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Chapter 10 Medieval India

 The 8th-century A.D. is starting of the medieval period and 18th-century A.D. its ending.
 Literary sources to medieval Indian history are Rajtarangini, Tuzk-e-Babri, Padmavat,
Akbarnama, etc.
 Changes that took place in the 8th century were rising feudal lords which destroyed the
political unity of India, Emergence of new dynasties, etc.
 Period of the 8th-century A.D. to 12th-century A.D. is known as the early medieval
period.
 States of South India
 The Pallavas: Southern region of river Krishna, Ruled for almost 500 years.
 Valiant rulers: Narasimhavarman 1 and 2.
 The Chalukyas:
 Capital was Vatapi (Badami)
 Ruled in South India from 6-century A.D. to the middle of the 8th-century A.D.
 Pulakesin II defeated the Cheras and the Pallavas and expanded his Empire
 The Chola Empire: Most powerful ancient dynasty in Southern India.
 the ancient Chola rulers have been described in Sangam literature.
 Naval power was highly developed during the period and they had a big Naval fleet.
 Rastrakutas: founder and the first ruler was Nanraj. second ruler Dantidurga made
efforts to expand the empire.
 their capital was Mankhet.
 Cheras: According to the Ashoka Rock edict the Chera dynasty had established in the
ancient period.
 Their Kingdom included Malabar, Trivandrum and Cochin. The harbours of the Chera
Kingdom were big centres of trade.
 The Chola dynasty had matrimonial relationships with the Cheras. They ruled for a short
period of time.
 Pandya Kingdom: The Pandya state was prominent among ancient Tamil state.
 Capital: Madurai
 The Kingdoms of Northern India
 Gurjar Pratihars: 8-century A.D. to 11th-century A.D.
 The founder was Nagabhata 1.
 There was a struggle for control over Kannauj between the Pratiharas, The Palas and
the Rashtrakutas of the south for about 200 years. This is known as the tripartite
struggle.
 Pala Dynasty: Founder of the dynasty was Gopala.
 Famous Vikramshila University was founded by Dharmapala.
 Chalukya Dynasty(Solanki): the founder of Solanki dynasty of Gujarat was Moolraj.
 Mahmood gajnavi attacked Gujarat during the reign of Bhima 1.
 attacks of Mohammad Ghori took place around this time.
 Parmar Dynasty: the founder of Parmar dynasty was Upendra Raj.
 King Bhoj was the most valiant ruler of this dynasty.
 This dynasty is chiefly known in history for its Temple construction.
 Chauhan Dynasty: mainly in Rajasthan. Ajay Raj of the same dynasty laid the
foundation of the city Ajay Meru( Ajmer).
 Chandel dynasty: Chandel rulers had supremacy over Bundelkhand with capital
Khajuraho.
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 They had built the famous jain temples of Khajuraho.

 The period from 13-century A.D. to 18th-century A.D. is known as the later mediaeval
period.
 Arab And Turk attacks
 Invasion of Turks into India begun in the middle of the period between 974 -977 AD.
Main among them were Mahmood Ghaznavi and Muhammad Ghori.
 Mahmood Ghaznvi: Having heard many legends about Indian wealth, to plunder India's
wealth, From 1000 to 1027 A.D. Mahmood made 17 successful attacks on India.
 Famous writer Al biruni came to India along with Ghaznavi.
 Mohammad Ghori: Taking advantage of mutual conflict of the Indian rulers Ghori
invaded first India in about 1175 AD.
 Struggle with Turks:
 Mohammad Ghori attacked Gujarat around 1178 A.D. Where Bhim dev two was ruling.
Ghori was defeated and had to flee away.
 He again attacked Prithviraj Chauhan in 1191 A.D., this was called the First battle of
Tarain. Losing Ghori went back.
 There was another battle fought in the plains of Tarain in 1192, known as the Second
Battle of Tarain in which Prithviraj Chauhan was deceived by Jaichand and was
defeated.
 Jaichand’s state was also annexed by Ghori in year 1194.
 Delhi sultanate:
 Slave dynasty: Slave to Mohammad Ghori, Qutubuddin Aibak founded the slave
dynasty.
 The credit of construction of the Qutub Minar goes to him.
 He died playing Chaugan (Polo)
 Iltutmish
 Raziya Sultan: first and the only Muslim woman Sultan of Delhi
 Ghiyasuddin Balban: Followed the policy of blood and iron.
 Khilji Dynasty: Established by Sultan Jalaluddin Khilji in 1290 AD, by killing weak
successor of Balban -Kaikubad.
 Killing Jalaluddin, Alauddin Khilji ,his son in law and nephew became the emperor.
 His military commander was Malik Kafur.
 He did many market reforms for taxation and have been mentioned in the book Tarikh-I-
Firozshahi written by Barni.
 Tughlaq Dynasty: In 1320 A.D., Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq became the Sultan of Delhi
 Mohammed Bin Tughlaq became Sultan of Delhi by killing his father.
 Due to his rational plans and torture of his subjects he had been named mad,
bloodthirsty, egoist, adamant, before his time, and a mixture of opposites.
 Firoz Shah Tughlaq took several steps to remove the administrative complacency Of
Mohammad Bin Tughlaq’s period.
 Invasion of Taimur Lang
 Ruler of Samarkand,Taimur was allured by India's immense wealth and attacked India.
In 1398 A.D. he entered India with a large army and soon established his control over
Delhi .He had no desire to rule over India so after plundering, Carnage and a distribution
of agriculture he went back to Samarkand.
 Lodi Dynasty: Ibrahim Lodhi became the Sultan of Delhi he entered into a war with
Rana Sanga of Mewar and Mansingh of Gwalior.
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 During the reign of Ibrahim Lodi, the Delhi sultanate was attacked by Babur, the ruler of
Kabul. there was a tough battle fought at Panipat between the two armies in 1526 A.D.
known as the First battle of Panipat. With Babur's victory, Delhi sultanate declined.
 Vijayanagar and Bahmani kingdoms
 Alauddin Khilji period was a great blow to Hindu religion . the famous religious leader
and intellectual of Southern India Madhav Vidyaranya contributed a lot to the cause.
 The credit of establishment of Vijayanagar goes to two brothers Harihara and Bukka.
their father's name was Sangam, thus the dynasty is also called Sangam dynasty.
 when Muhammad Bin Tughlaq attacked Warangal and won it. Both the brothers were
imprisoned and sent to Delhi. The Sultan was impressed with their ability and service
and took them in the Army. Both the Brothers were sent to South India to cross the
revolution. Here they came in contact with the famous Saint Madhav Vidyaranya of
South India. They were inspired to protect Hindu culture. Thus on of the Vijayanagar
Kingdom took place.
 Harihar 1,Bukka, Harihar two (Maharajadhiraj),Devraya 2
 Sulva Dynasty: Narasimha sulva
 Tuluva dynasty: Veer Narsimha
 Krishna Dev Rai called the Bhoj of Andhra .
 Battle of Talikota: Five Kingdoms of Bijapur, Bidar, Berar ,Golconda and Ahmednagar
got United in the name of religion and attacked Vijayanagar. the battle of Talikota was
fought in 1565 A.D.leading to defeat of Vijayanagar.
 Aarveedu dynasty:
 Administration of Vijayanagar Empire are given but do not seem to be important.
 The Brahmani Kingdom: The Muslim ameer of South India became very angry with
policies of operation and plans of the Delhi Sultan Sultan Mohammed Bin Tughlaq and
revolted. the armies of the Sultan were and successful in catching the revolt. it the
revolting army established the control over Devgiri. due to this, the Bahmani kingdom
was found. the Brahmana Kingdom emerged as a powerful Muslim state.

 The Mughal Empire :

 Babur laid the foundation of Mughal empire in India and was the son of the ruler of
Fergana state in Central Asia and the descendant of Taimur Lang. Babar in 1526
defeated Ibrahim Lodhi in Panipat and also Rana Sanga in 1527 on the plains of
Khanwa. He wrote a book Tuzk-e-Babri.
 Humayun Next ruler after Babur was defeated by Sher Shah Suri in 1539 in Battle of
chausa and exile him from Delhi for 15 years.
 Sher Shah Suri was son of an Afghan chief. Sher Shah brief period of the rule has an
important place in Indian history .He divided his Empire into Sarkars and the Sarkars
into Parganas. Silver coin issued by him was known as Rupaiya. He constructed the old
royal road from Kolkata to Peshawar “The Grand Trunk Road”.
 After the death of Sher Shah Suri, the incapable descendants were defeated by
Humayun, who later died.
 Akbar
 After Humayun's death, Akbar with guardianship of Bairam Khan became Emperor
but soon after the death of Humayun the Afghan ruler Adil Shah Suri’s minister Hemu
captured Delhi and assume the title of Vikramaditya.
 There was a fierce battle between Hemu’s and Akbar forces in 1556 AD at Panipat. this
is known as the Second battle of Panipat. An arrow struck Hemu’s eyes and later he was
killed by Bairam Khan.
 Reforms by Akbar:
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a. abolished the system of enslaving the war Prisoners.

b. abolished The Pilgrimage tax
c. abolished jeziya which was imposed on Hindus.
 Akbar understood that Rajputs were loyal and served their Masters even at the cost of
their lives. Akbar befriended the Rajput and took loyal and brave Rajput in his service,
which prolonged the duration of the Mughal Empire.
 Akbar founded a Universal religion Din-e-Ilahi.
 Jahangir: married many times among which prominent was a marriage with the Widow
of Sher Afghan- Noor Jahan
 He entrusted the entire responsibility of Administration on Noor Jahan.
 Shah Jahan: After Jahangir Shah Jahan became the ruler and had to face many revolts
and was due to the ill policies of Jahangir.
 the four sons of Shah Jahan were Dara Shikoh, Shah Shuja, Aurangzeb and Murad.
 the war of succession was won by Aurangzeb and he imprisoned Shah Jahan. he also
killed his three brothers
 Aurangzeb: Aurangzeb made Rajput ,Jats, Sikhs and Marathas his Rivals due to which
there were continuous revolts in the kingdom. he also had wars with all of them.
 Opposition to Mughal power in India
 The ruler of Mewar Maharana Pratap: After the death of Rana Sanga Mughal power was
resisted by Maharana Udai Singh.]After Uday Singh's death his son Rana Pratap
became the ruler of Mewar.
 He had faced many problems at home and at outside after becoming the king
 the Mughals had established their control over many parts of the kingdom due to which
the income of the state declined.
 He organized feudal Lords that is Samants and Bheels and was the first ruler to give
high positions Bheels in his Armies.
 The Battle of Haldighati: Rana Pratap refused to accept the sovereignty of the Mughal,
friendship or offer of entering into matrimonial relation with Akbar in spite of repetitive
insisting.War started between the two Armies at the plains of Haldighati. Akbar's Armies
were lead by Mansingh. Rana Pratap had to lose a part of his Empire but did not accept
defeat.
 Rani Durgavati: Rani Durgavati was a Chandel princess of Mahoba he was married to
the king of Garha Dalpat Shah.
 After the death of his husband, Durgavati had to shoulder the responsibility of the state
as the guardian of her minor son Veer Narayan.
 Asif Khan leading forces of Akbar attack garha. Rani Durgavati decided to fight it and
was wounded but was unable to continue the war because she did not want Akbar
soldiers to imprison and humiliate her does she killed herself with a Sword and her son
died fighting.
 Chhatrapati Shivaji: the strongest opposition to the Mughal Empire was under the
leadership of Shivaji.
 His mother was Jija Bai and father Shahaji Bhonsle.
 he did not like his father serving under the Sultan of Bijapur. therefore he decided to
fight against the Sultan and organized an army. He won forts after forts.
 The Sultan of Bijapur sent Afzal Khan under the name of talks for peace. Shivaji
Anticipated Afzal Khan's desires and killed him.
 (Just A Story)Shivaji went to meet Aurangzeb with Raja Jaisingh but Aurangzeb
precariously imprisoned him. Aurangzeb wanted to kill him in jail. Shivaji pretended to be
ill. He started distributing sweets Monk and saints to get their blessings. One day Shivaji
and his son Sambhaji escaped from Agra in one of the sweet baskets. Aurangzeb
became very angry on Shivaji’s safe escape.
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 In Shivaji's administration, Ashta Pradhan was important, which meant the eight
ministers who were responsible towards Shivaji.
 Sikhs: Guru Nanak was the first Sikh guru and the last was Guru Gobind Singh
 to check the rising power of the sixth guru in the 17th century the Mughal administration
order to sentence the Sikh guru to death. This angered the Sikh community. Guru
Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru organized the Sikhs into a military organization to fight
against the Mughal Armies. and organization called Khalsa was established in 1699
A.D., which was caste less members of Khalsa had to adopt 5 K ‘s.
 Causes of decline of Mughal empire:
 Aurangzeb’s Hindu oppressing policies and war
 excessive taxes
 vastness of Empire
 religious policy and the rise of Hindu powers
 war of succession
 the moral decline of Mughal rulers

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