Serfoji's most striking initiative was the founding and management of free elementary and secondary schools for orphans and the poor in Thanjavur city and other adjacent places.
Included were schools for all levels, charity schools, colleges and padashalas for Sanskrit higher learning. The schools catered to the court elites, Vedic scholars, orphans and the poor. I
A second innovation was the introduction of navavidya ('modem' or 'new' learning) in the state-run schools.
In 1822, at the free school in Muktambal Chattiram the king's favourite almshouse established in 1803, 15 teachers taught a total of 464 students of diverse castes, in two classes, in the morning and in the evening.
Serfoji also supported a free school for needy Christians, run by missionaries in the village ofKannandangudi.
Serfoji II established Dhanvantari Mahal, a research institution that produced herbal medicine for humans and animals. Maintaining case-sheets of patients was introduced.
Physicians of modem medicine, Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha schools undertook research on drugs and herbs for medical cure. They produced eighteen volumes of research material.
Serfoji II was a patron of traditional Indian arts like dance and music. He authored Kumarasambhava Champu, Devendra Kuravanji, and Mudra rakshaschaya.
He introduced western musical instruments like clarinet, and violin in Carnatic music.
Serfoji's strategic initiatives in modem education enabled the Thanjavur court elite and subjects to enter and benefit from the emerging colonial social and economic order

Balaji Viswanath, his son Baji Rao I was appointed Peshwa in 1720 by Shahu.
Baji Rao enhanced the power and prestige of the Maratha Empire by defeating the Nizam of Hyderabad, the Rajput Governor of Malwa and the Governor of Gujarat.
He freed Bundelkhand from the control of Mughals and for this the Marathas got one third of the territories from its ruler.
The commander-in-chief, Trimbak Rao, who troubled the Peshwa, was defeated and killed in the battle ofDabhai near Baroda in 1731.
And the Peshwaassumed the office of the commander-in-chief also.
By the treaty ofWama signed in 1731, Sambhaji of Kolhapur was forced to accept the sovereignty of Shahu.
Thana, Salsette and Bassein were captured from the Portuguese in 1738 and they were driven out of the Konkan coast.
At the same time, the English made friendly overtures to the Marathas and got the right to free trade in the Deccan region.

Shivaji began his military career at the age of nineteen. In 1646, he captured the fortress of Torna from the Sultan of Bijapur.
The fort of Raigad, located five miles east of Torna, was captured and wholly rebuilt. After the death of Dadaji Kondadev in 1647, Shivaji took over all the jagirs of his father.
Subsequently, the forts of Baramati, Indapura, Purandhar and Kondana came-under his direct control. The Marathas had already captured Kalyan, an important town in that region.
Shivaji's father had been humiliated and imprisoned by the Sultan of Bijapur. He negotiated with Prince Murad, the Mughal Viceroy of the Deccan and expressed his wish to join Mughal service.
The Sultan of Bijapur released Shahji in 1649 on some conditions. So, Shivaji refrained from. his military activities from 1649 to 1655 During this period, he consolidated his power and toned up his administration.
In 1656, Shivaji re-started his military activities. He captured Jav1i in the Satara district and the immense booty that he won made him popular among the Marathas. Many young men joined his army. A new fort, Pratapgarh, was built two miles west of Javli.

1. The bhakti reformers preached the principles of monotheism (oneness of God)
2. They believed in freedom from the cycle of life and death. They advocated that the salvation could be attained only by deep devotion and faith in God.
3. They emphasized the self-surrender for obtaining the bliss and grace of God.
4. Gurus could act as guides and preceptors.
5. They advocated the principle of Universal brotherhood.
6. They criticized idol worship.
7. They stressed the singing of hymns with deep devotion.
8. Arguing that all living beings, including humans, were god's children they strongly denounced caste system which divided people according to their birth.
9. They condemned ritualism, pilgrimages and fasts.
10 They did not consider any language as sacred and composed poems in the language of the common people.

• 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.

• The official religious policy of the East India Company was one of neutrality towards the native religions. Their reason for continuing this policy was the belief that the earlier Portuguese rule had come to an end because of their attempts to forcibly convert people to Christianity. As a result of this concern, the Company government prohibited the entry of missionaries into the territories under their control.
• In 1793 two English missionaries, William Carey and John Thomas, both Baptists, set out to India with the intention of starting a mission. In view of the ban on missionary activity they settled down in the Danish Colony of Serampore, north of Calcutta. Carey, along with two other missionaries, Joshua Marshman and William Ward established the Serampore Mission in 1799.
• The Serampore missionaries were the first evangelical Baptist missionaries in India. They were followed later by other missionary groups belonging to different Protestant denominations. Before the arrival of the Serampore missionaries, several centuries earlier, there were Christian missions in the Portuguese territory of Goa, and also on the Malabar Coast and the Coromandel Coast. The work of the earlier missionaries was limited both geographically and in terms of the number of conversions to Christianity. Thus major attempts at proselytization began during the nineteenth century.
• The missionaries organised schools for the socially and economically deprived and pleaded for their economic improvement through employment in the state service. They also fought for their 'civil rights' that included access to public roads, and permission for the women of these groups to wear upper garments.
• The missionaries gave shelter to orphaned children and other destitute widows in their missions and provided education for them in their boarding schools. Particularly after the famines which were quite common during the nineteenth century, about which we discussed in the previous lesson, the missionaries organized relief.
• Providing shelter and succour gave these an opportunity to convert people to Christianity. In Tirunelveli district many villages took to Christianity during famines, especially in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The same phenomenon was witnessed in Andhra where Malas and Madigas embraced Christianity in a big way.
• The Company government did little to provide modern education for the native population. For a long time, the provision of elementary school facilities to the native population, especially in the interiors for the disprivileged and the poor people, was a responsibility willingly accepted by the Christian missionaries. It must be noted that the Christian Missionaries took the intiative of establishing Hospitals and Dispensaries.

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.

1. Akbar began his life as an orthodox Muslim but adopted an accommodative approach under the influence of Sufism.
2. Akbar was interested to learn about the doctrines of all religions, and propagated a philosophy of Sulh-i-Kul (peace to all).
3. Badauni, a contemporary author, who did not like Akbar's inter-religious interests, accused him of forsaking Islam.
4. Akbar had established an Ibadat Khana, a hall of worship in which initially Muslim I clerics gathered to discuss spiritual issues.
5. Later he invited Christians, Zoroastrians, Hindus, Jains and even atheists to discussions.
6. In 1582, he discontinued the debates in the Ibadat Khana as it led to bitterness among different religions.
7. However, he did not give up his attempt to know the Truth. Akbar discussed personally with the leading lights of different religions like Purushotam and Devi (Hinduism), Meherji Rana (Zorastrianism), the Portugese Aquaviva and Monserrate (Christianity) and Hira Vijaya Suri (Jainism) to ascertain the Truth. Because of the discussions he felt that behind the multiplicity of names there was but one God.
8. The exact word used by Akbar and Badauni to illustrate the philosophy of Akbar is Tauhid-i-Ilahi namely Din Ilahi. Tauhid-i-Ilahi literally meant divine monotheism.
9. It can be considered a sufistic order but not a new religion. He had become a Pir (Sufi Guru) who enrolled Murids (Sufi disciples) who would follow a set pattern of rules ascribed by the Guru.
10. Thousands of disciples enrolled as his disciples. Akbar's intention was to establish a state based on the concept of secular principles, equal toleration, and respect to all sections irrespective of their religious beliefs.
11. He set up a big translation department for translating works in Sanskrit, Arabic, Greek, etc, into Persian.
12. he Ramayana, Mahabharata, the Atharva Veda, the Bible and the Quran were translated into Persian. The Din Ilahi ceased to exist after Akbar.

Battle of Buxar (1764)
• After fleeing from Bengal Mir Qasim aligned with the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II and the Nawab of Oudh, Shuja-ud-daulah, who were equally aggrieved by the interference of the Company in their internal affairs.
• They declared war against the British.
• The battle was fought at Buxar (1764).
• By virtue of its superior armed the Company forces won the battle.
• The victory of the British led to the signing of the Treaty of Allahabad (1765) by Robert Clive with Shah Alam II.
• By this treaty the Company got the Diwani right to collect land revenue from the princely states of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.
• Besides, the Company obtained three districts, Burdwan, Chifiagong and Midnapur, in Bengal and sovereignty over Calcutta. British virtually became the rulers of Bengal.

1. Arab chieftain by name Maliku-l-Islam Jamaluddin. This agency facilitated the availability -of horses to Pandya kings.
2. In the inscriptions, the traders are referred to as nikamattor, nanadesi, ticai-ayiratu-ainutruvar, ainutruvar, manikiramattar and patinen-vishyattar.
3. They founded the trade guilds in Kodumpalur and Periyakulam.
4. The goods traded were spices, pearls, precious stones, horses, elephants and birds.
5. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, horse trade was brisk. 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.
6. Those who were trading in horses were called kudirai-chetti. They were active in maritime trade also The busiest port town under the Pandyas was Kayalpattinam (now in Thoothukudi district) on the east coast.
7. Gold coins were in circulation as the trade was carried through the medium of gold. It was variously called kasu, palankasu, anradunarpalankasu, kanam, kalancu and pon.

Society:
1. In the predominantly agrarian society prevailing during the Chola period, landholding was the prime determinant of social status and hierarchy.
2. The Brahmin landholders called brahmadeya-kilavars at the top brahmadeya settlements with tax exemption were created, displacing (kudi neekki) the local peasants.
3. Temples were gifted land known as devadana, which were exempted from tax, as in brahmadeyams.
4. The landholders of vellanvagai villages were placed next in the social hierarchy.
5. landholders retained melvaram (major share in harvest), the ulukudi got kizh varam (lower share); Labourers (paniceymakkal) and slaves (adimaigal) stayed at the bottom of social hierarchy.
Religion:
Puranic Hinduism, represented by the worship of Siva, Vishnu and associated (deities, had become popular by the time of the Cholas.

1. Ala-ud-din collected land taxes directly from the cultivators. The village headman who traditionally enjoyed the right to collect them was now deprived of it.
2. The tax pressure of Ala-ud-din was on the rich and not on the poor.
3. Ala-ud-din set up the postal system to keep in touch with all parts of his sprawling empire.

1. Land ownership was with the king, who could make revenue grants to his officers and land-grants to Brahmans, or else continue to have land cultivated by smallscale cultivators and landlords.
2. The latter was the most common practice. Crown lands were leased out to tenants-at-will. The status of the village varied according to the tenures prevailing.
3. The village with an inter-caste population paid land revenue. The brahmadeya villages were donated to a single Brahman or a group of Brahmans.
4. These villages tended to be more prosperous than the others because no tax was paid.
5. There were devadana villages, donated to a temple, and the revenue was consequently received by the temple authorities and not by the state.

1. Harsha was a worshipper of Siva at least up to 631 CE.
2. But he embraced Buddhism under the influence of his sister Rajyasri and the Buddhist monk Hieun Tsang.
3. He subscribed to the Mahayana school of thought. Yet he held discourses among learned men of various creeds.
4. Slaughter of animals and consumption of meat was restricted.
5. Harsha summoned two Buddhist assemblies (643 CE), one at Kanauj and another at Prayag.
6. assembly at Kanauj was attended by 20 kings including Bhaskaravarman of Kamarupa. A large number of Buddhist, Jain and Vedic scholars attended the assembly.
7. A golden statue of Buddha was consecrated in a monastery and a small statue of Buddha (three feet) was brought out in a procession.
8. The procession was attended by Harsha and other kings.

1. The Gupta kingdom emerged as a great power and achieved the political unification of a large part of the Indian subcontinent.
2. It featured a strong central government, bringing many kingdoms under its hegemony.
3. Feudalism as an institution began to take root during this period.
4. With an effective guild system and overseas trade, the Gupta economy boomed.
5. Great works in Sanskrit were produced during this period and a high level of cultural maturity in fine arts, sculpture and architecture was achieved.
6. The living standards of upper classes reached a peak.
7. Education, art and study of science progressed, but the feudal system of governance put people in some form of hardship.
8. Although some historians proclaim that Gupta period was a golden age.

1. This regular interchange of ambassadors and correspondence, as well as the extension of the Mauryan Empire till Afghanistan, facilitated regular trade from India to the West as far as Egypt
2. Trade was carried on by the overland route via north-west Afghanistan (Bactria) and also partly by the coastal route along the Persian Gulf and Red Sea.
3. A variety of luxury goods, including ivory, tortoise shell, pearls, indigo and other dyes.
4. aromatic substances like spikenard or nard (a fragrant oil from the Gangetic region) and malabathrum (leaf of cinnamon, used as an aromatic) and rare woods were exported from India.
5. Thus, The rise of Indo-Greek kings in Western India strengthened trade and cultural contacts.

The polities of the Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas were pre-state chiefdoms. The arguments for the latter view are:
1. No social stratification is noticed.
2. Proper territorial association is absent.
3. Destructive warfare did not allow the development of agriculture and surplus production for the emergence of the state.
4. No evidence of taxation as in the governments of North India.

1. The north-western part of India came under the control of the Persian Empire from about middle of the sixth century, the region became a centre of confluence of Persian and Indian culture.
2. The Persian contact left its impact on art, architecture, economy and administration of ancient India.
3. The cultural impact was felt most in the Gandhara region.
4. Most significant impact was the development of the Kharosthi script, used in the north-western part of India.
5. It was used by Ashoka in his inscriptions in the Gandhara region.
6. The Kharosthi script was derived from Aramaic used widely in the Achaemenid Empire of Persia.

1. The edicts of Ashoka thus constitute the most concrete source of information about the Mauryan Empire.
2. There are 33 edict comprising 14 Major Rock Edicts, 2 known as Kalinga edicts, 7 Pillar. Edicts, some Minor Rock Edicts and a few Minor Pillar Inscriptions.
3. The Major Rock Edicts extend from Kandahar in Afghanistan, Shahbazgarhi and Mansehra in northwest Pakistan to Uttarakhand district in the north, Gujarat and Maharashtra in the west, Odisha in the east and as far south as Karnataka and Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh.
4. Minor Pillar Inscriptions have been found as far north as Nepal (near Lumbini).
5. The edicts were written mostly in the Brahmi script and in Magadhi and Prakrit.
6. The Kandahar inscriptions are in Greek and Aramaic, while the two iriscriptions in north-west Pakistan are in Kharosthi script.

1. Right Views;
2. Right Resolve;
3. Right Speech;
4. Right Conduct;
5. Right Livelihood;
6. Right Effort;
7. Right Recollection;
8. Right Meditation.

Kacchayana believed that the world was made of seven substances that were unmade, irreducible, uncreated, barren, stable as a mountain peak, standing firm like a pillar that do not alter, do not change, do not interfere with one another, are incapable of causing one another pleasure, pain or both pleasure and pain.The Ajivikas had rich lay disciples such as potters and bankers. The Ajivika sect spread across the length and breadth of the country, though their influence was much less compared to that of Buddhism and Jainism.

The concept of polity developed in the Rig Vedic time.
1. Various units of habitation and divisions such as the janas, vis, gana, grama and kula are referred to in the Rig Veda.
2. The polity of the Rig Vedic period was that of a tribal society.
3. The chief of the tribe was the main political head and he was called rajan.
4. The purohita or priest offered advice to the king. Senani was the chief of army.
5. The officer who controlled the territory was called Vrajapati.
6. He helped the kulapas or heads of fighting groups called gramini.
7. Gramini was the head of the village and fighting unit.

Ochre Coloured Pottery Ware culture is found in northern India dating to the Chalcolithic period. The OCP pottery has red slip and appears ochre in colour (the ochre colour comes off when the pottery is touched) and hence, it is called Ochre Coloured Pottery. It has black painted designs. The OCP comes in the form of jars, storage jars, bowls, and basins. The OCP sites produced copper figures and objects and therefore it is also known as "copper hoard culture." It is a rural culture and has evidence of the cultivation of rice, barley, and legumes. They also had pastoralism with evidence of cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, horses, and dogs. The villages had wattle-and daub houses. They used copper and terracotta ornaments.

1. The Neolithic cultures of South India have been found mainly in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and the north-western part of Tamil Nadu.
2. These sites have been spotted in the river valleys of Godavari, Krishna, Pennaru, Tungabhadra and Kaveri.
3. Sanganakallu, Tekkalakota, Brahmagiri, Maski, Piklihal, Watkal, Hemmige and Hallur in Karnataka, Nagarjunakonda, Ramapuram and Veerapuram in Andhra Pradesh and Paiyyampalli in Tamil Nadu are the major Neolithic sites in South India.
4. Utnur and Palvoy in Andhra Pradesh and Kodekal, Kupgal and Budihal in Karnataka feature ash mound sites.
5. Soft ash and decomposed cow dung layers are also found at this site.
6. The evidence of habitation in the form of houses and burials are found around the ash mounds.
7. Utnur and Palvoy in Andhra Pradesh and Kodekal, Kupgal and Budihal in Karnataka feature ash mound sites.

(i) Pottery
1. The Harappans used diverse varieties of pottery for daily use.
2. They use well-fired pottery.
3. Their potteries have a deep red slip and black paintings.
4. The pottery are shaped like dish-on-stands, storage jars, perforated jars, goblets, S-shaped jars,plates, dishes, bowls and pots.
(ii) Trade and exchange
1. Harappans had close trade contacts with the Mesopotamians and also with various, cultures of India.
2. The Harappan seals and materials have been found in the Sumerian sites in Oman, Bahrain, and Iraq and Iran.
3. Carnelian, lapis lazuli, copper, gold and varieties of wood were exported to
4. Mesopotamia. Harappans also interacted with various regions of India and acquired raw materials and processed them.
(iii) Weights and measures
1. Harappans had developed proper weights and measures.
2. Cubical chert weights have been unearthed from Harappan sites.
3. The weights exhibit a binary system.
4. The ratio of weight is doubled as 1:2:4:8:16:32.
5. The small weight measure of 16th ratio weighs 13.63 grams.
6. They also used a measuring scale in which one inch was around 1.75 cm.
7. Weights made of chert were cubical.
8. They might have been used for weighing jewellery and metal.
(iv) Seals, sealing and scripts:
1. The seals from various media such as steatite, copper, terracotta and ivory are frequently found in the Harappan sites.
2. The longest text has about twenty six signs.
3. Some scholars are of the view that it is Dravidian.
4. Seals might have been used as an identity marker on the materials that were transported.