MEDIEVAL HISTORY Prelims Notes

• 3 invasions before Delhi sultanate -

o 710 AD - Mohd Bin Qasim - Arab. defeated Raja of Kucch
o 1025 AD - Mahmud Of Ghazni - Turkish. Destroyed Somnath
▪ Al Beruni (11th century) - founder of Indology, studied Brahmanas,
translated Euclid's work into Sanskrit etc
• Tehqeeq-i-Hind - religious, literary and scientific traditions of
India
• Kitab-ul-Hind - Arabic language, social life, weights and
measures, each chapter begins with a question
▪ Firdausi - wrote Shah Nama

o 1173 AD - Mohd Ghori - from Afghanistan. Came through Bolan Pass (not
Khyber pass)
▪ 1191 - 1st battle of Tarain (haryana)
▪ 1192 - 2nd battle of Tarain (Ghori allied with Jaichand of Kannauj and
defeated PRC)
▪ 1194 - Battle of Chandavar => Ghori defeated Jaichand and appointed
his slave Qutubuddin Aibak
o PRC founded Quila Rai Pithora (First foundational city of Delhi)

•
Diwan-i-Wizarat Iltutmish finance
Diwan-i-Arz Balban army
Diwan-i-Riyasat Alauddin Khilji check on market
Diwan-i-Mustakhraj Alauddin Khilji Revenue collection
Diwan-i-Kohi Mohd Bin Tughlaq Agri dept
Diwan-i-Khairat Firoze Shah Tughlaq marriage of poor girls (charity)
Diwan-i-Bandagan Firoze Shah Tughlaq employment bureau (slaves)

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 Diwan-i-Istikaka Firoze Shah Tughlaq old age pension
Barid-i-mumalik Sikander Lodhi Intelligence officer
•
ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENTS
o Diwan-i-Wizarat - Finance
o Ariz - Military
o Bandgan - slaves and PoW
o Insha - posts and letters
o Risalat - Religion
o Kohi - Agri
o Muniha - Spies
o Mustakhraj - tax collection
o Kazi - judicial

• Delhi Sultanate Summary

o Iltutmish -
▪ Made delhi capital
▪ Estd Chalisa
▪ Iqta system
▪ Coins - Tanka (silver), Jital (copper)
o Balban
▪ Broke chalisa power
▪ Estd Diwan-i-arz
▪ Nowroz
▪ Sajda, Paibos
o Alauddin Khilji
▪ Standing army => paid salary in cash
▪ Dagh & Hooliya system
▪ First to start measurement of land
▪ Market check & spies
▪ Amir Khusro
o Mohd bin Tughlaq -
▪ Ibn-e-Batuta
▪ Diwan-i-Kohi - agri dept
▪ Sondhar & Takkavi - agri loans
o Firoz Shah Tughlaq -
▪ Made Iqta hereditary
▪ Soldiers paid by land (Not cash)
▪ Extended jiziya to brahman & women
▪ Ziauddin Barani - Tarikh-i-firozeshahi, Fatwa-i-Jahandari

• DELHI SULTANATE
o 4 of 5 Delhi Sultanate dynasties were Turkish , except Lodhis (Afghan)

• SLAVE DYNASTY/ MAMLUKS (1206-90)

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 o Qutubuddin Aibak (1206-10 )
▪ Qutub Minar,(Mehrauli) -
• Basement by Qutubuddin Aibak, 3 floors by Iltutmish, 4-5th
floor by Feroz Shah Tughlaq
• Alai Darwaza added by Alauddin Khilji in Qutub
complex,mehrauli
• First Indian monument to be made by Islamic methods of
construction
• After Sufi saint Khwaja Qutubuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki
▪ Constructed 2 Mosques: -
• Adhai Din ka Jhopda, Ajmer
• Quwat-ul-Islam, Delhi
▪ Aka Lakh Bakhsh (giver of lakhs)
▪ Patron of writers -
• Hasan-un-Nizami - wrote "Taj-ul-Massir"
• Fakhruddin - wrote "Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi"
▪ Died while playing Polo
o Iltutmish (1210-35)
▪ Made Delhi capital, in place of Lahore => real founder of Delhi Sultanate
▪ Appointed Turkani-i-Chahlgani (CHALISA) - 40 nobles => UMRAH
▪ ULEMA => orthodox Islamic Schoalrs
▪ Sent Mansur (tribute) to Khalifa (in turkey)
▪ Diwan-i-Wizarat - Finance
▪ Introduced Iqtadari system - non-hereditary (military+revenue)
• Iqta - measure of land

• Khalisa Land - direct control of Sultan

• Iqta Land - military officers (Iqtadars)
• Inam Land - assigned to religious leaders
▪ Administration -
o Majlis-i-Khalwat - Cabinet
o Meer-i-Insha - correspondence and letters (MEA)
o Meer-i-Arz - army admin
o Sadr-Us-Sudur - head of charities + religious
endowment to madrasas
• Introduced new coinage in India => Tanka - Silver, Jital - Copper
• Saved Delhi sultanate from wrath of Genghis Khan by refusing shelter to Khawarizm
Shah
• Patronized -
o Minhaj-us-Siraj - wrote "Tabaqat-i-Nasiri"
• Razia Sultan (1236-40)
o Altunia-Razia love story

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 o Yakut - her slave
• Nasiruddin Shah (1246-66) - defacto ruler was Wazir Ghiyasuddin Balban
• Ghiyasuddin Balban (1266-86)
o Introduced Sajda -prostration, Paibos - Kissing king's feet
o Broke power of Chalisa (he himself was from Chalisa)
3. Assumed Zill-e-ilahi (shadow of God) - Divine Theory of Kingship
4. Appointed Spies
5. Iron and Blood policy -> nobody can oppose king
6. Very centralized administration
7. Non expansionary rule - just consolidation
8. Introduced 1 (Iranian New Year) as the only festival
9. Estd Military dept - Diwan-i-Arz
• Kaiqabad (1287-90)

• KHALJI (1291-1320)
1. Jalaluddin Khalji (1291-96)
1. Muftah ul Futooh - book by Amir Khusro
2. Alauddin Khalji (1296-1316)
1. Nephew and son-in-law of Jalaluddin
2. Army -
a. Permanent standing army in Delhi
b. Dagh system - branding of horse
c. Hooliya/Chehra - face description to prevent corruption in
Army
d. Cash salary to soldiers
e. Expansionary policy - captured => Gujarat, Ranthambor,
Mewar, Malwa, Jalore, Chittorgarh (Padmavati story)
f. Deccan conquest by Malik Kafur (aka Hazar Dinari)
3. Revenue admin
a. Land measured, and share of state fixed => First Sultan to start
measurement of Land
b. Kharaj tax increased to 50%
c. Diwan -i- Mustakh raj - revenue collector
d. Estimated production after sowing and collected half of it
e. Fixed market costs of all commodities - market controlled by
Shahna
f. Standardised weights and measures
g. Check on Market kept by 2 officers - Diwan-i-Riyasat, Shahna-i-
Mand
h. Goods sold in open market - "Sara-i-adal"
i. Crushed intermediaries => iqtadari became loose
4. 4 Administrative reforms =>
a. Free grant of land for religious purpose
b. Reorganised spy system
c. Prohibited use of wine
d. Nobles - shouldn't have social gatherings and inter-caste
marriages without permission

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 5. Controlled Umrah -> separated religion from politics
6. Market control & spies (Munhiyans)
7. Monuments -
a. Alai Fort, Rajasthan
b. Alai Darwaza (entrance gate of Qutub Minar)
8. Amir Khusro - his court poet
• Originator of Khayal & Tarana styles of music => Father of
Qawwali
• Wrote Tughlaqnama
9. Founded Siri Fort (3rd foundational city of Delhi)

• TUGHLAQ (1321-1410) => Max territorial kingdom in Sultanate

1. Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq (1320-25)
1. Decreased Kharaj (tax) to 33%
2. Irrigation work
3. Tughlaqabad Fort in Delhi
4. Not in good terms with Nizamuddin Auliya (Chisti saints did not like
pompous life of Sultans)
5. Died by accident
2. Mohd Bin Tughlaq (1325-51)
1. Birth name - Jauna
2. Wisest fool
3. Secular
4. Ibn e Batuta => was made Qazi
a. Rihla -> wrote about Tughlaq's reign (not about society)
5. 5 controversial decisions -
a. Increase taxation in Doab (Ganga-Yamuna doab) + Agri reforms
(gave cheap loans Sondhar - misused by people)
b. Transfer of capital from Delhi to Daulatabad/Devagiri (to make
capital in center of kingdom) and back due to water scarcity
c. Token currency - brass currency (made 1 tanka = 1 jital)
d. Expedition of Khorasan (central asia, Iraq) - expensive
e. Kurachil Expedition (HP) -> had to cross Himalayas
6. Diwan-i-Kohi => dept of Agri
a. Ghari - house tax
b. Charahi - pasture tax
7. Takkavi & Saundar - loans to farmers
8. Encouraged cash crops
9. Built Tughlaqabad
3. Firozshah Tughlaq (1351-88)
1. Tarikh-i-Firozshahi
2. Decline of Sultanate started
3. Revived Iqta system =>made it hereditary
4. Military -
a. Did not reattempt to capture Deccan
b. Started the principle of Heredity in army and Iqtas

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 c. Soldiers were not paid in cash, but by land revenue of villages
(Vajeha)
5. Welfare king
a. Built canals (Satluj, Yamuna)
b. Built hospitals (Shifa Khana) - "Dar-ul-Shifa"
c. Haq-i-Shirb => 10% tax on irrigation
d. Built Yateem-Khana - widow home
e. Marriage and employment bureau
6. Religious Policy (ORTHODOX)
a. Jaziya collection from non-muslims => extended to Brahmans
also
b. Allowed free run of ULEMA
c. Attacked hindu temples
d. Banned female entry into sufi shrines
e. Brahmahatya
7. Departments -
a. Diwan-i-Khairat - marriage of poor girls (charity)
b. Diwan-i-Bangadan - employment bureau (slaves)
c. Diwan-i-Istikaka - old age pension
8. Aka Great Builder => built 300 cities and towns like -
a. Hospital in Delhi - "Dar-ul-shifa" (Charity Hospital)
b. Feroz Shah Kotla city
c. Feroz Shah Kotla Fort
d. Hisar
e. Fatehabad (haryana)
f. Firozabad (UP) -5th foundational city of Delhi
g. Jaunpur (UP)
9. Ziauddin Barani wrote -
• Tarikh-i-Firozshahi - about rules of many previous rulers also
• Fatwa-i-Jahandari - admin & ethics

• Nasiruddin Mohammad Tughlaq (1395-1414)

1. 1398 => Timur invaded and nominated Khizr Khan to rule

• SAYYIDS (1414-52)
1. Khizr Khan
2. Mubarak shah
3. Muhammad Shah
4. Alam Shah

• LODHIS (1452-1526) => Afghanis/Pathanis

1. Bahlul Lodhi
2. Sikandar Lodhi
1. Built Agra
2. Not secular
3. Forbid entry of women into shrines of saints

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 4. Introduced unit Gaj-i-sikandari
5. Founded Agra in 1506
6. Barid-i-mumalik - head of intelligence dept
3. Ibrahim Lodhi
1. 1st Battle of Panipat, 1526 - Babur
a. Babur's well disciplined army and artillery defeated Ibrahim
Lodhi (had 10x more army)
• 4 Types of Taxes in Quran
• Jaziya - non-muslim tax -> Firozshah included Brahmins, women and children
too (earlier weren't)
• first introduced by Qutubbuddin Aibak (not on Brahmins, women and
children)
• Jaziya was removed by Akbar
• Reimposed by Aurangzeb
• Zakat - 2% tax on property
• Kharaj - 1/10th of produce as Land tax
• 1/5th to sultan, 4/5th to soldiers
• Alauddin Khilji reversed => 4/5th to sultan, 1/5th to soldiers
• Khams - 1/5th of booty capture during war
•
Nimatnama - recipe book
• Delhi Sultanate Administration
o IQTA
1. Revenue assignments => transferrable
2. Iqta governor Iqtadar => aka Muqtis or Walis
3. Not hereditary, did not imply right to land => became heriditary under
Feroz Shah Tughlaq
o SUBAS - (provinces)
1. Iqtas later became provinces or Subas
▪ SHIQS - distt
▪ PARGANA - 84 or 100 villages
• Amin/Amil or Mushrif - treasurer
• Qanungo
• Karkuns - clerks
▪ VILLAGE - smallest unit of administration
• Chaudhari
• Patwari
• Khut - small landowners in village
• Muqaddam
• Chaukidar
o ADMINISTRATIVE
DEPARTMENTS
1. Diwan-i-
Wizarat -
Finance
2. Ariz - Military

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 3. Bandgan -
slaves and
PoW
4. Insha - posts
and letters
5. Risalat -
Religion
6. Kohi - Agri
7. Muniha -
Spies
8. Mustakhraj -
tax collection
9. Kazi - judicial

• MUGHALS
o Babur (1526-30)
1. Battles -
a. Battle of Panipat, 1526 - Babur+Rana Sanga+Daulatkhan Lodhi +
Mohammud Lodhi vs Ibrahim Lodhi
b. Battle of Khanwa, 1527 - vs Rana Sanga
c. Battle of Chanderi, 1528 (MP) - vs Medini Raja of MP
d. Battle of Ghaghra, 1529 (Bihar)- vs Mohd Lodhi
2. First to use artillery and gun powder in India
3. Autobiography - "Tuzuk-i-Baburi" or Baburnama (in Turkish)
4. Wrote - "Risal-i-Usaz" (Letters of Babur)
o Humayun (1530-40, 55-56)
1. Battles-
a. Battle of Chausa, 1539 (Bihar)- Humayun vs Sher Shah Suri
(afghan ruler) (suri won)
b. Battle of Kannauj, 1540 (UP) - Humayun vs Sher Shah Suri (suri
won)
c. Battle of Macchiwara , 1555 (Punjab) - Humayun vs Sikandar
Shah Suri (humayun won)
2. Died by falling from library (Shermandal) stairs at Puranaquila in Delhi,
1556
3. Built the city of Dinpanah (world refuge) => for refugees
4. Humayun's Tomb - built by wife Hameeda Bano Begum (haji begum)
5. Humayun Nama - Biograpahy of Humayun by his sister Gulbadan
begum

o Sher Shah Suri (1540-45)

1. Abolished Zamindari system => introduced New Land revenue system in India
(farmer to give 1/3rd tax to king)
2. Standardized weight and measurement
3. Issued first Rupiya (silver) and Dam (copper) coins
4. Reorganised postal system

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 5. First to Introduce Shariya Law for judicial purpose
6. Captured Chunar Fort, UP
7. Ministers-
1. Diwan-i-Wizarat => Revenue Finance
2. Ariz - army
3. Rasalat - foreign minister
4. Insha - communications
8. Judicial Dept => Muqadma - to give justice to people
9. Patta/Qabuliyat => written agreement btw govt and peasant => landholding
and tax was finalised - brought peasant closer to state (discouraging Jagir
system)
10. 3 categories of land for tax (good, middle, bad)
11. Extended GT road from Chittagong to Kabul
12. Built city of Shergarh - 6th foundational city of Delhi
o Hemu (Hem Chandra Vikramaditya) (Oct- Nov 1556)
1. Adviser of Islam Shah (son of Sher Shah Suri)
2. 1st Hindu emperor of Delhi in 350 years
3. Defeated akbar's forces in Oct => forces retreated => again battle (2nd Battle of
Panipat) => Akbar forces led by Bairam Khan won
o Akbar (1556-1605)
1. Guardian - Bairam Khan
2. 2nd Battle of Panipat, 1556 - Bairam Khan vs Hemu
3. Banned forcible conversion of PoW into slaves and release PoW
4. Married Jodha Bai/Harka Bai
5. Decree of Mazhar - decision of emperor is final in adjudication process
6. Abolished Pilgrim taxes on Hindus
7. Abolished religious tax (Jiziya)
8. Fatehpur Sikri - new capital city near Agra; Buland Darwaza (gateway of
Fatehpur Sikri) -> in memory of capturing Gujarat
9. Ibadat Khana - prayer house - religious discussion happened
10. Land Revenue System under Akbar (Todarmal)
o 3 types-
▪ Zabti System
▪ Ghalla-Bakshi
▪ Nasaq
o Zabti System (most prevalent)
a. Land measured in bighas by(bamboo jarib system)
b. 4 categories of land-
▪ Polaj - land cultivated every year
▪ Parati - fallow for 1 year
▪ Chachar - fallow for 2-3 years
▪ Banjar - fallow for longer
o Akbar offered loans (Taccavi) to peasants for seeds,
equipments, animals etc
c. Dahsala System - 10 year assessment to calculate land revenue
d. Farmers could pay in cash or kind
e. Land revenue was "renumeration of soveriegnty", NOT rent

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 11. Mansabdari System
1. Zat - personnel rank of mansabdar for hierarchy => no. of soldiers to be
maintained
2. Sawars - no. of horses to be maintained by Mansabdar
12. Battle of Haldighati - Man Singh vs Maharana Pratap of Mewar
13. Ralph Fitch (englishman) in Akbar's court => pioneer english man
14. Din-i-Ilahi/Tauhid-i-Ilahi
1. Wanted to spread ideology of Sul-i-kul (universal brotherhood)
2. Akbar's new Sufi type religion in 1582
3. No rituals/ceremonies/hierarchy/scripture etc
4. Voluntary and only those approved by Akbar could join
15. NAVRATNA of Akbar -
• Birbal, Todarmal, Tansen (composed Raga Rajdarbari in honour of
Akbar), Maharaja Maan Singh, Abul Fazl (Akbarnama, Ain-i-Akbari),
Abul Faizi (translated Mahabharat into Persian - "Razam Namah /
Razmanama") , Abdul Rahim Khan (son of Bairam Khan, Hindi poet),
Mulla Do Pyaza & Fakir-Aziao-din (religious advisor)
16. Tulsidas lived in Akbar's period
o Jehangir (1605-27)
1. Married Mehrunissa (Noor Mahal Noor Jahan)
2. Executed 5th Guru Arjan Dev
3. 1609 - received William Hawkins (envoy of EIC)
4. Built Shalimar & Nishant Gardens, Srinagar
5. Golden Age of Mughal Painting - Ustad Mansurr, Abul Hassan - paintings
6. Italian traveller Pietra Velle came
7. Introduced Du-aspa Sih-aspa => doubled the Sawar rank of Mansabdar without
changing Zat
8. Wrote Autobiography - "Tuzukh-i-Jahangiri"
o Shah Jahan (1627-57)
1. Golden Age of mughal architecture
2. Taj Mahal (1631-1653) - Ustad Isa Persian architect
3. Shifted capital from Agra to Shahjahanabad, Delhi
4. Built Jama Masjid, Red Fort, Peacock Throne
5. Francois Bernier, Manucci - travellers
6. Built Shahjahanabad - 7th city of Delhi
o Aurangzeb (1657-1707)
▪ Dara Sikoh -> translated Gita in Persian
• Was of Qadri Sufi order
• Battle Of Samugarh-> Aurangzeb killed Dara Sikoh
1. Used title - Alamgir
2. Aka Zinda Pir (living Saint)
3. Executed 9th Guru teg Bahadur
4. Reimposed Jiziya
5. Abolished Sati
6. Battle of Purandhar (Maharaja Jai Singh beat Shivaji) => Treaty Of Purandar -
humiliating treaty for Shivaji
7. Aka temple breaker

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 8. Tomb - Daulatabad (MH)
▪ Bibi-ka-Maqbara, Aurangabad - built by Bahadurshah 1 (in memory of his
mother)
• Shivaji
1. Paid soldiers in cash
2. Ashtapradhan
o Council of Ministers, each minister directly responsible to Shivaji
a. Peshwa - finance and gen admin. Later PM
b. Sar-i-Naubar or Senapati
c. Amatya - Accountant General or Majumdar (in bengal => record
keeper)
d. Waqenavis - intelligence, posts
e. Sachiv - Correspondence
f. Sumanta - Master of Ceremonies
g. Nyayadish - Justice
h. Pandit rao - Charities and religious admin
3. Chauth - military contribution paid to ward off attack of Marathas => on
neighbouring territories
4. Sardeshmukhi - additonal 10% on top of Chauth => on neighbouring territories
where Marathas claimed Hereditary rights
5. Administration inspired from Deccan style of administration

6.

• VIJAYANAGAR KINGDOM
a. After decline of Delhi sultanate =>

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 • South India to Bengal
• Vijaynagar kings claimed to rule on behalf of God Virupaksha
• Rulers also used title of "Hindu Suratrana" (hindu sultan)
• Capital on banks of Tungabhadra (aka Pampa)
• Clash with Bahmani kingdom wrt 3 areas -
a. Tungabhadra (tributary of Krishna) doab
b. Krishna Godavari delta
c. Konkan coast (MH)
• 4 dynasties -
a. Sangama
• Harihara and Bukka (founders)
• Deva Raya I
b. Suluva - Deva Raya II
c. Tuluva - Krishnadeva Raya (1509-29)
iv. Aravidu - Ram Raya
• Largely secular => religion as a political tool (Rivals => Bahmanis)
• Travellers -
a. Nicolo Conti - italian - Dev
Raya I
b. Abdul Razzak - Arab - Dev
Raya II
c. Domingo Paes - Portuguese -
KD Raya
d. Duarte Barbossa -
Portuguese - KD Raya

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 e. Fernao Nuniz - Italian - KD
Raya
f. Mahmud Wali Balkhi - from
Balkh
• KrishnaDeva Raya (1509-29)
a. Of Tuluva Dynasty
b. Babur speaks of him in his book Tuzuk-i-baburi
c. Patronized Telugu
d. Ashtadiggaja - Tenali Raman, allasani Pedannam Timanna etc
e. Great Scholar, wrote - Amuktamalyada, Jambavathikalyanam
f. Characterized by expansion and consolidation
g. Founded suburban township near Vijayanagara - "Nagalapuram" after his
mother
h. Temples -
1. Veerbhadra temple - Lepakshi
2. Virupaksha temple - Pattadakal
i. Admin -
1. Centralized admin with Bhoj (king) at top
2. Assisted by Brahmin mantri parishad
3. Divided into -
• Rajya or Mandalam
• Valanadu
• Nadu
• Melagram
• Gram
4. Nayakar System - feudal lords
• Amar Nayakar - military officers given land as salary - became
hereditary
i. They were Brahmins associated with royal court =>
given territories to govern by Raya
ii. Major political innovation of Vijayanagara
iii. Collected taxes and given territories to govern
iv. Could be transferred by king
v. Inspired by Iqta system of delhi sultanate
j. Society -
1. Brahmins influential
2. Education for upper caste and males
3. Temples had kalyanMandap
4. Temples were important
5. Women -
• No purdah system
• Polygamy prevalent
• Sati present
• Child marriage not known
• BAHMANI KINGDOM
o Basically Deccan -

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 o

o When Mohd Bin Tughlaq shifted capital to Daulatabad => many people stayed in
Deccan and estd Bahmani empire
o Estd by- Bahman Shah
o Imp Sultans -
1. Ferozeshah Bahman
• Multilingual
• Observatory at daulatabad
• Married DevaRaya I's daughter
2. Ahmad Shah Wali
• Sufi saint
• Chisti Silsila
• 1425 AD - Shifted capital from gulbarga to Bidar because -
i. Centrally located in Bahmani kingdom
ii. Convergence of 3 linguistic areas - Marathi, Kannad,
Telugu

3. Mahmud Gawan
• Wazir of mohd Shah II
• Divided empire into 8 provinces
• Died in 1482
o Split of Bahmani kingdom

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 ▪

1. Fought amongst each other and with Vijayanagar empire

2. Battle of Talikotta, Banihatti, Rakkasa Tangdi => Bahmani
confedaration won => later consumed by Mughals (Aurangzeb in deccan
campaign)
o Contributions
▪ Urdu Language
▪ Quli Qutub Shah wrote Diwan-e-QutubShahi
▪ GolGumbaz => by Adil Shahi kings

• Jagirdari System
a. Jagirdars => King's officials who enjoyed land gifted from king
b. Allotted Non-inheritable land area equivalent to their fee amount called Jagir
c. Responsible for maintenance of financial system of their area => collected
revenue and handed over to emperor
d. Zamindars come under Jagirdars => Jagirdar could remove Zamindar
• Zamindari System
a. Land owners => collected tax from peasant on behalf of imperial court or
military purpose
b. Hereditary right over land and claim share in peasant's output
• Mansabdari System
a. Introduced by Akbar
b. Mansab (rank) awarded to individual fixes -
1. Salary
2. Status in hierarchy
3. Number of armed retainers (tabinan) supposed to be maintained
4. Could be given administrative appointment (in court) also
c. Thus, mansabdari was a single service combining civil + military responsibilities
1. Salary can be paid in cash, but generally it was paid by jagir
2. Jagir grant meant => can collect taxes
d. Akbar introduced this Mansabdari system in 1571 with help of Shahbaz Khan
1. Broad outlines given by Abul Fazl in Ain-i-Akbari
e. Emperor could dismiss them at will
1. Appointment on recc of MirBakshi
f. Mansab ranks -
1. < 500 - mansab

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 2. 500-2500 - amirs
3. Khan-i-Khana => highest rank in army
• Rank > 5000 => given to princes
o Categorisation of mansab -
▪ Zat (personal) - fixed personnel status of person, and also his salary
▪ Sawar - no. of cavalarymen required to be maintained
• Dah-bisti (10-20 system) => for 10 sawars, there should be 20
horses
o Dagh System - branding of horses (periodical inspection of horses to reduce gap
btw no. of horsemen on paper and those actually employed)
• Ijaradaari System
a. Revenue Farmer => extracted revenue from peasant
b. Introduced by Shah Jahan - popularized by Aurangzeb
• Bhaichaari System (1800s - John Lawrence)
a. Land Revenue system => no patta => on trust

• TRAVELLERS
a. Al Masudi - 890AD - aka "Herodotus of Arabs" - wrote Muruj-ul-Dahab
b. Al Beruni - Mahmud of Ghazni - wrote Kitab-al-Hind, Tehqeek-i-Hind, translated
sanskrit works like Patanjali's grammar into Arabic - Father of Indology
c. Marco Polo - Venetian - Rudramadevi Kakatiya's dynasty - 1292-94AD (Pandyan
Kingdom - stopped at Coromandel and Malabar coast when returning from
China)
d. Ibn Batuta - Moroccan - Mohd Bin Tughlaq - 1333-47 AD -wrote Rihla (the
travelogue)
e. Nicolo Conti - Italian - Devaraya I - gold & spice trade
f. Abdur Razzaq - ambassador of Shahruk of Timurid Dynasty - Deveraya II of
Vijaynagar - 1442-45AD
g. Domingo Paes - Krishnadevaraya (1520-1522) => described Nayakar system of
Vijaynagar empire
h. Ralph Fitch - English - Akbar
i. Antonio Montserrate - Portuguese - Akbar
j. Sir Thomas Roe - English diplomat - Jehangir (1615)
k. Peter Mundy - English - Shah Jahan
l. Nicollo Manucci - Italian - 5 mughal emperors Shah Jahan to Farukkhsiyar
m. Francois Bernier - French Physician to Aurangzeb - close to Dara Shikoh -
compared India as inferior to Europe, Travels in the Mughal Empire (book)
n. Jean Baptiste Travernier - French - Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb

• TERMS
a. Amil-Guzar - collects revenue
1. Jama - amount assessed
2. Hasil - amount collected
b. 2 types of peasants in 17th century
1. Khud-kashta - residents of the village in which they held their lands
2. Pahi-kashta - non-resident cultivators who belonged to other villages =>
cultivated on contractual basis

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 c. Merchants -
1. Masattuvan in Tamil
2. Setthis, Satthavahas in Prakrit
3. Chettiyars
d. Taxes -
1. Wujuhat - cattle tax
2. Haq-i-Sharb - irrigation tax
3. Khizrawat - vegetable tax
4. Galla-i-chungi - grains tax
e. British India-
1. Jotedar - rich Ryot
2. Mandal - village headmen
3. Amlah - officer of Zamindar appointed by court
4. Adhiyar/Bargadar - share cropper

f.

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 g.

Rishabh Kumar Rewar – AIR 104, CSE 2020

Jayant & Rishabh UPSC CSE Notes and Strategy - https://t.me/jayantrishabh
 i.

Rishabh Kumar Rewar – AIR 104, CSE 2020

Jayant & Rishabh UPSC CSE Notes and Strategy - https://t.me/jayantrishabh