MEDIVIAL HISTORY OF INDIA

 The initial entry of Islam into South Asia came in the first century after
the death of the Prophet Muhammad.
 The Umayyad caliph in Damascus sent an expedition to Balochistan and
Sindh in 711 led by Muhammad bin Qasim (for whom Karachi’s second
port is named).
 The expedition went as far north as Multan but was not able to retain that
region and was not successful in expanding Islamic rule to other parts of
India.
 Coastal trade and the presence of a Muslim colony in Sindh, however, Mahmud Ghazni
permitted significant cultural exchanges and the introduction into the
subcontinent of saintly teachers. Mulsim influence grew with conversions.

Mahmud of Ghazni
 Almost three centuries later, the Turks, Persians and the Afghans spearheaded the Islamic
conquest in India through the traditional invasion routes of the northwest. Mahmud of
Ghazni (979-1030) led a series of raids against Rajput kingdoms and rich Hindu temples
and established a base in Punjab for future incursions.

DELHI SULTANATE
 During the last quarter of the twelfth century, Muhammad of Ghori
invaded the Indo-Gangetic plain, conquering in succession Ghazni,
Multan, Sindh, Lahore and Delhi. Qutb-ud-din Aybak, one of his generals
proclaimed himself Sultan of Delhi.
 In the 13th century, Shams ud din Iltumish (1211-1236), a former slave-
warrior established a Turkic kingdom in Delhi, which enabled future
sultans to push in every direction; within the next 100 years, the Delhi
Sultanate extended its sway east to Bengal and South to the Deccan, while Mohammad Ghori
the sultanate itself experienced repeated threats from the northwest and
internal revolts from displeased, independent-minded nobles.
 The sultanate was in constant flux as five dynasties rose and fell:
Slave dynasty (1206-90),
Khalji dynasty (1290-1320),
Tughlaq dynasty (1320-1413),
Sayyid dynasty (1414-51), and
Lodi dynasty (1451-1526).
 The Khalji Dynasty under ‘Ala-ud-Din’ (1296-1315) succeeded in
bringing most of South India under its control for a time, although
conquered areas broke away quickly. Alauddin Khilji
 Power in Delhi was often gained by violence – nineteen of the thirty-five
sultans were assassinated – and was legitimized by reward for tribal loyalty.
 Factional rivalries and court intrigues were as numerous as they were treacherous;
territories controlled by the sultan expanded and shrank depending on his personality and
fortunes.
 SULTANS OF DELHI
Slave Dynasty (1206-1290)
 Qutb-ud-din Aybak (1206-10);
 Aram Shah (1210-11);
 Shams ud din Iltutmish (1211-36);
 Rukn ud din Firuz (1236);
 Raziyyat ud din Sultana (1236-40);
 Muiz ud din Bahram (1240-42);
 Ala-ud-din Masud (1242-46);
 Nasir-ud-din Mahmud (1246-66);
 Ghiyas ud din Balban (1266-86);
 Muiz ud din Qaiqabd (1286-90)
Khilji (Khalji) Dynasty (1290-1321)
 Jalal ud din Firuz Khilji (1290-94);
 Ala-ud-din Khilji (1294-1316);
 Qutb-ud-din Mubarak Shah (1316-21)
Tughlaq Dynasty (1321-1398)
 Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq (1321-25);
 Muhammad Shah II (1325-51);
 [Mahmud Ibn Muhammad] (March
1351);
 Firuz Shah Tughluq (1351-88);
 Ghiyas ud din Tughlaq II (1388-89);
 Abu Baker (1389-90); Masir ud din
 Muhammad Shah III (1390-93);
 Sikander Shah I (March-April 1393);
 Mahmud Nasir ud din (Sultan Mahmud II)
at Delhi (1393-94);
 Nusrat Shah at Firuzabad (1394-98)
Lodi Dynasty
 Daulat Khan (1413-1414)
Sayyid (Syed) Dynasty (1414-1451)
 Khidr Khan (1414-21);
 Mubarrak Shah II (1421-35);
 Muhammad Shah IV (1435-45);
 Aladdin Alam Shah (1445-51)
Lodhi (Lodi) Dynasty (1451-1526)
 Bahlul Khan Lodi (1451-1489);
 Sikandar Lodi (1489-1517);
 Ibrahim II (1517-1526)
1526-1540: Mughal rule
Suri Dynasty (1540-1555)
 Sher Shah (1540-1545);
 Islam Shah (1545-1553);
 Muhammad V (1553-1554);
 Firuz (29 April – 2 May 1554);
 Ibrahim III (1554-1554/5);
 Sikander Shah (1554/5-1555)

Islamic Administration
 Both the Qur’an and sharia (Islamic law) provided the basis for enforcing Islamic
administration over the independent Hindu rulers, but the sultanate made only fitful
progress in the beginning, when many campaigns were undertaken for plunder and
temporary reduction of fortresses.
 The effective rule of a sultan depended largely on his ability to control the strategic places
that dominated the military highways and trade routes, extract the annual land tax, and
maintain personal authority over military and provincial governors.
 Sultan ‘Ala ud-Din made an attempt to reassess, systematize, and unify land revenues and
urban taxes and to institute a highly centralized system of administration over his realm,
but his efforts were abortive.
 Khalji minted coins with the legend struck as Sikander Sani.
Sikander is Old Persian for 'victor', a title popularized
by Alexander. While sani is Arabic for to 'brilliant'. The coin
legend (Sikander-e -Sani) translates to 'brilliant victor' in
recognition of his military success.
 Although agriculture in North India improved as a result of new canal construction and
irrigation methods, including what came to be known as the Persian wheel, prolonged
political instability and parasitic methods of tax collection brutalized the peasantry.
 Yet trade and a market economy, encouraged by the free-spending habits of the aristocracy,
acquired new impetus both inland and overseas.
 Experts in metalwork, stonework, and textile manufacture
responded to the new patronage with enthusiasm.
 In this period Persian language and many Persian cultural
aspects became dominant in the centers of power in India.
 Tale of Padmavati: It is recorded that Malik Muhammad
Jayasi wrote the poem in 1540 which had a fictional account Gol Gumbaz in Bijapur
of Khilji's siege of Chittor and many historians believe that
Padmavati didn't exist in real life. Though, in the poem, its said that Rani Padmavati was a
beautiful queen of Ratan Sen, the ruler of Chittor. Khilji also heard about her beauty and
planned to capture Chittor and Padmavai in order to make her his royal consort. However,
Padmavati committed Jauhar along with other Rajput women and Khilji could not win
her.
 Death: It is said that after, he was haunted by the wails of the
women of Chittor for the rest of his life and went mad.
Though in real life, he suffered from an illness and lost
control of himself. He died in January 1316 in Delhi and is
buried in the Qutub Complex in Mehrauli, Delhi.
 Qutb Minar: Qutb-ud-Din Aibak, founder of the Delhi
Sultanate, started construction of the Qutb Minar's first storey
around 1192. In 1220, Aibak's successor and son-in- Qutb Minar
law Shamsuddin Iltutmish completed a further three
storeys. In 1369, a lightning strike destroyed the top storey. Firoz Shah Tughlaq replac
ed the damaged storey, and added one more. Sher Shah Suri also added an entrance to this
tower while he was ruling and Humayun was in exile. Today, the minaret forms part of
the Qutb complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Mehrauli area of Delhi, India.

SOUTHERN DYNASTIES
 The sultan’s failure to hold securely the Deccan and South India resulted in the rise of
competing southern dynasties: the Muslim Bahmani Sultanate (1347-1527) and the Hindu
Vijayanagara Empire (1336-1565).
 Zafar Khan, a former provincial governor under the Tughluqs,
revolted against his Turkic overload and proclaimed himself
sultan, taking the title Ala ud-Din Bahman Shah in 1347.
 The Bahmani Sultanate, located in the northern Deccan, lasted for
almost two centuries, until it fragmented into five smaller states,
known as the Deccan sultanates (Bijapur, Golconda, Ahmednagar,
Berar, and Bidar) in 1527.
 The Bahmani Sultanate adopted the patterns established by the
Delhi overlords in tax collection and administration, but its
downfall was caused in large measure by the competition and
hatred between deccani (domiciled Muslim immigrants and local converts) and paradesi
(foreigners or officials in temporary service).
 The Bahmani Sultanate initiated a process of cultural flowering is still expressed in
vigorous schools of deccani architecture and painting.
 The development of Dakhani language stands out as an important cultural contribution of
the Deccan sultanates.
 The architectural splendours of Deccan like Char Minar and Gol Gumbaz belong to the
period. The religious tolerance displayed by the Nizam Shahi, Adil Shahi, and Qutb Shahi
rulers also merit mention.
VIJAYANAGAR EMPIRE
 Founded in 1336, the Vijayanagara Empire (named for its
capital Vijayanagara (Vijayanagar), “City of Victory,” in
present-day Karnataka) expanded rapidly toward Madurai
in the south and Goa in the west and exerted intermittent
control over the east coast and the extreme southwest.
 Vijayanagara Emperor Sri Krishnadevaraya defeated the
Sultanate, and in 1518, the Bahmani Sultanate collapsed and
split into five states and were collectively known as the
‘Deccan Sultanates’:
1. Nizamshahi of Ahmednagar,
2. Qutubshahi of Golconda (Hyderabad),
3. Baridshahi of Bidar,
4. Imadshahi of Berar,
5. Adilshahi of Bijapur
 The Deccan Sultanates were no more a threat to the Vijayanagara empire as they kept
fighting against each other. Krishnadevaraya passed away in 1529 and was succeeded by
his younger brother Achyuta Raya.
 Achyuta Raya was succeeded by Venkata Raya, who was soon killed, and was succeeded
by Venkata Raya in 1542. The real power, however, bestowed in the hands of his minister
Rama Raya.
 Rama Raya restored the empire’s glory. Rama Raya’s strategy to fend off the threat of the
Deccan Sultanates was to ally with one and then the other. But in 1563, the Sultanates
decided to get together and act against the ploys of Rama Raya.
 When the rulers of the five Deccan sultanates
combined their forces and attacked Vijayanagara in
1565, the empire crumbled at the Battle of Talikot.
The Sultans had made a deal with the Muslim
generals – the Gilani Brothers of the Vijayanagara
Empire.
 The victory was Vijayanagara’s to be had, as they
were better organized and militarily strong, but for
Betrayal of the Battle of Talikota
the betra yal by the Gilani brothers. This has to go
down as one of the most horrifying of betrayals in India’s glorious history.
 Vijayanagara rulers closely followed Chola precedents, especially in collecting agricultural
and trade revenues, in giving encouragement to commercial guilds, and in honouring
temples with lavish endowments.
 Added revenue needed for waging war against the Bahmani
sultants was raised by introducing a set of taxes on
commercial enterprises, professions, and industries.
Political rivalry between the Bahmani and the Vijayanagara
rulers involved control over the Krishna-Tungabhadra
river basin, which shifted hands depending on whose Babur: The founder of the Mughal
military was superior at any given time. Empire
 The Vijayanagar rulers’ capacity for gaining
victory over their enemies was contingent on
ensuring a constant supply of horses – initially
through Arab traders but later through the
Portuguese – and maintaining internal roads and
communication networks.
 Merchant guilds enjoyed a wide sphere of
Glory of Vijayanagara Architecture
operation and were able to offset the power of
landlords and Brahmans in court politics.
 Commerce and shipping eventually passed largely into the hands of foreigners, and special
facilities and tax concessions were provided for them by the ruler. Arabs and Portuguese
competed for influence and control of west coast
ports, and, in 1510, Goa passed into Portuguese
possession.
 The city of Vijayanagara itself contained
numerous temples with rich ornamentation,
especially the gateways, and a cluster of shrines
for the deities. Most prominent among the temples Vijayanagara Empire, Hampi
was the one dedicated to Virupaksha, a
manifestation of Shiva, the patron-deity of the Vijayanagar rulers.
 Temples continued to be the nuclei of diverse cultural and intellectual activities, but these
activities were based more on tradition than on contemporary political realities. (However,
the first Vijayanagara ruler-Harihara I – was a Hindu who converted to Islam and then
reconverted to Hinduism for political expediency).
 The temples sponsored no intellectual exchange with Islamic theologians because Muslims
were generally assigned to an lower status and were thus excluded from entering temples.

THE MUGHAL ERA

 India in the 16th century presented a fragmented picture of rulers, both Muslim and Hindu,
who lacked concern for their subjects and who failed to create a common body of laws or
institutions.
 Outside developments also played a role in shaping events. The circumnavigation of Africa
by the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama in 1498 allowed European to challenge Arab
control of the trading routes between Europe and Asia.
 In Central Asia and Afghanistan, shifts in power pushed Babur of Ferghana (in present-
day Uzbekistan) southward, first of Kabul and then to India. The dynasty he founded
endured for more than three centuries.

Babur
 Claiming descent from both Genghis Khan and Timur, Babur combined strength and
courage with a love of beauty, and military ability with cultivation. Babur concentrated on
gaining control of north-western India.
 He did so in 1526 by defeating the last Lodhi sultan at the First battle of Panipat, a town
north of Delhi. Babur then turned to the tasks of persuading his Central Asian followers to
stay on in India and of overcoming other contenders for power, mainly the Rajputs and the
Afghans.
 He succeeded in both tasks but died shortly thereafter in 1530. The Mughal Empire was
one of the largest centralized states in premodern history and was the precursor to the
British Indian Empire.
 The perennial question of who was the greatest of the six “Great
Mughals” receives varying answers, however, some favour Babur
the pioneer and other his great-grandson, Shah Jahan (r. 1628-58),
builder of the Taj Mahal and other magnificent buildings.
 The other two towering figures of the era by general consensus were
Akbar (r. 1556-1605) and Aurangzeb (r. 1658-1707). Both rulers
expanded the empire greatly and were able administrators.
 However, Akbar was known for his religious tolerance and
administrative genius, while Aurangzeb was a pious Muslim and Fatehpur Sikri, near Agra
fierce protector of orthodox Islam in an alien and heterodox environment.

Akbar
 Akbar succeeded his father, Hamayun (r. 1530-40 and 1555-56),
whose rule was interrupted by the Afghan Sur Dynasty, which
rebelled against him. It was only just before his death that Humayun
was able to regain the empire and leave it to his son.
 In restoring and expanding Mughal rule, Akbar based his authority
on the ability and loyalty of his followers, irrespective of their
religion.
 In 1564 the jizya on non-Muslims was abolished, and ban on
temple building and Hindu pilgrimages were lifted. Akbar, The Great
 Akbar’s methods of administration reinforced his power against two possible sources of
challenge – the Afghan-Turkish aristocracy and the traditional interpreters of Islamic law,
the ulama.
 He created a ranked imperial service based on ability rather than birth, whose members
were obliged to serve wherever required.
 They were remunerated with cash rather than land and were kept away from their inherited
estates, thus centralizing the imperial service were separate from those of revenue
collection, which was supervised by the imperial treasury.
 This system of administration, known as the mansabdari, was based on loyal service and
cash payments and was the backbone of the Mughal Empire; its effectiveness depended on
personal loyalty to the emperor and his ability and willingness to choose, remunerate, and
supervise.
 Akbar’s reforms required a centralized financial system, and, thus, by the side of each
provincial governor (sūbadār, later called nawab) was placed a civil administrator (dīwān,
or divan) who supervised revenue collection, prepared accounts, and reported directly to
the emperor.
 Begun in 1570 and abandoned in 1586, Akbar’s capital of Fatehpur Sikri, near Delhi, is
evidence of the resources he could command. Its combination of Hindu and Muslim
architectural styles symbolizes the contact of cultures that he encouraged.
 Akbar declared himself the final arbiter in all disputes of law derived from the Qur’an and
the sharia. He backed his religious authority primarily with his authority in the state.
 In 1580 he also initiated a syncretic court religion called the Din-i-Ilahi (Divine Faith). In
theory, the new faith was compatible with any other, provided that the devotee was loyal
to the emperor.
 In practice, however, its ritual and content profoundly offended orthodox Muslims. The
ulama found their influence undermined. The concept of Islam as a superior religion with
a historic mission in the world appeared to be compromised.
 The syncretism of the court and its tolerance of both Hindus and unorthodox Shia sects
among Muslims triggered a reaction among Sunni Muslims.
 In the fratricidal war of succession that closed the reign of Akbar’s grandson Shah Jahan
in 1658, the aristocracy supported the austere military commander Aurangzeb against his
learned and eclectic brother Dara Shikoh, whom Aurangzeb defeated in battle and later
had decapitalised in 1662.

Aurangzeb
 Aurangzeb’s reign ushered in the decline of the Mughal Empire.
Aurangzeb, who in the latter half of his long rule assumed the title
“Alamgir” or “world-seizer,” was known for aggressively expanding
the empire’s frontiers and for his militant enforcement of orthodox
Sunni Islam.
 During his reign, the Mughal empire reached its greatest extent,
although it is likely that his policies also led to its dissolution. Still,
there is some belief that his policies may have slowed the decline of Aurangzeb
the Empire rather than precipitate it.
 Although he was an outstanding general and a rigorous administrator, Mughal fiscal and
military standards declined as security and luxury increased. Land rather than cash became
the usual means of remunerating high-ranking officials, and divisive tendencies in his large
empire further undermined central authority.
 In 1679 Aurangzeb reimposed the hated jizyah on Hindus. Coming after a series of other
taxes and also discriminatory measures favoring Sunni Muslims this action by the emperor,
incited rebellion among Hindus and others in many parts of the empire–Jat, Sikh, and
Rajput forces in the north and Maratha forces in the Deccan.
 The emperor managed to crush the rebellions in the north, but at a high cost to agricultural
productivity and to the legitimacy of Mughal rule.
 Aurangzeb was compelled to move his headquarters to Daulatabad in the Deccan to mount
a costly campaign against Maratha guerilla fighters led by Shivaji, which lasted twenty-
six-years until he died in 1707 at the age of ninety.
 Aurangzeb, oppressed by a sense of failure, isolation, and impending doom, lamented that
in life he “came alone” and would “go to stranger.”

Decline of Mughals
 In the century – and one-half that followed, effective control by Aurangzeb’s successors
weakened. Succession to imperial and even provincial power, which had often become
hereditary, was subject to intrigue and force.
 The mansabdari system gave way to the zamindari system, in which high-ranking officials
took on the appearance of hereditary landed aristocracy with powers of collecting rents.
 As Delhi’s control waned, other contenders for power emerged and clashed, thus preparing
the way for the eventual British takeover.

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