i) It is said that Pandyas were Jains initially and later adopted Saivism.
ii) Inscriptions and the sculptures in the temples attest to this belief. The early rockcut cave temples were the outcrop of transitional stage in religion and architecture.
iii) Medieval Pandyas and later Pandyas repaired many temples and endowed them with gold and land.
iv) The vimanam over the sanctum of Srirangam and Chidambaram temples were covered with golden leaves.
v) Sadaiyavarman Sundarapandyan was anointed in Srirangam temple, and to commemorate it, he donated an idol of Vishnu to the temple.
vi) The inner walls of this temple and three other gopurams were plated with gold.

1. Land grants recorded mainly on copperplates provide detailed information on land revenues and taxation.
2. Revenue came almost exclusively from rural sources, mercantile and urban institutions being largel unplanned.
3. Two categories of taxes were levied on the village.
4. The land revenue paid by the cultivator to the state varied from 1/6th to 1/10th of the produce, and was collected by the village and paid to the state collector.
5. In the second category were local taxes, also collected in the village but utilized for services in the village itself.
6. The tax money was spent for repairing irrigation works, illuminating the temple, etc.
7. When the state land tax was inadequate, the revenue was supplemented by additional taxes on draught cattle, toddy-drawers, marriage- parties, potters, goldsmiths, washer men, textile-manufacturers, weavers, brokers, letter-carriers, and the makers of ghee.

1. The Bhakti movement which originated in South India found its greatest expression in the songs composed by the Azhwars and Nayanrnars.
2. The poems of the VaishnaviteAzhwars were later compiled as the Nalayira Divya Prabhandam.
3. The Saiva literature was canonized as the Panniru Tirumurai.
4. The Thevaram, composed by Appar (Thirunavukkarasar), Sambandar (Thirugnanasambandar) and Sundarar; and Thiruvavasagarn by Manickavasagar are prominent texts which are read as sacred literature to this day.
5. Periyapuranam written by Sekizhar, in a later period also provides much historical information.
6. The Mathavilasa Prahasanam written by Mahendravarman I in Sanskrit, is an important source for the Pallava period.

i) Bandagan is the plural of banda, literally military slaves. They were graded according to the years of service, proximity and trust worthiness.
ii) This trust led to their appointment as governors and military commanders.
iii) The Ghurid bandagan in North India were the slaves of Muiz-ud- Din Ghuri.
iv) Since these slaves were without a social identity of their own they were given new names by their masters, which included the nisba, which indicated their social, or regional identity.
v) Slaves carried the nisba of their master: hence Mu'izz al- Din's slave carried the nisba Mu'izzi and later Sultan Shams-ud-Din Iltutmish's slave were called the Shamsi bandagan.

i) Mahmud ruled for thirty-two years.
ii) During this period, he conducted as many as seventeen military campaigns into India.
iii) He targeted Hindu temples that were depositories of vast treasures.
iv) Though the motive was to loot, there was also a military advantage in demolishing temples and smashing idols.
v) The Ghaznavid soldiers viewed it also as a demonstration of the invincible power of their god.
vi) The religious passions of Mahmud's army expressed itself in slaughter of 'infidels' and plunder and destruction oftheir places of worship.

The prime minister was of the most important position in the council of ministers.
1. Avanti - Minister for Foreign Relations and War
2. Sirnhananda - Commander-in-Chief
3. Kuntala - Chief Cavalry Officer
4. Skandagupta- Chief Commandant of Elephant Force
5. Dirghadhvajas - Royal Messengers
6. Banu - Keeper of Records
7. Mahaprathihara - Chief of the Palace Guard
8. Sarvagata - Secret Service Department

According to Bana, Harsha, in an effort to build an empire, sent an ultimatum to the following kings to either surrender or be prepared for a battle:
1. Sasanka, the Gauda ruler of Bengal.
2. The Maitrakas of Valabhi and Gurjara of Broach region.
3. The Chalukya king, Pulikesin II, in the Deccan
3. Rulers of Sindh, Nepal, Kashmir, Magadha, Odra (northern Odisha) and Kongoda (another geographical unit in ancient Odisha).

1. The rock-cut caves continue the old forms to a great extent but possess striking novelty by bringing about extensive changes in the ornamentation of the facade and in the designs of the pillars in the interior.
2. The most notable groups of the rock-cut caves are found at Ajanta and Ellora (Maharashtra) and Bagh (Madhya Pradesh). The Udayagiri caves (Orissa) are also of this type.
3. The structural temples have the following attributes: (1) flat-roofed square temples; (2) flat-roofed square temple with a vimana (second storey); (3) square temple with a curvilinear tower (shikara) above; (4) rectangular temple; and (5) circular temple.

1. Nitisara, written by Kamandaka, is a text like Arthasastra.
2. It emphasises the importance of the royal treasury and mentions various sources of revenue.
3. The many ambitious military campaigns of kings like Samudragupta must have been financed through revenue surpluses.
4. Gupta inscriptions reveal some details about the revenue department. The akshapataladhikrita was the keeper of royal records.

1. This period, invasion of Ayodhya (Saketa) and further east into the Magadha territory.
2. However, since the Greeks seem to have been beset by internal dissensions, they did not retain any of this territory.
3. They ceded land to Pushyamitra, the Sunga emperor who had usurped the throne after the last Mauryan ruler.
4. Numismatic evidence also proves Demetrius's association with India.
5. He issued bi-lingual square coins with Greek on the obverse and Kharoshti (the local language of north-western Pakistan) on the reverse.

The stupa is a heap of clay that evolved out of earthen funerary mounds, in which the ashes of the dead were buried. Buddhist stupas evolved out of the burial of the ashes of the mortal remains of the Buddha. Buddhist sacred architecture originated with the eight stupas where the ashes were divided. Hemispherical shape, the stupa symbolizes the universe; and the Buddha represents the emperor of the spiritual universe. The stupa has a path around it for devotional circumambulation.

There are linguistic similarities between Rig Veda and Avesta. The term Aryas was also used by the ancient Persians. Accordingto Indologist Thomas Burrow,only phonetic change had occurred overtime. The Bogaz Koi (in North-East Syria) Inscription dating back to 1380 BCE records a treaty between a Hittite and a Mitanni King. It mentions the names of a few Rig Vedic gods such as Indara, Uruvna (Varuna), Mitira and Nasatiya (Ashvins). Since it supports the information gathered from other contemporary sources about Chandragupta. It is important to note from both these sources that the fame of Chandragupta had survived long after lie was gone and became imbibed in popular lore and memory.

Paiyampalli is a village in Tirupathur taluk, Vellore district. The Archaeological Survey of India carried out an excavation in the 1960s and unearthed black and red ware pottery in this megalithic site. A large number of urn burials were also found in this region. The date of this culture, based on radio carbon dating, is 1000 BCE.

1. An interesting find is of a possible shrine, indicated by a block of sandstone surrounded by a rubble circle, similar to the contemporary shrines. Found at Baghor in Uttar Pradesh, it is the earliest known evidence of a shrine in India.
Write a note on Mesolithic sites in India
Mesolithic sites in India are found in Paisra (Bihar), Langhnaj (Gujarat), Baghor II, Chopani Mando, Sarai Nahar Rai, Mahadaha and Damdama (all in Uttar Pradesh), Sankanakallu and Kibbanahalli (Karnataka). Rock shelter sites are found in Lekhakia, Baghai Khor, Adamgarh and Bhimbetka. Coastal sites are seen at Mumbai, Teri sites of Thoothukudyin TamilNadu and Vishakapatnam, which have microlithic evidence.
Give a evidence for the farnaul.
1. The faunal evidence from this period shows that people belonging to this period hunted cattle, gaur, buffalo, barasingha, porcupines, sambar, chital, gazelle, hog deer, nilgai, jackal, turtle, fish, wild hare, lizard fox and monitor lizard. Bones of rhinoceros and elephant have also been found. They used spears, bow and arrow and traps. The paintings of Bhimbetka show that various animals were hunted and for this men and women went together.
2. The people used fire and perhaps roasted food. Domestic animal bones of cattle, sheep, goats, pig and dog have been found at Kanewal, Loteshwar and Ratanpur, and from Adamgarh and Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh sites. Camel bones have been found from Kanewal.
Write a note on Early Dentistry in the Neolithic Mehrgarh
1. The human ancestors had knowledge of medicinal herbs and were capable of taking care of health for survival from the pre-historic times. As their ways of life changed, new diseases appeared and they had to find remedies.
2. From the Neolithic period, people began to eat ground grain and cooked food, which caused dental and other health problems. The earliest evidence for drilling human tooth (of a living person) has been found at Mehrgarh. It is seen as a prelude to dentistry.
Write an note on Geographical Area and the Settlements
The Indus civilisation and the contemporary cultures covered nearly 1.5 million sq. km area in India and Pakistan. The settlements of Sutkagen-dor in the west on the Pakistan- Iran border; Shortugai (Afghanistan) in the north; Alamgirpur (Uttar Pradesh; India) in the east and Daimabad (Maharashtra, India) in the south are the boundaries of this civilisation. Its core area was in the regions of Pakistan, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Haryana.
Write an note on Indus Civilisation and Tamil Civilisation
1. The Indus Civilisation represents the first urbanisation of Indian history.
2. The origin and authorship of the Indus Civilisation are keenly debated historical questions. The Indus script has not yet been conclusively deciphered and hence the authorship is not certain. The graffiti found on the megalithic burial pots of South India and the place names presented are cited to establish the relationship between Indus and Tamil cultures.
3. The archaeological evidence points to several groups of people living in Tamil Nadu and South India continuously from the Mesolithic period. One cannot rule out the migration of a few groups from the Indus region. More research is necessary before arriving at any definite conclusion.
4. The towns of ancient Tamizhagam such as Arikamedu, Keezhadi and Uraiyur that flourished are part of the second urbanisation of India and these towns are quite different from the Indus cities.
 

• The well-developed infrastructure and organization of trade enabled the rich merchants to amass large fortunes.
• Such merchant princes or capitalists were found in all parts of lndia - the banias and Parsi merchants of Surat, the nagarseths of Ahmedabad, the Jagat Seths of Bengal, and the merchant communities of the Coromandel.
• Contemporary European observers noted that these merchants appropriated all the profits from trade to themselves, while the earnings and condition of the weavers and peasants were pitifully poor.
• This rendered them especially vulnerable to natural calamities like famines. In the
Madras region, for instance, famine occurred at least ten times between 1678 and 1750.
• Sometimes there was widespread famine which lasted for several years on end. This drove the rural poor to sell themselves into slavery.
• Dutch records from the Coromandel regularly mention male and female slaves among the cargo sent to Batavia.

• The Dutch and the English were able to acquire territorial rights on the east coast during these years.
• They realized that they needed a base on the Coromandel coast to access the piece goods needed for trading with the spice-producing islands of Indonesia.
• The Dutch had successfully negotiated to acquire Pulicat (Palaverkadu) from the Nayak of Senji and constructed a fort there.
• The English got a piece of land further south from the local chief, Damarla Venkatadri Nayak on which they built Fort St.George in 1639.
• Thus an English settlement came up which eventually grew into Chennai (Madras), the capital of the Madras Presidency.

First Mysore War (1767-69)
• In the third Carnatic War Colonel Forde while conducting the forces from Bengal captured Masulipatnamm in 1759.
• This led to a treaty with Salabad Jung, who ceded the Northern Sarkars to the British (districts of Ganjam, Vizagapatnam, Godavari, Krishna and Guntur).
• English acquisition of the Northern Sarkars was legalized by a Mughal emperor in 1765 by the treaty of Allahabad. In 1766, trouble arose when the English occupied those districts.
• Yet a treaty was signed with Nizam Ali who acquiesced in the session. In return the English promised to help out in case of any danger from the enemies.
• This promise meant English help to the Nizam against Haider Ali. Here lay the genesis of the later Subsidiary System.
• Despite the treaty, Nizam came to an understanding with Haider in 1767 and the British therefore declared a war against Haider.
• This is called First Anglo- Mysore War or First Mysore War.

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.

1. In 1815, the Governor of Madras received a communication from the Governor of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) asking for coolies to work on the coffee plantations.
2. The Madras Governor forwarded this letter to the collector of Thanjavur, who after enquiry reported back saying that the people were very much attached to the soil and hence unless some incentive was provided it was not easy to make them move out of their native soil.
3. But the outbreak of two famines (1833 and 1843) forced the people, without any prompting from the government, to leave for Ceylon to work as coolies in coffee and tea plantations under indentured labour system.
4. During 1843-1868, nearly 1.5 million people (1,444,407) had gone from Madras to Ceylon as indentured labourers.

The provisions of the Subsidiary Treaty are:
1. All Indian ruler entering into Subsidiary Alliance with the British had to dissolve his own armed forces and accept British forces and a British Resident in his territory.
2. He had to pay for the British army's maintenance. If he failed, a portion of his territory would be taken away and ceded to the British.
3. The protected prince was to sever all connections with European powers other than the British, especially the French.
4. No European should be employed without the permission of the British.
5. No negotiation with any Indian power should be held without the Company's permission and
6. No other Indian power to interfere in its internal affairs.
7. Thus the states brought under the system became dependent on the Company in political and military matters, sacrificing their own sovereignty and status.

1. Akbar's court poet Faizi translated Bhaskaracharya's famous work on mathematics, Lilavati.
2. Despite the presence of Europeans, there was no influence of them on the Indian society during the Mughal period.
3. The method of water-lift based on pin-drum gearing known as Persian wheel had been introduced during Babur's time.
4. A complicated system of water lift by a series of gear-wheels had been installed in Fatehpur Sikri.
5. Akbar was also credited with popularizing the device of cooling water using saltpetre.
6. He is also the first known person in the world to have devised the 'ship's camel', a barge on which the ship is built to make it easier for the ship to be carried to the sea.
7. Some mechanical devices like the screw for tightening, manually driven belt-drill for cutting diamonds were in use.
8. Agricultural tools continued to be the same, made entirely of wood. In metallurgy, the inability to produce cast iron remained an obvious drawback.
9. As Irfan Habib observed, 'India's backwardness in technology was obvious when the matchlock remained the most common weapon in Indian armies. In Europe the flintlock had long come into use.
10. Indians continued to use the expensive bronze cannon, long after these had become obsolete in Europe. This was because of India's inability to make cast iron even in the seventeenth century. '

Sher Shah's Reforms
1. When Sher Shah was pursuing Humayun, he had left Khizr Khan as the Governor of Bengal.
2. Khizr Khan married the daughter of the former ruler of Bengal, Sultan Mahmud, and started behaving like a king.
3. On his return Sher Shah ordered him to be put in chains.
4. As one familiar with the problem of provincial insubordination, he thought that the real solution to the problem would be to set up a strong administrative system.
5. So he made his government highly centralised. 
6. The local administrative structure of the Delhi Sultanate was followed with certain changes.
7. The village headmen who were made responsible for the goods stolen within the area under their control became vigilant.
8. The welfare of the peasants was a prime concern.
9. When the peasant is ruined, Sher Shah believed, the king is ruined.
10. Sher Shah took great care that the movements of the army did not damage crops.
11. He followed a flexible revenue system.
12. Land was surveyed and revenue settled according to the fertility of the soil.
13. In some areas, the jagirdari and zamindari systems were allowed to continue.

• Phule looked upon education ofthe masses as a liberating and revolutionary factor.
• Since women and deprived and downtrodden were the worst sufferers in the society.
• Phule argued that women's liberation was linked with the liberation of other classes in society.
• Equality between classes as also between men and women was stressed by Phule.
• During marriages he asked the bridegroom to promise the right of education to his bride

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. Namadeva, a son of a tailor and an inhabitant of the village of Naras- Vamani in Satara district of Maharashtra, under the influence of Saint Janadeva, was converted to the path of bhakti.
2. A staunch devotee of Vitthala of Pandarpur, Namdeva spent much of his time in worship along with his followers, chanting mostly in his own verses.
3. He wrote many abhangs (songs composed and sung by saints in Maharashtra in praise of God's glory) in Marathi and Hindi.
4. He travelled as far as Punjab where his teachings became so popular that they were later absorbed in the Guru Granth.
5. Love god with an your heart to lead a pious life surrendering everything to him with steadfast devotion is the essence of his message.

1.The administrative reforms introduced by Gawan improved the efficiency of the government, but curtailed the powers of the provincial chiefs, who were mostly Deccanis.
2. So the already existing rivalry among the two groups of nobles, Deccani Muslims and Pardesi (foreigner) Muslims, further intensified and conflicts broke out.
3 Gawan became a victim of this tussle for power, although he remained fair and neutral in this conflict.
4. Jealous of his success they forged a letter to implicate Gawan in a conspiracy against the Sultan. Sultan, who himself was not happy with Gawan's dominance, ordered his execution.
5. Gawan's execution augured ill for the Sultanate. Several of the foreign nobles who were considered the strongest pillars of the state began to leave for their provlnces,Ieading to the disintegration of the Sultanate.
6. After the Sultan's death five of his descendants succeeded him on the throne but they were kings only in name.
7. During this period the Sultanate gradually broke up into four independent kingdoms: Bijapur, Ahmadnagar, Berar and Golkonda. Bidar where the Bahmani Sultan ruled as a puppet became the fifth one.

1. The Raja Krishna Dev of the Kakatiya dynasty with Warangal as capital constructed the Golkonda Fort on a granite hill.
2. During 1495-1496 the fort was handed over to Sultan Kali Kutub Khan as a Jagir (land grant).
3. He reconstructed and rechristened the mud fort into a granite fort and called the place Muhammed Nagar.
4. Later, the Golkonda fort came into the possession of the Bahmani dynasty.
5. Still later, the Qutub Shahi dynasty took over and made Golkonda its capital.
6. Golkonda fort owes much of its present grandeur to Mohammad Quli Qutub Shah, the fifth sultan of Qutb Shahi dynasty.
7. The subsequent generations saw Golkonda being fortified further with several additions and the formation of a beautiful city within.
8. By the 17th century, Golkonda was famous as a diamond market.
9. It gave the world some of the best-known diamonds, including the 'Kohinoor'.
10. The Golkonda Fort is located about 11 kms from Hyderabad on a hill 120 meters hight.
11. The Golkonda Fort is popular for its acoustic architecture.
12. The highest point of the fort is Bala Hissar.
13. There is said to be a secret underground tunnel which leads from the Durbar Hall to one of the palaces at the foot of the hills.

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.

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.

• The origin of the Palayakkarar (poligari) system dates back to the 1530s. It is believed that this system was practiced earlier in Kakatiya kingdom of Warangal.
• The literal meaning of Palayakkarar is the holder of a camp as well as the holder of an estate on military tenure.
• Prior to the enforcement of this system Servaikarars and Talayaris collected fees for police work.
• After the creation of palayams, the Servaikarars turned Palayakkarars and subordinated Talayaris to their authority.
• The Nawab of Arcot, who had borrowed heavily by pledging the villages in several parts of Tamilnadu, entrusted the task of collecting land revenue arrears to the Company administration.
• Yusuf Khan remembered as Khan Sahib, had been employed as commander of the Company's Indian troops. He was entrusted not only with the command of the forces, but also with the collection of revenue.
• At the request of the Nawab, a force of 500 Europeans and 200 sepoys was (1755), ordered to proceed into the countries of Madurai and Tirunelveli to assist him.
• The encroachment of East Indian Company administration into palayakkarar's authority aroused stiff resistance.
• Mafuzkhan (Arcot Nawab's elder brother) was appointed by the Nawab as his representative in those territories. Three Pathan officers, Nawab Chanda Sahib's agents, named Mianah, Mudimiah and Nabikhan Kattak, commanded the Madurai and Tirunelveli regions.
• They supported Tamil palayakkarars against Arcot Nawab Mohamed Ali. Puli Thevar had established close relationships with them.
• The palayakkarars of Uthumalai, Surandai, Thalaivankottai, Naduvakurichi, Singampatti, Urkad, Seithur, Kollamkondan and Wadakarai joined Puli Thevar's confederacy.
• With the promise of restoring Kalakkadu, Puli Thevar had already won over the ruler of Tranvancore to his confederacy.

1. The Subsidiary System increased the military resources and efficiency of the Company government.
2. The immediate result of this system was the discharge of thousands of professional soldiers by the political powers. The disbanded soldiers indulged in freebooting activities.
3. Pindaris (marauders) began to swell on account of the Subsidiary System.
4. In view of the guaranteed support to the Princes by the Company, the protective States mal-administered and paved the way for the annexation.

• 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.

1. Mohammed I succeeded Bahman Shah.
2. There was a decade-long war with Vijayanagar, most of which related to control over the Raichur doab.
3. Neither side gained lasting control over the region, in spite of the huge fatalities in battles.
4. Two bitter wars with Vijayanagar gained him nothing.
5. But his attack on Warangal in 1363 brought him a large indemnity, including the important fortress of Golkonda and the treasured turquoise throne, which thereafter became the throne of the Bahmani kings.
6. Mohammed I established a good system of government that was followed by all the successor sultanates as well as by the Marathas later
7. He appointed a council of eight ministers of state.
8. Vakil-us-saltana or lieutenant of the kingdom, the immediate subordinate of the sovereign.
9. Waziri-kull, who supervised the work of all other ministers;
10. Amir-i-jumla, minister of finance;
11. Wasir-i-ashraf, minister of foreign affairs and master of ceremonies;
12. Nazir, assistant minister for finance;
13. Peshwa who was associated with the lieutenant of the kingdom;
14. Kotwal or chief of police and city magistrate in the capital, and
14. Sadr-i-jahan or chief justice and minister of religious affairs and endowments. He took strong measures for the suppression of highway robbery. Institutional and geographic consolidation under Muhammad Shah laid a solid foundation for the kingdom.
15. He built two mosques at Gulbarga. One, the great mosque, completed in 1367, remainsan impressive building.

1. The Vijayanagar area is concerned there took place migrations of Kannada and Telugu warriors and their followers into Tamil areas and elsewhere.
2. Many of the Nayaka chiefs belong to these language groups. Peasants, artisans and other toiling groups were also part of this migration.
3. The other consequence was the widening gap between the ruling class and the ruled.
4. All the foreign visitors refer to the enormous riches and affluence enjoyed by the rulers, the officials and the upper echelons in the capital cities like Vijayanagar, Bijapur, and the like, in contrast to widespread poverty among the masses.
5. They also refer to the prevalence of slavery.
6. The state had to derive their revenue only by taxing the people.
7. It is found that during the Sangama dynasty when the Vijayanagar rule was extended to new areas, their officers were harsh in tax collection, which provoked the toiling people to rise in revolt. One such revolt took place in 1430 in central parts of Tamil Nadu.
8. This was the revolt in which all the basic producers joined forgetting their caste differences.
9. The revolt took place due to the unjust and arbitrary tax demands of the government including the pradhani (governor), his military bodies, and the landlords.
10. It is said the Vijayanagar Prince intervened and pacified the revolting people by allowing tax reduction .

• The British had to fight three wars (1746- 1763) with the French to establish their supremacy, which in history are called the Carnatic wars.
First Carnatic War 1746-48:
• The Austrian War of Succession and Seven Years War fought in Europe had their repercussions in India.
• The Austrian ruler Charles VI died in 1740 and was succeeded by his daughter Maria Theresa.
• France did not support her succession and joined hands with German-speaking territories of Austria such as Bavaria, Saxony and Spain:
• Frederick II (known as Frederick the Great of Prussia) taking advantage of the emerging political situation invaded and annexed Silesia, an Austrian province, with the support of France.
• The wars fought between Britain and France in Europe also led to clashes between these two countries over their colonial possessions in North America and India.
The Second Carnatic War: 1749-54
 • In Europe peace prevailed between the British and the French. But the two colonial powers could not live in peace in India.
• They played one native ruler against the other. Dupleix wanted to enhance the French influence by involving in the wars of succession in both Hyderabad and Arcot .
The Third Carnatic War: 1756-1763
• The third Carnatic War was an echo of the Seven Years War (1756-1763) which broke out in Europe in 1756: It was a global conflict and was fought between the two arch-rivals Britain and France.
• The war was fought in North America (resulting in the American War of Independence), and West Africa (which later became the French West Africa).
• In India it manifested itself in the Third Carnatic war. Before turning our attention to the Third Carnatic War, let us see what happened in Bengal in the meantime.

• For the first time in the political history of India the Europeans conquered and seized territories from the Indian rulers.
• Indian rulers remained divided and Europeans took advantage of it.
• The Europeans adopted new methods in the warfare. Gun powder and superior artillery played a significant role.
• The Portuguese could contain the monopolistic trade of the Arabs. But it did not really help them. Instead, it benefited the British who removed pirates on the sea routes and made the sea voyage safe.
• The marriages between Europeans and Indians, encouraged by the Portuguese in the territories occupied by them, created a new Eurasian racial group. They were the ones who were later taken to other Portuguese colonies in Africa and Asia.
• The presence of Portuguese is very much evident in Chennai's San Thome. Mylapore was the Portuguese 'Black Town'. (Black Town of the British period was George Town)

1. The Pandya rulers created a number of irrigation sources and they were named after the members of the royal family.
2. Some of them were Vasudeva Peraru, Virapandya Peraru, Srivallaba Peraru and Parakirama Pandya Peraru. The tanks were named Tiiumaleri, Maraneri, Kaliyaneri and Kadaneri.
3. On either side of the rivers Vaigai and Tamiraparni, canals leading to the tanks for irrigation were built.
4. The SendanMaran inscription of Vaigai river bed speaks of a sluice installed by him to distribute the water from the river.
5. Sri Maran Srivallabhan created a big tank, which is till now in use. Like Pallavas in northern districts, Pandyas introduced the irrigation technology in the southern districts of Tamil country.
6. In building the banks of the tanks, the ancient architect used the thread to maintain the level. Revetment of the inner side of the banks with stone slabs is one of the features of irrigation technique in Pandya country.

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. Prithviraj underestimated the potential danger of the enemy.
2. In the Second Battle of Tarain, one of the turning points in Indian history; Prithviraj suffered a crushing defeat and was eventually captured.
3. Ghori restored him to his throne in Ajmer.
4. But on charges of treason he was later executed, and Ghori's trusted general Qutb-ud-din Aibak was appointed as his deputy in India.

1. The Pallavas had maritime trade with south-east Asia, where by now there were three major kingdoms: Kambuja (Cambodia), Champa (Annam), and Srivijaya (the southern Malaya peninsula and Sumatra).
2. On the west coast, the initiative in the trade with the West was gradually passing into the hands of the foreign traders settled along the coast, mainly Arabs.
3. Indian traders were becoming suppliers of goods rather than carriers of goods to foreign countries, and communication with the west became indirect, via Arabs, and limited to trade alone.

1. The Rashtrakuta rulers were great patrons of learning.
2. Kannada and Sanskrit literature made great progress during their reign.
3. Amoghavarsha I was the author of Prasnottaramalika, a Sanskrit work, and Kavirajamarga, a Kannada work. Jinasena wrote the Adipurana of the Jains.
4. Krishna II's spiritual guide, Gunabhadra, wrote the Mahapurana of the Jains.
5. The three gems of ancient Kannada literature - Kavichakravarthi Ponna, Adikavi Panpa and Kavichakravarti Ranna - were patronised by Rashtrkuta king Krishna III, as well as by Tailapa and Satyashraya of Western Chalukyas.

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. Around the first century CE, the Satavahana kingdom was established in the Deccan area, comprising the modern states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
2. This, however, was not like the centralised empire of the Mauryas, and the provincial governors of the Satavahanas had a considerable degree of autonomy.
3. The second development was the discovery of the pattern of monsoon winds in the Arabian Sea in the first century CE by Hippalus, an Egyptian sailor.
4. A first century CE account in Greek, the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea (Periplus Maris Erythraei), is the most reliable source of information on the ports of the Indian coast and trade.
5. Archaeological findings confirm the information from all these sources.

During the reign of Kushanas, there was great creative energy when art and literature flourished.
1. The Greek influence led to an Indo-Greek style of sculpture and art commonly referred to as Gandhara art. Statues of Buddha, sculpted particularly in Taxila
2. The north-western regions, show him in graceful garments, surrounded by cherubs and leaves inspired by the Greek tradition.
3. The red sandstone sculpture with intricate carving produced near Mathura.
4. The Buddhists began to carve out rock caves in the hills of western India, which served as religious centres with chaityas and viharas, stretching from the Ajanta caves to the Kanheri caves in Mumbai.
5. Large statues of Buddha were sculpted in these caves as apart of the Mahayana tradition, and in later centuries, they were further-embellished with murals of extraordinary beauty, as seen in the Ajanta caves.
6. Kanishka was the patron of Buddhist philosophers such as Asvaghosha, Parsva and Vasumitra, as well as the great Buddhist teacher Nagarjuna.
7. Asvaghosha is known for his Buddhacharita and is celebrated as the author of the first Sanskrit play, Sariputraprakarana, in nine acts.
8. The great dramatist Bhasa, whose plays werere-discovered only about a hundred years ago in South India.

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

A closer look at the Sangam literature reveals that social differentiation is evident in the Marutham region.
1. The territorial associations are very clear in the case of the Muvendar, and their important position is corroborated by the Greco-Roman texts from the first century CE.
2. Warfare for territorial expansion was a major theme of Puratthinai
3. Evidence for taxation at the highways and in the port of Kaviripattinam is cited.
4. The Chera king is spoken as receiving the resources from the hills and the port of Musiri.
5. Trade played an important role between the late first century BCE and third century CE.

1. The edicts of Ashoka thus constitute the most concrete source of information about the Mauryan Empire.
2. There are 33 edicts comprising 14 Major Rock Edicts, 2 known as Kalinga edicts, 7 Pillar Edicts,
3. Minor Rock Edicts and a few Minor Pillar Inscriptions.
4. 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.
5. Minor Pillar Inscriptions have been found as far north as Nepal (near Lumbini). 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 inscriptions in north-west Pakistan are in Kharosthi script.

1. The major areas of concern for the Mauryan state were the collection of taxes as revenue to the state and the administration of justice.
2. In addition to the maintenance of internal security and defence against external aggression.
3. This required a large and complex administrative machinery and institutions.
4. This bureaucratic set-up covered a hierarchy of settlements from the village, to the towns, provincial capitals and major cities.
5. The bureaucracy enabled and required an efficient system of revenue collection, since it needed to be paid out of taxes collected.
6. Equally, the very large army of the Mauryan Empire could be maintained only with the revenue raised through taxation.
7. The large bureaucracy also commanded huge salaries.
8. According to the Arthasastra, the salary of chief minister, the purohita and the army commander was 48,000 panas, and the soldiers received 500 panas. If we multiply this by the number of infantry and cavalry
9. The enormous resources needed to maintain the army and the administrative staff.

1. Buddhism faced divisions from time to time. Division into various splinter groups like 'Hinayana', 'Mahayana', 'Vajrayana', 'Tantrayana' and 'Sahajayana' led Buddhism to lose its originality.
2. Pali and Prakrit were the spoken languages of people of north India and it was through these languages the message of Buddhism was spread. But ever since the times of Fourth Buddhist Council held during the reign of Kanishka, Sanskrit had come to be adopted.
3. Buddhism there upon became unintelligible to common people.

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 burial system followed by the people of Neolithic period continued into the Megalithic period. A circular tomb using big stone slabs built upon the place of burial is known as a megalith. Such megaliths have been found in many parts of Tamilnadu .
i) The urn burial system was another type of practice and is evidenced in Adichanallur (present Thoothukudi district
ii) Brahmi writing akin to Ashokan Brahmi has been discovered in Kodumanal (Erode District).
iii) Tamil Brahmi inscriptions, datable to third to second centuries BCE found in the upper part of the Vaigai valley.
iv) Paiyampalli is a village in Tirupathur taluk, Vellore district. Kodumanal, 40 km from Erode, is located on the northern bank of Noyyal river, a tributary of the Cauvery.

1. The civilisation that appeared in the northwestern part of India and Pakistan in third millennium BCE is collectively called the Indus Civilisation.
2. Since Harappa was the first site to be identified in this civilisation, it is also known as Harappan Civilisation.
3. This civilisation did not appear all of a sudden. The beginnings of the Neolithic villages in this region go back to about 7000 BCE at the Neolithic site of Mehrgarh.
4. Harappan culture is divided into various phases:
5. Early Harappan 3000-2600 BCE
6. Mature Harappan 2600-1900 BCE
7. Late Harappan 1900-1700 BCE
8. The Indus valley site of Harappa was first visited by Charles Mason in 1826, and Amri by Alexander Burnes in 1831.
9. Harappa (Punjab, Pakistan), Mohenjo-Daro (Sindh, Pakistan), Dholavira, Lothal, and Surkotada (Gujarat, India), Kalibangan and Banawali (Rajasthan, India), and Rakhigarhi (Haryana, India) are the major cities in the Harappan period.

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.

The Lower Palaeolithic cultures	Middle Palaeolithic cultures
The Lower Palaeolithic cultural phase, human ancestor species of Homo erectus is believed to have lived in India.	The Middle Palaeolithic culture in India is dated between 3,85,000 and 40,000 BCE.
Human ancestors made large stone blocks and pebbles and chipped tools out of them, using another strong stone.	The tools became smaller. The decrease in the use of hand axes in relation to other tools.
Use Hand axes, cleavers, choppers and the like were designed in this way by flaking off the chips.	Use of core preparation techniques in stone tool production.
They hunted animals and gathered roots, nuts and fruits.	Use of chert, jasper, chalcedony and quartz as raw materials.

The planned towns of Harappa
1. A civic authority perhaps controlled the planning of the towns.
2. The Harappans used baked and unbaked bricks, and stones for construction.
3. The towns had a grid pattern and drainages were systematically built.
4. The houses were built of mud bricks while the drainages were built with burnt bricks.
5. Houses had more than one floor.
The planned towns of Mohenjo-Daro
1. The site of Mohenjo-Daro had a planned town, built on a platform.
2. It has two distinct areas.
3. One is identified as a citadel and another as the lower town.
4. The houses had bathrooms paved with burnt bricks and proper drains.
5. Some houses had stairs indicating the existence of an upper floor.
6. The houses had multiple rooms. 
7. Many of the houses had a central courtyard with rooms all around.