Agnikula theory of Rajputs

• Origin – from Gurjaras

• 6 th century AD – Khazars tribe who came with
Hunas
• Khazars later became Gurjaas
• Pratiharas (Pariharas)
• Chalukyas (Solankis)
• Paramaras (Pawars)
• Chahamanas (Chauhans)
• These four regarded as fire-born (Agnikula)theory
 Feudalism
• Feudal society – dominant position was held
by those who drew their sustenance from land
without working on it
• An economy is Feudal if a major section of the
surplus production from land is appropriated
by a particular section of people who claim it
as a hereditary right, even though they do not
participate in the production process in
anyway
 Feudalism in India
• Shift in the nature of polity – 750 – 1200 AD
• Multiplicity of regional powers – polity of
decentralisation and disintegration
• Feudalism from above – Direct relationship between a
overlord and his tributary/autonomous vassals,
without the prevalence of an intermediary land-
owning class
• Second phase witnessed the rise of rural land-owners
as powerful intermediaries between the ruler and the
peasantry
 Rise of Samantas (feudatories)
• 4th to 17th century – Rise of the Samantas as the
feudatories leading to administrative
decentralisation and the conversion of
communal property into feudal property
• Evidence – charters and inscriptions of
landgrants
• Creation of agraharas – revenue free plots of
lands or villages mostly in favour of religious
grantees (brahmins and religious institutions)
 Rise of Samanatas
• Numerous revenue terms
• Vishti – for example
• Tax names synonumous with pida or
torture/punishment
• Intermediaries enjoyed not just revenue rights but also
administrative and judicial rights
• Emergence of landed intermediaries (svami or
bhujyamanaka) between the ruler (mahipati) and the
actual peasantry (karshaka or krishyamanaka) and
derived material advantages from both
 Rise of the Samantas
• Widespread urban decay
• Decline in long distance trade
• Decline in coin-based economy
• Major reason – decline of the Indo-Roman trade
• “Urban-anaemia or monetary anaemia” – Marxist
historiographers
• Officers could hardly be paid in cash and so, need to be
paid through land only
• Creation of new secular grantees in addition to the
already existing religious donees of land
 Rise of the Samantas
• Grave political and commercial conditions lead to
death of vibrant money-based economy
• Emergence of self-sufficient and enclosed village
economy
• Production approximated to local requirements, with
little attempt at producing a surprlus for trade or
exchange
• Incentive to improve production was absent
• Cultivators reduced to the position of dependant
peasantry
 Cholas – Rajaraja I
• Defeated a confederation of Pandya, Kerala and Ceylon
• Destruction of Anuradhapura – Mahinda V –
Establishment of Chola province in North ceylon with
Polonnaruva as capital
• Defeated Gangas and capture Mysore
• Annexed Maldives to secure trade routes
• Big Temple
• Encouraged Sailendra ruler of Sri Vijaya to build a
Monastery at Nagapattinam – Vihara was called as
Chudamani Vihara
 Cholas – Rajendra I
• Most extensive and respected state of its time
• Completed Ceylon conquest
• Defeated Western Chalukyas
• Military expedition to the Ganges valley
• Contruction of a new capital –
Gangaikondacholapuram
• Naval expedition to Sri Vijaya Empire
• Two diplomatic missions to China - commercial
 Chola Administration
• Provincial administration
• Mandalam (provinces under viceroys – mostly princes)
• Valanadu (divisions)
• Nadu (districts)
• Krammam (villages)
• Central Administration
• Udankuttam (immediate attendees) – Ministers
• Perundanam and Sirudanam
• Remuneration – assignment of lands - jivitas
 Types of villages
• Brahmadeya or agrahara – villages granted to
Brahmins and inhabited entirely by them
• Devadana – villages granted to god – revenues
donated to temple – received by temple
authorities – NOT BY STATE
 Types of general assemblies
• Ur – tax paying residents of an ordinary village
• Sabha – membership restricted to Brahmins
• Nagaram – cities and towns / trading centers
• Ur – executive body – Alunganam
• Sabha – Variyams
• Election by draw of lots – eligible members
• Uttaramerur inscription – Parantaka I – details about
functioning and constitution of the Sabha
• Mentions about qualifications (property/education) and
disqualification (lunacy/corruption)
 Functions of assemblies
• First - The assemblies collected the assessed land
revenue for the government or the temple
• Second - They levied additional tax for a particular
purpose such as construction of water tank
• Third - They settled agrarian disputes such as
conflicts over tenures and irrigation rights
• Fourth – They maintained records, particularly
concerning charities and taxes
 Chola Maritime activities
• Swadesi (local) and Nanadesi (international)
• Nagara (merchant settlement) – autonomous
institutions of local government
• Great ports – pattinam – hand own guilds
• Most powerful guilds – ayyavole (derived from
Aihole – dominated deccan) and manigrammam
(Tamilnadu)
• In 1077 – Kulotunga I dispatched a mission of 72
merchants to China
 Literature – Chola period
• Sivakasindhamani
• Kamban’s Ramayana
• Kalingattuparani – Jayamkondar – Kalinga war
• Ottakoothan – Kulothangam pillai tamil (poem
dealing with the childhood of Kulotunga II) and a
Parani (Vikrama chola’s Kalinga war)
• Pugalendi – Nalavenba
• Sekkilar – Periyapuranam (aka Tiruttondar
Puranam)
 History of Islam
• Islam meaning “submission”
• Mecca location amidst busy commercial route
• Prophet Mohammed – uncle Abu Talib
• Founded Islam – wife Khadija and cousin Ali were earliest
followers
• Wealthy Meccans become his sworn enemies
• Migrates to Medina – 622 AD – Hijra Era
• Immigrants – Muhajirs
• Those who welcome Immigrants at Medina – Ansars
(helpers)
 History of Islam
• Muhajirs and ansars elect Abu Bakr as Khalifa (successor)
• Hashimite clam of Prophet – breaks away – Ali, son-in-law
as heir
• Shias (partisans) emerge
• Former group become Sunni muslims later on
• Abu Bakr (632-634)/ Umar al-Khattab (634-644)/Usman
Affan (644-656)/Ali Talib (656-61)
• Ali – 4th caliph assassinated by Muawiya – Governor of
Syria - UMAYYADS DYNASTY (661 -749)
• ABBASIDS (749 – 1258 AD)
 Arabs in Sind
• Muhammad Bin Qasim invasion of Sind – 712 AD
• Forward policy of Umayyad governor of Iraq
• King Dahir killed
• Chach Namah – administrative regulations of MBQ
• Status of zimmis (protected subjects)
• Hanafi school – authorised the collection of Jizya
from Hindus – other schools either Islam or death
• Significance of Sind invasion
 Ghaznavids
• Sabuktagin – 977 AD – Ghazni – south of
Kabur
• Mahmud of Ghazni – 997 AD
• Conquered Afghanistan/Persia called as Yamid
al-Daula
• 1025 – Somnath raid
• Patronised Firdausi (Shah nama) and Alberuni
• Alberuni in India 1020-1030 – Kitab al Hind
 Alberuni
• Never visited any Brahmanic centre of scholarship like Varanasi,
Kannauj or Kashmir
• Had many informants
• Quotes from Pantanjali’s Yogasutra
• Bhagavagita
• Samkhya – karika
• Calls Hindu colour divions as tabaqat (classes) and the castes as
birth divisions (nasab)
• According to him, foreigners were calledas mlechchas (unclean)
• Antyaja (casteless) were 8 guilds - Hadi/Doma/Chandala
 Ghorian invasions
• Shihab-ud-din Muhammed (Muizz-ud-din)
seized Multan in 1175
• Battles of Tarain – 1191 & 1192
• Battle of Chandwar – 1194
• Bakhtiyar Khalji’s lightning raid – Odantapuri
Buddhist university and destruction
• 1206 – Assassinated by Khokhar tribesmen
• Tajud-din Yilduz - slave – ruler of Ghazni
Delhi Sultanate – Balban (1266-87)
• Crushed Chahalgani or Chalisa
• Sijda (prostration)
• Paibos (kissing of sultan’s feat)
• Persian festival of Nauroz to impress nobles
• Monarch as vice-regent of God, next in sanctitiy only
to the prophets
• Sultan was God’s shadow on Earth
• Established Diwan-i-arz (military department)
• Rebellion of Tughril Khan of Bengal – 1279-80
 Alauddin Khilji (1296-1316)
• REGULATIONS AGAINST THE NOBILITY
• Analysis of the causes of rebellions
• Prosperity of nobles / intermarriages / inefficient
espionage system / liquor
• Four ordinances
• First – confiscated all grants of tax free land
• Second – intelligence system reorganized
• Third – public sale of liquor and drugs totally stopped
• Forth – no social gatherings in the house of nobility
 Alauddin Khilji
• Suppression of Rural Elite – Khuts and Muqaddams
- 1) very rich and frequently helped rebels with
military 2) Alauddin reduced them to the level of
poverty
• Military reforms – 1) Dagh system (branding of
horses) – 2) Chahra (descriptive roll of soldiers) – 3)
insistence on a regular muster of the army – 4)
abolition of iqta of royal troopers and the payment
of salaries in cash – bigger iqtas allowed to continue
 Alauddin Khilji – Market Reforms
• To keep army satisfied with salary
• Introduction of strict price-control measures
based on production costs
• Establishment of 4 separate markets in Delhi
• 1) Grain
• 2) Cloth – sugar – dried fruits – herbs – butter – oil
• 3) horses – slaves – cattle
• 4) Miscellaneous commodities
 Alauddin Khilji – Market reforms
• Shahna (market controllers)
• Barids (intelligence officers)
• Munhias (Sultan’s secret agents)
• Submission of separate reports
• Every merchant registered with Sultanate
• Signing of bond guaranteeing a regular supply
of the goods in which they traded
 Alauddin Khilji – other reforms
• Increase of land revenue to 50% of gross
produce and elimination of all middle-men
• Resumption of several type of land grants such
as inam and waqf
• Appropriateion 4/5ths of the share of war-
booty (khams) for state
• Diwan-i-mustakhraj – to enquire into revenue
arrears and to collect them
 Conquests of Alauddin Khilji
• 1299 – Gujarat (Raja Karan)
• 1302-03 – Warangal (Prataparudra Deva)
• 1303 – Chittor (Raja Ratan Singh)
• 1306-07 – Malik Kafur against Devagiri
(Ramadeva)
• 1311 – Malik Kafur against Warangal
(Prataparudra II)
 Muhammad Bin Tughlaq’s (1325-1351)
experiments
• Transfer of Capital – Devagiri (Daulatabad) – 1327 –
royal household, ulema and sufis
• Qarachil expedition – 1329-30 - to secure northern
frontier – Chinese incursions – Kangra to Tibet
• Introduction of Token currency – 1329-30 imitated
paper money “chao” of Kublai Khan – Sultan issued
bronze (or copper) coins at par silver “tanka” –
scheme to fill gap in the gold and silver reserves
Muhammad Bin Tughlaq’s experiements
• Enhancement of Land Revenue – 1328-29 – 50%
land revenue on doab farmers – Takkavi loans were
given to buy seeds and to extend cultivation
• Diwan-i-kohi – Agricultural ministry established
• Diwan –i-siyasat – A special court
• Ahsan Shah founded the independent Madurai
sultanate - 1335
• Vijayanagar Empire – 1336
• Bahmani Kingdom - 1347
Firoz Tughlaq reforms (1351-1388)
• Return of Sharia law – inscribed by the Sultan on an
octagonal tower near the Firozabad Jami Mosque
• Reforms in assessment and collection of land revenue
• Six year survey of crop production
• Public Works – wells, irrigation canal dug up
• Un-Islamic special tax abolished
• Diwan-i-Bandagan – department of slaves - Karkhanas
• Creation of jobs/free hospitals/marriage bureau – welfare
measures (Diwan-i-khairat)
• Iqta administration completely decentralized for nobles
 Firoz Tughlaq
• Firoz destoyed Jagannatha temple at Puri - 1360
• Collected 1300 sanskrit manuscripts from
Jwalamukhi and other temples at Nagarkot in the
Kangra region
• Firoz shah kotla, Jaunpur (1359) and Hissar (1361)
(double system of canals from Yamuna to Sutlej –
referred to as “Rajwahas”)
• Brahmins included in Jizya fold
• Repaired Qutb Minar - 1368
 Islamic political terminology
• Hadis – sayings and doings of the Prophet
• Ulema – Muslims theologians
• Zawabit – rules and regulations framed by the
Sultans
• Inclusion of the name of the Caliph in the khutba
(prayer) and the sikka (coins)
• 3 exceptions – Balban (khutba and sikka) – MBT
(no mention of Caliph at all) – Mubarak Khalji
(Called himself Caliph)
 Islamic political terminology
• Letter of investitutre – MANSUR –
Iltumish/MBT/Firoz (twice)
• DOCTRINE OF FARR OR FARRAH – supernatural
effulgence or radiance – God endows the
rulers with farr, which symbolises the divine
favor – Balban first to use this doctrine
 Central government
• Sultan – secular court aka mazalim (complaints)
• Wazir – head of Diwan-i-wizarat – Finance
• Mushrif (revenue) & Mustauf (expenditure)
• Ariz-i-mumalik – Diwan-i-Arz – Military
• Sadr-us-sudur – head of public charities and ecclesiastica
dept known as Diwan-i-risalat – madrasas, tombs,
mosques etc – Firoz and Zakat
• Qazi-ul-quzat – Judicial dept Head – chief sadr and chief
qazi were single person
• Amir-munshi – records dept – Diwan-i-insha
 Taxation system
• Religious taxes and secular taxes
• Zakat – department of sadr – religious tax
• Jizya – on zimmis – religious tax
• Secular tax – kharaj – most important – 1/10th
• Secular tax – khams – tax on mines, treasure,
war booty – originally 1/5th
• Shirb (irrigation tax), grazing tax, house tax
 Iqta system
• First stage (1206-1290) – assignment of different regions to
iqtas (territorial areas/units) – revenue to go to military
commanders – troops and self – iqta – revenue and
administrative unit
• Second stage (1290-1351) – Khaljis and Tughlaqs – frequent
transfer – submission of accounts by muqtis/iqtadars and
sending balance (fawazil) – estimation of revenue paying
capacity of each area and fixation of salaries
• Third stage (1351-1526) – Firoz Tughlaq - posts made
hereditary again – fixation of estimated revenues
permanently
 Miscellaneous
• Ibn Batutah – 8 years in MBT’s court – Delhi
largest town in Islamic East – Daulatabad rivalled
Delhi in size
• Served MBT as an emissary to China
• Coins of Sultanate – Iltumish (Silver Tanka and
Copper Jital) – Allaudin (The Second Alexander) –
Mubarak (Khalifa) – Giyasuddin Tughlaq (Ghazi)
• MBT called as “the Prince of Moneyers” –
calligraphy, experimentation
Indo-Persian culture - Architecture
• Arch & Dome method
• dome gave a pleasing skyline
• no need for large number of pillars to support
the roof
• construction of large halls with a clear view –
mosques and palaces
• Usage of fine quality superior mortal to hold
the stones in place
Indo-Persian culture - Architecture
• Slab & Beam method
• Indians’ standard device
• Putting one stone over another, narrowing gap
till it could be covered by a caping stone or by
putting a beam over a slab of stones
Indo-Persian culture - Architecture
• Turks avoided human and animal figures –
Unislamic
• Geometric and floral designs + panels of
inscriptions containing verses from Quran
• Arabic script itself became a work of Art –
Arabesque
• Borrowed Hindu motifs – bell motif, lotus etc
• Red and yellow sandstone and marbles
Indo-Persian culture - Architecture
• Ilbaris – Slave dynasty
• Convert temples and existing buildings
• Quwwat-ul-islam mosque near Qutb Minar & Arhai din
ka jhonpra (Ajmer)
• Qutb Minar – 71.4 metres – Sufi saint – Qutb-ud-din
Bakhtiyar Kaki
• Skilful projection of balconies yet linked to main tower
• Use of red, white sand stone and marble in panels and
in the top stages and the ribbed effect
Indo-Persian culture - Architecture
• Khiljis
• Siri – fort – Alauddin’s capital
• Alai Darwaza – arches of very pleasing
proportion – Dome on correct scientific lines
 Indo-Persian culture - Architecture
• Tughlaqs – use of cheap greystone – minimum decoration
• Huge palace cum fortress complex Tughlaqabad
• Creation of huge artificial lake
• Tomb of Ghiyasuddin – new trend in architecture
• To create a good skyline – building put up on a high platform
• Firoz Tughlaq built Hauz Khas (pleasure resort) and Kotla fort
• Sloping walls / batter – strength and solidarity to the building
• Combination of arch and dome with slab and beam – Firoz
buildings – Hauz Khas – alternate stories
Indo-Persian culture - Architecture
• Lodhis
• Balconies, kiosks and caves of Rajasthani-
Gujarati style are used
• Tombs on high platforms – size and better
skyline
• Tombs in the midst of gardens – Lodhi garden
in Delhi
• Some tombs in Octagonal shape
 Music
• Turks brought number of musical instruments –
rabab and sarangi
• Amir Khusrau introduced many new airs or ragas –
ghora, sanam
• Invention of sitar and tabla?
• Indian classical work Ragadarpan translated into
Persian - Firoz Tughlaq period
• Pir Bodhan one of the great musicians of the age
• Raja Man Singh of Gwalior – Man Kautuhal
 Persian literature
• Amir Khusrau – called as Sabaq-i-Hind – Parrot of
India
• Poetical works and historical romances
• Khazain ul Futuh / Tughlaq Namah / Khamsah
• Translations – Zia Nakshabi – first to translate sanskrit
works to persian – Tutinama (book of the parrot) –
Kok sastra (treatise on sexology) into Persian
• Zainul Abidin of Kashmir – Rajatarangini and
Mahabharata translated into Persian
 Persian literature
• Minjaj us Siraj – Tabaqat-i-Nasiri – named after
Nasiruddin Mahmud – from the beginning to
1260 AD - Minhaj entered govt service during
the time of Iltumish and was Chief Qazi of Delhi
• Ziauddin Barani – Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi – named
after Firuz Shah Tughlaq – was employed with
MBT- between 1266 to 1357 AD – Fatawa-i-
Jahandari – Compendium on Islamic ideal of
government
 Persian literature
• Isami – Futuh-us-Salatin – MBT reign – moved to
Daulatabad – biased against MBT – Ghazni history
to MBT – glimpses of social and cultural life
• Sham-i-Siraj Afif – Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi – Firoz
Tughlaq – begins were Barani’s work ends
• Ahmed Sirhindi – Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi –
Mubarak Shah of Sayyid dynasty – from 1175 to
1434 – dependable authority between 1400-1434
– Only Shia historian
 Sufism
• Muslim mystics – disgusted by the vulgar display of
wealth and degeneration of morals following the
establishment of Islamic Empire
• Basic doctrine – Wahadat-ul-Wujud – Unity of the
Being – unity of the Haq and the Khalq – i.e. the
Creator and the Created
• Silsilahs – Orders; Khanqahs – hospices; pir – teacher;
murid – disciple
• Bashara (Islamic Law) and Beshara (Not bound by
Islamic law)
 Sufism - concepts and philosophy
• Four stages
• Shariah – religious law – mine is mine & yours
is yours
• Tariqah – mystical path – mine is yours &
yours is mine
• Haqiqah – Truth – No mine & No yours
• Marifah – SuperiorWisdom – No Me & No You
 Sufism - concepts and philosophy
• Mysticism is practical not theoretical
• Mysticism is an entirely spiritual activity
• Method of mysticism is love
• Mysticism entails a definite psychological
experience
• MAQAMAT – 7 STAGES – PATH (TARIQAT) –
repentance, abstinence, renunctiation,
poverty, patience, trust and satisfaction
 Sufism – concepts and philosophy
• Transcendental and not rational
• Reality is the universal will and true
knowledge and supreme beauty
• World is a mere illusion or non-reality or non-
being
• Phenomenal world is an outward
manifestation of the one-real
• Real’s essence is above human knowledge
 Sufism – important terminology
• Tawhid – Unity
• Mushahidah – Direct seeing
• Mystics goal is not to be reached by the
intellect or by ordinary means
• Love of the Absolute – the One Reality –
Truth/Love/God – Sufis prefer God to
everything else
• Al-Loma – without any worldly attachment
 Sufism – important terminology
• Fana – annihilation of the servant’s attributes;
Faqr (poverty) & fard (detachment)
• Baqa – subsistence of God’s attributes
• Walayat – guardianship
• Walis – two kinds – who remain absorbed in
God/ who are returned to the world
 Indian influence in Sufism
• Buddhist teachings in Eastern Persia and
Transoxiana in 10th and 11th century AD
• Balkh – famous city for sufis and Buddhist
monasteries
• Sufi Ibrahim bin Adham story of a wandering
dervish
• Ethical self-culture, ascetic discipline, mental
abstraction
• Differences – Nirvana (Vs) Fana with Baqa
 Sufism
• Chisti silsilah
• Shaikh Moinuddin Chisti (12th-13th century)
• Hamiduddin Nagori/Qutbudin Bakhtiyar
Kaki/Nizamuddin Auliya/Sheikh Salim
• Ajmer/Rajasthan and UP
• Simplicity and poverty; no private property; lived
on charity
• Became popular by adapting musical recitations
called sama to create a mood of nearness to god
 Sufism
• Suhrawardi silsilah
• Sheikh Shihabuddin Suhrawardi (12th-13th
century)
• Bahauddin Zakariya and Ruknuddin Abul Fath
• North West India
• No belief in poverty / took direct service of
the state by holding posts in ecclesiastical
dept
 Sufism
• Qadri silsilah – Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani of
Baghdad (12th century)
• Indian leaders were Shah Nizamat Ullah (first
Qadri to come to India; died in 1430AD)
• Nasiruddin Muhammad Jilani – most
important Qadri
• Dominant in Sind and Lahore
• Prince Dara Shikoh was a follower
 Sufism
• Naqshbandi Order – Khwaja Baqi Billah (1563-
1603)
• KHWAJA UBAIDULLAH AHRAR – BABUR’S
FAVORITE
• Shaikh Ahmed Sirhindi (Akbar and Jahangir’s
contemporary)
• Tried to harmonise the doctrines of mysticism
with the teachings of orthodox islam
 Sufism
• Mahadawi Movement – Muhammad Madhi of
Jaunpur (15th century)
• Raushaniya sect – Bayazid Ansari of Jalandar
(16th century)
• Shattari order – Abdullah Shattari (15th
century)
• These 3 put greater stress on the spirit of the
religion rather than its form
 Vijayanagara Empire
• Ibn Battutah – Morrocan traveller – Harihara I-
(1339-1347)
• Nicolo de Conto (Venetian traveller) – Deva Raya I
– 1420-21
• Abdur Razzak – Persian – Deva Raya II – 1443-44
• Domingo Paes – Krishna Deva Raya – 1520-1522
• Duarte Barbosa – Krishna Deva Raya – 1500-1516
• Fernao Nunez – Achyuta Deva Raya – 1535-37
 Literary works
• Amuktamalyada – Krishna Deva Raya – polity and
political ideas
• Manucharitham – Allasani Peddana – social
conditions and caste system
• Maduravijayam – Gangadevi, wife of Kumara
Kampana deals with Kampana’s conquest of Madurai
• Gangadasa Pralapa Vilasam – Gangadhara – siege of
Vijayanagara by Bahmanis
• Saluvabhyudhayam – Dindima – Eulogy of Saluvas
 Numismatics
• Varaha – coins
• Motifs of hindu deities, animals
• Gandaberunda (a double eagle, sometimes
holding an elephant in each beak and claw)
• Reverse side King’s name in Nagari or Kannada
script
 Krishnadevaraya (1509-29)
• Andhra Bhoja - Ashtadiggajas
• Allasani Peddana – Andrakavita Pitamaha –
Manucharitam and Harikatha Saramsamu
• Nandi Timmana – Parijata Paharanam
• Madayya – Rajasekharcharitam
• Telugu (Amuktamalyada) and Sanskrit (Jambavati
Kalyanam)
• Krishnaswamy, Hazara Ramaswamy, Vithalaswamy
temples – New Capital called Nagalapura, in memory of
mother Nagamba – Raya Gopurams (towers)
 SHERSHAH ADMINISTRATION
• Central administration – excessive centralisation
• Autocratic monarchy – no actual powers to ministers
• Local administration – Provinces as Sarkars (Shiqdar-
i-shiqdaran) – L&O, criminal justice and
administration – (Munsif-i-munsifan) – local revenue
and civil justice
• Sarkars – Parganas (Shiqdar & Munsif/Amin)
• Parganas – Villages (Headmen and local populace to
maintain law and order)
 Revenue Administration under Sher Shah

• Revenue assessment based on measurement

• Schedules of crop rates on the basis of quality of land
• Land classified – 3 types – good, bad and average
• Product of 3 kinds of lands and fixing 1/3 rd of their
average as land revenue
• Issuance of Pattas (lease deeds) and acquisition of
Qabuliyats (deeds of acceptance)
• Famine relief fund – 2 ½ seers per bigha (unit of land)
collected as cess
 Sher Shah Administration
• Maintenance of Chahra / descriptive roll and dagh
/branding of horses
• Setting of cantonments and posting a garrison to man
them
• Building of new roads and restoration of old ones
• Sarais or rest houses /villages around sarais/Qasbas or
market town/sarais as stages of news/courier service
• Collection of customs duty only twice – point of entry
and sales
 Bhakti Movement
• First phase – Origin of Bhagavata cult till
beginning of 13th century – philosophy of
saints based on individual expression
• Second phase – 13th to 16th centuries – epoch
of tremendous intellectual ferment and a
natural outcome of the mutual contact
between Hinduism and Islam
 Common features of Bhakti
• Liberal outlook
• Equality of all religions
• Unity of godhead
• Dignity of man’s actions
• Simple devotion through Bhakti – love – as only means of
salvation
• No desire to set up separate religion – no blind faith in any
sacred scripture
• Condemnation of rituals / no belief in idolatory
• SINGLE MINDED, UNITERRUPTED, EXTREME DEVOTION TO GOD
 Ramananda (1360-1470)
• First to renounce the rigidity of Hindu philosophy
– his disciples became avadhutas (detached)
• Never recognised the right of lower classes to
read Vedas
• Did not work for social equality
• Major contribution – use of common language
• Creation of two distinct schools – SAGUNA AND
NIRGUNA
 Ramananda (1360-1470)
• SAGUNA – preserved the authority of Vedas and did not
wish to break away from Hinduism - God had many forms
and attributes like human one
• Chaitanya, Surdas, Mirabai, Tulsidas – important Saguna
saints
• NIRGUNA – God without any form or attributes - a
religious system of monotheism, different from
monotheism of Shankara – creation of a synthetic
movement – “Ram and Rahim are equal”
• Guru Nanak, Dadu Dayal, Raidas – important Nirguna saints
 Ramananda (1360-1470)
• Born at Prayag – follower of Ramanuja
• Taught in Hindi in Benaras and Agra
• Kabir – muslim weaver
• Raidasa – cobbler
• Sena – barber
• Sadhana – butcher
• Dhanna – peasant
• Narahari – goldsmith
• Pipa – Rajput prince
 Kabir (15 century)
th

• Born in Benaras – to a Brahmin widow

• Persecuted by Sikandhar Lodi
• Dohas and sakhi (poems) - Bijak
• Unity and formlessness of god
• Denounced formal religious practices in
Hinduism and Islam
 Dadu Dayal (1544-1603)
• Born in Ahmedabad
• Preached in Rajasthan – Sambhar and Naraini
• Verses collected in a book – the Bani – in Hindi
• Dadupanthis – expose their dead like the Parsis
• Practiced the teachings of Kabir and denounced
caste distinctions
• Raidasa (a contemporary of Kabir), Sundaradasa (a
disciple of Dadu) and Dharanidasa (a disciple of
Kabir) – other Nirguna saints
 Saguna saints
• Chaitanya (1436-1533) – popularised
Vaishnaism in Bengal thro his Kirtans – path of
“Ragamarga” – spontaneous love – belief in
“bhedabheda” – dualistic non-dualism
• Surdas (1483-1563) – disciple of Vallabhacharya
– popularised Krishna cult in UP – Author of Sur
Sagara and Sur Sarawati
• Mirabai (1498-1569) – Sisodia dynasty of Chittor
– devotee of Krishna – cult in Rajasthan
 Saguna saints
• Sankaradeva (1463-1568) – Chaitanya
contemporary – spread Vaishnava bhakti in
Assam
• Tulsidas (1532-1623) – Rama worship –
Ramacharitamanas in Hindi – expounding the
various aspects of Hindu dharma
 Other bhakti philosophers
• Nimbarka – 13th & 14th centuries – Dvaitadvaita
(Dualistic Monism)
• Brahman transforms himself into the souls and
the world – which are therefore real, distinct
and different from the Brahman
• Though soul and world are real and different
from the Brahman, they cannot, survive
independently without the support of Brahman
 Other bhakti philosophers
• Vallabhacharya (15th and 16th centuries) – Suddhaadvaita
(Pure Non-dualism)
• God is one, omnipotent & omniscient – first cause
• God manifests himself in the form of individual souls
and matter (world)
• 3 forms (god, soul and world) are identical in essence
though different in manifestation
• But god is pure (suddha) in himself and no
transformation at all
• PUSHTIMARGA – PATH OF GRACE
 Maharashtra Dharma
• A religio-political concept
• Jnanadeva – Jnaneshvara (1275-1296) – author of
BHAVARTHADIPIKA (jnaneswari) – commentary on
Bhagavadgita in Marathi
• Namadeva’s songs refer to Jnanadeva
• Samadhi in Alandi
• Emergence of the “Varkari” tradition – 700 year old
Bhakti tradition particular to Maharashtra
• Vittal worship in Pandharpur
• Amirthanubhava & Haripatha
 Maharashtra Dharma
• NAMADEVA – 12th & 13th centuries – Pandharpur -
Son of a tailor – low caste
• Wrote a number of Abhangas (hymns)
• Popular in Punjab too – songs included in Adi Granth
• EKNATHA - (1544-1599) – Reputed for Bhajans and
Kirtans – restored edition of Jnaneshvari – translation
work most important – denounced caste distinctions
– “the dog and god are identical” – radical religious
egalitarianism
 Maharashtra Dharma
• Tukaram – (1607-1649) – contemporary of
Shivaji – devotee of Vithal of Pandharpur (4000
abhangas) – responsible for creating background
for Maratha nationalism – denounced religious
rituals – conception of god like Kabir’s
• Ramdas – 17th century – interest in politics –
DHARAKARI (warrior) as opposed to Varakari –
influenced Shivaji – Author of Dasabodha –
didactic work
 Jalaluddin Muhammad
AKBAR (1556-1605)
• 1556 – Second battle of Panipet
• 1556-60 – Bairam khan’s regency
• 1560-62 – petticoat government
• 1561 – Malwa conquest
• 1564 – Gondwana – Rani Durgavati
• 1568 - Chittor
• 1572-73 – Gujarat – built Buland Darwaza at
Fatehpur to celebrate this victory
 Jalaluddin Muhammad
AKBAR (1556-1605)
• 1581 – Kabul from Mirza Hakim
• 1586 – Kashmir and Baluchistan
• 1591 – Sind
• 1595 – Kandahar
• 1601 – Ahmednagar
• 1601 – Asirgarh
• Akbar in northwest from 1585-1598 – suppression of Roshaniya
movement of Pir Roshan
• Battle of Haldighati – 1576 – Ranas of Mewar
• 1563 – Pilgrim tax abolished
• 1564 – Jizya abolished
 Akbar’s Sulh-i-Kuhl
• Universal peace or Peace with all
• 1575 – Ibadat Khana constructed (House of
worship) in Fatehpur Sikri
• First, only Sunnis – Badauni and Abul Fazl (both
trained by Shaikh Mubarak)
• After Haldighati – Shias, Hindus, Christians and
Zoroastrians
• Convinced all religions contained some truth and
that this was not the prerogative of Islam
 Akbar’s Sulh-i-Kuhl
• Theological crisis – Sheikh Mubarak’s advice
• Written verdict of Ulema – Ruler empowered to
decide on controversial Islamic legal questions?
• August/September 1579 – MAHZAR issued by leading
Ulema – NOT infallibility decree (Vincent Smith)
• Din-ilahi (Divine Faith) – NOT a new religion – four
degrees of devotion or discipleship, readiness to
sacrifice their life, property, honour and religion to
promote the interest of their imperial master
 Mansabdari System
• Mansab – rank
• 3 categories of Zat and Sawar – dual rank – 1597
• Zat – personal pay and status in the official hierarchy
• Sawar – Number of horsemen to be maintained and salary
for maintenance of horsement
• Mansab non-hereditary – merit basis
• Sawar rank is lower than the Zat rank
• 66 grades
• Duaspa-sihaspa rank of Jahangir – 2 to 3 horses per
trooper – special favour – doubling of privileges
 Jagirdari system
• Jagir or tuyur – unit of land
• Jagirs assigned to a mansabdar in lieu of salary
• Tankhwah jagirs – assigned in lieu of salary
• Watan jagirs - hereditary possession
• Khalisa jagirs – crown land
• Jagir of the Mughals was similar to the iqta of the Delhi
Sultanate
• No hereditary rights – frequent transfer
• All Jagirdars were Mansabdars but all Mansabdars were
not jagirdars
 Jagirdari crisis
• Attempt by nobles to confer the most profitable jagirs
• Crisis in the economic and social relations of medieval
Mughal India
• Growth in the size and demands of the ruling class –
2000 Mansabdars in 1605 to 12000 in 1675
• Expansion of Khalisa lands during Shahjehan and
Aurangazeb’s reign
• Revolts of zamindars and peasants against the illegal
exactions of the nobles