RISE OF THE RAJPUTS


 ORIGIN

1. FOREIGN ORIGIN THEORY
 In our ancient literature the word Rajput never occurs and consequently
some historians have come to believe that the Rajput are the descendants of
foreign tribes like Kushanas,Sakas,Hunas and Gujaras,etc.
 There is no mention of Rajput anywhere in the Indian literature before the
advent of these foreign invading tribes therefore they must be descendants
of these foreigners
 The practice of worshipping fire appears to be taken from the practice of
fire worship of the Hunas and the Sakas
 The practices of sacrifice and Asvamedha yajnas and liking for fighting are
also suggested to have come from these foreign tribes especially the Hunas
 In many other things the Rajtputs resemble more or less these foreign tribes
 Cont
2.

THEORY OF DESCENT FROM KSHATRIYA HEROES

Most of the customs of the Rajput very much resemble the custom of Aryans

Their physical structure also resembles ancient Aryans

The erstwhile Rajput rulers of the chief Rajput states like Mewar, Jaipur and
Bikaner were proud of their discent from the ancient Aryans

The practice of fire worship was taken from the Aryans and not the
foreigners.The fire worship was prevalent in the Aryan society even much
before the rise of Buddhism in India .

The practice of sacrifice a Aswamedha yajnas and love for fighting were
inherited by the Rajputs from their Aryan predecessors and not from foreign
tribe
moreover certain inscriptions of the ninth and tenth centuries show that the
reigning Rajput dynasties regarded themselves to be the true descendants of the
Suryavansi dynasties( founded by Rama) and the Chandravansi
dynasties( founded by Lord Krishna)
 Cont

3.THEORY OF DESCENT FROM THE ORIGINAL
INHABITANTS OF INDIA
 Some scholars would even suggest that the Rajput specially those
living along the Vindhya Hills are descendant of the original
inhabitants of India
 In favour of this theory it is generally suggested that the Chandela
Rajput of Bundelkhand belong to the gonds
 The renowned Rani Durgavati also belong to the gonds but this theory
is not so popular with the modern scholars
 Cont

4.AGNIKULA THEORY
 Some of the Rajput regard themselves as belonging to the agnikula
 They say that their ancestors were born of the sacred fire that kindled
control at Mount Abu
 This theory was first of all brought forward by the renowned Chand
Bardai in his literary work “Prithavi Raj Raso”
 According to this theory when Parshurama destroyed all the Kshatriyas
and there was no one left to protect the Brahmanas,the Brahamanas
themselves kindled a sacred fire at Mount Abu and performed a big
Yajnas continuing for 40 days. they prayed to the God to produce a
warrior class to protect them .
 Their prayer was at last granted and out of the Agnikunda or fire pit four
great heroes sprang up.these four heroes then founded the four great
families of the Chauhan, Chalukyas,Parmaras and Partiharas.
 Cont-

MOST PLAUSIBLE THEORY
 Dr V.A.Smith come to this conclusion that Rajputs were ,in fact a mixed
race .Some of the Rajputs were the descandants of the Foreign invading tribes
like the Kushanas, Hunas and Sakas while the others belonged to the ancient
Kshatriya class .
 In the beginning ,Rajputs were essentially an occupational group .
 Those ,whether foreigners people,who were fond of fighting and possessed war
like habits and began to call them themselves Rajputs because of power in their
hands.
 With the passage of time ,the enmity between the Foreigners and the indigenous
members of this group vanished and they acquired a homogeneous culture .
 Thus this professional group acquired the characteristics of different social
groups . This theory is most acceptable theory.
 CIVILISATION AND
CULTURE OF RAJPUTS

1) POLITICAL CONDITION OF INDIA
 Political organisation for the Rajput was based on the feudal system.
 The land was distributed by the ruler among his various lords who paid
in fixed annual revenue and also rendered him military service at time
of need
 There was no Unity in the country and the whole of Northern India was
divided into numerous small state which were held by different clans.
 More often the quarrelled with each other and because of their mutual
jealousy they could not patch up their differences
 The different Rajput rulers had a great passion for fighting .
 Warfare was their life and death .Sometimes this passion for fighting
would not allow them to sit idle and often lead them to mutual Warfare
in which they lost much of their resources
 Cont

 The Rajputs were brave ,courageous ,patriotic and chivalrous but they
lacked political insight .they would not attack the running enemy nor
would they fight any unarmed men .
 Such high ideals seldom pay in warfare
 The Rajput Army was comprised of infantry cavalry and Some corps
of elephant.
 Sometimes these elephants proved a great source of weakness rather
than of strength
 But the administration of the Rajput so was very appreciable as the
general life of the common people was very happy under them and
them taxes were light and the life and property of the people were
quite safe
 Cont

 The Rajputs were brave ,courageous ,patriotic and chivalrous but they
lacked political insight .they would not attack the running enemy nor
would they fight any unarmed men .
 Such high ideals seldom pay in warfare
 The Rajput Army was comprised of infantry cavalry and Some corps
of elephant.
 Sometimes these elephants proved a great source of weakness rather
than of strength
 But the administration of the Rajput so was very appreciable as the
general life of the common people was very happy under them and
them taxes were light and the life and property of the people were
quite safe
 Cont-

2) RELIGIOUS CONDITION
 There were three main religion Hinduism ,Buddhism and Jainism
which were flourishing in India during this period
 The Rajput were the followers of Hinduism so this religion made a
great progress under them
 The worship of Shiva ,Vishnu, goddess Durga and various Hindu
Gods and Goddesses was becoming very popular
 Beautiful temples of these Hindu Gods and Goddesses were built in
large numbers during this period making religious tour of the
various holy places of the Hindus and celebrating the various Hindu
festivals like Dussehra, Diwali and Holi also became very popular
during this period
 Cont-

2) RELIGIOUS CONDITION
 the holy books of the Hindus like the Vedas, the Ramayana and the
Mahabharata and their study had become very common
 the Rajput women spent most of the times in listening to the stories
from the Ramayana and Mahabharata
 the Rajput were fond of Warfare and naturally they could not
Reconcile themselves to the ahimsa theory of Buddhism and Jainism
 Cont-

3) ART,LITERATURE AND EDUCATION
(a)ART
 Rajput rulers were great patrons of art and literature they work great
builders who erected a large number of beautiful places, forts,
temples and other work of art
 They built a large number of forts which are strong as well as
beautiful the strong and Nobel Fortress of Chittor, Ranthambore,
Mandu and Gwalior are conspicious example of their architecture
skill
 Addition to these forts the Rajputs laid the foundation of many
beautiful cities and large number of excellent palaces which generally
stand by the side of beautiful lakes
 Cont-

 The Hawa Mahal at Udaipur, the palace of Man Singh at Gwalior and
numerous buildings at Jaipur are some fine examples of Rajput
architecture
 The Rajputs were great followers of Hinduism so they erected a large
number of temples in honour of Hindu Gods and Goddesses .
 The Lingaraja Temple at Bhubaneswar is a fine example of the
mediaeval Hindu temples of Northern India
 Cont-

(b)LITERATURE
 Some of the Rajput rulers ,like Manja, Bhoja, Prithviraj Chauhan were
great Scholars and authors of great repute.Raja Munja was a gifted
poet while Raja Bhoja of Dhara had written many books on such
various subjects as medicine, astronoy, grammar religion,
architecture etc.
 Many great poets, dramatists and historians like Rajasekhara,
Jaydeva, Kalhana, Somadeva and Chand bardai flourished during
this period
 Many great philosophers and religious reformers like Kumarila Bhatt
and Shankaracharya also flourished and preached during this period
 Cont-

(c.) EDUCATION
 Education also made a rapid progress during this period
 Many chief centres of education like those of Nalanda, Vikramshila,
kashi, Ujjain, Kanchi etc were flourishing during this period
 They were ever busy in spreading light throughout the country
 Students even from many neighbouring countries like Nepal ,Tibet,
China, Central Asia, Burma, etc flocked there to receive higher
education
 RAJPUT KINGDOMS
DELHI 
 Delhi was under the domination of the Chauhan clan of the Rajputs.
Formely this state was under the rule of Tomar rulers.
 In 1163A.D Chauhan ruler Vigraharaya conquered it from the Tomar
chief under his nephew and successor PrithviRaj Chauhan ,this state of
Delhi made a rapid progress
 In 1192 A.D the state was conquered by Mohammad Ghori in the
Battle of Tehran

AJMER
 The most famous ruler of the dynasty was PrithiRaj Chauhan who
greatly extended the boundaries of his small kingdom by his conquest
 He conquered Bundelkhand from Chandelas .
 Chand Bardai in his book “Prithviraj Raso” described about his
bravery and courage.
 Cont-
KANNAUJ 
 The most important ruler of the dynasty was Mihir Bhoja under whose able
administration ,Kannauj became the premium city of India
 This dynasty of the Pratiharas received a great setback when Mahmud Ghazni attacked
their empire and conquered Kannauj in 1018 A.D
 In about 1090 the Rathor Rajputs conquered Kannauj and thus disappeared the great
Rajput dynasty of the Pratiharas.

MALWA
 Malwa was under the rule of parmara dynasty of the rajputs.the most important ruler
of this dynasty was Bhoja ,who his upto this time remembered as famous Raja Bhoja of
Dhara.
 He was a great scholar and writer of many books on poetry,architecture and astronomy

 He constructed beautiful lake near Bhopal and founded a Sanskrit college in his capital
Dhara
 Cont-
BUNDELKHAND

 The Chandelas dynasty of the rajputs ruled over Bundelkhand which was situated
between the Narmada and Jamuna.
 It’s capital was Mahoba .
 Dhanga and cwere 2 great rulers of this dynasty. The last ruler of Chandela was
Paramal who first submitted to PrithviRaj Chauhan and then in 1203 A.D to
Muhammad Ghori

MEWAR
 Mewar was under the rule of Sisodia dynasty,which continued to rule over this
territory up to 1647 A.D. It’s capital was called Chittor.
 The founder of this dynasty was Bapa Rawal,However under the rule of Rana
Kumbha and his grandson Rana Sanga Mewar made a great progress
 He defeated the Muslim rulers of Malwa.he was a great scholar ,musician and mighty
builder. He is said to have built a large number of forts in Mewar.
 His grandson Rana Sanga and Maharana Pratap(Sanga’s grandson) gave a tough fight
to the mughals
 Cont-
CHEDI

 The state of Chedi was situated between the Narbada and
Godavari rivers and was ruled by Kalachuri dynasty.
 The capital of this state was Tripuri,near modern Jubbulpore.
 Like the Chandellas,the Kalachuris were formerly subordinate
to the Pratiharas.
 Laxmi Karan was an important ruler of this dynasty who
extended an empire all around
 Towards the beginning of the 12th century A.D. the chedi
possessions were lost to the rising dynasties of the Ganapaties
of the Warrangal ,the Yadavs of Devagiri and the Baghela
Rajputs.
 Cont-
BIHAR AND BENGAL 

 At the time of Muslim invasion of India ,Bihar was ruled by

Pala dynasty, while Bengal was under the rule of Senas
 The senas under their ruler Vijayasena declared themselves
Independent in Bengal.
 The Pala rulers were Buddhist in their faith while the Sena
kings were orthodox Hindus.
 Towards the end of the 12th century one of the general of
Muhammad Ghori, Muhammad Bin Bakhtiyar Khilji invaded
Bengal and Bihar and annexed them to the Muslim rulers.
THE SULTANATE
PERIOD

ADMINISTRATION
 THE SULTAN

 The political theory of the Islamic state is based on the religious law of Islam,
according to which God himself is the supreme power and the supreme head
of the state.
 Sultan was the head of the Delhi Sultanate He was the source of all power
and authority.
 He was the sovereign head and commander of the Army. Generally, the
form of an election was maintained by the Sultans of Delhi .
 The nobles and the landlords and the most influential ulema at the capitol
agreed upon a candidate and declared him as the Sultan. Afterwards, the
formal oath was taken by them and later on by the people.
 The majority of the jurist believed that the Sultan could be disposed off if he
failed to carry out his trust. Injustice was considered to be a sufficient cause
for dethronement.
 The Sultan was required to be a person capable of dealing with the problems
of the state.
 Cont-

 He was to be in full possession of physical and mental
faculties .
 Ordinarily, the ruler was expected to be a male and no
wonder the election of Sultana Razia created a lot of trouble.
 The Sultan was expected to protect Islam. He was to settle
disputes among his subjects.
 He was required to defend the territories of Islam and keep
the highways and roads safe for travellers.
 He was to maintain and enforce the criminal code.
 He was to strengthen the Frontier of Muslim territory against
a possible aggression.
 THE NOBLES

 A very effective check was put on the power of the king
by the nobles. Some of these nobles were the head of
the clans.
 They considered themselves to be the equals of the
sultans and capable of founding royal dynasties
themselves.
 Their relationship with the Sultan varied according to
the capability and the character of the sultans.
 If the noble found the Sultan as incapable then they do
not hesitate to revolt against him.
 THE MINISTERS

 During the rule of the so called slave dynasty, there were four
ministers - Wazir, Ariza Malik, The Deewane Insha and Deewane
Risalat.
 Sometimes, the Naib was also appointed. He exercised great
authority particularly when the sultan was weak. Ordinarily, he
was inferior to Wazir.
 The Delhi Sultans were surrounded by the most experienced and
wise men.
 The ministers were just the servants of Sultan and were
responsible to him alone.
 However. this does not mean that the Minister had no real
authorities.
 The position and power of a Minister were well Defined by law.
 THE WAZIR

 The Chief Minister was called the Wazir and great importance was attached to this post.
 The Wazir is stood Midway between the sovereign and his subjects.
 It was recognised that no Empire could be stable or prosperous without the Wazir.
 In the Sultanate of Delhi there were two types of Wazir. Most of them possessed special
and limited powers.
 A few of them enjoyed unlimited authority and ruled the empire in the name of the
Sultan.
 The Wazir was the head of the entire machinery of the government.
 He appointed and superintendent the Civil servants.
 He organised the agency for the collection of revenue.
 He exercised complete control over the various channels of expenditure.
 All the requirements of the military department were referred to him for his final
approval.
 It was his office which kept accounts, salaries and allotted assignment.
 The Sultan always supported their wazirs in enforcing discipline.
 There was always cooperation between the Sultan and the Wazir.
 DEEWANE-I-RISALAT 

 Deewane-i-risalat was the minister of Foreign Affairs
and was in charge of the diplomatic correspondence. 
 Ambassadors and envoys were sent to and received
from foreign rulers.
 SADR-US-SUDAR

 Sadr-us- Sadar was required to enforce Islamic rules
and regulations.
 He was required to see that the Muslim observed
those rules and regulation in their daily lives.
 He had in his charge a lot of money to give to
Muslim divine, scholars and poor men.
 DIWAN-I-INSHA

 The Deewan-i-insha dealt with Royal correspondence.
 It has rightly been called the treasury of Secrets, i.e. due to
the fact that the Dabir-e-khas who presided over that this
department was also the confidential clerk of the state.
 The Dabir-e-khas was assisted by a number of dabirs who
had established their reputation as masters of style.
 All correspondence between the sovereign and the rulers of
other state or his own tributaries and officials passed
through this department.
 Every order from the Sultan was first drafted in this
department and then taken to him for sanction, after which it
was copied registered and then dispatched.
 BARID-I-MUMALIK

 He was the head of the state news agency. He controlled the
Dak Chaukis or news outpost.
 His duty was to keep himself informed of all that was
happening in various parts of the Empire.
 There was a local barid at the headquarters of every
administrative subdivision and it was his duty to send
regularly news letters to the central office.
 He kept his informers everywhere and did not allow
anything to escape.
 He attended all important functions.
 He was required to report on the government officials, the
financial position, the state of agriculture, the purity of
coinage, etc.
 DIWAN-I-ARZ

 The Ariz-i-mumalik was the head of the ministry of War called
Diwan-i-arz.
 He was responsible for maintaining the army in a state of efficiency.
 He acted as the chief recruiting officer and fixed the salary of each
recruit.
 He inspected the troops at least once a year and examine the
condition of the equipment of every trooper.
 The promotion of every soldier depended upon him.
 He kept master roles and revised the salaries at each annual review.
 His office was also responsible for the recommendation of
assignment to soldiers and the payment of the troops.
 He also looked after supply and transport.
 LAND REVENUE

 The main source of income of the Sultan was the land revenue. The land was
divided into Iqtas and held by the Muqtis either for a number of years or for a
lifetime. the assessment and collection of revenue in the Iqta was in the hands of
the Muqti who deducted his own share and paid the surplus to the central
government.
 The Sultan appointed an officer called Khwaja in each Iqta to supervise the
collection of revenue and also put a check on the Mukti. there was a possibility of
Collusion between the Mukti and the Khwaja, the Waqf land or inam land was free
from revenue assessment.
 Very important changes were made by Alauddin Khilji in revenue administration.
he confiscated the lands held by Muslim grantees and religious land held as milk.
 Hindu Muqaddams, Khuts and Chaudharis were made to pay taxes from which
they were formerly exempted. the state demand was increased and he also
imposed the house tax and grazing tax on peasants.
 The object of his Policy was to increase the revenue and make all classes of people
shoulder the burden of taxation Muhammad Tughlaq increased the state demand
to 50% in the Doab.
 ARMY

 As the rule of Sultans of Delhi was not based on the willing consent of the people of India,
they were required to maintain a large army.
 The large Army consisted of regular soldiers permanently employed in the service of the
Sultan, troops permanently employed in the service of provincial governors and nobles,
recruits employed in times of war and Muslim volunteers in enlisted for fighting.
 The credit of creating a standing Army goes to Alauddin Khilji who directly recruited,
paid and controlled the army. its number was 475,000 horse, in addition to a large number
of foot men.
 This state of affairs continues till the time of Firuz Tughlaq who converted the army into a
feudal organization. the Army of the Lodhis was organized on a clannish basis.
 It was weak and ill-organized. In time of war, the troops maintained by the nobles and
governors were placed at the disposal of Diwan-i-Ariz.
 it was for the governor concerned to look after their organization, discipline and payment.
 the Army of the Sultan of Delhi was a heterogeneous body. It consisted of Turks of
various Tribes, the Persians, the Mongols, the Afghans, the Arabs, the Abyssinians, Indian
Muslims and the Hindus.
 the Army consisted of cavalry infantry elephantry
 JUSTICE

 . The same person was also appointed Sadr-us- Sadur the
chief Qazi was given a salary of 26,000 tankas a year under
Muhammad Tughluq.
 He was in charge of the whole legal system and the
administration of religious affairs. He heard appeals from
the lower courts and appointed the local Qazis.
 Great importance was attached to the Qazi of Delhi. Ibn
Battuta was appointed the Qazi of Delhi by Muhammad
Tughlaq and was addressed as “our lord and master”.
 Cont-

 There was a Qazi in every town and his duty was to settle disputes,
supervise and manage the property of orphans and lunatics, execute
testamentary dispositions and supervise Waqf.
 All contested property was deposited with the Qazi or his nominee it was
the duty of the local governors and officials to help the Qazi in maintaining
the dignity of law and to co-operate with him in bringing wrongdoers to
their senses.
 The Qazis were not under the governors as they were directly appointed by
the central government.
 The Amir-i- Dad was associated with Justice. he presided over the court of
Mazalim in the absence of the Sultan.
 When the Sultan was present in person, Amir-i-Dad was responsible for its
executive administrative business.
 Ordinarily a man of high rank was appointed as Amir-i-Dad as he had to try
complaints against governors and big commanders
 CONT-

 the sultan believed in the view that a dominion could subsist
in spite of misbelief, but it could not endure with the
existence of injustice.
 The officials were generally chosen for their learning and
piety.
 Some Sultans set a high example of justice.
 Balban is said to have inflicted extreme penalty on a
Governor who was guilty of Murder when he was drunk.
 Muhammed Tughlaq appeared that defendant in the court
of Qazi and when the case was proved against him, he
insisted on the penalty.
 ALAUD-DIN market
policy

•FIXATION OF PRICES
First of all Alauddin Khilji fixed the prices of all the things of daily use at the
new rates .For example
Wheat Price per Maund 7 and1/2 Jitals

Barley Price per Maund 4 Jitals

Rice in Husk Price per Maund 5 Jitals

Mash Price per Maund 5 Jitals

Pulse Price per Maund 2 Jitals

Sugar Price per seer 1 and1/2 Jitals Jitals

Butter Price 2 and ½ seer 1 Jitals

Salt Price per Maund 2 Jitals

 CONT-
CONTROL OVER SUPPLIES 
 The fixation of prices of various articles without making any suitable arrangement for
the availability would have completely ruined the aims that the Sultan had in mind.
 He made every arrangement for the supply of things..
 a)All the producers of corn within 100 miles of the capital were asked to keep only 10
maunds of corn with them and to sell the surplus to the government according to the
rates in the Tarrif-lists.
 The revenue of the state especially in the Khalsa land in the Doab , began to be
collected in kind rather than in cash.
 A large number of store houses and granaries were built in the capital to store large
quantities of corn .
 In times of scarcity this corn was sold to the inhabitants of Delhi at the Tarrif rates.in
times of scarcity nobody was allowed to buy more than half Maund of corn at a time.
in this way, as Moreland puts it ,”Alaunddin Khilji had introduced some sort of
rationing system “. as result of these measures Grain became so plentiful in Delhi and
its surroundings that even in times of drought no scarcity was felt.
 Cont-

CONTROL OVER TRANSPORT
 Equal attention was paid towards the transport side .
 All those persons -the Multani traders and the Banjaras, who were
engaged in the transport work had to register their names in the
Daftar, they had to enter into an agreement with the government
that they would carry out the orders of the state.
 They were provided all sorts of facilities to bring corn from the
villages to the capital.
 sometimes advances were also made to them so that they might not
feel any inconveniences and bring corn in large quantities .every care
was taken for the safety and safe arrival of the commodities .
 All the caravans were also registered and their movements
controlled devotions were made to controlled. these merchants were
under the control of the superintendent of market -Shahna-i-Mandi
 Cont-
CONTROL OVER MARKETS

 To see that the whole system of control and rationing worked on
efficient lines a special department was set up under the charge of the
Shahn-i-Mandi .
 It was his duty to prepare the lists of prices of various commodities ,to
register merchants and to keep an eye on the movements, to look after
the royal granaries, to supervise the markets and to check the weights
and measures.
 All attempts to hold up corn or sell it at Higher prices were sternly put
down. similarly if any shopkeeper was guilty of weighing less he had to
pay heavily for that.
 A piece of flesh equivalent to the deficit in weight of what he had sold
was cut off from his body .
 One may call such a punishment to be somewhat crude but it served its
purpose and the shopkeepers and merchants ceased to practice conceit
 MERITS

 The Economic reforms or the system of control and reasoning
devised and introduced by Alauddin Khilji fulfilled the aims
with which it started
 Alauddin Khilji was able to maintain well mounted ,well
armed, well trained and well equipped Army according to
his heart's desire.
 The increase strength and efficiency in the army saved the
people from the Barbarious invasions of the mongols
 The poor masses were also benefited by these measures
because they were able to get things at cheaper rates now
they had no fear of drought and famine
 But the most important benefit of these measures was the
solidity which imported to the central government
 DEMERITS

 The first to suffer because of these rules were the merchants and
the brokers because they could no longer work independently .
 The policy of the market was naturally resented by them
 The shopkeepers also suffered a lot because of this system.
 The fear of being punished for weighing less always hung
heavily on their head and they did not know when they had to
die the death of a dog
 The nobles, accustomed to the life of abundance and gaity could
never tolerate such a system under which they had to seek
permission for each and everything .
 They naturally did not like this system.