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TISS GK Preparation | Indian History - Dynasties #4

TISS GK Preparation Series: GK is a very important section for TISS especially since the verbal and the quant sections are relatively easy. Hence, getting a good score in GK can easily be the difference between getting a TISS call and not getting one. To help you ace this section, we are starting a series of articles devoted to topics commonly asked in the TISS GK section. We hope that this will help you in your preparation. Every article will also be available in PDF format. Here is our #4 article in this series: Indian History – Dynasties. Indian History is a very important topic for TISS with a lot of questions asked on dynasties, ancient , etc. To help you, we have compiled a list of the important dynasties of India with a little detail on each. Also, this has been presented in a chronological order.

Sr. Dynasty/ Detail No. 1 The core of this kingdom was the area of south of the ; its first capital was Rajagriha (modern ) then (modern ). Magadha played an important role in the development of and , and two of India's greatest , the and Empire, originated from Magadha. 2 Maurya The Maurya Empire (322–185 BCE) was the first empire to unify India into one state, and was the largest on the . The empire was established by Maurya in Magadha (in modern Bihar) when he overthrew the Nanda Dynasty. Chandragupta's son succeeded to the throne around 297 BC. Bindusara was succeeded by , whose reign lasted for around thirty seven years until his death in about 232 BCE 3 Shunga The Shunga Empire was an ancient Indian dynasty from Magadha that controlled vast areas of the Indian subcontinent from around 187 to 78 BCE. The dynasty was established by Pushyamitra Shunga, after the fall of the Maurya Empire. Its capital was Pataliputra, but later such as also held court at Besnagar, modern Vidisha in Eastern . 4 Satavahana The Śātavāhana Empire was a royal Indian dynasty based from Amaravati in as well as () and Prathisthan () in . The territory of the empire covered much of India from 230 BCE onward. Sātavāhanas started out as feudatories to the Mauryan dynasty, but declared independence with its decline. They are known for their patronage of and Buddhism which resulted in Buddhist monuments from Ellora to Amaravati. 5 Kushan The expanded out of what is now into the northwest of the subcontinent under the leadership of their first , Kujula Kadphises, about the middle of the 1st century CE. They came of an Indo-European language speaking Central Asian tribe called the Yuezhi, a branch of which was known as the Kushans. By the time of his grandson, Kanishka, they had conquered most of northern India, at least as far as

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Saketa and Pataliputra, in the middle Ganges Valley, and probably as far as the Bay of . They played an important role in the establishment of Buddhism in India and its spread to Central and China. 6 Gupta Classical India refers to the period when much of the Indian subcontinent was reunited under the (c. 320–550 CE). This period has been called the Golden Age of India and was marked by extensive achievements in science, technology, engineering, art, dialectic, literature, logic, mathematics, astronomy, religion, and that crystallized the elements of what is generally known as Hindu culture. - Arabic numerals, a positional numeral system, originated in India and was later transmitted to the West through the . The military exploits of the first three rulers – , , and Chandragupta II - brought much of India under their leadership 7 Chalukya The Chalukya Empire was an Indian royal dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynasty, known as the " Chalukyas", ruled from Vatapi (modern Badami) from the middle of the 6th century. The rule of the Chalukyas marks an important milestone in the history of and a golden age in the history of . 8 Rashtrakuta Founded by Dantidurga around 753, the Rashtrakuta Empire ruled from its capital at Manyakheta for almost two centuries. At its peak, the Rashtrakutas ruled from the Ganges River and River in the north to Cape Comorin in the south, a fruitful time of political expansion, architectural achievements and famous literary contributions. The early kings of this dynasty were Hindu but the later kings were strongly influenced by Jainism. Architecture reached a milestone in the Dravidian style, the finest example of which is seen in the Kailasanath Temple at Ellora. Other important contributions are the sculptures of Elephanta Caves in modern Maharashtra as well as the Kashivishvanatha temple and the Jain Narayana temple at in modern Karnataka. 9 Chola Medieval Cholas rose to prominence during the middle of the 9th century C.E. and established the greatest empire South India had seen. They successfully united the South India under their rule and through their naval strength extended their influence in the Southeast Asian countries such as . Under Rajaraja Chola I and his successors Rajendra Chola I, Rajadhiraja Chola, Virarajendra Chola and Kulothunga Chola I the dynasty became a military, economic and cultural power in and South-East Asia. Rajendra Chola I's navies went even further, occupying the sea coasts from Burma to Vietnam, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Lakshadweep (Laccadive) islands, , and the Malay Peninsula in Southeast Asia and the Pegu islands 10 Vijayanagar The Empire was established in 1336 by I and his brother Bukka Raya I of . The empire rose to prominence as a culmination of attempts by the southern powers to ward off Islamic invasions by the end of the 13th century. The empire is named after its capital city of , whose ruins surround present day , now a World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India. The empire's legacy

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includes many monuments spread over South India, the best known of which is the group at Hampi. The empire reached its peak during the rule of Sri when Vijayanagara armies were consistently victorious. 11 Mughal In 1526, , a Timurid descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan from Fergana Valley (modern day Uzbekistan), swept across the Khyber Pass and established the , which at its zenith covered modern day Afghanistan, , India and . However, his son was defeated by the Afghan warrior in the year 1540, and Humayun was forced to retreat to . After Sher Shah's death, his son Islam Shah Suri and the Hindu emperor Vikramaditya, who had won 22 battles against Afghan rebels and forces of , from to Bengal and had established a secular rule in from till 1556 after winning . Akbar's forces defeated and killed Hemu in the Second Battle of on 6 November 1556. Akbar's son, more or less followed father's policy. The ruled most of the Indian subcontinent by 1600. The reign of was the golden age of . The Mughal Empire reached the zenith of its territorial expanse during the reign of and also started its terminal decline in his reign due to military resurgence under . 12 Maratha The post-Mughal era was dominated by the rise of the Maratha suzerainty as other small regional states (mostly late Mughal tributary states) emerged, and also by the increasing activities of European powers. There is no doubt that the single most important power to emerge in the long twilight of the Mughal dynasty was the Maratha confederacy. The Maratha kingdom was founded and consolidated by Chatrapati Shivaji, a Maratha aristocrat of the clan who was determined to establish Hindavi Swarajya. However, the credit for making the Marathas formidable power nationally goes to Bajirao I. By early 18th century, the Maratha Kingdom had transformed itself into the under the rule of the (prime ministers). In 1737, the Marathas defeated a Mughal army in their capital, Delhi itself in Battle of Delhi (1737). The defeat of Marathas by British in third Anglo-Maratha Wars brought end to the empire by 1820.

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