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Nobles with a zat of 5,000 were ranked higher than those of 1,000. In Akbar’s reign there were 29 mansabdars with a rank of 5,000 zat; by Aurangzeb’s reign the number of mansabdars had increased to 79.

Birthright Privileges claimed on account of birth. For example, people believed that nobles inherited their rights to govern, because they were born in certain families. Gender distinctions Social and biological differences between women and men. Usually, these differences are used to argue that men are superior to women.

This is part of the Tamil section of a land grant given by the Cholas: We have demarcated the boundaries of the land by making earthen embankments, as well as by planting thorny bushes. This is what the land contains: fruit-bearing trees, water, land, gardens and orchards, trees, wells, open spaces, pastureland, a village, anthills, platforms, canals, ditches, rivers, silt-laden land, tanks, granaries, fish ponds, bee hives, and deep lakes. He who receives the land can collect taxes from it. He can collect the taxes imposed by judicial officers as fines, the tax on betel-leaves, that on woven cloth, as well as on vehicles. He can build large rooms, with upper stories made of baked bricks, he can get large and small wells dug, he can plant trees and thorny bushes, if necessary, he can get canals constructed for irrigation. He should ensure that water is not wasted, and that embankments are built.

Minhaj-i Siraj thought that the queen’s rule went against the ideal social order created by God, in which women were supposed to be subordinate to men. He therefore asked: “In the register of God’s creation, since her account did not fall under the column of men, how did she gain from all of her excellent qualities?” On her inscriptions and coins Raziyya mentioned that she was the daughter of Sultan Iltutmish. This was in contrast to the queen Rudramadevi (1262-1289), of the Kakatiya dynasty of Warangal, part of modern Andhra Pradesh. Rudramadevi changed her name on her inscriptions and pretended she was a man. Another queen, Didda, ruled in Kashmir (980-1003). Her title is interesting: it comes from “didi” or “elder sister”, an obviously affectionate term given to a loved ruler by her subjects.

If somebody asks you the date, you will probably mention the day, month and year, 2000 and something. These years are counted from the date generally assigned to the birth of Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity. So, 2000 means 2000 years after the birth of Christ. All dates before the birth of Christ are counted backwards and usually have the letters BC (Before Christ) added on. In this book, we will refer to dates going back from the present, using 2000 as our starting point.

Virashaiva vachanas These are vachanas or sayings attributed to Basavanna: The rich, Will make temples for Shiva. What shall I, A poor man, Do? My legs are pillars, The body the shrine, The head a cupola Of gold. Listen, O Lord of the meeting rivers, Things standing shall fall, But the moving ever shall stay.

One of the distinctive features of a village is that most people who live there are  engaged in food production.

In the fifteenth century European sailors undertook unprecedented explorations of sea routes. They were driven by the desire to find ways of reaching the Indian subcontinent and obtaining spices. Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese sailor, was one of those who sailed across the Atlantic to the African coast, went round it, crossing over to the Indian Ocean. His first journey took more than a year; he reached Calicut in 1498, and returned to Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, the following year. He lost two of his four ships, and of the 170 men at the start of the journey, only 54 survived. In spite of the obvious hazards, the routes that were opened up proved to be extremely profitable – and he was followed by English, Dutch and French sailors. The search for sea routes to India had another, unexpected fallout. On the assumption that the earth was round, Christopher Columbus, an Italian, decided to sail westwards across the Atlantic Ocean to find a route to India. He landed in the West Indies (w...

Chola inscriptions mention several categories of land.  vellanvagai  land of non-Brahmana peasant proprietors brahmadeya  land gifted to Brahmanas  shalabhoga  land for the maintenance of a school  devadana , tirunamattukkani  land gifted to temples  pallichchhandam  land donated to Jaina institutions .

Unlike taxes, which were collected on a regular basis, tribute was collected as and when it was possible from people who gave a variety of things, more or less willingly.

Usually two to three generations live together in small settlements or villages . Most families are related to one another and groups of such families form a tribe. Members of a tribe follow occupations such as hunting, gathering, farming, herding and fishing. Usually, women do most of the agricultural work, including preparing the ground, sowing seeds,looking after the growing plants and harvesting grain. Children often look after plants, driving away animals and birds that might eat them. Women also thresh, husk, and grind grain. Men usually lead large herds of animals in search of pasture. Children often look after small flocks. The cleaning of animals and milking, is done by both men and women. Both women and men make pots, baskets, tools and huts. They also take part in singing, dancing and decorating their huts. Some men are regarded as leaders. They may be old and experienced, or young, brave warriors, or priests. Old women are respected for their wisdom and experience. Tribe...

There were many kinds of traders. These included the Banjaras (see also Chapter 7). Several traders, especially horse traders, formed associations, with headmen who negotiated on their behalf with warriors who bought horses. Since traders had to pass through many kingdoms and forests, they usually travelled in caravans and formed guilds to protect their interests. There were several such guilds in south India from the eighth

The idea of the “Three Orders” was first formulated in France in the early eleventh century. It divided society into three classes: those who prayed, those who fought, and those who tilled the land. This division of society into “Three Orders” was supported by the Church to consolidate its dominant role in society. This helped the emergence of a new warrior group called knights. The Church patronised this group and used them to propagate their idea of “Peace of God”. The attempt was to direct warriors away from conflict amongst themselves and send them instead on a campaign against the Muslims who had captured the city of Jerusalem. This led to a series of campaigns called the Crusades. These campaigns in the service of God and the Church completely altered the status of knights. Originally, these knights did not belong to the class of nobles. But by the end of the eleventh century in France, and a century later in Germany, the humble origins of these warriors were forgotten. By the tw...

The gulf is very narrow at Barygaza, and very hard to navigate for those coming from the sea.Ships had to be steered in by skilful and experienced local fishermen who were employed by the king.The imports into Barygaza were wine, copper, tin, lead, coral, topaz,cloth, gold and silver coins. Exports from the town included plants from the Himalayas, ivory, agate,carnelian, cotton, silk and perfumes.Special gifts were brought by merchants for the king. These included vessels of silver, singing boys, beautiful women, fine wines and fine cloth.

Find Mongolia in your atlas. The best-known pastoral and huntergatherer tribe in history were the Mongols. They inhabited the grasslands (steppes) of Central Asia and the forested areas further north. By 1206 Genghis Khan had united the Mongol and Turkish tribes into a powerful military force. At the time of his death (1227) he was the ruler of extensive territories. His successors created a vast empire. At different points of time, it included parts of Russia, Eastern Europe and also China and much of West Asia. The Mongols had well-organised military and administrative systems. These were based on the support of different ethnic and religious groups.

A mosque is called a masjid in Arabic, literally a place where a Muslim prostrates in reverence to Allah. In a “congregational mosque” (masjid-i jami or jama masjid) Muslims read their prayers (namaz) together. Members of the congregation choose the most respected, learned male as their leader (imam) for the rituals of prayer. He also delivers the sermon (khutba) during the Friday prayer. During prayer, Muslims stand facing Mecca. In India this is to the west. This is called the qibla. The Delhi Sultans built several mosques in cities all over the subcontinent. These demonstrated their claims to be protectors of Islam and Muslims. Mosques also helped to create the sense of a community of believers  who shared a belief system and a code of conduct. It was necessary to reinforce this idea of a community because Muslims came from a variety of backgrounds.

The king travelled with an enormous amount of equipment. Apart from weapons, there were things of daily use such as pots, pans, furniture, golden footstools, food, including animals such as goat, deer, rabbits, vegetables, spices, carried on carts or loaded on to pack animals such as camels and elephants. This huge army was accompanied by musicians beating drums, and others playing horns and trumpets.Villagers had to provide hospitality along the way.They came with gifts of curds, gur and flowers, and provided fodder for the animals. They also tried to meet the king, and place their complaints and petitions before him. The army left a trail of destruction behind. Elephants often trampled down the huts of villagers, and the oxen yoked to the caravans of merchants ran away, scared by the tumult. As Banabhatta says: “The whole world was swallowed up in dust.”

In the various state systems of eighteenth-century India, the common people did not enjoy the right to participate in the affairs of their governments. In the Western world, this was the situation until the late eighteenth century. The American (1776-1781) and French Revolutions challenged the social and political privileges enjoyed by the aristocrats. During the French Revolution, the middle classes, peasants and artisans fought against the special rights enjoyed by the clergy and the nobility. They believed that no group in society should have privileges based on birth. Rather, people’s social position must depend on merit. The philosophers of the French Revolution suggested that there be equal laws and opportunities for all. They also held that the authority of the government should come from the people who must possess the right to participate in its affairs. Movements such as the French and American Revolutions gradually transformed subjects into citizens. The ideas of citizenship...

Megasthenes was an ambassador who was sent to the court of Chandragupta by the Greek ruler of West Asia named Seleucus Nicator. Megasthenes wrote an account about what he saw. Here is a part of his description: “ The occasions on which the emperor appears in public are celebrated with grand royal processions. He is carried in a golden palanquin. His guards ride elephants decorated with gold and silver. Some of the guards carry trees on which live birds, including a flock of trained parrots, circle about the head of the emperor. The king is normally surrounded by armed women. He is afraid that someone may try to kill him. He has special servants to taste the food before he eats. He never sleeps in the same bedroom for two nights.”And about Pataliputra (modern Patna) he wrote: “This is a large and beautiful city. It is surrounded by a massivewall. It has 570 towers and 64 gates. The houses, of two and three storeys, are built of wood and mud brick. The king’s palace is also of wood, and ...

Some of the earliest works in Tamil, known as Sangam literature, were composed around 2300 years ago. These texts were called Sangam because they were supposed to have been composed and compiled in assemblies (known as sangams ) of poets that were held in the city of Madurai.The Tamil terms mentioned above are found in Sangam literature.

The devotee and the Lord This is a composition of Manikkavasagar: Into my vile body of flesh You came, as though it were a temple of gold, And soothed me wholly and saved me, O Lord of Grace, O Gem most Pure, Sorrow and birth and death and illusion You took from me, and set me free. O Bliss! O Light! I have taken refuge in You, And never can I be parted from You.

Once upon a time, there was a clever poor young man who lived in a city. His only resource was a dead rat. He started off by selling it for a coin to a hotel, for their cat. Then one day, there was a storm. The king’s garden was littered with branches and leaves, and the gardener was at a loss as to how to clear the mess. The young man offered to clean the garden if he could keep the wood and leaves. The gardener agreed at once. The young man rounded up all the children who were playing, with an offer of sweets for every stick and leaf that they could collect. In no time, every scrap had been neatly piled near the entrance. Just then,the king’s potter was on the look out for fuel with which to bake his pots. So he took the whole lot and paid the young man for it. Our young man now thought of another plan. He carried a jar full of water to the city gate, and offered water to 500 grass cutters. They were pleased and said: “You have done us a good turn. Tell us, what can we do for you?”He...

Fakhr-i Mudabbir wrote in the thirteenth century: A king cannot survive without soldiers. And soldiers cannot  live without salaries. Salaries come from the revenue collected  from peasants. But peasants can pay revenue only when they  are prosperous and happy. This happens when the king  promotes justice and honest governance.

The Banjaras Peter Mundy, an English trader who came to India during the early seventeenth century, has described the Banjaras: In the morning we met a tanda of Banjaras with14,000 oxen. They were all laden with grains such as wheat and rice ... These Banjaras carry their household – wives and children – along with them. One tanda consists of many families. Their way of life is similar to that of carriers who continuously travel from place to place. They own their oxen. They are sometimes hired by merchants, but most commonly they are themselves merchants. They buy grain where it is cheaply available and carry it to places where it is dearer. From there, they again reload their oxen with anything that can be profitably sold in other places … In a tanda there may be as many as 6 or 7 hundred persons … They do not travel more than 6 or 7 miles a day – that, too, in the cool weather. After unloading their oxen, they turn them free to graze as there is enough land here, and no one there to...

Many rulers described their achievements in prashastis . One prashasti , written in Sanskrit and found in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, describes the exploits of Nagabhata, a Pratihara king, as follows: The kings of Andhra, Saindhava (Sind), Vidarbha (part of Maharashtra) and Kalinga (part of Orissa) fell before him even as he was a prince … He won a victory over Chakrayudha (the ruler of Kanauj) … He defeated the king of Vanga (part of Bengal), Anarta (part of Gujarat), Malava (part of Madhya Pradesh), Kirata (forest peoples), Turushka (Turks), Vatsa, Matsya (both kingdoms in north India)

The Kandariya Mahadeva temple dedicated to Shiva was constructed in 999 by the king Dhangadeva of the Chandela dynasty. An ornamented gateway led to an entrance, and the main hall ( mahamandapa ) where dances were performed. The image of the chief deity was kept in the main shrine ( garbhagriha ). This was the place for ritual worship where only the king, his immediate family and priests gathered. The Khajuraho complex contained royal temples where commoners were not allowed entry. The temples were decorated with elaborately carved sculptures . The Rajarajeshvara temple at Thanjavur had the tallest shikhara amongst temples of its time. Constructing it was not easy because there were no cranes in those days and the 90 tonne stone for the top of the shikhara was too heavy to lift manually. Ancient and Modern names of Indian Rivers So the architects built an inclined path to the top of the temple, placed the boulder on rollers and rolled it all the way to the top. The path started more th...

Jahangir, Akbar’s son, described his father’s policy of sulh-i kul in the following words: As in the wide expanse of the divine compassion there is room for all classes and the followers of all creeds, so … in his Imperial dominions, which on all sides were limited only by the sea, there was room for the professors of opposite religions, and for beliefs, good and bad, and the road to intolerance was closed. Sunnis and Shias met in one mosque and Christians and Jews in one church to pray. He consistently followed the principle of “universal peace” ( sulh-i kul). Kings and queens There were several great monarchs – all near-contemporaries – in different parts of the world in the sixteenth century. These included the ruler of Ottoman Turkey, Sultan Suleyman 1520-1566. During his rule the Ottoman state expanded into Europe, seizing Hungary and besieging Austria. His armies also seized Baghdad and Iraq. Much of north Africa, all the way into Morocco, acknowledged Ottoman authority. Suleyman...

The Sultans were advised: “A slave, whom one has brought up and promoted, must be looked after for it needs a whole lifetime and good luck to find a worthy and experienced slave. Wise men have said that a worthy and experienced slave is better than a son.”

Sites are places where the remains of things (tools, pots, buildings etc.) were found. These were made, used and left behind by people. These may be found on the surface of the earth, buried under the earth, or sometimes even under water. You will learn more about different sites in later chapters.

Whose body was most charming, being covered with the plenteous beauty of the marks of hundreds of scars caused by battle-axes, arrows, spikes, spears, barbed darts, swords, iron clubs, javelins, barbed arrows, long arrows and many other weapons.

These rules are from the Arthashastra , mentioned in Chapter 8. They describe how spinning and weaving could be done in workshops under the supervision of a special official.“Widows, young women who are differently abled, nuns, mothers of courtesans, retired women servants of the king, women who have retired from service in temples, may be used for processing wool, bark, cotton,hemp and flax.They should be paid according to the quality and quantity of work. Women who are not permitted to leave their homes can send maidservants to bring the raw material from the superintendent, and take the finished work back to him. Women who can visit the workshop should go at dawn to give their work and receive their wages. There should be enough light to examine the work. In case the superintendent looks at the woman or talks about anything other than the work, he should be punished. If a woman does not complete her work, she will have to pay a fine, and her thumbs can be cut off.” Tamil-Brahmi insc...

The following is a contemporary writer’s account of the financial bankruptcy of the empire: The great lords are helpless and impoverished. Their peasants raise two crops a year, but their lords see nothing of either, and their agents on the spot are virtual prisoners in the peasants’ hands, like a peasant kept in his creditor’s house until he can pay his debt. So complete is the collapse of all order and administration that though the peasant reaps a harvest of gold, his lord does not see so much as a wisp of straw.

Raja Jai Singh of Jaipur A description of Raja Jai Singh in a Persian account of 1732: Raja Jai Singh was at the height of his power. He was the governor of Agra for 12 years and of Malwa for 5 or 6 years. He possessed a large army, artillery and great wealth. His sway extended from Delhi to the banks of the Narmada.

Questioning the social order This is an abhang (Marathi devotional hymn) of Sant Tukaram: He who identifies with the battered and the beaten Mark him as a saint For God is with him He holds Every forsaken man Close to his heart He treats A slave As his own son Says Tuka I won’t be tired to repeat again Such a man Is God In person. Here is an abhang composed by Chokhamela’s son: You made us low caste, Why don’t you face that fact, Great Lord? Our whole life – left-over food to eat. You should be ashamed of this. You have eaten in our home. How can you deny it? Chokha’s (son) Karmamela asks Why did you give me life?

Read this short poem from the Sangam collection: As they carry the white paddy of their land To exchange it for the salt of another, Crossing the long roads in carts,Through sands white as moonlight,Taking whole families, Who hate to be left behind,The departure of the salt merchants Leaves the city empty. Salt was produced plentifully along the sea coast.

Ostriches were found in India during the Palaeolithic period. Large quantities of ostrich egg shells were found at Patne in Maharashtra. Designs were engraved on some pieces, while beads were also made out of them.

There were 63 Nayanars, who belonged to different caste backgrounds such as potters, “untouchable” workers, peasants, hunters, soldiers, Brahmanas and chiefs. The best known among them were Appar, Sambandar, Sundarar and Manikkavasagar. There are two sets of compilations of their songs – Tevaram and Tiruvacakam. There were 12 Alvars, who came from equally divergent backgrounds, the best known being Periyalvar, his daughter Andal, Tondaradippodi Alvar and Nammalvar. Their songs were compiled in the Divya Prabandham.

People have lived along the banks of this river for several hundred thousand years.  Some of the earliest people who lived here were skilled gatherers , — that is, people who gathered their food. They knew about the vast wealth of plants in the surrounding forests, and collected roots, fruits and other forest produce for their food. They also hunted animals. Sulaiman and Kirthar hills to the northwest. Some of the areas where women and men first began to grow crops such as wheat and barley about 8000 years ago are located here. People also began rearing animals like sheep, goat, and cattle, and lived in villages . the Garo hills to the north-east and the Vindhyas in central India. These were some of the other areas where agriculture developed. The places where rice was first grown are to the north of the Vindhyas. Trace the river Indus and its tributaries (tributaries are smaller rivers that flow into a larger river). About 4700 years ago, some of the earliest cities flourished on the ...

Two of the words we often use for our country are India and Bharat. The word India comes from the Indus, called Sindhu in Sanskrit. The Iranians and the Greeks who came through the northwest about 2500 years ago and were familiar with the Indus, called it the Hindos or the Indos, and the land to the east of the river was called India. The name Bharata was used for a group of people who lived in the northwest, and who are mentioned in the Rigveda, the earliest composition in Sanskrit (dated to about 3500 years ago). Later it was used for the country. have survived, often preserved in temples and monasteries. These books dealt with all kinds of subjects: religious beliefs and practices, the lives of kings, medicine and science. Besides, there were epics, poems, plays. Many of these were written in Sanskrit, others were in Prakrit (languages used by ordinary people) and Tamil. We can also study inscriptions . These are writings on relatively hard surfaces such as stone or metal. Sometimes...

Archaeologists have given lengthy names for the time that we are studying.They call the earliest period the Palaeolithic . This comes from two Greek words, ‘ palaeo’ , meaning old, and ‘ lithos’ , meaning stone. The name points to the importance of finds of stone tools. The Palaeolithic period extends from 2 million years ago to about 12,000 years ago. This long stretch of time is divided into the Lower, Middle and Upper Palaeolithic. This long span of time covers 99% of human history. The period when we find environmental changes, beginning about 12,000 years ago till about 10,000 years ago is called the Mesolithic (middle stone). Stone tools found during this period are generally tiny, and are called microliths . Microliths were probably stuck on to handles of bone or wood to make tools such as saws and sickles. At the same time, older varieties of tools continued to be in use.The next stage, from about 10,000 years ago, is known as the Neolithic . We have also mentioned the name of ...

The devastation of Delhi after Nadir Shah’s invasion was described by contemporary observers. One described the wealth looted from the Mughal treasury as follows: sixty lakhs of rupees and some thousand gold coins, nearly one crore worth of gold-ware, nearly fifty crores worth of jewels, most of them unrivalled in the world, and the above included the Peacock throne. Another account described the invasion’s impact upon Delhi: (those) … who had been masters were now in dire straits; and those who had been revered couldn’t even (get water to) quench their thirst. The recluses were pulled out of their corners. The wealthy were turned into beggars. Those who once set the style in clothes now went naked; and those who owned property were now homeless … The New City (Shahjahanabad) was turned into rubble. (Nadir Shah) then attacked the Old quarters of the city and destroyed a whole world that existed there … The Nozam’s army A description of the Nizam of Hyderabad’s personal troopers in 1790...

Major campaigns and events BABUR 1526-1530 1526 – defeated Ibrahim Lodi and his Afghan supporters at Panipat. 1527 – defeated Rana Sanga, Rajput rulers and allies at Khanua. 1528 – defeated the Rajputs at Chanderi; Established control over Agra and Delhi before his death. HUMAYUN 1530-1540, 1555-1556 (1) Humayun divided his inheritance according to the will of his father. His brothers were each given a province. The ambitions of his brother Mirza Kamran weakened Humayun’s cause against Afghan competitors. Sher Khan defeated Humayun at Chausa (1539) and Kanauj (1540), forcing him to flee to Iran. (2) In Iran Humayun received help from the Safavid Shah. He recaptured Delhi in 1555 but died the next year after an accident in this building. AKBAR 1556-1605 Akbar was 13 years old when he became emperor. His reign can be divided into three periods. (1) 1556-1570 – Akbar became independent of the regent Bairam Khan and other members of his domestic staff. Military campaigns were launched agai...

The Naths were ascetics who engaged in a variety of yogic practices. This particular song, which was often enacted, described how Maynamati, a queen, encouraged her son Gopichandra to adopt the path of asceticism in the face of a variety of obstacles. Dharma Thakur is a popular regional deity, often worshipped in the form of a stone or a piece of wood.

The sixteenth century was a time of religious ferment in Europe as well. One of the most important leaders of the changes that took place within Christianity was Martin Luther (1483-1546). Luther felt that several practices in the Roman Catholic Church went against the teachings of the Bible. He encouraged the use of the language of ordinary people rather than Latin, and translated the Bible into German. Luther was strongly opposed to the practice of “indulgences” or making donations to the Church so as to gain forgiveness from sins. His writings were widely disseminated with the growing use of the printing press. Many Protestant Christian sects trace their origins to the teachings of Luther.

In 1318 the poet Amir Khusrau noted that there was a different language in every region of this land: Sindhi, Lahori, Kashmiri, Dvarsamudri (in southern Karnataka), Telangani (in Andhra Pradesh), Gujari (in Gujarat), Ma‘bari (in Tamil Nadu), Gauri, (in Bengal) … Awadhi (in eastern Uttar Pradesh) and Hindawi (in the area around Delhi). Amir Khusrau went on to explain that in contrast to these languages there was Sanskrit which did not belong to any region. It was an old language and “ common people do not know it, only the Brahmanas do”. Make a list of the languages mentioned by Amir Khusrau. Prepare another list of the names of languages spoken today in the regions he mentioned. Underline names that are similar and circle those that are different. Did you notice that the names by which languages are known have changed over time?

Kabul With its rugged, mountainous landscape, Kabul (in present-day Afghanistan) became politically and commercially important from the sixteenth century onwards. Kabul and Qandahar were linked to the celebrated Silk Route. Besides, trade in horses was primarily carried on through this route. In the seventeenth century Jean Baptiste Tavernier, a diamond merchant, estimated that the horse trade at Kabul amounted to Rs 30,000 annually, which was a huge sum in those days. Camels carried dried fruits, dates, carpets, silks and even fresh fruits from Kabul to the subcontinent and elsewhere. Slaves were also brought here for sale. The changing fortunes of towns Some towns like Ahmedabad (Gujarat) went on to become major commercial cities but others like Thanjavur shrank in size and importance over the centuries. Murshidabad (West Bengal) on the banks of the Bhagirathi, which rose to prominence as a centre for silks and became the capital of Bengal in 1704, declined in the course of the centu...

The working of a sabha according to the Uttaramerur inscription: All those who wish to become members of the sabha should be owners of land from which land revenue is collected. They should have their own homes. They should be between 35 and 70 years of age. They should have knowledge of the Vedas. They should be well-versed in administrative matters and honest. If anyone has been a member of any committee in the last three years, he cannot become a member of another committee. Anyone who has not submitted his accounts, as well as those of his relatives, cannot contest the elections. While inscriptions tell us about kings and powerful men, here is an excerpt from the Periyapuranam , a twelfthcentury Tamil work, which informs us about the lives of ordinary men and women. On the outskirts of Adanur was a small hamlet of Pulaiyas (a name used for a social group considered “outcastes” by Brahmanas and Vellalas), studded with small huts under old thatches and inhabited by agrarian labourers...

In search of the True Lord Here is a composition of Kabir: O Allah-Ram present in all living beings Have mercy on your servants, O Lord! Why bump your head on the ground, Why bathe your body in water? You kill and you call yourself “humble” But your vices you conceal. Twenty-four times the Brahmana keeps the ekadasi fast While the Qazi observes the Ramzan Tell me why does he set aside the eleven months To seek spiritual fruit in the twelfth? Hari dwells in the East, they say And Allah resides in the West, Search for him in your heart, in the heart of your heart; There he dwells, Rahim-Ram. In what ways are the ideas in this poem similar to or different from those of Basavanna and Jalaluddin Rumi .

Wheat, barley, sheep, goat, Mehrgarh (in present day-Pakistan) cattle Rice, fragmentary Koldihwa (in present-day Uttar Pradesh) animal bones Rice, cattle Mahagara (in present-day Uttar Pradesh) (hoof marks on clay surface) Wheat and lentil Gufkral (in present-day Kashmir) Wheat and lentil, dog, cattle, Burzahom (in present-day Kashmir) sheep, goat, buffalo, Wheat, green gram, barley, Chirand (in present-day Bihar) buffalo, ox Millet, cattle, sheep, goat, pig Hallur (in present-day Andhra Pradesh) Black gram, millet, cattle, Paiyampalli (in present-day Andhra sheep, pig Pradesh) These are just some of the sites from which grain and bones have been found.

The inscriptions of the Cholas who ruled in Tamil Nadu refer to more than 400 terms for different kinds of taxes. The most frequently mentioned tax is vetti , taken not in cash but in the form of forced labour, and kadamai, or land revenue. There were also taxes on thatching the house, the use of a ladder to climb palm trees, a cess on succession to family property, etc.

Finding the Lord Jalaluddin Rumi was a great thirteenth-century Sufi poet from Iran who wrote in Persian. Here is an excerpt from his work: He was not on the Cross of the Christians. I went to the Hindu temples. In none of them was there any sign. He was not on the heights or in the lowlands … I went to the Kaaba of Mecca. He was not there. I asked about him from Avicenna the philosopher. He was beyond the range of Avicenna … I looked into my heart. In that, his place, I saw him. He was in no other place.

Till the eighteenth century, people in Europe saw themselves as subjects of an empire, such as the Austro-Hungarian empire, or members of a church, such as the Greek Orthodox church. But, from the late eighteenth century, people also began to identify themselves as members of a community that spoke a common language, such as French or German. By the early nineteenth century, in Rumania school textbooks began to be written in Rumanian rather than in Greek, and in Hungary Hugarian was adopted as the official language instead of Latin. These and other similar developments created the consciousness among the people that each linguistic community was a separate nation. This feeling was strengthened by the movements for Italian and German unification in the late nineteenth century.

When archaeologists are digging at an excavation site, how do they know which level is earlier and which is later? Look at the illustration. Suppose people first start living on flat land (layer 4). Over the years, the surface will gradually rise, because people discard waste material, and generally stay and rebuild houses in the same place. After hundreds of years, this leads to the formation of a mound. So, when this mound is dug up, what is found from the upper layers of the mound is generally from a later time than what is found from the lower layers of the mound, which are older. These upper and lower layers are often referred to as levels.

When members of the same family become rulers one after another,the family is often called a dynasty. The Mauryas were a dynasty with three important rulers — Chandragupta, his son Bindusara, and Bindusara’s son, Ashoka. Beginning of the Mauryan empire (more than 2300 years ago). The places where inscriptions of Ashoka have been found are marked with red dots. These were included within the empire. Name the countries where Ashokan inscriptions have been found. Which Indian states were outside the empire?

Domestication is the name given to the process in which people grow plants and look after animals. Very often, plants and animals that are tended by people become different from wild plants and animals. This is because people select plants and animals for domestication. For example, they select those plants and animals that are not prone to disease. They also select plants that yield large-size grain, and have strong stalks, capable of bearing the weight of the ripe grain. Seeds from selected plants are preserved and sown to ensure that new plants (and seeds) will have the same qualities.Amongst animals, those that are relatively gentle  are selected for breeding. As a result, gradually,domesticated animals  and plants become different from wild animals and plants. For example, the teeth and horns of wild animals are usually much larger than those of domesticated animals. Domestication was a gradual process that took place in many parts of the world. It began about 12,000 years ago. Vi...

A twelfth-century inscription from Uyyakondan Udaiyar, in Tiruchirapalli taluka (in present-day Tamil Nadu), describes the deliberations in a sabha (Chapter 2) of Brahmanas. They deliberated on the status of a group known as rathakaras (literally, chariot makers). They laid down their occupations, which were to include architecture, building coaches and chariots, erecting gateways for temples with images in them, preparing wooden equipment used to perform sacrifices, building mandapas, making jewels for the king.

From the twelfth century onwards, attempts began in France to build churches that were taller and lighter than earlier buildings. This architectural style, known as Gothic, was distinguished by high pointed arches, the use of stained glass, often painted with scenes drawn from the Bible, and flying buttresses. Tall spires and bell towers which were visible from a distance were added to the church. One of the best-known examples of this architectural style is the church of Notre Dame in Paris, which was constructed through several decades in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

In China, an empire was established under the Tang dynasty, which remained in power for about 300 years (from the seventh to the tenth centuries). Its capital, Xi’an, was one of the largest cities in the world, visited by Turks, Iranians, Indians, Japanese and Koreans. The Tang empire was administered by a bureaucracy recruited through an examination, which was open to all who wished to appear for it. This system of selecting officials remained in place, with some changes, till 1911.

Ibn Battuta, a fourteenth-century traveller from Morocco, Africa, explained that chieftains sometimes “fortified themselves in mountains, in rocky, uneven and rugged places as well as in bamboo groves. In India the bamboo is not hollow; it is big. Its several parts are so intertwined that even fire cannot affect them, and they are on the whole very strong. The chieftains live in these forests which serve them as ramparts, inside which are their cattle and their crops. There is also water for them within, that is, rain water which collects there. Hence they cannot be subdued except by powerful armies, who entering these forests, cut down the bamboos with specially prepared instruments.”

Bronze, bell metal and the “lost wax” technique Bronze is an alloy containing copper and tin. Bell metal contains a greater proportion of tin than other kinds of bronze. This produces a bell-like sound. Chola bronze statues (see Chapter 2) were made using the “lost wax” technique. First, an image was made of wax. This was covered with clay and allowed to dry. Next it was heated, and a tiny hole was made in the clay cover. The molten wax was drained out through this hole. Then molten metal was poured into the clay mould through the hole. Once the metal cooled and solidified, the clay cover was carefully removed, and the image was cleaned and polished. What do you think were the advantages of using this technique? Taxes on markets The following is a summary from a tenth-century inscription from Rajasthan, which lists the dues that were to be collected by temple authorities: There were taxes in kind on: Sugar and jaggery, dyes, thread, and cotton, On coconuts, salt, areca nuts, butter, se...

This is a song composed by Mirabai: Ranaji, I have left your norms of shame, and false decorum of the princely life. I have left your town. And yet Rana why have you kept up enmity against me? Rana you gave me a cup of poison. I drank it laughing. Rana I will not be destroyed by you. And yet Rana why have you kept up enmity against me?  

“People perform a variety of rituals when they fall ill, when their children get married,  when children are born, or when they go on a journey. These rituals are not useful.If instead, people observe other practices, this would be more fruitful. What are these other practices? These are: being gentle with slaves and servants. Respecting one’s elders. Treating all creatures with compassion. Giving gifts to brahmins and monks.” “It is both wrong to praise one’s own religion or criticise another’s. Each one should respect the other’s religion. If one praises one’s own religion while criticizing another’s, one is actually doing greater harm to one’s own religion.Therefore, one should try to understand the main ideas of another’s religion, and respect it.” Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, wrote: “His edicts  (instructions) still speak to us in a language we can understand and we can still learn much from them.” Identify the parts of Ashoka’s message that you thin...

This is what Ashoka declared in one of his inscriptions: “Eight years after becoming king  I conquered Kalinga. About a lakh and a half people were captured. And more than a lakh of people were killed. This filled me with sorrow. Why? Whenever an independent land is conquered, lakhs of people die, and many are taken prisoner. Brahmins and monks also die. People who are kind to their relatives and  friends, to their slaves and servants die, or lose their loved ones. That is why I am sad, and have decided to observe dhamma , and to teach others about it as well. I believe that winning people over through dhamma is much better than conquering them through force.I am inscribing this message for the future, so that my son and grandson after me should not think about war. Instead, they should try to think about how to spread dhamma .”(‘Dhamma’ is the Prakrit word for the Sanskrit term ‘Dharma’).

A poor fisher town This is a description of Masulipatnam by William Methwold, a Factor of the English East India Company, in 1620: This is the chief port of Golconda, where the Right Worshipfull East India Company have their Agent. It is a small town but populous, unwalled, ill built and worse situated; within all the springs are brackish. It was first a poor fisher town … afterwards, the convenience of the road (a place where ships can anchor) made it a residence for merchants and so continues since our and the Dutch nation frequented this coast.

Akbar ordered one of his close friends and courtiers, Abul Fazl, to write a history of his reign. Abul Fazl wrote a three-volume history of Akbar’s reign, titled Akbar Nama. The first volume dealt with Akbar’s ancestors and the second volume recorded the events of Akbar’s reign. The third volume is the Ain-i Akbari. It deals with Akbar’s administration, household, army, the revenues and the geography of his empire. It also provides rich details about the traditions and culture of the people living in India. The most interesting aspect about the Ain-i Akbari is its rich statistical details about things as diverse as crops, yields, prices, wages and revenues. Nur Jahan’s influence in Jahangir’s court Mehrunnisa married the Emperor Jahangir in 1611 and received the title Nur Jahan. She remained extremely loyal and supportive to the monarch. As a mark of honour, Jahangir struck silver coins bearing his own titles on one side and on the other the inscription “struck in the name of the Queen...

A fortified city This is how a Portuguese traveller, Domingo Paes, described Hampi in the sixteenth century: … at the entrance of the gate where those pass who come from Goa, this king has made within it a very strong city fortified with walls and towers; these walls are not like those of other cities, but are made of very strong masonry such as would be found in few other parts, and inside very beautiful rows of buildings made after their manner with flat roofs.

A fisherman found a precious ring, which the king had given to Shakuntala, but which had been accidentally swallowed by a fish. When he went to the palace with it, the gatemen accused him of theft, and the chief police officer was rather rude. However,the king was happy when he saw the ring and sent a reward for the fisherman. Then, the police officer and the gatemen decided to take a share of the reward, and went along with the fisherman to have a drink.

Old advertisements help us understand how markets for new products were created and new tastes were popularised. This 1922 advertisement for Lipton tea suggests that royalty all over the world is associated with this tea. In the background you see the outer wall of an Indian palace, while in the foreground, seated on horseback is the third son of Queen Victoria of Britain, Prince Arthur, who was given the title Duke of Connaught. When New Delhi was built, the National Museum and the National Archives were both located close to the Viceregal Palace. This location reflects the importance these institutions had in British imagination. Botanical gardens and natural history museums established by the British collected plant specimens and information about their uses. Local artists were asked to draw pictures of these specimens. Historians are now looking at the way such information was gathered and what this information reveals about the nature of colonialism. After Aurangzeb th...

Women from diverse backgrounds participated in the national movement. Young and old, single and married, they came from rural and urban areas, from both conservative and liberal homes. Their involvement was significant for the freedom struggle, for the women’s movement, and for themselves personally. Both British officials and Indian nationalists felt that women’s participation gave the national struggle an immense force. Participation in the freedom movement brought women out of their homes. It gave them a place in the professions, in the governance of India, and it could pave the way for equality with men. What such participation meant for women is best recounted by them. Ambabai of Karnataka had been married at age twelve. Widowed at sixteen, she picketed foreign cloth and liquor shops in Udipi. She was arrested, served a sentence and was rearrested. Between prison terms she made speeches, taught spinning, and organised prabhat pheris . Ambabai regarded these as the happiest days of...

A newspaper, The Indian Mirror, wrote in January 1886: The First National Congress at Bombay … is the nucleus of a future Parliament for our country, and will lead to the good of inconceivable magnitude for our countrymen. Badruddin Tyabji addressed the Congress as President in 1887 thus: this Congress is composed of the representatives, not of any one class or community of India, but of all the different communities of India.