In July 1658, Aurangzeb ascended the throne as the Emperor.
Shaista Khan was appointed the Governor of the Deccan in 1660 with the main purpose of crushingShivaji.
Shivaji hit upon a bold plan. He entered Poona at night with 400 soldiers in the form of a marriage party and attacked the home of Shaista Khan.
Aurangzeb was forced to recall Shaista Khan from the Deccan in December 1663.

Chaitanya's concern, unlike that of Kabir, was not with bringing people to an understanding of a God, beyond all creeds and formulations; it was to exalt the superiority of Krishna over all other deities.

1. 'Settlement' refers to the assessment and fixing of the quantum of land revenue to be paid by each zamindar to the government.
2. For Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, this was fixed permanently.
3. Thus the zamindars who were originally tax collectors acquired hereditary rights over the land assigned by the government.

• The National Social Conference organized at the initiative of M.G. Ranade met each year immediately after the Indian National Congress (1885) annual sessions.
• Justice Ranade was an erudite scholar with a keen intellect and under his able guidance, the Prarthana Samaj became the active center of a new social reformation in western India.
• He was one of the founders of the Widow Marriage Association and was an ardent promoter of the famous Deccan Education Society.
• Its object was to impart such education to the young as would fit them for the unselfish service of the country.
• When Ranade died in 1901, his leadership was taken over by Chandavarkar.

1. Akbar provided a systematic and centralised system of administration which contributed to the success of the empire.
2. He introduced the Mansabdari system.
3. The nobles, civil and military officials combined into one single service with each officer receiving the title of Mansabdar.
4. Mansabdar rank was divided into Zat and Sawar.
5. The former determined the number of soldiers each Mansabdar received ranging from 10 to 10,000. The latter determined the number of horses under a Mansabdar.
6. Each officer could rise from the lowest to the highest ranks. Promotions and demotions were made through additions or reductions of Mansabs.
7. The Mansabdari system diversified the ethnic base of his nobility.

1. The battle was fought at Talikota or Rakshasi- Tangadi in January 1565 in which Ramaraya, in spite of his old age, personally commanded the forces along with his cousins and brothers.
2. In the final stages, the battle was lost. Ramaraya was imprisoned and executed immediately.
3. The victorious Bahmani armies entered the Vijayanagar city for the first time in their history, and ransacked it for several months laying it waste.

1. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, horse trade was brisk.
2. Marco Polo and Wassaff state that the kings invested in horses as there was a need of horses for ceremonial purposes and for fighting wars.
3. Those who were trading in horses were called kudirai-chetti.

1. The rockcut shrines at Ellora and Elephanta located in present-day Maharashtra belong to their period.
2. The Ellora cave complex contains the features of Buddhist, Hindu and Jain monuments and art work.
3. Amoghavarsha I espoused Jainism and there are five Jain cave temples at Ellora ascribed to his period.
4. The most striking structure at Ellora is the creation of the Monolithic Kailasanath Temple. .
5. The temple was hewn out of a single rock during the time of Krishna I in the 8th century.

1. The mahajanapadas on the Gangetic plains were all monarchies.
2. The king was also the sovereign ruler.
3. The king levied taxes out of agricultural surplus and redistributed it and ensured maintenance of law and order in a hierarchical society by force and coercion.
4. These features marked the formation of state in the Gangetic plains.

The Mesolithic people lived in semi permanent and temporary settlements.
1. They occupied caves and open grounds.
2. They buried the dead.
3. They had artistic skill.
4. They were spread over wider geographical regions.

1. Famine, though no stranger to India, increased in frequency and deadliness with the advent of British colonial rule.
2. Between 1800 and 1825, there were only four famines. But in the last quarter of the century there were 22 famines. It is estimated that over five million died. By 1901, Romesh Chunder Dutt, a former ICS officer and a staunch nationalist, enumerated 10 mass famines since the 1860s, putting the total death toll at 15, million.
3. The laissez faire (non-intervention) principles to which the colonial state was committed since 1833 was applied to famines also. For years, western educated Indians had argued that British rule was grossly impoverishing India
4. The Orissa famine, in which one third of the population died of starvation and disease, served as a patent proof of this thesis. It prompted nationalist Dadabhai Naoroji, to begin his lifelong investigations into Indian poverty.
5. Madras Famine of 1876-78: The failure of two successive monsoons caused a severe famine in the Madras Presidency during 1876-78.
6. The viceroy Lytton adopted an hands-off approach similar to that followed in Orissa. 3.5 million people died in the presidency.
7. The introduction of plantation crops and slope cultivation in Ceylon, Mauritius, Fiji, Malaya, the Caribbean islands, Natal and South Africa required enormous labour. Initially slave labour was used for this purpose. But after the Company government abolished slavery in India (1843), the system of indentured was used.

The overall contribution of Brahmo Samaj can be summed up as follows
• It denounced polytheism, idol worship, and the faith in divine avatars (incarnations)
• It condemned the caste system, dogmas and superstitions .
• It wanted the abolition of child marriage, purdah system and the practice of sati
• It supported widow remarriage

1. From the beginning, both the Bahmani and Vijayangar kingdoms were in constant conflict. The contest for territory, tribute, and the control of horse trade were the major subjects of conflict.
2. Each of them wanted to annex and dominate the fertile area between the Krishna and the Tungabhadra (the Raichur doab). Though neither of them succeeded fully, much bloodshed took place for some transitory success.
3. Some historians argue that religious rivalry between the Hindu Vijayanagar and the Muslim Sultanate was the basic cause of this continuous fight.
4. Actually the Vijayanagar kings fought also with many Hindu, non-Muslim rulers, like those of Warangal, Kondavidu, Orissa, etc., in which Muslim rulers took part as allies sometimes and as enemies on other times.
5. The control of horse trade that passed through Goa and other ports was another reason for the fighting. Horses were necessary for the armies of both sides. In spite of continuous fighting, the Krishna river was more or less the dividing line between the two powers.
6. In coastal Andhra, the power struggle was between the Gajapati kingdom of Orissa and Vijayanagar. Vijayanagar couldnot make much headway until the time of Devaraya II (1422-46), who defeated the Orissan army in some battles.
7. But these conquests were only to extract tribute, and no territory was added. Devaraya II was the greatest ruler of the Sangama dynasty. He strengthened his cavalry by recruiting trained Muslim cavalry for his army and giving archery training to his soldiers.
8. Abdur Razaak, the Persian ambassador who visited the Zamorin of Kochi and the Vijayanagar court during this time states that Devaraya II controlled a vast area. He received tribute from the king of Sri Lanka too.

Shivaji land revenue administration	Peshwa land revenue adminstration
The revenue administration of Shivaji was humane and beneficent to the cultivators.	Land revenue was the main source of income
The lands were carefully surveyed and assessed.	The Peshwas followed the system of tax farming. Land was settled against a stipulated amount to be paid annually to the government
The state demand was fixed at 30% of the gross produce to be payable in cash or kind.	The fertility the land was assessed for fixation of taxes. Income was derived from the forests.
Later, the tax was raised to 40%. The amount of money to be paid was fixed.	Permits were given on the payment of a fee for cutting trees and using pastures.
In times of famine, the government advanced money and grain to the cultivators which were to be paid back in instalments later.	Revenue was derived even from the sale of grass, bamboo, fuel wood, honey and the like.
Liberal loans were also advanced to the peasants for purchasing cattle, seed, etc	The land revenue assessment was based on a careful survey. Land was divided into three classes according to the kinds of the crops, facilities for irrigation and productivity of the land.

1. Sufism had become an influential aspect of Islamic social life as it extended over almost the entire Muslim community.
2. Sufism represents the inward or esoteric side and the mystical dimension of Islam.
3. Sufi saints transcended religious and communal distinctions, and worked for promoting the interest of humanity at large.
4. The Sufis were a class of philosophers remarkable for their religious catholicity and tolarance.
5. Sufis regarded God as the supreme beauty and believed that one must admire it, take delight in His thought and concentrate his attention on Him only.
6. They believed that God is 'Mashuq' (beloved) and Sufis are the' Ashiqs' (lovers). Sufism crystallized into various 'Silsilahs' or orders.
7. The most popular Sufi orders were Chistis, Suhrawardis, Qadiriyahs and Naqshbandis.
8 Sufism took root in both rural and urban areas, arid exercised a deep social, political and cultural influence on the masses.
9. It rebelled against all forms of religious formalism, orthodoxy, falsehood and hypocrisy, and endeavored to create a new world order in which spiritual bliss was the ultimate goal.
10. At a time when struggle for political power was the prevailing trend, the Sufi saints reminded people of their moral obligations.
11. In a world torn by strife and conflict they tried to bring peace and harmony.
12 The most important contribution of Sufism is that it helped to blunt the edge of Hindu-Muslim conflicts and prejudices by forging the feelings of solidarity and brotherhood between these two religious communities.

• Vellore Revolt 1806 was the culmination of the attempts of the descendants of the dethroned kings and chieftains in south India to throw of the yoke of the British rule.
• After the suppression of revolt of Marudu brothers, they made Vellore the centre of their activity.
• The organizers of an Anti-British Confederacy continued their secret moves, as a result of which no fewer than 3,000 loyalists of Mysore sultans had settled either in the town of Vellore or in its vicinity.
• The garrison of VeIlore itself consisted of many aggrieved persons, who had been reduced to dire straits as a sequel to loss of positions or whose properties had been confiscated or whose relatives were slain by the English.
Causes:
• In the meantime, the English enforced certain innovations in the administration of the sepoy establishments. They prohibited all markings on the forehead which were intended to denote caste and religious, and directed the sepoys to cut their moustaches to a set pattern. Added to these, Adjutant General Agnew designed and introduced under his direct supervision a new model turban for the sepoys.
• The most obnoxious innovation in the new turban, from the Indian point of view, was the leather cockade. The cockade. was made of animal skin. Pig skin was anathema to Muslims, while upper caste Hindus shunned anything to do with the cow's hide. To make matters worse the front part of the uniform had been converted into a cross.
• The order regarding whiskers, caste marks and earrings, which infringed the religious customs of both Hinduand Muslim soldiers, was justified on the grounds that, although they had not been prohibited previously by any formal order, it had never been the practice in any well-regulated corps for the men to appear with them on parade.

Economy:
1. The Mughal economy was a forest-based agricultural economy.
2. The forests provided the raw materials for the craftsmen.
3. Timber went to carpenters, wood carvers and shipwrights, lacquerware makers; wild silk to reelers and weavers; charcoal to iron miners and metal smiths. .
4. Hence the relationship between manufacturing and the forest was very close.
Trade and commerce:
1. The political integration of the country with efficient maintenance of law and order ensured brisk trade and commerce.
2. The surplus was carried to different parts of the country through rivers, and through the roads on ox and camel drawn carts. Banjaras were specialised traders who carried goods in a large bulk over long distances.
3. Bengal was the chief exporting centre of rice, sugar, muslin, silk and food grains.
4. The Coromandel coast was reputed for its textile production. Kashmiri shawls and carpets were distributed from Lahore which was an important centre of handicraft production.
5. The movement of goods was facilitated by letters of credit called hundi.
6. The network of sarais enabled the traders and merchants to travel to various places.
7. The traders came from all religious communities: Hindus, Muslims and Jains. The Bohra Muslims of Gujarat, Marwaris of Rajasthan, Chettiars on Coromandel coast, and Muslims of Malabar were prominent trading communities.

• Dupleix, French governor, had conceived the possibility of using the power of guns to gain support within the country itself.
• Dupleix was a man of remarkable energy and diplomatic skills with a piercing vision into the realities of local politics, though hampered by lack of military knowledge and by a nervous sensibility which made it difficult for him to work with colleagues. 
• It happened that at this moment a breakdown occurred in the authority of the Nizam of whose dominions the Carnatic with its European settlements formed a part.
• This provided the opportunity for the second phase of the struggle, which may be termed Dupleix's private war.
• In 1748 the old Nizam, a contemporary of Aurangzeb, died and there was also rivalry for the governorship of the Carnatic.
• French help secured the defeat of the new Nizam's nominee so easily that Dupleix was tempted to go further. On the murder of the new Nizam he was able to place his own nominee on the Hyderabad throne supported by a body of French troops under officer de Bussy .
• The object of all this was to squeeze Madras by surrounding it with hostile territory. As the plan developed the English Company propped up Muhammad Ali, the son of the governor defeated in 1749.
• He held out in the rock fortress of Trichinopoly and he became a key factor in the struggle between the two companies. But Robert Clive, a British general, seized Arcot in 1751 with 210 men.
• This led to the reversal of fortune, French forces surrendered at Trichinopoly and soon their candidate for the Nizam's chair, Chanda Sahib, also died. Dupliex was soon recalled.
• The final phase was again an open struggle brought on by the Seven Years War. The English were first in the field but their force was diverted to Bengal.
• When the French forces arrived in 1758 they were crippled by jealousies and bad leadership. They failed to take Madras and were decisively defeated at Wandiwash in 1760, where de Bussy was taken prisoner.
• Brave to the last de Bussy endured an agonizing siege in Pondicherry for eight months until its fall. This was the real end of the French bid for Indian power.
• They reappeared in 1782 but it was just a passing phase only made notable by the genius of their admiral de Suffren

1. The Cholas built and patronised innumerable temples.
2. The royal temples in Thanjavur, Gangaikonda Chozhapuram and Darasuram are the repositories of architecture, sculpture, paintings and iconography of the Chola arts.
3. The temples became the hub of social, economic, cultural and political activities.
4. The paraphernalia of the temples including temple officials, dancers, musicians, singers, players of musical instruments and their masers headed by the priests worshipping the gods reflect the royal court.
5. In the initial stages, architecturally, the Chola temples are simple and modest. Sepulchral temples (pallip-padai) also were built where the kings were buried.

Conciliatory Policy towards Nobles:
Firuz Tughlaq followed a conciliatory policy towards the nobles and theologians. Firuz restored the property of the owners who had been deprived of it during the reign of Muhammad Tughlaq.
Firuz Policy of No Wars:
Firuz waged no wars of annexation, though he was not averse to putting down rebellions challenging his authority.
Religious Policy:
Firuz favoured orthodox Islam. He proclaimed his state to be an Islamic state largely to satisfy the theologians.
Public Works:
Firuz undertook many irrigation projects. A canal he dug from Sutlej river to Hansi and another canal in Jumna indicate his sound policy of public works development.

1. Guild is a society or other organisation of people with common interests or an association of merchants.
2. There are several references in several sources to artisans, traders and occupational groups in the guilds.
3. Guilds continued as the major institution in the manufacture of goods and in commercial enterprise.
4. The Narada and Brihaspati Smritis describe the organisation and activities of guilds.
5. They mention that the guild had a chief and two, three or five executive officers.
6. Guild laws were apparently laid down in written documents. The Brihaspati Srnriti refers to guilds rendering justice to their members and suggests that these decisions should, by and large, be approved by the king.

Foreign Notices
The following Greek and Latin sources inform us about the long distance cultural and commercial connections.
1. The Periplus of Erythrean Sea, an ancient Greek text of the first century CE.
2. Pliny the Elder's Natural History, first century CE
3. Ptolemy's Geography, second century CE
4. Vienna Papyrus G 40822, aGreek document datable to the second century CE.
5. A Roman Map called Peutingerian Table

About 500 years after Mahavira's death, in about 79 or 82 CE, a schism occurred in Jainism. Magadha was affected by severe famine and some of the Jaina monks under Bhadrabahu went south to maintain their strict discipline. They remained without garments and were known as Digambaras (space-clad or naked). Others stayed back under the leadership of Sthulabhadra and adopted a white garment and were known as Svetambaras (white-clad). The schism weakened Jainism in Magadha, but it foundardent followers in Gujarat, Rajasthan,Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Karnataka.

The Neolithic period marked the beginning of agriculture and animal domestication.
1. Early evidence of Neolithic culture is found in the Fertile Crescent region of Egypt and Mesopotamia, the Indus region, the Ganges valley of India and also in China.
2. The introduction of domestication of animals and plants resulted in the production
3. Supply of a large quantity of grains and animal food.
4. The fertile soil deposited by the rivers enhanced the growth of agriculture, generating a surplus of grains.
5. Surplus food production played a major role in the rise of early civilisations. Large villages came to exist and pottery developed.
6. Permanent residences were built.

• Albuquerque (1509-1515), the.successor of Almeida, was the real founder of the Portuguese empire in India.
• He defeated Yusuf Adil Khan, the ruler of Bijapur in 1510 and captured Goa.
• He developed Goa into a centre of commerce by making all the ships sail on that route.
• He encouraged people of all faiths to settle in Goa.

Social reform movements formed an integral part of the religious reforms primarily because all the efforts towards social ills like caste- and gender- based inequality derived legitimacy from religion.

• According to the treaty of Srirangapatnam, the Tipu was to give up half of his dominions, pay three crores of rupees as indemnity, and pledge two of his sons as hostages.
• The allies were given equal shares of the indemnity and of the ceded territories

1.Harihara and Bukka, the eldest sons of one Sangama, earlier serving the Hoysala rulers of Karnataka, asserted their independence and laid foundation for a new kingdom in about 1336
2. Initially their capital was in or near about Anegondi on the north bank of the Tungabhadra river.But soon it was shifted to the Hoysala town Hosapattana (near Hampi) on the south bank.
3. The capital was expanded and renamed Vijayanagara, the city of Victory.

1. Poets and saints emerged from various parts of the country.
2. They were critical of rituals, and criticised the caste system.
3. Rather than using Sanskrit for expressing their devotion, they employed the language of the common people.
4. The radical ideas, and the easy but catchy language often set to music made them popular among the masses.

1. Al-Beruni: Tarikh-Al-Hind (Indian Philosophy and Religion written in Arabic )
2. MinhejueSiraj: Tabaqat-i-Nasiri (1260) (World Islamic History written in Arabic )

1. Hieun Tsang recorded the fame of the Nalanda University. Students and scholars from the Buddhist countries like China, Japan, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Tibet
2. Some other countries of Central and Southeast Asia stayed and studied in the university.
3. Shilabhadra, a reputed Buddhist scholar, who probably hailed from Assam, was the head of the University during the visit of Hieun Tsang.
4. As an educational centre of international fame, Nalanda had 10,000 students on its rolls.
5. Dharmapala, Chandrapala, Shilabhadra, Bhadrihari, Jayasena, Devakara and Matanga were important teachers in the university receiving royal patronage.

1. Menander successfully attacked Pataliputra, but retreated without consolidating his conquest.
2. Interestingly, in his coins, he is described as "king" and "soter" or saviour, and not as a great conqueror.

Bimbisara extended the territory of Magadhan Empire by matrimonial alliances and conquests.

Agni, Surya, Siva, Sinivalli, Ushas.