MEDIEVAL AND MODERN INDIAN HISTORY

INDEX: MEDIEVAL INDIAN HISTORY 1.

Early Muslim Invasions

2.

Delhi Sultanate

12

3.

Administration during Delhi Sultanate

44

4.

Religious reform movements during Medieval India

49

5.

Arts and literature during the Delhi Sultanate

64

Provincial Dynasties

69

6.

7. The Mughals

3

100

8.

Economy, Art and Literature under the Mughlas

136

9.

The Marathas

148

MODERN INDIAN HISTORY 1.

The Advent of Europeans

157

2.

The British

168

3.

British Conquest of India 1707 to 1857 AD

175

4.

Evolution of British Paramountcy in India (1757-1947 AD)

216

5.

The period after 1858 AD The seeding time for Rise of Indian Nationalism

231

After Freedom

245

6.

ISBN 9781646789009

7. Revolts and Movements 8. Into the 20 th Century National Movements

249 271

9. Steps taken by British to address these Movements

284

10. Hindu and other reform Movements

289

11. National Movement and Indian National Congress

309

12. Revolutionary Terrorism

326

13. Gandhian Phase (1920-1947 AD)

334

14. Civil Disobedience Movement

348

15. 1940 to 1942: Individual Satyagrahas and Quit India Movement.

355

16. Indian National Army: I.N.A (1942-1946)

359

17. Towards Independence and Partition

361

18. Governor Generals

369

19. Hindu Mahasabhas

373

20. Important Congress Sessions 4 21. Constitutional History

377

22. Modern Literature in India

379

23. India after Independence

381

MEDIEVAL HISTORY

(from

Ghazni

onwards)

AND

MODERN

INDIAN

The entire Islamic rule in India was based on Abu Hanifa School of Law.

to fight when there is a threat to Islam. This had, of late become the most mis-interpreted and also perverted concept of the Shariat, politically and religiously also.

1. EARLY MUSLIM INVASIONS: THE ARABS: The Arab conquest of Sindh: The Arabs were the first Muslims to invade India. They conquered parts of Sindh in AD 712.This marks the beginning of Muslim rule in India. This information about the

According to Huen Tsang, in the 7 th century there was a Buddhist dynasty belonging to the Shudra caste ruling over Sindh.The last king new Brahmin dynasty was established over Sindh. His successor was Dahir, during whose reign the Arab attacks occurred. Even before this, during the period of Umar as khalifa, in 636 AD an attempt was made to conquer Sindh but failed. Then during the time of the 3 rd

Khalifa Usman in 644 AD, another attempt was made to conquer Sindh.This attempt too failed. They were successful during the Umayyad Caliphate (Syria) under Walid in the 3 rd attempt in 712AD. This successful invasion was provoked by a small incident Gifts which were being sent to Khalifa from Sri Lanka (costly jewels) were reportedly looted by pirates at the Sindh port of Debal. The Governor of Baghdad, Al-Hajja, issued a warning to Dahir to own responsibility and to pay compensation. But the warning was ignored. A military general Ubayudallah was sent but he failed in his job. Next a general -Hajja sends (Rohr), the capital of was also defeated and killed. Sindh comes under Muahammad Bin Qasim. Qasim marries the widow of Dahir, Rani Ladi, also two of his daughters i.e. Parimala Devi and Surya Devi were sent as gifts to the Khalifa, along with the war booty. war booty, the soldiers having the right for a major share. Thus the booty has two parts i.e. (1) Khumsth and (2) the remain the soldiers. Thus 1/5 th of the booty was sent to the Khalifa. on the Hindus of India. This reform made it easier for the later Muslim rulers of India. Infact Jiziya was not a separate tax. It was called -eit was against the Shariat. Later it was Ferozshah Tughlaq who was the first Muslim ruler who made Jiziya a separate tax. Even this Jiziya was not uniformly imposed. It was discriminative, 48 Dirhams on Shudras, 24 on Vysyas, 12 on Kshatriyas and the Brahmins were exempted from Jiziya.This was because they did not want to disturb the laws of the land as the Brahmins were enjoying the privilege of tax exemption from ages. Again it was Ferozshah Tughlaq who was the first to impose Jiziya on the Brahmins also. Muhammad Bin Qasim took steps to repair Hindu Temples:

The Shariat actually is not for the destruction of the existing structures of other opposing faiths. But it only says construction of such structures shall not be allowed. The daughters of Dahir, Parimala Devi and Surya Devi who were sent to the caliph were up towards taking revenge against Qasim. The Khalifa Wahid died and Hisham became new Khalifa. Al-Hajjaj died in 714 and his place was taken by Junaid. stories over Muhammad Bin Qasim, that he molested them before sending them as gifts. The Khalifa, enraged over this, recalled Qasim and imprisoned him. Bin Qasim died in the prisons of Baghdad. After Bin Qasim died, the Arab hold over Sindh got weakened. Lane Pool, a British historian and contemporary to V.A. Smith wrote a

on the History of India. The reforms of Qasim were followed by the later Muslim leaders also. TURKISH INVASION OF NORTH INDIA: The Turkish race held a very high profile in the Islamic society and the Turkish rulers dominated Indian politics for many centuries together. Before they came to India they were nature worshippers. They were thoroughly Islamized and also Persianised before they entered India. Hence they brought along with them, the Persian languages and cultures to India but not their native Turkish culture or language. Even they related themselves to the Persian mythological heroes but not the Turkish mythology. This indicates their thorough Persianisation. Almost all of the Turkish rulers took pride in relating (The present day Iran was known as Persia). MAHMUD OF GHAZNI: In central Asia, the Samarid was the ruling empire. Ghazni in Afghanistan was a provincial head quarters in the

empire. Alaptagin, a Turkish Governor of Ghazni declared independence from the Samarids and became the king. The dynasty began to be known as Ghaznavid dynasty. At this time, in North-West India, Hindushahis were ruling from Udbandapura (or Und)-known as Waihind in Persian language. The Ghaznavids and Hindushahis were rivals. Alaptazin defeated the Hindushahi ruler and conquered a part of North West India. Hence Alaptazin was the first Turkish ruler to invade India and conquer a part of India. Next, Sabaktazin was the king. His contemporary Hindushahi king was Jayapala. As per Al Beruni the successors of Kanishka ruled over North-west India. The Kushan Dynasty was ended by Kallar who then founded a new dynasty, the Hindushahi dynasty. Kalhana the new dynasty as Lalliashahi Dynasty. Jayapala tried to invade Ghazni but failed and this mistake proved very costly for him. GREATEST OF GHAZNAVIS: Mahmud of Ghazni is the third in line of the rulers of his clan (9981030 AD). He totally exterminated the Samarid Empire and conquered the entire Samarid territory. He got Mansoor from the Abassid Khalifa Al Qadir Billal at Baghdad. Ghazni was even conferred two titles by the Caliph i.e. Yamin-ud-Daula-----Right hand of the Empire and Amin-ul-Mulk--------Trustee of the Empire. Ghazni got the permission from the Caliph to invade India in order to destroy the idolatry. He invaded India 17 times from 1000 to 1027 AD. No ruler of North India could stand in his way. The first 2 or 3 invasions targeted the Hidushahis. In the first invasion (1000AD) he conquered Zamghar Fort from Hindushahis.

In the second invasion in 1001 AD he defeated Jayapala who died in self immolation and his son Anandapala fled to North India. In the 3 rd invasion in 1005 AD he conquered and captured Bathinda from a Shia King of Multan i.e. Shah Ismail. In the 4 th invasion in 1006 AD he captured Nagerkot in Punjab. In the 5 th invasion in 1006 AD he defeated the confederation of consisted mainly of Anandapala (son of Jayapala), Rajyapala (Pratiharas), Shah Ismail of Multan, Gauda and Vidyadhara (father and son) of Chandellas, and Kokkar tribe in Punjab.The leader was Anandapala. In 1012&1013 he attacked Sphaneswar, Mathura in 1016 AD, Kanauj in 1018 AD, and invaded Somnath in 1025 AD (his 16 th invasion) during the rule of king Bhima I, and in 1027 AD against the Jats of Punjab. says that the raids of Mahmud Ghazni were for economic gains but not religious. Muhammad Habib is the father of Irfan Habib who wrote He annexed Punjab and Sindh regions to his territory and he was a patron of various scholars like, -i-Yamini, a history of Ghazni, Firdausi: Who wrote the Shah Nama, history of the Emperor: He was called Homer of the East. Al Beruni: He is a scientist and philosopher (Arabic) and is in India from 1018 to 1030 AD. He came along with Mahmud Ghazni and is considered the first Muslim Indologist. He is the author of about 20 books which included his translations into Arabic language and considered as a man of encyclopedic learning. His translations (into Arabic) are:

(1). Paulisa Siddhanta on Astronomy by Varahamihira (2) Brihatsamhita (3) Laghujatakam. He studied Bhagavad Gita, Sankhya Philosophy, Mahabharata and -i-i- Al -ul-Hind and this book is considered as the mirror of 11th Century, and is translated into English by E.C.Sachou. In this he talks about 4 castes and 8 untouchable classes. The book is unbiased and he made several criticisms on Muhammad Bin Qasim. The four Castes: Hadi, Doma, Badhatau and Chandala. The 8 Untouchables: (1) Rajaka (2) Charmakara the shoe maker (3) Baruda the basket maker (4) Nata/Sailushika the actor/juggler (5) Navika the sailor (6) Kaivarta the fisherman (7) Kuvindaka the weaver and (8) Bhilla the hunter. AlIndians attitude):

----- (rather

-conceited, and stolid. They are by nature, niggardly in communicating which they know and they take the greatest possible care to withhold it from men of other castes among their own people, still much more from any foreigner. According to their belief, no other created being besides them have AlQuanun-i-Masudi Jawahir-fil- Jawahir

on Astronomy. on Mineralogy.

MUHAMMAD GHURI: He belonged to the Ghurid dynasty which was founded by Sultan Alauddin who was a feudatory of Ghaznavids. He captured Ghazni and became independent. He destroyed the town of Ghazni and took

successor was Shiab-ud-din-Muhammad Bin Sam or Muhammad Ghuri. He became the Emperor in 1173 AD and ruled upto 1206 AD. He had conducted many invasions (6 times) on India between 1175 AD and 1206 AD and these invasions differed from those of Ghazni. The Ghaznavid invasions were for wealth where as the Ghurid invasions were for territorial gains. During the Ghurids, the Khwarizmi Empire of central Asia repeatedly checked the Westward ambitions of Ghuri. Therefore, naturally he turned towards India to realize his ambitions. (He was even defeated by the Khwarizmis). Ghazni was successful almost all the times. Ghuri had several defeats, both in the West and the East. He was not politically as powerful as Ghazni. invasions had a lasting impact on the history of India and laid the foundations of Muslim rule in India. 1175 AD 1178 AD

Conquered Multan and Much in Sindh region. Battle of Mt. Abu in which he was defeated by Chalukyan King Gujarat, (by Mularaga or Bhima II).

1189 AD

Battle of Tabrahind or Bhatinda against Prithviraj Chauahan III of Ajmer, Ghuri was defeated and Chauahn reclaimed Ajmer.

1190 AD

Peshawar, Lahore and Sialkot in W.Punjab were taken. The first battle of Terrain, Ghuri was defeated. The 2 nd battle of Terrain. Ghuri was victorious. A Tomar King named Govinda Raja also fights in the battle. He and a lakh of Rajputs were massacred. Led to the conquest of Ajmer and Delhi. Battle of Chandawar, the Ghahadwala

1911 AD 1192 AD

1194 AD

1194 AD

Jayachandra was defeated. Qutubuddin Aibaq, a Turkish slave was appointed in charge of Delhi and Ajmer. Ghuri went back to Ghazni. Aibak conquered Kalinjar, Mahoba, Khajuraho of the Chandelas. In 1197 AD Aibak defeated Bhima II. Another slave of Ghuri, Bhaktiyar Khalji is a Turkish slave and was sent to conquer Bihar and Bengal in 1194 which were ruled by the Senas of Bengal then.

SENA RULE:

1095-1195 AD.

Vijayasena usurped power from the last Pala king Madanapala. (1095 to 1195 AD-Sena Rule). SENA DYNASTY: Senas came to power in 1095 AD. The last Pala king Madanapala was assassinated by Vijayasena who was the founder of Sena Dynasty. In their inscriptions, the Senas called were Brahmins. THE SENA ADMINISTRATION: It is very close to Chalukyan administration as they were Chalukyan in origin and immigrants to Bengal from probably Karnataka. They were employed by Palas who gave them high positions. Their first king is Vijaya Sena. Deopara inscriptions mention his victories. He has titles i.e. Maharajadhiraja, Parama Bhattaraka, Parameswara. He had two capitals i.e. Vikrampura in East Bengal

The second Sena king is Samanta Sena and he has a title The third Sena king is Bhallala Sena who was a great scholar and

The last and most important of Sena kings is Lakshmana Sena. He started a new calendar i.e. Sena Era at his coronation in 1179. He built a city by n 1. Jayadeva, a Vashnavite scholar who wrote Gita Govindam in which for the first time, all the 10 of Dasavataras (the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu) are described as they are now very vividly discussed.

4. Halayudha, A jurist and Chief Justice i.e.Dharmadhyaksha. He 5. Sridharadasa. In 1194 Bengal was attacked by Bhaktiyar Khalji. Minhaj-ur-Siraj, a -i-Nasiri in which he records the history of early Muslim invasions right up to his death in 1260 AD. Another historian Zia-ud-din-Barani continues the work which was abruptly ended by Minhaj. Barani, a native of Baran in Bulandshehre -i-Firuz-i-Ferozshahi). According to him, Bhakthiyar Khalji first wanted to assess the power of Lakshman Sena. So he went to Lakhnauti with only 18 of his followers in the disguise of a trader.Lakshman Sena got news of an imminent Muslim attack. He thus fled to East Bengal without offering a face. BHAKTIYA KHALJI ruled Bengal from 1194 to 1202 virtually as an independent ruler. During this period, Buddhism, which was by then left only in Bihar and Bengal, was totally exterminated by Bhakthiyar There was no Buddhism in India for the next 600-700 years.

Bhakthiyar Khalji also wanted to conquer Tibet. But he was checked by Magha rulers of Assam. In 1202 he was assassinated by one of his generals. Later his successors ruled over Bengal and Bihar. Muhammad Ghuri made invasions on India from 1176 to 1206 AD. The last of his invasions was against the warrior tribe of Kokkars on the banks of Chenab. The Kokkars were defeated. When he was on his way to Ghazni, he was assassinated by an Afghan of Shia faith (Pathan) in 1206 AD. (The Nawabs of Awadh who ruled after Mughals were Shias of Turkish race). Ghuri had no successors. He used to treat his slaves as his successors. His territory was shared among three of his slaves i.e. 1). At Ghazni -------- Taj-ud-din- Yalduz. 2). Multan in Sindh -----Nasir-ud-din- Qubacha. 3). Delhi and Ajmer. ----Qutubuddin Aibak. Qutubuddin Aibak thus founded the Delhi Sultanate in 1206 AD. 2. DELHI SULTANATE: Delhi Sultanate was founded in 1206AD. It flourished from 1206 AD to 1526 AD. 5 Dynasties ruled: They are; 1. SLAVE DYNASTY (1206 to 1290 AD) 2. KHALJIS (1290 to 1320 AD) 3. TUGHLAKS (1320 to 1414 AD) 4. SAYYID DYNASTY (1414 to 1451 AD) 5. LODHIS (1451 to 1526AD)

The first four dynasties were of Turkish race. The Lodhis were Afghans. (Only two dynasties of Muslim rulers were Afghans i.e. Lodhis and Sur.) THE SLAVE DYNASTY (1206 to 1290 AD): It was known as slave dynasty because not just that it was founded by a slave but also it was for a greater period by slaves themselves. Out of 9 Sultans, only 3 were prominent. They are Qutubuddin Aibak,

Mamluks: Employed in military services but not in domestic services, born to free parents. The other six sultans were not Mamluks so there is no unanimity in accepting the name as Mamluks for all of them. Some suggest the name Ilbari dynasty. Ilbari is a Turkish tribe. All the 9 sultans except Aibak were Ilbari Turks. Aibak was from the Aibak tribe. The Tughlaqs belong to the Qarauna tribe. The Mughals belonged to the Chagatai tribe. Hence Ilbari also was not accepted. 1. QUTBUDDIN AIBAK: 1206 to 1210 AD. He ruled from Lahore (not Delhi) and never took the title Sultan. He rather took several humble titles i.e. Malik, Sipahsalar (a military Governor), Lakhbaksh (giver of lakhs). He built the city of Mehrauli. Here he started the construction of Qutb Minar but he did not complete it during his life time. It was called Qutb Minar after the name of a very popular Sufi saint-Qwaza Qutub-ud-din-Bhaktiyar Kaki. 1192-1194 AD: The two earliest mosques in India were built by him. They are Quwat-ul-Islam at Delhi and Arhai-din-ka Jhompra, Ajmer. The two were Vishnu temples and still earlier Jain temples.

Quwat-ul-Islam mosque was later enlarged by Iltutmish by destroying the 27 Jain and Hindu temples in the vicinity and also reusing the debris in the enlargement operation. -ulhistorian, Hasan Nizami. This book records the events from Ghuri succeeded by his son Aram Shah. He ruled for just 8 months (12101211 AD). The Turkish nobles were quite dominant and the nonTurkish were not treated equally. The nobles were vexed with Aram -in-law, Shams-ud-din Iltutmish to ascend the throne. He was the Governor of Badaun. He was the first Great Delhi Sultan. ILTUTMISH: (1211-1236AD): -ihead of Royal Bodygaurds.Later on he became the son-in-law and was appointed as Governor of Badaun province. He can be considered as real founder of Delhi Sultanat and he is the first to take the construction of Qutb Minar, initially called Minar-i-Shamshi and later renamed as Qutb Minar. The Iqta system which was first introduced by Muhammad Ghuri was institutionalized by Iltutmish. Iqta has not only become a land assignment but also a unit of administration. The entire Sultanate was divided into Iqtas. Each Iqta had a Governor who could enjoy all income from it and need not be paid any salary. Rise of Turkish Nobles: Turkan i Chihalgani. Ziauddin Barani nickconsisted of 40 Nobles or Umras. Minaj-us- Siraj (d 1260 AD) says that the Chihalgani which was a kind of a de-facto authoritative organization had 25 Maliks/Nobles.

Iltutmish issued new coins. Silver coin is named Tanka and copper coin is named Jittal. The ratio according to Ziauddin Barani was 1 Tanka= 48 Jittals. He was the first Indian ruler to receive Mansoor from the Abassid Khalifa in 1229 AD. His Political Victories: 1) He targeted the first two enemies Qabacha and Yalduz. Yalduz, who claimed rule over Delhi (from Ghazni), was expelled from Ghazni by the Khwarizmi rulers. He then fled to seek refuge at Lahore, where he was captured and executed by Iltutmish. Qabacha was killed in war by Iltutmish in 1216 AD. (Drowned in Indus). 2). Bihar and Bengal: Iwaz Khalzi was ruling Bengal and Bihar. Iltutmish deployed one of his sons Naseeruddin to Bengal where he killed Iwaz in the battle of Lakhnauti and Bengal was annexed. 3). Conquered many parts of Rajasthan, Ranthambore, Nagaur, Jodhpur, Sambar region, Gwalior, Malwa. In his conquest of Malwa, Iltutmish destroyed the Mahakali temple at Ujjain in 1234-35 AD. The Chengiz Episode: Mongols were nomadic, martial Turkish tribe of central Asia. Some were Islamized. Plundering was their source of livelihood. They used terror and massacre as tools to loot the cities. India and China (especially) were worst effected by Mongols. The first Mongol attack took place when the Delhi Sultanat was under the rule of Iltutmish. The greatest of Mongols was Chengiz khan. In the 13 th century he established a vast empire from Peking to Russia. He conquered china. Chengiz was not a Muslim, rather he took up Buddhism. Mongols who settled in China were Buddhists. The rest were Islamized in course of time. Mongols who came to