Introduction Tracing Changes through a Thousand Years

Changing Histories

The history of a place does not remain the same always but changes over a period of time. The changes in the rulers and dynasties, amalgamation of foreigners into the indegenious population, emergence of new social groups, development of trade and commerce etc. leads to politico-socio- economic changes in a country. Apart from these changes, innovations were also made in the field of science, technology, art and craft, transportation, map making etc.

The art of map making is known as cartography. A person who makes maps is known as a cartographer. In the twelfth century, a map made by an Arab geographer al-Idrisi had many defects. South India was shown in the place of North India and the island of Sri Lanka was shown to the north of the Indian subcontinent.

In the eigtheenth century, a Franch cartographer made a very accurate map of India in which he gave detailed information about the coastal areas of South India. Changes in science and technology also affected the art of map making. 

New and Old Terminologies

Various names and terms also changed with the passage of time. Some facts about the various names of India which emerged in the past are:

• The name ‘Hindustan’ used by Minhaj-i-Siraj in the thirteenth century only referred to the areas of Punjab, Haryana and the region between Rivers Ganga and Yamuna which were under the rule of the Delhi Sultanate. It did not include South India.
• In the early sixteenth century, Babur used the name ‘Hindustan’ to describe the geography, fauna and culture of the people of the subcontinent.
• The name ‘Hindustan’ described by Minhaj-i-Siraj and Babur did not have any political or national cannotation as today.
• Similarly, the term ‘foreigner’ also had different meanings in the past. Today anyone who is not an Indian is known as a foreigner. In the medieval period, any person who appeared in a village to which he did not belong was known as a foreigner. Any person outside his caste of religion was also considered to be a foreigner.

Sources and their Interpretation

• Historians study sources in order to construct the past. Coins, inscriptions and architecture are some important sources of the past.
• In the medieval period, many textual records were written which now form an important source of history.
• As paper became cheaper during this period, chronicals, religious texts, and judicial records came to be written.
• Hand written records are known as ‘manuscripts’. Places where manuscripts and other documents are stored are known as archives.
• Before the invention of the printing press, the writers or scribes copied the manuscript by hand. In doing so, small changes were also made by them. These small changes grew into major changes and hence the copied texts sometimes became very different from the manuscripts. Therefore, at times there were many different written accounts of the same manuscript from which they were copied.
• Sometimes, the author himself revised the documents. For instance, Ziauddin Barani revised his chronicle which was different from the first one.

Emergence of New Social and Political Groups

In the medieval period from 700-1750 C.E., many developments occurred in various fields. In the scientific and technological fields the Persian wheel used for irrigation, the spinning wheel in weaving etc. New firearms began to be used. Many food crops such as potatoes, corn, chillies, tea and coffee made their way into India.

Likewise there were many developments in the social fields. The following political and social groups appeared during the medieval period:

• The Rajputs became an important community during this time. They were a group of warriors belonging to the Kshatriya clan.
• Rajputs were considered to be brave and chivalrous, having a great sense of loyalty.
• Many other groups like the Marathas, Jats, Ahoms and Kayasthas also emerged. The Kayasthas were a community of scribes and secretaries.
• Many forest dwellers became a part of the agricultural society. They began to cultivate land and paid taxes to the local ruler. Some possessed more land and cattle. This marked the emergence of various groups or jatis within the peasant communities. The position, wealth and status of the jatis differed from region to region.
• Jatis not only followed the rules which were formed within the community but also of the villages in which they lived.

Emergence of Regions and Kingdoms

• Some important kingdoms which became large empires and encompassed many diverse regions during this period were the Cholas, Khaljis, Tughluqs and Mughals.
• A prashsti praised Ghiyasuddin Balban, a king of the Delhi Sultanate. It was mentioned that he was a ruler of a vast empire which included territories from Afghanistan to Bengal and from the North to South of the Indian subcontinent. However, historians do not approve all the facts of this prashasti.
• Many large empires such as he Khaljis and later of the Mughals declined. After the decline of the Mughals in the eighteenth century many regional kingdoms emerged.

Changes in Religions 

The medieval period witnessed many changes in the religious field.

Hinduism: Many changes took place in Hinduism. New deities began to be worshiped, new temples began to be constructed and the position of the Brahmins rose due to their knowledge of the Sanskrit texts. They were also patronised by the rulers.

The idea of Bhakti emerged according to which a devotee could worship and love his/her deity without the support of any Brahmins or rituals.

Islam: Islam appeared in the medieval period in India. Many rulers were the followers of Islam. Ulemas were the learned Muslims who had deep knowledge of the religion. Two major sects in Islam arose- one group was of the Sunnis who believed in the power of the earlier Khalifas and the other group was the Shias who considered Mohammad Ali as the legitimate heir of Prophet Mohammad.

Division of History into Periods

• History encompasses the periods of hunters-gatherers, peasant societies, regional and central kingdoms, religious-social-political and social changes.
• History has been divided into periods to help us understand the past. In the early modern period, the British historians divided Indian history into three periods, namely ‘Hindu’, ‘Muslim’ and the ‘British’ period.
• This division only took into consideration the religious changes in the Indian subcontinent and ignored the cultural and regional diversities of India.
• This division is not followed by the historians today. We usually divide Indian history into ancient, medieval and the modern period.

Important Questions

• Multiple Choice Questions:

Question 1. The word ‘Rajput’ was derived from:

(a) Rajaputra

(b) Rajasthan

(c) Rajya

Question 2. Who claimed Kshatriya caste?

(a) Group of students

(b) Group of warriors

(c) Group of priests

Question 3. Manuscripts were placed in:

(a) Temples

(b) school

(c) Libraries and Archives

Question 4. Al-Idrisi was an:

(a) Cartographer

(b) Writer

(c) Doctor

Question 5. …………… draws the map.

(a) Engineer

(b) Artist

(c) Cartographer

Question 6. Who used the term ‘Hind’?

(a) Al-Idrisi

(b) Vasco da gama

(c) Minhaj-i Siraj

Question 7. Who used to copy down the scripts?

(a) Scribes

(b) Archaeologist

(c) Cartographer

Question 8. Which was the most dominant group in the society?

(a) Kshatriyas

(b) Traders

(c) Brahmans

(d) Muslims

Question 9. Ziyauddin Barani was a chronicles of which century?

(a) 18th century

(b) 19th century

(c) 14th century

(d) 15th century

Question 10. What does script refers to?

(a) Written form of language

(b) Spoken form of language

(c) Both (a) and (b)

(d) None of these

Question 11. In which period the number and variety of textual records increased dramatically?

(a) 600 to 700 CE

(b) 700 to 800 CE

(c) 800 to 1000 CE

(d) 700 to 1750 CE

Question 12. When did the medieval period began in India?

(a) 9th century AD

(b) 8th century AD

(c) 10th century AD

(d) 18th century AD

Question 13. In which periods the British historian divided the history of India?

(a) Hindu

(b) Muslims

(c) British

(d) All of the above

Question 14. Why were only Brahmans dominated in the society during the medieval period?

(a) They were only class to proficient in Sanskrit language

(b) They were only class to proficient in British language

(c) They were only class to proficient in Hindi language

(d) None of these

Question 15. What were the new crops and beverages that arrived in Indian sub-continent in the medieval period?

(a) Corn

(b) Coffee

(c) Both a and b

(d) None of these

• Fill in the blanks:

1. Archives are places where ________ are kept.
2. __________ was a fourteenth-century chronicler.
3. _____, ______, ______, ______ and ______ were some of the new crops introduced into the subcontinent during this period.
4. Several villages were governed by a _______.

• Write true (T) or false (F):

1. We do not find inscriptions for the period after 700.
2. The Marathas asserted their political importance during this period.
3. Forest-dwellers were sometimes pushed out of their lands with the spread of agricultural settlements.
4. Sultan Ghiyasuddin Balban controlled Assam, Manipur and Kashmir.

• Very Short Questions:

1. What does a Cartographer do?
2. What are the two main sects of Islam?
3. Who was Al-Idrisi?
4. What do you mean by archive?
5. What do you mean by archive?
6. Who used the term ‘Hindustan’ for the first time and when?
7. Who were scribes?
8. How did scribes copy down the manuscripts? What was its drawback?
9. List some of the technological changes associated with this period.
10. What does the term pan-regional empire mean?

• Short Questions:

1. What was the stretch of Delhi Sultan Ghiyasuddin Balban’s Empire?
2. Describe the different languages used in this period?
3. What changes took place during 700 and 1750?
4. State the difference between Shia and Sunni.
5. Who coined the term “Hindustan” in the thirteenth century and which areas were covered under it?

• Long Questions:

1. What was the process of copying manuscript? What were its drawbacks?
2. Trace out the major changes in the society during 700 and 1750? What was its main reason?
3. What was the change in the religion of the time? Trace out major developments? 
4. What were the major developments in the religious traditions between 700 and 1750?
5. Who were the Rajputs?

ANSWER KEY –

• Multiple Choice Answer:

1. (a) Rajaputra
2. (b) Group of warriors
3. (c) Libraries and Archives
4. (a) Cartographer
5. (c) Cartographer
6. (c) Minhaj-i Siraj
7. (a) Scribes
8. (c) Brahmans
9. (c) 14th century
10. (a) Written form of language
11. (d) 700 to 1750 CE
12. (b) 8th century AD
13. (d) All of the above
14. (a) They were only class to proficient in Sanskrit language
15. (c) Both a and b

• Fill in the blanks:

1. Manuscripts
2. Ziyauddin Barani
3. Potatoes, corn, chillies, tea, coffee
4. chieftain

• Write true (T) or false (F):

1. False
2. False
3. True
4. False

• Very Short Answer:

1. A Cartographer makes maps.
2. The two main sects of Islam are Shia and Sunni.
3. Al-Idrisi was the Arab geographer who made map in 1154 CE.
4. Archive is a place where documents and manuscripts are stored.
5. A patron is an influential, wealthy individual who supports another person – an artiste, a craftsperson, a learned man, or a noble.
6. Minhaj-i-Siraj, a chronicler used the term ‘Hindustan’ for the first time in the thirteenth century.
7. Scribes were the people who copied manuscripts by hand before the invention of automatic printing.
8. There was no printing press in those days so scribes copied manuscripts by hand. As scribes copied manuscripts, they also introduced small changes – a word here, a sentence there.
9. Some of the technological changes associated with this period were the Persian wheel in irrigation, the spinning wheel in weaving, and firearms in combat.
10. Pan regional empire means empire spanning diverse regions. Dynasties like the Cholas, Khaljis, Tughluqs and Mughals were able to build an empire that was pan-regional.

• Short Answer:

1. According to a Sanskrit Prashasti Delhi Sultan Ghiyasuddin Balban’s empire was stretched from Bengal (Gauda) in the east to Ghazni (Gajjana) in Afghanistan in the west. It also included all of south India (Dravida).
2. In this period, various languages were used, in every region. Sindhi, Lahori, Kashmiri, Dvarsamudri, Telangani, Gujari, Awadhi and Hindawi.
3. Many technologies like Persian wheel in irrigation, the spinning wheel in weaving, and firearms in combat made their appearance. Some new foods and beverages like potatoes, corn, chillies, tea and coffee also arrived in the subcontinent
4. The Shia Muslims went by the Prophet’s son-in-law Ali, and Sunni Muslims accepted the authority of the early leaders or the “Khalifas”.
5. The term ‘Hindustan’ was used in the thirteenth century by Minhaj-i-Siraj, a chronicler who wrote in Persian. The areas that he used this term for were Punjab, Haryana, and the lands between Ganga and Yamuna. He used the term in political terms for the land that came under the Delhi Sultan.

• Long Answer:

1. As there was no printing press during the period between 700 and 1750, Scribes used to copy down the manuscripts which were hand-written. Sometimes it was difficult to recognize the original script. So the Scribes used their own way of interpreting the facts. Consequently, there were differences were found in the copies written by different Scribes. As all the copies were handwritten, it was difficult to recognize which was the original one. It was the drawback of such copying.
2. A number of changes took place in society during 700 and 1750. This period traced the technological appearance of Persian wheel in irrigation, the spinning wheel in weaving and firearms in combat. Potatoes, com, chillies, tea and coffee were some of the new foods and beverages. These developments came with the arrival of the people who migrated to this land. As a result this period saw various changes in the economic, political, social and cultural life.
3. The period between 700 and 1750 witnessed major changes in religion. It was seen prominently in Hinduism. The worship of new deities, the construction of temples by royalty and the growing importance of Brahmanas, the priests, as dominant groups in society were some of the major developments. The idea of bhakti emerged. Merchants and migrants brought the new teachings of ‘Quran’, the holy book of the Muslims. A class of patrons emerged. They were the rulers who provided shelter and protection to the ulemas—the learned theologians and jurists. Muslims were divided into two groups—Shia and Sunni. Shia Muslims believed in Prophet Muhammad’s authority while the Sunnis accepted the authority of the early leaders—Khalifas.
4. Period between 700 and 1750 witnessed major developments in religious traditions:

1. During this period, some important changes occurred in Hinduism. Worship of new deities and construction of temples by Kings began. The importance of Brahmana and priests increased. They became dominant groups in the society.
2. Another major development was emergence of the idea of Bhakti in which devotees did not require the aid of priests or elaborate rituals to reach their personal deity.
3. During this period, new religions also appeared in the subcontinent. Teachings of the Holy Quran were brought to India in the 7th century by merchants and migrants.

1. The name Rajput is derived from “Rajaputra”, the son of a ruler.
2. Between the eighth and fourteenth centuries, a body of warriors who were Kshatriya by caste was termed as Rajputs.
3. The Rajputs were not just rulers and chieftains, but also soldiers and commanders who served in the armies of different monarchs all over the subcontinent. This group of people became important in this period.
4. Poets and bards of these Rajput rulers ascribed some great qualities, such as great valour and immense sense of loyalty, to these rulers.