CrackJPSC Mains Paper III Module A (History)

Ancient Period :
(i) The Indus Valley Civilization : Origin, antiquity, extent, authorship and main features;
(iilOrigin of the Aryans
(iii) Antiquity and stratification of the Vedic literature; Society, economy and religion during
Early (Rig-Vedic) period.
(iv) The Lichavi and their republican constitution.
(v) The Rise of the Magadhan empire
(vi)The Mauryas : Extent of empire, Kalinga War and its Impact; Asoka's Dhamma, Foreign
Policy, Development of Art & Architecture during the Mauryan period
(vii) The Kushanas : Kanishka : Extent of empire, His religious policy; Development of Art,
Architecture and Letters during the Kushana period
(viii) The Guptas : Extent of empire; development of language and Literature, art St architecture
during the Gupta period.
(Ix) Harsha-Vardhan : The last great Hindu ruler of Northern India; cultural achievements during
his period.
(x) The Cholas: Maritime activities in Sourth-east Asian counturies. Chola administration, art &
architecture.
(xi) Cultural Achievements of the Pallavas
Medieval Period
(xii) The Arab Invasion of India
(xiii)The Ghaznavid Invasion of India.
[xlv] The Delhi Sultanate : Market and Military Reforms of Allauddin Khilji;Utopian policies of
Muhainmad-bin-Tughlaq.
(xv) The Mongol invasion of India,
(xvl)Religious Movements; a) Sufism,(b)Bhakti Movement
(xvii)Dawn of a New-Islamic culture : Indo-Islamic architecture; Development of Urdu and
Hindi languages.
(xviii) The Mughals ; First Battle of Panipatj Achievements of SherShah Suri, Consolidation of
MuRhal empire; Establishment nf Jagirdari and Mansabdari systems under Akbar, Akbar's
Religious and Rajput policies, Aurangzeb's Religious and Rajput policies, Mughal Architecture
and Painting,Economic Condition during Mughalperiod.
(xix) The Rise of the Marathas : Achievements of Shlvaji,Northward expansion of the Marathas
and their downfall
Modem Period:
(xx)Beginning of European settlements:Formation and growth of East India Company;
Consolidation of British power in India : Battles of Plassey and Buxar; Control over Mysore;
Subsidiary Alliance; Doctrine of Lapse; Doctrine of Escheat
(xxi) Resistance to Colonial Rule; Peasant; Tribal and Cultural Renaissance; Revolt of 1857
(xxil)Social Reforms Movements in Hindu Community : Brahma Samaj, Arya Samaj, Ram
Krishna Mission, Prarthann Samaj and Theosophical Society of India.
(xxiii)Social Reforms Movements in Muslim Community : Wahabi Movement & AliRarh
Movement

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(xxiv) Struggle for Raising Women's status : Abolition of Sati System, Widow Marriage Act,
Consent Bill,Stress on Female education,
(xxv) Land Revenue Administration under the British rule : Permanent Settlement; Ryotwarl &
Mahalwari Systems,
(xxvi) Rise of Nationalism in India in the 19th century : Formation of Indian National Congress ;
Moderates and Extremists; Swadeshi Movement , Home Rule League Movement; Khiiafat
Movement ,
(xxvii) Mahatma Gandhi and Mass politics : Non-Co-oporation Movement Civil Disobedience
Movement Quit India Movement
(xxviii)The partition of India and its consequences
(xxix) India After Independence : Integration of Princely states in Indian Union; Linguistic
Reorganization of States; Non-alligned policy under Nehru and Indira Gandhi, Libration of
Bangladesh.
History of Jharkhand
 Adi-dharma ie Sarana cult of jharkhand tribals
 Concept of Sadan and emergence of Nagpuria language;
 Tribal Revolts in Jharkhand and Naionalist struggle;
 Birsa Movement,
 Tana Bhagat Movement,
 Freedom Movement in Jharkhand.

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The Indus Valley Civilization : Origin, antiquity, extent,

authorship and main features
Indus Valley Civilization

Indus Valley Civilization was the first major civilization in south Asia, which spread across a
vast area of land in present day India and Pakistan (around 12 lakh sq.km). The time period of
mature Indus Valley Civilization is estimated between BC. 2700- BC.1900 i.e. for 800 years. But
early Indus Valley Civilization had existed even before BC.2700.

Features of Indus Valley Civilization

 2700- BC.1900 i.e. for 800 years.

 On the valleys of river Indus.
 Also known as Harappan Civilization.
 Beginning of city life.
 Harappan Sites discovered by – Dayaram Sahni (1921) – Montgomori district, Punjab, Pakistan.
 Mohenjo-Daro discovered by – R. D. Banerji – Larkana district, Sind, Pakistan.
 City was divided into Citadel (west) and Lower Town(east).
 Red pottery painted with designs in black.
 Stone weights, seals, special beads, copper tools, long stone blades etc.
 Copper, bronze, silver, gold present.
 Artificially produced – Faience.
 Specialists for handicrafts.
 Import of raw materials.
 Plough was used.
 Bodies were buried in wooden coffins, but during the later stages ‘H symmetry culture’ evolved
where bodies were buried in painted burial urns.
 Sugar cane not cultivated, horse, iron not used.

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Indus Valley Sites and Specialties

Harappa

 Seals out of stones

 Citadel outside on banks of river Ravi

Mohenjodaro

 Great Bath, Great Granary, Dancing Girl, Man with Beard, Cotton, Assembly hall
 Term means ” Mount of the dead”
 On the bank of river Indus
 Believed to have been destructed by flood or invasion (Destruction was not gradual).

Chanhudaro

 Bank of Indus River. – discovered by Gopal Majumdar and Mackey (1931)

 Pre-harappan culture – Jhangar Culture and Jhukar Culture
 Only cite without citadel.

Kalibangan

 At Rajastan on the banks of river Ghaggar, discovered by A.Ghosh (1953)

 Fire Altars
 Bones of camel
 Evidence of furrows
 Horse remains ( even though Indus valley people didn’t use horses).
 Known as third capital of Indus Empire.

Lothal

 At Gujarat near Bhogava river, discovered by S.R. Rao (1957)

 Fire Altars
 Beside the tributary of Sabarmati
 Store house
 Dockyard and earliest port
 double burial
 Rice husk
 House had front entrance (exception).

Ropar

 Punjab, on the banks of river Sutlej. Discovered by Y.D Sharma (1955)

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 Dog buried with humans.

Banawali

 Haryana
 On banks of lost river Saraswathi
 Barley Cultivation.

Dholavira

 Biggest site in India, until the discovery of Rakhigarhi.

 Located in Khadir Beyt, Rann of Kutch, Gujarat. Discovered by J.P Joshi/Rabindra Singh (1990)
 3 parts + large open area for ceremonies
 Large letters of the Harappan script (sign boards).

Religion of Indus Valley People

 Pashupathi Mahadev (Proto Siva)

 Mother goddess
 Nature/ Animal worship
 Unicorn, Dove, Peepal Tree, Fire
 Amulets
 Idol worship was practiced ( not a feature of Aryans)
 Did not construct temples.
 Similarity to Hindu religious practices. (Hinduism in its present form originated later)
 No Caste system.

Indus Valley Society and Culture

 Systematic method of weights and measures ( 16 and its multiples).

 Pictographic Script, Boustrophedon script – Deciphering efforts by I. Mahadevan
 Equal status to men and women
 Economic Inequality, not an egalitarian society
 Textiles – Spinning and weaving
 3 types – burial, cremation and post cremation were there, though burial was common.

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 Majority of people Proto-australoids and Mediterraneans (Dravidians), though Mongoloids,

Nordics etc were present in the city culture.

Artifacts for Posterity

The most numerous of the surviving artifacts are a series of steatite (soapstone) seals, of which
the best known are those of the Humped Brahmani Bull and Pashupati. Apart from this, there are
some carved figurines - the bronze Dancing Girl and the statues of a priest and a male torso,
again in steatite.

Reasons for Decline of Indus Valley Civilization

Though there are various theories, the exact reason is still unknown. As per a recent study by IIT
Kharagpur and Archaeological Survey of India, a weaker monsoon might have been the cause of
decline of Indus Valley Civilization. Environmental changes, coupled with loss of power of
rulers (central administration) of Indus valley to sustain the city life might be the cause
(Fariservis Theory). There might be resource shortage to sustain the population, and then people
moved towards south India. Another theory by Dr Gwen Robbins Schug states that inter-personal
violence, infectious diseases and climate change had played a major role in the demise of the
Indus Valley Civilization.

Origin of the Aryans

The Aryans came to India in several waves. The earliest wave is represented by the Rig Vedic
people who appeared in the subcontinent in about 1500 BC. They came into conflict with the
indigenous inhabitants called the Dravidians mentioned as Dasa or Dasyus in Rig Veda. The Rig
Veda mentions the defeat of Sambara by Divodasa, who belonged to the Bharata clan. Possibly
the Dasyus in the Rig Veda represent the original inhabitants of the country, and an Aryan chief
who overpowered them was called Trasadvasyu. The Aryan chief was soft towards the Dasas,
but strongly hostile to the Dasyus. The term Dasyuhatya, slaughter of the Dasyus, is repeatedly
mentioned in the Rig Veda.

Some of the chief tribes of the period were Yadu, Turvasu, Druhyu, Anu Puru, Kuru, Panchala,
Bharata and Tritsu. Among the inter-tribal conflicts the most important was the 'Battle of the Ten
Kings.'

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Important points to remember:

 The group of Indo-Europeans who moved to Persia and India are known to Aryans
 The Aryans are the original inhabitants of Central Asia.
 They arrived in India around 1500 BC, though there is an ongoing debate.
 The region where the Aryans settled in India was called Sapta Sindhu (also referred to as
the Brahmavarta)
 The Aryans established themselves in India by defeating the natives whom they
called Dasas or Dasyus
 The period when the Aryans first settled in India, is known as Early Vedic Period (1500
BC to 1000 BC)
 The Aryans spread to Indo-Gangetic plains in the later Vedic Period and this region came
to be known as Aryavarta (1000 BC to 600 BC)
 The Aryans were the first people in India to know the use of iron and brought horses
along with them.

Antiquity and stratification of the Vedic literature; Society,

economy and religion during Early (Rig-Vedic) period.
Although the Rig Veda deals with devotional work of religious nature, yet it gives a vivid picture
of the early Vedic civilization. The Vedic Civilization is best understood from the social life,
political organisation, economic life and religious beliefs. The Kula or family was the basic unit
of Rig-Vedic society. The Kula was headed by a Kulapa, who was usually the eldest member.
Society was essentially patriarchal and birth of son was desired repeatedly. Status of women was
equal to men in the early Rig-Vedic society. Both polygamy and polyandry were in vogue.

The Evolution of Varna System

Social strata used to exist in the Harappan civilization also. Similarly, there was a threefold
division of society {priests, rulers and producers} in the Iranian society also. However, what
happened in Indian sub-continent was unique and extraordinary. In the evolution of Kingship in
the later Vedic era, the priests (Brahmans) and rulers (Khsatriyas) consolidated their respective
position in the society. The producers split into two groups. The free peasants and traders formed
the group Vaishya while the slaves, laborers, artisans degraded to fourth group Shudra. This was
based on occupation initially but later got rigid on the basis of birth. Despite of a small
population, the people got compartmentalized into these four groups as per Varnashrama
Dharma.

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Marriage and women

Despite of the patriarchal character of the family, the position of women was much better in the
Rig Vedic period than in later times. They could attend assemblies and offer sacrifices along
with their husbands. Five women have been mentioned as composers of hymns out of which
Ghosha, Lopamudra and Apala are famous. Girls were normally married off after puberty
(between the age of 16 and 17). Unmarried girls grew up in the home of their parents. Some
unmarried woman like Visvavara and Apala offered sacrifices on their own. There are also
evidences of widow remarriage in the Rig-Veda.

Education

In the early Rig-Vedic era, entire instruction was given orally. Art of writing does not seem to
have developed yet. In the well-known Gayatri mantra there is a prayer to Savitri for the
stimulation of the intellect. There were women teachers. Many of them possessed the highest
spiritual knowledge. Maitreyi and Gargi were gifted scholars. Rishis who composed hymns
founded their own schools separately to teach their pupils and every person among the vis was
entitled to learn Vedic mantras. In the later-Vedic phase, with the development of Varnashrama,
education began with an investiture ceremony (upanayan). Since Upanayan was confined to
three upper Varnas, the sudras were not entitled to education. Sometimes girls were also
encouraged. When teacher was satisfied with the student, last sermon called snatakopadesa (kind
of convocation) was delivered.

Institution of Gotra

Gotra or cowpen was a mechanism for widening social ties a new relationship was established
between hitherto unrelated people. It is possible that animals were herded in common and such a
place was known as gotra and from this it acquired the character of an exogamous institution.

Amusements and entertainments

Music, both vocal and instrumental, was well known. Vedic Aryans played on the Vina and flute
Vana to the accompaniment of drums and cymbals. Few claim that Dhrupad of Indian classical
music originated in Vedic Era. Dancing was common. The chariot race was a favourite sport and
source of entertainment. Chariot race was a symbolic source of political authority of the king.
The fascination of gambling and the ruin caused by its addiction find mention in the Rig-Veda.

House holding

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The Griha sutra prescribes a code of conduct, which gives a fairly good idea of the manners and
etiquette of the later-Vedic age. A guest (atithi) was welcomed at all times and special guests,
like the guru, the king, and the father-in-law, etc. were given special treatment. Respect for the
elders self-restraint, moral purity, abstinence of all kinds and faithfulness were some of the
virtues. Cleanliness was a passion. Daily bath, washing of the feet and hands every now and
then, and purifying the atmosphere with Vedic mantras were a part of ritual when ritualism
acquired special significance in the later-Vedic age. It became one of the many sources of the
development of hierarchy and the supremacy for the Brahmanas.

Eating Habits

The main cereal produced by the early Rig-Vedic people was Yava or barley. Wheat (Godhuma)
appears in later Vedic texts only. Yava was also a generic term for various kinds of cereals. ilk,
Milk products and cattle meat belonged to their food habits. Alcoholic / Non-alcoholic drinks
were known and common. Soma and Sura are two popular liquors. Sura may be a kind of beer or
wine.

Dress code

Two pieces of cloth were normally worn- the upper garment was called uttariya and the lower
one was known as antariya. The dress for the male and the female did not differ much.

Health and hygiene

Everyone aspired for and everyone was blessed to live for a hundred years. Epilepsy was
common and it affected the children as well. Superstitions and magical charms were employed to
cure the diseases. Miraculous cures are ascribed to the twin-gods, the Ashvins, who are the great
healers of diseases and experts in the surgical art. They were divine physicians who restored
eyesight and cured the blind, sick and maimed.

Rig Vedic Economy

Rig Vedic economy was primarily pastoral. They domesticated Pashu (which included cattle,
horse and even human beings), as opposed to Mriga, i.e. wild animals. Cattle was synonymous
with wealth and a wealthy person was called Gomat. Cattle was so important that the terms of
battle were derived from Gau itself, such as Gavisti, Gosu, Gavyat, Gavyu. Godhuli was a
measure of time. Gopa and Gopati were epithets given to the king. Duhitri was the term used for
daughter because she used to milk the cow. One of the four categories of gods was known as
Gojata, i.e. cowborn. When the Vedic people encountered buffalo, they called it Gauri and
Gavala or cow-haired. The cattle obtained in raids were divided among the families. Cattle
formed an important item of donation and it may also have formed a part of bali, the tribute

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given to the raja by the clan or Vis members. The cattle in general and cow in particular was the
main medium of exchange during the Rig Vedic period. The economy was based upon
agriculture. The people were well acquainted with the sowing, harvesting, threshing and various
agro seasons. The people were pastoral, Cow was revered but the cows, and bulls were sacrificed
too. The gifts to the priests were in terms of number of Cows and women slaves but NOT in
measurements of lands.

Crafts and Metallurgy

All kinds of crafts were practiced. There were potters, Chariot makers, carpenters, and weaver
and leather workers. The metal work was known as follows: Copper was known as ―Ayas‖ Gold
was known as Hiranya Iron was also known as was known as Shyama or Krishna Ayas.

Religion

There were no places of worship like temples. There are no indications in the Rig-Veda of any
―temples reared by mortal hands‖ and consecrated as places of worship. On the contrary, every
householder, every patriarch of his family, lighted the sacrificial fire in his own home and poured
libations of the Soma juice and prayed to the gods for happiness to his family, for abundant crops
and wealth and cattle, for immunity from sickness, and for victory over the black aborigines.
Natural phenomena were conceived as the expression of some spiritual different appearances of
various gods.

The Lichavi and their republican constitution

The History of Licchavis

The Lichchhavis (also Lichchavi, Licchavi) were an important member of the Vajjian
confederacy. The early Indian traditions describe the Lichchhavis as Kshatriyas. Scholars reject
the theory of foreign origin of the Lichchhavis on the strength of these traditions. But they were
degraded to the status of fallen Kshatriyas due to their championship of non-Brahmanical creeds
like Jainism and Buddhism.

Rise of the Licchavi Power

In the 6th century B.C. the Licchavi power was firmly established. Though the Lichchhavis
belonged to the Vajji confederacy, they had autonomous status. Their capital was Vaisali.

Originally, they seem to have an independent status. The Buddhist records preserve the names of
important Licchavi leaders among whom the name of Chetaka deserves special mention.
Chetaka‘s sister Trisala was the mother of Mahavira, the preacher of Jainism. Chetaka‘s daughter

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Chellana was married to king Bimbisara of Magadha. The Lichchhavis thus appear to be highly
connected.

The Magadha-Licchavi Struggle-fall of the Licchavis

The Licchavis turned to be great rivals of Magadhan monarchy. In the reign of Bimbisara of
Magadha, they invaded the Magadhan kingdom. In the reign of Ajatasatru, a protracted war
began between Magadha and the Lichchhavis. The latter were united with the Vajjis in a
confederacy. In the struggle that followed the Lichchhavis and the Vajjis were destroyed.

The causes of the Magadha-Lichchavi war were many. Ajatasatru wanted to take revenge on the
Lichchhavis, as their chief Chetaka had refused to extradite Ajatasatru‘s step brothers. They had
escaped to Vaisali (Licchavi capital) with the royal elephant and family jewels and were granted
political asylum. The real cause of the Magadha-Licchavi war was the aggressive imperialism of
Magadha against the neighboring republic. The war continued for sixteen years. The Lichchhavis
built a mighty alliance with the Vajjis and the other thirty six Ganarajas and also with the
kingdom of Kasi-Kosala against Magadha. But the ministers of Ajatasatru sowed seeds of
discord among the members of the anti-Magadhan confederacy and destroyed their unity.
Ultimately the Vajjian confederacy was destroyed by Ajatasatru. The Vajji territory was annexed
to Magadha.

The Licchavi’s republican constitution

There were two Systems of government in the Eastern region. The states of Anga, Magadha,
Vatsa etc. were monarchies. Those of Kasf, Kaulala, Videha etc. on the other band were
republics. Two of these republics were quite well known, the Republics of
the Vajjis or Licchavis and that of the Mallas. Republics were later developments of monarchies
and the precursors of democracies. The Licchavis founded their Republic with a view to
consolidating their political power. The credit for its foundation goes to Cetaka, who was a wise
and valorous king of Videha. He was also the President of the whole Republic. This Republic
was the union of eighteen political units, nine of which belonged to the Licchavis and the
remaining nine to the Mallas.

The Kings of each unit comprising the Vajji Republic were called Gananayakas. The council of
the Gananayakas was called Gana Sabha or Republican Council. It made the constitution and
the laws. The individual units were governed in accordance with the constitution of the Gana or
the Union. The Vajji Republic was rich and well developed in the fields of Politics, Economics,
Society and Religion. The monarchists were highly jealous of this powerful Republic. They were
bent upon destroying it. But they were helpless in the face of the powerful Vajjian army.

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Videha with its capital at Vaisali was the biggest unit. Vaisali was divided into three zones. The
first zone consisted of seven thousand residential houses with golden domes. The middle of the
town consisted of fourteen thousand houses with silver domes. The third zone consisted of
twenty-one thousand houses with copper domes.

These zones were inhabited by the high, middle and lower classes respectively. Vaisali was not
only the capital of the Licchavis, it was the capital of the entire Vajji Republic. It was enclosed
within four city walls, each at a distance of two miles from the others. It had several ramparts
and entrance-gates. The Republic was a confederation of six clans viz. the Ugras, the Bhojas,
the Rajanyas, ihe Iksvakus (the Licchavis), the Jnatasand the Kauravas.

The Rise of the Magadhan empire

In the sixth country B.C. North India was divided into sixteen kingdoms out of which Avanti,
Vatsa, Kosala and Magadha rose into prominence by aggrandizing upon other weaker
states.These four states involved themselves in internecine quarrel in which Magadha emerged as
the most powerful state and acquired mastery in the political domain of India.

Magadha under Bimbisara:

Magadha rose into prominence under the rule of Bimbisara who belonged to the Haryanka
dynasty. Most probably he overthrew the Brihadrathas from Magadha and assumed the title
―Srinika‖ after his accession. He ruled Magadha from 544 B.C. to 493 B.C. His greatest
achievement was the establishment of Magadhan empire. He followed fourfold policy in order to
fulfill his programme of imperial expansion.

Policy of Matrimonial Alliance:

By adopting the policy of matrimonial alliance, Bimbisara tried to augment his power. He
married Kosaladevi, daughter of king Mahakosala of Kosala, received the Kasi village as dowry,
which yielded revenue of 1, 00,000. ―Mahavamsa‖ mentions his marriage with Chellana the
daughter of Chetak, the Lichchavi chief of Vaisali.

He then married Vasavi, a princess of Videha in the northward. He also got the hand of Khema,
the daughter of king of Modra in Central Punjab. The establishment of matrimonial relations
with these states added glory to the Magadhna empire and it also paved the way for the
expansion of Magadhan empire and westward.

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Policy of Conquest:

The next policy of Bimbisara for the expansion of Magadhan empire was the policy of conquest.
Bimbisara led a campaign against the kingdom of Anga and defeated its king Brahmadatta. Anga
along with its capital city Champa, was annexed to the Magadhan empire.

Friendly Relation with distant Neighbours:

As a farsighted diplomat, Bimbisara had followed the policy of friendship towards the distant
neighbours to win their co-operation for the safety and security of his empire. He received an
embassy and letter from Pukkusati, the ruler of Gandhar with which Pradyota had fought
unsuccessfully. Magadha‘s most formidable enemy was Chanda Pradyota Mahasena of Avanti
who fought with Bimbisara but ultimately the two thought it wise to become friends. He also
sent his physician Jivak to Ujjain when Pradyota was attacked by jaundice.

Consolidation of his Empire by a Good Administrative System:

By introducing a highly efficient system of administration, Bimbisara consolidated his

conquests. His administration was found to have been really well-organised and efficient. The
high officers were divided into three classes, viz. executive, military and judicial. The
‗Sabarthakas‘ were responsible for the management of general administration.

―Senanayaka Mahamatras‖ were in charge of military affairs. ―Vyavaharika Mahamatra‘s‖ were

in charge of judicial-administration. Provincial administration was also well-organised. The head
of provincial administration was ―Uparaja‖. The villages enjoyed rural autonomy. ―Gramika‖
was the head of the village administration. The penal laws were severe. Bimbisara also
developed the means of communication by constructing good roads. He is said to have
established a new capital at Rajagriha situated on the outskirts of the old capital Girivraja.

He made Magadha a paramount power in the sixth century B.C. It is said that his kingdom had
consisted of 80,000 villages. He was also a devotee of Buddha. He donated a garden named
―Belubana‖ to the Buddhist Sangha. According to the Buddhist chronicle Bimbisara ruled
Magadha from 544 B.C. to 493 B.C. He was succeeded by his son Ajatasatru who had killed him
and seized the throne for himself.

Ajatasatru

The reign of Ajatasatru witnessed the high watermark of Bimbisara dynasty. From the very
beginning Ajatasatru pursued the policy of expansion and conquest. He began a prolonged war

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with Prasenjit of Kosala who had revoked the gift of the Kasi village made to Bimbisara. The
war continued for some time with varying success to both sides till Prasenjit ended it by giving
his daughter, Vajira Kumari in marriage to Ajatasatru and leaving him in possession of Kasi.

The next achievement of Ajatasatru was the conquest of Lichchavis of Vaisali. Chetak, chief of
Lichchavis had formed a strong confederacy comprising 36 republics in order to fight Magadha.
According to jaina sources, before his death, Bimbisara gave his elephant ―Seyanaga‖
―Sechanaka‖ and two large bejewelled necklaces, one each to his sons Halla and Vehalla who
were born of their Lichahhavi mother, Chellana.

Chetak had given them political assylum. After his accession, Ajatasatru requested chetak to
surrender them. But Chetak refused to extradite Chetaka‘s step brothers. So the conflict between
Ajatasatru and Lichchhavis became inevitable.

According to Buddhist text Ajatasatru had entered into an agreement with Lichchhavis to divide
among them the gems extracted from a mine at the foot of the hill near the river Ganges. But the
Lichchhavis deprived Ajatasatru of his share. But Dr. H.C. Raychoudhury points out that the
most potent cause of war was the common movement among the republican states against the
rising imperialism of Magadha.

Ajatasatru made elaborate war preparations against the Lichchhavis. As a base for operation he
constructed a fort at Patalagrama on the confluence of Ganga and the Son which eventually
developed into the famous capital of Pataliputra. Ajatasatru also tried to create a division among
members of Lichchhavi confederacy. He employed his minister Vassakara who successfully
sowed the seeds of dissension among the members of Vajjian confederacy and broke their
solidarity.

Thereafter Ajatasatru invaded their territory and it took him full sixteen years to destroy
Lichchhavis. In this war he used some new weapons and devices like ―mahasilakantaka‖ and
―rathamushala‖ to overpower the enemy. Ultimately Lichchhavi was annexed to the Magadhan
territory.

Ajatasatru faced danger from Avanti while he was engaged in war with Lichchhavis. King
Chanda Pradyota of Avanti became jealous of his power and threatened an invasion of Magadha.
To meet this danger Ajatasatru started fortification of Rajgiri. But the invasion did not
materialize in his life time.

The successors of Ajatasatru:

Ajatasatru was succeeded by his son Udayin who ruled for sixteen years. The Buddhist texts
describe him as a parricide where as the jaina literature mentions him as a devoted son to his
father. Udayin built the city of Pataliputra at the fort of Patalagrama which commanded the

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strategically and commercial highway of eastern India. During his rule Avanti became jealous of
the ascendancy of Magadha and a contest between the two started for mastery of Northern India.

However, Udayin was not destined to live to see the ultimate victory of Magadha against Avanti.
According to the jaina texts he constructed a chaitya in Pataliputra. He also observed fasts on the
eighth and fourteenth tithis as per the jaina tradition. It is said that Udayin have been murdered
by assassin engaged by Palaka, the king of Avanti. According to Ceylonese chronicle Udayin
was succeeded by three kings namely Aniruddha, Manda and Nagadasaka.

The Ceylonese chronicle describes that all the three kings were parasite. The people resented
their rule and revolted against the last king Nagadasaka and raised an amatya Sisunaga on the
throne of Magadha. With this restoration the rule of Haryanka dynasty came to end and the rule
of Sisunaga dynasty came into being.

Sisunaga served as the viceroy of Kasi before he ascended the throne of Magadha. He
established his capital at Girivaraja. His greatest achievement was the conquest and annexation
of Avanti. This brought to an end the hundred year‘s rivalry between Magadha and Avanti.
Probably he had annexed Vatsa and Kosala Kingdoms to Magadha. Towards the later part of his
regain he temporarily shifted his capital to Vaisali.

Sisunaga was succeeded by his son Kalasoka or Kakavarna. The reign of Kalasoka is important
for two events, viz., the transfer of Magadha capital from Girivaraja to Pataliputra and holding of
the second Buddhist Congress at Vaisali. Very unfortunately, he lost his life in a palace
revolution, which brought the Nandas upon the throne of Magadha. The usurper was probably
Mahapadma Nanda, the founder of Nanda dynasty and he also killed the ten sons of Kalasoka
who ruled jointly. Thus the Sisunaga dynasty was followed by the new dynasty of the Nandas.

The Mauryas : Extent of empire, Kalinga War and its Impact;

Asoka's Dhamma, Foreign Policy, Development of Art &
Architecture during the Mauryan period

Foundation of the Mauryan Empire:

The foundation of the Maurya Empire in 321 B.C. by Chandragupta Maurya was a unique event
in history.

Particularly in view of the fact that it was found shortly after Alexander‘s victorious campaigns
in North-West India during 327 B.C. – 325 B.C.

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There is no unanimity with regard to the ancestry of the Mauryas. The Puranas describe them as
Sudras and uprighteous probably due to the fact that the Mauryas were mostly patrons of
heterodox sects.

The Buddhist works (e.g. Mahavamsa and Mahavamshatika) have attempted to link the Mauryan
dynasty with the tribe of the Sakyas to which the Buddha belonged. In the Divyavadana,
Bindusara, the son of Chandragupta, is described as Kshatriya Murdabhishikta or annointed
Kshatriya.

According to the Buddhist writers, the region from which the Mauryas came was full of
peacocks (Mayura in Sanskrit and Mora in Pali), and hence they came to be known as the
Moriyas (Pali form of Mauryas). It is obvious from this that the Buddhists were trying to elevate
the social position of Asoka and his predecessors.

Jain tradition given in Hemachandra‘s Parisisthaparvan relates Chandragupta as the son of a

daughter of the chief of a village of peacock-tamers (Mayura-Poshaka). The use of the term
‗Vrishala‘ and ‗Kula-hina‘ in the Mudrarakshasa of Vishakadatta for Chandragupta probably
means that Chandragupta was a mere upstart of an unknown family.

The Greek classical writers, such as Justin, describes Chandragupta Maurya as a man of humble
origin, but does not mention his exact caste. The Junagarh Rock Inscription of Rudradaman (150
A.D.) mentions the Vaisya Pusyagupta as the provincial governor of the Maurya king
Chandragupta. There is a reference to Pusyagupta being the brother-in-law of Chandragupta
which implies that the Mauryas may have been of Vaisya origin.

In conclusion, we can say that the Mauryas were of comparatively humble origin belonging to
the Moriya tribe and were certainly of a low caste.

Chandragupta Maurya (321-297 B.C.):

Chandragupta Maurya succeeded to the Nanda throne in 321 B.C. after dethroning the last Nanda
ruler (Dhanananda) at the age of 25. He was the protege of the Brahmin Kautilya, also known as
Chanakya or Vishnugupta, who was his guide and mentor both in acquiring the throne and in
keeping it.

The acquisition of Magadha was the first step in establishing the new dynasty. Once the Ganges
valley was under his control, Chandragupta moved to the north-west to exploit the power
vacuum created by Alexander‘s departure. The areas of the North-West fell to him rapidly.

Moving back to Central India he occupied the region north of the Narmada River. But 305 B.C.
saw him back in the north-west involved in a campaign against Seleucus Nikator (Alexander‘s

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general who gained control of most Asiatic provinces of the Macedonian empire) which
Chandragupta finally won in 303 B.C. Both signed a treaty and entered into a marriage alliance.

Who married whose daughter is not clearly known? But it seems that Chandragupta made a gift
of 500 elephants to the Greek general and obtained the territory across the Indus viz., the
Satrapies of Paropanisadai (Kabul), Aria (Herat), Arachoisa (Kandahar), and Gedrosia
(Baluchistan). Seleucus‘s ambassador, Megasthenes, lived for many years at the Maurya court at
Pataliputra and travelled extensively in the country.

According to Jaina sources (Parisistaparvan), Chandragupta embraced Jainism towards the end
of his life and stepped down from the throne in favour of his son, Bindusara. Accompanied by
Bhadrabahu, a Jaina saint, and several other monks he is said to have gone to Sravana Belgola
near Mysore, where he deliberately starved himself to death in the approved Jaina fashion
(Sallekhana).

Kautilya and Arthashastra:

Kautilya was the Prime Minister of Chandragupta Maurya. Chandragupta found the Mauryan
Empire with his help. Arthashastra was written by him. It is the most important source for
writing the history of the Mauryas and is divided into 15 adhikarnas or sections and 180
Prakaranas or subdivisions. It has about 6,000 slokas. The book was discovered by Shamasastri
in 1909 and ably translated by him.

It is a treatise on statecraft and public administration. Despite the controversy over its date and
authorship, its importance lies in the fact that it gives a clear and methodological analysis of
economic and political conditions of the Mauryan period.

The similarities between the administrative terms used in the Arthashastra and in the Asokan
edicts certainly suggests that the Mauryan rulers were acquainted with this work.As such his
Arthashastra provides useful and reliable information regarding the social and political
conditions as well as the Mauryan administration.

1. King:

Kautilya suggests that the king should be an autocrat and he should concentrate all powers into
his own hands. He should enjoy unrestricted authority over his realm. But at the same time, he
should give honour to the Brahmanas and seek advice from his ministers. Thus the king though
autocrat, should exercise his authority wisely.

He should be cultured and wise. He should also be well-read so as to understand all the details of
his administration. He says that the chief cause of his fall is that the king is inclined towards evil.

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He lists six evils that led to a king‘s decline. They are haughtiness, lust, anger, greed, vanity and
love of pleasures. Kautilya says that the king should live in comfort but he should not indulge in
pleasures.

2. Ideals of Kingship:

The major ideal of kingship according to Kautilya is that his own well-being lies in the well-
being of his people of only the happy subjects ensure the happiness of their sovereign. He also
says that the king should be ‗Chakravarti‘ or the conqueror of different realms and should win
glory by conquering other lands.

He should protect his people from external dangers and ensure internal peace. Kautilya
maintained that the soldiers should be imbued with the spirit of a ‗holy war‘ before they march to
the battlefield. According to him, all is fair in a war waged in the interest of the country.

3. About the Ministers:

Kautilya maintains that the king should appoint ministers. King without ministers is like a one-
wheeled chariot. According to Kautilya, king‘s ministers should be wise and intelligent. But the
king should not become a puppet in their hands.

He should discard their improper advise. The ministers should work together as; a team. They
should hold meetings in privacy. He says that the king who cannot keep his secrets cannot last
long.

4. Provincial Administration:

Kautilya tells us that the kingdom was divided into several provinces governed by the members
of the royal family. There were some smaller provinces as Saurashtra and Kambhoj etc.
administered by other officers called ‗Rashtriyas‘. The provinces were divided into districts
which were again sub-divided into villages. The chief administrator of the district was called the
‗SthaniK while the village headman was called the ‗Gopa‘.

5. Civic Administration:

The administration of big cities as well as the capital city of Pataliputra was carried on very
efficiently. Pataliputra was divided into four sectors. The officer incharge of each sector was
called the ‗Sthanik. He was assisted by junior officers called the ‗Gopas‘ who looked after the
welfare of 10 to 40 families. The whole city was in the charge of another officer called the
‗Nagrika‘. There was a system of regular census.

6. Spy Organisation:

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Kautilya says that the king should maintain a network of spies who should keep him well
informed about the minute details and happenings in the country, the provinces, the districts and
the towns. The spies should keep watch on other officials. There should be spies to ensure peace
in the land. According to Kautilya, women spies are more efficient than men, so they should, in
particular, be recruited as spies. Above all the kings should send his agents in neighbouring
countries to gather information of political significance.

7. Shipping:

Another significant information that we gather from Kautilya is about shipping under the
Mauryas. Each port was supervised by an officer who kept vigil on ships and ferries. Tolls were
levied on traders, passengesand fishermen. Almost all ships and boats were owned by the kings.

8. Economic Condition:

Kautilya says that poverty is a major cause of rebellions. Hence there should be no shortage of
food and money to buy it, as it creates discontent and destroys the king. Kautilya therefore
advises the king to take steps to improve the economic condition of his people. Kautilya says that
the chief source of income was the land revenue in villages while the tax on the sale of goods
was the chief source in the cities.

Bindusara (297-272 B.C.):

In 297 B.C., Chandragupta was succeeded by his son Bindusara, known to the Greeks as
Amitrochates (Sanskrit, Amitraghata, the destroyer of foes). Bindusara campaigned in the
Deccan, extending Mauryan control in the peninsula as far south as Mysore.

He is said to have conquered the land between the two seas‘, presumably the Arabian Sea and the
Bay of Bengal. Kalinga (modern Orissa) on the eastern coast, however, remained hostile and was
conquered in the succeeding reign by Bindusara‘s son Ashoka.

In foreign affairs, Bindusara maintained the friendly relations with the Hellenic west established
by his father. He is said to have had contacts with Antiochus I Soter, king of Syria, son of
Seleucus Nikator whose ambassador, Deimachos was said to have been at his court.

A man of wide tastes and interests, he requested Antiochus I to send him some sweet wine, dried
figs and a sophist; the last being not meant for export, however, could not be sent. Pliny
mentions that Ptolemy Philadelpus of Egypt sent Dionysius as his ambassador to India. The
Ashokavadana informs us that a revolt took place in Taxila during the reign of Bindusara, when
the citizens objected to the oppression of the higher officials. Bindusara sent Asoka to put an end
to the revolt, which he did successfully.

Ashoka (268-232 B.C.):

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Bindusara‘s death in 272 B.C. led to a struggle for succession among his sons. It lasted for four
years and in 268 B.C. Ashoka emerged successful. According to Asokavadana, Subhadrangi was
the mother of Ashoka and it describes her as the daughter of a Brahman of Champa.

The Divyavadana version largely agrees with that of the Ashokavadana. She is called
Janapadakalyani, or in other version of the same source Subhadrangi. In the Ceylonese source,
Vamsatthapakasini the Queen mother is called Dharma.

According to legend, Ashoka as a young prince was given charge of the Viceroyship of Ujjain.
Buddhist texts inform us that a revolt took place in Taxila during the reign of Bindusara and
Ashoka was sent to quell it. This he did without antagonising the local populace. Corroboration
for this may be sought in an Aramaic inscription from Taxila which refers to Priyadarshi the
viceroyor governor.

During his Viceroyalty of Ujjain he fell in love with the daughter of a merchant of Vidisa,
referred to as Devi or Vidisamahadevi or Sakyani. Ashoka‘s two other well-known queens were
Karuvaki and Asandhimitra. The second queen, Karuvaki is mentioned in the Queen‘s Edict
inscribed on a pillar at Allahabad, in which her religious and charitable donations are referred to.
She is described as the mother of Prince Tivara, the only son of Asoka to be mentioned by the
name in the inscription.

As regards Ashoka‘s accession to the throne there is a general agreement in the sources that
Ashoka was not the crown prince but succeeded after killing his brothers. There is, however, no
unanimity in the texts either regarding the nature of the struggle or the number of his brothers.

In one place the Mahavamsa states that Asoka killed his elder brother to become king whereas
elsewhere in the same work and also in the Dipavamsa he is said to have killed ninety-nine
brothers. The Mahavamsa states that although he put ninety-nine brothers to death, Asoka spared
the life of the youngest of these, Tissa who was later made vice-regent (He retired to a life of
religious devotion having come under the influence of the preacher Mahadhammarakkhita and
then known by the name of Ekaviharika). It seems that though there was a struggle, a lot of
descriptions of it are plain exaggerations.

After ascending the throne, Ashoka according to Taranatha spent several years in pleasurable
pursuits and was consequently called Kamasoka. This was followed by a period of extreme
wickedness, which earned him the name of Candasoka. Finally his conversion to Buddhism and
his subsequent piety led him to be called Dhammasoka.

The most important event of Ashoka‘s reign seems to have been his conversion to Buddhism
after his victorious war with Kalinga in 260 B.C. Kaling controlled the routes to South India both
by land and sea, and it was therefore necessary that it should become a part of the Mauryan
Empire.

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The 13th Major Rock Edict vividly describes the horrors and miseries of this war and the deep
remorse it caused to Ashoka. In the words of the Mauryan emperor, ‗A hundered and fifty
thousand people were deported, a hundred thousand were killed and many times that number
perished…………. It has been stated in the past that he was dramatically converted to Buddhism
immediately after the battle, with its attendant horrors.

But this was not so, and as one of his inscriptions, viz., Bhabra Edict, states it was only after a
period of more than two years that he became an ardent supporter of Buddhism under the
influence of a Buddhist monk, Upagupta.

He also states his acceptance of the Buddhist creed, the faith in the Buddha, the Dhamma (the
teachings of the Buddha), and the Samgha. Written specifically for the local Buddhist clergy, he
also refers to himself as the ‗king of Magadha‘, a title which he uses only on this occasion.

The Buddhist church was reorganised during his reign with the meeting of Third Buddhist
council at Pataliputra in 250 B.C. under the chairmanship of Mogalliputta Tissa but the emperor
himself does not refer to it in his inscriptions.

This stresses the point that Asoka was careful to make a distinction between his personal support
for Buddhism and his duty as emperor to remain unattached and unbiased in favour of any
religion. The Third Buddhist Council is significant because it was the final attempt of the more
sectarian Buddhists, the Theravada School, to exclude both dissidents and innovators from the
Buddhist Order.

Furthermore, it was at this Council that it was decided to send missionaries to various parts of the
sub-continent and to make Buddhism an actively proselytizing religion.

Ashoka mentions various of his contemporaries in the Hellenic world with whom he exchanged
missions, diplomatic and otherwise in his 13th Major Rock Edict. These have been identified as
Antiochus II Theos of Syria, (Amtiyoga)the grandson of Seleucus Nikator; Ptolemy III
Philadelphus of Egypt (Tulamaya); Antigonus Gonatus of Macedonia (Antekina); Magas of
Cyrene (Maka) and Alexander of Epirus (Alikyashudala).

Communications with the outside world were by now well developed. Asokan inscriptions
corroborated by archaeological data are a reliable guide to the extent of the Mauryan Empire.

Magadha was the home province of the Mauryas and the city of Pataliputra its capital. Other
cities mentioned in the inscriptions include Ujjain, Taxila, Tosali near Bhubaneshwar, Kausambi
and Suvarnagiri in Andhra Pradesh.

According to tradition, Kashmir was included in the Ashokan Empire and that Ashoka built the
city of Srinagar. Khotan in Central Asia was also supposed to have come under Mauryan sway.

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The Mauryans had close connections with the areas of modern Nepal since the foothills were a
part of the empire. One of Ashokan‘s daughter is said to have married a nobleman from the
mountains of Nepal.

In the east, Mauryan influence extended as far as the Ganga delta. Tamralipti or modern Tamluk
was an important port on the Bengal coast from where the ships sailed for Burma, Sri Lanka as
well as for South India. Another major port on the west coast was Broach at the mouth of the
Narmada.

Kandahar formed the western-most extension of the Mauryan Empire and Ashokan inscriptions
mention the Gandharas, Kambojas and the Yonas as his borderers. Through the north-west the
Mauryas maintained close contacts with their neighbours, the Seleucid Empire and the Greek
kingdoms.

Mauryan relations with Sri Lanka were very close and Asoka sent his son Mahindra and
daughter Sanghamitra to preach Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Asokan inscriptions in the south
mention several people with whom he was on friendly terms – the Cholas, Pandyas, Satiyaputras
and Keralaputras (Major Rock Edict II.)

Disintegration of the Empire:

Towards the end of his reign Asoka‘s grip over the imperial organisation became weak. The
Maurya Empire began to decline with the death of Asoka in 232 B.C., soon after it broke up. The
evidence for the later Mauryas is very meagre.

The Puranas, besides Buddhist and Jaina literature, do provide us with some information on the
later Mauryas, but there is no agreement among them. Even among the Puranas, there is a lot of
variance between one Puranas and another. The one statement on which all the Puranas are in
agreement is that the dynasty lasted 137 years.

Ashoka‘s death was followed by the division of the empire into western and eastern halves. The
western part including the north-western province, Gandhara and Kashmir was governed by
Kunala (one of the sons of Ashoka) and then for a while by Samprati (according to Jaina
tradition he was a grandson of Ashoka and a patron of Jainism).

It was later threatened from the north-west by the Bactrian Greeks, to whom it was practically
lost by 180 B.C. From the south, the threat was posed by the Andhrasorthe Satavahanas who
later came to power in the Deccan.

The eastern part of the Maurya Empire, with its capital at Pataliputra, came to be ruled by
Dasaratha (probably one of the grandsons of Ashoka). Dasaratha apart from being mentioned in
the Matsya Purana is also known to us from the caves in the Nagarjuni Hills, which he dedicated
to the Ajivikas.

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According to the Puranas, Dasaratha reigned for eight years. This would suggest that he died
without an heir old enough to come to the throne. The same sources speak of Kunala ruling for
eight years.

He must have died at about the same time as Dasaratha; so that Sampriti now ruling in the west
may have successfully regained the throne at Pataliputra, thus uniting the empire again.

This event occurred in 223 B.C. However, the empire had probably already begun to
disintegrate. Jaina sources mention that Samprati ruled from Ujjain and Pataliputra. After
Dasaratha and Samprati came Salisuka, a prince mentioned in the astronomical work, the Gargi
Samhita, as a wicked quarrelsome king.

The successors of Salisuka, according to the Puranas, were Devavarman, Satamdhanus and
finally Brihadratha. The last prince was overthrown by his commander-in-chief, Pushyamitra,
who laid the foundations of a new dynasty called Sunga dynasty.

Causes for the Decline of the Mauryas:

The Magadhan Empire, which had been reared by successive wars culminating in the conquest
of Kalinga, began to disintegrate after the death of Ashoka in 232 B.C. The reason given by
historians for such, rapid declines are as conflicting as they are confusing.

Some of the very obvious and other controversial causes for the decline of the Mauryan
Empire are discussed below:

1. One of the more obvious reasons for the decline was the succession of weak kings after
Ashoka.
2. A further and immediate cause was the partition of the empire into two, the eastern part
under Dasaratha and the western part under Kunala. Had the partition not taken place, the
Greek invasions of the north-west could have been held back for a while, giving the
Mauryas a chance to re-establish some degree of their previous power. The partition of
the empire disrupted the various services as well.
3. Scholars have suggested that the pro-Buddhist policies of Ashoka and the pro-Jaina
policies of his successors alienated the Brahmins and resulted in the revolt of
Pushyamitra, the founder of the Shunga dynasty. H.C. Raychaudhuri maintains that
Asoka‘s pacifist policies were responsible for undermining the strength of the empire.

The second argument blames Ashoka‘s emphasis on nonviolence for weakening the empire and
its military strength. Haraprasad Sastri holds the view that the decline of the Mauryan Empire
was the result of the Brahmanical revolt on account of ban on animal sacrifices and undermining
the prestige of the Brahmanas. Both these arguments are rather simplistic.

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Pushyamitra‘s usurpation of the throne cannot be seen as a brahmana revolt because by that time
the administration had become so ineffective that officials were willing to accept any viable
alternative.

The second proposition does not take into account the nature of the policy of non-violence. There
is nothing in the Ashokan inscriptions to suggest demobilization of the army. Similarly capital
punishment continued. The emphasis was on the reduction of species, and numbers of animals
killed for food. There is nothing to suggest that the killing of animals stopped completely.

4. Another reason put forward by some historians such as D.D. Kosambi is that there was
considerable pressure on the Mauryan economy under the later rulers leading to heavy
taxation.

This opinion is again one-sided and is not corroborated by archaeological data. Excavations at
sites like Hastinapura and Sisupalgarh have shown improvement in the material culture.

5. The organization of administration, and the conception of the state or the nation, were of
great significance in the causes of the decline of the Mauryas. The Mauryan
administration was of an extremely centralized character which necessitated a king of
considerable personal ability.

In such a situation the weakening of the central control leads automatically to a weakening of the
administration. With the death of Ashoka and the uneven quality of his successors, there was a
weakening at the centre, particularly after the division of the empire.

6. The Mauryan state derived its revenues from taxing a variety of resources which would
have to grow and expand so that the administrative apparatus of the state could be
maintained.

Unfortunately the Mauryas made no attempt to expand the revenue potential or to restructure and
reorganise the resources. This inherent weakness of the Mauryan economy when coupled with
other factors led to the collapse of the Mauryan Empire.

7. The spread of material culture of the Gangetic basin to the outlying areas led to the
formation of new kingdoms.

The Kushanas : Kanishka : Extent of empire, His religious

policy; Development of Art, Architecture and Letters during
the Kushana period

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The Kushanas: Short introduction

In the early 2nd century BC, a tribe on the Central Asian frontier of China called Hsiung-nu
defeated a neighboring one known as Yueh-chih. After more conflict, the survivors of the Yueh-
chih were dislocated west, passing down the Ili river valley and along the southern shore of lake
Issyk Kul. This movement also pushed Saka tribes (and others) ahead of them. Sometime
between 145 and 125 BC, these nomad invaders burst into Bactria and Parthia. A generation
later, they were pressing into the Kabul valley and onto the Punjab plain. At around the
beginning of the Christian era, one of the five Yueh-chih chiefs, K'iu-tsiu-k'io, attacked and
defeated the others, leaving his clan in control; the Kuei-shang (Kushans).

Kujula Kadphises (30-80 AD) established the Kushan dynasty in 78 AD by taking advantage of
disunion in existing dynasty of Pahalava (Parthian) and Scytho-Parthians, and gradually wrested
control of southern prosperous region, which is the northwest part of ancient India, traditionally
known as Gandhara (now Pakistan). It was his grandson Vima Kadphises who made Kushan a
paramount power of northern India. His reign saw emergence of Kushan empire when he
conquored north-western India (modern Punjab). Soon he came under influence of Hinduism
(most likley embraced it for good) and took opportunity to proclaim himself Mahishwara,
another name for Lord Shiva, on his coins (Shiva is a prominent Hindu god). Kushan kings
introduced gold and copper coins, a large number of them have survived till today. It was the
Kushan emperor, Vima Kadaphises who introduced the first gold coins of india. Kushan empire
covered north west of India (includes Pakistan and modern Afganistan) and northern India.
Ample evidences of trade with China, cental Asia, Egypt and Rome are available which made
their economy very strong and kingdom wealthy and prosperous.

Vima's able son Kanishka (100 - 126 AD) followed and took control of this dynasty in 100 AD.
Kanishka is the legendary ruler of ancient India and according to most historians the greatest
ruler of Kushan dynasty. He and his descendents called themselves `Devputra' which means son
of god, who ruled Aryavarta, the India. He established an era, commonly known as Shaka era,
starts from 78 AD. Shaka era is still in use in India. Kanishka's empire consisted Bactria (modern
Afghanistan), part of central Asia (Tajikistan), north-western India (modern Pakistan) and
Northern India till Pataliputra or Patana. Kushan empire.

Huvishka succeeded Kanishka I. He was founder of a city Hushka in Kashmir named after him
(described by Kalhan in Rajatarangini). Kushana empire was at its zenith during Kanishka's and
Huvishka's reign. After Huvishka's reign, Vasudeva I took control of this dynasty which by then
had lost control over regions beyond Bactria or perhaps the Bactria itself. The Kushan dynasty
had been totally assimilated in Indian culture. Vasudeva I was the last great king of the dynasty
when Kushana empire was at it's height of splendor and prosperity.

Kushan empire had started its decline soon after Vasudeva's death. Vasudeva was followed by
his son Kanishka II who lost all the territories west of river Indus to Sassanians. Vasudeva II,
Vashishka, and Shaka are the kings who followed after the Kanisha II. After Vashishka the

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Kushan empire had completly disintegrated into few small kingdoms. By fourth century AD this
dynasty went into total obscurity with advent of mighty Gupta emperors.

Kanishka:

His Date:

There is a sharp controversy about Kanishka’s date centering round two points:

(1) Whether the Kanishka group preceded or succeeded the Kadphises group, and

(2) Whether Kanishka started his rule in 78 A.D. or later or earlier.

(1) Cunningham was the first writer to sponsor the theory that Kanishka‘s era started from 58
B.C. which came to be known afterwards as Vikrama Samvat: Cunningham, however, gave up
this theory later on, but Fleet and after him Kennedy held this view with all earnestness. As a
corollary of the above contention it follows that Kanishka group of kings preceded Kadphises
group of kings.

But on a careful analysis of the archaeological and numismatic evidences scholars have come to
the conclusion that there can be no doubt that the Kanishka group of kings did not precede but
followed the Kadphises group of kings.

In support of this view scholars point out if the series of coins issued successively by alien rulers
of India upto Vasudeva-I, are carefully studied it will be evident that the coins of the Kadphises
kings were issued immediately after those of the Sakas and the Parthians.

Again, the coins of Kanishka and Huvishka, although differ in some details, they seem to be
largely prototypes of Wima Kadiphises.

It must also be noted that the practice of issuing bilingual and by scriptural coins introduced by
the Indo-Greek kings was continued throughout the Saka-Pahlava period upto the time of
Kadphises. The continuity of the practice without break till the time of Wima Kadphises was
broken only at the time of Kanishka who gave up the practice of issuing bilingual coins.

The legend of his coins was Greek but most of them were not, however, in Greek. Hurishka and
Vasudeva followed the practice of Kanishka. Thus we find that while there was a continuity in
the method of the striking coins followed upto Wima Kadphises from the line of the Indo-Greeks
a different method was followed and continued by Kanishka and his successors. These two
different sequences when compared leave no doubt that the Kushana group followed Kadphises
group of kings.

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Turning to the second point, we find that scholars like Sir John Marshall, Sten Konow, Vincent
Smith, Van Wijk and some other scholars are of the opinion that Kanishka began his rule in the
first quarter of the second century A.D., sometime between 125 to 128 A.D. which lasted for
about a quarter of a century.

But Ferguson had held long before that Kanishka started his first regional year in 78 A.D. and
inaugurated an era from that date which came to be known as the Saka era (Sakabda) which is
still current in different parts of India. Ferguson‘s view has been supported by scholars like
Oldenberg, Thomas, Rapson, R. D. Banerjee, Dr. Raichaudhuri and others. One of the latest
scholars to support the view that Kanishka started his rule in 78 A.D. which was also the
beginning of an era is Van Lohuizen-de Leeuw.

It has been argued against the above view held by most of the scholars, that if we agree that
Kadphises-I reigned about 50 A.D. and Kanishka about 78 A.D. then we are left with only 28
years roughly for the two reigns of Kadphises-I and Kadphises-II which is a very short span for
two reigns. But when we remember that Kadphises died at the age of eighty, his son Kadphises-
II must have ascended the throne at pretty old age. This makes accession of Kanishka in 78 AD.
quite tenable.

Marshall, Sten Konow and others who are of the opinion that Kanishka ruled in the first quarter
of the second century A.D. is- directly against the evidence of Junagarh inscription of
Rudradamana. Dr. Raichaudhuri draws our attention to the fact that it is clearly mentioned in the
Junagarh inscription that Rudradamana held sway over the lower Sindhu region in the first half
of the second century A.D.

The South Bihar (Sui-Bihar) inscription of Kanishka mentions lower Sindhu area as within the
dominions of Kanishka. Obviously, both Rudradamana and Kanishka were not rulers over the
same region simultaneously. This proves the untenability of the view that Kanishka ruled in the
second century A.D. There is also no evidence to show that there was the inauguration of any era
in the second century A.D.

Dr. Majumdar‘s contention that Kanishka was the founder of Traikutaka-Kalachuri-Chedi era of
248-249 A.D. is absolutely untenable in view of the Chinese evidence that An-Shi-Kao who
lived during the second century A.D. translated a work Margabhumi-sutra written by
Sangharaksha, chaplain of Kanishka. This precludes placing Kanishka in the third century A.D.
as Dr. R. C. Majumdar has done. Dr. R. G. Bhandarkar‘s view that Kanishka ascended the throne
in 278 A.D. is untenable on the same grounds.

Thus most of the scholars are of the view that Kanishka started his rule in 78 A.D. which was
also the year from which the Saka era is counted.

It has been contended by some scholars that if the era was founded by Kanishka why should it
have been named Saka era and not Kushana era, after all the Kushanas were not Sakas. But it

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may be pointed out that the close association of the Yue-chi people of which the Kushanas were
a branch, with the Saka-Pahlava made them a composite people with a composite culture in
which the contributions of the Sakas was quite large.

Further, the Kushanas were not Greeks but some of Kanishka‘s coins bore Greek legend on
them. It is therefore no conclusive argument to say that since the era was called Saka era
Kanishka could not be its founder. Likewise the contention that the Saka era was not followed in
northern India although Kanishka was a ruler of the north is untenable.

Facts are, however, otherwise. This era was abandoned temporarily during the Gupta rule when
it was confined to the south where its use was spread by the Jainas. But with the end of the Gupta
rule the Saka era came back into use and Continues to be used even today in different parts of
India.

Thus after an analysis of evidences, literary, numismatic as well as epigraphic, the balance of
arguments remains in favour of placing the Kanishka group of kings after the Kadphises group of
kings and fixing 78 A.D. as the starting point of Kanishka‘s rule, and also the beginning of the
era known as Saka era or Sakavda.

His Conquests: Extent of His Empire:

Kanishka was alone among the Kushana kings who has left a name cherished by tradition and
famous in India as well beyond her limits.

At the time of accession to the throne Kanishka‘s empire comprised Afghanistan, large part of
Sindhu, portions of Parthia and the Punjab. He appears to have not forgotten to avenge the defeat
of his predecessor Kadphises at the hands of the Chinese general Pan-chao. He also played the
part of a conqueror in the early years of his reign. Dr. Smith credits him with the conquest and
annexation of the Kashmir Valley. He certainly showed, remarks Smith, a marked preference for
that delightful country.

Here he erected numerous monuments and founded a town, which although now reduced to a
petty village, still bears his honoured name. We have, however, no details about the war with the
king of Kashmir. Rajatarangini refers to three kings Hushka, Jushka and Kanishka who are
described as decendants of Turuksha ruler and were given to acts of piety and built monasteries,
Chaityas and similar other structures.

According to tradition Kanishka penetrated into the interior of India and attacked Pataliputra, the
capital of Magadha. It is said that he carried away Asvaghosh, a Buddhist tradition, after the
capture of Pataliputra and Buddhist Philosopher Asvaghosa fell into the hands of Kanishka who
took the saga with him. Asvaghosa was indeed one of the luminaries that graced the court of
Kanishka. We may, therefore, conclude that at least a part of Magadha including Pataliputra was
conquered by Kanishka.

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Kanishka seems to have waged war against the western Satraps of Ujjaini. Numismatic evidence
proves the inclusion of Malwa in his empire. Sylvan Levi, D. C. Sircar and Rapson suggest that
the western Satrap Nahapana who ruled over Kathiawar, Malwa and Sourashtra had been a
vassal of Kanishka. Some scholars hold that it was Chastana who was defeated by Kanishka and
was compelled to hand over a part of Malwa to him.

According to Dr. Smith, Kanishka also waged war against the Parthians. Kanishka also con-
quered Kashgarh, Khotan and Yarkhand. He is credited with defeating the Chinese and thereby
avenging the defeat of his predecessor Kadphises II at the hands of the Chinese general Pan-chao
and compelled the Chinese to surrender hostages to him.

From the Chinese source as also from Buddhist traditions we come to know Kanishka conquered
Kajangal in the Rajmahal hills in Bengal, some parts of Malda, Murshidabad, Bogra, Midnapur,
etc. But in absence of any other evidences to support the indirect evidence furnished by the find
spots of the coins of Kanishka it is difficult to come to any definite conclusion with regard to the
inclusion of Bengal in Kanishka‘s empire.

Kanishka‘s empire comprised vast tacts of land extending from Afghanistan, and Khotan,
Yarkhand, Kashgarh, etc. in Central Asia to Benares, and perhaps to parts of Bengal. His empire
included Gandhara, Peshawar, Oudh, Pataliputra, Mathura. Inclusion of Kashmir is borne out by
both the Chinese and Buddhist evidences. The western Satrapies seem to have been under his
suzerainty.

According to Hiuen TSang Kanishka Raja of Gandhara in old days having subdued all the
neighbouring provinces and brought into obedience the people of distant countries, governed by
his army a wide territory even to the east of the Tsung-ling mountains. All this proves that
Kanishka‘s sway extended beyond the borders of India.

The Buddhist tradition and Kanishka‘s own inscriptions are ample testimony to the vast expanse
of his dominions within India. Selection of Purushapura, i.e. Peshawar, proves that Kanishka‘s
imperial possessions spread far towards the west and north.

Administration:

Kanishka was a mighty conqueror, but no less was his ability as an administrator and he was
even mightier in peaceful pursuits and in his solicitousness of the welfare of the people. For an
effective and efficient rule of the empire he resorted to the system of Satrapies and appointed
Mahakshatrapa Kharapallana and Kshatrapa Vanaspara in the eastern part of the empire.

The northern part was ruled by General Lala as Mahakshatrapa with Vaspasi and Laika as
Kshatrapas. The seat of the Central Government was at Purushpura or Peshawar. This practice of

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rule through Great Satraps and Satraps was the continuation of the system followed by the Sakas
and the Pahlavas.

We find a conscious emulation of the methods of Asoka by the Kushana king Kanishka. He
pursued the policy of propagating Buddhism both within India and outside India. It was in
connection with his missionary activities that he established close relationship, religious cultural
and commercial, not only with China, Tibet and Central Asia but also with Rome and influx of
gold from China and Rome in particular. The prosperity of the empire attested by the fine gold
coins struck by Kadphises I appears to have increased under Kanishka. The unmistakable
influence of Rome on the Indian coinage of the time could be noticed.

From the Periplus we know that gold and silver specie constituted one of the imports of
Barygaza, i.e., Borach, a port on the eastern sea board of India. Swell has also mentioned to huge
hoard of Roman coins of the first five Roman emperors discovered in the Madras Presidency.
The very name dinara of gold coins seems to have close affinity with the Roman denarius and
drama for silver coins has been adopted from the Greek drachma.

Kanishka assumed epithet like Shaonaus Shoo, as found on his coins, was an adaptation of the
Parthian title Basileos Basileon. From Shaonaus Shoo the letter Shaahan Sha was derived.

Religion:

As it is customary for the Buddhist writers to depict a person wicked before conversion and
turned into saint after conversion to Buddhism. Kanishka has been described by them to be
devoid of the sense of right or wrong before his conversion. This view of the Buddhist writers
has not been accepted by most of the scholars who think that it is an attempt on the part of the
Buddhist writers to glorify Buddhism.

Before conversion to Buddhism Kanishka was a believer in many gods, Persian, Greek, Hindu,
etc. This is proved by the figures imprinted on his coins. The exact date of conversion of
Kanishka is, however, not known. The conversion is supposed to have taken place after some
years he had been on the throne. It is supposed that after his association with the Buddhist
philosopher and Saint Asvaghosha, he must have come under his influence.

Asvaghosha must have won the heart of Kanishka so completely that the latter gave up his alle-
giance to his previous gods and got converted to Buddhism. Here is a second instance of a great
conqueror and emperor being converted to Buddhism and taken to the policy of peace and
brotherliness in place of the policy of military conquests.

Kanishka was a close copy of Asoka. What is specially noteworthy about Kanishka is that he
was the only foreigner who became a convert to an Indian religion and turned into zealous
missionary. In his missionary activities we find him to an emulator of Asoka whose footsteps he
tried to follow closely.

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We renovated the old monasteries which were in a state of disrepair and built many a new one.
He endowed the monasteries with liberal money grants for the maintenance of the monks who
dwelt in them. Kanishka caused the construction of a number of stupas in the memory of
Sakyamuni.

He also sent missionaries for the propagation of Buddhism to China, Tibet, Japan and Central
Asia. The sculptors, painters, as well as the architects of his time also became active
propagandists of Buddhism. The celebrated Chaitya it Peshawar constructed under his orders
excited the wonder and appreciation of travellers down to a late period and famous sculptures
therein included a life-size statue of himself.

During his time there arose disputes about Buddhism, among 18 schools of Buddhism prevalent
at that time, as we know from the Tibetan historian Taranath. It became necessary to restore the
disputes and to that end Kanishka convoked the Fourth Buddhist Council to which was attended
by 500 monks.

There is a controversy with regard to the venue of the Council. According to some it was held at
Kundavana in Kashmir but others hold that it met at Jullundur in the Punjab. In the Council the
entire Buddhist literature was thoroughly examined and commentaries on the three Pitakas were
prepared, which were compiled in Mahavibhasha which is the greatest work on Buddhist
Philosophy.

This voluminous work is considered to be the encyclopaedia of Buddhism. The decisions of the
Council were inscribed in copper plates and deposited in a stupa built for the purpose, packed in
stone chests. Vasumitra acted as the President and Asvaghosha as the Vice-President of the
Council.

Buddhist Council:

The period of Kanishka saw the transformation of the Hinayana form of Buddhism into
Mahayana form. In the Hinayana form the worship of Buddha was only by relics like footprint of
Buddha, an empty seat of Buddha, that is, some sort of symbol used to be placed in front of the
worshipper.

There used to be no figure or image of Buddha to worship. This needed great concentration of
mind on the part of the worshipper and the method was very subtle and could be followed by
persons of great self-control, and of deepest religious bent of mind. This method of proceeding
along the Path of Buddhist religion was called Hina-Yana, i.e., lesser vehicle, i.e., subtle mode of
transport in the path of religion.

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But during Kanishka‘s time worship of the image of Buddha came into use. It became easy to
concentrate by keeping as visible representation of Buddha in form. This was a greater and easier
method hence called Mahayana Buddhism. In the Hinayana form of worship emphasis was laid
on good action but in Mahayana system worship of Buddha and Bodhisattvas was emphasised.
The use of Pali as the language of the Buddhist religious books was now replaced by Sanskrit.

Art and Learning:

Kanishka‘s patronage of art and learning marked the beginning of a cultural renaissance which
was to reach its peak and flower under the Guptas A large volume of Sanskrit literary works both
religious and secular, was produced during the period. Asvaghosha, the greatest Buddha
Philosopher, saint and literary figure of the time adorned the court of Kanishka.

He was a versatile genius whose contributions to the cultural life of the time centred round
poetry, philosophy, drama, music. Buddhacharit and Sutralankar are his two most famous works.
Buddhacharit on the life of Gautama Buddha in Sanskrit verse has been regarded as a Buddhist
epic. Another great Buddhist writer of fame who adorned the court of Kanishka was Nagarjuna.
He was the greatest exponent of Mahayana Buddhism.

Charaka, the celebrated master of the science of medicine, was the court physician of Kanishka.
Mathara, a politician of great acumen, was a minister of Kanishka. Besides these worthies, the
Greek engineer Agesilaus and many others played a leading part in the religious, literary,
scientific, philosophical and artistic activities of the reign. It is of great interest to know that
Nagarjuna in his celebrated work Madhyamikasutra expounded the theory of relativity in its
preliminary form.

Another celebrity that adorned the court of Kanishka was Vasumitra who presided over the
Fourth Buddhist Council held during the reign of Kanishka.

Kanishka was also a great builder and a patron of art and architecture. The works of architecture,
art of sculpture of his time are found in Mathura, Peshawar, Taxila and Amaravati. The Sirsukh
city in Taxila with its hall, buildings and monasteries was built by him. Statues, sculptures,
monasteries added to the beauty of the city.

The Gatidhara School of art was the product of Graeco-Roman-Buddhist school of art and
sculpture. Totally indigenous art also flourished during his reign at Amaravati. The ornamental
sculpture depicted in the Amaravati medallion bear testimony to the excellence of purely Indian
style uninfluenced by any foreign art. At Mathura find of Kanishka‘s headless statue is an
example of the massive sculptural art of the time.

Estimate of Kanishka:

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Kanishka happens to be one of the few kings in history who came in as a conqueror and won an
empire but was conquered by the religion, language and culture of the country of his conquest.
He was an intrepid warrior, a mighty conqueror but what was more he was equally great as an
administrator. If he was great in war and administration he was greater still in the arts of peace.

He was a great patron of art and literature. He built a vast empire which extended from Central
Asia to Mathura, Benares and probably to parts of Bengal but he gave it an administration which
brought peace and prosperity to the country and the people, which conduced to pursuit of
religion, art, architecture and literature. Before his conversion to Buddhism he was eclectic in his
religious belief and was a polytheist.

After becoming a Buddhist he became an ardent missionary of the Mahayanism. He rendered a

great service to Buddhism by convening the Fourth Buddhist Council which resolved the
disputes that arose among the Buddhists about Buddhist religion. He was a great patron of
Buddhism as his predecessor of the Maurya Dynasty Asoka. Like Asoka he sent missions for
propagation of Buddhism in China, Japan, Tibet, Central Asia, etc.

He patronized the Buddhist philosophers like Asvaghosha, Basumitra, Nagarjuna, Political

scientist like Mathara, medical scientist like Charaka, and engineer like Greek Agesilaus.

He was a great patron of art and architecture. The city of Purushapura, his capital, Taxila,
Mathura were beautified by monasteries, stupas, etc. The tall Chaitya at his capital with its
sculpture forced the admiration of visitors even after long time.

The beneficence of his rule was seem in the prosperity of the people resulting from the influx of
huge quantity of gold by way of trade with foreign countries like China, Rome, etc.

Kanishka has been likened to Asoka as a conqueror, preacher. But although he was definitely a
lesser personality than Great Asoka, he was the nearest emulator of Asoka in his spirit of
toleration of other religions, patronage of Buddhism, and missionary zeal. He, however, was not
an apostle of non-violence as Asoka had been yet he had initiated a cultural renaissance which
reached its zenith under the Guptas.

Kanishka‘s reign constituted a brilliant epoch in the history of ancient India and the darkness that
descended on the Indian History after the fall of the Mauryas was lifted during his reign.
Kanishka rightly deserves a place among the best rulers of the ancient history of India.

Art, Sculpture and Architecture in Kushana Empire

The Kushana period witnessed a remarkable development in art, sculpture and architecture. The
Gandhara School of Art and Sculpture marked a happy blending of the Graceo-Romano-
Buddhist style and techniques. The distinguishing features of the Gandhara Sculpture owed their

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origin to Greek and Roman styles yet the art essentially was Indian in spirit. The Gandhara artists
had the hand of a Greek but the heart of an India.

The most remarkable contribution of the Gandhara School of art is to be seen in the evolution of
the image of Buddha, perhaps in imitation of the Greek God Apollo. Images of Buddha and
Bodhisatva illustrating the past and present lives of Buddha were executed in black stone. The
figures show an excellent idea of human anatomy that swayed the artists.

These works of art offer a striking contrast to similar art that we witness elsewhere in India. The
smooth round features of the idealised human figures, draped in transparent and semi-transparent
cloth closely fitting to the body and revealing its outline were due to the influence of the
Hellenistic art of Asia Minor and the Roman Empire.

The images of Buddha pertaining to the Gandhara school centres of which were Gandhara,
Jalalabad, Hadda and Baniyan in Afghanistan, Peshawar and Swat Valley, were more animated
and anatomically perfect than those found in other parts of India. While the former are more
beautiful physically and accurate in anatomical details as such more realistic, the Indian art and
sculpture which produced the images of Buddha were more idealistic giving a spiritual and
sublime expression to the images.

The technique of the Gandhara School of art of the Kushana period spread through China to the
Far East and influenced the art of China and Japan. The Gandhara art, according to V. A. Smith,
was based on the cosmopolitan art of the Asia Minor and the Roman Empire.

There were also purely Indian schools of art in India during the period of the Kushanas. There
were the schools of art at Amaravati, Jagayyapeta and Nagarjunikonda. In the Amaravati human
figures are characterised by slim, blithe features and have been represented in most difficult
poses and curves. The technique of art reached a high standard of development. Plants and
flowers, particularly lotuses, have been represented in the most perfect, lifelike manner.

Two Chaityas and a Stupa discovered at Nagarjunikonda are the relics of the indigenous school
of art and show a high standard of development. The limestone panel of figures depicting the
nativity of Buddha is an excellent piece of sculpture of the Kushana period which was entirely
indigenous.

Architecture of the Kushana period was not so remarkable as the sculpture of the period. There
were beautiful temples, monasteries, Stupas which indicate considerable development during the
period although the technique of architecture did not attain the standard of excellence of
sculpture. The famous tower of Kanishka at Purushapura (Peshawar) was one of the wonders of
the world. Much of the architectural specimens of the period perished with time.

Caves hewn in solid rock with pillars and sculptures, hundreds of which have been found in
different parts of the Kushana Empire show a great improvement upon the technique of

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excavation that was in use during the time of Asoka. A Chaitya with rows of columns on two
sides was a fine work of art of sculpture and architecture. The Chaitya at Karle is an excellent
illustration.

Fa-hien who visited India during the rule of Chandragupta II {5th century) was struck with
wonder to find a large number of Stupas, dagobas (small stupa), Chaityas and images of Buddha
carved out of stone during the Kushana period.

There has been a sharp difference of opinion about the celebrity, and the extent of influence of
the Gandhara art upon the Indian art during the reign of the Kushanas. Modern scholars think
that the Gandhara School of sculpture has attained a celebrity perhaps beyond its merits.

According to some European scholars, the Gandhara School of art was the only school in
Ancient India which can claim a place in the domain of art. There are others who are of the
opinion that the source of subsequent development of Indian art as well as of the Far East was
the Gandhara School of art which developed as a result of a happy blending of the Graco-
Romano-Buddhist art.

But despite the foreign influence upon the school of Gandhara art, scholars like Havell, Will
Durant, R. C. Majumdar and others are of the opinion that the influence, Hellenistic and Roman,
upon the Indian art which was the Gandhara School of art was technical but spirit and the subject
matter of the art was purely Indian.

1. D. Banerjee‘s view that the Gandhara art influenced the Indian art for nearly five
centuries to follow is untenable on the ground that there were indigenous schools of art at
Ainaravati, Nagarjunkonda, etc. where there was no influence of Gandhara School of art.
The influence of the Gandhara art failed to penetrate into the interior of India and had no
influence on the later development of the Indian, art. But the Gandhara School of art
achieved a grand success in. becoming the parent of the Buddhist art of Eastern and
Chinese Turkestan, Mongolia, China, Korea and Japan.

Literature:

The Kushana period witnessed a remarkable development of literature and Sanskrit language.
Under the patronage enjoyed by the scholars and Buddhist philosophers of the time a massive
development in secular and religious literature took place. A large number of standard works in
Sanskrit language were written during the period.

Asvaghosha‘s Buddhacharita, Saudarananda Kavya, Vajrasuchi, Sariputta Prakarana,

Vasumitra‘s Mahabibhasa—regarded as the Buddhist encyclopaedia, Nagarjuna‘s Madhyamika-
Sutra in which the theory of relativity was propounded, Charaka‘s work on medicine, etc.
contributed to the fund of human knowledge. Under the Kushanas the royal court became a seat

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of luminaries mentioned above as also of the Political Scientist Mathara, Greek engineer
Agesilaus, etc.

The Guptas : Extent of empire; development of language and

Literature, art St architecture during the Gupta period.
The Gupta Empire stretched across northern, central and parts of southern India between c. 320
and 550 CE. The period is noted for its achievements in the arts, architecture, sciences, religion,
and philosophy. Chandragupta I (320 – 335 CE) started a rapid expansion of
the Gupta Empire and soon established himself as the first sovereign ruler of the empire. It
marked the end of 500 hundred years of domination of the provincial powers and resulting
disquiet that began with the fall of the Mauryas. Even more importantly, it began a period of
overall prosperity and growth that continued for the next two and half centuries which came to
be known as a ―Golden Age‖ in India‘s history. But the seed of the empire was sown at least two
generations earlier than this when Srigupta, then only a regional monarch, set off the glory days
of this mighty dynasty in circa 240 CE.

GUPTA PERIOD – EARLY DAYS TO THE ZENITH

Not much is known about the early days of this Gupta dynasty. The travel diaries and writings
of Buddhist monks who frequented this part of the world are the most trustworthy sources of
information we have about those days. The travelogues of Fa Hien (Faxian, circa 337 – 422 CE),
Hiuen Tsang (Xuanzang, 602 – 664 CE) and Yijing (I Tsing, 635 – 713 CE) prove to be
invaluable in this respect. The Gupta Empire during the rule of Srigupta (circa 240 – 280 CE)
comprised only Magadha and probably a part of Bengal too. Like the Mauryas and other
Magadha kings who preceded him, Srigupta ruled from Pataliputra, close to modern day Patna.
Srigupta was succeeded to the throne by his son Ghatotkacha (circa 280 – 319 CE).

CHANDRAGUPTA I

From the Kushans, the Gupta kings learned the benefit of maintaining a cavalry and
Chandragupta I, son of Ghatotkacha, made effective use of his strong army. Through his
marriage with Licchhavi Princess Kumaradevi, Chandragupta I received the ownership of rich
mines full of iron ore adjacent to his kingdom. Metallurgy was already at an advanced stage and
forged iron was not only used to meet the internal demands, but also became a valuable trade
commodity. The territorial heads ruling over various parts of India could not counter the superior
armed forces of Chandragupta I and had to surrender before him. It is conjectured that at the end
of his reign, the boundary of the Gupta Empire already extended to Allahabad.

SAMUDRAGUPTA

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Samudragupta (circa 335 – 375 CE), Chandragupta I‘s son who ascended the throne next, was a
military genius and he continued the growth of the kingdom. After conquering the remainder of
North India, Samudragupta turned his eyes to South India and added a portion of it to his empire
by the end of his Southern Campaign. It is generally believed that during his time the Gupta
Empire spanned from the Himalayas in north to the mouth of Krishna and Godavari rivers in the
South, from Balkh, Afghanistan in the west to the Brahmaputra River in the east.

Samudragupta was very attentive to rajdharma (duties of a king) and took special care to
follow Kautilya‘s (350 – 275 BCE) Arthashastra (an economic, social and political treatise that
has clear instructions about how a monarchy should be governed) closely. He donated large sums
of money for various philanthropic purposes, including the promotion of education. Besides
being a courageous king and able administrator, he was a poet and musician. The large number
of gold coins circulated by him showcases his multifaceted talent. An inscription, probably
commissioned by subsequent Gupta kings, known as the Allahabad Pillar is most eloquent about
his humane qualities. Samudragupta also believed in promoting goodwill among various
religious communities. He gave, for example, Meghavarna, king of Ceylon, permission and
support for the construction of a monastery in Bodh Gaya.

CHANDRAGUPTA II

A short struggle for power appears to have ensued after the reign of Samudragupta. His eldest
son Ramagupta became the next Gupta king. This was noted by 7th century CE Sanskrit author
Banbhatta in his biographical work, Harshacharita. What followed next forms a part of Sanskrit
poet and playwright Visakh Dutta‘s drama DeviChandra Guptam. As the story goes, Ramagupta
was soon overcome by a Scythian king of Mathura. But the Scythian king, besides the kingdom
itself, was interested in Queen Dhruvadevi who was also a renowned scholar. To maintain peace
Ramagupta gave up Dhruvadevi to his opponent. It is then Ramagupta‘s younger brother
Chandragupta II with a few of his close aides went to meet the enemy in disguise. He rescued
Dhruvadevi and assassinated the Scythian king. Dhruvadevi publicly condemned her husband for
his behaviour. Eventually, Ramagupta was killed by Chandragupta II who also married
Dhruvadevi sometime later.

Like Samudragupta, Chandragupta II (circa 380 – 414 CE) was a benevolent king, able leader
and skilled administrator. By defeating the satrap of Saurashtra, he further expanded his kingdom
to the coastline of the Arabian Sea. His courageous pursuits earned him the title of Vikramaditya.
To rule the vast empire more efficiently, Chandragupta II founded his second capital in Ujjain.
He also took care to strengthen the navy. The seaports of Tamralipta and Sopara consequently
became busy hubs of maritime trade. He was a great patron of art and culture too. Some of the
greatest scholars of the day including the navaratna (nine gems) graced his court. Numerous
charitable institutions, orphanages and hospitals benefitted from his generosity. Rest houses for
travellers were set up by the road side. The Gupta Empire reached its pinnacle during this time
and unprecedented progress marked all areas of life.

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POLITICS & ADMINISTRATION

Great tact and foresight were shown in the governance of the vast empire. The efficiency of their
martial system was well known. The large kingdom was divided into
smaller pradesha (provinces) and administrative heads were appointed to take care of them. The
kings maintained discipline and transparency in the bureaucratic process. Criminal law was mild,
capital punishment was unheard of and judicial torture was not practised. Fa Hien called
the cities of Mathura and Pataliputra as picturesque with the latter being described as a city of
flowers. People could move around freely. Law and order reigned and, according to Fa Hien,
incidents of theft and burglary were rare.

The following also speaks volumes about the prudence of the Gupta kings. Samudragupta
acquired a far greater part of southern India than he cared to incorporate into his empire.
Therefore, in quite a few cases, he returned the kingdom to the original kings and was satisfied
only with collecting taxes from them. He reckoned that the great distance between that part of
the country and his capital Pataliputra would hinder the process of good governance.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

People led a simple life. Commodities were affordable and all round prosperity ensured that their
requirements were met easily. They preferred vegetarianism and shunned alcoholic beverages.
Gold and silver coins were issued in great numbers which is a general indicative of the health of
the economy. Trade and commerce flourished both within the country and outside. Silk, cotton,
spices, medicine, priceless gemstones, pearl, precious metal and steel were exported by sea.
Highly evolved steelcraft led everyone to a belief that Indian iron was not subject to corrosion.
The 7 m (23 ft) high Iron Pillar in Qutub complex, Delhi, built around 402 CE, is a testimony to
this fact. Trade relations with Middle East improved. Ivory, tortoise shell etc. from Africa, silk
and some medicinal plants from China and the Far East were high on the list of imports. Food,
grain, spices, salt, gems and gold bullion were primary commodities of inland trade.

RELIGION

Gupta kings knew that the well-being of the empire lie in maintaining a cordial relationship
between the various communities. They were devout Vaishnava (Hindus who worship the
Supreme Creator as Vishnu) themselves, yet that did not prevent them from being tolerant
towards the believers of Buddhism and Jainism. Buddhist monasteries received liberal donations.
Yijing observed how the Gupta kings erected inns and rest houses for Buddhist monks and other
pilgrims. As a pre-eminent site of education and cultural exchange Nalanda prospered under their
patronage. Jainism flourished in northern Bengal, Gorakhpur, Udayagiri and Gujarat. Several
Jain establishments existed across the empire and Jain councils were a regular occurrence.

LITERATURE, SCIENCES & EDUCATION

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Sanskrit once again attained the status of a lingua franca and managed to scale even greater
heights than before. Poet and playwright Kalidasa created such epics
as Abhijnanasakuntalam, Malavikagnimitram, Raghuvansha and Kumarsambhaba. Harishena, a
renowned poet, panegyrist and flutist, composed Allahabad Prasasti, Sudraka
wrote Mricchakatika, Vishakhadatta created Mudrarakshasa and Vishnusharma
penned Panchatantra. Vararuchi, Baudhayana, Ishwar Krishna and Bhartrihari contributed to
both Sanskrit and Prakrit linguistics, philosophy and science.

Varahamihira wrote Brihatsamhita and also contributed to the fields of astronomy and astrology.
Genius mathematician and astronomer Aryabhata wrote Surya Siddhanta which covered several
aspects of geometry, trigonometry and cosmology. Shanku devoted himself to creating texts
about Geography. Dhanvantri‘s discoveries helped the Indian medicinal system
of ayurveda become more refined and efficient. Doctors were skilled in surgical practices and
inoculation against contagious diseases was performed. Even today, Dhanvantri‘s birth
anniversary is celebrated on Dhanteras, two days before Diwali. This intellectual surge was not
confined to the courts or among the royalty. People were encouraged to learn the nuances of
Sanskrit literature, oratory, intellectual debate, music and painting. Several educational
institutions were set up and the existing ones received continuous support.

ART, ARCHITECTURE & CULTURE

What philosopher and historian Ananda Coomaraswamy said in The Arts & Crafts of India &
Ceylone, about the art of the region must be remembered here,

The Hindus do not regard the religious, aesthetic, and scientific standpoints as necessarily
conflicting, and in all their finest work, whether musical, literary, or plastic, these points of view,
nowadays so sharply distinguished, are inseparably united.

The finest examples of painting, sculpture and architecture of the period can be found in Ajanta,
Ellora, Sarnath, Mathura, Anuradhapura and Sigiriya. The basic tenets of Shilpa
Shasrta (Treatise on Art) were followed everywhere including in town planning. Stone studded
golden stairways, iron pillars (The iron pillar of Dhar is twice the size of Delhi‘s Iron Pillar),
intricately designed gold coins, jewellery and metal sculptures speak volumes about the skills of
the metalsmiths. Carved ivories, wood and lac-work, brocades and embroidered textile also
thrived. Practicing vocal music, dance and seven types of musical instruments
including veena (an Indian musical stringed instrument), flute and mridangam (drum) were a
norm rather than exception. These were regularly performed in temples as a token of devotion. In
classic Indian style, artists and litterateurs were encouraged to meditate on the imagery within
and capture its essence in their creations. As Agni Purana suggests, ―O thou Lord of all gods,
teach me in dreams how to carry out all the work I have in my mind.‖

DECLINE OF THE EMPIRE

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After the demise of his father Chandragupta II, Kumaragupta I (circa 415 – 455 CE) ruled over
the vast empire with skill and ability. He was able to maintain peace and even fend off strong
challenges from a tribe known as Pushyamitra. He was helped by his able son Skandagupta (455
– 467 CE) who was the last of the sovereign rulers of the Gupta Dynasty. He also succeeded in
preventing the invasion of the Huns (Hephthalites). Skandagupta was a great scholar and wise
ruler. For the well being of the denizens he carried out several construction works including the
rebuilding of a dam on Sudarshan Lake, Gujarat. But these were the last of the glory days of the
empire.

After Skandagupta‘s death the dynasty became embroiled with domestic conflicts. The rulers
lacked the capabilities of the earlier emperors to rule over such a large kingdom. This resulted in
a decline in law and order. They were continuously plagued by the attacks of the Huns and other
foreign powers. This put a dent in the economic well-being of the empire. On top of this, the
kings remained more occupied with self-indulgence than in preparing to meet with the
challenges of their enemies. The inept ministers and administrative heads also followed suit.
Notably, after the defeat and capture of Mihirakula, one of the most important Hephthalite
emperors of the time, Gupta King Baladitya set him free on the advice of his ministers. The Huns
came back to haunt the empire later and finally drew the curtains on this illustrious empire in
circa 550. The following lines of King Sudraka‘s Mricchakatika (The Little Clay Cart) aptly sum
up the rise and fall in the fortune of the Gupta Dynasty.

Harsha-Vardhan : The last great Hindu ruler of Northern

India; cultural achievements during his period.
Emperor Harshavardhana, better known as Harsha, lived from 590 to 647 CE and was the third
ruler of the Vardhana Empire, the last great empire in ancient India before the Islamic Invasion.
He ruled from 606 CE to 647 CE. After Harshavardhana‘s death, however, the Vardhana dynasty
came to an end and its empire dissolved.

India, the land beyond the Indus river, has seen many rulers who dreamt of conquering the vast
country and rule from the Himalayas in the north to Deccan in south, from the mountains of
Kandhar in the west to Assam in the east, yet very few have been able to subdue history
according to their will. Harshavardhana was one such ruler. His empire may not be as large as
the great Mauryan's, yet he deserves special mention. After the fall of great Gupta Empire in the
middle of the 6th century CE, under whom India saw its own golden age, it was Harshavardhana
who unified most of northern India and ruled for four decades from his capital Kannauj.

RISE TO POWER & MILITARY CAMPAIGNS

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The Vardhana dynasty was started by Prabhakarana Vardhana who ruled the kingdom of
Thaneshwar, modern-day Haryana. Prabhakarana‘s queen Yasovati gave birth to two sons
Rajyavardhana and Harshawardhana and a daughter named Rajyashri who was later married to
king Grahvarmana of Kanyakubja, modern-day Kannauj. This was a period of tension as India
had to frequently deal with the invasion of the Huns of Central Asia. Once, emperor
Skandagupta of the Gupta Empire laid a crushing defeat on these barbaric tribes, yet these
constant fights were so costly that they weakened the empire to the core, and this eventually led
to the downfall of the Gupta Empire. As the western frontiers of India and areas adjoining the
Indus river were under the occupation of Huns, skirmishes between Huns and Thaneshwar were
regular. While Harsha and his brother were busy dealing with the Huns in the west, king
Prabhakarana died in Thaneshwar. He was succeeded by his elder son, Rajyavardhana.

AFTER HIS BROTHER’S DEATH, AT THE AGE OF 16, HARSHAVARDHANA BECAME THE
UNDISPUTED RULER OF THANESHWAR AND DECLARED WAR ON SASAKA TO AVENGE
HIS BROTHER AND EMBARKED UPON A CAMPAIGN OF DIGVIJAY, I.E.
TO CONQUER THE WORLD.

Meanwhile, in the east far greater events were happening which altered the course of history.
Sasaka, king of Gauda, modern-day Bengal, marched and killed king Grahvarmana, Rajyashri‘s
husband, and then kidnapped her. The kidnapping of his sister forced the elder Vardhana brother
to march east and confront Sasaka. Sasaka then invited Rajyavardhana for a meeting and
treacherously killed him. After his brother‘s death, at the age of 16, Harshavardhana became the
undisputed ruler of Thaneshwar and declared war on Sasaka to avenge his brother and embarked
upon a campaign of Digvijay, i.e. to conquer the world (which in this context means conquering
whole India). Yet, his foremost enemy was now Sasaka who had to face an angry brother‘s
wrath. Harsha issued a proclamation to all kings known to either declare allegiance to him or
face him on the battlefield. As Sasaka‘s enemies responded to Harsha‘s call, he marched on to
Kannuaj.

Although there is no evidence, a story in Harshacharitra claims that Rajyashri, when released
from prison, took refuge in the forest of Vindhyas. Hearing this, Harsha hurriedly went into the
forest to save her and found her just when she was about to commit suicide by throwing herself
in a fire. Rescuing his sister, he rejoined his army at the bank of Ganges. After this, Harsha easily
conquered Kannauj as Sasaka went back to Bengal, and thus began a long enmity. It was only
after Sasaka‘s death that Harsha was able to control entire eastern India including Magadha,
Bengal and Kalinga.

Harsha‘s Digvijay, or the conquest of the world had now begun. After Kannauj, he turned his
attention towards Gujarat. He defeated the local Valabhi kingdom and expanded his empire. Yet,
this rapid expansion led to tensions between him and the Chalukya king Pulakesin II. It was now
that the most powerful kingdoms of northern and southern India came face-to-face on the
battlefield on the banks of river Narmada. In the end, the southerners under the able leadership of

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Pulakesin II prevailed leaving the ambitious northern ruler, Harsha, defeated. They say Harsha
lost his cheer when he saw his elephants dying in the battle.

Harsha entered a peace treaty with the Chalukya king, which established Narmada river as the
southern boundary of his empire and after that he never advanced south again. Yet, this did not
halt his conquest of the north. He took the title of sakal uttara patha natha (lord of northern
India). Hieun Tsang tells us that:

He waged incessant warfare, until in six years he had fought thr five Indians(referring to five
largest kingdoms). Then, having enlarges his territory, he increased his army, bringing the
elephant corps upto 60,000 and the cavalry upto 100,000, and reigned in peace for thirty years
without raising a weapon (Majumdar, 252).

Yet many historians believe his claim may be exaggerated. Still, this gives a glimpse of his
military prowess.

The Vardhana Empire consisted of two distinctive types of territories: areas directly under
Harsha's rule such as Central Provinces, Gujarat, Bengal, Kalinga, Rajputana, and the states and
kingdoms which had become feudatories under him including Jalandhar, Kashmir, Nepal, Sind,
Kamarupa (modern-day Assam). Thus, many historians do not find the title justified as he was
never able to bring the entire north under a single command. Yet, this does not mean his power
was not felt beyond the limits of his direct rule. His writ ran across entire north India. Under his
command, King of Jalandhar escorted the Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang to the frontiers of India.
Another time, king of Kashmir had to submit a tooth relic of Buddha to Harsha. The Chinese
source suggests that the King of Kamarupa could not dare to detain a Chinese pilgrim in his
capital against the wishes of Harsha.

ART & EDUCATION

Harsha was a patron of both art and education. He himself was an author and wrote
three Sanskrit plays, Nagananda, Ratnavali, Priyadarshika. One-fourth of his revenue went for
patronizing scholars. Hiuen Tsang gives a quite vivid description of the famous Nalanda
University which was at its zenith during Harsha‘s reign. He described how the regularly laid-out
towers, forests of pavilions, temples seemed to "soar above the mists in the sky" so that from
their cells the monks "might witness the birth of the winds and clouds".
The pilgrim states:

An azure pool winds around the monasteries, adorned with the full-blown cups of the blue lotus;
the dazzling red flowers of the lovely kanaka hang here and there, and outside groves of mango
trees offer the inhabitants their dense and protective shade (Grousset,158,159).

In its heyday, Nalanda had around 10,000 students and 2,000 teachers. The admission process
was very strict. Records say there was a rigorous oral examination conducted by gatekeepers,

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and many used to be rejected. The curriculum included Vedas, Buddhism, philosophy, logic,
urban planning, medicine, law, astronomy, etc.

SOCIETY & RELIGION

Caste system was prevalent among Hindus. They were divided into four castes
or varna: Brahmana, Vaishya,Kshariya and Shudra, which among them had their own subcastes.
The untouchables, who came at the lowest in the hierarchy, led a miserable life. The status of
women declined as compared to the liberal era of earlier times. Satipratha (widow immolation)
was common, and widow remarriage was not allowed in higher castes.

Harsha was a worshiper of Shiva in the beginning but later became a Mahayana Buddhist. Yet,
he was tolerant of other faiths. With a view to popularize and propagate the doctrines of
Mahayana Buddhism, Harsha arranged at Kannauj a great assembly which was presided over by
Hiuen Tsang. Hiuen Tsang took a lot of manuscripts to China and translated more than 600 of
them from Sanskrit. Another great ceremony was held for 75 days at Prayag (Allahabad). The
images of Buddha, Sun and Siva were worshiped, and gifts of valuable articles and clothing were
distributed in charity. Every five years religious ceremonies were celebrated at the ancient city of
Allahabad. Here, he held the ceremony of Dana, or giving, which lasted for three months. During
this, most of the wealth accumulated in the last five years was exhausted. Once, he even gave his
clothes and jewellery and begged his sister for an ordinary garment to wear.

DEATH & LEGACY

Harsha‘s empire marked the beginning of feudalism in India. Land was granted in villages,
which made the local landlords powerful. This led to the weakening of the empire and gave rise
to local feuds. Harsha had to be in constant movement to keep things in order.

Harsha died in 647 AD, and the empire with him. The death of Harshavardhana is not well
documented. It is said that he was married to Durgavati and had two sons named Vagyavardhana
and Kalyanvardhana. The story goes that they were killed by a minister in his court, even before
the death of Harsha himself. Therefore, Harsha died without any heir. As a result, Arjuna, one of
the chief ministers took up the thrones. Later in 648 CE, Arjuna was captured and held prisoner
in an attack by the Tibetians.

The Cholas: Maritime activities in Sourth-east Asian

counturies. Chola administration, art & architecture.

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The founder of the Chola Empire was Vijayalaya, who was first feudatory of the Pallavas of
Kanchi. He captured Tanjore in 850 A.D. He established a temple of goddess Nishumbhasudini
(Durga) there.

Aditya I succeeded Vijayalaya. Aditya helped his overlord the Pallava king Aparajita against the
Pandyas but soon defeated him and annexed the whole of the Pallava kingdom.

By the end of the ninth century, the Cholas had defeated the Pallavas completely and weakened
the Pandyas capturing the Tamil country (Tondamandala) and including it under their
domination He then became a sovereign ruler. The Rashtrakuta king, Krishna II gave his
daughter in marriage to Aditya.

He erected many Shiva temples. He was succeeded in 907 A.D. by Parantaka I, the first
important ruler of the Cholas. Parantaka I was an ambitious ruler and engaged himself in wars of
conquest from the beginning of his reign. He conquered Madurai from the Pandya ruler
Rajasimha II. He assumed the title of Maduraikonda (captor of Madurai).

He, however, lost to the Rashtrakuta ruler Krishna III at the battle of Tokkolam in 949 A. D. The
Cholas had to cede Tondamandalam to the adversary. At that point of time the Chola kingdom
almost ceased to exist. It was a serious setback to the rising Chola power. The revival of Chola
power began from the accession of Parantaka II who recovered Tondamandalam to reestablish
dominance of the dynasty.

The climax in Chola power was achieved under the successor of Parantaka II, Arumolivarman,
who crowned himself as Rajaraja I in 985 A D the next thirty years of his rule formed the
formative periodof Chola imperialism.

The Chola kingdom grew under him into an extensive and well-knit empire, efficiently organized
and administered and possessing a powerful standing army and navy. Rajaraja began his
conquests by attacking the confederation between the rulers of the Pandya and Kerala kingdoms
and of Ceylon. Polonnaruva became the capital of Chola province in North Ceylon after the
defeat of Mahinda V, the Ceylonese king.

He also annexed the Maldives. Elsewhere, several parts of modern Mysore were conquered and
annexed which intensified their rivalry with the Chalukyas. Rajaraja built the magnificent Shiva
temple of Brihadeshwara or Rajaraja temple at Thanjavur which was completed in 1010. It is
considered a remarkable piece of architecture in South Indian style.

Rajaraja I also encouraged Sri Mara Vijayottungavarman, the Sailendra ruler of Sri Vijaya to
build a Buddhist Vihara at Negapatam. This vihara was called ‗Chudamani Vihara‘ after the
father of Sri Mara. Rajaraja was succeeded by his son Rajendra I in 1014 A.D. He ruled jointly
with his father for a few years. He also followed a policy of conquest and annexation adopted by

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his father and further raised the power and prestige of the Cholas. He followed the expansionist
policy and made extensive conquests in Ceylon.

The Pandya and Kerala country after being conquered was constituted as a viceroyalty under the
Chola king with the title of Chola-Pandya. Madurai was its headquarters. Proceeding through
Kalinga, Rajendra I attacked Bengal and defeated the Pala ruler Mahipala in 1022 A.D. But he
annexed no territory in north India.

To commemorate the occasion, Rajendra I assumed the title of Gangaikondachola (the Chola
conqueror of Ganga). He built the new capital near the mouth of the Kaveri and called it
Gangaikondacholapuram (the city of the Chola conqueror of the Ganga).

With his naval forces, he invaded Malaya Peninsula and Srivijaya Empire that extended over
Sumatra, Java and the neighbouring islands and controlled the overseas trade route to China. He
sent two diplomatic missions to China for political as well as commercial purposes.

Rajendra was succeeded by his son Rajadhiraja I in 1044 A.D. He was also an able ruler. He put
down the hostile forces in Ceylon and suppressed the rebellious Pandyas and subjugated their
territory. He celebrated his victory by performing Virabhisheka (coronation of the victor) at
Kalyani after sacking Kalyani and assumed the title of Vijayarajendra. He lost his life in the
battle with the Chalukyan king Someswara I at Koppam. His brother Rajendra II succeeded him.
He continued his struggle against Someswara.

He defeated Someswara in the battle of Kudal Sangamam. Next came Virarajendra I, he too
defeated the Chalukyas and erected a pillar of victory on the banks of Tungabhadra. Virarajendra
died in 1070 A.D. He was succeeded by Kulottunga I (1070-1122 A.D.) the great-grandson of
Rajaraja I. He was the son of Rajendra Narendra of Vengi and Chola princess Ammangadevi
(daughter of Rajendra Chola I). Thus Kulottunga I united the two kingdoms of the Eastern
Chalukyas of Vengi and the Cholas of Thanjavur.

The most important reforms carried out by him in the internal administration was the re- surveyal
of land for taxation and revenue purposes. He was also titled Sungam tavirtta (he who abolished
tolls). The Chola authority in Ceylon was overthrown by Vijayababu, the monarch of Ceylon
during Kulottunga‘s reign. He sent a large embassy of 72 merchants to China and also
maintained cordial relations with Sri Vijaya.

He defeated the rulers of the Pandya kingdom and that of Kerala. Thfe Chola Empire continued
for more than a century after him. Weak rulers succeeded him. The Cholas and the later
Chalukyas clashed for the overlordship of Vengi, the Tungabhadra doab and the Ganga country.

The Chola Empire continued in a flourishing condition during the twelfth century but declined
by the end of the thirteenth century. The Pandyan king Sundara rendered the final blow by

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seizing Kanchi in 1297 A.D. The place of the Cholas was taken over by the Pandyas and the
Hoysalas. This marked the end of the Chola power.

Architecture and Art

One of the largest empires in Indian history, that stretched till South East Asia, the Cholas used
their immense wealth, in building magnificent temples and structures. It would be an
understatement to call the architecture of the Chola period as grand, it was more like grandiose
and towering. The sheer size of their temples, the towering vimanas, the sculpted walls, just
every aspect of their monuments displayed grandeur. And of course nothing to beat the
Brihadeswara Temple at Thanjavur, that is a benchmark by itself in architectural excellence.

Even if the Cholas, had not built anything else, just the Brihadeeswara Temple would have been
enough. I mean just consider the facts, built fully of granite, finished within 5 years, that was
quite fast for that period. And then you have the vimana that towers to around 216 ft, and this is
just awe inspiring, on top of the tower, you have a kalasam, made out of a single block of stone,
that weighs around 20 tonnes, and was lifted to the top using an inclined plane that covered 6.44
km from the ground to the top. The Cholas built big, their structures were meant to tower, to
inspire awe, to take away the breath. It was not just the grand buildings, it was also the sculpture
and art that adorned them, which was equally breath taking.

The other magnificient structures built by the Cholas, were the temple at
Gangaikondacholapuram, which is next only to the Brihadeesvara temple at Tanjore, in size,
grandeur and architectural excellence.

And also the Airavateswara temple at Darasuram, dedicated to Lord Shiva, and so called,
because it is believed that the Shiva Linga here was worshipped by Indra's elephant Airavat.

The Chola period also witnessed a glorious phase in bronze casting, and making of idols. The
bronze idols of the Chola period, were more expressive in nature, and devoid of too many
intricate ornaments or designs. The bronze idol of Nataraja, the dancing form of Shiva,
represents the artistic excellence during that era.

Administration:

It was not just the fact that they built magnificent temples or made exquisite idols, the Cholas
also came up with an excellent system of governance and administration. While it was a
monarchy, like most other kingdoms of that era, there was a serious attempt to decentralize, and
provide self government right at the local level. The empire was divided into provinces called
Mandalams, and each of those Mandalams, further into Kottams, which again had districts,
called Nadus, that had Tehsils usually a group of villages. While Tanjore and Gangaikonda
Cholapuram were the main capitals, there also existed regional capitals at Kanchi and Madurai,
where courts were occasionally held.

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Their major achievement though was the local self government during their times, where villages
had their own self governance. Depending on the area they covered, villages again could be
Nadu, Kottram or Kurram, and a number of Kurrams made up a Valanadu. The village units had
the power to administer justice at the local level, and for most crimes, fines were imposed, which
went to the state treasury. Death penalty was given only for crimes that amounted to treason.

Economy
Chola period had a robust and thriving economy, that was built on 3 tiers. At the local level, it
was agricultural settlements, that formed the foundation, on top of this you had the Nagarams or
the commercial towns, that primarily acted as centers of distribution for items produced
externally and by local artisans for international trade. The top most layer was made of
"samayams" or merchant guilds, who organized and looked after the thriving international
maritime trade. With agriculture being the occupation of a large number of people, land revenue
was a major source of income to the treasury. The Cholas also built a large number of tanks,
wells, and a large number of channels to distribute water. They had also built stone masonry
dams over the Kaveri, and there was a thriving internal trade going on too.

Naval and Maritime Trade.

The Chola period would be noted for it's emphasis on maritime trade and conquest, they excelled
in ship building. While they had a strong internal maritime system, the Imperial Chola Navy
came into existence during the reign of Raja Raja Chola I, who strengthened it. Raja Raja
Chola's use of the Navy to subdue the Sinhalese king Mahinda, would be one of the greatest
naval victories ever. Another major achievement was the conquest of the Sri Vijaya kingdom
under Sailendra, now in Indonesia, by Raja Raja Chola's successor Rajendra Chola. Having
possesion of the East and West coasts of India, the Cholas had a thriving international trade with
the Tang dynasty in China, the Srivijaya empire in Malayan archipelago and the Abbasid
Caliphate in Baghdad. The Cholas also combated sea piracy succesfully in the Malayan
archipelago, and had a close trade with the Song dynasty in China, that led to advances in ship
building.

While the King was the supreme commander of the Navy, it had a highly organized structure,
that was divided into Ganams a Fleet squadron, usually commanded by a Ganapathy. And there
was a hierarchical ranking structure, below the King, that consisted of Jalathipathi(Admiral),
Nayagan( Fleet Commander), Ganathipathy(rear admiral), Mandalathipathy(vice admiral) and
Kalapathy( the ship captain). You also had separate departments for customs excise(Thirvai),
inspection and audits( Aaivu) and an intelligence corps( Ootru). The Cholas also had their own
coast guard equivalent in Karaipiravu. And this would be one of their finest achievements,
building a world class naval structure.

Literature
Often called as the Golden Age of Tamil culture, it was one of the greatest literary eras in history
equivalent to the Elizabethean reign in England or the Guptas in Northern India. Nambi Andar
collected the various works on Saivism and arranged them into eleven books called Tirumurais,

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and another great work of literature was the adaptation of the Ramayana into Tamil by Kamban,
called as the Ramavatharam. The period also saw excellent works on Tamil grammar like
Yapperungalam by Jain ascetic and Virasoliyam that attempts to find a balance between Tamil
and Sanskrit grammar by Buddhamitra.

Cultural Achievements of the Pallavas

Civilization and Culture of the Pallavas

The Pallava rule formed a golden epoch in the cultural history of south India. The period under
the Pallavas was marked by considerable literary activities and cultural revival. The Pallavas
warmly patronized Sanskrit language and most of the literary records of the time were composed
in that language. Due to the cultural renaissance and a great revival of the Sanskrit language a
galaxy of scholars flourished during the Pallava era, which accentuated the literary and cultural
development in Southern India. Tradition referred that Simhavishnu, the Pallava king invited the
great poet Bharvi to adorn his court. Dandin, the master of Sanskrit prose probably lived in the
court of Narasimhavarmana II. Under the royal patronage, Kanchi became the seat of Sanskrit
language and literature. The core of learning and education, Kanchi became the point of
attraction for the literary scholars. Dinanaga, Kalidasa, Bharvi, Varahamihir etc were the
distinguished person with enormous talent in the Pallava country. Not only the Sanskrit
literature, the Tamil literature also received a huge impetus during the Pallava period.
"Maatavailasa Prahasana", written by Mahendravarmana became very popular. The famous
Tamil classic "Tamil Kural was composed during the period under the royal patronage. Madurai
became a great center of the Tamil literature and culture. The Tamil grammar "Talakappiam" and
Tamil versical compilation "Ettalogai" etc were composed during the period. These were of
immense literary importance.

From the 6th century AD, due to the Sanskrit revival, long poetical composition replaced the
earlier style of the short poetry. Poetry was written according to the taste of the sophisticated and
aristocratic people of the society. The "Silappadigaram" is one of such work suited to the taste of
the sophisticated, educated people of the Pallava era. One of the most important literary works of
the time was "Ramayanam" by Kaban. This is known as the Tamil form and version of
Ramayana, where the character of Ravana was painted with all the noble virtues in comparison
to Rama. It is consistent with the Tamil tradition and Tamil ego against the Northern Ramayana
by Valmiki. The Buddhist literary work "Manimekhala" and the Jaina poetical work "Shibaga
sindamani" etc. also flourished during the period.

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The devotional songs composed by Vaishnava Alavaras and the Saiva Nayanaras also shared a
significant position in the cultural renaissance of the Pallava period. Appar, Sambandhar,
Manikkabsagar, Sundar were some of the devotional Narayana poets who composed Tamil
Stotras or hymns. Siva was the object of worship and love. Since the Pallava kings were great
musicians themselves they were the great patrons of music. Several celebrated musical treatise
were also composed under their patronage. During the time painting also received a great
patronage from the Pallava kings. Specimen of the Pallava painting has been found in the
Pudukottai State.

Civilization of the Pallava period was greatly influenced by the religious reform movement that
swept over India during the eighth century. The wave of the reform movement was originated in
the Pallava kingdom first. The Pallavas completed the Aryanisation of Southern India. The Jains
who had entered south India earlier had set up educational centers at Madurai and Kanchi. They
also made a massive use of Sanskrit, Prakrit and Tamil as the medium of their preaching. But in
the competition with the growing popularity of the Brahmanical Hinduism, Jainism lost its
prominence in the long run.

Mahendravarmana lost interest in Jainism and became a staunch follower and patron of Saivism.
Consequently Jainism began to fade out and continued in diminishing glory in centers like
Pudukottai and in the hilly and forest regions.

Buddhism, which had earlier penetrated in the south, fought against invading Brahmanism in the
monasteries and public debates. The Buddhist scholars debated finer points of theology with
Brahmanical scholars and mostly lost the ground.

The civilization of the Pallava period was marked by the tremendous ascendancy of the
Hinduism, which has been branded by the modern historians as the victory of the northern
Aryanism. It is said that the influx of the mlechcha Sakas, Huns and the Kushanas in Northern
India had polluted the significance of the Vedic rites and religion. In order to protect the purity of
Vedic religion many Brahmins migrated to Southern India and preached the Vedic Religion.
Henceforth the civilization of Deccan or southern India was mostly influenced by the
Brahmanical Hinduism. Pallavas became the patrons of the orthodox Vedic preachers. The
performance of the horse sacrifices by the Pallava rulers testified the ascendancy of the Vedic
civilization. The success of Hinduism was mostly caused by the royal patronage to this religion.
Sanskrit was the vehicle of the Brahmanical thought. Hence both the Brahmanical religion and
Sanskrit literature made a great progress during the Pallava period. Several centers for the
Brahmanical study sprang up. These study centers were closely connected with the temple
premises and were known as Ghetikas. The study of the Brahmanical scriptures and literatures
was the order of the day. The Pallava kings in order to promote the Brahmanical civilization
made land grants or agraharas to the maintenance of the educational institutions. In the 8th
century AD, another significant Hindu institution called Mathas or monasteries were in vogue.
They were a combination of temple, rest houses, educational centers, debating and discoursing
centers and the feeding Houses. The university of Kanchi became the spearhead of Aryan-

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Brahmanical influences of the South. Kanchi was regarded as one of the sacred cities of the
Hindus. The Pallava king though mainly were the worshippers of Vishnu and Siva, they were
tolerant towards other religious creeds. Although the religions like Buddhism and Jainism lost its
former significance during the Pallava era, yet the civilization of the Pallava period was marked
by the multiethnicity promoted by the Pallava kings.

The Arab Invasion of India

The first incursion by the new Muslim successor states of the Persian Empire occurred around
664 CE during the Umayyad Caliphate, led by Mohalib towards Multan in Southern Punjab, in
modern day Pakistan. Mohalib's expeditions were not aimed at conquest, though they penetrated
only as far as the capital of the Maili, he returned with wealth and prisoners of war. This was an
Arab incursion and part of the early Umayyad push onwards from the Islamic conquest of Persia
into Central Asia, and within the limits of the eastern borders of previous

Persian empires.

The first attack of Arabs under Ubaidullah failed. He was defeated and killed, After this, a series
of expeditions were sent to conquer an outpost of Sindh, which all ended in failure. Then Hajjaj
made elaborate preparation for the attack on Sindh and sent a powerful army under the command
of his nephew and son-in-law Muhammad bin Qasim in 711 AD with 6000 horses, 6000 camels,
3000 animals loaded with equipments and a large infantry. Muhammad bin Qasim proceded
towards Sindh through Makarana and first conquered Debel where he received fresh
reinforcement sent by Hjjaj through the sea.

Sind, a principality on the shores of the Arabian Sea and the lower reaches of the Indus,was
invaded from the sea by the Muslims in 711. The sea port of Daibul fell first, thenseveral towns
on the banks of the Indus, including Arur, the capital. Finally, in 713, the Arabs took Multan and
the conquest was complete. The fall of Sind opened the way to the
markets of Central Asia.

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The Ghaznavid Invasion of India.

The Ghaznavid Dynasty was founded after the Turk slaves reached higher posts, such as
commander-in-chiefs, in the Samanid court; they then took over the state of Khorasan. The real
founder of the Ghaznavid Dynasty is, in fact, Sabuktigin. It was in his time that the Ghaznavid
sovereignty expanded. Mahmud Ghazni was Son of Sabuktigin, the founder of Ghazni dynasty &
Turkish slave commander.

In all Mahmud Ghazni invaded India 17 times during AD 1000–1026.Mahmud Ghazni first
encountered the Hindushai ruler, Jaipal in AD 1001. In the years AD 1004–06 Mahmud Ghazni
attacked the rulers of Multan. Soon Punjab also passed into the hands of the Ghaznavids.
Between AD 1014–1019, Mahmud enriched his treasury by looting the temples of Nagarkot,
Thanesar, Mathura and Kanauj.
The attack against Nagarkot in AD 1008 has been described as his first great triumph. In AD
1025, Mahmud embarked on the most ambitious Indian campaign, the attack on the Somnath
temple in Saurashtra. Mahmud captured the city after grim struggle in which more than 50,000
defenders lost their lives. Mahmud left Somnath after a fortnight when he came to know that the
Gujarat king Bhima-I had completed preparations to confront him. His attacks on India were an
attempt to fulfil his ambi- tion to make Ghazni the formidable power in the politics of Central
Asia. Mahmud‘s raids into India were only to acquire the famous wealth of India. This wealth
would help him to consolidate his vast rule in Central Asia. He did not wish to establish an
empire in India. The Ghaznavids had their control on parts of Punjab and Sind which continued
till AD 1135. However his invasions exposed the weak defence of Indian kingdoms. They also
opened possibility of attacks in future by the Turks.

The Delhi Sultanate : Market and Military Reforms of

Allauddin Khilji;Utopian policies of Muhainmad-bin-Tughlaq.
Muhammad Ghori returned to Ghori, leaving his Indian territories in the charge of his trusted
general Qutub-ud –din Aibak. After Ghori‘s death in 1206, Qutub-ud-din Aibak proclaimed
himself as the ruler of the Turkish territories in India. He took the title of Sultan and made Delhi
his capital. This marked the beginning of The Delhi Sultanate. The rulers of Delhi, who ruled
from 1206-90, were Mamluk Turks.Mamluk is an Arabic word meaning ―owned‖.

Qutbuddin Aibek was born in an aristocratic family of Turkistan. He was sold even in childhood.
A Qazi of Nishapur (Khurasan) purchased him. He managed for his religious and military
education. After the death of the Qazi, his sons sold him to a trader. This trader took Aibek to
Ghazni and sold him to Muhammad Ghori.
After winning the second battle of Tarain, Muhammad Ghori appointed Aibek as ruler of his
Indian empire. Aibek ruled from 1192 AD to 1206 AD as the representative of Muhammad
Ghori. He became an independent sultan of India after the death of Muhammad Ghori. He ruled
for about 4 years (1206 – 10 AD).

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The new theory of kingship as propounded by Ala-ud-Din Khilji was similar to that of Balban,
he maintained that the Sultan was the God‘s representative on earth. As such none had the right
to flout his authority; the sultan is the focal point of all the administration. He is the Commander-
in-Chief, the Chief Justice and the Supreme administrator, all in one. He was intolerant to any
section that would seem to challenge his authority. In this way he did not sit in peace until he had
brought under his effective control the rich aristocracy, the ulema and the commoners. He
appointed a team of able ministers to assist him in establishing an autocratic set-up.
All the central ministers were really able and efficient and they helped the Sultan whole-
heartedly. These provinces were governed with the help of highly efficient persons. These
governors were loyal to the Sultan. Malik Kafur, Ulugh Khan and Ghazi Malik were some of the
famous officers. It was the help of these ministers and governors that Ala-ud-Din succeeded in
establishing his personal autocracy.

1. Administrative and Revenue Reforms. In the earlier period of Ala-ud-Din reign several of his
nobles broke out in open revolt. After deliberate thinking he
came to the conclusion that excess of money with the Amirs, habit of drinking wine, inter-
mixing of nobles and Sultan‘s own negligence were the root causes of these rebellions. Therefore
he took several to curb seditions and revolts:
a. Confiscation of Wealth. Ala-ud-Din confiscated the Jagirs of the Amirs and the nobles. He
also confiscated their wealth on one pretext or the other.
He reduced them to such a state of poverty that most of the time they were worried about a
square meal a day. In such circumstance they could hardly think of any revolt.
b. Ban on Drinking. Ala-ud-Din himself gave up drinking and emptied the jars of wine stored for
the royal use. Sale and drinking of wine was prohibited. Those who broke this law were severely
punished.
c. Ban on inter-mixing among Nobles. The Amirs and the nobles were prohibited from
entertaining one another at feasts and parties of contracting
matrimonial alliances, without the Sultan‘s permission. It was done so that they might not form a
group or hatch a conspiracy or sedition against the Sultan. Now the Amirs kept themselves shut
in their homes.
d. The Spy-System. Ala-ud-Din had spread a strong spy-system throughout his realm. It helped
him in keeping close vigilance on all happenings in
his kingdom as well as on the activities of his Amirs and nobles and to defeat and curb their
seditious designs before they were hatched. The Amirs were so scared of these spies that they
were afraid even of expressing their personal views openly.
e. The Revenue System. Ala-ud-Din reformed his revenue system in order to amass enough
money for suppressing revolts and maintaining a strong
army for keeping internal peace and order. Land-revenue for all the lands was remixed. In the
Doab, the revenue rates were doubled and the people living there were forced to pay it in kind.
The salaries of the revenue officials were increased to make them desist from accepting bribes.
The revenue records were kept up to date and the dues were realized strictly.
f. Harsh Treatment of the Hindus. Ala–ud-Din policy towards the Hindus was quite harsh and

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cruel. They were to pay higher rate of land revenue

and several other taxes which reduced them to mere paupers.

g. Administration freed from Religious Domination. Ala-ud-Din was an orthodox Muslim and
held the Ulemas in high esteem. But be kept politics separate
from religion. He never tolerated religious interference in the affairs of the state, nor did he give
the Ulemas and their views any importance in matters of administration.

Market Reforms of Ala-ud-Din Khilji

1. Fixation of Prices. As the taxes were already high, there was no scope to raise them further.
On the other hand, the soldiers felt it hard to meet their both ends with the wages and salaries
that were paid to them. Therefore, Ala-ud-Din fixed the prices of almost all the articles of daily
use as low as possible.
2. Storage and supply. Besides fixing the prices, large quantities of commodities were also stored
by the state. (i) All farmers and producers within 100
miles of Delhi were ordered to sell their produce direct to the government. (ii) Granaries and
store-houses were built with large storage capacity to store large quantities of corn. (iii) Grain
was sold to people at a fixed price during draught and scarcity.
3. Control over the Means of Transport. Strict control was also exercised on the means of
transport. The Banjara traders (Pedlars) engaged in transportation of corn were required to get
their names registered with the authorities. Protection was given to both the life and property of
these traders. Loans were also given to them.
4. Supervision of the Market. There were two officials, called the ‗Diwan-i-Risalat‘ and the
‗Shahani-i-Mandi‘, to see that the traders did not over-
charge or under-weigh. Those who gave short weight were severely punished by cutting from
their body a piece of flesh equivalent to the deficit in weight.
5. Merits of the System. Ala-ud-din succeeded in maintaining a large army at the lowest possible
cost by fixing lower rates of different articles. Besides
the army it also benefitted the poor-workers and small artisans also who could get the articles of
daily need at quite low rates.

Utopian policies of Muhainmad-bin-Tughlaq.

1. Heavy taxation in the Doab

2. Transfer of the capital

3. Issue of token currency

4. Bribing to Mongols

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5. Plan to conquer Khurasan and Iraq

6. The Quarajal expedition

7. The Deccan Policy.

The Mongol invasion of India

During Sultan Qutb-ud-din Aibak‘s time, the Mongols, appeared in the East of India and
emerged as a great power under the leadership of Genghiz Khan (1165-1227). He was born in
1165 to Yesugei and Hoelun. He was brought up by his ablest mother Hoelun after his father was
poisoned to death by Tatars. In his incessant wars, he exhibited such remarkable traits of heroism
and diplomacy that led him to transform the entire social and military structure of Mongolia.

The Mongol troops had a strict code of discipline and harsh penalties for infringements of
regulations. The Mongol
hordes were divided in units of 10, 100, 1,000, and 10,000 soldiers (known as an arban, jagun,
minghan and tümen respectively; the latter corresponds to a modern regiment).
Under this system fighters from different tribes were united in unified military formations, whose
chief strategy was to ―march divided, attack united,‖ and the strategies used were based on large-
scale skirmish manoeuvres that helped the Mongols defeat numerically superior but fragmented

forces from the Oxus to the Volga.

While chasing Jalal-ud-Din Khwarzam Shah (Ruler of Khwarazmian dynasty), Genghiz Khan
stormed Afghanistan and the territories nowadays parts of Pakistan. Initially, Jalal-ud-Din
defeated an advance Mongol army with the help of the Afghan fighters. However after the
coming of Genghiz Khan, Jalal-ud-Din left Ghazni and entered into the areas of the Delhi
Sultanate and encamped at the west bank of river Indus. In December 1221 AD, Genghiz Khan
followed him and crushed his army while he fled crossing the Indus waters. He was given refuge
by the Delhi Sultan. Genghiz Khan marched back due to hot summer. But in his way back he
devastated the present day Punjab, Afghan borderland, Ghazni and Herat.

In 1235 Mongol force invaded Kashmir, stationing a darughachi (administrative governor) there
for several years, and Kashmir became a Mongolian dependency

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In 1285 AD, the Mongols invaded Multan and killed Prince Muhammad Khan.

During the reign of Ala-ud-din Khilji, Mongols invaded the country several times but were
successfully repulsed. From these invasion Alla-ud-din Khilji learnt the lessons of keeping
himself prepared, by fortifying and organizing his armed forces.

The invasion of Mongol ruler Timur in 1398 A.D. sealed the fate of the Tughluq dynasty.
Muhammad fled and Timur captured the city and destroyed many temples in north India.
Thousands of people were killed and Delhi was plundered for fifteen days, Timur returned to
Samarkhand carrying away a large amount of wealth with him.

Religious Movements: Sufism

‗Sufism‘ is a term used to refer to mystical religious ideas in Islam. It had evolved into a well
developed movement by the 11 century. Sufis, stress on the importance of traversing the path of
the Sufi pir enabling one to establish a direct communion with the divine. Sufism or mysticism
emerged in the 8 century and among the early known Sufis were Rabia al-Adawiya, Al-Junaid
and Bayazid Bastami.

Sufism is deeply rooted with Islam and its development began in the late 7th and 8th centuries.
The Sufis love their creator, cherish the desire of His closeness and follow His path. According
to Islam, there are two types of service. Throughout the night, they remain in prayer, meditation
and contemplation of Allah and throughout the day, they

serve His creatures especially human beings.

The following fundamental Principles of Sufism are found in Islam:-

i. Kashf is a source of knowledge.

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ii. God is unique, eternal and all-pervading.

iii. The world is transitory.
iv. God is near to His creatures.

The khanqah (the hospice) was the center of activities of the various sufis orders.The khanqah
was led by shaikh, pir or murshid (teacher) who lived with his murids (disciples). In time the
Khanqahs emerged as important centres of learning and preaching. By the twelfth century the
sufis were organized in silsilahs (orders). The word silsila meant chain and it represented
signifying an unbreakable chain between the pir and the murid. With the death of the pir his
tomb or shrine the dargah became a centre for his disciples and followers.

The major silisilahs in India were the Chisti, Qadri, Naqshbandi and Suharwardy Abul Fazl in
Ain-i-Akbari gave a list of all that existed during his time, with some details leading Sufis

The Chishti order was founded in a village called Khwaja Chishti (near Herat). In India, the
Chishti silsilah was founded by Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti (born c. 1142) who came to India
around 1192. He made Ajmer the main centre for his teaching. He believed that serving mankind
was the best form of devotion and therefore he worked amongst the downtrodden.

Suharwardi Silsila entered India at the same time as the Chishtis and its activities were confined
to the Punjab and Multan.It was established in India by Bahauddin Zakanya. The Most well-
known saints were Shaikh shihabuddin Suharwadi and Hamidud-din Nagori.

Naqshbandi Silsilah was established in India by Khwaja Bahauddin Naqshbandi. From the
beginning the mystics of this Order stressed on the observance of the shariat and denounced all
innovations or biddat. Sheikh Baqi Billah the successor to Khawaja Bahauddin Naqshbandi
settled near Delhi, and his successor Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi attempted to purge Islam from all
liberal and what he believed were ‗un-Islamic‘ practices. He opposed the listening of sama
(religious music) and the practice of pilgrimage to the tombs of saints.

Religious Movements: The Bhakti movement

The Bhakti movement in Indian history represents a movement that popularized devotional
surrender to a personally conceived supreme God. Its origins are traced to the Brahamanical and
Buddhist traditions of ancient India. It was in south India that it grew from a religious tradition
into a popular movement based on religious equality and broad based social participation. The
movement led by popular saints reached its climax in the 10 century A.D.

The development of Bhakti movement took place in Tamil Nadu between the seventh andtwelfth
centuries. It was reflected in the emotional poems of the Nayanars (devotees of Shiva) and
Alvars (devotees of Vishnu).

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The Bhakti movement in India was characterized by:-

(i) the rejection of the then existing ritual hierarchy and Brahmanical superiority'

(ii) The use of vernacular or local language in preference to Sanskrit (the language of the elite)

(iii) the emergence of the low-caste non-literate' persons like Rameja Dasar, Pillai Uranga, Villi
Dasar and Kanak Dasar in the south and Kabir, Raidas, and Dadu in the north as great spiritual
leaders. There was large scale participation of peasantry, artisans, and other lower classes as well
as of ritually inferior but economically powerful groups like merchants and craftsmen in these
devotional movements.

The term bhakti is defined as ―devotion‖ or passionate love for the Divine. Moksha or liberation
from rebirth was not in the following of rules, regulations or societal ordering, it was through
simple devotion to the Divine. Within the movement at large, useful distinctions have been made
by contemporary scholars between those poet saints who composed verses extolling God with
attributes or form, namely, ―saguna‖ bhaktas, and, those extolling God without and beyond all
attributes or form, ―nirguna.‖

Some of the famous Bhakti Saints are:-

 Ramanuja: Born in A.D. 1166 in a small town near Chenni (Madras), Ramanuja was a
worshipper of Vishnu and preached Vaishnavism. He had a great following in the South.
Ramananda: The greatest preacher of this cult in north India was Ramananda. He
discarded all caste distinctions and his disciples belonged to all castes.

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 Kabir: He was perhaps the most popular reformer of his times. He was a disciple of
Ramananda. Kabir was against idol worship or any sort of rituals.
 Namdeva: He was a Maratha saint, born into a low family. He too believed in the oneness
of God. He travelled far and wide and had discussions with the Sufis. A large number of
Muslims also became his followers.
 Chaitanya Mahaprabhu: He was a religious teacher from Bengal and an ardent devotee of
Lord
Krishna. HE travelled widely and popularized hymns sung in praise of Krishna.
 Mirabai: Mirabai was a Rajput princess and a passionate devotee of Krishna. She
preached in Brijbhasha, the common language of the people. Her song and verses are
very popular even today.
 Guru Nanak : Nanaka was born in 1469 in the village to Talwandi. Presently the place is
known as Nankana in the Sheikhupura district of West Punjab. His parents belonged to
Khatri caste. His father Kalu was the Patwari of the village. Nanaka was educated in the
village school.
 Vallabhacharya : Vallabhacharya was a Tailang Brahmin. He preached the worship of
Vishnu in the form of Krishna. He was born in 1479 in the Telugu country. He visited
Mathura, Vrindavan and many other sacred places and finally settled at Varanasi. The
feeling of Bhakti or devotion can be traced back to the Rig Veda. It is the very first hymn
of the Rig Veda, which gives expression to a feeling of intimacy with the highest god. In
the Katha Upanisad it is said that the divine help, which is the reward to Bhakti, is
necessary before one can be saved.

Indo Islamic Architecture

The Ghurid occupation of India at the close of the 12 century A.D has shown the seeds of Indo-
Islamic architecture in the Indian Subcontinent . The Muslims having inherited a wealth of
varied designs from Sassanian and Byzantine empires and being naturally endowed with good
taste for buildings, never failed to adapt to their own requirements the indigenous architecture of
almost every foreign country that they conquered.

The most important factors common to both forms of architecture, especially in respect of
mosques and temples, were that to both styles, ornamental decoration was very vital and that the
open court in many cases was surrounded by colonnades. But the contrast was equally striking:
the prayer chamber of the mosque was spacious, whereas the shrine of the temple was
comparatively small.

The distinctive features of Indo-Islamic architecture were :-

(a) dome;

(b) lofty towers or minarets;

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(c) arch; and

(d) the vault

The tomb architecture is also another feature of the Islamic architecture as the practice of the
burial of the dead is adopted. The general pattern of the tomb architecture is consisted of a
domed chamber (hujra), a cenotaph in its centre with a mihrab on the western wall and the real
grave in the underground chamber.

The pietra dura or coloured stone inlay work on marble became very popular in the days of Shah
Jahan

and the finest examples of this type of work are available in the Red Fort in Delhi and the Taj
Mahal at Agra. Besides, the structures within the Fatehpur Sikri complex, the forts at Agra and
Lahore and the Shahi mosques in Delhi and Lahore are an important part of our heritage. During
this period mosques, tombs of kings and dargahs came to
dominate the landscape.

The first distinct example of proper Mughal architecture inspired by Persian architecture, is the
tomb of Humayun, in Delhi, built by his widow, Begha Begum. This tomb is important for a
proper study of the development of later Mughal architecture and has provided the prototype,
followed by architects who designed the Mausoleum of Jahangir at Shahdara, Lahore, as well as
the celebrated Taj Mahal, at Agra.

Development of Hindi and Urdu Language

Hindi and Urdu are two Hindustani Languages; spoken mostly in the northern and Central India
and in Pakistan.

Hindi and Urdu are two different languages but these languages have many common things.
Both Hindi and Urdu are developed in a similar phase and adopted many changes.

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We will discuss about the development of both the languages one by one.

Development of Hindi:

Hindi in Khariboli form has been accepted as official language of India. It is written in
Devnagari script. It is listed in the 22 scheduled languages of India in our Constitution.

Hindi is one of the youngest languages of India which come in literary only before 2-3 centuries
back.

Hindi is 4th the most speaking languages of the world after Mandarin, Spanish and English.

Now we will dig deep to find the foundation of Hindi language. Hindi is an Indo-Aryan
Language which find its root in various Prakrit languages in India. There were various Prakrit
was being spoken in various regions of like Magadhi, Ardha Magadhi, Himalayan Prakrit,
Shaurseni Prakrit etc.

This was around 500-600 century than these Prakrit were developed in their regions under the
patron of their rulers. Although Sanskrit was used as official communication and for literary
works, yet regional languages were the languages of the masses.

Hindi language was originally called Hindvi. It started taking shape around 10th century. It was
mostly spoken in the present day Delhi. It was highly influenced by the Shaurseni Aprabhansha.

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The vocabulary is derived mostly from the Sanskrit Language.

We can divide the development of Hindi language in 3 stages for our understanding:

1. Early Stages
2. Middle Stage

 Modern Stage

1. Early Stage: This was the making time of Hindi when it was finding its root in regional
Prakrit. The time can be considered form 5th century to 1300 AD. In this time

1. Middle Stage: We can mark this time from 14th century to 1800 Century. In this stage
various saints and other poet wrote which was the basis of Modern day Hindi. Kabir,
Ramananda, Tulsidas, Gurunanak, Meerabai , Amir Khusrau had much impact on this.

 Modern Stage: This was the time when Hindi language developed fully. A lot of
development happened during this time from grammar to modern novel writing. A lot of
writers and scholars have done a lot for the development of Hindi. Bharatendu

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Harishchandra also known as father of Modern Hindi Literature; did a lot for the
development of Hindi and to shape it in standardized form.

Development of Urdu:

The early history of Hindi and Urdu is almost same. The invasion of foreigner from western part
of India from Middle East brought many changes in the Indian people. The changes was not only
in culture, lifestyle but was in the language as well. The invaders patronized Persian and Arabic
form of languages; which influenced the local languages and vice-versa.

Urdu is also a Hindustani language which found its origin in various other languages. Urdu is
mostly spoken in the northern parts of India and is official language of some states of India.
After the partition of India, Urdu was accepted as national language of Pakistan.

Urdu is developed from the medieval Apabhramsa of Shaurseni.

Shaurseni is an Indo-Aryan language that is also the ancestor of other modern languages,
including the Punjabi and Hindi dialects.

Around 99% of Urdu verbs have their roots in Sanskrit and Prakrit.

Urdu developed under the influence of the Persian and Arabic languages, both of which have
contributed a significant amount of vocabulary to formal speech.

The development of Urdu can be summarized in three stages:

1. Early Stage
2. Middle Stage

 Modern Stage

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1. Early Stage: The early stage of Hindi and Urdu is almost same where it was finding its
source in regional Prakrit languages. Invaders of Muslim rulers from West also brought
development to initial stages. This period can be marked from 500-1300 AD.

1. Middle Stage: With the upcoming of Muslims rulers from west in India Persian language
become prominent. Persian language itself has its roots in Arabic language. Urdu was
influenced by the Perso-Arabic language duo and marked its tremendous development.
Period: 1400AD -1800 AD

 Modern stage: British had played important role in developing Modern day Urdu
language. Persian was the official language of many ruler‘s court, British were not happy
with this and they tried developing Urdu to counter Persian language. Modern writers
also played an important role in development of Urdu language.

Mughal Empire
Mughal Empire (1526 A.D.-1857 A.D.)

Babur-

His actual name was Zahiruddin Mohammed, son of Omar Sheikh Mirza, the king of Ferghana
in Afghanistan. His ambition was to conquer Samarkand, the seat of Timur. In 1527 A.D., Babur
defeated ranasanga in the battle of Kanwa. In the battle of Chanderi (1528 A.D.), Babur defeated
Mediniroy. In the battle of Gogra in 1529 A.D., Babur defeated Mohd Lodi, brother of Ibrahim
Lodi and conquered Bengal. Babur wrote his memories in Turkish language. It was called
Tuzak-i-Babari or babarnamah.

Humayun (1530 A.D.- 1555 A.D.)

Humayun means ‗the most fortunate‘. In 1537 A.D., he conquered Gujarat. His arch enemy was
sher shah. Humayun defeated sher shah suri in the battle of Chausa in 1540 A.D. and for the
second time in the battle of bilgram (1540 A.D.). The mughals lost delhi in the battle of bilgram
for the first time. Humayun took shelter in the court of Rana Prasad of Amarkot. In 1545 A.D.,

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humayun defeated sikandar shah of the suri dynasty in the battle of sarhind and got back delhi.
He fell from his personal library at dinpanah and died.

Akbar (1556 A.D.- 1605 A.D.)

Second battle of Panipat( October 1556 A.D.) was fought between Akbar and Hemu. Hemu took
the title of ‗Raja Vikramajeet‘. Akbar was declared the emperor of Hindustan at Kalanoor in sind
without being coronated by his tutor Bairam Khan. The mughals got back delhi in the second
battle of Panipat by killing Hemu.upto 1562 A.D., the government was called ‗Purdah
government‘ as mahamanagabagum, the first wife of Humayun ,hamidabanu begum and bairam
khan managed the administration.

Akbar,s conquests-

In 1562 A.D., Rani durgavati of godwana was defeated.

In 1564 A.D., Bazbahadurof malwa was defeated.

In 1570 A.D., Dawood khan of Bengal was killed.

In 1572 A.D., Muzaffar shah of Gujarat was defeated.

In 1585 A.D, Akbar conquered Kashmir defeated Md. Padshah.

In 1600 A.D., Rani chandbibi of Amhmednagar was defeated btAbulFazl who sent by Akbar.
this was the last conquest of Akbar.

Akbar,s Rajput policy-

Akbar was a great pragmatist. He was the first Muslim ruler to realize that without the help of
the Rajput‘s, no permanent empire could be set up in India. In January, 1562 when the Akbar
was going to Ajmer to visit the holy shrine of Saint Chishti, he accepted the submission of Raja
Bharmal of Amber and welcomed a matrimonial alliance with that Kachhwaha ruling family and
on his return from Ajmer Akbar married with his daughter on 6th February, 1562.

Bharmal with his son Bhagwant Das and grandson Man Singh accompanied the Emperor to
Aagra where he was given a command of 5,000 and his son and grandson were granted
commissions in the imperial army.

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The Rajput policy of Akbar was wise and statesman like. He succeeded in bringing the majority
of the Rajput kingdoms under his authority. What is more important, Akbar was able to enlist the
support of the Rajputs in fighting his wars.

But it would be a mistake to suppose that Akbar‘s Rajput policy was wholly successful. It was
not. He was unable to break the power and pride of Mewar. It was not till Jahangir‘s time that
Mewar concluded terms with the Mughals. Even then the Mughal Emperor had to concede to the
ruler of Mewar, a status of special honour and privilege.

Akbar,s Religious policy-

In 1562 A.D., Akbar banned force conversion.

In 1563 A.D. the pilgrim tax on Hindus was abolished.

In 1564 A.D. JIzia tax was abolished.

In 1575 A.D. Akbar constructed Ibadatkhana at FatehpurSikri for religious discourses and
discussions to be conducted every Thursday.

Akbar invited father monsuratte and father Aquinois to speak on Christianity, Pt. Puroshottam on
Hinduism, jainasenasuri on Jainism and Raza on parsi religion.

In 1579 A.D., he issued his famous decree of infallibility called mahazir or Mahzarnama.

It was drafted by sheikh Mubarak. With he decree, Akbar became Mir-i-Adil (chief interpretor of
konan). In 1582 A.D. akbar founded a new faith called Din-iillahi. It was also called tauhid-i-
illahi meaning universal faith. Its main theme sul-i-khul interpreted as ‗peace and harmony‘ was
introduced for the first time by abdullatif, the teacher of akbar. din-i-illahi was openly criticized
by raja bhagwan das.

Revenue Administration:

Akbar initially followed Sher Shah, revenue systems, particularly the Zabt system. Raja Todal
Mal was made the Revenue Minister of Akbar and was known as Diwan-i-Ashraf. Todar Mal
introduced ‗Bandobast‘, a revenue assessment system classified into four categories:

Polaj (best tract), Parauti (second best), Checher (3rd grade) and Banjar (least fertile). On the
basis of the average produce for the last 10 years, the category of land was decided and
accordingly tax was levied. Dastur-ul-Amal was the price list for every area‘s agricultural
commodities. Akbar appointed supervisors for revenue collection called karoris at paraganah
level.

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Military Administration (Mansabdari System)

The Mansabdari system was the unique administration system under the Mughals. Though
introduced by Babur, it was perfected by Akbar. themansabdars were the civil servants selected
on merit. They discharged civil, military, and judicial functions on behalf of the state/Emperor
and were given land called Jagirs. The highest rank in Mansabdari of above 5000 was conferred
by Akbar on raja man singhndAzizuddinKuka (11,000 sawars).

Mir-i-Atish was in charge of artillery.

Mir-i-Bahari was in charge of navy.

Mir-i-Askan was in charge of the military offences.

Jahangir (1605 A.D.- 1628 A.D.)

His pet name was Sheikh baba. He hung the ‗bell of justice‘ in Agra Fort. He executed his son
khusrau and also the fifth guru ArjunDev for supporting him. Mehr-un-nisa begum was given the
tilte of ‗Noorjahan‘and she became popular as padshah begum. She founded her own group
called junta consisting of herself, her father MirzaGhiaz Beg (itamad-ud-daula)and her brother
Asaf khan.

Khurram (shahjahan) made Rana Amar singh of Mewar accept Mughal suzerainty in1615 A.D.

In 1616 A.D. Khurram conquered Ahmadnagar and was given the title ‗Shahjahan‘.

In 1622 A.D.,Persians occupied Kandahar and the Mughals lost Kandahar forever. Jahangir died
at Lahore and was buried at Shahdra near Lahore.

Shahjahan (1628 A.D – 1658 A.D)

 In 1629 A.D., Gujrat and Deccan famine resulted in the loss of man and material.
 In 1630 A.D., Portuguese in Hoogly revolted and were driven away from Hoogly by
Kasim Khan, Governor of Bengal.
 In 1631 A.D., Mumtaz died.

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Civil War- It was fought between DaraShikoh, the eldest son of Shahjahan and Aurangzeb, the
third son. Begum jahanAra supported dara and RoshanArasupported Aurangzeb. The secular
dara followed Qadri Sufi Order and translated Upanishads into Persian whereas Aurangzeb
followed NaqshBandi order.

Aurangzeb and his alliance with the fourth son Murad defeated the imperial armies commanded
by dara and raja Jaswantsingh in the battle of varmat and samugarh in 1658 A.D. shahjahan was
imprisoned on the charges of misusing public money. He died in 1665 A.D.

Aurangzeb defeated dara for the third time in the battle of deorai , performed coronation twice
and came to power with the title ‗Alamgir‘ meaning ‗king of the world‘.

Aurangzeb (1658 A.D. -1707 A.D.)

After coming to the power, Aurangzeb brought about many changes.

 He abolished the ‗kalimas‘ (inscribing quranic verses on coins).

 Mohitisib, the royal censor officer was entrusted with the responsibility of enforcing
Koran.
 The customs duties were fixed at 2.5% for Muslims and 5% for Hindus.
 In 1669 A.D.he order for the destruction of temples.h The KashiVishwanath temple and
Keshavrayatwmple in Mathura were the prominent ones to be destroyed.
 In 1679 A.D.Jizia was reimposed.
 He abolished both, vocal and instrument music. He also restrained court astrologer and
historians; banned celebration of Diwali and Persian Navaroz festival.

Mughal Architecture

Akbar

The advent of the Mughals brought a new era in architecture. The synthesis of style which began
earlier reached its zenith during this time. The architecture of Mughal style started during
Akbar‘s rule. The first building of this rule was Humayun‘s Tomb at Delhi. In this magnificent
building red stone was used. It has a main gateway and the tomb is placed in the midst of a
garden. Many consider it a precursor of the TajMahal. Akbar built forts at Agra and
FatehpurSikri. The BulundDarwaza reflects the grandeur of the mighty Mughal empire. This
building was made following Akbar‘s victory over Gujarat. The Arch of the BulandDarwaja is
about 41 m high and is perhaps the most imposing gateway in the world. The tomb of
SalimChishti, Palace of JodhaBai, IbadatKhana, Birbal‘s House and other buildings at
FatehpurSikri reflect a synthesis of Persian and Indian elements.

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Jahangir

During the reign of Jehangir, Akbar‘s Mausoleum was constructed at Sikandra near Agra. He
built the beautiful tomb of Itimad-ud-daula which was built entirely of marble.

Shahjahan

Shahjahan was the greatest builder amongst the Mughals. He used marble extensively.
Decorative design in inlay work, (called pietraduro) beautiful arches and minarets were the
features of his buildings. The Red Fort and Jama Masjid of Delhi and above all the TajMahal are
some of the buildings built by Shahjahan. The TajMahal, the tomb of Shahjahan‘s wife, is built
in marble and reflects all the architectural features that were developed during the Mughal
period. It has a central dome, four elegant minarats, gateway, inlay work and gardens
surrounding the main building.

The Mughal style of architecture had a profound influence on the buildings of the later period.
The buildings showed a strong influence of the ancient Indian style and had courtyards and
pillars. For the first time in the architecture of this style living beings- elephants, lions, peacocks
and other birds were sculptured in the brackets.

Mughal Paintings

The art of textual illustration got a new look under the Mughals. Akbar and his successors
brought revolutionary changes to painting and sensual illustrations. From this period book
illumination or individual miniatures replaced wall painting as the most vital form of art.
Emperor Akbar patronised artists from Kashmir and Gujarat; Humayun brought two Persian
painters to his court. For the first time painters‘ names were recorded in inscriptions. Some great
painters of this period were Abd-us-SamadDasawanth and Basawan.

Beautiful illustrations are found on the pages of Baburnama and Akbarnama. Within a few years
an integrated and dynamic style resulted from the synthesis of Persian and Indian style and the
independent style of Mughal painting was developed. Between 1562 and 1577 a series of nearly
1400 cloth paintings were produced representing the new style and were placed in the imperial
studio. Akbar also encouraged the art of making portraits.

The art of painting reached its climax during the period of Jahangir who himself was a great
painter and connoisseur of art. Artists began to use vibrant colours such as peacock blue and red
and were able to give three dimensional effects to paintings. Mansur, Bishan Das and Manohar
were the most gifted painters of Jahangir‘s time. Mansur had made an outstanding portrait of the
artist AbulHasan and specialised in paintings of birds and animals.

Though Shah Jahan was more interested in architectural splendours, his eldest son DaraShikoh
patronised painting like his gradfather. He preferred depicting natural elements like plants and

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animals in his painting. However withdrawal of royal patronage to painting under Aurangzeb led
to the dispersal of artists to different places in the country.

Economic Condition during Mughal Period

The village was the unit around which peasant society revolved. It was also the real unit of
assessment of the state‘s revenue demand, which was distributed among villagers by the
headman (muqaddam or kalantar ) and the village accountant ( patwar ?). It thus had a financial
pool, from which not only tax payments but also minor common expenses (kharch-i dih) were
met. This seems to have formed the basic factor behind the celebrated, but often elusive, Indian
village community.

Commerce seems to have penetrated the village economy to a great extent, since peasants needed
to sell their crops in order to pay their taxes. There was little left them with which to buy any
goods on the market. Even so, commerce must have intensified the already existing differences
due to the unequal possession of agricultural and pastoral goods (seed, ploughs and cattle). The
peasants were usually divided among castes. Even the administration recognized caste hierarchy
by varying the revenue rates according to caste, as documents from Rajasthan especially show.

By and large, artisans were in the same position as peasants: they were technically‘free‘, but
hemmed around by many constraints. Though some artisans were bound to render customary
services as village servants, most could sell their wares in the market. The need for advances,
however, often forced them to deal only with particular merchants, brokers or other middlemen.
A small number worked in the workshops (karkhana s) of nobles and merchants.

Merchants formed a numerous and fairly well-protected class in the Mughal empire. This class
was also quite heterogeneous in composition. There were, on the one hand, the large bands of the
banjara s (transporters of goods in bulk), who travelled with pack oxen over enormous distances;
on the other, there were specialist bankers (sarraf s), brokers (dallal s) and insurers (the business
of b?ma, or insurance, being usually carried on by sarraf s). Some of them, at the ports, also
owned and operated ships.

Rise of Maratha Empire

Rise of Maratha Empire

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (Shivaji Shahaji Bhosale) was the founder of strong Maratha
Empire in the west part of India in 17th Century.

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Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (Shivaji Shahaji Bhosale) was born in the fort of Shivneri, near
from city Junner (Pune District), in the year 1630 (19th February‘ 1630). His mother Jijabai
Bhosale named him Shivaji in the honor of goddess Shivai Devi. Chhatrapati Shivaji was
devotAed to his mother Jijabai Bhosale, who was extreme religious. This kind of environment
had put deep impact on Shivaji maharaj.

Expansion of Empire and Battles of Shivaji

 In the 1659 Adilshah sent Afzalkhan with the army of 75000 soldiers to destroy Shivaji
with his empire. Chhatrapati Shivaji killed Afzal Khan with full diplomatically. He
signaled his troops to start the great assault on the Adilshahi Sultanate.
 Shivaji defeated Kaltalf Khan, a sardar of Shahista Khan in the Battle of Umberkhind
with few soldiers (Mavale).
 Aurangjeb sent his maternal uncle Shahista Khan with powerful army over 1,50,000 on
request of Badibegum Sahiba, Adishahi sultanate. In the April 1663Chhatrapati Shivaji
personally made surprise attack on Shahista Khan in the LalMahal Pune.
 Chhatrapati Shivaji sacked surat ,the wealthy city of mughal empire in 1664. Surat was
the financial capital of mughal& trading centre.
 Chhatrapati Shivaji agreed to give 23 forts and Rs. 4,00,000/- hone, to let his son
Sambhaji become Mughal Sardar and ready to meet with Aurangjeb in the treaty of
Purander between Chhatrapati Shivaji and Mirza Raje Jaisingh on behalf of Mughal.
 Chhatrapati Shivaji gained lot of province till jinji in Karnataka after coronation in the
period of 1677-1678.
 Aurangjeb invited Chhatrapati Shivaji to Agra on occasion of his 50th birth anniversary.
However, in the court on 1666 Aurangjeb made in stand behind military commanders of
his court.Shivaji got angry and he refused gift which offered by Aurangjeb and stormed
out of the court. He was house arrested by Aurangjeb .Chhatrapati Shivaji made supreme
plan and succeed to escape from Agra.

Ashtpradhans of Shivaji

It was dministrative and advisory council set up by the Indian Shivaji which contributed to his
successful military attacks on the Muslim Mughal Empire and to the good government of the
territory over which he established his rule.

 Peshwa- Prime Minister

 Amatya- Finance Department
 Sachiv- Home Secretary
 Sumant- Foreign Secretary
 Nyayadheesh- Judicial Magistarate
 Senapati- Commander In chief
 Panditrao- relifious matters
 Mantri- Day to day activities

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Revenue Administration

T he assessment of revenue was made after a careful survey and classification of the lands
according to their quality and yield. The share of the state was fixed at two-fifths of the gross
produce. The cultivator was given the option of paying either in cash or kind.

Besides the land revenue, Shivaji had other sources of income, of which the most important were
the chauth and sardeshmukhi. The chauth amounted to one-fourth of the standard revenue
assessment of the place, while the sardeshmukhi was an additional levy of 10 per cent demanded
from areas outside his kingdom because he claimed to be the hereditary sardeshmukh (chief
headman) of the entire Maratha country. These taxes were levied on those living outside Maratha
kingdom as a safeguard (a kind of protection money) against Shivaji's forces plundering or
raiding their territory.

Marathas Consolidation and Northward Expansion

Age of Peshwas

Balaji Vishwanath

With Balaji Vishwanath in charge of the Maratha military and Kanhoji in charge of the Marathas
Navy. This agreement set the course for Balaji Viswanatha's rise as a Peshwa during his
subsequent visit to Delhi with an army of 12,000 Marathas. During this visit to Delhi, on an
invitation from the Syed brothers in their struggle with the Mughal Emperor Farrukhsiyyar, the
Maratha forces led by Balaji Viswanath clashed with the forces of Mughal Emperor and defeated
them. This was the first Maratha victory over the Mughals in Delhi. This event marks the
asendency of the Marathas in Delhi an asendency that was to last for almost a century till they
were supplanted by the British in 1803.

The Peshwas - Baji Rao, Balaji Baji Rao, Madha Rao

After Shahu, the de facto executive power passed into the hands of the hereditary Prime
Ministers the Peshwas. Balaji Viawanath Bhatt was succeeded by his son Baji Rao the first. Baji
Rao was a very able and ambitious soldier and he was the one who consolidated Maratha power
in North India.

Baji Rao died at a relativey young age of 40 in the year 1740. His was succeeded by his son
Balaji Baji Rao. Balaji Baji Rao played a tragic role in Maratha history and the fissiparous
tendencies he let loose ultimately let to the downfall of the Maratha empire.
His first mistake was to go back on the agreement between his grandfather Balaji Viswanath
Bhatt and Kanhoji Angre according to which the Peshwa was to have no direct control over the
Maratha Navy. He attacked the his own navy and weakened one arm of the Maratha might.
During his rule, North India was invaded by Ahmed Shah Abdali first in 1756. Balaji Baji Rao
then sent his brother Raghunath Rao along with Malharrao Holkar to defeat Abdali. Raghunath

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rao not only defeated Abdali but chased him up to the Khyber pass till Attock in Paktoonistan. .
This success of Raghunath Rao aroused the jealousy of Balaji Baji Rao's wife Gopikabai, who
started conspiring against Raghunath Rao to undermine his influence. This led to corresponding
jealousy from Anandibai who was Ragunath Rao's wife. The unfortunate fallout of this court
intrigue ws to end in the disastrous 3rd battle of Panipat in 1761.

The 3rd Battle of Panipat

When Abdali launched his second invasion in 1759 the Marathas who after their successes in
1756 had been hibernating in Maharashtra and Central India again woke up and in alliance with
the Jat King Suraj Mal of Bharatpur formed an alliance. This alliance led by Shrimant Sadshiv
Rao Bhau and Shrimant Vishwas Rao (the Peshwa Shrimant Balaji Baji Rao's son) won
spectacular victories and captured Delhi and Kunjapura (where the Afghan treasury and armoury
was located). Here the alliance developed cracks due to the Maratha insistence on not allowing
the Jats to loot Delhi. This ultimately split the alliance and Suraj Mal withdrew from the alliance.
The Marathas consequently marched upto Panipat, but instead of continuing their attacks to
completely defeat the partly defeated Abdali and Najib Khan, they stayed put at Panipat,
blocking the way of the Afghans back to Afghanistan. Seeing their way back to their homeland
blocked, the Afghans now became restless. They in turn, decided to block the way of the
Marathas back into the Deccan.
This stand-off continued for one whole year from the 14th of January 1760 up to the 14th of
January 1761. This led to the fall in the morale of the stranded Marathas and ultimatley led to
their defeat at Panipat.

The Afghans with Najib Khan meanwhile also recaptured Delhi and Kunjpura. On the decisive
day of 14th January 1761 (Makar Sankranti), the Marathas decided to break-through the Afghan
blockade and re-enter Deccan. The disastrous battle saw about one hundred thousand Maratha
troops being slaughtered in a matter of eight hours. But the Afghans too suffered heavy losses
and decided enough was enough and went back to Afghanistan never to return to India.
The defeat of the Marathas and the withdrawal of the Afghans created a power vacuum in North
India in the period 1761-1790. It was this vacuum that was filled up by the rising British power.
But more of this later.

Beginning of European settlements:Formation and growth of

East India Company; Consolidation of British power in India :
Battles of Plassey and Buxar; Control over Mysore; Subsidiary
Alliance; Doctrine of Lapse; Doctrine of Escheat

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Beginning of European settlements:Formation and growth of East India Company;

Luxury goods produced in east asian countries such as pepper, spices such as cloves, cinnamon
and nutmeg, silks, cottons, tea and coffee were in great demand in Europe.These luxury goods
from the East Indies came to Europe in small quantities via complex trade routes. Several of the
European nations were anxious to find direct routes to this treasure house of expensive trade
goods.

The East India Company was established in 1600 to challenge the Dutch-Portuguese monopoly
of the spice trade. Queen Elizabeth granted the company monopoly rights to bring goods from
India. With the approval of local Indian rulers, the East India Company (EIC) established trading
posts in Bengal and Madras, trading in cottons, silks, indigo, saltpetre, tea and spices. Spices
were valuable for use as a preservative (for otherwise inedible meat) and in medicines. Nutmeg
was much sought after for the treatment of rheumatism and cloves for toothache.

After the downfall of Vijaynagra kingdom, southern India provided ample opportunities for
the growth of East India Company in the southern India.

In 1634, the Emperor Shah Jahan's firman granted the Company permission to establish factories
in Bengal with a fort at Piplee. In 1640, the Company acquired on very favorable terms, the
concession of Madras which became the first independent position of the English in India.
Permission was also obtained to build a fort the Fort of St.George and this was the origin of the
Madras Presidency. -the Fort of St.George and this was the origin of the Madras Presidency.

Consolidation of British power in India : Battles of Plassey and Buxar;

According to this Imperial farman,the Company had to pay Rs. 3000 a year and in return could
carry on trade duty- free in Bengal. The Company‘s servants extended this privilege to their own
coastal trade,inter- Asian trade and finally the inland trade.Sirajuddaulah asked the Company to
stop meddling in the political affairs of his dominion, stop fortification, and pay the revenues.
After negotiations failed, theNawab marched with 30,000 soldiers to the English factory at
Kassimbazar, captured the Company officials, locked the warehouse, disarmed all Englishmen,
and blockaded English ships.

The British retaliation started with hatching a conspiracy against the nawab in alliance with his
officers like Rai Durlabh, Ami Chand, Mir Jafar and Jagat Seth.

The battle took place at Palashi on the banks of the Bhagirathi River. The belligerents were the
Nawab Siraj-ud-daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal, and the British East India
Company. Siraj-ud-daulah had become the Nawab of Bengal the year before, and he ordered the

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English to stop the extension of their fortification. Robert Clive bribed Mir Jafar, the commander
in chief of the Nawab's army, and also promised him to make him Nawab of Bengal. He defeated
the Nawab at Plassey in 1757 and captured Calcutta.

Mir Jafar, The commander-in-chief of the Nawab was made the Nawab by Clive for his support
to the English.
Mir Jafar responded by paying a sum of Rs.One Crore and Seventy Seven lakhs (17,700,000) to
the Company and large sums to the Company officers as bribe. But Mir Jafar could not support
the ever increasing demands of the English who werealso suspicious about his collaboration with
the Dutch Trading Company. Mir Jafar,who was made nawab after the battle of Plassey, was
deposed in 1760. Mir Qasim was placed on the throne by the British in the hope that he would be
able to meet their financial demands.

In June 1763 under Major Adams British army defeated Mir Qasim the Nawab of Bengal. Mir
Qasim fled to Patna and took help from Emperor Shah Alam II and Shujaud-Daula. On October
22-23, 1764, the decisive Battle of Buxar was fought. The belligerents were the East India
Company on one side and combined forces of Mir Kasim, Shah Aalam II and Shuja-ud-Daula.
The combined forces had 40000 soldiers and the British Forces had 18000 forces.

Nawab of Awadh becoming a grateful subordinate. Mughal emperor became a pensioner of

Company. Nawabs of Bengal and Awadh did not challenge the superior position of the
Company again.

By the Treaty of Allahabad (1765), Nawab of Awadh Shuja-ud-Daula was confirmed in his
possessions on the following conditions:

 Surrendering Allahabad and Kora to Mughal emperor Shah Alam

 Rs 5o lakhs were paid to Company as war indemnity
 Balwant Singh, zamindar of Benaras was confirmed in full possession of his estate.

Control over Mysore;

 Haidar Ali, in 1761, overthrew Nanjaraj and established his own authority over Mysore
 1755: Established a modern arsenal at Dindigal with the help of French experts
 Conquered Bidnur, Sunda, Sera, Canara and Malabar
 He conquered Malabar because he wanted access to the Indian Ocean
 First and Second Anglo-Mysore War
 1782: Succeeded by Tipu Sultan
 Tipu Sultan was an innovator. Introduced a new calendar, a new system of coinage and new
scales of weights and measures.
 Keen interest in French Revolution
o Planted a ‘tree of liberty’ at Srirangapatnam and became a member of the Jacobin Club
 Made efforts to build a modern navy

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 Mysore flourished economically under Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan

 Sent missions to France, Turkey, Iran and Pegu Myanmar to develop foreign trade
 Some historians say that Tipu was a religious fanatic. But facts don’t support this assertion.

Haidar Ali was in command of the army in Mysore from 1749; he became the ruler of the state in
1761. Until his defeat by Sir Eyre Coote in 1781 Haidar Ali continued his struggle against the
Company. Mysore finally fell to the Company forces in 1799, with the slaying of Tipu Sultan in
1799.

Subsidiary Alliance;

The Subsidiary Alliances system was introduced by Lord Wellesley in and after 1798. The
British, under the subsidiary alliance system, agreed to protect the Indian rulers against external
threats and internal disorder but, in return, the Indian rulers who accepted the Subsidiary
Alliance system were to agree to the stationing of British contingent for whose maintenance they
would pay a subsidy to the British. The ruler under the system of alliance could neither enter into
alliance with any other power nor fight a war without prior permission from the British. A
British resident was stationed at these ruling states that had the authority to interfere in state
politics.

Doctrine of Lapse and Doctrine of Escheat ;

The Doctrine of Lapse was an annexation policy devised by Lord Dalhousie, who was the
Governor General of India between 1848 and 1856. There was a widespread custom of adoption
among the Indian kings to secure an heir in the absence of a natural successor i.e. son. But as per
the doctrine of lapse any Indian state created by or under the direct influence (paramount) of the
British East India Company , as a vassal state under the British Subsidiary System, would
automatically ―lapse‖ or annexed by the British if the ruler was either incompetent or died
without a natural male heir.By applying the doctrine of lapse, Dalhousie annexed the States of
Satara (1848 A.D.), Jaipur (1849 A.D.), Sambhalpur (1849 A.D.), Bahat (1850 A.D.), Udaipur
(1852 A.D.), Jhansi (1853 A.D.), and Nagpur (1854 A.D.).

Escheat is a common law doctrine that transfers the property of a person who died without heirs
to the crown or state. It serves to ensure that property is not left in "limbo" without recognized
ownership

Resistance to Colonial Rule; Peasant; Tribal and Cultural

Renaissance

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Civil Rebellions and Tribal Uprisings The backbone of the rebellions, their mass base and
striking power came from the rack-rented peasants, ruined artisans and demobilized soldiers
CAUSES The major cause of the civil rebellions was the rapid changes the British introduced in
the economy, administration and land revenue system. The revenues were enhanced by
increasing taxes. Thousands of zamindars and poligars lost control over their land and its
revenue either due to the extinction of their rights by the colonial state or by the forced sale of
their rights over land because of their inability to meet the exorbitant land revenue demanded.

Shah Abdul Aziz & Saiyed Ahmad Raebarelvi. Objective was to reform the
Wahabi
Muslim
Movement society& convert ‗Dur-ul-Harb‘ (Non-Islamic community) into ‗Dar-ul-Islam‘.
Origianlly the movement was started in Arabia by Muhammad Ibn-Aba-e-
Wahid.
Its main centre was Patna, Sittana (NW province).
Bhai Ram Singh (Disciple of Bhai Balak Singh). It is also called Namdhari
Kuka
Mission.
Bhai Ram Singh asked his followers to worship cow & run langars, wear white
Movement
clothes
& not use any foreign commodity or service. Bhai Ram Singh was deported to
Burma.
Siddhu, Khanhu, Chand & Bhareo (four sons of Chulu Santhal of Raj Mahal
Santhal
district).
Under the Permanent Settlement of 1793 the lands of Santhal passed to Zamidars
Rebellion
&
later to European Indigo planters. 10,000 santhals were killed in this rebellion.
1855-56
After
this the area was put under the direct control of the Governor General & was
named
Santhal Paragana.

Vasudeo Balwant Phadke was born in Maharashtra. He left the army & became a revolutionary.
Later deported to Aden & died in 1883. He may be justly called the father of militant nationalism
in India.

Kisan Launched by Lala Lajpat Rai & Ajit Singh. The passing of the 1906 Punjab Land
Movements Revenue Act & heavy increase in water tax caused panic. The poem of Banke

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Dayal,
‗Pagri Sambhal O Jatta‘ became famous. Lala & Ajit Singh were sentenced to 6
months
prison. Later the DSP of Layalpur Clough was assassinated. Ajit Singh escaped
to
France while Bhai Parmanand‘s house search yielded a book on bomb making.
Khilafat movement in Malabar incited communal feelings in Muslim peasants
Moplah
directed
Rebellion towards Hindu land holders.

Revolt of 1857
Introduction

 During the Governor-General Lord Canning

 May 11, 1857. The Meerut incident. Capture of Delhi. Proclaiming B S Jazar as the emperor.
 Almost half the Company’s sepoy strength of 232224 opted out of their loyalty to their
regimental colours.
 Kanpur: Nana Saheb; Lucknow: Begum Hazrat Mahal; Bareilly: Khan Bahadur; Jagdishpur (Ara):
Kunwar Singh; Jhansi: Rani Lakshmi Bai
 Only the Madras army remained totally loyal. Sikh regiment as well remained largely loyal.

Causes for the revolt

The revolt was a result of the accumulated grievances of the people against Company‘s
administration and a loathing for the character and policies of the colonial rule. The causes can
be classified as social, economic, religious and military.

WHY DID THE SEPOYS REVOLT?

 The conditions of service in the Company’s army and cantonments increasingly came into
conflict with the religious beliefs and prejudices of the sepoys.
 The unhappiness of the sepoys first surfaced in 1824 when the 47th Regiment of Barrackpur was
ordered to go to Burma. To the religious Hindu, crossing the sea meant loss of caste. The sepoys
refused. The regiment was disbanded and those who led the opposition were hanged.
 The rumors about the Government’s secret designs to promote conversions to Christianity
further exasperated the sepoys.

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 The greased cartridges

 They were also unhappy with the emoluments
 Discrimination and racism
 Misery brought to the peasants by the British rule. E.g. the land revenue system imposed in
Oudh, where about 75000 sepoys came from, was very harsh.
 The civilians also participated
 After the capture of Delhi, a letter was issued to the neighboring states asking for support.
 A court of administrators was established in Delhi
 Ill-equipped, the rebels carried on the struggle for about a year
 The country as a whole was not behind them. The merchants, intelligentsia and Indian rulers not
only kept aloof but actively supported the British.
 Almost half the Indian soldiers not only did not revolt but fought against their own countrymen.
 Apart from a commonly shared hatred for alien rule, the rebels had no political perspective or
definite vision of the future
 Delhi fell on September 20, 1857.
 Rani of Jhansi died fighting on June 17, 1858
 Nana Saheb escaped to Nepal hoping to revive the struggle.
 Kunwar Singh died on May 9, 1958
 Tantia tope carried on guerrilla warfare until April 1959 after which he was betrayed by a
zamindar, captured and put to death.

Important Persons relating to the Revolt

Bahadur Shah Zafar: BSZ was the last Mughal emperor of India.

Nana Saheb

Rani Lakshmi Bai

Kunwar Singh

Nawab Wajid Ali Shah

Birjis Qadr: The son of Wajid Ali Shah and the leader of the revolt in Lucknow.

Shah Mal: He belonged to a clan of Jat cultivators in parganan Barout in UP. During the revolt,
he mobilized the headmen and cultivators of chaurasee des (84 villages: his kinship area),
moving at night from village to village, urging people to rebel against the British.

Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah: Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah was one of the many maulvis who played
an important part in the revolt of 1857. 1856, he was seen moving from village to village

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preaching jehad (religious war) against the British and urging people to rebel. he was elected by
the mutinous 22nd Native Infantry as their leader. He fought in the famous Battle of Chinhat in
which the British forces under Henry Lawrence were defeated.

Social Reforms Movements in Hindu Community : Brahma

Samaj, Arya Samaj, Ram Krishna Mission, Prarthann Samaj
and Theosophical Society of India.
Reformers like Raja Rammohan Roy, Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, Swami Dayanand Saraswati,
Jyotiba Phule, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and Pandita Ramabai understood that ignorance and
backwardness in the society was responsible for hindering its progress and development. They
studied the religious scriptures and criticized the prevalent religious and social practices.
According to them, society should be based on the concepts of liberty and equality both for men
and women and this was possible only by the spread of modern and scientific education
especially among the women.These movements came to be called socio-religious movement
because the reformers felt that no change is possible in a society without reforming the religion.

Raja Rammohan Roy's efforts to fight the social evils were supported by the then Governor
General of India, Sir William Bentinck. A law was passed in 1829 making Sati illegal and
punishable. He also made efforts to advocate widow re-marriage and condemned child marriage.
He advocated the importance of Vedas in reforming religion and upheld the fundamental unity
among all religions.He started a campaign for the abolition of sati, condemned polygamy and
concubinage, denounced casteism, advocated the rights of Hindu widows to remarry. He rejected
Christianity . denied the divinity of Jesus Christ , but accepted the humanism of Europe Thus,
Rammohan Roy sought to effect a cultural synthesis between the East and the West.

The Arya Samaj founded by Swami Dayanand Saraswati in 1875 undertook the task of
reforming Hindu religion in North India. He considered Vedas to be infallible and the foundation
of all knowledge. He rejected all those religious thoughts which were in conflict with the Vedas.
He believed that every person had the right to have direct access to God.He disregarded the
authority of the later Hindu scriptures like the puranas and described them as the work of lesser
men a responsible for the evil practices of idol worship and other superstitious beliefs in hindu
religion. Dayanand condemned idol worship and preached unity of Godhead.

Ramakrishna Paramhansa (1836-1886) highlighted the essential unity of religions and the need
to lead a spiritual life. He believed that the different religions of the world are only different
ways to reach the same god.Ramakrishna Mission are based on ancient and traditional concepts
amidst increasing westernization and modernization. The Mission was conceived and founded by
swami Vivekananda in 1897, eleven years after the death of Ramkrishna. He considered and
emphasized that Krishna, Hari , Rama, Christ, Allah are different names for the same God.
Unlike the Arya Samaj, Ramakrishna Mission recognizes the utility and value of image worship
in developing spiritual fervor and worship of the Eternal Omnipotent God.

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Swami Vivekanand believed in the spirit of Vedanta and the essential unity and equality of all
religions. He laid stress on the removal of religious superstitions, obscurantism, and outdated
social customs. He tried to remove caste rigidities, and untouchability. He motivated the people
to respect women while he himself worked for women‘s upliftment and education. Vivekananda
attached primary importance to the removal of ignorance among the people.

On 7 September 1875, HPB, Col. Olcott and W. Q. Judge, together with several others, formed a
Society which they chose to call The Theosophical Society, for promulgating the ancient
teachings of Theosophy, or the Wisdom concerning the Divine which had been the spiritual basis
of other great movements of the past, such as Neoplatonism, Gnosticism, and the Mystery
Schools of the classical world. The influence of Theosophical Society spread under Annie
Beasant in 1893 who played an important role in India‘s struggle for freedom. She and her
associates advocated the revival and strengthening of the ancient religions of Hinduism,
Zoroastrianism and Buddhism. The members of that his society believe that a special relationship
can be established between a persons soul and God by comtemplation, prayer , revelations etc.
The Society accepts the Hindu beliefs in reincarnationtion. Krma and draws inspiration from the
philosophy of the Upanishads and Samkhya, Yoga and Vedanta school of though. It aims to
work for universal Brotherhood of Humanity without distinction of race, creed., sex, caste or
colour. The Society also seeks to investigate the unexplained laws of nature and the powers
latent in man. The Theosophical Movement came to be allied with Hindu Renaissance.

Social Reforms Movements in Muslim Community : Wahabi

Movement & Aligarh Movement
The Muslims reformers in India launched many religious movements. Some tried to revive the
religion and other tried to reform the religion. During the 19th century religion reforms
movement were on the peak. Movements like Deoband Movement, Ahamadiya movement,
Aligarh Movement; Wahabi Movement has influenced the masses and made them think about
their religion and their status.

The leader of the Wahabi movement was Syed Ahmed Barelvi of Rae Bareilly who was greatly
influenced by the teachings of Abdul Wahab of Arabia and Shah Waliullah, a Delhi saint. The
movement wasprimarily religious in its origin. It soon assumed the character of a class struggle
in some places, especially in Bengal. Irrespective of communal distinctions, peasants united
against their landlords.There are six defining precepts in Wahabism, about which al-Wahab
wrote in his book The Three Fundamentals. They are the Tawhid, (the unity of God), the
Tawassul (Intercession), Ziyarat al-Qubur (visitations of graves and erections of tombs), Takfir
(the charge of disbelief), Bid'ah (innovation), and Ijtihad and Taqlid(original legal opinions and
the imitation of tradition).

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Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1817–98) called for the study of European science and technology.In
1866, he formed the British Indian Association. He pointed out that there was no fundamental
contradiction between Quran and Natural Science and the new circumstances demanded
dissemination of English language within an Islamic context. He founded the Mohammedan
Anglo Oriental College at Aligarh in 1875 which went on to become the most important
seminary for modern higher education among Muslims. At the elementary level, students
followed the standard government curriculum in a carefully constructed Islamic environment. In
1878, the college classes were also started and non-Muslims were also enrolled. In 1886, Sayyid
Ahmad Khan founded the Mohammadan Anglo Oriental Educational Conference.

Struggle for Raising Women's status : Abolition of Sati

System, Widow Marriage Act, Consent Bill,Stress on Female
education
Struggle for Raising Women's status Patriarchy remains deeply entrenched in Indian social
structure, influencing the structure of its political and social institutions and determining the
opportunities open to women and men. The negotiation and conflict between patriarchy and the
women‘s movement are central to the Struggle for Raising Women's status in Indian Society.
Ignorance and illiteracy of Women had given birth to innumerable social evils like sati (bright
burning), child marriage, prohibition of widow remarriage, dowry, devadasi system etc.

Sati or suttee is an obsolete Hindu funeral custom where a widow immolates herself on her
husband's pyre or commits suicide in another fashion shortly after her husband's death.The high
incidence of sati in Bengal province during colonial period was due to the existence of
Dayabhaga system which gave property rights to the childless widow and therefore in order to
keep the property rights of the family intact, the widow was forced to go sati.Raja Rammohan
Roy's efforts to fight the social evils were supported by the then Governor General of India, Sir
William Bentinck. A law was passed in 1829 making Sati illegal and punishable. He also made
efforts to advocate widow re-marriage and condemned child marriage. He advocated the
importance of Vedas in reforming religion and upheld the fundamental unity among all
religions.He started a campaign for the abolition of sati, condemned polygamy and concubinage,
denounced casteism, advocated the rights of Hindu widows to remarry. He rejected Christianity .
denied the divinity of Jesus Christ , but accepted the humanism of Europe Thus, Rammohan Roy
sought to effect a cultural synthesis between the East and the West.

The Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act of 1856, enacted in response to the campaign of Pandit
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, provided legal safeguards against loss of certain forms of
inheritance for a remarrying Hindu widow, though, under the Act, the widowforsook any
inheritance due her from her deceased husband.Ishwar Chandra
Vidyasagar championed women education and campaigned hard for widow remarriage. Parsi
social reformer, Behramji Malabari also campaigned for widow remarriage and published a set
of notes on ‗Infant Marriage‘ and ‗Enforced Widowhood‘

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The Age of Consent Act, 1891, also Act X of 1891, was a legislation enacted in British India on
19 March 1891 which raised the age of consent for sexual intercourse for all girls, married or
unmarried, from ten to twelve years in all jurisdictions, its violation subject to criminal
prosecution as rape.

The Woods Despatch of 1854 put stress on female education in India. The report
observed that the importance of female education in India cannot
be overrated; and we have observed with pleasure the evidence which is now afforded of an incre
ased desire on the part of many of the natives of India to give a good education
to their daughters.

Land Revenue System under British Rule

Since the grant of diwani for Bengal, Bihar and Orissa in 1765, the major concern of the East
India Company's administration in India was to collect as much revenue as possible. Agriculture
was the main basis of economy and the main source of income and hence, although the nawabi
administration was retained with Muhammad Reza Khan acting as the Naib Diwan for the
Company, several land revenue experiments were introduced in haste to maximise extraction.

In 1772, Warren hastings introduced a new system, known as the farming system. European
District Collectors, as the nomenclature suggested, were to be in charge of revenue collection,
while the revenue collecting right was farmed out to the highest bidders. About the periodicity of
the settlements, a number of experiments were made.

But the farming system ultimately failed to improve the situation, as the farmers tried to extract
as much as possible without any concern for the production process. The burden of revenue
demand on th peasants increased as a result and often it was so onerous that it could not be
collected at all. The net outcome of this whole period of rash experimentation was the ruination
of the agricultural population. In 1784, Lord Cornwallis was therefore sent to India with a
specific mandate to streamline the revenue administration.

Up to 1793 A.D., The East India Company continued to follow the revenue farming system in
Bengal Presidency. In 1782, Sir John Shore Committee was appointed to draft a new land
revenue policy. The policy was approved by Michael Dundas, The President of Board of
Control and William Pete the P.M. of England.

Permanent Settlement

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The Permanent Settlement or Zamindari Sysem was introduced by Lord Corniwallis in 1793. In
Bengal, North Cauvery Delta in Madras Presidency and Varanasi division. It covered altogether
19% of the total cultivable land under company rule.

Terms and Conditions of the System

 Zamindars were recognized as owner of the lands. Zamindars were given the rights to
collect the rent from the peasants.
 The realized amount would be divided into 11 parts. 1/11 of the share belongs to
Zamindars and 10/11 of the share belongs to East India Company.
 The Zamindars were also given Judicial powers
 The Sunset Law come into force in the event of Zamindars becoming defaulters.
 The system was introduced for a period of 10 years.

Effect of the system

 The effects of this system both on the zamindars and ryots were disastrous. As the
revenue fixed by the system was too high, many zamindars defaulted on payments. Their
property was seized and distress sales were conducted leading to their ruin. The rich
zamindars who led luxurious lives left their villages and migrated into towns. They
entrusted their rent collection to agents who exacted all kinds of illegal taxes besides the
legal ones from the ryots.
 This had resulted in a great deal of misery amongst the peasants and farmers. Therefore
Lord Cornwallis‘ idea of building a system of benevolent land-lordism failed. Though
initially the Company gained financially, in the long run the Company suffered financial
loss because land productivity was high, income from it was meagre since it was a fixed
sum. It should be noted that in pre- British period a share on the crop was fixed as land
tax.

Ryotwari Settlement

The Ryotwari experiment was started by Alexander Reed in Baramahal in 1792 and was
continued by Thomas Munro from 1801 when he was asked to take charge of the revenue
administration of the Ceded Districts. Instead of zamindars they began to collect revenue directly
from the village , fixing the amount each village had to pay. After this they proceeded to assess
each cultivator or ryot separately and thus evolved the Ryotwari System. It created individual
proprietary right in land, but it was vested in the peasants, rather than in the zamindars.

Effects of System

 It raised the revenue income of the government, but put the cultivators in great distress.

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 In many areas no surveys were carried out and the tax of a ryot was assessed on an
arbitrary basis, based on village accounts.
 The cultivating peasants were, therefore, gradually impoverished, and increasingly
indebted and could not invest for the extension of cultivation.
 The Ryorwari system did not also eliminate village elites as inter mediaries between the
government and the peasantry. As privileged rents and special rights of the mirasidars
were recognised and caste privileges of the Brahmans respected.

Mahalwari System

Mahalwari system was introduced in 1833 during the period of William Bentick. It was
introduced in Central Province, North-West Frontier, Agra, Punjab, Gangetic Valley, etc of
British India.The Mahalwari system had many provisions of both the Zamindari System and
Ryotwari System. In this system, the land was divided into Mahals. Each Mahal comprises one
or more villages. Ownership rights were vested with the peasants. The villages committee was
held responsible for collection of the taxes.

Effects of the Land Revenue Policy

 Land become a Commodity for the first time in Indian history

 Property rights in the land created for first time
 New rural classes were formed- The absentee landlords, money lenders and age earning
working class.
 Commercialisation of agriculture encouraged. As a result , shortage of food crops took
place causing famines. The 1832 Ganjan famine(Orissa) and 1875 deccan famine were
the worst famines.
 The revenue policy was the single most important cause for all the major civilian
rebellions in modern India, against the British.

Rise of National Movement and Indian National Congress

Why did national movement arise?

 Indian nationalism rose to meet the challenges of foreign domination

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 The British rule and its direct and indirect consequences provided the material and the
moral and intellectual conditions for the development of a national movement in India.
 Clash of interest between the interests of the Indian people with British interests in India
 Increasingly, the British rule became the major cause of India‘s economic backwardness
 Every class gradually discovered that their interests were suffering at the hands of the
British
o Peasant: Govt took a large part of produce away as land revenue. Laws favoured
the Zamindars
o Artisans: Foreign competition ruined the industry
o Workers: The government sided with the capitalists
o Intelligentsia: They found that the British policies were guided by the interests of
British capitalists and were keeping the country economically backward.
Politically, the British had no commitment of guiding India towards self-
government.
o Indian capitalists: the growth of Indian industries was constrained by the
unfavourable trade, tariff, taxation and transport policies of the government.
o Zamindars, landlords and princes were the only ones whose interests coincided
with those of the British. Hence they remained loyal to them.
 Hence, it was the intrinsic nature of foreign imperialism and its harmful effect on the
lives of the Indian people that led to the rise of the national movement. This movement
could be called the national movement because it united people from different parts of the
country as never before for a single cause.

What factors strengthened and facilitated the national movement?

 Administration and Economic Unification of the country

o Introduction of modern trade and industries on all-India scale had increasingly
made India‘s economic life a single whole and interlinked the economic fate of
people living in different parts of the country.
o Introduction of railways, telegraph and unified postal system brought together
different parts of the country and promoted contact among people like never
before.
o This unification led to the emergence of the Indian nation
 Western Thought and Education
o A large number of Indians imbibed a modern rational, secular, democratic and
nationalist political outlook
o They began to study, admire and emulate the contemporary nationalist
movements of European nations
o The western education per se did not create the national movement. It only
enabled the educated Indians to imbibe western thought and thus to assume the

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leadership of the national movement and to give it a democratic and modern

direction
o Modern education created a certain uniformity and community of outlook and
interests among the education Indians.
 Role of Press and Literature
th
o Large number of nationalist newspapers appeared in the second half of the 19
century
o They criticized the policies of the British government and put forth the Indian
point of view
o National literature in form of essays, novels and poetry also played an important
role. Bamkin Chandra, Tagore: Bengali; Bhartendu Harishchandra: Hindi;
Lakshmikanth Bezbarua: Assamese; Vishnu Shastri Chiplunkar: Marathi;
Subramanya Bharti: Tamil; Altaf Husain Hali: Urdu
 Rediscovery of India‘s past
o The British had lowered the self confidence of the Indian through the propaganda
that Indians are incapable of self-government
o Nationalist leaders referred to the cultural heritage of India to counter this
propaganda. They referred to political achievements of rulers like Ashoka,
Chandragupta Vikramaditya and Akbar.
o However, some nationalists went to the extent of glorifying the past uncritically.
They emphasized on the achievements of ancient India and not medieval India.
This encouraged the growth of communal sentiments.
 Racial arrogance of the rulers
o Englishmen adopted a tone of racial superiority in their dealings with the Indians
o Failure of justice whenever an Englishman was involved in a dispute with an
Indian.
o Indians kept out of European clubs and often were not permitted to travel in same
compartment as Englishmen

Rise of Indian National Congress

Predecessors of INC

 East India Association

o By Dadabhai Naoroji in 1866 in London
o To discuss the Indian question and to influence the British public men to discuss
Indian welfare
o Branches of the association in prominent Indian cities
 Indian Association

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o Surendranath Banerjee and Ananda Mohan Bose in 1876, Calcutta

o The aim of creating strong public opinion in the country on political questions and
the unification of the Indian people on a common political programme
 Poona Sarvajanik Sabha
o Justice Ranade, 1870
 Madras Mahajan Sabha
o Viraraghavachari, Anand Charloo, G Subramanian Aiyer, 1884
 Bombay Presidency Association
o Pherozshah Mehta, K T Telang, Badruddin Tyabji, 1885
 These organizations were narrow in their scope and functioning. They dealt mostly with
local questions and their membership were confined to a few people belonging to a single
city or province

Indian National Congress

 Indian National Congress was founded on 28 December 1885 by 72 political workers. A

O Hume was the first secretary and was instrumental in establishing the Congress
 First session in Bombay. President: W C Bonnerjee
 With the formation of INC, the Indian National Movement was launched in a small but
organized manner
 The Congress itself was to serve not as a party but as a movement
 Congress was democratic. The delegates to INC were elected by different local
organizations and groups
 Sovereignty of the people
 In 1890, Kadambini Ganguli, the first woman graduate of Calcutta University addressed
the Congress session
 Safety Valve Theory
o The INC was started under the official direction, guidance and advice of Lord
Dufferin, the Viceroy, to provide a safe, mild, peaceful and constitutional outlet or
safety valve for the rising discontent among the masses, which was inevitably
leading towards a popular and violent revolution.

Does the safety valve theory explain the formation of Congress?

 The safety valve theory is inadequate and misleading

 INC represented the urge of the Indian educated class to set up a national organization to
work for their political and economic development
 A number of organizations, as mentioned above, had already been started by the Indians
towards that end
 Hume‘s presence in Congress was used to allay official suspicions

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Why was there a need for an All-India organization?

 Vernacular Press Act, 1878

 Ilbert Bill (1883) which would allow Indian judges to try Europeans was opposed by the
European community and was finally enacted in a highly compromised state in 1884.
 The Indians realized that they could not get the Ilbert bill passed because they were not
united on all India level. Hence need for INC was felt.
 In order to give birth to the national movement
o Creation of national leadership was important
o Collective identification was created

Aims of INC

 Promotion of friendly relations between nationalist political workers from different parts
of the country
 Development and consolidation of the feeling of national unity irrespective of caste,
religion or province
 Formulation of popular demands and their presentation before the government
 Training and organization of public opinion in the country

 The first major objective of the Indian national movement was to promote weld Indians
into a nation, to create an Indian identity
 Fuller development and consolidation of sentiments of national unity
o Efforts for unity: In an effort to reach all regions, it was decided to rotate the
congress session among different parts of the country. The President was to
belong to a region other than where the congress session was being held.
o To reach out to the followers of all religions and to remove the fears of the
minorities, a rule was made at the 1888 session that no resolution was to be
passed to which an overwhelming majority of Hindu or Muslim delegates
objected.
o In 1889, a minority clause was adopted in the resolution demanding reform of
legislative councils. According to the clause, wherever Parsis, Christians,
Muslims or Hindus were a minority their number elected to the councils would
not be less than their proportion in the population.
o To build a secular nation, the congress itself had to be intensely secular

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 The second major objective of the early congress was to create a common political
platform or programme around which political workers in different parts of the country
could gather and conduct their political activities.
o Due to its focus solely on political issues congress did not take up the question of
social reform.
 Since this form of political participation was new to India, the arousal, training,
organization and consolidation of public opinion was seen as a major task by the congress
leaders.
o Going beyond the redressal of immediate grievances and organize sustained
political activity.

Moderates and Extremists in Indian Independence Struggle

Early phase of Indian National Congress was that of Moderators,They expected that if the
problems of‘ the nation were brought to light through proper propaganda, the colonial
government would take steps to improve matters. Thus in the initial years through lectures,
writings in newspapers the nationalists put forward the main problems of the nation and ways in
which they could be remedied. They believed in loyalty to the British Crown. They believed that
the British Presence in India was a blessing to Indians and they relied on the British to guide the
Politics in India. Some of them professed that the British rule has done much good in India by
cleansing the Indian society of its ills like the customs of sati, untouchability, child marriage, etc.
Moderates also praised the British for introducing in India contemporary development in science
and technology.

The prominent moderate leaders were Womesh Chandra Banerjee, Dadabhai Navroji, Gopal
Krishna Gokhale, Romesh Chunder Dutt, Pherozeshah Mehta, Madan Mohan Malaviya, Sir
Surendranath Banerjee, Sir Dinshaw Edulji Wacha, Justice Mahadeo Govind Ranade, Badruddin
Tyabji, Sir William Wedderburn.

The period from 1905 was known as the era of extremism in the Indian National Movement. The
extremists or the aggressive nationalists believed that success could be achieved through bold
means. The important extremist leaders were Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin
Chandra Pal and Aurobindo Ghosh.

Main causes of developement of Extremism in Congress were as follows:-

1. Recognition of the True Nature of British Rule. The British rule and its policies were
responsible for the economic ruin of India and her deepening poverty. Dadabhai Naoroji, for

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example, exposed the exploitative nature of British rule in India and proved that Britain was
„bleeding India white? and the constant „drain of wealth? from India was directly responsible for
India?s economic miseries.
Nationalist leaders like Ananda Charlu, R.N. Mudholkar, D.E. Wacha, G.K. Gokhale, Madan
Mohan Malaviya too exposed the exploitative nature of British rule in India. R.C. Dutt and G.V.
Joshi, examined thread-bare the true nature of British Land Revenue policy.

2. Reaction to Increasing Westernization. The new leadership felt the stranglehold of excessive
Westernization in Indian life, thought and politics—Christianity and utilitarianism (visible in the
teachings of Brahma Samaj) were a
challenge to Indian religion and thought.

3.Dissatisfaction with the Achievement of the Congress. The younger elements within the
Congress were dissatisfied with the achievements of the Congress during the first 15-20 years
and were disgusted with the cold and reactionary
attitude of the Government. They had lost all faith in the British sense of justice and fairplay.
They were strongly critical of the methods of peaceful and, constitutional agitation
4. Deteriorating Economic Condition of India. The economic miseries of the closing years of the
19th century provided a congenial atmosphere for the growth of extremism in Indian national
activity.
5. Contemporary International Influences. Events outside India exercised a powerful influence
on the younger generation. The humiliating treatment metedout to Indians in British colonies,
especially in South Africa, created anti- Britishfeelings. Further, nationalist movements in Egypt,
Persia, Turkey and Russia gave Indians new hopes and new aspirations.
6. Curzon‘s Reactionary Policies. Curzon?s seven-year rule in India which was full of missions,
omissions and commissions created a sharp reaction in the Indian mind.
7. The Partition of Bengal. The worst and most-hated aspect of Curzon?s administration was the
partition of Bengal into two provinces of Bengal and Eastern Bengal and Assam in 1905.

Swadeshi Movement

The Home Rule Movement

 After being released in 1914, Tilak sought re-entry into Congress. Annie Besant and
Gokhale supported. But finally Pherozshah Mehta won and Tilak was not admitted.

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 Tilak and Besant decided to start the home rule movement on their own.
 In early 1915, Annie Besant (and S Subramaniya Iyer) launched a campaign through her
two newspapers, New India and Commonweal, and organized public meetings and
conferences to demand that India be granted self-government on the lines of the White
colonies after the War. From April 1915, her tone became more peremptory and her
stance more aggressive.
 At the annual session of the Congress in December 1915 it was decided that the
extremists be allowed to rejoin the Congress. The opposition from the Bombay group has
been greatly weakened by the death of Pherozshah Mehta.
 Tilak and Annie Besant set up two different home rule leagues.
 Tilak‘s league was to work in Maharashtra (excluding Bombay city), Karnataka, the
central provinces and Berar and Annie Besant‘s league was given the charged of the rest
of India.
 Tilak was totally secular in nature. There was no trace of religious appeal. The demand
for Home Rule was made on a wholly secular basis.
o ―Home rule is my birthright, and I will have it‖
 The British were aliens not because they belonged to another religion but because they
did not act in the Indian interest
 Tilak‘s league was organized into six branches, one each in Central Maharashtrra,
Bombay city, Karnataka, and Central Provinces, and two in Berar.
 On 23rd July 1916, on Tilak‘s sixtieth birthday the government sent a notice asking him to
show cause why he should not be bound over for good behavior for a period of one year
and demanding securities of Rs 60000
 Tilak was defended by a team of lawyers led by Mohammad Ali Jinnah. He won. Tilak
used the opportunity to further the Home Rule movement.
 In Besant‘s league, the main thrust of activity was directed towards building up an
agitation around the demand for Home Rule. This was to be achieved by promoting
political education and discussion.
 Lucknow Pact: 1916 in the Congress Session at Lucknow. Also known as Congress
League Pact. Extremists were accepted back in congress. An agreement was reached
between Muslim League and Congress.
 The turning point in the movement came with the arrest of Annie Besant in June 1917
 There was wide agitation and many leaders joined the league.
 The government agreed to grant self rule but the timing for such a change was to be
decided by the government alone.
 After the great advance in 1917, the movement gradually dissolved.
o The moderates were pacified by the government‘s assurance of reforms after
Besant‘s release.
o The publication of scheme of government reforms in July 1918 further created
divisions. Many rejected it while others were for giving it a trial.
o Later, Tilak went to England to fight a case. With Besant unable to give a firm
lead, and Tilak away in England, the movement was left leaderless.

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 Achievements of the movement

o The achievement of the Home Rule movement was that it created a generation of
ardent nationalists who formed the backbone of the national movement in the
coming years.
o The Home rule leagues also created organizational links between town and
country which were to prove invaluable in later years.
o By popularizing the idea of self-government, it generated a widespread pro-
nationalist atmosphere in the country.
o The movement set the right mood for the entry of Mahatma Gandhi and take the
leadership.

Non Co-operation and Khilafat Movement

 Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms 1919: Dyarchy
 In a system called "dyarchy," the nation-building departments of government —
agriculture, education, public works, and the like — were placed under ministers who
were individually responsible to the legislature. The departments that made up the "steel
frame" of British rule — finance, revenue, and home affairs — were retained by
executive councillors who were nominated by the Governor.
 The Hunter Committee report praised the actions of general Dyer.
 Khilafat Movement
o For support of Turkey
o Khilafat Committee formed under the leadership of Ali Brothers, Maulana Azad,
Hakim Ajmal Khan and Hasrat Mohani
o The promises made to the Khilafat Committee were not kept after the World War.
o The All-India Khilafat Conference held at Delhi in November 1919 decided to
withdraw all cooperation from the government if their demands were not met.
o On June 9 1920, the Khilafat Committee at Allahabad unanimously accepted the
suggestion of non-cooperation and asked Gandhiji to lead the movement.
 Khilafat movement cemented Hindu-Muslim unity
o Gandhiji looked upon the Khilafat agitation as ―an opportunity of uniting Hindus
and Mohammedans as would not arise in a hundred years‖
 The non-cooperation movement was launched on August 1, 1920. Lokmanya Tilak
passed away on the same day.
 People countrywide observed hartal and took out processions.
 The congress met in September at Calcutta and accepted non-co-operation as its own.
 The programme of non-cooperation included:
o Surrender of titles and honors
o Boycott of government affiliated schools and colleges, law courts, foreign cloth
and could be extended to resignation from government services.
o Mass civil disobedience including the non-payment of taxes.
o National schools and colleges were to be set up

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o Panchayats were to be established to settle disputes

o Hand-spinning and weaving was encouraged
o People were asked to maintain Hindu-Muslim unity, give up untouchability and
observe strict non-violence.

 Changes in Congress to attain the new objective:

o At the Nagpur session in 1920 changes in the Constitution of Congress were
made.
o The goal of congress was changed from the attainment of self-government by
constitutional and legal means to the attainment of Swaraj by peaceful and
legitimate means.
o The Congress now had a Working Committee of fifteen members to look after its
day to day affairs.
o Provincial congress committees were now organized on a linguistic basis.
o Mahalla and ward committees were formed.
o The membership fee was reduced to 4 annas a years to enable poor to become
members.
o This was not without opposition however. Some members still believed in the
traditional methods. Leaders like Jinnah, GS Khaparde, Bipin Chandra Pal and
Annie Besant left congress during this time.

 Gandhiji, along with the Ali brother, undertook a nationwide tour to address people.
 Thousands of students left government schools and joined national schools.
 The most successful item of the programme was the boycott of foreign cloth.
 Picketing of toddy shops was also very popular.
 Students let government schools and colleges. IT was during this time that Jamia Milia
Islamia of Aligarh, the Bihar Vidyapith, the Kashi Vidyapith and the Gujarat Vidyapith
came into existence.
 Lawyers such as Deshbandhu CR Das, Motilal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Saifudiin
Kitchlew, C Rajagopalachari, Sardar Patel, T Prakasam and Asaf Ali gave up their legal
practice.
 Tilak Swarajya Fund was started to finance the NCM.
 In 1921, Khilafat Committee issued a resolution that no muslim should serve in the
British Indian army.
 The visit of the Prince of Wales on 17th November 1921 was observed as a day of hartal
all over the country.
 The Congress Volunteer Corps emerged as a powerful parallel police.
 By December 1921, the government felt that things were going too far and announced a
change of policy by declaring the volunteer corps illegal and arresting all those who
claimed to be its members.
 Thousands of peasants and tenants participated in the movement.
 In Punjab, the Akali movement to remove corrupt mahants from the Gurudwaras was
started.

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 Assam: Tea plantation workers went on strike. Midnapore: peasants refused to pay Union
Board taxes. Guntur (Chirala): Agitation led by Duggirala
Gopalakrishayya Malabar: Mohlahs (muslim peasants) created a powerful
anti-zamindari movement.
 As the government refused to yield, Gandhiji announced that mass civil disobedience
would begin in Bardoli taluqa of Surat.
 However, in Chauri Chaura, Gorakhpur on 5 February 1922 crowd set fire on a police
station and killed some policemen. On hearing this, Gandhiji decided to withdraw the
movement.
 The congress working committee ratified his decision. Thus, on February 12, 1922, the
non-cooperation movement came to an end.
 Assessing the Withdrawal:
o Some scholars say that Gandhiji withdrew the movement because he wanted to
protect the interests of the propertied class.
o Some argue that there was no logic why a small incident should lead to
withdrawal of the movement itself.
o However, government could use Chauri Chaura to justify its repression of the
movement.
o If movement was started at that time, it would have been defeated due to the
repression of the government.
o Gandhiji was protecting the movement from likely repression, and the people
from demoralization.
o Mass movements tend to ebb in some time. Hence, withdrawal is a part of the
strategy of mass movements.
 Gandhiji was tried in 1922 and sentenced to six years‘ imprisonment.
o He invited the court to award him ―the highest penalty that can be inflicted upon
me for what in law is a deliberate crime, and what appears to be the highest duty
of a citizen‖.

 Positives out of the non-cooperation movement:

o Congress started commanding the support and sympathy of vast sections of the
Indian people.
o Millions of Indians became politically involved. Women were drawn into the
movement.
o Muslims participated heavily and communal unity was maintained.
o Strengthened the national movement. Nationalist sentiments and the national
movement had reached the remotest corners of the land.
o People gained tremendous self-confidence and self-esteem.

Civil Disobedience Movement and Gandhi-Irwin Pact, 1931

 Started by Gandhi on 12th March 1930 with the Dandi March. Reached Dandi on April 6.

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 Defiance of forest laws in Maharashtra, Central Province and Karnataka. Refusal to pay
chaukidari tax in Eastern India.
 Wide participation of women
 Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan organized Khudai Khidmatgars (aka Red Shirts)
 Nagaland: Rani Gaidilieu
 First RTC, 1930
o Congress boycotted
 Gandhi-Irwin Pact, 1931
o Government agreed to release the political prisoners who had remained non-
violent
o Right to make salt for consumption
o Right to peaceful picketing of liquor and foreign cloth shops
o Congress suspended the Civil Disobedience Movement
o Agreed to take part in the second RTC

 Quit India Movemen

 The partition of India and its consequences

Integration of Princely States

Under the plan of 3 June, more than 562 princely states were given the option of joining either
India or Pakistan, or choosing independence. Indian nationalists and large segments of the public
feared that if these states did not accede, most of the people and territory would be fragmented.
The Congress as well as senior British officials considered Patel the best man for the task of
achieving unification of the princely states with the Indian dominion.

Patel asked v.p.menon a senior civil servant with whom he had worked over the partition of
India to become his right-hand as chief secretary of the States Ministry. On 6 May 1947, Patel
began lobbying the princes, attempting to make them receptive towards dialogue with the future
Government and trying to forestall potential conflicts. Patel used social meetings and unofficial
surroundings to engage most monarchs, inviting them to lunch and tea at his home in Delhi At
these meetings, Patel stated that there was no inherent conflict between the Congress and the
princely order. Nonetheless, he stressed that the princes would need to accede to India in good
faith by 15 August 1947.

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Patel invoked the patriotism of India's monarchs, asking them to join in the freedom of their
nation and act as responsible rulers who cared about the future of their people. He persuaded the
princes of 565 states of the impossibility of independence from the Indian republic, especially in
the presence of growing opposition from their subjects.

He proposed favorable terms for the merger, including creation of privy purses for the
descendants of the rulers. While encouraging the rulers to act with patriotism, Patel did not rule
out force, setting . deadline of 15 August 1947 for them to sign the instrument of accession
document. All but three of the states willingly merged into the Indian union—only Jammu and
Kashmir, junagadh and Hyderabad did not fall into basket.

Integration of Junagadh: The West Gujarat known as Saurastra constituted a number of small
states which did not have much potential from the point of view of economic and political
independence. In all, 327 such States existed in Gujarat. Sardar succeeded in bringing the small
states together and it was a very important step towards national solidarity although the states
were in theory free to choose whether they wished to accede to India or Pakistan, Mountbatten
had pointed out that "geographic compulsions" meant that most of them must choose India.

In effect, he took the position that only the states that shared a border with Pakistan could choose
to accede to it. The Nawab of Junagadh, a princely state located on the south-western end of
Gujarat and having no common border with Pakistan, chose to accede to Pakistan ignoring
Mountbatten's views, arguing that it could be reached from Pakistan by sea. The rulers of two
states that were subject to the suzerainty of Junagadh— Mangrol and Babariawad—reacted to
this by declaring their independence from Junagadh and acceding to India. In response, the
Nawab of Junagadh militarily occupied the states. The rulers of neighboring states reacted
angrily, sending their troops to the Junagadh frontier and appealed to the Government of India
for assistance.

A group of Junagadhi people, led by Samaldas Gandhi, formed a government-in-exile, the

Aarzi Hukumat ("temporary government"). India believed that if Junagadh was permitted to go
to Pakistan, the communal tension already simmering in Gujarat would worsen, and refused to
accept the accession. The government pointed out that the state was 80% Hindu, and called for a
plebiscite to decide the question of accession. Simultaneously, they cut off supplies of fuel and
coal to Junagadh, severed air and postal links, sent troops to the frontier, and reoccupied the
principalities of Mangrol and Babariawad that had acceded to India.

Pakistan agreed to discuss a plebiscite, subject to the withdrawal of Indian troops, a condition
India rejected. On 26 October, the Nawab and his family fled to Pakistan following clashes with
Indian troops. On 7 November, Junagadh's court, facing collapse, invited the Government of
India to take over the State's administration. The Government of India agreed.

A plebiscite was conducted in February 1948, which went almost unanimously in favour of
accession to India.

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Kashmir conflict: Kashmir was also a problem. At the time of the transfer of power, Kashmir
was ruled by Maharaja Hari Singh, a Hindu, although the state itself had a Muslim majority. Hari
Singh was equally hesitant about acceding to either India or Pakistan, as either would have
provoked adverse reactions in parts of his kingdom. He signed a Standstill Agreement with
Pakistan and proposed one with India as well, but announced that Kashmir intended to remain
independent. However, his rule was opposed by Sheikh Abdullah, the popular leader of
Kashmir's largest political party, the National Conference, who demanded his abdication.

Pakistan, attempting to force the issue of Kashmir's accession, cut off supplies and transport
links. The chaos in Punjab resulting from Partition had also severed transport links with India,
meaning that Kashmir's only links with the two dominions was by air. Rumours about atrocities
against the Muslim population of Poonch by the Maharajah's forces caused the outbreak of civil
unrest. Shortly thereafter, Pathan tribesmen from the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan
crossed the border and entered Kashmir. The invaders made rapid progress towards Srinagar.
The Maharaja of Kashmir wrote to India, asking for military assistance.

India required the signing of an Instrument of Accession and setting up an interim government
headed by Sheikh Abdullah in return. The Maharaja complied, but Nehru declared that it would
have to be confirmed by a plebiscite, although there was no legal requirement to seek such
confirmation. Indian troops secured Jammu, Srinagar and the valley itself during the First
Kashmir War, but the intense fighting flagged with the onset of winter, which made much of the
state impassable.

Prime Minister Nehru, recognizing the degree of international attention brought to bear on the
dispute, declared a ceasefire and sought UN arbitration, arguing that India would otherwise have
to invade Pakistan itself, in view of its failure to stop the tribal incursions. The plebiscite was
never held, and on 26 January 1950, the Constitution of India came into force in Kashmir, but
with special provisions made for the state. India did not, however, secure administrative control
over all of Kashmir. The northern and western portions of Kashmir came under Pakistan's
control in 1947, and are today Pakistan-administered Kashmir. In the 1962 Sino-Indian War,
China occupied Aksai Chin.

Hyderabad Operation Polo: Sardar‘s greatest role in the integration of states was his able
handling of the Hyderabad crisis. Most of the states acceded to India, Hyderabad was a
landlocked state that stretched over 82,000 square miles (over 212,000 square kilometres) in
southeastern India. While 87% of its 17 million people were Hindu, its ruler Nizam Osman Ali
Khan was a Muslim, and its politics were dominated by a Muslim elite. The Muslim nobility and
the Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen, a powerful pro-Nizam Muslim party, insisted Hyderabad remain
independent and stand on an equal footing to India and Pakistan. Accordingly, the Nizam in June
1947 issued a firman announcing that on the transfer of power, his state would be resuming
independence. The situation deteriorated further in 1948. The Razakars ("volunteers"), a militia
affiliated to the Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen and set up under the influence of Muslim radical Qasim
Razvi, assumed the role of supporting the Muslim ruling class against upsurges by the Hindu

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populace, and began intensifying its activities and was accused of attempting to intimidate
villages.

The Hyderabad State Congress Party, affiliated to the Indian National Congress, launched a
political agitation. Matters were made worse by communist groups, which had originally
supported the Congress but now switched sides and began attacking Congress groups. Attempts
by Mountbatten to find a negotiated solution failed and, in August, the Nizam, claiming that he
feared an imminent invasion, attempted to approach the UN Security Council and the
International Court of Justice.

India now insisted that if Hyderabad was allowed to continue its independence, the prestige of
the Government would be tarnished and then neither Hindus nor Muslims would feel secure in
its realm. The date for the attack was fixed as 13 September, even though General Sir Roy
Bucher, the Indian chief of staff, had objected on grounds that Hyderabad would be an additional
front for the Indian army after Kashmir.

On 13 September, the Indian Army was sent into Hyderabad under Operation Polo on the
grounds that the law and order situation there threatened the peace of South India. The troops
met little resistance and between 13 and 18 September took complete control of the state. The
Nizam was retained as the head of state in the same manner as the other princes who acceded to
India.He thereupon disavowed the complaints that had been made to the UN and, despite
vehement protests from Pakistan and strong criticism from other countries, the Security Council
did not deal further with the question, and Hyderabad was absorbed into India.

Other States: Regarding the accession of the other states, Sardar acted like a magic-stick. In no
time, he could merge the States of Orissa, Chhatishgarh, Rajasthan, Punjab and so on. He
realized that the people of states were supreme and by organizing the States‘, people for
establishment of popular government, he could achieve success. He had, with him, able workers
and supporters who had worked untiringly to bring such a merger in record time. There are
innumerable instances where Sardar could bring down the rulers of the States to terms and agree
them to accession to India as per the terms and conditions stipulated by the Government of India.
Sardar had to deal with diversified Kings having different attitude with caution and applying
varied, human, social, political and psychological approach.

Formation of Linguistic States:–

Formation of Linguistic States:–

India is a land of many languages, each with its distinct script, grammar, vocabulary and literary
tradition. In 1917, the Congress Party had committed itself to the creation of linguistic provinces
in a Free India. After Congress's Nagpur Session in 1920, the principle was extended and
formalized with the creation of provincial Congress Committee by linguistic zones.

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The linguistic reorganization of the Congress was encouraged and supported by Mahatma
Gandhi. After the bitter partition on the basis of religion the then PM Nehru was apprehensive of
dividing country further on the basis of language.

Dhar commission

During that time some Marathi speaking Congress members raised the pitches for separate
Maharashtra State. Following this demand, other language speaking people too demands a
separate state for them. Hence, Constituent Assembly in 1948 appointed the Linguistic Provinces
Commission, headed by Justice S.K. Dhar, to enquire into the desirability of linguistic
provinces.

The Dhar Commission advised against this at that time reason being it might threaten national
unity and also be administratively inconvenient.

JVP Committee

After some time the clamor for linguistic states again got momentum. To appease the vocal
votaries of linguistic states, the congress appoints a committee (JVP) in December 1948
consisting of Nehru, Sardar Patel and Pattabhi Sitaramayya to examine the question afresh. This
JVP Committee revoked the seal of approval that the congress has once put on the principle of
linguistic provinces.

The demands for separate state on the linguistic basis didn't subside. There were renewed
movements aimed at linguistic autonomy in 1948, 1949. There was the campaign for Samyukta
Karnataka, uniting Kannada speaking spread across the states of Madras, Mysore, Bombay,
Hyderabad, Samyukta Maharashtra, Maha Gujarat movement. In case of Punjab, struggle
brought together both the factors language and religion (Sikh).

Andhra Movement

After Independence, the speakers of Telugu asked the congress to implement its old resolution in
favour of linguistic states.

On 19 October 1952, a popular freedom fighter, Potti Sriramulu undertook a fast unto death over
the demand for a separate Andhra and expired after fifty-eight days. After his death people were
agitated and it was followed by rioting, demonstrations, hartals and violence all over Andhra.
The Vishalandhra movement (as the movement for a separate Andhra was called) turned violent.
Finally, the then PM, Nehru announced the formation of a separate Andhra State in December
1952.

State Reorganization Commission

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The formation of Andhra Pradesh spurred the struggle for making of other states on linguistic
lines in other parts of the country.

Hence Nehru appointed in August 1953 the states Reorganisation Commission (SRC) with
justice Fazl Ali, K.M. Panikkar and Hridaynath Kunzru as members, to examine "objectively and
dispassionately" the entire question of the reorganization of the states of the Union. The SRC
submitted its report in October 1955. It recognized for the most part on the linguistic principle
and recommended redrawing of state boundaries on that basis.

The then government accepted the SRC's recommendations. Finally, the states Reorganization
Act was passed by parliament in November 1956. It provided for fourteen states and six centrally
administered territories. SRC opposed the splitting of Bombay & Punjab.

Case of Bombay

Therefore, the strongest reaction against SRC's report came from Maharashtra, where widespread
rioting took place. To fulfill their demand of separate Marathi speaking people's state, there was
the broad based Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti and on the other hand in Bombay state, there was
Maha Gujarat Janata Parishad led the movement for Gujarati people.

After on years of the reorganization of states Act, the government finally agreed in May 1960,
the bifurcate the state of Bombay into Maharashtra, Gujarat with Bombay city being included in
Maharashtra and Ahmedabad being made the capital of Gujarat.

Case of Punjab

The other state where an exception was made to the linguistic principle was Punjab. In 1956, the
state of PEPSU had been merged with Punjab, which remained a trilingual state having three
language speakers-Punjab, Hindu and Pahari within its border. In the Punjabi speaking part of
the state, there was a strong demand for carving out a separate Punjabi Suba (Punjabi Speaking
State). This demand got communal overtones. The Akali Dal led Sikh Communalists, while the
Jan Sangh, led Hindu communalists.

SRC had rejected the demands in Punjab, as it would not solve either the language or the
communal problem of Punjab. Finally in 1966, Indira Gandhi agreed to the division of Punjab
into two Punjabi and Hindi speaking status of Punjab and Haryana, with the Pahari speaking
district of Kangra and a port of the Hoshiarpur district being merged with HP.

Finally, after more than ten years of continuous strife and popular struggles, the linguistic
reorganization of India was largely completed

Non Alignment Movement

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One of the basic tenets of our foreign policy has been non-alignment. As an element of foreign
policy non-alignment m e a n s i n d e p e n d e n t o f b l o c s , peaceful coexistence, global
peace, disarmament, struggle against all manifestations of injustices like imperialism,
colonialism, apartheid etc.

After India's adoption of non-alignment as the core element of its foreign policy, it also became a
model for other newly independent countries. Most of them adopted it as an instrument for
independence in international relations. Soon non-alignment, in addition to a significant
perspective of foreign policy, became a movement of solidarity and cooperation among the
newly liberated countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)
was thus founded as a solidarity movement for giving voice to Third World Countries.

Its essential purpose was to maintain equidistance in cold War rivalries and advocate principles
for the promotion of world peace and cooperation. In due course of time, NAM became the
largest membership movement as also the largest peace movement in the history of humanity. In
both, in its founding and later consolidation and development, India played a significant role. In
fact, in many ways India has been considered as a non-formal leader of the NAM.

ORIGIN OF NAM AND INDIA'S ROLE

Though as a formal organised movement NAM started with the holding of the Belgrade Summit
of Non- Aligned countries in 1961, its seeds were sown by India, particularly by Jawaharlal
Nehru even before attainment of India's independence. It is quite clear that Nehru was
articulating the ideas of decolonisation, national independence, non-bloc politics, peaceful
coexistence, eradication of racialism and the need for the developing countries to play an active
role in international affairs. It was at the initiative of Jawaharlal Nehru that India became the
venue of the first forum of the liberated nations, when representatives of 28 countries met in
New Delhi in March 1947 (before formal declaration of independence of India) at the
Conference on Regional Cooperation among the Asian Countries known as Asian Relations
Conference.

The Asian Relation Conference thus can truly be called the foundation stone for NAM.

BANDUNG CONFERENCE

Along with Nehru some other leaders in the world were also projecting these perceptions of
newly independent countries. President Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia, President Gamel Abdul
Nasser of Egypt (then called United Arab Republic), President Kwarne Nkrumah of Ghana and
President Ahmed Soekarno of Indonesia were prominent among these. Together with Nehru they
evolved a coherent outlook and position on Non-Alignment.

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These leaders were largely instrumental in channelling the emerging changes towards the
liberation of the people of the world and towards evolving a new vision of the world order. They
rejected outright the notion that East- West relations alone constituted international affairs and
asserted their own role in shaping these affairs. On the initiative of these leaders the conference
of Afro-Asian Nations was held in Bandung (Indonesia) in April 1955.

The participants from 23 Asian and 6 African States represented mainly the people of young
States which had been setup as a result of the new balance of forces of democracy and freedom
on the one hand and of colonialism and oppression on the others. The states participating in the
conference did not belong to any military or political blocs, arid they had taken clear and definite
positions the problems facing mankind. Despite their different perspectives, the countries
represented at the Bandung Conference arrived at a common position in the larger interest of
world peace. One of the most important achievements of the Bandung Conference was the
Declaration on World Peace and Cooperation. This declaration embodied the principles of
Panchsheel which were first stated in the Preamble to the agreement between India and China in
April 1954.

INDIA’S PIVOTAL ROLE AT NAM

It is quite clear that in the founding of NAM India not only played an active role as one of the
founders but in many ways it was the initiator of the Movement. As we have already seen non-
alignment as a concept of global politics, as a foreign policy premise and as a perspective of
maximising national interest of the newly liberated countries was a vision Indian national
leadership had developed during its freedom struggle itself.

The vision became the core element of India's foreign policy after independence rand of other
countries which attained independence from that period onwards.

The non-aligned movement, thus, emerged from India's initiative for formulating an independent
foreign policy. This independent foreign policy was based on a solid moral and sound political
foundation. It was a non-partisan foreign policy. India's moral approach to international politics
was further projected through the Panchsheel in 1954.

Within three years, eighteen countries had endorsed the Panchsheel principles in joint
communiqués with Indian leaders. These principles were practically incorporated in the Ten
Principles declared at Bandung. In addition during its initial years of independence itself, India
played a very active role in peaceful resolution of some complex international issues and
persistently lobbied in United Nations for disarmament.

All these made the idea of non-alignment, the initial basic tenet in India's foreign policy, a
mechanism providing link between the coordinated actions of the anti- imperialist and anti-
colonial forces, as an assertion of independence in foreign affairs, as a process of weakening of

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power blocs, as a symbol of defiance against big power domination and as a diplomatic
innovation in the phase of politics of confrontation and cold war.

Over decades of its existence the NAM has been developing a comprehensive political
philosophy, a programme of action, and a new and positive system of international economic and
political relations. From its founding India has remained one of the most active members of
NAM and has played a pivotal role in its various activities and developments.

Liberation War of Bangladesh

The Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971 was the culmination of a 25-year tumultuous
relationship between East and West Pakistan. The British failed to keep a united India as riots
started between the Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in 1946. The riots were so widespread that on
August 14, 1947 India was portioned into two separate states.

Thus partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947 divided British India into two independent
countries of India and Pakistan. Pakistan was composed of two wings–East and West Pakistan.
The two wings were united emotionally, but the marriage of the two wings was artificial as they
had little in common other than religion. Their speech, thought, food habits, dress, living and
generally speaking, their respective way of life, were totally different.

These differences, in course of time, gave rise to a tumultuous relationship that failed to keep the
two wings united. The flawed relationship ended in a brutal war in 1971. As such, it is
imperative to learn the background of the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971.

Causes of War

Language Movement–1952

Bangladeshis had one language and were proud of their ancestry; their language and literature
were older than Urdu, the national language of West Pakistan, used by minority. Yet Mohammad
Ali Jinnah stated in a public speech in March 1948 that Urdu would remain the state language of
Pakistan. This infuriated all the non-Urdu speaking people of East Pakistan. On February 21,
1952, students and other civilians came out in the streets in protest but the police cracked down
on the unarmed civilians. For East Pakistan, the language movement was the first stepping stone
to independence.

Provincial Elections–1954

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The first provincial elections were held in East Pakistan in 1954. In this election, Suhrawardy‘s
newly organized Awami League (Peoples‘ League) allied with Fazlul Huq‘s Peasants‘ and
Workers‘ Party and a coalition of other Bangladeshi-dominated parties to form the United Front.
In this election, the people of East Pakistan voted unilaterally for the alliance. As a result, the
United Front had the maximum number of seats. Nurul Amin‘s Muslim League, the dominant
party in West Pakistan, won just 10 seats in East Pakistan; and thus, the Urdu-speaking people in
East Pakistan‘s ability to dictate policy was essentially finished. Fazlul Huq also became the
chief minister of East Pakistan. The fine showing of the United Front convinced the politicians,
civil servants, and the military at the center that they had to constrain Bangladeshi nationalism.

Ayub Khan’s Declaration of Martial Law–1958

In 1957 and 1958 governments rose and fell in Dhaka as the result of both instability in the
assembly alignments and of intervention by the central government.43 As a sequel to the
uncertainty, the deputy speaker of the house was killed in a riot. In such a dilapidated condition,
president Mirza abrogated the constitution and declared martial law. General Ayub Khan
remained as the chief martial law administrator. In 1962 Ayub Khan promulgated the new
constitution of Pakistan, primarily giving enormous power to the president. Unfortunately,
nothing addressed the concerns of East Bengal; and as such, anger, resentment and Bengali
nationalism continued to grow.

Awami League’s Six-Point Program–1966

Before the resignation of Ayub Khan, several events took place in the political spectrum. Among
those, the Awami League‘s Six-Point Program was viewed as a foundational document in
Bangladesh‘s struggle for independence. This was not an instant memorandum developed within
a short time. Rather, it was an outcome of Bangladeshi grievances accumulated for a long time.
The initiation of the Six-Point Program started as a sequel to several events. However, the
election of 1965 played an important role in formulating the program

National Election–1970

As Yahya Khan received the Six-Point Program from the Awami League, he opined that he was
not in a position to implement them. He reiterated his prime task was to hold a general election
in 1970 and hand over power at that point. However, in the December 1970 elections, the Awami
League won 160 of 162 seats from East Pakistan. Bhutto‘s Pakistan Peoples‘ Party was
successful in the west, winning 81 of 83 seats. Yahya Khan opened talks with both the leaders
but failed to reach a consensus, and thus failed to hand over the power to an elected government.

India’s Perspective

There is no doubt that the creation of an independent Bangladesh was in India‘s interest for many
reasons.

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 Firstly, the Indo–Pakistan War in 1965 over Kashmir was one of the tipping points in this
regard. India spent a huge amount of money to keep armed forces at a constant state of
readiness along the border of her hostile neighbor. A warm relationship with an
independent Bangladesh would reduce this big expenditure.
 Secondly, India also wanted to start trading with East Pakistan for mutual benefit. But
due to several political deadlocks, it was not a foregone conclusion.
 Thirdly, Pakistani rulers created a problem for India by training and militarily equipping
the Naga rebels of Assam (northeastern part of India), who claimed a portion of India to
establish an independent Nagaland.
 Apart from these issues, millions of East Pakistanis had religious, cultural, and linguistic
ties with India. West Pakistani rulers also demeaned the Hindus of East Pakistan; whereas
India was a Hindu-dominated country.

For all these reasons and more, India preferred an independent Bangladesh as a tonic to all these
problems. The Indian government expected that if Bangladesh became independent, it would
cooperate with India in a much wider form.

Course of War

On March 25, 1971, Yahya Khan, Bhutto and other members left for West Pakistan without
giving any message or warning to the Awami League leaders. The West Pakistani military
launched its sudden attack on March 25, 1917 at 11 p.m.it used automatic rifles, automatic
weapons, bayonets and tanks. Yahya Khan appointed General Tikka Khan as the overall
commander, and he was given 48 hours to suppress Bangladeshi nationalist movement. Within
34 hours, approximately 10,000 unarmed civilians were killed.

Until November 21, 1971, mostly Bangladeshi regular forces along with the Mukti Bahini
operated in different parts of the country. Besides, there were few naval and air assets utilized to
complement the war effort. However, on November 21, 1971 all the forces–Bangladesh Army,
Navy, Air Force as well as the Mukti Bahini–launched their joint offensive against Pakistani
military.

Pakistan launched the war against India on December 3, 1971, the UN took a more vigorous
approach to the problem. While Soviet Union was supporting India, the U.S. and Chine stood by
Pakistan. On December 5, 1971 Moscow vetoed a U.S. resolution urging the Security Council to
call upon India and Pakistan to carry out a cease fire and military withdrawal.

The Russians exercised another veto within 24 hours when on December 7, 1971, the General
Assembly voted 104 against 11 to call upon India and Pakistan to cease fire immediately and
withdraw their forces to respective territories.

While the UN was debating, the war on the ground was going in favor of India. In the meantime,
U.S. dispatched a naval task forces led by the nuclear-powered carrier Enterprise from U.S.

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seventh fleet. By the time the naval task force was close to Chittagong port of East Pakistan, all
Pakistani forces surrendered unconditionally. If the UN espoused cease fire would be in effect,
Bangladeshis‘ hope for independence was not to be materialized.

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 Jharkhand History and Culture

Jharkhand which came into being on 15 November 2000 as the 28th

State of The Union is the homeland of the tribal‘s for which they had
been dreaming for Centuries. According to legend. Raja Jai Singh Deo
of Orissa had declared himself the ruler of Jharkhand in the 13th
century. It largely comprises forest tracks of chhotanagpur plateau and
Santhal Pargana and has distinct cultural Traditions. In post-
Independence era. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha started a Regular
agitation which impelled the government to establish the Jharkhand Area
Autonomous Council in 1995 and finally a full-fledged State According
to prominent historians like SC Roy. The Mundas were spread all over
the north of India in the 3rd Millennium BC. And they were constantly on
the move. Their wanderings were sometimes due to natural causes, but
often due to invasion by outsiders The Mundas fled to the hilly regions to
Preserve their independence and identity.
At one time, they inhabited what is presently Punjab. Later they came
down to Utter Pradesh, then to Bihar and finally they settled in
chotanagpur or Jharkhand. The Oraons . Representing the Dravidian
tribes, were originally in the Konkan region of what is presently
Karnataka. Later they moved towards
Maharastra. Bihar and finally to Chotanagpur a few centuries after the
Munda.
The Santhal tribe had lived prosperously for some centuries in the
Champ region (now in Chattisgarh). Later they moved towards
Bhagalpur. and finally to Saont in Midnapur, from which they derived the
name Santhal Adivasis inhabited the Gangetic plains during the pre-
Vedic period and were an agrarian society. When the pastoral Aryans
invaded the Gangetic plains they succeeded in conquering the fertile
area since they had horses which enabled them to be more mobile.
One of the main characteristics of the
Adivasis in the course of their history of struggle with alien cultures was
the fact that they were always away from the centre of power, they were
frequently on the fringes. In the era of small kingdoms developing into
empires such as the Magadha empire and the Ashoka Mauria during the
800 BC. And the Guptas and Cholas around 10th and 12th AD,

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evidence of the marginal existence of the Adivasis community is to be

found. In all the records we find references to Adivasis people as dasyu,
danavs, rakshasha and savage, etc.
The Aryan people were more dominant and
aggressive. They had a monarchical system of governance based on the
vama system and a standing army with fighting skills. Egalitarian
Adivasis communities did not have a kingship system, since it was
based on hierarchy — a concept alien to the tribal ethos. Instead of
Kingship the Adivasis had clan groups among the Kill system the clan
system. This later developed into the Khutkati system Nor did they
have a standing army, since the self-sufficient Adivasis communities did
not have a division of labour based on workers and non-workers.
Marginalisetion of the Adivasis
continued during the medieval period. During this period, the Muslims
came to India, as early as 711 AD. As a part of, an expedition led by the
Arab General Muhammad bin Qasim Shortly thereafter, Sindh, part of
lower Punjab, was incorporated into the Arab Umayyad Caliphate In the
course of time, the Muslims conquered a number of Hindu kings.
However, the Muslim Emperors were not interested in invading the
Adivasis areas, except for collecting malgujari - tax. Even during this
period. The Adivasis continued their traditional system of socio-cultural
and political governance .

The Parha and the Manki Mundua system was the basis of the
social union among the Adivasis in Jharkhand. Kingship developed
amongst the Adivasis as a result of the necessity to protect their natural
and livelihood resources from alien predations and to pay taxes to more
powerful emperors. The kings would appoint someone from
amongst their kin to be an agent to collect tax. The revenue thus
collected was then used for paying the taxes to the emperor. The
Nagbashi Rajas, the Jaria garh Raja, the Ratu Raja, etc., were amongst
some of these small kings. They would collect malgujari from the people
to pay to the Emperors. This system of kings can be seen in the Oraon
areas, in the western region of Jharkhand.

This kingship system was resisted by the Adivasis. The Hos resisted the
malgujari. and so too did the Santhals and the Mundas. This resistance

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became more prominent during the British rule in India which resulted in
the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act, the Santhal Parganas Tenancy Act, and
the Wilkinson Rule. These rules and Acts recognised the distinctiveness
of the social-cultural and political institutions of the Adivasi people. They
also provided the British government with a better way of collecting tax
from a people who refused to part with the lands that had been cleared
and cultivated for several generations. It is clear that the customary
system of self-governance of the Adivasis has existed and evolved in the
course of the history as far back as we can trace it Their customary
practices have been one of the main strengths of the Adivasis people.
This is how they have been able, in the past, to resist outside forces
encroaching into their freedom.
The economic effects of forcible incorporation of Adivasis into a
stratified market economy have been well recorded. However, as well as
the economic exploitation and land alienation, the incorporation and
subordination of the Adivasi society in to the market economy, has led
to the destruction of the community as a whole. This disempowerment
was done through a very conscious destruction of the Adivasi institutions
of governance.
In the case of Jharkhand, with the establishment of British rule we
find a conscious effort to destroy the traditional Adivasis institution of
self- governance, self-regulation, such as Munda Manki system and the
Parha system. These representative institutions were supplanted by a
new set of institutions to enable the British not only to appropriate the
economic and labour resources of the Adivasis communities in the form
of land revenue and indentured labour, but also to make these new
institutions independent of the control of the Adivasis community.
It is no accident that unlike the Munda Manki system. which was
communitarian and not necessarily hereditary, the new system was
always based in an individual authority and in several cases hereditary.
These offices of revenue extraction were vested with authorities of a
feudatory chief or raja.
A part from the system of revenue and labour extractions a new and
bureaucratic civil and criminal administration was also set up.
Bureaucracy, police and courts were encountered by the Adivasi
communities for the first time. These institutions not only destroyed the
Adivasi communities, since they were completely out of the control of the

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society, they also eroded the communitarian principles that permeated

the self- regulatory mechanism of the Adivasi society. The impact of this
ethos was evident in mechanism of dispute settlement in the traditional
Adivasi institutions.
In the case of disputes, such as inter-clan clashes, murders or debts.the
emphasis of the community panchayat was on justice, ratherer then
judgment or punishment. All this changed with the advent of the modern
bureaucracy that was based on individualism and impersonality. The
Adivasis notion of justice was replaced by the modern binary of crime
and punishment. The inability of the Adivasi people to grasp this subtle
but deadly shift often led to tragic consequences. In the initial year of the
establishment of police stations there are several recorded instances of
the Adivasi warrior‘s reporting to the police station with the body of their
victims.
What has been patronizingly recorded by the police officials as the
"innocence and simplicity of the savage tribal‘s" was in fact the result of
the failure of the Adivasi communities to understand the full import of
the modem judicial principle crime and punishment. Rather than
endeavoring to resolve the cause of acrimony between the Adivasi
individuals or groups so that harmony could once again be restored, as
was the traditional custom of the Adivasi panchayat the modern
institutions resorted to punitive action, since for them an individual was
solely responsible for its acts of omission and
commission.
The Adivasi mechanism of grievance redress was therefore trespassed
and violated. Furthermore, in its dealings with modern bureaucracy,
judiciary and police the Adivasi notion of self-respect was violated. The
elitist attitude of the colonial and Indian mindset was largely responsible
for this. It either treated the Adivasi as a barbarian or as a simple or
genial savage who was incapable of taking care of himself.
Apart from the attitude of the officials, the mystifying processes and
functions of these new institutions made it impossible for the Adivasis to
engage with these institutions on an equal footing. Official work during
the colonial period was done entirely in English and in the post
independence era in Hindi. Given the preponderance of these non
Adivasis languages, the Adivasis were either compelled to learn the
language of their conquerors and the attached cultural baggage or

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depend on the non-Adivasis in their efforts to seek justice from the

modern institutions.

Either way, the Adivasis lost their autonomy, self sufficiency and self
respect. It is not an accident therefore that in every Adivasi institution; of
police, judiciary and bureaucracy were made targets of attack. It is
noting here the curious case of the shooting of an arrow by Birsa Munda
on a seminary in Sarvada to mark the beginning of his protest. This act
has been interpreted by certain communal minded people as an attack
on the religious beliefs of the inmates of the seminary however, if the
intention of Birsa was to destroy the seminary rather than shooting a
single arrow from a great distance he would have organised a full
fledged raid on the institution.
However, what a western anglophile failed to recognise is that the
problem of Adivasis is not only the inability to successfully represent
their case in the modern institutions, but the very act of incorporation of
the Adivasi society within the modern institutions. The arrow shot on the
pastor by Birsa was not
aimed at his religious belief, but was intended to draw a line of
demarcation between the Adivasis desire to retain their traditional
autonomy and the desire of an anglophile to facilitate an easy and
civilized way of coopting the tribal community into the modern system.
Oral tradition as a basis of customary practices
The Adivasi customary practices evolve from the praxis of oral
traditional. In other words, the culture defines the customary practices. It
is reflected in what people give value to and what they value. The event
is important rather than the time in which it took place. It is not important
that it is published but that it is remembered and recounted through the
generations. The past is not a catalogue of facts but an encoding of
events as the marker of Adivasi valor, justice, dignity, etc. Oral traditions
are expressions of communality and community unlike the written script
which becomes individual and personal.
The manner in which the Adivasi oral traditions were weakened was
through the imposition of the written script by the ruling class. So today
any and everything has to be written down in order to have validity.
Whatever is unwritten and oral has been put in the category of myths
and superstition. Once the commonality of the material resources gets

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 Jharkhand History and Culture

privatised there will be an adverse impact on social relationships among

the members of the society and a very negative influence on the cultural
values and attitudes of the people. This is precisely what the British did
by introducing the individual patta system.

This is exactly what happened to the Adivasi in India and in Jharkhand.

As a result communalism is replaced by individualism. Common property
becomes private property. Co-operation becomes competition.
Consensus in decision making becomes majority decision. Equality
among the members of the community becomes inequality. When India
became independent the local ruling class, which was largely non
Adivasi and which hailed from north Bihar, and whose language was
Hindi, systematically imposed Hindi on the Adivasi people of Jharkhand.
Thus Hindi was made a necessary language both at the level of
administration as well as in the formal education system. As a
consequence, the children who started to go primary school had to learn
Hindi. The Adivasi school-going children did not fare well in Hindi
because: they did not speak it home, where as non-adivasi children,
whose mother tongue was Hindi, much better at school .
Hindi was also propagated to lessen the importance given to English. In
this effort however the independence government largely failed because
English continued to hold its sway in college and university education.
The net consequence of this language policy was that Adivasi languages
suffered from a double assault from government patronized Hindi and
elite patronized English. National development leading to
underdevelopment of the Indigenous people India has one of the largest
indigenous populations in the world Adivasis in India form nearly 8
percent of India's total population In the slate of Jharkhand. as SC Bhatt
in the District Gazetteer of Jharkhand puts it. "during fifty years since
independence, the Jharkhand land and the Jharkhandi people have
been in a process of being reduced to shameles in several respects. The
region consists of 79.714 sq kms of land with 2.69.09.428 population of
whom 30 percent are indigenous Adivasis. Where as they were 60
percent at the sun of the last century.
Due to displacement process the indigenous people of Jharkhand are
perhaps the worst hit. otherwise this region is the richest region in the
whole country in terms of natural resources, viz timber and several

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 Jharkhand History and Culture

kinds of minerals drawn from far flung areas." The planners of India's 5
year plans adopted a policy of "positive discrimination" towards Adivasis
by providing them with certain extra facilities.
In the beginning of the 1990s. the Adivasi members of Parliament
brought the attention of the government both inside and outside
parliament to the continued deprivation of their people. In 1992 the
central government appointed a special commission under the
leadership of Shri Delip Singh Bhuriua to make specific
recommendations towards self-rule and self-development the Adivasi
people.

The Aryan people were more dominant and aggressive. They had a
monarchical system of governance based on the vama system and a
standing army with fighting skills. Egalitarian Adivasi communities did
not have a kingship system, since it was based on hierarchy — a
concept alien to the tribal ethos. Instead of Kingship the Adivasis had
clan groups among the Kily system — the clan system. This later
developed into the Khutkati system. Nor did they have a standing army,
since the self-sufficient Adivasis communities did not have a division of
labour based on workers and non-workers.

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 Jharkhand History and Culture

Adivasi/Indigenous peoples of Jharkhand (and in central India)

traditionally have broadly three level of decision making process within
the customary laws through a self-governing system, village level,
cluster of village level and community level.

1. Village Council: In Village level whole unit of village community are

included whoever living in the village. This is the primary unit of
traditional decision making process which called as village council or
hatu dunub. In each village there is a head/ chief who are known by
different names in different tribe. Among Munda community it call Munda
and among Santhal community -Manjhi Hadam, among Ho community -
Munda, among Kharia -Sohor and among Oraon -Mahto.

2. Cluster of Village level/ Parha: The village cluster is known by

different names in all the communities. Among Oraon five parha, twelve
parha, among Munda community-12 mauja Sanga Parha, 24 mauja
Guria parha, 22 mauja topno parha and so on. Among Mundas the
Parha system is based on clan i.e. a clan is parha which includes many
villages. Among Ho community it called Manki Pir, among Santhal
community- Pargana, and among kharia community it called Dhoklo and
so on.

3. In the community level: In community level adivasi self governing

system is known by different names such as among Oraon-Raji Parha
and the post holder – Raji parha, among munda community Munda
Sangh and post holder – Munda Disum raja, among Ho community
Manki Sangh and post holder –manki munda, among Santhal
community- Disum Pargana and post holder- Disum Parganait, among
Kharia community – Kharia Maha Doklo Sohor and post holder –Doklo
sohor.

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 Jharkhand History and Culture

The Mundas consider village as a political unit. It had a head and an

organization to deal with other villages. The head of the Munda village
was called the Pahan(the priest). He obtained this title by virtue of being
the original founder of a new community or the oldest representative of
the original founder.
His duty was to offer sacrifice at festivals mainly for three reasons:
i. to preserve the village against the ravages of wild animals,
ii. To obtain satisfactory harvest;
iii. To ensure successful hunts.

The chief functions of the Pahan were:

(i). to preside over the Panchayat;
(ii). To punish those who violated established customs;
(iii). To collect the contributions of the village and hand them over to the
proper authority.
The Pahan began to exercise the above functions with the introuduction
of the Raja into the Munda political system. Later on he was assisted by
a Munda in the execution of his duties. These two offices were solely for
service without any remuneration or special grant of land attached toit.
The two officials were highly respected.

Confederation of villages
The Confederation of villages was made up of ten or twelve villages. It
was called a Patti. The chief of the patti was called the Manki. He was
the political organizer of the Mundas.
His duties were:
(i). to settle disputes concerning land and other matters;
(ii). To settle questions of exceptional tribal interest within a village;
(iii). To settle peace between different villages with the help of a council
of elders;
(iv). To collect chanda or rent and hand over it to the Raja.

Jpscnotes.in Page 9
 Jharkhand History and Culture

Nagvanshi Administrative system was based on the Kinship.Nag

dynasty evolved out form the rudimentary state form through the
interplay of both primary and secondary process of state formation.The
elements of primary state form was there in the culture matrix of the
Mundas as stated earlier otherwise the course of state formation would
have been different.The classical 'conquest theory' as well as peaceful
penetration are dispensed with as necessary condition for the rise of
state among the Mundas on the ground that they do not get support
either by history or ethro-history of the people.

The terms Pundra, Pundarika, Naga or Nagvanshis thus denotes to the

tribal or clan or group that was centered around the Chotangpur region
which is now a part of Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand. Thus, Pundarika
Nag was the was the father of the famed Pani Mukut Rai the first
Nagbansi king of Chotanagpur.

Phani Mukut was then adopted by Madra Munda, and he and his
successors were called the Nagvanshis. Phani Mukut Rai ruled from
83AD to 162 AD.

Pundarika Nag (the serpent)could assume the human form but like the
'churail'(sprit of the woman died at child birth)who cannot change their
heel from back to front,could not change the forked tongue.'Pundarika
Nag was thus either a symbol or sprit and not snake or human
being.Snake or any other animal,other than human being cannot
learnscriptures or magic.

It is believed that Pithoria was the capital of Chotanagpur‘s

Nagvanshi dynasty founder Phani Mukat Rai. Before this dynasty, tribal
ruler Maharaja Madra Munda had founded his capital here circa 500 BC.

Khukragarh, excavation of coins and pottery proved that

Nagvanshi ruler Bhim Karn founded his capital there in the 12th Century.

Jpscnotes.in Page 10
 Jharkhand History and Culture

Excavation may yield relics of the times of Phani Mukut Rai and
Maharaja Madra Munda

The kingship among the Mundas and other neighbouring ethnic

groups,such as Chero and Bhumij,developed after the fall of the Gupta
empire and were almost contemporary to each other.Under this situation
there was no pragmatic influence in the organisational set up of the
Mundas from the neighbouring Chero and Bhumij tribes.

On the other hand,an elite class,due to an ongoing internal

process of change as well as acculturetive forces,was evolving in the
existing socio-political structure who were prone to divert from traditional
system and were keen to establish socio-political relation with other
power centers.It may be noted that in Chotanagpur when the population
of the Munda was increased considerably, they sectionaised into a
number of groups under the respective leader.And as it is told,formerly
religious leaders (Pahan) was subordinated to secular leader
(Munda),similarly, the Manki(leader of many sections) was always
assisted by te Pahan whose position was subsequently liquidated totally.

By that time of Manki Madra Munda (foster father of first Nagbansi

king) the position of the secular leader was at the apex of the Munda
socio-political structure.It is on this background that the Nagbansi
dynasty was laid down

The change-over from mankiship to kingship did not bring about

corresponding change in the traditional administrative system.The king
remained as an ordinary person without special power and privilege.

A change in the administrative system was brought much later

when Nagbansi Raja was made tributary to the Mughals.The Raja,as is
told by the Mundas, called upon the Partha chiefs for consultation and
sought their help at this hour of trouble.Prior to their help with annual
chanda i.e subscription and occasional gifts which continued till the
Britishers came.

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 Jharkhand History and Culture

During the Brithsh rule the subscription was made permanent and
was transformed into rent,though prior to this cases of forcible collection
of subscription by king's people was set free from captive by the
Mughals,he adopted this administrative system.He created posts for
ministers,military personnels and brought admirers and followers,all from
outside whom he granted land in jagir. These people strengthened the
hands of the Maharaja in administration.He was getting much difficulty in
controlling the territory on which the tribals had exclusive ownership
individually and collectively.

The traditional rights of the tribal over land was forcibly taken
away by these people who also helped in spreading the Hindu culture in
the region by establishing sacred centers.It was a heaven for trading and
other occupational communities who swarmed into the region and who
were all interested in the land of the tribals.The rent and land system of
the British government proved to be a boon which further confermed the
position of the Maharaja and land-hold of the Jagirdars and
moneylenders.So economically the tribals were redused to the status of
slave which adversely affected their social and political system.The
formation of state thus,became complete which the founder of Nag
dynasty,many generations ago,had laid down.But this delegated power
and position itself was an indication of the decline of kingship.

Jpscnotes.in Page 12
 Jharkhand History and Culture

There are two type of village head in an Oraon village , one is the
secular head known as mahato who act on social issue and the other
is religuous and sacred head known as pahan who looks into religious
matters. The village elect the mahato once every three years He
presides over the village council. The inter village organisation of the
regional panchyat is known as PARHA . The head of the pahara is
called parha Raja. The no of villages in different parha organisation
very from region to region . In British village of the region the forest
comnmunity protects and regulates the village head grant permission
for the extraction of timber from nthe forest as per the household needs
and making of agriculture tools.

In the traditional Oraon society the largest political unit is the tribe. A
tribe is divided into a number of territorial segments known an Parha.
These are divided into number of villages, which constitute the smallest
political units. Each clan is associated with one Parha (a tribal section) In
which it constitutes the aristocratic nucleus.

A Parha comprises a number of villages. The number of villages,

however, varies from Parha to Parha. It may consist of seven, nine etc
and generally they are called by numbers.

In a Parha all the villages are subject to the authority of the Parha
Panchayat.

One of the villages in a Parha is called the Raja (king) village, another
the Dewan (Primeminister) village, a third the Panrey (clerk of the
village) a fourth the Kotwar (orderly) village, and the remaining
villagers are the Praja (subject). The Raja village is the head village of
the Parha, and the headman of the village presides at the meetings of
the Parha Panchayat. Generally the Mahto (Headman) acts as the
Kartaha (Chairman) and in his absence the Pahan (religious
head) or any elderly bhuindar of the Raja village may be chosen to
officiate as Kartaha (Chairman) of the Parha council

Jpscnotes.in Page 13
 Jharkhand History and Culture

The Parha Panchayat decides cases of infringement of certain taboos

that affect the whole Parha or the tribe, for instance sexual union
between Oraon and non-Oraon, and any case of Incest. The settle
disputes regarding precedence at the Jatra festivals, the right to game,
and so forth, other matters which the village Panchayat cannot decide or
in which their decision is not accepted are brought before the Parha
council.

Parha Panchayat has the right to excommunicate an Oraon for sexual

intercourse with a non-Oraon or having eaten cooked food at the hands
of a non-Oraon. It is believed that the breach of these taboos will affect
good fortune of the Parha and is the main concern of the Parha council

It was in the seventies that Bhikhna Bhagat revived this declining

institution of the Oraon. A vigorous movement was launched and the
Sarna Oraon mobilised themselves under the banner of their respective
Parha. The movement however, has sustained a set back, though it is
pcraued by the large section of younger generation under Sarna Sabha.

orans

Among the Oraons the word Bhuinhari means owner of the land. The
Bhuinhars are the descendants of the pioneer families who cleared the
jungle and brought that particular area under cultivation and became
owners. The Bhulnhar khunt (maximal lineage) comprises two
segments,the Pahan khunt and the Mahto khunt.In the original

Bhulnhar family authority was vested in the original founder or the eldest
member of the lineage. He was known as the Pahan and was both the
ritual and the secular head. In the exercise of his secular duties he was
assisted by another member of the lineage called Mahto. In time the
descendants of these two officials came to be regarded as belonging to
the Pahan khunt nucleus of the maximal lineage in a Bhuinhari village.

Jpscnotes.in Page 14
 Jharkhand History and Culture

Authority in the Bhuinhari lineage comprises of two offices the Pahan or

Baigas (the village priest) and the Mahto (secular head). The authority of
the Pahan and the Mahto is derived from their spritual status and from
their seniority in The hierarchy of lineage elders. The Pahan belongs to
the Pahan khunt and the Mahto belongs to the Mahto khunt. Great
prestige and respect is attached to the status of the Pahan and Mahto
and to avoid dispute these officers are selected triennially or in a few
instances at a longer interval by the magic sup (winnowing basket). It is
believed that the selection of these officers rests in supernatural
hands,so that the headship is selected through a ritual process and is
believed to have a spiritual backing. A bachelor cannot be a Pahan.

The function of the Pahan is primarily religious. It Is believed that he has

a sacred association with the earth and the ancestors which give him
ritual power. The Mahto is the secular head of the village elders. Usually
the most influential person among the lineage heads is elected as
Mahto. The Mahto leadership is an ancestral heritage and hence a
person elected must belong to the Mahto khunt. He is responsible for the
protection of the village community from external threats and hence his
duty is to maintain satisfactory relationship with the outside world. He is
the chief organiser of all important public work in the village He must be
Informed of all the important affairs that concern the whole lineage and
the village community in general.

Jpscnotes.in Page 15
 Jharkhand History and Culture

The political organization and administrative unit of the Santals village

are mostly governed by councils of elders who regulate the life of the
people within the village and the order of the village outside world. The
political organization and administrative is generally is democratic in
nature. The Santals govern by their own laws and have their own
method of treating different kinds of offences. The offices of the political
organization were generally hereditary and passed patrilineally but now
days the offices are not only hereditary but are conferred by selection of
person. These officials are responsible to the community for their
functions.
The Santals have a well established political organization. It functions at
the village, inter-village (pirh or pargana) and regional (disam) levels.
The village is considered as the smallest and most important unit at the
ground level. There is a traditional village council (atu mone hor)
constituted of functionaries like Manjhi (secular village headman), Jog
Manjhi (deputy village headman), Parmanik, (assistant to village
headman), Gadet (secretary to village headman 7 messenger), Jog
Parmanik (Deputy Parmanik), Naike (village head priest) and Kudam
Naike (assistant to village priest). All the household heads are the
members of the village council. Manjhi presides over the village council
meetings and settles all the disputes relating to theft, conflict, divorce,
partition of property, adoption of children, quarrels over land, violation of
social customs, tradition, etc. at the village level. The meeting of the
council generally takes place at the manjhi than.
These officials have to perform their functions in accordance with the
tribal system and that is why they are expected to be well acquainted
with the Santal traditions, customs, religious beliefs and practices(J.
Troisi, Tribal Religion: Religious Belief and Practices among the Santals,
56). These traits are still prevalent in the village, where the community
live.

The inter-village council known as the pirh or pargana constituted of fifty

to sixty villages, deals with matters which cannot be settled J at the
village level. It is constituted by the representatives of several villages

Jpscnotes.in Page 16
 Jharkhand History and Culture

under the pirh or pargana. Pir Pargana is the secular head of the pir,
nominated by all the Manjhis of the component villages once in every
five years. Along with Pir Pargana, Pir Dihiri and Pir Godet are also two
important functionaries at pir level administration. Major offences like
incest, adultery and inter-village disputes are discussed and decided at
this level. When somebody is dissatisfied with the decision of the village
council, he may appeal to the pirh or pargana council. It also functions
as the hunt council. The annual hunt is organized by a large number of
Santals from different villages beyond the pirh or pargana, which gives
them a chance to meet and discuss complicated disputes. Hunting
expeditions may continue for three or four dys. Spending the whole day
in the chase, the hunting party takes a rest at one place overnight where
they discuss different problems. Any case previously referred to the
village or pargana council may be placed before the hunt council for a
fresh trial. Excommunication from the community or bitlaha for grave
offences can be awarded by the hunt council. Guilty persons are fined
by the council and the fine is spent on feasting.

Five to ten Pirs together constitute a Disham, whose secular head is

Desh Pargana. He is elected by the Pir Parganas once in every five
years. He settles disputes on the cases which are not decided at the Pir
level with the consultation of Pir Parganas and Manjhis. In case of
serious social offence (bitlaha), Desh Pargana is vested with powers to
impose both physical and financial punishment to the guilty person
considering the severity of the offence. Sometimes, the culprit is
excommunicated from the society.Disam Dihiri and Disham Godet also
help Desh Pargana in this work for smooth administration at Disham
level. But now with the introduction of the 3 -tiers Panchayat Raj
Institutions (PRIs), the traditional political system is losing its importance.

Jpscnotes.in Page 17
 Jharkhand History and Culture

The Munda Manki System normally three level organised were

prevalent, the first level organisation in the lineage level second at the
village level and the third at the in the inter village level. However in
some area inter village organisation are weak in Ho area, Munda are the
head men of the village and are subject to the authority of mankies , who
are the head of inter village panchayats (known as PIRS) the post of
munda is hereditary .

Some of the pirs are large so these are divided into a number of sub
divison each presided over by a manki . The british vasted the mundas
with the power of collecting revenue Taxes.

At the lineage level the elder or the lineage head leads the own lineage
people, whereas village head is the munda . There are two type of inter
village organisation known as Parha and Patti as political and social
organisation respectively . The Khuntkhatti area is a divided into circules
called Pattis . A patti is a group of village generally at least ten or twelve
. thehead of patti is called Manki the patti organisation is again of two
types, Bhuinhari patties and khuntkhatti patties while patti organisation is
territorial , parha is based chiefly on the killi i‘e , clan the patti
organisation has jurisdiction on every individual falling under its territorial
jurisdiction whatever be his or her clan , while parha has jurisdriction
over every individial of the clan no matter where he be territorialle. Thus
there is inherent contraditionin this system an individual will have two
heads , one clan head, parha and one Manki ,pattii head .

Jpscnotes.in Page 18
 Jharkhand History and Culture

Its based on Law of Equality-Kharias strongly advocate the law of

equality within tribes and between tribes. According to them all tribes
and members of the tribes have equal right to thrive on this earth. Nature
has provided equal environment resources to every body. They consider
no tribe superior to other.

Moral and Ethical Laws- The Kharia religion and Kharia life are
interdependent and have recognized certain moral rules. They believe in
certain acts as sins. All rules and moral behaviors are established by
God. God has overall control on individual, society, the country / world.
God has framed the rules and laws to keep the tribe(s) pure, and to
protect it. God is the only giver of punishment. Kharias believe that there
are two fundamental sins-Pride and Greed. From Pride and Greed
originate jealousy, envy, quarrels, fights, murder, and all the other evils.

Gram Panchayat– Every village has a Gram Sabha. Every villager of 18

years is deemed to be a member of the Gram Sabha, which is a general
body. It selects the ‗Gram Pradhan‘ who is elected for every five years.
The Gram Sabha is required to convene two meetings in one year.
The functions of the Gram Sabha are-
(a) to approve the budget for one year,
(b) to consider imposition of new taxes,
(c) to review the audit report of the last years‘ accounts.

Jpscnotes.in Page 19
 Jharkhand History and Culture

Among these Adivasis community the decision making process is more

people centered or democratic which includes three sections i.e.
Karyapalika (Administration), Vidhayika (Parliament) and Nyayapalika
(Judiciary) that exist from the level of village to community level. The
whole process is based on collective decision making process. Since
among the Adivasis the decision making bodies were non-hierarchical
and so power was decentralized. Traditionally Adivasis believe that
power should be distributed within the community that is why adivasi
village/ Hatu is called small republic.

The decision making process was based on their way of life which was
closely related to land, forest and water. Adivasi were socially, religiously
and politically well integrated. The whole natural resources was closely
connected with human being and spirit, these Cosmo- centric people
were interconnected and interdependent with nature-human-spirit that
led them to live peacefully. Their self-governing system was based on
mutual consent and non-hierarchical system.

The main component of their decision making was getting mutual

consent from the whole community and non-hierarchical ideology which
was sign of decentralized decision making process.

Jpscnotes.in Page 20
 Jharkhand History and Culture

Sadani / Sadri is a lingua franca used for inter-tribal group

communication in eastern-central India. The term "Sadani" can be used
in two senses. In the first, more general meaning, "Sadani" refers to the
closely related linguistic varieties in Jharkhand, including forms such as
Panch Parganiya, Khortha and Kurmali, which are generally considered
independent languages. This term refers to the fact that these linguistic
varieties are spoken by the "Sadan" (sadan), i.e., the non-tribal, Indo-
Aryan speaking ethnic groups of Jharkhand. The second, more
restricted meaning, the one used in this article, refers to the speech of
central to western Jharkhand and refers to a group of more closely
related dialects usually referred to locally as "Sadri" or "Nagpuri" /
"Nagpuriya". The term "Sadani / Sadri" will be used in this article to refer
to this one linguistic variety, which will be referred to in the following as
"Sadri" only. This variety is generally referred to as "Sadani" in western
studies.

The origin of Sadani / Sadri and other related terms is somewhat

obscure. Writers tentatively suggests deriving the term "Sadan" from
Olianada-, referring to an ethnic group of Northeast India.

Sadri is known by many different names.

Lewis lists the following alternate names: Chota Nagpuri, Dikku Kaji,
Ganwari, Gauuari, Gawari, Goari, Jharkhandhi, Nagpuri, Nagpuria,
Sadan, Sadana, Sadani, Sadari, Sadati, Sadhan, Sadhari, Sadna,
Sadrik, Santri, Siddri and Sradri.
Some names denote the region where it is spoken, e.g. Jharkhandi from
Jharkhand with the adjectivizing marker -i, and (Chota) Nagpuri(ya),
referring to Nagpur or Chota Nagpur, alternative names for Jharkhand.
Some derive from the names of the groups that speak this language
(e.g. Sadani from Sadan),
while some refer to the fact that this language is usually spoken in the
village or gãw, e.g. Gawari 'village language'.

Jpscnotes.in Page 21
 Jharkhand History and Culture

2 Geographical spread

Sadri is mainly spoken in western and central Jharkhand, but also in

parts of Orissa, Chattisgarh, West Bengal, Assam and Bangladesh.
Lewis (2011) estimates the total number of speakers to be 1,970,000 for
1997. The Census of India 2001 provides the figure of 2,044,776
speakers.

In addition to this group of native speakers, Sadri is also used as a

lingua franca by a large number of so-called "tribal" groups, among
others the Kharia (South Munda), Mundari, Bhumij (North Munda) and
Kurukh (North Dravidian), and a number of speakers of these "tribal"
groups have adopted Sadri as their first language and no longer speak
their traditional language.

3 Affiliation (position in genealogical classification)

Since at least Grierson (1903) there has been general consensus that
Sadri belongs to the eastern group of the Indo-Aryan languages.
Furthermore, Sadri is often considered a dialect of Bhojpuri in western
studies (cf. Grierson (1903); Tiwari (1960); Jordan-Horstmann (1969)).
However, this classification is not accepted by many speakers of Sadri,
who tend to view Sadri either as a separate language or as a dialect of
Hindi, but not of Bhojpuri. Also in the Census of India it is subsumed
under Hindi.

4 Written sources

A large amount of literature has been and continues to be published in

Sadri, including a number of works by Peter Shanti Nowrangi of different
types, both prose and poetry, as well as translations of sections of the
New Testament. Other works include Prasad (1992), a collection of
folktales, Gau~jhu (2003), a historical drama, as well as a number of
translations from other languages into Sadri. For a more detailed list of
these and other works, see the following link:
Sadri is virtually always written in the Devanagari script.

Jpscnotes.in Page 22
 Jharkhand History and Culture

Almost one hundred years before India‘s First War of Independence

(1857), the adivasis (tribals) of Jharkhand had declared revolt against
the British colonial rule and their imperialist exploiting policies. The first
ever revolt in India, against the landlords was led by Tilka Manjhi, a
valiant Santhal leader from the tribal belt in 1771.

Tilka Manjhi
Tilka Manjhi Revolt was against British policy of acquisition of land of the
native of Jharkhand, against the dive and rule policy by providing
security to the local residents and against the suppression policy of
Cleveland.
Around 1770 in Santhal region was adversely affected by drought and
people were dying due to hunger. The hunger and scarcity of food lead
to picketing and other anti-social activities in the region. The government
instead of providing security and relief started exploiting and
suppressing Santhal. Tilka came out strongly revolted against the
government. He resisted against prevailing government policies at
Vancharijoor near Bhagalpur. This region was under the military
governance under Warren Hastings.
In response of Tilka Manjhi reovolt, Hastings sent 800 British Solders
under the command of Captain Brook to suppress the Manjhi revolt.
Books kept suppressing the santhals for next two years, followed by
James Brown and then Cleveland came as superintendent of Rajmahal
region to surpress the voice of Santhals.
Clive used divide and rule policy and in short spam of just nine months
he managed bring 40 local tribes under his umbrella. These locals were
basically local leaders and British did not asked for any revenue from
them. Tilka Manjhi resisted against his policy and said policy should be
similar for everyone. Tilka got immense support from local people over
this.

Jpscnotes.in Page 23
 Jharkhand History and Culture

Tilka Manjhi also popularly kwown as ―Jabra Paharia‖. He made this

movement a mass movement and circulated message written on leaf of
Sal that ―We must be united ―.
Year 1784 is very important, Tilka on January 13 aimed August
Cleveland with his arrow and took his life. Tilka Manjhi was not caught
by the British at that moment and he managed to get disappear in the
forest and then after started guerilla war against British. In 1785, he was
caught by the British and was publically on the Banyan tree hanged at
Bhagalpur. With this heroic end Tilka Manhi Revolt ( 1772- 1780 ) came
to an end.

Bhola Nath Sahay: Tamar Revolts (1789-1832)

The tribals of Tamar revolted over 7 times between 1789-1832 against
the British. They were joined in the revolt by the tribals of adjoining areas
- Midnapur, Koelpur, Dhadha, Chatshila, Jalda and Silli. They revolted
against the faulty align system of the government. The Tamar revolts
were led by Bhola Nath Sahay of Tamar. In 1832 the arrows of war
circulated throughout the region. Oraons, Mundas, Hos or Kols, who had
distinct social and cultural identity joined the insurgents under the
leadership of Ganga Narain Singh, a member of Banbhum Raj family.
The tribals murdered the "dikus" in each village of the areas. They burnt
and plundered their houses. But the movement was suppressed by the
government in 1832-33. The Ho-country was annexed as government
estate. Simple rules of administration were drawn up, though the,
system of government through the "Ho" tribal head was maintained.

Ganga Narain Singh: the Bhumij tribal Revolt of Manbhum,

In 1831, the Bhumij Kols of Manbhum and Singhbhum declared their

open rebellion under the leadership of Ganga Narain Singh, a scion of
Burrabhoom Raj family. During the same period the Binrai Manki, the
leader of the freedom movement in the Chotanagpur region who had
been pardoned off by the British authority, became the leader of the
movement in this region.

However in November 1832, the British military force counter-attacked

the freedom-fighters forces led by Ganga Narain fiercely. They

Jpscnotes.in Page 24
 Jharkhand History and Culture

compelled Ganga Narain to take refuge in the hills, from where he fled to
Singhbhum. In Singhbhum, Ganga Narain urged the Kols (Hos) to join
him in the fight against the British authorities.

Sidho and Kanho: The Santhals revolt.

Sido Murmu and Kanhu Murmu, hailing from the village Bhognadih in
Sahibganj district, had long been brooding over the injustices
perpetrated by the oppressors like hundreds and hundreds of their
tribe‘s men. The situation finally reached a flash point and, not
surprisingly, a small episode that took place in July 1855 triggered one
of the fiercest uprisings that the British administration ever faced in India.
The emergence of Sido and Kanhu, youthful, dynamic and charismatic,
provided a rallying point for the Santals to revolt against the oppressors
.On 30th June 1855, a large number of Santals assembled in a field in
Bhagnadihi village of Santal Paragana, They declared themselves as
free and took oath under the leadership of Sido Murmu and Kanhu
Murmu to fight unto the last against the British rulers as well as their
agents.

Militant mood of the Santals frightened the authority. A Police agent

confronted them on the 7th July and tried to place the Murmu brothers
under arrest. The angry crowd reacted violently and killed the Police
agent and his companions. The event sparked off a series of
confrontations with the Company‘s Army and subsequently reached the
scale of a full-fledged war.
At the outset, Santal rebels, led by Sido and Kanhu, made tremendous
gains and captured control over a large tract of the country extending
from Rajmahal hills in Bhagalpur district to Sainthia in Birbhum district.
For the time being, British rule in this vast area became completely
paralyzed.
Many moneylenders and native agents of the Company were killed.
Local British administrators took shelter in the Pakur Fort to save their
life. However, they rebel could not hold on to their gains due to the
superior fire power of the East India Company came down heavily on
them.

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The courage, chivalry and sacrifice of the Santals were countered by the
rulers with veritable butchery. Out of 50,000 Santal rebels, 15,000
20,000 were killed by the British Indian Army. The Company was finally
able to suppress the rebellion in 1856, though some outbreaks
continued till 1857.

Birsa Munda (1875–1900)

Birsa Munda was a tribal leader and a folk hero, belonging to the Munda
tribe who was behind the Millenarian movement that rose in the tribal
belt of modern day Bihar, and Jharkhand during the British Raj, in the
late 19th century making him an important figure in the history of the
Indian independence movement

His long stay at Chaibasa from 1886 to 1890 constituted a formative

period of his life. During 1893-4 all waste lands in villages, the ownership
of which were vested in the Government, were constituted into protected
forests under the Indian Forest Act VII of 1882. In Singhbhum as in
Palamau and Manbhum the forest settlement operations were launched
and measures were taken to determine the rights of the forest-dwelling
communities. Villages in forests were marked off in blocks of convenient
size consisting not only of village sites but also cultivable and waste
lands sufficient of the needs of villages.

Outside the blocks lay the protected forest areas in which rights were
regulated, even curtailed. These orders were sometimes not understood
by local officers who acted as if all right of forest-swelling communities
had been curtailed. Birsa led a number of ryots of Sirgida to Chaibasa
with a petition for the remission of forest dues. Men form six other
villages had preceded him. Nothing came of it. The Chotanagpur
Protected Forests Rules framed under the Indian Forest Act came into
force in July 1894. Viewing Birsa‘s involvement in the Sardar agitation
with concern, Anand Panre advised him not to let him emotion
overpowers him; but he would not turn a deaf ear to the inner voice.

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Thus his three years‘ apprenticeship under the Panres came to an end
in 1893-4.

In 1894, Birsa had grown up into a strong and handsome young man,
shrewd and intelligent. The stories of Birsa as a healer, a miracle-
worker, and a preacher spread, out of all proportion to the facts. At that
period of history Mundas were utterly frustrated, disappointed and
discontented. Zamindars, Jagirdars, Thikedars, Rajas, Christian
missionaries and the British courts – all of them had only one point
programme and that was to exploit the Mundas.

Mundas called him Dharati Aba, the father of the earth. As a matter of
strategy he went with his followers to Chutia on 28 January 1898 to
collect the record or rights and re-establish racial links with the temple
there. He said that the temple belonged to the Kols in ancient times.
It is said that 7000 men and women assembled around Christmas of
1899 heralding the Ulgulaan (or revolution) which soon spread to Khunti,
Tamar, Basia and Ranchi. It was January 5, 1900. The entire Munda
community was up in arms.

After the suppression of the first rising, in 1895 the Birsa gave a clarion
call to the Munda‘s ( his followers) of a decisive war against the British.
After a series of concerted attacks for nearly two years on the places
loyal to the British, the Munda warriors started congregating on
Dombari Hill at village Sail Rakab (Nearly 20 Km far from the Ranchi-
Jamshedpur Highway). Documents revel that the Munda‘s , adopted
Guerilla war fare, and attacked the British in Ranchi and Khunti. Several
persons, mostly police men were killed and nearly 100 Buildings were
set on fire. The ‖ Ulgulaan ‖ (revolt) had started. The then commissioner
Mr. A Fobes and Deputy Commissioner Mr. H.C. Streattfield, rushed to
Khunti with an army of 150 to crush the it and the Abua Disun ‖ ( Self
rule ).
The revolt rocked the British administration to the extent that the
commissioner declared a reward of Rs 500 for the arrest of Birsa.
Subsequently British forces attacked heavily on Munda warriors
congregated at ―Dumbari Hill‖ and made indiscriminate firing like that of
―Jaliyan Wala Bagh ‖ and killed several hundred people. The whole hill

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was littered with dead human corpses. According to an editorial

published on March 25, 1900, The Statesman, put the toll at 400.
However, the then administration suppressed the fact and claimed that
only eleven persons were killed and nine insured in two firings on
January 7 and January 9, 1900. Fear and panic show spread over the
area that ―Dombari‖ was named by Mundas as ‖ Topped Buru ‖ – the
mound of dead.

Birsa anyhow escaped to the hills of Singhbhum .He was nabbed while
asleep at Jamkopai forest in Chakradharpur on March 3, 1900. Deputy
commissioner Ranchi, vide letter no CR-1397 dated 12 nov 1900 reveals
that 460 tribals were made accused in 15 different criminal cases, out of
which 63 were convicted. The six death, including that of Birsa Munda in
the prison during trials in less than 10 months, speaks of the probable
tortures inflicted on the prisoners of Ulgulaan . Birsa Munda died in the
jail on 9th June 1900. His dead body is reported to have been criminated
near the distillery bridge Kokar ( Ranchi ).
This was the last of the heroic tribal movements of the 19th century in
the Chotanagpur plateau. The Mundas had been living in the
Chotanagpur plateau for more than 2000 years and are one of the most
ancient settlers in this land. The introduction of rent for the land, a
concept hitherto unknown to the tribal, infuriated them. Then there was
collection of taxes for just about any reason. The British courts,
unfamiliar with the tribal language had to depend upon the local
interpreters to act as middle men. These people were only too pleased
to help their powerful landowners. Thus, the tribal could not get justice
from any direction and led them to believe that it rest upon themselves to
rid the place of dikus.

Though at first the struggle commenced by attacking the land-lords, later

it was directed against the ruling British authorities who openly
supported the exploiters namely the Zamindars and money lenders who
took advantage of the corrupt British and Indian officials.

In 1856, there were in Bihar 600 Zamindar dikus holding land ranging
from a portion of a single village to even 150 villages each.

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The dikus, unable to comprehend the social and political organization of

the tribal simply dismissed them and replaced with limbs of modern
governmental machinery. Worst of all, the tribal customs, practices and
superstitions were dismissed lightly. Another important reason for the
revolt was of course, the concept of Beth Begari, or what is known today
as bonded labour.

General poverty led many of the Mundas to leave their ancestral homes
and shift to work in the Assam tea plantations. Birsa believed that the
Mundas will be able to regain their lost kingdom with the annihilation of
the enemies.
The core of Birsa‘s message had initially been social and religious. He
called upon the Mundas to uproot superstition, abjure animal sacrifice
and cease taking intoxicants. Birsa Munda continuously infused the
tribals with a sense of their destiny with many of the ancient myths that
lay embedded in the popular consciousness.

He advised people to not to obey the magistrates and the landlords and
to boycott the ‗beth begari sytem‘. He spoke against unlawful land
acquisition and tried to unite his people against the diabolic exploitative
triad of zamindars, foreigner and traders.

The Mundas were galvanized into martial fury and carried out their
revolts with great courage and determination. The results were,
however, the same whenever the tribal fought the mighty British: they
were crushed. Birsa was captured, released and finally recaptured after
his forces suffered a terrible crushing by the British army in 1900. With
his death, the Birsa movement slipped into oblivion but he had
succeeded in giving them a solidarity which was missing before. Thus
bullets crushed this great movement. Though Birsa was dead but his
purpose was not defeated. Just after the movement, the Government
passed the Commutation Act of 1897 and then it was decided to start
survey and settlement in 1901. The Mundari Khuntkatti right was
recognized and finally the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act (Act-VI of 1908)
came into being. Birsa Munda – the great Dharati Aba shines as the first
tribal martyr who fought for the independence of the country. True, he

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operated in a small area but its impact was felt in the years to come. He
was ahead of time.

The 20th century saw the dawn of the British policy of ―Divide and rule‖.
One of the most disgusting testaments of this British policy was the
partition of Bengal in 1905. Due to this, the tribal areas, although
geographically continuous, were put under different administrations.This
led to greater exploitation by landlords and angered the tribals further.
The tribal leaders now turned to socio-economic development of the
people. In 1914 Jatra Oraon started what is called the Tana Movement.
Later this movement joined the Satyagrah Movement of Mahatma
Gandhi in 1920 and stopped giving land tax to the Government.

In 1915 the Chhotanagpur Unnati Samaj was started for the socio-
economic development of the tribals. When the Simon Commission
came to Patna in 1928, they faced strong opposition from the
Chhotanagpur Unnati Samaj. Thereafter Theble Oraon organised Kishan
Sabha in 1931. These organizations were hyperactive in holding the
grounds of freedom struggle in India. Many warriors from the beautiful
land of Jharkhand sacrificed their lives for against exploitation.

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Jharkhand which came into being on 15 November 2000 as the 28th

State of The Union is the homeland of the tribal‘s for which they had
been dreaming for Centuries. According to legend. Raja Jai Singh Deo
of Orissa had declared himself the ruler of Jharkhand in the 13th
century. It largely comprises forest tracks of chhotanagpur plateau and
Santhal Pargana and has distinct cultural Traditions. In post-
Independence era. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha started a Regular
agitation which impelled the government to establish the Jharkhand Area
Autonomous Council in 1995 and finally a full-fledged State According
to prominent historians like SC Roy. The Mundas were spread all over
the north of India in the 3rd Millennium BC. And they were constantly on
the move. Their wanderings were sometimes due to natural causes, but
often due to invasion by outsiders The Mundas fled to the hilly regions to
Preserve their independence and identity.

At one time, they inhabited what is presently Punjab. Later they came
down to Utter Pradesh, then to Bihar and finally they settled in
chotanagpur or Jharkhand. The Oraons . Representing the Dravidian
tribes, were originally in the Konkan region of what is presently
Karnataka. Later they moved towards Maharastra. Bihar and finally to
Chotanagpur a few centuries after the Munda.

The Santhal tribe had lived prosperously for some centuries in the
Champ region (now in Chattisgarh). Later they moved towards
Bhagalpur. and finally to Saont in Midnapur, from which they derived the
name Santhal Adivasis inhabited the Gangetic plains during the pre-
Vedic period and were an agrarian society. When the pastoral Aryans
invaded the Gangetic plains they succeeded in conquering the fertile
area since they had horses which enabled them to be more mobile.

One of the main characteristics of the Adivasis in the course of their

history of struggle with alien cultures was the fact that they were always
away from the centre of power, they were frequently on the fringes. In

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the era of small kingdoms developing into empires such as the Magadha
empire and the Ashoka Mauria during the 800 BC. And the Guptas and
Cholas around 10th and 12th AD, evidence of the marginal existence of
the Adivasis community is to be found. In all the records we find
references to Adivasis people as dasyu, danavs, rakshasha and savage,
etc.

The Aryan people were more dominant and aggressive. They had a
monarchical system of governance based on the vama system and a
standing army with fighting skills. Egalitarian Adivasis communities did
not have a kingship system, since it was based on hierarchy — a
concept alien to the tribal ethos. Instead of Kingship the Adivasis had
clan groups among the Kill system the clan system. This later
developed into the Khutkati system Nor did they have a standing army,
since the self-sufficient Adivasis communities did not have a division of
labour based on workers and non-workers.

Marginalisetion of the Adivasis continued during the medieval period.

During this period, the Muslims came to India, as early as 711 AD. As a
part of, an expedition led by the Arab General Muhammad bin Qasim
Shortly thereafter, Sindh, part of lower Punjab, was incorporated into the
Arab Umayyad Caliphate In the course of time, the Muslims conquered
a number of Hindu kings. However, the Muslim Emperors were not
interested in invading the Adivasis areas, except for collecting malgujari
- tax. Even during this period. The Adivasis continued their traditional
system of socio-cultural and political governance .

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Oral tradition as a basis of customary practices The Adivasi customary

practices evolve from the praxis of oral traditional. In other words, the
culture defines the customary practices. It is reflected in what people
give value to and what they value. The event is important rather than the
time in which it took place. It is not important that it is published but that
it is remembered and recounted through the generations. The past is not
a catalogue of facts but an encoding of events as the marker of Adivasi
valor, justice, dignity, etc. Oral traditions are expressions of communality
and community unlike the written script which becomes individual and
personal.

The manner in which the Adivasi oral traditions were weakened was
through the imposition of the written script by the ruling class. So today
any and everything has to be written down in order to have validity.
Whatever is unwritten and oral has been put in the category of myths
and superstition. Once the commonality of the material resources gets
privatised there will be an adverse impact on social relationships among
the members of the society and a very negative influence on the cultural
values and attitudes of the people. This is precisely what the British did
by introducing the individual patta system.

This is exactly what happened to the Adivasi in India and in Jharkhand.

As a result communalism is replaced by individualism. Common property
becomes private property. Co-operation becomes competition.
Consensus in decision making becomes majority decision. Equality
among the members of the community becomes inequality. When India
became independent the local ruling class, which was largely non
Adivasi and which hailed from north Bihar, and whose language was
Hindi, systematically imposed Hindi on the Adivasi people of Jharkhand.

Thus Hindi was made a necessary language both at the level of

administration as well as in the formal education system. As a

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consequence, the children who started to go primary school had to learn

Hindi. The Adivasi school-going children did not fare well in Hindi
because: they did not speak it home, where as non-adivasi children,
whose mother tongue was Hindi, much better at school .

Hindi was also propagated to lessen the importance given to English. In

this effort however the independence government largely failed because
English continued to hold its sway in college and university education.
The net consequence of this language policy was that Adivasi languages
suffered

from a double assault from government patronized Hindi and elite

patronized English. National development leading to underdevelopment
of the Indigenous people India has one of the largest indigenous
populations in the world Adivasis in India form nearly 8 percent of India's
total population In the slate of Jharkhand. as SC Bhatt in the District
Gazetteer of Jharkhand puts it. "during fifty years since independence,
the Jharkhand land and the Jharkhandi people have been in a process
of being reduced to shameles in several respects. The region consists of
79.714 sq kms of land with 2.69.09.428 population of whom 30 percent
are indigenous Adivasis. Where as they were 60 percent at the sun of
the last century.

Due to displacement process the indigenous people of Jharkhand are

perhaps the worst hit. otherwise this region is the richest region in the
whole country in terms of natural resources, viz timber and several
kinds of minerals drawn from far flung areas." The planners of India's 5
year plans adopted a

policy of "positive discrimination" towards Adivasis by providing them

with certain extra facilities.

In the beginning of the 1990s. the Adivasi members of Parliament

brought the attention of the government both inside and outside
parliament to the continued deprivation of their people. In 1992 the
central government appointed a special commission under the
leadership of Shri Delip Singh Bhuriua to make specific

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recommendations towards self-rule and self-development the Adivasi

people.

The Aryan people were more dominant and aggressive. They had a
monarchical system of governance based on the vama system and a
standing army with fighting skills. Egalitarian Adivasi communities did
not have a kingship system, since it was based on hierarchy — a
concept alien to the tribal ethos. Instead of Kingship the Adivasis had
clan groups among the Kily system — the clan system. This later
developed into the Khutkati system. Nor did they have a standing army,
since the self-sufficient Adivasis communities did not have a division of
labour based on workers and non-workers.

Self governance was the basis of the social union among the Adivasis in
Jharkhand. Kingship developed amongst the Adivasis as a result of the
necessity to protect their natural and livelihood resources from alien
predations and to pay taxes to more powerful emperors. The kings
would appoint someone from amongst their kin to be an agent to collect
tax. The revenue thus collected was then used for paying the taxes to
the emperor. The Nagbashi Rajas, the Jaria garh Raja, the Ratu Raja,
etc., were amongst some of these small kings. They would collect
malgujari from the people to pay to the Emperors. This system of kings
can be seen in the Oraon areas, in the western region of Jharkhand.

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This kingship system was resisted by the Adivasis. The Hos resisted the
malgujari. and so too did the Santhals and the Mundas. This resistance
became more prominent during the British rule in India which resulted in
the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act, the Santhal Parganas Tenancy Act, and
the Wilkinson Rule. These rules and Acts recognised the distinctiveness
of the social-cultural and political institutions of the Adivasi people. They
also provided the British government with a better way of collecting tax
from a people who refused to part with the lands that had been cleared
and cultivated for several generations. It is clear that the customary
system of self-governance of the Adivasis has existed and evolved in the
course of the history as far back as we can trace it Their customary
practices have been one of the main strengths of the Adivasis people.
This is how they have been able, in the past, to resist outside forces
encroaching into their freedom.

The economic effects of forcible incorporation of Adivasis into a stratified

market economy have been well recorded. However, as well as the
economic exploitation and land alienation, the incorporation and
subordination of the Adivasi society in to the market economy, has led
to the destruction of the community as a whole. This disempowerment
was done through a very conscious destruction of the Adivasi institutions
of governance.

In the case of Jharkhand, with the establishment of British rule we find a

conscious effort to destroy the traditional Adivasis institution of self-
governance, self-regulation, such as Munda Manki system and the
Parha system. These representative institutions were supplanted by a
new set of institutions to enable the British not only to appropriate the
economic and labour resources of the Adivasis communities in the form
of land revenue and indentured labour, but also to make these new
institutions independent of the control of the Adivasis community.

It is no accident that unlike the Munda Manki system. which was

communitarian and not necessarily hereditary, the new system was
always based in an individual authority and in several cases hereditary.
These offices of revenue extraction were vested with authorities of a
feudatory chief or raja.

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A part from the system of revenue and labour extractions a new and
bureaucratic civil and criminal administration was also set up.

Bureaucracy, police and courts were encountered by the Adivasi

communities for the first time. These institutions not only destroyed the
Adivasi communities, since they were completely out of the control of the
society, they also eroded the communitarian principles that permeated
the self- regulatory mechanism of the Adivasi society. The impact of this
ethos was evident in mechanism of dispute settlement in the traditional
Adivasi institutions.

In the case of disputes, such as inter-clan clashes, murders or debts.the

emphasis of the community panchayat was on justice, ratherer then
judgment or punishment. All this changed with the advent of the modern
bureaucracy that was based on individualism and impersonality. The
Adivasis notion of justice was replaced by the modern binary of crime
and punishment. The inability of the Adivasi people to grasp this subtle
but deadly shift often led to tragic consequences. In the initial year of the
establishment of police stations there are several recorded instances of
the Adivasi warrior‘s reporting to the police station with the body of their
victims.

What has been patronizingly recorded by the police officials as the

"innocence and simplicity of the savage tribal‘s" was in fact the result of
the failure of the Adivasi communities to understand the full import of
the modem judicial principle crime and punishment. Rather than
endeavoring to resolve

the cause of acrimony between the Adivasi individuals or groups so that

harmony could once again be restored, as was the traditional custom of
the Adivasi panchayat the modern institutions resorted to punitive action,
since for them an individual was solely responsible for its acts of
omission and commission.

The Adivasi mechanism of grievance redress was therefore trespassed

and violated. Furthermore, in its dealings with modern bureaucracy,

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judiciary and police the Adivasi notion of self-respect was violated. The
elitist attitude of the colonial and Indian mindset was largely responsible
for this. It either treated the Adivasi as a barbarian or as a simple or
genial savage who was incapable of taking care of himself.

Apart from the attitude of the officials, the mystifying processes and
functions of these new institutions made it impossible for the Adivasis to
engage with these institutions on an equal footing. Official work during
the colonial period was done entirely in English and in the post
independence era in Hindi. Given the preponderance of these non
Adivasis languages, the Adivasis were either compelled to learn the
language of their conquerors and the attached cultural baggage or
depend on the non-Adivasis in their efforts to seek justice from the
modern institutions.

Either way, the Adivasis lost their autonomy, self sufficiency and self
respect. It is not an accident therefore that in every Adivasi institution; of
police, judiciary and bureaucracy were made targets of attack. It is
noting here the curious case of the shooting of an arrow by Birsa Munda
on a seminary in Sarvada to mark the beginning of his protest. This act
has been interpreted by certain communal minded people as an attack
on the religious beliefs of the inmates of the seminary however, if the
intention of Birsa was to destroy the seminary rather than shooting a
single arrow from a great distance he would have organised a full
fledged raid on the institution.

However, what a western anglophile failed to recognize is that the

problem of Adivasis is not only the inability to successfully represent
their case in the modern institutions, but the very act of incorporation of
the Adivasi society within the modern institutions. The arrow shot on the
pastor by Birsa was not aimed at his religious belief, but was intended to
draw a line of demarcation between the Adivasis desire to retain their
traditional autonomy and the desire of an anglophile to facilitate an easy
and civilized way of coopting the tribal community into the modern
system.

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Folk Paintings or Paitkar or SCROLL PAINTING

These are one of the oldest tribal paintings in India and due to their
appearance they are also called scroll paintings. Artisans from the
Paitkar community use natural colour and vermillion to paint on soiled or
used papers. The hair of a goat or the help of a needle is taken to apply
the colour. The essence of these paintings is found in the Garuda
Purana. Rapidly extincting community of folk painters of the state known
as ‗Paitkar‘ make scroll painting. Mainly they illustrate the primitive
concept of "life after death".

Jadopatia Paintings

These are generally practised by the Santhals in which the artisans

make scrolls called Jado or Jadopatia and are drawn with natural inks
and colours. They are used as visual aids in storytelling and are said to
have magical and healing powers. They depict scenes of afterlife and
the Santhal belief of tiger God etc.

Sohrai Art

This is generally practiced by the women of farming communities and is

a rural art form called Sohrai. They are mural paintings depicting the
harvest festival in autumn and are considered to bring good luck. They
are painted with red, black, white and yellow earth and large images are
painted on the walls with twigs and thin sticks depicting pictures of
animals like bulls, horses, wild animals and horned deities.

Kohver Art

This is also practised by the women of the farming community depicting

the marriage season. They are generally carried out in the walls of the
bridal chamber and the walls of the wedding house. Designs are cut with

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fingers exposing black patterns on white or with bits of combs. Over an

undercoat of black earth a layer of wet Dudhi mitti or cream coloured
earth is painted. This technique of comb cutting is similar to the‘
Sgraffito‘ technique of Greece and the incised pottery technique found in
Iran and the Indus valley. These paintings are considered to bring good
luck.

Dhokra Art

It is a metal craft or brass work done by the Malhore caste and the
artisans make use of the ‗ lost wax technique‘ by using resin, wax and
firewood from the forests and clay from the riverbed and with the help of
a firing oven in a hole dug in the ground they craft their artwork.

Ganju Art

This art is drawn in large murals with images of plants, birds and animals
and sometimes endangered animals are depicted in the pictures in story
tradition form.

Rana, Teli and Prajapati Art

This art is practised by the three sub castes using filigree work with plant
and animal fertility forms using Pashupathi (Lord Shiva) representing the
God of Animals and colourful floral motifs.

Kurmi Art

Lord Shiva or Pashupathi on the back of a bull is the horned deity

depicted here and glyptic art is used to represent plants on the floors
and walls of the Kurmi tribe. A wooden compass is used to etch the
segmented lotus and drawings are scratched on the walls with nails.

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Mundas Art

Plant forms of deities and unique motifs like the rainbow snake are
painted on the wet, soft earth using fingers and the mud collected from
rock art sites is lavender gray along with ochre mud.

Turi art

Natural earthy colours of floral and jungle based motifs are painted on
the walls of the homes.

Birhor and Bhuiya Art

These depict mandalas or authentic graphic forms with stars, crescents,

rectangles, concentric circles etc drawn with fingers.

Ghatwal art

They depict paintings of animals along with their dwellings in the forest.

CHHOU MASK

The mask made of Papier machei in Singhbhum has its own

significance. Paper machei of Kashmir is famous for house wares and
decorative items with delicate painting and papier machei of Madras is
well known for large size sculpted images. The papier machei of
Saraikela and Charinda is popular for the mask for Chhou Dance. The
methods and materials are separate from each other.

WOODEN WORK
The Jharkhand region was also known as Jungle Mahal because of its
dense forest which is inherent. The forest is rich with quality wood and
the wood is used for producing the equipment required in housing,
farming, fishing etc. for survival. The artisans of some villages went a
step ahead and have explored creativity as well in their art, like
beautifully decorative door panels, toys, boxes, and other household

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articles. Chhuthar, the carpenter community is engaged in this trade.

Others are also skilled in this trade.

BAMBOO WORKS
The bamboo found in this thick forest is of a special quality. These
bamboos are thin but strong and flexible. The artisan of Jharkhand use
these bamboos in different artifacts like, basket, hauting & fishing
equipments. Besides the Mahlis, Kharia‘s in some villages have taken
this trade for their survival. Particularly, the fishing cage made by the
Kharias are excellent.

POTTERY
Broken pieces of potteries are found in the bank of Subernarekha in
Dulmi are of good quality with design and painting on it, reveals its trend.

WEAVING
The community surviving in jungle by fishing and hunting has a high
quality of weaving skill, eg. dress materials and nets for hunting and
fishing are very intricate with fascinating patterns. Still these weavers,
called Tanti, make typically designed dress for Santhal.

ORNAMENT
Tribals are very fond of ornaments all over the world. So the tribal of this
area inherently use various types of ornaments; like the ornaments
made of bead, precious stones metals like gold and silver. Design is
very simple like their art. Moal a rounded pipe of silver on feed, flats
waste girt, spiral silver wires on wrist and arm, wide
variety of necklace, ear ring etc

WEAPON
In the area weapon art is not much conventional but very common and
similar to the primitive people. The black smiths produce all required
tools and weapons for griculture and safety.

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RITUALLISTIC OFFERINGS
The people of this area are totemic so they use several ritualistic
offerings like clay made horse, elephants etc. to pacity their village gods
and goddesses.

STONE CARVING
Even a few years back the tradition of stone carving was alive. Some
families who were well skilled are not showing up any more, only few
artisans are seen in the state.

METAL WORK
Besides agricultural implements, hunting tools and weapons are the
product by the blacksmith. The Malhar and Thentri communities are
expertise in metal casting, mainly producing house wares. Malhar are
nomadic but the Thentris are settle amidst the tribes in the state.

Other specific folk art forms are as follows:-

body painting (tatoo),

stone cutting,
bull painting (during Bandna)
folk painting fresco,
sculpting horse, elephant etc. are used for the ritual purpose.
Also they used to craft some totemic images in the wood.
Decoration of wall is very common art.
The methods and materials used are traditional and handed down in the
families, gene ration after generation and still persist with little alteration.
It is unsophisticated of even rough hewn, often with bold colours. The
quality of freshness, spontaneity, sincerity and simplicity of their art are
appreciable. The type of decorative designs has characteristic of new
Stone Age or Neolithic. It is quite clear through study of primitive art that
there are some principles of form and decoration which are universal.
The patterns become very schematic and are more geometrical.

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Jharkhand dance forms are a medium of expressing one‘s feelings and

the true nature of the vibrant culture of Jharkhand, some story or any
other event. Most of these folk dances in Jharkhand are performed by
the local tribes .The performance of folk dance in Jharkhand does not
await the arrival of any particular festival; most of the dances are
performed during all the important festivals and occasions such as
welcoming the guests, change of seasons, etc. Some of the Jharkhand
dances are as follows:-

Santhal

Santhal is one of the most abundantly found tribes in India. A major

chunk of this tribe can be found in West Bengal and Jharkhand. Santhal
tribe has a rich cultural lineage and immense solidarity. Its members are
basically the devotees of 'Thakurji', the deity they believe created this
world. They move to the beats of music, to celebrate the glory of nature,
raise a message and offer prayers to the presiding deity of their tribe,
through a dance known as Santhal dance.

The Santhal dance is considered to be one of the best tribal folk dances
of India, which offers immense vibrancy and cheerfulness. This dance is
supposed to be a replica of the folk dance of Madhya Pradesh. Santhal
dance is generally performed by both the men and women of the
Santhali tribe. It often covers issues related to gender and land rights.

While performing, the male Santhali dancers are dressed up in dhoti and
make use accessories, like turban, tree leaves, flowers and bushes,
during the dance. The dance is basically performed on special
occasions. During the spring festival, it is performed to the glory of
nature. Santhali dance is accompanied with folk music instruments like
flutes, pipes, drums and cymbals.

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Jhumar
Jhumar is a dance form which was originated from the Sandal bar which
is now the part of Pakistan. Even it is popular for one of the folk heritage
in the state of Punjab. It is performed on the rhythm which is jhumar type
performed with gait which is very graceful to perform.This dance form

represents the ecstasy. Jhumar is a

dance form which is performed by the men in order to show their
happiness. It is the dance form which is performed during the festive
time or during the marriage occasion.
Performance

It is performed by dancing in a circle direction. The dancers who

performed this dance form moved in a circle direction around a drummer
which is placed at the centre. While performing their dance form, they
also sing a soft chorus.The custom of Jhumar is somewhat similar to the
customs of Bhangra. Mainly this dance form is performed on the songs
which are emotional in their nature. The posture of arms considered
important during this dance form.

Paika

Paika is one of the most famous dance forms of Jharkhand. In fact, it is

a dance form where martial arts is mixed with local dance steps. This
dance form is only performed by the male members . To watch Paika
dance is very interesting. It offers a thrilling entertainment to your eyes
as the men dancers handle a sword in one hand and the shield in the
other. They are dressed with safety chest plates and head wears for
their protection. Bells are tied on their ankles to accompany with other
musical instruments. This dance is accompanied by the melodious
music of Narsingha, Shahnai, Bheir, Dhak and Nagara drums. The
performers reach the climax with the fast beat of mandar. This folk
dance of Jharkhand is also performed for welcoming guests during
various functions. Paika is known as a ceremonial martial dance of
Jharkhand and Bihar.
In ancient times, it was played by paikas, the traditional warriors who
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struggled for their kingdom. The descendents of these warriors are

spread over in the rural areas of Jharkhand and Bihar, and most of them
maintain this traditional dance. Presently, it is generally performed
during weddings and festivals.

Phagua-

This is a dance that is performed by the males during the time of Hindu
festival of Holi. This dance is mostly performed by men but women also
join them occasionally.
The dancers perform a series of joyous dance movements and throw
colored water and powder around as they dance. The dance is
accompanied by a loud recital of folk song, which is called Phag. The
music is produced by huge drums, locally known as dhal.

Chhou -

It is one of the main tribal dances of Jharkhand. This is a dance form

that is performed in the tribal areas of Jharkhand as well as some parts
of Orissa and Chhattisgarh. The Chhou dance is performed in an open
space or a ground field, generally at the night time. The dancing area is
surrounded by the torches or fire poles called the mashaals, for lighting
in the dark. The dancers take bath and perform puja before their
performance. This is for maintaining the sacredness of the dance,
because the characters in the dance are of those of various Gods.
These dancers use colourful, big sized and decorative masks. Chhou
dance is one of the tribal forms of the ‗nritya natika‘ that means dance
drama. Most of these Chhou dance performances are based on the
stories of Ramayana and the Mahabharata. The dance is accompanied
by the traditional nagada i.e. the drums, and the flute, which provide the
background music. Chhau dance has three subgenres –– Mayurbhanj
Chhau, Saraikela Chhau and Purulia Chhau. Chhau is a very tough
dance form and it has received national and international acclaim and is
known for its traditional beauty and message to the society.

Hunta :

It is a dance form of the Santhals. It is a dance that is performed by men.

This dance form shows how hunting is carried by this tribe. The basic
props involved in his dance are arrows, bows and other tools used for
hunting.

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Mundari:

It is a dance form of the Mundari tribe and is performed at the time of

marriages. Its motive is celebration.

Barao :

It is a dance form performed by the Oraon tribe. This dance is performed

in the month of May. It is performed for a good rain.

Domkach:

It is also a typical dance of the Chotanagpur region. It is performed by

the women from the groom's side.
Bheja Dance
Bheja, one of the popular dance forms of Jharkhand, is performed by a
group of boys and girls at a particular place. They are arranged in such a
way that during performance, they form a chain by clumping hands of
one another in alternate successions. Melodious traditional songs and
music are the major accompaniments of this dance.

Sarhul

The Sarhul dance forms express the enthusiasm and festive feelings
amongst the people and the melodious Sarhul songs narrate the stories
related to the culture, beliefs and traditions of the tribe. The tribal music
is played upon traditional musical instrument, by the tribal people
themselves. The tribal dance forms are performed by the native tribes
called Kunjbans. Be it any festival or event, the Kunjabhans perform
across Jharkhand on all important events including change of season,
advent of New Year, all religious ceremonies, birth and marriage
ceremonies etc. The tribal dance forms and tribal songs of Jharkhand
have gained popularity across the world.

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The music of the Jharkhand is not purely entertaining. Some social and
ritual significance is also attached to the music of the Jharkhand. The
social commentary also provided by them sometimes. As a political tool
and as a protested voice, this music is often used. The themes of the
music were represented as the stories and tales related to the
mythological facts.Major music and vocals of jharkhand are as follows:-

• Janani Jhumar

It is an admired music form in Jharkhand state of India. The Jhumar

dance of Jharkhand is performed by both men and women, but The
main members in this music form are women. The dance is graceful or
energetic based on the gender. The music accompanied by the Jhumar
dance is well developed and are local folk songs of Jharkhand. The
dancers hold each other by locking hands between the torsos of the
adjacent partners to form a circle and then dancing with deft footwork
and articulate expressions. The attire of the performers is also very rich
and colorful, which may also include, at times, the elements of tribal
clothes like leaves and feather crowns. The musical instruments
includes dhol, mandar, bansuri, sarangi and kartal.

• Pratkali

It is a folk music of Jharkhand state of India. It is performed early

morning.

• Mardana Jhumar

It is an admired form of folk music. The major members in this music are
the men. The Mardana Jhumar music is offered by a congregation of
shrill instruments which lifts up the belligerent mood. The instruments
include the dhol, shehnai, jhanjh, kartal and nagara.

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• Faguwa

It is a well-liked music form of Jharkhand. It is carried out mostly in the

month of Fagun of the Indian Calendar.

• Adhratiya

It is a folk music of Jharkhand state in India. It is generally supposed to

be performed in midnight.

Dohari

Dohori means from two side or a debate. This debate is in rhythm, and
involves quick and witty poetry. The two teams in Dohori usually involve
boys in one group girls in the other. The song is started with a question
usually from the boys' side. The girl follows the question with a quick
response and continues the musical conversation.

Some other forms of music are: Jhumta, Daidhara, Akhariya, Domkach,

Pahilsanjha, Vinsariya, Pawa, Udasi, Akhariya Domkach, Dohari
Domkach, Janani Jhumar, Udasi, Pawas, Daidhara, Pahilsanjha
Vinsariya, Pratkali, Jhumta etc.

The forms of tribal music in Jharkhand are absolutely indigenous and

have continued in the same way for time immemorial. The musical
instruments, the dancing steps, the vocal inflections all have their unique
flavors. However it should be remembered that most of Jharkhand
musical performances are group performances, since solo performances
are virtually unknown within the tribal musical aesthetics.

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Usri Falls

Amidst in the range of the famous Parasnath Hills ,the Usri River gushes
down from a steep gorge , some 40 feet high in three separate streams
.Located about 14 km away from east of Giridih Town .It is a favourite
picnic spot.

Palamu Tiger Reserve is very rich in biodiversity and various wild life
species have been included in Red data book of the I.U.C.N.
(International union for Conservation of nature and natural resources)
and the appendices of C.I.T.E.S. (Convention on International trade in
endangered species of flora and fauna).

Hundru Fall

Hundru fall is about 45 kms away from Ranchi Town. The Swarnarekha
river falls from a height of 320 feet making a wonderful scene known as
Hundru falls. At the base of the fall a beautiful pool is formed which
allows visitors to take a good bath, but with precautions. During rainy
season it takes a formidable form but in summer it turns in to an exciting
picnic spot. The diverse shape of the rock adds splendour to the place,
which has been shaped from the attrition by the frequent fall of water.
The picturesque grandeur of Hundru falls mesmerize the tourists, and fill
their hearts with delight.

Jonha Fall

From Ranchi take the NH-32 to Angarha. From there a left turn takes
you 22 km to Hundru, whereas the straight road takes you to Jonha and
Sita, 16 km from Angarha is Amrutbagan Chowk, from where a 5 km
drive will take you to Jonha. 1 km short of Jonha is a diversion, from
where a 5 km drive will take you to Sita.

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Dassam Fall

From Ranchi take the NH-32 to Angarha. From there a left turn takes
you 22 km to Hundru, whereas the straight road takes you to Jonha and
Sita, 16 km from Angarha is Amrutbagan Chowk, from where a 5 km
drive will take you to Jonha. 1 km short of Jonha is a diversion, from
where a 5 km drive will take you to Sita.

Betla National Park

Betla National Park is a national park located in the Chota Nagpur

Plateau of the Palamu district of the Indian state of Jharkhand, in India.
The park boasts a wide variety of wild life. Initially comprising the 1,026
km² of the Palamau Tiger Reserve, an additional 226 km² was added to
the park in 1989 and 63 km² of the Mahuadar wolf sanctuary. Betla was
one of the first national parks in India to become a tiger reserve under
Project Tiger. The park is under administration of the forest department.

Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary

Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary is located 10 km from the city of Jamshedpur

in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It was inaugurated by Sanjay Gandhi in
1975. Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary is situated around the Dalma Hills.
Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary is a much larger area starting from Chandil to
40 km east. The Sacntuary on paper is spread around in 195 km².

Netarhat

Netarhat is located in Latehar district, also known as 'Queen of

Chhotanagpur' It is 145 km from Ranchi town by road.

Upper Ghagri Waterfalls

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4 kms from Netarhat and a unique picnic spot. Inside a beautiful valley
the over flown water. Netarhat Dam makes a very loving small waterfall.

Lower Ghagri Waterfalls

Situated at a distance of 10 kms from Netarhat in lush green and pass

through the forests of a poet's imagination-deep, dense and delighting.
On reaching their witness the stunning fall of water deep down to about
320 feet making a majestic waterfall. The forest is so dense that even
sunrays find difficult to pierce through it. forest. A place of scenic beauty
and picnic spot.

Magnolia Point

10 kms from Netarhat, it is an ideal site for sunset view. Every day one
can witness the different view of setting sun. When the setting sun
enters into the lap of Vindhya hills allowing the evening to descend
slowly in the valley the natural scenic beauty of the place is beyond any
description.

Pine Forest

Netarhat has a game sanctuary amidst pine forest the bestow singular
arboreal interest in this part. Some time back it used to be the
permanent summer station of the Governor. The temperature of
Netarhat is cooler than Ranchi all the year on round. It can be said that
this place is the coolest in the whole of Jharkhand State. The place has
also been provided with an Agricultural Farm.

Sati Hiils, Hazaribagh

The hills are known for abnormally large sized caves which are full of
cave paintings.Archaeologists claim that the caves must have been
large enough to accommodate more than 200 people. There is a tiny
stream of water that flows along the side of the cave throughout the
year. Detailed studies and research have pointed out that the caves

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were inhabited by the ancient man. Small hillocks made up with

scattered boulders near these caves have numerous engravings of
animals like buffaloes, deers

One can also find many images of male and female forms with their
arms raised. Archaeologists believe that these images depicted the joy
of men and women after the huntsmen returned with the catch of the
day, which would sustain the group for a while. Another interesting
carving found here is of a long necked animal, (longer than modern day
giraffes) that is probably extinct today. Apart from that there are many
intriguing carvings of human figures carrying dead animals on their
backs or sitting together. Archaeologists are especially baffled by certain
images which portrays various geometrical patterns drawn within a thick
foliage.

Mandu is a town encased in history and wrapped in mythology. It was

established as long back as in the 6th century AD, and hassince then
been under the rule of various emperors, from the Rajput Parmara
rulersof Malwa, to the Mughal Emperor Humayun.This varied history
also led to a lot of architectural variation, such as imposingDarwazas,
the river flanked Jahaz Mehal, thesloping walled fort- Hindola Mahal and
theexample of refined Afghan architecture,Hoshang Shah's Tomb. The
Lohani Cavesand Temple Ruins, and the Neelkanth PalaceAnd Temple
also make for exciting day tripsfrom here.

Mandu in monsoon is easily one of the most romantic of places. The

pastel shades of its monuments are set off by the brilliant natural green
setting, and the loveliness is doubled by its beautiful water bodies —
talabs, baolis, kunds, streams, torrents and rivulets. Spread over a flat
hilltop, 6 km by 8 km in dimension, Mandu can be easily covered on foot.
Only a few remnants of what was once the Mandapa Durg remain today.
The most impressive of the Parmar kings' fortifications is
Songadh,standing on a slightly detached hill to the west.

Palamu fort, Latehar

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Palamu Fort is one of the major archaeological monuments of the state

belonging to the Mughal era, sometime around the mid 16th century,
and lies within the core area of the Betla National Park.Also known as
Purana Quila, the fort sits on top of a hillock and is spread over an area
of 5 sq km. There is a debate about the origin of the fort, wherein some
believe it is attributed to Raja Mansingh, a Rakshel ruler, and others are
of the opinion that Raja Medini Rai of the Chero Dynasty built the fort.

The fort itself is very impressive with three huge double storied entrance
gates constructed in the Nagpuri architectural style. Just 2 km away from
this fort lies another incomplete structure, which goes by the name of
'Naya Quila'. The walls of this structure have both Sanskrit and Persian
inscriptions. Historians have reported that according to these
inscriptions, the fort was built in 1634 by Medini Rai, for his son Pratap
Rai.

Dewri Mandir, Ranchi

Dedicated to Solha Bhuji Goddess, an avatar of Goddess Durga,

Dewri Mandir temple is located  little outside the main city of

Ranchi. Spread over nearly 2 acres, this old temple in Ranchi also
houses an idol of Lord Shiva here. Legend has it that whoever has tried
to alter the structure of the temple has had to face the wrath of the gods
and suffer consequences.

Dewri Temple is also believed to be the only temple where 6 tribal

priests, known as Pahans, perform rituals and offer prayers alongside
the Brahmin priests. Soak yourself in the spiritually uplifting aura here!

Vaidyanath Jyotirlingam Temple Deoghar

Vaidyanath Temple is one of the 12 sacred Jyotirlingas dedicated to

Lord Shiva. According to legends, the demon king Ravana, used to
worship Shiva in this place.He offered his 10 heads as sacrifice, one
after the other. This pleased the lord and he healed Ravana's wounds
which he had acquired after a battle. Since he acted as a doctor
(Vaidya), Shiva is worshipped as Vaidyanath.

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This temple hosts the annual fair -Shravan Mela, held during the months
of July-August. Devotees come in hordes to offer waters of the holy
Ganges to the Lord.

Anjan Gram

Anjan Gram is believed to be the birth place of Lord Hanuman after

whose name this place has been called Anjan Gram. An ancient statue
of Anjani, mother of Bhagwan Hanuman, is situated inside the Anjani
cave. The village is surrounded by the Netarhat hills and the river
Khatwa.

PARASNATH

The literal meaning of the word darshan is knowledge acquired through

vision or that which is actually seen. The main objective of all the
darshans is describing the soul principle that discuss various issues
such as what is the embodied soul, how it is originated, the true nature
of the manifest world, how it was created, the reason for its creation,
whether it is a gross or endowad with divine consciousness, etc. The
world, the embodied soul, God and the final liberation (Moksha) are the
four main concepts discussed in all Darshans. What is God? What is the
form of God? What is Human? What is the aim of their life? How should
a human survive a proper? life? The effort to get wisdom of such and
such questions in Darshan.

For pilgrims here is an epic Jinalaya to worship. In depth of the double

stair main temple statue of supreme Arihant is situated. All around this
temple 20 more statues and statues of God and Goddess gives a
marvellous look and lusture to the site. On the upper stair the statue of
bhagwan Parswanath with few God and Goddess are situated. On the
east of this temple Madhuchampa Snatra Mandap in which four chapel
for pilgrimes to worship is facilitated. On these chapel Statue of Bhomiya
Jee, Shree Ghantakaran, Mahavir Mahalaxmi devi and Guru Bhagwant
is situated.

Parasnath hill which is 4431 ft height is the highest mountain south of

the Himalayas. It is located at the latitude of 23 degree, 9 minutes North

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and longitude of 86 degree ,3 minutes East. It was made accessible

since the construction of a road in 1838 .Significantly the oldest of the
Jain temple appears to date only from AD. 1775. Parasnath is the
"Marang Buru "or hill deity of the Santhal of Hazaribagh,Manbhum,
Bankura and Santhal Parganas and each year they assemble at the
period of the full noon in Baisakh from these district and celebrate a
religious hunt for three days after which a great tribal session is held .In
the assembly they decided the great matter relating to their custom and
charge of offenced for outcasting the indivisual.Since Parasnath has
been declared as a wild life sanctuary District administration and Forest
official are trying to persuade the local tribe to are trying to persuade the
local tribe to give up their religious hunt. The special sanctity of
Parasnath for the Jain arises from the tradition that twenty -third of the
Tirthankars (religious saints who are the object of their worship), Parsva
or Parsvanath , like nine of his predecessors attained nirvana on the hill.
According to local tradition the number of Tirthankars who attained
nirvana on the Parasnath hill is 20 and not 9 .For each of them there is a
shrine( gumti for tuk) on the hill.

Shammed Shikhar

Parasnath hill which is 4431 ft height is the highest mountain south of

the Himalayas . It is located at the latitude of 23 degree ,9 minutes North
and longitude of 86 degree ,3 minutes East. It was made accessible
since the construction of a road in 1838 .Significantly the oldest of the
Jain temple appears to date only from AD. 1775. The famous Parasnath
hill is the highest peak of Jharkhand having altitude of 4431 feet above
the sea-level. Giridih District was carved out from Hazaribagh District on
4th December, 1972. Parasnath is the "Marang Buru "or hill deity of the
Santhal of Hazaribagh, Manbhum, Bankura and Santhal Parganas Since
Parasnath has been declared as a wild life sanctuary District
administration and Forest official are trying to persuade the local tribe to
give up their religious hunt.

Madhuban

The Village which lies in Pirtand Block has a famous temple believed to
be more than 2000 years old. It is a place of considerable religious
importance for the Jain. The Samosharan temple and Bhomiyaji Asthan
are two very famous Jain temple. There is a Jain Museum at Madhuban
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which houses a number of Jain scriptures, Idols and manuscript .One

can view the clear sight of Parasnath Temple using the telescope
installed at the balcony of the museum.

Khandoli

A water reservoir some 8 km North-East of Giridih headquater is one of

the best site for water related adventure sports and bird-watching. A
watch tower and 600 feet high hillock offers a panoramic view of
Khandoli site. Elephant and Camel Safari and numbers of other
amusement facilities are available there including boating , Rock-
climbing ,Parasailing and Kayaking.

Surya Temple Mirzaganj

This is a nice and beautiful temple built in the middle of a lake in the
shape of a lotus flower. Pilgrims visits here while returning from Langta
Baba Samadhi.

Harihar Dham

A small hamlet about 60kms South-west of Giridih district headquarter

under Bagodar Block possesses the largest Shiva Linga of India.People
from all over the India throngs over here every year.The temple has
typical sculpture.

Langta Baba Samadhi sthal

Langta baba was a saint of the locality, and is worshiped like a god.
Offering chadar to his samadhi is a ritual followed here. You can take
back a chadar in lieu of the offered chadar which is an auspicious
possession. His samadhi sthal is in Kharagdiha, 30 Km West of the
town.

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MASSANJORE

Masanjore is a famous picnic spot situated in Dumka District of

Jharkhand. This small village is about 31 km south of Dumka. The
picturesque Tilpara Barrage (also Canada Dam) on the Mayurakshi
River is a major draw. The dam is bounded by hills and forests, a perfect
place for outing. Mayurakshi Bhawan Bungalow and Inspection
Bungalow offer excellent and comfortable accommodation in the village.
By road, Masanjore is connected with Vakreshwara (59 km), Sainthia
(50 km), Tarapith (70 km), Rampurhat (62 km) and Deoghar (98 km).
Masanjor dame or the Pearson dame on rever Mayurakshi is a
picturesque place on foot hills of long range of forest clad parallel hill
ranges. This place is basically a hydro electric power generating center
but in the process of time it has become popular center for the tourist.
With the beautiful garden on the down hill and two beautiful Dak-
bunglows on the bank of the river at charm to its beauty.

Baba Basukinath Dham

Basukinath is located in Dumka District of Jharkhand. It lies on the

Deoghar – Dumka state highway and is around 25 km north-west of
Dumka. It is a place of pilgrimage for Hindus. Basukinath Temple is the
main attraction here.Jasidih Junction Railway Station and Jamtara
Railway Station are the nearest railheads. Ranchi Airport is the nearest
airport. It is situated at Jarmundi Block on Dumka Deoghar State
Highway at a distance of 24 km from the Distrcit headquarters Dumka. In
a year lacs and lacs people from different parts of country come here to
worship Lord Shiva. In the month of Shravan people of several country
also come here to worship Lord Shiva.

Baba Sumeshwarnath

It is a religious place which is situated in Saraiyahat Block at the

distance of 60 km from district headquarters Dumka. There is a big
temple of the Lord Shiva. On the eve of Mahashivaratri the people of
different parts of the district come here to worship Lord Shiva in addition
to daily worshiping.

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Mallooti

Mallooti is a historical and religious place which is situated in Shikaripara

Block on Dumka Rampurhat interstate highway at a distance of 55 km
from Dumka District headquarters. In 1860 Mallooti was made tax free
capital by the then King Basant Rai alias Basant. This Mallooti is
associated with the archaeological and religious importal place for
natural beauty.

Tatloi

It is a hot water Spring, situated at a distance of 15 km from the district

headquarters of Dumka. It is rounded by small mounts, beautiful,
attractive and greenish natural atmosphere. The water of spring is very
clear and healthy

Hill Range

Running south from pakur to godda.The hill range of Dumka seen

parallel & terminate in th Mangalbhanga hill. To the south east of Dumka
is Ramgarh hills ferther west 2parallel renges of hills also stretch in an
easterly direction from Masanjor to Ranibhal. Beside hill ranges some
hillocks are also in like (i) Lagwa hil at Nonihat under which lies the
Tatloi hot water stream (ii) Hijla hill top.(iii) Sapchala hill top.(iv) Chuto
pahadi.Maluti (Temple villege on way to Rampurhat).

MAITHON (Dhanbad)

Constitutes one of the most accomplished and successful river valley

projects of India, which was a part of the First Five Year Plan after
India's independence. The Damodar Valley region, which Maithon froms
a part of, is often hailed as the Ruhr Valley of India.

Topchanchi

The village is the headquarters of the development block being the same
name. It is situated on the Grand Trunk Road. The Parasnath Hill is

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located nearby. The Topchanchi Water Reservoir spreads over an area

of 214 Ac. It is a noted picnic spot.

The Jami Mosque is located about 32 km from the district headquarter

Sahebganj. Jami Mosque was built in the last quarter of the 16th century
AD. by Raja Mansingh, the Governor of Emperor Akbar. It is situated on
a high land known as ―Hadaf" which is an Arabic term that means the
target of Archery butts. Hadaf was part of Rajmahal township where the
capital was shifted in 1592 AD. from Gaur due to the change of course
of the river Ganges and further the population being decimated by some
epidemic in 1575 AD.

The Mosque, locally called as Jami Masjid is consisted of a large prayer

hall to the west, a spacious courtyard enclosed by a high compound
wall with arched recesses on its inner-side, and it has three gateways on
the north, south and east, the last being is the main entrance with a
porch in its front. Originally, the entire buildings measured 76.20 mt. x
64.00 mt. but at present we have left with its southern portion measuring
27.43 mt x 13.71 mt as the northern portion has been collapsed. The
prayer chamber of the mosque consisted of a large central hall that
looks two storied from outside because of the effect produced by large
windows and the continuous parapet below it. The western wall of the
prayer chamber consists of several niches with some floral designs
picked out in stucco.

Charak Pathar

The village is situated in Govindpur development block. It is a very large

ancient boulder of white stone. It derives its name from this stone.

Meva

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The village is situated in Nirsa-cum-Chirkunda Block . It contains ancient

pillars said to date back to the time of Emperor Ashoka. There is also a
large stone image said to be of Ashoka himself.

Few other Archaeological Sites:-

Ashokan inscription on the

Ashikpur (Ranchi) Site
Chandan Shahid hill
Asura Sites Hansa (Ranchi) Site
Asura Sites Kathar Toli (Ranchi) Site
Ancient Stone Temple with
Khekperta (Ranchi) Temple
Sivalinga inside
Asura Sites Khunti Tola (Ranchi) Site
Asura Sites Kunjla (Ranchi) Site
Asura Sites Saridkel (Ranchi) Site
Ruins of Baradari buildings
Arazi Mukimpur (Santhal
and underground cells and Building
Parganas)
passages
Jamma Masjid Hadaf (Santhal Parganas) Mosque
Benisagar tank Benisagar (Singhbhum) Tank
Remains of temple on south-
Benisagar (Singhbhum) Temple
east bank of Benisagar tank
Ancient Mound Itagarh (Singhbhum) Mound
Site of an old fort Ruam (Singhbhum) Fort

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 Jharkhand History and Culture

Jharkhand is home to a number of languages belonging to three major

language families. Indo-Aryan languages include Angika, Bhojpuri,
Khortha, Nagpuri, Sadri, Hindi, Urdu, Oriya and Bengali. Jharkhand is
also home to the Munda languages, Kurmali, Korku, Santhali, Mundari,
Bhumij, Kharia and Ho, and the Dravidian languages Korwa,
Oraon(Kurukh) and Paharia (Malto). Santhali , Mundari , Kurukh,
Khortha, Nagpuria, Sadri, Khariya, Panchparagnia, Ho, Malto, Karmali,
Hindi, Urdu, Bangla etc are the most common languages. In whole of
Santhal Parganas area Angika is the primary language for
communication.

Santhali

Santali is a language in the Santali subfamily of Austro-Asiatic, related to

Ho and Mundari. The literacy rate in Santali speaking regions is very
low, just around 20-30%. It is basically spoken by the tribal people of
India. The tribe that speaks this language is quite backward as far as the
standard of living is concerned. Most of them work in the coal mines or
the steel factories of Asansol and Jamshedpur. The tribe that speaks
this language is known as Santhal. There is not a very regular
distribution of people who speak the Santhali language. This language is
actually a dialect of the Munda language.

Santhali script is called Ol Chiki. This script was invented by Pandit

Raghunath Murmu in 1925. Raghunath Murmu is popularly known as
Guru Gomke among the Santals, a title awarded to him by the
Mayurbhanj Adibasi ."Darege Dhan","Sidhu-Kanhu", "Bidu Chandan"
and "Kherwal Bir" are among the most acclaimed of his works.

Ho

The Ho language is classified as a member of the Austro-Asiatic

language family, The Ho language is mutually intelligible with Mundari.
Presently, major chunks of the population reside in Jharkhand

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The Hos have affinity with the Mundas, Santals, Kharia, Asuri and
Birhori

The Ho language has been introduced through Devanagari script in

Jharkhand, Oriya in Orissa and Bengali in West Bengal. In Jharkhand,
Devanagari script is more realistic with certain modification. There are
certain limitations in perceiving the exact pronunciation. However,
Devanagari with minor modification can be used to record nearly exact
pronunciation of a Ho word.

Shri Lako Bodra, a pioneer researcher amongst Ho linguists, established

and regarded Barang Chiti as an ancient script of the Hos.

Many of the Ho words originated from nature itself. Nature gifted and
influenced their language and the way of life. Their language developed
in close association with nature and living together with birds and
beasts.

The Ho is a sister tribe of the Munda tribal community. It is believed that

Ho speakers were originally Mundas. In course of time, some fourteen to
seventeen century A.D., they parted aside for unknown reason and
migrated from Bandhgaon-Khunti region and settled down in
Singhbhum.

Kharia

Kharia is one of the Austro-Asiatic languages chiefly spoken in

Jharkhand, some parts of Orissa, Chattisgarh, West Bengal, Bihar, and
Assam. The origin of Kharia language is based upon the nature. It is the
combination of Root theory, imitative theory, interjectional theory and
evolution theory which derives from the sound of nature, animals, birds
clashing of trees and after all the outcome of human feelings. The social
behavior was also injected practically at their expression. Gradually, the
sounds develop as speech and other grammatical forms, which show
their intimate union with the nature. For them, nature became the mother
of Kharia language and literature.

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Kharia language is generally written in Devnagari and Bengali script.

Kudukh (Oraon)

Kurukh belongs to the Northern Dravidian group of the Dravidian family

of languages,and is closely related to Sauria Paharia and Kumarbhag
Paharia, which are often together referred to as Malto.

Kurukh is written in the Devanagari script, a script used to write Sanskrit,

Hindi, Marathi, Nepali and other Indo-Aryan languages.

Narayan Oraon, a medical doctor, has invented the Tolong Siki script for
Kurukh language. Many books and magazine have been published in
Tolong Siki script.

The language is marked as being in a "vulnerable" state in UNESCO's

list of endangered languages.

The Kurukh Literary Society of India have been instrumental to spread

the Tolong Siki script for Kurukh literature.

Mundari (Munda)

Mundari (Muɳɖa) is a Munda language of the Austroasiatic language

family spoken by the Munda people, and is closely related to Santali and
Ho. Mundari is primarily spoken by Munda tribal people in east India,
Bangladesh, and Nepal. "Mundari Bani", a script to write Mundari
Language was invented by Rohidas Singh Nag

In the beginning Roman Script was used to write Mundari language and
literature because of the Christian Missionaries who had begun to write
the Mundari language in Roman lipi, after independence Devnagari
Script is used for writing Mundari language.

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Khortha

Khortha (Khotta) is a dialect of Maithili spoken in the Indian state of

Jharkhand , mainly in 13 districts of two divisions: North Chotanagpur
and Santhal Pargana .

Nagpuri (Sadri)

Sadri language is considered as a branch of Prakrit Language. It is even

regarded as a sister language of Bengali, Maithili and Oriya.

This Sadri language inhabits under Indo European Language family.

This family also contain some groups under it which are as follows:-

Indo Aryan
Indo Iranian
Bihari
Eastern
Sadri
Culture
This Sadri language is rich in literature. Several magazines and books
are published in Sadri language in number of regions of India. The most
well known Gharaiya Guith which is a monthly magazine Johar Sahiya
was published is recently printed in Ranchi city

This Sadri language includes some alternate names which are as

follows: -Sadana, Sadani, Sadrik, Sadna, Siddri, Santri, Sradri, Sadan,
Sadhari, Nagpuri, Nagpuria, Dikku kaji, Chota Nagpuri, Ganwari,
Gawari, Jharkhandi and Gauuari.

The dialects of Sadri language includes the following dialects such as: -

Nurpur Sadri,
Borail Sadri,
Mokkan Tila Sadri and
Uchai Sadri.

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This Dravidian language which is also a group of Indo Aryan language is

written in Bengali script and Latin script.

Panchpargania(kurmali)

Kurmali , or Kudmali, is one of many dialect variants of Hindi which is

spoken in Jharkhand, Kurmali is generally linked to the Kudumi Mahato
(also known as Kurmi, Mahanta or Mohanta) community of Jharkhand

The Jharkhand intellectuals claim that Kurmali may be the nearest form
of language used in Charyapada. As a trade dialect, it is known as
Panchpargania , for the "five districts" of the region it covers.

This language has excellent heritage of folktales & folklores as well as

many of remarkable play-writes, stories, poems & novels contributed by
renowned Panchpargania writers

Panchpargania is written with Bengali script by some people particularly

in the border areas of Jharkhand & West Bengal. Most of the people use
Devnagari (Nagari) script; However, it being written in Kaithi is also
known.

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