Chapter 1 Tracing changes through a thousand years

History

7^th Class

(700 -1750)

Chapter 1 Tracing changes through a thousand years

[Period between 700 – 1750]

-Inventions during this period:

1. 
   spinning wheel in weaving
   
2. 
   irrigation wheel in irrigation
   
3. 
   firearms in combat
   

New food & beverages:

Potatoes, corn, chillies, tea & coffee

People brought these inventions along with them.

This period was a period of economic, cultural, political n social changes

This was a period of great mobility as groups travelled long distances in search of opportunity

Rajputs (Name derived from Rajaputra – the son of a ruler) became important during this period.

From 8th - 14th centuries: [700 – 1400]

Rajput meant - body of warriors who claimed Kshatriya status.

A chivalric code of conduct

Gradual clearing of forests and extension of agriculture during this period

-forest dwellers migrated

-Ppl started tilling lands n Peasant groups arose

-A differentiated society arose

-ppl grpd into jatis

-jatis enforced their own rules thru jati panchayats (Assembly of elders)

Religious Beliefs altered during this period

-Imp changes in Hinduism

-worship of new deities, construction of temples by royalty

-growing influence of brahmanas as dominant groups in society

-emergence of Bhakti

New religions arrived:

Merchants & migrants first brought the teachings of holy Quran to India in 7th Century[600-700]

Chapter 2: New Kings and Kingdoms

Chapter 3, Chapter 4 [Notes made in Hard copy]

Chapter 5: Rulers and Buildings

From 8th till 18th century 2 kinds of structures were built by kings and their officers:

1).Forts, palaces, tombs

2).Temples, mosques, tanks, wells, caravan serais, bazaars

-Rulers hoped to win praise of people by building these structures for them.

• 
  Monuments provide an insight into the skills and technology used for construction
  

Between 7th n 10th centuries architects started adding more rooms, doors n windows.

Trabeate or corbelled style: A horizontal beam is placed across two vertical columns.

Trabeate was used between 8th n 13th centuries to construct temples, mosques, tombs, baolis (large stepped wells)

Temple construction in Early 11^th century [1000-1100]:

Kandariya temple: dedicated to Shiva

-built by king Dhangadeva of Chandela dynasty in 999

Rajarajeshwara temple: At Thanjavur, By King Rajarajadeva to worship god Rajarajeshwaram

-2 technological stylistic developments noticeable from 12th century: -

1).Arcuate form was sometimes used wherein a keystone carried the weight of the superstructure above

2).Limestone cement began to be used increasingly.

-Muslim rulers & padshahs didnot claim to be the incarnations of god but Persian court chronicles describe sultan as 'shadow of god'.

-Why Kings built temples: Kings wanted to emphasise their moral right to be rulers so they constructed temples to proclaim their close relationship with god.

-Why temples were destroyed: In Middle Ages Kings built temples to demonstrate their devotion to God and their power and wealth so most enemy rulers displayed their political might and military success by attacking n looting the places of worship of defeated rulers.

-Hauj-i sultani or king's reservoir by illtutmish

Mughal Architecture:

Babur was interested in planning n laying of gardens placed within rectangular walled enclosures n divided into four quarters by artificial channels. These were called Chahar Bagh

Architectural innovations during akbar's reign:

Central towering dome n tall gateway (pishtaq) became imp aspects of Mughal Architecture, first visible in Humayun's tomb.

-Tombs were built in a eight paradise tradition or hasht bihisht where a central hall was surrounded by 8 rooms.

-Tombs inspired by Central Asian ancestor timur

-During Shah jahan's reign different elements of Mughal arct were fused together.

• 
  Huge construction activity in Agra and Delhi
  

Diwan-i khas or am (ceremonial hall of public and private audience): described as Chihil sutun or forty pillared halls, placed within a large courtyard.

-Audience halls resembled a mosque

-His throne was placed on a pedestal known as Qibla

-Behind Shah Jahan's throne were a series of pietra dura that depicted Greek god Orpheus playing lute.

-Shah Jahan adapted the river-front garden (in which the dwelling was not in the middle of chahar bagh but at the edge close to the bank of the river) in the layout of Taj Mahal

The river front garden form was developed to control access to the water. Only select few nobles cud construct in this way rest had to do build houses away from the river.

Cross fertilization of art forms:

In Vrindavan near Mathura the temples were constructed in architectural styles similar to Mughal Palaces of Fatehpur sikri.

Chapter 6: Towns, traders & Craftspersons

Temple towns grew near the famous temples.

Kings gave these temples land grants through which they maintained their specialist workers. Temple authorities used their wealth for financing and in banking. Gradually, artisans, workers, traders etc settled near the temples to cater to its needs and to those of pilgrims. Thus grew temple towns.

Emergence of small towns from 8^th century[700-800]:

They emerged from large villages. They had their mandapika (mandi) to which nearby villagers brought their produce to sell. They had street markets (haats) too.

-Usually samantas or zamindars fortified such towns and levied taxes on artisans, traders & sometimes donated the right to collect taxes to local temples.

Guild - a formal association of people with similar interests. Traders formed guilds to protect their interests. There were many such guilds in South during 8^th century. The most famous being,

1).Manigramam

2).Nanadesi

Bidri: Inlay work by craftperson of bidar.

Panchalas or Vishvakarma community: Blacksmiths, goldsmiths etc

Saliyar or Kaikkolars: Weavers

Hampi:

Nucleus of Vijaynagara empire which was founded in 1336.

Well fortified city .No mortar used .Interlocking was done. Hampi fell to ruin after defeat of Vijaynagara in 1565 by Deccani Sultans

Surat:

It was the Gateway for trade with West Asia through Gulf of Ormuz.

-Cosmopolitan city where people of all castes lived together.

- Textiles of Surat were famous for Zari

-Surat Hundis were honoured in far-off markets of Cairo (Egypt), Basra (Iraq) and Antwerp (Belgium)

Hundi is a note recording a deposit made by a person. The amount deposited can be claimed in another place by presenting the record of the deposit.

It has also been called as gate to Mecca as many pilgrim ships set sail from here. Surat declined towards end of the 17th century due to loss of markets & productivity due to decline of Mughal Empire

-control of sea routes by Portuguese

-Competition from Bombay where English East India company shifted its headquarters in 17^th century in 1668.

Masulipatnam or Machlipatnam :

Lies on the delta of krishna river. It became most imp port on andhra coast.

The fort at masulipatnam was built by Dutch. This town declined as company traders moved to Bombay, Calcutta and madras.

In the 16th and 17th centuries:

Independence of craftpersons declined. They lost the liberty of selling their own cloth or weaving their own patterns. They now worked on system of advances and had to reproduce designs supplied to them by European agents.

The 18^th century saw,

-the rise of 3 towns namely, Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. Merchants and artisans were moved into Black towns built by European companies within these cities.

Chapter 7: Tribes, Nomads and settled communities

Under Delhi sultans and Mughals the social hierarchy (Varna proposed by Brahmins in later Vedic period) grew further with distinctions between poor and rich becoming more rigid then before.

Tribal Society:

Tribal people didn’t follow the social rules and rituals prescribed by brahmans.

-No class discrimination followed.

-Had rich customs and traditions

Punjab:

-Khokhar tribe was influential during 13th n 14th centuries.

-Gakkhars became important later

-Kamal khan Gakkhar their chief was a Mansabdar under Akbar

Multan and Sind:

Langahs & Arghuns dominated before Mughals subdued them.

Balochis: A Tribe in NW. It was divided into small clans.

Gaddis: Shepherd tribe lived in Himalayas

NE: Nagas, Ahoms

Orissa: Mundas

Santhals: Bengal

Chero chiefdoms emerged in 12th century in Bihar & Jharkhand areas and were defeated by Raja Man Singh in 1591.



Maharashtra, Areas of Gujarat - Kolis

K'tka - Berads

Large tribe spread across Central n Western India: Bhils

Present day Chhattisgarh, MP, Maharashtra and AP: Gonds

Nomadic pastoralists moved long distances with their animals. They lived on milk & other pastoral products.

-Exchanged wool, ghee with settled agriculturists for utensils, cloth & other products.

Banjaras were most imp trader nomads. Their caravan was called Tanda


New castes & Hierarchies:

As economy grew and people with new skills were required so smaller castes emerged within Varnas.

Many tribal n social groups were given status of jatis. Spl artisans like smiths, carpenters and masons were now recognised by jatis.

Jati rather than Varna now became the basis for organising society.

Many dominant tribes of Punjab, Sind and the North-West Frontier had adopted Islam quite early.


A Closer look: --
They continued to reject the caste system.

A closer look:

Gonds:

• 
  Lived in vast forested region called Gondwana
  
• 
  Practiced shifting cultivation
  
• 
  Gond clan divided into smaller clans with each having its raja or rai.
  
• 
  Administration became centralised with kingdom divided into 'garhs".
  
• 
  Each garh was controlled by particular Gond clan.
  
• 
  Garh was further divided into units (of 84 villages) called Chaurasi.
  
• 
  Chaurasi was further divided into units called barhots which were made up of 12 villages each.
  
• 
  Emergence of large states changed the Gond society and it gradually got divided into unequal social classes.
  
• 
  Brahmans received grants from Gond rajas and became influential.
  
• 
  Garha katanga's Gond king assumed the title of Sangram Shah.
  
• 
  Gonds raised resources by trapping and exporting elephants to other kingdoms.
  

Ahoms:

• 
  Migrated to Brahmaputra valley from Myanmar in 13th century.
  
• 
  Suppresed Bhuyians(landlords) and created a new system
  
• 
  they used firearms as early as 1530s
  
• 
  Ahom state depended upon forced labour
  
• 
  Paiks - those forced to work for the state
  
• 
  Ahom society divided into Clans or Khels. Khel controlled several villages.
  
• 
  even king couldn’t take away the land given to a peasant by the village community.
  
• 
  In reign of Sib Singh (1714-44) Hinduism became important.
  
• 
  Buranjis: historical works written in Ahom and then in Assamese.
  

Tribes of Eastern India

Chapter 8: Devotional Paths to the Divine

Bhakti & Sufi movements evolved from the 8th century.

-Beliefs in cycle of birth & idea that all human beings are not equal gained hold during this period.

People turned to Jainism n Buddhism as according to them it was possible to overcome social differences & break the cycle of rebirth through personal effort.

-Bhakti could deliver from such cycle.

-ideas of Bhakti became popular & even Jainas n Buddhists adopted these beliefs.

Bhakti in South India:

[7th - 9th century]

• 
  Nayanars (saints devoted to shiva)
  
• 
  Alvars (saints devoted to vishnu) emerged.
  
• 
  They had members from all castes n untouchables too like Pulaiyar & Panars.
  
• 
  Criticised Buddhists & Jainas n preached that ardent love of Shiva or Vishnu was the path for salvation.
  
• 
  drew inspiration from Sangam literature n blended its ideals with values of Bhakti.
  

Tevaram,Tiruvacakam: compilation of songs of Nayanars

Divya Prabandham: Compilation of songs by Alvars

In 10th century (900-1000) Chola & Pandya kings built temples

Hagiographies = Biographies of Nayanars n Alvars


Philosophy and Bhakti


Shankara:

• 
  philosopher was born in Kerala in 8th century
  
• 
  Advocate of Advaita or doctrine of Oneness of the individual soul & the supreme god which is the ultimate reality
  
• 
  Brahma the only or ultimate reality was formless
  
• 
  World as Maya & illusion
  

Ramanuja:

• 
  born in Tamilnadu in 11th Century
  
• 
  Influenced by Alvars
  
• 
  Path to salvation through devotion to Vishnu
  
• 
  Doctrine of Vishishtadvaita or Qualified oneness in that the soul even when united with supreme god remains distinct
  

Virashaiva movement

• 
  It began in Karnataka in mid 12th century(around 1150s)
  
• 
  against the casteism n treatment of women n believed in equality of human beings
  
• 
  against ritual n idol worship
  
• 
  Inititated by Basavanna , Allama Prabhu & akkamahadevi
  

Saints of Maharashtra

-13th till 17th centuries

-many saint-poets.

-janeshwar, Namdev.Eknath,tukaram

-women like Sakkubai n family of chokhamela belongd to untouchable mahar caste

-This regional tradition of Bhakti focused on Vithal temple in Pandharpur as well as personal god residing in the hearts of ppl.

-rejected ritualsim, outward display of piety , social differences

-even rejected the idea of renunciationn preferred to live with their families

-stressed that bhakti lay in sahrinf others' pain

-abhang:marathi devotional hymn

• 
  From 13th till 17th centuries there were many saint-poets.
  
• 
  janeshwar, Namdev, Eknath, tukaram
  
• 
  women like Sakkubai n family of chokhamela belonged to untouchable Mahar caste
  
• 
  This regional tradition of Bhakti focused on Vithal temple in Pandharpur as well as personal god residing in the hearts of people.
  
• 
  It rejected ritualsim, outward display of piety , social differences
  
• 
  It even rejected the idea of renunciation & preferred to live with their families
  
• 
  stressed that bhakti lay in sharing others' pain
  
• 
  Abhang: marathi devotional hymn
  

Nathpanthis, Siddhas & Yogis

• 
  Rejected ritualism
  
• 
  Believed in meditation of the formless reality and realisation of oneness with it.
  
• 
  Practiced Yogasanas
  
• 
  These groups became popular in lower castes
  

Islam and Sufism

• 
  Sufis were Muslim mystics
  
• 
  Rejected outward religiosity n emphasised love n devotion to god n compassion to fellow human beings.
  
• 
  Islam propagated Montheism or submission to one god.
  
• 
  rejected idol worship
  
• 
  Simplified rituals of worship into collective prayers
  
• 
  Sufis rejected the elaborate rituals & codes of behavior demanded by Muslim religious scholars.
  
• 
  Famous sufis: Ghazzali, rumi n sadi.
  
• 
  Like Siddhas & Nathpanthis & yogis they too believed that heart can be trained to look at the world in a different way
  
• 
  Developed training methods using zikr (chanting of a sacred formula), raqs (dancing)
  
• 
  Silsilas - genealogy of Sufi teachers
  
• 
  Large number of sufis settled in hindustan during 11th century and esp after Delhi sultanate strengthened its establishment.
  
• 
  Chishti Silsila was most influential
  
• 
  Khwaja Muinuddin Chisti of Ajmer, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar kaki of delhi, Baba Farid of Punjab, Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi &
  
• 
  Bandanawaz Gisudaraz of Gulbarga
  

Khanqahs or Hospices:

Sufi masters held their assemblies here. People believed in miraculous healing powers of Sufi saints so Dargahs or tombs of Sufi saints became centres of pilgrimage gradually

Religious developments in North India

Period after 13th century saw Hinduism, islam , sufism , n various strands of Bhakti influencing each other.

-tulsidas - ramcharitmanas in awadhi (language in east UP)

-surdas - krishna :sursagara, surasaravali and sahitya lahari

-shankaradeva of Assam - devotion to vishnu

He started the practice of setting up namghars or houses of recitation n prayer

-Mirabai:rajput princess of Mewar in 16th century

she became a disciple of ravidas who was from an untouchable caste.

-her songs challenged norms of upper caste n became popular in rajasthan n gujarat

• 
  Period after 13th century saw Hinduism, Islam, Sufism & various strands of Bhakti influencing each other.
  
• 
  Tulsidas - Ramcharitmanas in awadhi (language in east UP)
  
• 
  Surdas - krishna: sursagara, surasaravali and sahitya lahari
  
• 
  Shankaradeva of Assam - devotion to Vishnu: He started the practice of setting up Namghars or houses of recitation n prayer
  
• 
  Mirabai: Rajput princess of Mewar in 16th century: She became a disciple of Ravidas (who was from an untouchable caste). Her songs challenged the norms of upper caste & became popular in Rajasthan & Gujarat
  

Kabir

[15-16th century]

• 
  family of weavers in or near city of Benares
  
• 
  Sakhis & pads: collection of his verses
  
• 
  Gurugranth sahib, Panch Vani & Bijak contain some of his bhajans
  

Teachings:

• 
  rejected all major religious traditions
  
• 
  ridiculed all form of external worship
  
• 
  against caste system n pre-eminence of priestly class
  
• 
  Believed in formless supreme god
  
• 
  his verses were in a spoken form of Hindi or in a cryptic language
  

Guru Nanak

[1469-1539]

Born at talwandi, Nankana sahib in pakistan

• 
  estb a centre of worship on river Ravi
  
• 
  Followers despite of their caste ate in langar
  
• 
  dharmsal or gurudwara
  
• 
  appointed Lehna or Guru Angad as his successor
  

Teachings of Guru Nanak

• 
  Emphasised 1 god
  
• 
  caste, creed , gender irrelevant
  
• 
  His idea of liberation was active life with a sense of social commitment & not of internal bliss.
  

He used following 3 words for essence of his teaching:

• 
  nam: right worship
  
• 
  dam: welfare of others
  
• 
  isnan: purity of conduct
  

• 
  Angad compiled Guru Nanak's compositions and he added his own to them too in gurmukhi
  
• 
  3 successors of Guru Angad wrote under the name of Nanak and all of their verses were compiled by Guru Arjan in 1604.To this version was added the writing of other figures like Shaikh farid, Sant kabir, Teg bahadur
  

-In 1706: The compilation was authenticated by Guru Arjan’s son and successor and it is now known as Guru Granth Sahib

• 
  By the beginning of 17th century the town of Ramdaspur (Amritsar) had developed around central Gurudwara called Harmandar sahib.
  

-Jahangir perceived Sikhs as a threat and ordered execution of Guru Arjan in 1606.

-The Sikh movement began to get politicized in 17th century and it culminated in 1699 by the estb of Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh.

-The community of Sikhs called Khalsa Panth became a political entity.

Chapter 9: The Making of Regional Cultures

Cheras and development of Malyalam:

• 
  Chera kingdom was established in 9th century in SW part of Peninsula (part of present day Kerala)
  
• 
  Malayalam was already spoken there and rulers introduced it into their inscriptions
  
• 
  the 1st literary works in 12th century in Malayalam are indebted to Sanskrit
  
• 
  Lilatilakam -14th century - grammar n poetics -composed in Manipravalam (diamonds n corals)
  

Anantavarman:

• 
  Ruler of Ganga dynasty. He erected a temple for Purushottama Jagannatha at Puri.
  

Kathak

• 
  Derived from Katha, a word used in Sanskrit & other languages for 'story'.
  
• 
  Kathaks were originally storytellers in temples of North India, who embellished their performances with gestures & songs.
  
• 
  Kathak evolved in to a distinct dance form in 15th n 16th centuries with the spread of Bhakti Movement
  
• 
  Rasa lila combined folk dance with basic gestures of Kathak story tellers.
  
• 
  it was performed in Mughal courts & that is where it acquired its present features.
  

-Developed in 2 Gharanas or traditions

1).In Lucknow

2).Courts of Rajasthan (Jaipur)

Under Wajid Ali Shah it grew as a major art form. By 3rd quarter of 19th century Kathak was entrenched as a dance form not only in above 2 regions but in the adjoining areas of Haryana, Punjab, J&K, Bihar, MP

-it was recognised as one of the 6 classical dance forms after independence.


Tradition of Miniature Paintings

• 
  -small sized paintings
  
• 
  -done in water color on cloth or paper
  
• 
  -Earliest were on palm leaf or wood
  
• 
  -those found in West india illustrate jaina text
  
• 
  -Basohli : Himalayan foothills around the Himachal Pradesh by late 17th century had developed a bold n intense style of miniature paintings.
  
• 
  -Bhanudatta's Rasamanjari.
  

-Invasion by Nadir Shah in 1739 forced these artists to flee to hills where they found ready patrons and it led to the founding of Kangra School of Painting.

• 
  -Kangra school was inspired by Vaishnavite tradition.
  
• 
  -Soft colors (cool blue n greens)
  
• 
  -Lyrical treatment of themes
  

Early Bengali literature has 2 categories:

1).one indebted to Sanskrit

• 
  -includes translations of Sanskrit epics, the Mangalakavyas (poems dealing with local deities)
  
• 
  Bhakti literature such as biographies of Chaitanyadeva , leader of Vaishnva Bhakti Movement
  
• 
  It has been passed on in manuscripts
  

2).Independent of it

• 
  -Nath literature such as songs of Maynamati & gopichandra ; stories concerning the worship of Dharma Thakur & fairy tales , folk tales & ballads
  
• 
  -circulated orally
  
• 
  -popular in Eastern Bengal where influence of Brahmanas was weak.
  
• 
  -Naths were ascetics who engaged in various yogic practices
  

Pirs: includes saints or Sufis & other religious personalities, daring colonisers & soldiers, various Hindu & Buddhist deities & even animistic spirits

Animism: Attribution of living soul to plants, inanimate objects, and natural phenomena.

Brihaddharma Purana - A 13th century text in Sanskrit from Bengal allowed local Brahmins to eat varieties of fish.


Chapter 10: 18^th Century Political formations


Later Mughals:

A Crisis was faced by Mughals at the close of 17th century due to:

1).Depletion of army & financial resources by long wars in Deccan by Aurangzeb

2).Successors of Aurangzeb were administratively inefficient.

3).Powerful Mansabdars became difficult to control

4).Subadars (governors) controlled offices of revenue (diwani) & military(Faujdari) administration which gave them extraordinary powers over vast region of Mughal Empire and gradually the remission of revenue to the capital declined. The inefficient successors of Aurangzeb were unsuccessful in curbing the growing influence of provincial governors.

5).Peasant & zamindari rebeliions in North & West compounded the problems.

6).Attacks by Nadir Shah on Delhi in 1739 and frequent invasions of Afghan ruler Ahmed Shah Abdali left Delhi in tatters.

8).Competition between different group of Nobles of Irani and Turani (turkish descent) factions.


Emergence of new States [1700-1800]

Through 18th century the Mughal Empire crumbled into number of Independent regional States which can be divided into 3 overlapping groups:

1).States that were old Mughal Provinces like Awadh (founded by Sa'adat Khan), Bengal (founded by Murshid Quli Khan) and Hyderabad(Asaf jah).They didn’t broke their ties with Mughal Emperor.

2).States that had enjoyed a considerable degree of independence under Mughal rulers as watan Jagirs eg: several Rajput principalities (territories ruled by Prince)

3).States under control of Marathas, Sikhs and others like Jats.

Hyderabad:

• 
  Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf jah the founder of Hyderabad was one of the most powerful members at the court of Mughal Emperor Farrukh Siyar.
  
• 
  Hyderabad was engaged with Marathas to the West & with independent Telugu warriors (Nayakas) in the plateau
  

Awadh:

• 
  Sa'adat Khan became its Subadar in 1722
  
• 
  Awadh controlled the trade route between North India and Bengal.
  
• 
  controlled rich alluvial Ganga plain
  
• 
  Ijaradars - revenue farmers - paid the state a fixed sum of money
  
• 
  Now moneylenders and bankers influenced the management of state's revenue system.
  

Bengal: Murshid Quli Khan was appointed as Naib to the governor i.e. deputy

3 common features of Awadh, Hyderabad and Bengal:

1).All the Nobles were highly suspicious of the admin system they had inherited esp. Jagirdari system

2).Method of tax collection was different. All 3 contracted revenue farmers rather than relying on the officers of the state.


The Watan Jagirs of Rajputs
3).Emerging relationship with rich Bankers and Merchants. They lent money to revenue farmers, received land as security and collected taxes from these lands through their agents.

Rajput families of amber & Jodhpur claimed Subadaris of rich provinces of Malwa and Gujarat resp.

-Raja Ajit Singh of Jodhpur - governor of Gujarat

-Sawai Raja Jai Singh of Amber - governor of Malwa

-they also tried & annexed imperial territories to Watans like nagaur by Jodhpur & large parts of Bundi by Amber

-Sawai Raja Jai Singh founded his new capital in Jaipur & was given subadari of Agra in 1722.

Seizing Independence: Sikhs

Organisation of Sikhs into a political community in 17th century helped in regional state building in Punjab.

-Guru Gobind Singh fought against Rajput & Mughal rulers both before & after institution of Khalsa in 1699.

-Under Banda Bahadur's leadership khalsa rose in revolt against Mughal authority; declared their sovereignity by striking coins in the name ofGuru Nanak & Guru Gobind Singh & estb their own administration between Sutlej & Jamuna .

-Banda Bahadur was captured in 1715 & executed in 1716.

Sikhs organised themsleves into number of bands in 18th century known as jathas & later on misls

-Combined forces of different bands of Sikhs = dal khalsa

• 
  used to meet at Amritsar at Baisakhi & Diwali to take collective decisions known as 'Resolutions of the Guru (gurmatas)"
  
• 
  Rakhi - system under which protection to cultivators on the payment of 20% of produce was given.
  

-Khalsa declared their sovereign rule in 1765.


Marathas


Shivaji (1627-1680):

• 
  carved out stable kingdoms with the help of warrior families known as Deshmukhs
  
• 
  Kunbis or highly mobile pastoralists provided backbone of maratha army
  

-After his death the power was wielded by Chitpavan Brahamanas who served Shivaji's successors as Peshwa(or principal minister)

-Maratha Empire expanded between 1720 & 1761

-Malwa & Gujarat was seized by 1720 from Mughals.

-By 1730s, Maratha king was recognised as overlord of entire Deccan peninsula

-He possessed the right to levy Chauth (25% of the land revenue claimed by zamindars) and Sardeshmukhi (9-10% of the land revenue paid to the head revenue collector in Deccan)

-After raiding Delhi in 1737 the frontiers of Maratha Empire expanded into,

• 
  Rajasthan & Punjab in North
  
• 
  Bengal & Orissa in the east
  
• 
  Karnataka & Tamil & Telugu countries in the south.
  

- Marathas established a sound admin system too.


Jats

• 
  Consolidated their power during late 17th and 18th century
  
• 
  Under Churaman they acquired control over cities West to Delhi
  
• 
  By 1680s they had control over region between imperial cities of Delhi & Agra
  
• 
  Jats were agriculturists
  
• 
  Panipat & Ballabhgarh - trading centres in areas dominated by them
  
• 
  Suraj Mal –Under him Bharatpur emerged as a strong state.
  
• 
  At Dig Jats built an elaborate garden palace influenced by architectural form prevalent under Shah Jahan.
  

British Territories in Mid-18th Century