Early Medieval India and the Delhi Sultanate

Early invasions

• Arabs: Muhammad bin Qasim conquered Sindh in 712 CE, defeating Raja Dahir.
• Mahmud of Ghazni made 17 raids between 1000 and 1027. The best known is the raid on the Somnath temple in 1025. Al-Biruni came with him and wrote Kitab-ul-Hind.
• Muhammad Ghori:
  • First battle of Tarain (1191): Prithviraj Chauhan won.
  • Second battle of Tarain (1192): Ghori won.
  • Battle of Chandawar (1194): Ghori defeated Jaichand of Kannauj.
• Bakhtiyar Khalji overran Bihar and Bengal (c. 1193–1205) and destroyed Nalanda and Vikramashila.

The five dynasties of the Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526)

Dynasty	Rulers and events
Mamluk / Slave (1206–1290)	Qutbuddin Aibak (began the Qutb Minar; "Lakh Bakhsh"; died playing chaugan). Iltutmish (real founder; capital Delhi; iqta system; silver tanka and copper jital; the Chahalgani, or Forty; recognised by the Abbasid Caliph in 1229; completed the Qutb Minar). Razia Sultan (1236–40), the only woman ruler. Balban (Zil-i-Ilahi; sijda and paibos; broke the Forty; diwan-i-arz, the military department)
Khalji (1290–1320)	Alauddin Khalji: market control (price control by shahna-i-mandi), dagh (branding of horses) and huliya (descriptive roll of soldiers), land revenue raised to half of produce based on measurement, faced Mongol invasions, Malik Kafur's southern campaigns (Devagiri, Warangal, Dwarasamudra, Madurai), siege of Chittor (1303), built Alai Darwaza and Siri fort
Tughlaq (1320–1414)	Ghiyasuddin (Tughlaqabad). Muhammad bin Tughlaq: capital moved to Daulatabad (1327); token currency of copper and brass; tax increase in the doab; the Khurasan and Qarachil expeditions; Ibn Battuta came to his court. Firoz Shah Tughlaq: canals; jizya on Brahmins; new towns (Hisar, Jaunpur, Firozabad); employment bureau; brought Ashokan pillars to Delhi. Timur's invasion (1398)
Sayyid (1414–1451)	Khizr Khan; a weak dynasty
Lodi (1451–1526)	Afghan. Bahlol Lodi. Sikandar Lodi founded Agra (1504) and introduced the gaz-i-Sikandari measure. Ibrahim Lodi was defeated by Babur at Panipat, 1526

Administration and economy

• Officials:
  • Wazir headed revenue and finance (diwan-i-wizarat).
  • Ariz-i-mumalik ran the military department (diwan-i-arz).
  • Diwan-i-insha handled correspondence.
  • Diwan-i-risalat handled religious affairs.
  • Qazi was the judge.
• Iqta: land revenue assignments given to muqtis or iqtadars in return for military service.
• Taxes: kharaj (land tax), jizya, zakat and khams (one-fifth of war booty).
• Architecture: the true arch and dome. Examples are the Qutb Minar, the Alai Darwaza and the tomb of Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq.
• Literature: Amir Khusrau, the "Tuti-e-Hind", wrote in Persian and Hindavi and is linked to the qawwali and the sitar (traditionally). Ziauddin Barani wrote Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi. Minhaj-us-Siraj wrote Tabaqat-i-Nasiri.

Vijayanagara and the Bahmanis

• Vijayanagara was founded in 1336 by Harihara and Bukka, of the Sangama dynasty, with the blessing of Vidyaranya. Its capital was Hampi on the Tungabhadra.
  • Dynasties: Sangama, Saluva, Tuluva and Aravidu.
  • Krishnadeva Raya (1509–29) was the greatest ruler. He wrote Amuktamalyada in Telugu, his court had the Ashtadiggajas (Allasani Peddana and others), and he built the Vitthala and Hazara Rama temples.
  • Administration: the Nayankara system, in which nayakas held military fiefs, and the ayagar system of village servants.
  • Foreign visitors: Nicolo Conti, Abdur Razzaq, Domingo Paes and Fernao Nuniz.
  • Battle of Talikota (Rakshasi–Tangadi), 1565: the Deccan Sultanates (Bijapur, Ahmadnagar, Golconda and Bidar) defeated Rama Raya, and Hampi was destroyed.
• Bahmani kingdom (1347): founded by Hasan Gangu (Alauddin Bahman Shah), with its capital at Gulbarga and later Bidar. The minister Mahmud Gawan built the Bidar madrasa. The kingdom later split into five Deccan Sultanates.
• Regional kingdoms: Jaunpur (the Sharqis, and the Atala Masjid), Bengal (the Ilyas Shahis, and Husain Shah), Gujarat, Malwa (Mandu), Kashmir (Zain-ul-Abidin, "Budshah"), and Mewar (Rana Kumbha's Vijay Stambh).

The Bhakti movement

• Early bhakti in the south (6th–9th century): the Alvars (Vaishnava, 12 saints, the Divya Prabandham) and the Nayanars (Shaiva, 63 saints, the Tevaram).
• Philosophers:

Teacher	Philosophy
Shankaracharya (8th century)	Advaita (non-dualism)
Ramanuja (11th century)	Vishishtadvaita (qualified non-dualism)
Madhvacharya	Dvaita (dualism)
Nimbarka	Dvaitadvaita
Vallabhacharya	Shuddhadvaita; the Pushtimarg

• Virashaivas (Lingayats): Basavanna, 12th century, Karnataka. Their verses are vachanas; they opposed caste and ritual.
• North India:
  • Ramananda brought bhakti north, and his disciples came from all castes.
  • Nirguna saints worshipped a God without form: Kabir (Bijak, sakhis and ramainis), Ravidas and Guru Nanak (founder of Sikhism, 1469–1539).
  • Saguna saints worshipped God with form: Tulsidas (Ramcharitmanas, in Awadhi), Surdas (Sursagar, in Braj), Mirabai and Chaitanya (Bengal, kirtan).
• Maharashtra: Jnaneshwar (Jnaneshwari), Namdev, Eknath and Tukaram (abhangas), part of the Varkari tradition of Pandharpur (Vithoba).
• Assam: Sankardev (the namghar and Ekasarana dharma).

The Sufi movement

• Silsilas (orders):
  • Chishti, which kept away from the state: Moinuddin Chishti (Ajmer), Bakhtiyar Kaki (Delhi), Baba Farid (whose verses are in the Guru Granth Sahib), Nizamuddin Auliya (Delhi) and Salim Chishti (Fatehpur Sikri).
  • Suhrawardi, which accepted state patronage: Bahauddin Zakariya (Multan).
  • Firdausi, in Bihar: Sheikh Sharfuddin Yahya Maneri of Maner, near Patna.
  • Naqshbandi (orthodox): Sheikh Ahmad Sirhindi in Mughal times.
  • Qadiri.
• Practices and terms: khanqah (hospice), sama (music), pir–murid (master and disciple), dargah, wahdat-ul-wujud (unity of being).

Exam tip: Pair each saint with region, language and work. For Bihar, remember Maner Sharif (Firdausi silsila) and Bakhtiyar Khalji's attack on Nalanda. JPSC asks about the tribal and Vaishnava (Chaitanya) links of Chotanagpur.