NCERT GIST OF MEDIEVAL HISTORY www.laexias.com https://elearn.laex.in NCERT GIST OF MEDIEVAL HISTORY INDEX 1. Early Medieval India.........................................................................................................….01-03 2. Delhi Sultanate.....................................................................................................................03-09 3. The Mughal Empire..............................................................................................................09-13 4. Vijayanagara Empire............................................................................................................13-15 5. Bhakti Movement in Medieval India....................................................................................15-18 6. The Marathas.......................................................................................................................18-20 7. Miscellaneous .....................................................................................................................20-26 www.laexias.com https://elearn.laex.in NCERT GIST OF MEDIEVAL HISTORY 1. EARLY MEDIEVAL INDIA Author Book/Books Sivakasintamani Thiruthakkadevarar After the death of Harsha, India witnessed significant Kamban Tamil changes. Such as, Ramayana(ramavataram) Pataliputra permanently lost its importance as symbol Tiruttondarpuranam Sekkilar of sovereignty in India. Instead Kanyakhubja became Kalingattupparani Jayankondar symbol of sovereinty in Medieval times. Ottakuthar Moovarula For the control of Kanyakhubja three Indian kingdoms Pugalendi Nalavenba Kalladanar Kalladam waged continuous battles knowns as 'Triangular Amirthasagarar Yapperungalam Warfare'. Nannul Pavanandhi Palas, Pratiharas and Rashtrakutas participated in Buddhamitra Virasoliyam Triangular Warfare. Constant fighting weakened the Rajputs. Also, they Decentalization was on its highday in Medieval times. never united against a common enemy. Ultimately Which paved ways for feudalism and ultimately failing to prevent Muslim Invasion. shattered our political unity. In these tough times a new ruling clan Rajput Arab Conquest of Sind (712 A.D.) emerged. In 712 A.D., Muhammad bin Qasim invaded Sind. He was the commander of the Umayyad kingdom. Qasim Rajput Kingdoms defeated Dahir, the ruler of Sind. The dominance of Rajputs began from the seventh Qasim organized the administration of Sind. The and eighth centuries and lasted till the Muslim people of Sind were given the status of zimmis conquest in the twelfth century. (protected subjects). In the period of Muslim aggression, the Rajputs were But the Muslims could not expand their authority the main defenders of the Hindu religion and culture. further into India due to the presence of the powerful They made war as their chief occupation. However, Pratihara kingdom in western India. trade and agriculture also prospered. Although the conquest of Sind did not lead to further They built strong forts. conquests immediately, it had resulted in the The Gurjara-Pratiharas were the earliest of the Rajput diffusion of Indian culture abroad. rulers. Many Arab travelers visited Sind. Indian medicine and Its first great leader was Harischandra and ruled with astronomy were carried to far off lands through the his capital at Bhinmal. Arabs. The Pratiharas involved themselves in a three The Indian numerals in the Arabic form went to cornered contest with the Palas of Bengal and the Europe through them. Rashtrakutas of Deccan. Later the Pratiharas became weak. Mahmud of Ghazni and his Invasions The Chauhans, the most valiant of the Rajput races, Mahmud of Ghazni (A.D. 997-1030). ruled Ajmir. Mahmud is said to have made seventeen raids into Vigraharaj was their most important king, who India. occupied Delhi. Therefore the Chauhans faced the At that time, North India was divided into a number of onslaught of the Muslims under Muhammad of Ghori. Hindu states. The Paramaras were also important Rajput rulers of On the frontier of India, there existed the Hindu Shahi this period. The most important king was Bhoja. kingdom which extended from the Punjab to Kabul. www.laexias.com 1 https://elearn.laex.in NCERT GIST OF MEDIEVAL HISTORY The initial raids were against the Hindu Shahi kingdom Unlike Mahmud of Ghazni, he wanted to conquer in which its king Jayapala was defeated in 1001. India. His successor Anandapala fought against Mahmud but In 1175, Muhammad Ghori captured Multan and he was also defeated in the Battle of Waihind, near occupied whole of Sind. Peshawar in 1008. However in 1178 AD he was defeated by the ruler of As a result of his victory at Waihind, Mahmud Gujrat near Mt. Abu. extended his rule over most of the Punjab. After his defeat he changed the whole plan of The subsequent raids of Mahmud into India were operation, in 1181 AD he conquered Lahore aimed at plundering the rich temples and cities of In 1186 he attacked Punjab, and annexed it and led northern India. his invasion of the Chauhan kingdom. In 1011, he raided Nagarkot in the Punjab hills and Thaneshwar near Delhi. The Battle of Tarain (1191-1192) In 1018, Mahmud plundered the holy city of Mathura Realising their grave situation, the Hindu princes of and also attacked Kanauj. north India formed a confederacy under the His next important raid was against Gujarat. In 1024, command of Prithiviraj Chauhan. Mahmud defeated the Solanki King Bhimadeva I, and Prithviraj rose to the occasion, and defeated Ghori in plundered the famous temple of Somanatha. the battle of Tarain near Delhi in 1191 A.D. This was his last campaign in India. Mahmud died in In the Second Battle of Tarain in 1192 AD, 1030 A.D. Muhammad Ghori thoroughly routed the army of Mahmud was not a mere raider and plunderer of Prithiviraj, who was captured and killed. wealth. He had built a wide empire. The second battle of Tarain was a major disaster for The Ghaznavid empire roughly included Persia, Trans- the Rajputs. oxyana, Afghanistan and Punjab. The first Muslim kingdom was thus firmly established He also patronized art and literature. Firdausi was the in India at Ajmer. poet-laureate in the court of Mahmud. He was the After his brilliant victory over Prithiviraj at Tarain, author of Shah Namah. Muhammad Ghori returned to Ghazni leaving behind Alberuni stayed in Mahmud’s court and wrote the his favourite general Qutb-uddin Aibak to make famous Kitab-i-Hind. further conquests in India. His conquest of Punjab and Multan completely In 1193, Aibak prepared the ground for another changed the political situation in India. invasion by Muhammad Ghori. He drained the resources of India by his repeated This invasion was directed against the Gahadavala raids and deprived India of her manpower. ruler Jayachandra of Kanauj. The inclusion of Punjab and Afghanistan in Ghazni’s Muhammad routed Jayachandra’s forces in the battle kingdom made the subsequent Muslim conquests of of Chandawar. India comparatively easy. Battle of Chandawara led to extension of Turkish Empire into Gangetic doab, which provided it a strong Muhammad Ghori economic base. The Ghoris started as vassals of Ghazni but became The Battles of Tarain and Chandawar contributed to independent after the death of Mahmud Ghazni. the establishment of Turkish rule in India. Taking advantage of the decline of the Ghaznavid empire, Muizzuddin Muhammad popularly known as Muhammad Ghori brought Ghazni under their control. www.laexias.com 2 https://elearn.laex.in NCERT GIST OF MEDIEVAL HISTORY Causes for the failure of Hindu kingdoms Qutbuddin Aibak was a slave of Muhammad Ghori, They lacked unity. who made him the Governor of his Indian possessions. The Rajput princes exhausted one another by their After the death of Ghori in 1206, Aibak declared his mutual conflicts. independence and thus founded the Slave dynasty as The military methods were out of date and inferior to well as the Delhi Sultanate. those of Muslims. He assumed the title Sultan and made Lahore his Indians continued to rely on elephants while the capital. Muslims possessed quick-moving cavalry. His rule lasted for a short period of four years. The Muslims soldiers had better organization and able Muslim writers call Aibak as Lakh Bakshor giver of leaders. Their religious zeal provided stimulus to them. lakhs because he gave liberal donations to them. Among the Hindus, the duty of fighting was confined Aibak also started the construction of Qutub Minar to a particular class, the Kshatriyas. after the name of a famous Sufi saint Khwaja Moreover, the Hindus were always on the defensive, Qutbuddin Bakthiyar Kaki. Iltutmish later completed it. which was always a weak position. Aibak died suddenly while playing chaugan(horse polo) More than anything else, it was the prevailing in 1210. sociocultural ethos of that time that created a selfcentered and regressive attitude among Indians. Iltutmish (1211-1236) Due to such attitude Indians were not aware about Iltutmish belonged to the Ilbari tribe and hence his the happening in there neighbourhood.So there dynasty was named as Ilbari dynasty. resistance/defence was always poorly organized. He was son in law of Qutubuddin Aibak. Indian feudalism was also a major reason for defeat. In 1211, Iltutmish defeated Aram Shah and confirmed his position as Sultan. 2. DELHI SULTANATE He shifted capital from Lahore to Delhi. Iltutmish annexed Sind and Multan into the Delhi The Muslim invasions into India ultimately resulted in the Sultanate. establishment