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,
permitted significant cultural exchanges and the introduction into the
subcontinent of saintly teachers. Muslim 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 Mahmud Ghazni
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 Mohammad Ghori
Deccan, while 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)  Mahmud Nasir ud din (Sultan Mahmud
 Qutb-ud-din Aybak (1206-10); II) at Delhi (1393-94);
 Aram Shah (1210-11);  Nusrat Shah at Firuzabad (1394-98)
 Shams ud din Iltutmish (1211-36); Lodi Dynasty
 Rukn ud din Firuz (1236);  Daulat Khan (1413-1414)
 Raziyyat ud din Sultana (1236-40);
 Muiz ud din Bahram (1240-42); Sayyid (Syed) Dynasty (1414-1451)
 Ala-ud-din Masud (1242-46);  Khidr Khan (1414-21);
 Nasir-ud-din Mahmud (1246-66);  Mubarrak Shah II (1421-35);
 Ghiyas ud din Balban (1266-86);  Muhammad Shah IV (1435-45);
 Muiz ud din Qaiqabd (1286-90)  Aladdin Alam Shah (1445-51)
Khilji (Khalji) Dynasty (1290-1321) Lodhi (Lodi) Dynasty (1451-1526)
 Jalal ud din Firuz Khilji (1290-94);  Bahlul Khan Lodi (1451-1489);
 Ala-ud-din Khilji (1294-1316);  Sikandar Lodi (1489-1517);
 Qutb-ud-din Mubarak Shah (1316-21)  Ibrahim II (1517-1526)
Tughlaq Dynasty (1321-1398) 1526-1540: Mughal rule
 Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq (1321-25); Suri Dynasty (1540-1555)
 Muhammad Shah II (1325-51);  Sher Shah (1540-1545);
 [Mahmud Ibn Muhammad] (March  Islam Shah (1545-1553);
1351);  Muhammad V (1553-1554);
 Firuz Shah Tughluq (1351-88);  Firuz (29 April – 2 May 1554);
 Ghiyas ud din Tughlaq II (1388-89);  Ibrahim III (1554-1554/5);
 Abu Baker (1389-90); Masir ud din  Sikander Shah (1554/5-1555)
 Muhammad Shah III (1390-93);
 Sikander Shah I (March-April 1393);

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
of Khilji's siege of Chittor and many historians believe that
Padmavati didn't exist in real life. Though, in the poem, it is Gol Gumbaz in Bijapur
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 this, 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-
law Shamsuddin Iltutmish completed a further three
storeys. In 1369, a lightning strike destroyed the top
storey. Firoz Shah Tughlaq replaced the damaged storey,
and added one more. Sher Shah Suri also added an Qutb Minar
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 Betrayal of the Battle of Talikota
for the betrayal 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,
Babur: The founder of the
Mughal Empire
 which shifted hands depending on whose military was superior at any given time.
 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
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 Glory of Vijayanagara Architecture
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 was the one dedicated to Virupaksha, a
manifestation of Shiva, the patron-deity of the
Vijayanagar rulers. Vijayanagara Empire, Hampi
 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 a 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 Fatehpur Sikri, near Agra
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 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. Akbar, The Great
 In 1564 the jizya on non-Muslims was abolished, and ban on temple building and Hindu
pilgrimages were lifted.
 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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