.
Khilafat Issue
➢ After the World War I, in the Paris Peace Conference, England threatened to abolish the office of Calipha.
 ➢ In protest, the Ali brothers, (Maulana Md. Ali ans Shaukat Ali) founded the All India Khilafat Committee. The
Khilafat Committee, held its first session in Lucknow in 1919 and made Seth Chotani of Bombay its President.
➢ In year 1920, Delhi session of Khilafat Committee was addressed by the Shankaracharya of Puri and he
extended the support of the Hindus. In the same session, Gandhi was made the President of the Khilafat
Committee
➢ Thus, the non- cooperation movement was organised for meaningful constitutional reforms, to punish the
guilty in Punjab excesses and for protecting the Khilafat.
➢ Gandhi’s proposal for the movement was accepted by the Congress working committee which met under
Lala Lajpat Rai in Calcutta.
➢ The Nagpur session in 1920, presided over by Veeraraghvachari, endorsed the resolution and made Gandhi
the sole leader of the movement
Non – cooperation movement
➢ Gandhi drafted the programme of the movement with the slogans ‘Swadeshi’, ‘Satyagraha’, ‘Total boycott’
and No Tax Campaigns (Passive resistance).
➢ Charkhas became the symbol of the movement. No-tax campaigns were organised in the Madras Presidency
at Chirala- Perala by D. Gopala Krishnaiah and at Pedanandipadu by P. Veeraiah Chaudhuri.
➢ Under the idea of ‘swadeshi’, Jamia Milia Islamia was founded in Delhi by the Ali brothers.
➢ To discourage the movement, the British announced the goodwill mission of Price of Wales.
➢ When the NCM was going on, Moplahs and Muslim agricultural labourers, in the Malabar Coast of Kerala
revolted against the exploitation of Brahmin landlords called Nambudries (Zenmis).
➢ An agrarian crisis became a communal movement leading to movement.
➢ Riots also started in Meerut, Lucknow, Kanpur between Hindus and Muslims. Differences also started
between Gandhi and Ali brothers on intensification of the movement
➢ On February 5, 1922, The Chauri-Chaura incident took place in Gorakhpur district of UP. 22 police constables
were burnt alive. Following this act of violence on the part of the Indians, on Feb 11, Gandhi called off the
movement
Results of NCM
➢ The movement failed to achieve its objectives. The Hunter Committee was appointed to inquire into the
excesses of Dyer.
➢ The Khilafat was abolished by the people of Turkey under Mustafa Kamal Pasha.
➢ No constitutional reforms were introduced.
The effects of the movement were:
➢ The failure created permanent gulf between Hindus and Muslims. It was the last movement in the struggle
where Hindu-Muslim jointly resisted colonial domination
➢ Within the Congress differences had arisen. Deshbandhu C.R. Das, the President of the Gaya session in 1922
criticised Gandhi’s method of struggle and suggested contesting the 1923 elections under Montague –
Chelmford reforms.
➢ The followers of C.R. Das , Motilal Nehru and Vittalbhai Patel were called the ‘pro-changers’.
➢ They advocated ‘Council Entry’. The ‘no-changers’ who supported Gandhi and opposed council entry were
Subhas Chandra Bose, Rajendra Prasad, Jawaharlal Nehru and Vallabai Patel. The pro-changers founded the
Congress –Khilafat Swaraj Party under C.R.Das and contested the elections
➢ The Swaraj Party emerged as the largest party in central legislative assembly and Motilal Nehru became the
first Indian elected Speaker.
 ➢ C.R.Das became the first elected chairman of Calcutta Municipal Corporation.
➢ However, with the sudden death of C.R.Das in 1925, the Swaraj Party got completely merged with Congress.
➢ In 1927, P.M. Stanley Baldwin constituted the Simon Commission under the Chairmanship of Sir John Simon
with 7 members who were all English, to study the implementation of 1919 reforms
➢ All the political parties except Justice Party and the Depressed Class Federation of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar decided
to boycott the commission
➢ Madhav Malgoankar was the first to organise ‘Simon Go Back’ movement in Bombay.
➢ In Madras, T.Prakasam called ‘Andhra Kesari’ led the anti-Simon movement.
➢ In Lahore, Lala Lajpat Rai, organised a mammoth rally against the commission. He was lathicharged by
Saunders and he died of injuries in October 1928.
Motilal Nehru Committee
➢ The secretary of State, Lord Birkenhead challenged the political parties of India to draft a model constitution
which would be acceptable to all.
➢ The All Party Conference was held in Delhi under the Chairmanship of Z.A. Ansari. Motilal Nehru was
appointed the Chairman of the Drafting Committee.
The recommendations of the committee were:
➢ A federal government at the centre with British India and Princely States.
➢ Abolition of Dyarchy.
➢ Elected governments in provinces with complete autonomy.
➢ Civil liberties.
➢ The most controversial part of the Report was that it denied separate communal electorates to the Muslims.
Instead it provided for a reservation of 1/3rd of seats in the general electorate to the Muslims.
➢ Jinnah rejected the report and came out with his 14 point formula suggesting measures on minority rights.
However, Congress served an ultimatum fixing December 1929 as deadline for the implementation of the
report.
➢ In October 1929, th Deepavali Declaration was made by Viceroy Irwin.
➢ It invited all the political parties to take part in the Round Table Conference to be held in London on the
recommendations of the Simon Commission
➢ In December 1929, the historic Lahore Session was held and presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru.
➢ Poorna Swaraj was declared as the highest goal of Congress.
➢ The tricolour flag prepared by P.Venkaiah was hoisted for the first time and it was decided to celebrate
January 26 of every year as Independence Day.
➢ In February 1930, Gandhi met Irwin with his 11 demands that included the right to make salt; 50% reduction
in- rent (land tax) , export duties , military expenditure and a better exchange ratio between sterling and
Indian Rupee. The demands were rejected.
Civil Disobedience Movement
➢ On March 12,1930, Gandhi started his Dandi March from the Sabarmati Ashram, followed by 78 followers.
➢ A distance of 365 km was covered by Gandhi in 25 days.
➢ Sarojini Naidu represented the women wing.
➢ On April 6,1930, Gandhi broke the salt law at Dandi.
➢ In the Madras Presidency, Rajaji organised the Salt Marches from Trichy to Tindivanam.
➢ In Bombay Presidency, Sarojini Naidu and Vittalbhai Patel led the salt marches at Vadala and Darshana
 ➢ In NWFP, Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan (Frontier Gandhi) organised the movement with his followers called ‘Red
Shirts’.
➢ He founded the society called Khudai Khidmatgars(Servants of God Society).
➢ Gandhi was imprisoned in the Aga Khan Place , Pune.
Round Table Conference
➢ All the three RTCs were held in the Buckingham Palace, London presided over by the Prime Minister Ramsay
MacDonald.
➢ Alexander Muddyman was the General Secretary.
➢ Congress participated only in second RTC.
➢ Muslim league was represented by Maulana Md.Ali, Md. Shafi and Jinnah (The League appointed Asaf Ali as
its permanent member in London.
➢ The Hindu Mahasabha was represented by Jayekar.
➢ The Indian Liberal Federation, the party of the Princely States was represented by Tej Bahadur Sapru,
C.Y.Chintamani and Mirza Ismail Khan.
➢ The Depressed Classes were represented by Dr. Ambedkar and M.C.Raja.
➢ In the absence of Congress Party, the first RTC failed to arrive at any consensus on constitutional reforms.
➢ Tej Bahadur Sapru and M.R.Jayekar mediated between Gandhi and Irwin, as a result of which on March 5,
1931, Gandhi-Irwin Pact was signed.
➢ Irwin agreed to release all the political prisoners except those found guilty of violence (Bhagat Singh,
Rajguru, and Sukhdev) and to restore the property of the prisoners imprisoned.
➢ Salt law was revoked.
➢ Gandhi on his part agreed to take part in second RTC and suspended the movement.
➢ Gandhi left for London as the sole representative of Congress in the ship called INS Rajput, assisted by
Sarojini Naidu.
➢ The 2nd RTC ended abruptly as communal parties criticised Congress and no agreement could be reached on
the form of government to be formed and the constitutional reforms.
➢ Dejected Gandhi blamed Ramsay MacDonald for the failure, returned back to India, threatened to revive the
movement and was imprisoned.
➢ The 1931 Karachi session was presided over by Sardar Vallabhai Patel ( the only session where Patel acted as
president).
➢ Socialism was declared as the highest goal of Congress
➢ In August 1932, Prime minister Ramsay MacDonald announced Communal Award providing separate
communal electorates to the depressed classes.
➢ Gandhi protested against the Award with his fast unto death.
➢ In September 1932, Poona pact was signed between Caste Hindus and the Depressed Classes.
➢ As per the pact the depressed classes agreed to forego their claims for separate electorate and congress to
reserve double the no. of the seats for the depressed classes.
➢ In 1933, Parliament published the White Paper disclosing the discussions that had taken place and decisions
arrived in all three RTCs. It became the basis for the Government of India Act of 1935
➢ In 1934 Bombay session, the Congress Socialist Party was founded by Acharya Narendra Dev, Jai Prakash
Narayan, Achyuta Patwardhan, Aruna Asaf Ali and Minoo Masani.
➢ However, the congress Socialist Party continued to remain within the Congress Party.
 ➢ Its main purpose was to transform Congress gradually into attaining Socialism.
➢ The Government of India Act, 1935 came into effect from April 1 , 1937.
➢ All the political parties including the Congress contested the 1937 elections.
➢ Congress formed governments in 8 out of 11 provinces. The League formed governments, in Punjab , Sind
and Bengal
Differences started within Congress between Bose and Gandhi on the issue-
Implementation of Land Reforms.
➢ Bose was the elected President in the 1938 Haripura session and decided to contest for the second time. In
the 1939 Tripura Session , Bose defeated Gandhi’s candidate B.P.Sitaramaiah (The author of The History of
Congress).
➢ Regarding the strategy of the Congress in the wake of World War II, Bose’s proposal for a mass movement
was turned down by Gandhi on moral grounds.
➢ Differences also started in the constituting CWC. Bose resigned and founded the Forward Bloc party in 1940.
Communal Politics
➢ Chaudhuri Rehmat ali, a Cambridge University Law Graduate was the first to draw the map of Pakistan in
1933.
➢ The League’s proposal for a Coalition Government in UP was turned down by congress in 1937 elections.
➢ The League appointed the Raja of Pirpur committee to inquire into the atrocities perpetuated on Minorities
under the Congress Government.
➢ In the 1938 Allahabad Session of the League, Md.Iqbal, the author of Sare Jahan se Achha supported the idea
of Pakistan.
➢ In 1939, when Congress Government resigned in protest against involving India in the World War II, the
Muslim League gave a call for celebrating “Day of Deliverance” or “Thanksgiving Day” (December 22 ,1939).
➢ In the Lahore Session of Muslim League in 1940, Jinnah came out with the Two Nation Theory which provided
the ideological basis for the demand of Pakistan. The Resolution on Pakistan was passed on March 21,1940.
August offer (August 6, 1940)
➢ Viceroy Lord Linlithgow on August 6, 1940 made the offer in order to win the support of Indians in the war
effort. It proposed for a War Cabinet with all the portfolios under the Indians except defence.
➢ Dominion Status to India after the War.
➢ A Constituent Assembly after the War.
➢ Congress rejected the offer as the proposals were not time bound.
➢ Congress gave a call for Individual Satyagraha. Acharya Vinobabave was the first to perform Individual
Satyagraha on behalf of Congress.
➢ In 1942, Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced the Cripps Mission Plan. In March,1942, Cripps came to
India and made the proposals just the same as August offer.
➢ Further, Cripps provided for the ‘Right of Self Determination’ providing the justification for Pakistan.
➢ Gandhi observed the proposal as “Post- dated cheques on a crumbling Bank”
Quit India Movement (August, 1942)
➢ The CWC met in Bombay on August 6, 1942.
➢ Gandhi himself drafted the Quit India Resolution with the slogan ‘Do or Die’.
➢ The last struggle in the movement was a leaderless one.
➢ The peasant communities founded the parallel governments called Praja Sarkars in the Balia district of UP
under the leadership of Chintu Pandey, in Monghyr under the leadership of Sarat Chandra and at Satara
under Nana Patil .
➢ The CSP leaders, J.P.Narayan and Aruna Asaf Ali carried out underground activities providing indirect
leadership to the movement.
➢ The CPI played a controversial role by supporting the British.
➢ Gandhi was imprisoned in the Yarawada jail in Pune and was trialled for 1942 August disturbances under the
charges of sedition.
➢ Gandhi observed fast unto death as a protest. During the imprisonment, his wife Kasturba and Secretary
Mahadev Desai died. In 1944, Gandhi was released on health grounds.
INA
➢ Bose, after escaping from the house imprisonment, first went to Russia and from there to Germany. He was
invited to Japan by Prime Minister Tojo.
➢ INA was actually founded by Capt. Mohan Singh consisting of 20,000 Indian war prisoners captured by
Japan.
➢ Bose took over the commandership of INA, and changed its name to ‘ Azad Hind Fauj’.
➢ He divided INA into 4 regiments- Mahatma, Azad, Jawahar and Netaji and gave the slogans, ‘Unto Delhi’ and
‘Jai Hind’.
➢ The INA commandership included Capt. Shahnawaz khan, prem Sehgal, Capt. Dhillon and Capt. Laxmi.
➢ The INA founded the first provincial government of free India at Singapore.
➢ It entered Burma and destroyed Mandalay Jail.
➢ From Burma, it came up to Kohima in Nagaland. As Japan withdrew its forces in the war front, INA was
defeated and its commanders were imprisoned in the Red Fort, Delhi.
➢ The INA trials were held in Red Fort. Congress constituted a Defence Council for the INA officers headed by
Asaf Ali and also comprising Jawaharlal Nehru and Tej Bahadur Sapru. Bhulabhai Desai was the secretary of
the Defence Council.
CR Formula 1944
➢ CR or Rajaji drafted the formula providing for
➢ Demarcating the Muslim majority provinces.
➢ A plebiscite in the demarcated Muslim majority provinces in the NW and East on the issue of Pakistan. It
allowed for the formation of Pakistan if the plebiscite resulted in favour of Pakistan.
➢ In the event Pakistan becoming a reality, there would be Joint Control of India and Pakistan on currency,
communication and defence.
➢ Jinnah rejected the CR formula as he was not confident regarding the support of Muslims for the idea of
Pakistan. In September 1944, Gandhi – Jinnah talks were held but they failed and Jinnah insisted on being
recognized as the sole leader of the Muslims.
➢ In June 1945, Lord Wavell, the Governor General , proposed the tentative arrangement at the Centre with
the League and Congress sharing power on the principle of parity.
➢ In the Shimla Conference, Congress was represented by Jawaharlal Nehru and League by Jinnah.
➢ Though Jinnah agreed in the beginning to share power with Congress, the Conference failed when Jinnah
insisted that Congress would not nominate any Muslim member without his consent in its share of
portfolios.
➢ In 1945, winter elections were held after the World War II . The Conservative party under Churchill lost the
elections.
➢ Labour party under Clement Atlee came to power in England
➢ In India, Congress formed the government in eight provinces and the League formed governments in Punjab,
Sindh and Bengal.
➢ In January 1946, Prime Minister Atlee announced that an All- Party Delegation of the Parliament would visit
India to decide on the question of transfer of power.
➢ In February 1946, the Indian Navy Officers in Bombay, Kolaba, Cochin, Karachi and Kandla revolted at a time
against the racial discrimination of the British military administration.
➢ The riots that followed were called “Bombay Naval Ratings”. It was the last act of protest in the freedom
struggle of India.
➢ In March 1946, PM Atlee announced that a Cabinet Mission would visit India to decide the modalities of
transfer of power.
Cabinet Mission Plan
➢ The Cabinet Mission consisted of Sir A.V.Alexander Pathick Lawrence(Chairman) and Sir Stafford Cripps.
➢ Its recommendations were-
➢ A Union Government of India.
➢ A Centre with limited subjects of power: Defence, Currency and Communications.
➢ Province with complete autonomy.
➢ A Constituent Assembly consisting of the members elected by Provincial Legislative Assemblies and
members nominated by the Princely States.
➢ The most controversial recommendation was its ‘Grouping Pattern’ of dividing the provinces of India into
three groups-
➢ Group A – Except Group B and Group C
➢ Group B – Punjab, Sind, and NWFP
➢ Group C – Bengal and Assam
➢ The Cabinet Mission outrightly rejected the idea of “Pakistan”, as it argue that the creation of a small
province of Pakistan would result in tremendous dislocation of resources and hence not visible.
➢ In July, 1946 elections were held for the Constituent Assembly. Congress got 205 members elected and the
League 73. In August, 1946, the Muslim League rejected the Cabinet Mission Plan and boycotted the
Constituent Assembly.
➢ August 16, 1946 was observed by Muslim League as the “Direct Action Day” for Pakistan.
➢ Communal riots started first at Noakhali in Calcutta, spreading to different parts of India very soon. Syed
Suhrawardy, the Chief Minister of Bengal openly supported Direct Action Day.
➢ On 2nd September 1946, Governor General Lord Wavell formed Interim Government with himself as the
President and Jawharlal Nehru as the Vice- President. Patel was made the Home Minister
➢ League joined the Interim Government, its candidate Liaqat- Ali was given the key Finance portfolio.
➢ Later, the League boycotted the Interim Government also in October 1946.
➢ On 9th December 1946, the Constituent Assembly met for the first time, elected Babu Rajendra Prasad as the
President and Dr. B.R.Ambedkar was made the Chairaman of the Drafting committee.
➢ In February 1947, Prime Minister Atlee announced that power would be transferred to India by not later
than June 1948 and for that Lord Mountbatten would be sent as last Governor General to India
➢ March 1947, Mountbatten came to India.
➢ In April 1947, he drafted his plan of portioning India into two dominions called India and Pakistan.
➢ Migration during Partition
➢ The plan was called by various names viz April Plan, Balkan Plan, Dickie Bird Plan. The plan was approved by
the Parliament with modifications and called June 3rd Plan.
It provided for-
➢ Demarcation committees to be set up for India and Pakistan.
➢ Plebiscite in the Muslim majority provinces in Punjab, NWFP in the West and Sylhet district of Assam on the
question of joining either India or Pakistan.
➢ The Princely States were given the right of self determination i.e. right to either join India or Pakistan or to
remain independent.
➢ A Bill on the transfer of power to India and Pakistan , called the Indian Independence Act was introduced in
the Parliament.
➢ It was approved by the Parliament on 18th July 1947, fixing the deadline for transfer of power as August 15
and it also provided for the appointment of two Governor Generals for India and Pakistan respectively.
➢ Rajaji became the first Indian Governor General and Jinnah became the first Governor General in Pakistan.
➢ Liaqat Ali became the first Prime Minister of Pakistan.
 CONGRESS SESSION
Year Location President Importance

1885 Bombay W C Bonnerjee 1st session attended by 72

delegates

1886 Calcutta Dadabhai Naoroji National Congress and National

Conference

1887 Madras Syed Badruddin Tyabji Appeal made to Muslims to join

hands with other national leaders

1888 Allahabad George Yule First English president

1889 Bombay Sir William Wedderburn –

1890 Calcutta Feroz Shah Mehta –

1891 Nagpur P. Ananda Charlu –

1892 Allahabad W C Bonnerjee –

Year Location President Importance

1893 Lahore Dadabhai Naoroji –

1894 Madras Alfred Webb –

1895 Poona Surendranath Banerjee –

1896 Calcutta Rahimtullah M. Sayani National song ‘Vande Mataram’
sung for the first time

1897 Amravati C. Sankaran Nair –

1898 Madras Ananda Mohan Bose –

1899 Lucknow Romesh Chandra Dutt –

1900 Lahore N G Chandavarkar –

1901 Calcutta Dinshaw E. Wacha –

Year Location President Importance

1902 Ahmedabad Surendranath Banerjee –

1903 Madras Lal Mohan Ghosh –

1904 Bombay Sir Henry Cotton –

1905 Benares Gopal Krishna Gokhale Expressed resentment against the

partition of Bengal

1906 Calcutta Dadabhai Naoroji Word Swaraj Mentioned for first

time.

1907 Surat Rash Behari Ghosh Party splits into extremists and
moderates

1908 Madras Rash Behari Ghosh Constitution of Congress drawned

1909 Lahore Madan Mohan Malaviya Indian Councils Act, 1909,

disapproval of separate electorate
Year Location President Importance

1910 Allahabad Sir William Wedderburn –

1911 Calcutta Bishan Narayan Dar ‘Jana Gana Mana’ sung for the first
time

1912 Bankipore Raghunath Narasinha Mudholkar –

(Patna)

1913 Karachi Syed Mohammed Bahadur –

1914 Madras Bhupendra Nath Basu –

1915 Bombay Satyendra Prasanna Sinha –

1916 Lucknow Ambica Charan Mazumdar Lucknow Pact – joint session with
the Muslim League

Year Location President Importance

1917 Calcutta Annie Besant First woman president of the INC

1918 Bombay And Syed Hasan Imam (bombay) And Two sessions were held. First in
Delhi Madan Mohan Malaviya (delhi) Bombay in August/September
Second in Delhi in December

1919 Amritsar Motilal Nehru –

1920 Nagpur C Vijayaraghavachariar –

1921 Ahmedabad Hakim Ajmal Khan (acting President –

For C R Das)
1922 Gaya C R Das Swarjya party

Year Location President Importance

1924 Belgaum M K Gandhi –

1925 Kanpur Sarojini Naidu First Indian woman president

1926 Guwahati S Srinivasa Iyengar –

1927 Madras M A Ansari –

1928 Calcutta Motilal Nehru All India Youth Congress formed

1929 Lahore Jawaharlal Nehru Resolution for ‘Poorna Swaraj.’ Civil

Disobedience movement for
complete independence to be
launched, 26 January to be
observed as ‘Independence Day’.

1930 No Session – –
 Constitutional Reforms & Policies
 1773 Regulating Act ;The First Constitutional Reform provided for —
 A Court of Directors for the East India company (60 members).
 The Governor of Bengal was made the Governor General of Fort Williams.
 A Legislative Body called Governor General -in -Council with 4 members was created.
 The Supreme Court of Calcutta was provided with 2 Judges and a Chief Justice (Eliza
Imphey became the first Chief Justice).
 The company servants were barred from accepting bribes and presents.
 Pitts’ India Act, 1784 —
 It was passed to rectify the drawbacks of the Regulating Act. It was also the first
attempt on the part of the Parliament to control the company indirectly. The Act
provided for-
 Board of Control with 6 members called Commissioners and a President to monitor
the functioning of Court of Directors. The President was answerable to the
Parliament.
 The Governors of Bombay and Madras were put under effective control of the
Governor General of Fort Williams.
 The membership of the Legislative Body was reduced from four to three.
 The Supreme Court of Calcutta was meant only for English subjects.
 The Act authorised the Court of Directors to make all the recruitments in India.
 Charter Act, 1813 –
 Started Free Trade Policy, ending the monopoly on all items except Tea and Opium.
 The Act made training compulsory for all Civil Servants before joining the Service.
 It provided Rs 1 Lac for promoting education in British India.
 Charter Act, 1833 —-
 Completely ended the monopoly on all the items of trade including Tea and Opium
(Complete Free Trade Policy).
 Centralisation of Legislation started. The laws made by Governor General –in-council
in Calcutta were applicable to Bombay and Madras Presidencies also.
 Governor General of Fort Williams was made Governor General of British India.
William Bentick became the first Governor General of British India.
 A law member was appointed for the first time in Governor General - in - Couneil.T-B.
Macaulay was the first Law member.
 The Act for the first time recommended the appointment of Indians into the Civil
Services.
 Charter Act, 1853 —
 Relieved the Governor General from the of responsibility of chair of Governor of
Bengal (Lord Dalhousie became the first Governor General without the additional
responsibility of being the Governor of Bengal). A Lt. Governor was appointed for
Bengal (Andrew Fraser).
 The recruitment and recalling rights were transferred from the Court of Directors to
Board of Control. Written Competitive Exams started from 1854.
 Indian Councils Act, 1861-
 Provided for the Legislative Councils in Bombay, Madras and Calcutta for the
nomination of Indian members called the Non-official members.
 Under the Act, Lord Canning introduced the ‘Portfolio System’. Under this allocation
of departments took place for the first time.
 Indian Councils Act, 1892-
 Provided for the first time the platform for indirect elections.
 Indian members were permitted to ask the questions but were not given the right to
vote.
 Minto — Morley Reforms, 1909 / Government of India Act, 1909 —
 Separate communal electorates were granted to the Muslims.
 For the first time, Indians were allowed to be appointed in the Viceroy’; Executive
Council (Lord S.P.Sinha became the first Indian to be appointed to Viceroy’s
Executive Council and was given the Law portfolio)
 For the first time, the official majority was removed at the provincial level (Indian
members became majority in Provinces).
 Montage — Chelmsford Reforms / Government of India Act, 1919 —
 Dyarchy was established at the provincial level. Under dyarchy, the subjects of
power were divided into reserved and transferred lists. Under reserved subjects-
Finance, Internal Order, Jails, Revenue were administrated by Governor and his
 Executive Council. The transferred subjects like Education, Public Health, Sanitation,
Municipal Administration, Irrigation and Industries were to be administrated by
Governor and his Council of Ministers.
 The Act provided for the first time- general (direct) elections. The elected
Government at the provincial level would administer the transferred subjects.
 Bicameral Legislatures (Council of States i.e. the Upper House and Central Legislative
Assembly i.e. the Lower House)were Introduced at the central level.
 Devolution of powers was for the first time, dividing the powers into Central and
Provincial.
 The office of the Indian High commission was created for the first time in London to
promote cultural, trade and commercial links between England and India.
 Government of India Act 1935
 The last constitutional reform of the British provided for —
 A Federal government With British India and Princely States but federation never
materialized as Princely states never joined the Federation.
 Dyarchy was abolished
 Elected /Responsible Governments at the provinces were given all the subjects of
power under the Provincial list.
 Division of power took place for the first time dividing the powers into
Central,Provincial and Concurrent (Residuary)lists.
 Bicameral Legislatures were introduced in 6 provinces (Madras, Bombay, Bihar, UP,
Assam and Bengal)
 Separate communal electorates were given to Sikhs, Anglo — Indians and Parsis.
 A Federal Court of Justice with six Judges and one Chief Justice was provided which
became later the Supreme Court of India (The Federal Court was founded in 1937).
 Federal Reserve Bank and Federal Service Commission were all provided
 The Governor General at the Centre and Governors in provinces were given absolute
Veto powers.
Important Cases & Trials
The First Case: Chapekar Brothers (1897)
Brothers Damodar, Balkrishna and Vasudeo Chapekar shot at WC Rand, ICS, Chairman of
the Special Plague Committee in 1897.
Rand’s military escort Lieutenant Ayerst died on the spot whereas Rand died a few days
later due to wounds.
The brothers were against the atrocities committed by the British authorities under
Rand during the plague epidemic in Pune.
The government in order to curb the spread of the epidemic ended up harassing Indians
and employing extreme measures.
All the three brothers were hanged for the assassination.
Alipore Bomb Conspiracy Case (1908)(Overthrow British rule)
Also called Muraripukur conspiracy or Manicktolla bomb conspiracy.
Douglas Kingsford was an unpopular British Chief Magistrate who was the target of the
bomb thrown at Muzaffarpur (Northern Bihar).
Unfortunately, the carriage at which the bomb was targeted contained two English
ladies and not Kingsford. The two women died in the attack.
Revolutionaries who threw the bomb were Prafulla Chaki and Khudiram Bose.
Chaki committed suicide while Bose, then only 18 years of age, was caught and
sentenced to death by hanging.
The other people who were tried in the case were Aurobindo Ghosh and his brother
Barin Ghosh, Kanailal Dutt, Satyendranath Bose and more than 30 others.
They were all members of the Anushilan Samiti in Calcutta.
Aurobindo Ghosh was acquitted due to lack of evidence and others served varying
lifeterms
in prison.
Curzon Wyllie's Assassination (1909)
The India House was an organisation in London involved in the freedom struggle of India
mainly engaging Indian students in the UK as its participants.
Patrons of this organisation included Shyamji Krishna Varma and Bhikaiji Cama.
India House became the centre of revolutionary activities for Indian independence
outside India.
The organisation was liquidated after the assassination of an army officer Curzon Wyllie
by its member Madan Lal Dhingra in 1909.
 Howrah Gang Case (1910)
Also known as Howrah-Sibpur Conspiracy case.
In this case, 47 revolutionaries associated with the Anushilan Samiti were arrested and
tried for the murder of Inspector Shamsul Alam.
Alam was investigating the revolutionary activities of the Samiti and was trying to link
and consolidate the murders and robberies into a single case.
The case brought to light the work of revolutionary Jatindranath Mukherjee.
Despite attempts, the case could not establish the links, mainly due to the decentralised
nature of the Samiti.
Of all the accused, only Jatindranath Mukherjee and Narendranath Bhattacharjee were
sentenced to one year imprisonment.
Delhi-Lahore Conspiracy Case (1912)
Also known as the Delhi Conspiracy Case.
This was an assassination attempt on Lord Hardinge, the then Viceroy of India.
The revolutionaries were led by Rashbehari Bose.
A homemade bomb was thrown into the viceroy’s howdah (elephant-carriage) during a
ceremonial procession in Delhi. The occasion was the transfer of the British capital from
Calcutta to Delhi.
Lord Hardinge was injured while an Indian attendant was killed.
Bose escaped being caught whereas a few others were convicted for their roles in the
conspiracy.
Kakori Conspiracy (1925)
This was a case of a train robbery that occurred near Kakori in Uttar Pradesh.
The attack was led by the youth of the Hindustan Republican Association (later renamed
Hindustan Socialist Republican Association) including Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla
Khan, Chandrashekhar Azad, Rajendra Lahiri, Thakur Roshan Singh and others.
It was believed that the train carried money bags belonging to the British government.
One person was killed during the robbery.
The revolutionaries were arrested and tried in court.
Bismil, Khan, Lahiri and Roshan Singh were sentenced to death. Others were sentenced
to deportation or imprisonment.
Chittagong Armoury Raid (1930)
Also known as Chittagong Uprising.
 This was an attempt by revolutionaries to raid the police armoury and the auxiliary
forces armoury from Chittagong (now in Bangladesh).
They were led by Surya Sen. Others involved were Ganesh Ghosh, Lokenath Bal, Pritilata
Waddedar, Kalpana Dutta, Ambika Chakraborty, Subodh Roy, etc.
The raiders were not able to locate any arms but were able to cut telephone and
telegraph wires.
After the raid, Sen hoisted the Indian flag at the police armoury.
Many of the revolutionaries involved escaped but some were caught and tried.
The government came down heavily on the revolutionaries. Many were sentenced to
imprisonment, deported to the Andaman, and Surya Sen was sentenced to death by
hanging. Sen was brutally tortured by the police before he was hanged.
Central Assembly Bomb Case (1929) & Lahore Conspiracy Case (1931)
Revolutionaries Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt sought to draw attention to their
revolution by throwing a bomb along with leaflets in the Assembly House at Delhi.
They did not attempt to escape and were arrested and jailed for the act.
Their intention was not to hurt anyone but to popularise their revolutionary activities
and philosophy.
Bhagat Singh was re-arrested in connection with the murder of a British police officer, JP
Saunders. This case was called the Lahore Conspiracy Case.
Saunders was killed mistakenly as the real target was another police officer, James
Scott, who was responsible for the lathi charge that killed Lala Lajpat Rai.
Others involved in this killing were Sukhdev, Rajguru and Chandrashekhar Azad.
They were all members of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association.
While in prison, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev along with other political prisoners
went on a hunger strike to demand better conditions of prisoners in the jails.
After the trial, all three were sentenced and executed by hanging in March 1931. Azad
was martyred the same year in February in a gun battle with the police in a park in
Allahabad.
 Journals And Newspaper & Famous Statements
Year Name Newspaper/ Journal Founder

1780 Bengal Gazette English newspaper James Augustus Hicky

1819 Samvad Kaumudi Bengali weekly newspaper Ram Mohan Roy

1822 Mirat-ul-Akbar Persian language journal Raja Ram Mohan Roy

1854 Rast Goftar Gujarati Newspaper Dadabhai Naoroji

1858 Som Prakesh Weekly newspaper Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar

1862 Indian Mirror Newspaper Devendra Nath Tagore

1868 Amrita Bazar Patrika Newspaper Sisir Kumar Ghosh and

Motilal Ghosh

Year Name Newspaper/ Journal Founder

1871 Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq Journal Sir Syed Ahmed Khan

1878 Hindu Newspaper Vir Raghavacharya and G.S.

Aiyar

1881 Kesari Marathi Newspaper B.G. Tilak

1888 Sudharak Newspaper Gopal Ganesh Agarkar

1892 Hindoo Patriot English weekly Girish Chandra Ghosh

1896 Prabuddha Bharata English monthly journal Swami Vivekananda

1899 Udbodhana Magazine Swami Vivekananda

1903 Indian Opinion Newspaper M. K Gandhi

Year Name Newspaper/ Journal Founder

1905 Bande Mataram English language newspaper Aurobindo Ghosh

1910 Bombay Chronicle English-language newspaper Firoze Shah Mehta

1911 Comrade Weekly English newspaper Maulana Mohammad Ali

1912 Al-Balagh Urdu weekly newspaper Abul Kalam Azad

1912 Al-Hilal Urdu weekly newspaper Abul Kalam Azad

1913 Pratap Hindi language newspaper Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi

1914 New India English-language daily Annie Besant

newspaper

1919 Independent Newspaper Motilal Nehru

1919 Young India Weekly journal M. K Gandhi

Year Name Newspaper/ Journal Founder

1920 Mook Nayak Marathi weekly B.R. Ambedkar

1924 Hindustan Times English daily newspaper Sunder Singh Lyallpuri

1929 Nav Jeevan Weekly newspaper M. K Gandhi

1932 Harijan Weekly journal M. K Gandhi

1936 Free Hindustan Journal Tarak Nath Das

1936 Hindustan Dainik Hindi newspaper M.M. Malviya

Famous Quotes and Slogan Name

Inqualab Zindabad Bhagat Singh

Dilli Chalo Subhash Chandra Bose

'Do or die' (Karo Ya Maro) Mahatma Gandhi

Jai Hind Subhash Chandra Bose

Purna Swaraj Jawahar Lal Nehru

Hindi, Hindu, Hindustan Bharatendu Harishchandra

Back to the Vedas Dayanand Saraswati

Aaram Haraam Hai (Cast off your laziness) Jawahar Lal Nehru(Not authentic)

Bharat Chhoro Mahatma Gandhi

Jai jawan jai Kisan Lal Bahadur Shastri (during India-Pakistan War of
1965)
Famous Quotes and Slogan Name

Maro Firango ko Majal Pandey

Jai Jagat Vinoba Bhave

Kar mat do (Don't give tax) Sardar Vallabhai Patel

Sampurn Kranti (Total revolution) Jai Prakash Narayan

Vijayi Vishwa Triranga Pyaara Shyam Lal Gupta councilor

Vande Mataram Bankim Chandra Chatterjee

Jan Gan Man Adhinayak Jaya hey Rabindra Nath Tagore

Samarajywaad ka Naash ho Bhagat Singh

Swaraj (Self Rule) is my birthright Bal Gangadhar Tilak

Sarfaroshi ki tamanna, ab hamare dil me hai Ram Prasad Bism

Famous Quotes and Slogan Name

Saare jahan se achchha hindustan hamara Iqbal

Simon Commission Go back Lala Lajpat Rai

Who lives if India dies Jawahar Lal Nehru

Tum Mujhe Khoon Do, main Tumhe Ajadi Doonga”. Subhash Chandra Bose
(Give me blood and I will give you freedom)

A blow to the sticks on my head will prove to be the Lala Lajpat Rai
nail of the casket of the British rule
Muslims were foolish, they demanded protection Abul kalam azad
and Hindus were also foolish, they rejected that
demand.

Satyameva Jayate” (Truth alone will win) Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya

"Jai Jawan Jai kisan Jai Vigyan" Atal Bihari Vajpayee