Regional kingdoms and their legacy, 1339 to 1826 CE

Literary sources

Chronicles
- Rajatarangini (Kalhana, c. 1148): presents Lalitaditya as a world conqueror, though only his defeat of Yashovarman and his embassies to Tang China are securely attested.
- The second Rajatarangini (Jonaraja, continued by Srivara): the chronicle of Zain ul Abidin's Kashmir, written by his own chronicler.
- Buranjis: the Ahom state chronicles, written in Assamese as well as Tai Ahom from the reign of Suhungmung.
- Firishta: records that Sultan Quli Qutb ul Mulk was about ninety at his death in 1543, which rules out the dates 1485 to 1543.
Court and devotional literature
- Harshacharita (Banabhatta): names Bhaskaravarman of Kamarupa as Harshavardhana's ally.
- Kitab i Navras (Ibrahim Adil Shah II): a Dakhni work on music that opens with a poem to Saraswati, the best illustration of Deccani syncretism.
- The Bengali hagiographies of Chaitanya: record that Alauddin Hussain Shah restrained his officers from interfering with the movement, usable as evidence of tolerance though the sources are devotional.

Foreign accounts

Xuanzang was hosted by Bhaskaravarman of Kamarupa, c. 600 to 650.
Barbosa records the tradition that Mahmud Begarha was fed poison from childhood and had an enormous appetite.
Tavernier is the eyewitness to the Golconda diamond trade.

Inscriptions

Samudragupta's Prayaga Prashasti names Kamarupa as a frontier kingdom paying tribute, its earliest historical mention.
An inscription at Hoshang Shah's tomb records a visit in 1659 by architects sent by Shah Jahan.

Coins

Malik Sarwar, the Sharqi founder, never struck coin in his own name.
Ibrahim Shah Sharqi was the first Sharqi to issue his own coinage.
Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah of Bengal, Raja Ganesha's converted son, struck coin in his own name.

Archaeology and monuments

Rival victory towers record a contested war: Rana Kumbha's Vijaya Stambha at Chittor, 1448, and Mahmud Khalji's tower at Mandu.
So little Sharqi building survives because Sikandar Lodi demolished it systematically in 1493 to 1494.

The provinces break away

As the Delhi Sultanate weakened after Timur's invasion of 1398, its provinces broke away one by one.
The Sultanate's own decline, and the provinces it lost, are told from Delhi's side. (The Delhi Sultanate: five dynasties, 1206 to 1526)
The northern kingdoms are told briefly here and the Deccan more fully, because the Deccan states carry more weight in Prelims and Mains.

Where regional languages became literary

Bengali, Assamese, Kashmiri and Dakhni all came of age as literary languages under provincial patronage, not at Delhi.
In Bengal the Mahabharata was translated for Paragal Khan, and in Golconda Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah compiled the first divan in Urdu.

Where Indo Islamic architecture became regional

Jaunpur, Gujarat, Malwa, Bengal and the Deccan each produced a distinct style of Indo Islamic building.
Questions are asked on the distinguishing features, set side by side in the table below.
The Bahmani buildings of Gulbarga and Bidar before the break up are told with the Bahmanis. (Vijayanagara and the Bahmanis)

Regional styles at a glance

Style	Signature feature	Where to see it
Sharqi, Jaunpur	The propylon, a huge arched screen that hides the dome; no minarets at all	Atala Masjid, 1408
Malwa, Mandu	White marble facing with pierced marble jalis; palaces with sloping walls or set between tanks	Hoshang Shah's Tomb, Jahaz Mahal, Hindola Mahal
Gujarat	The Maru Gurjara temple tradition in Islamic building: carved minarets, pillared halls, toranas and jalis	Sidi Saiyyed mosque, Adalaj stepwell
Bengal	Brick, and the curved do chala and chau chala roof taken from the bamboo and thatch hut	Adina Masjid, Eklakhi Mausoleum
Bahmani, Bidar	A city of learning and craft: a madrasa, royal tombs and mother of pearl inlay	Mahmud Gawan Madrasa, tombs at Ashtur, Rangin Mahal
Bijapur	A great dome on intersecting pendentives, with no internal supports	Gol Gumbaz, Ibrahim Rauza

Each regional court built in its own idiom, and the signature feature is what questions test.Source: Regional Kingdoms handout

What the Mughals had to absorb

Akbar's conquests are a list of these kingdoms: Malwa in 1561, Gujarat from 1572 and Kashmir in 1586.
The Deccan sultanates occupied the Mughals for a century and a half.

The kingdoms at a glance

Kingdom	Founder	From	End
Kashmir	Shah Mir	1339	Akbar, 1586
Bengal	Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah	1342	Sher Shah Suri, 1538
Jaunpur	Malik Sarwar	1394	Bahlul Lodi, 1479
Malwa	Dilawar Khan Ghuri	The Tughlaq collapse	Akbar, 1561 to 1562
Gujarat	Zafar Khan, as Muzaffar Shah	1407	Akbar, 1572 to 1573
Assam, the Ahoms	Sukaphaa	1228	Treaty of Yandabo, 1826
The five Deccan sultanates	Successors of the Bahmanis	c. 1490 to 1542	Absorbed by neighbours or the Mughals, 1574 to 1687

Most of these kingdoms rose as Delhi weakened, and most ended in Akbar's or Aurangzeb's conquests.Source: Regional Kingdoms handout

Malik Sarwar, the founder

Malik Sarwar, a eunuch slave who rose under the later Tughlaqs, was titled Khwaja i Jahan and then Malik us Sharq.
Malik us Sharq means Lord of the East, and the dynasty takes its name, Sharqi, from it.
Sent east as governor in 1394, he saw Timur's sack of Delhi in 1398 make the separation permanent.
He never struck coin in his own name.

Ibrahim Shah Sharqi, 1402 to 1440

Ibrahim Shah Sharqi, the greatest ruler, was the first Sharqi to issue his own coinage.
Under him Jaunpur became Shiraz i Hind, the Shiraz of the East, a centre of jurisprudence, Persian letters and Sufism.
He completed the Atala Masjid in 1408, the prototype of the Sharqi style.

Hussain Shah, 1458 to 1479

Hussain Shah is traditionally credited with developing khayal and with the Jaunpuri raga.
The attribution is traditional rather than documented, and the mature khayal is normally traced to the early eighteenth century.
It is safest to say he was a major patron of the transition from dhrupad to khayal.

The end of independent Jaunpur

Bahlul Lodi fought Jaunpur over three decades, and independent Jaunpur ended in 1479. (The Delhi Sultanate: five dynasties, 1206 to 1526)
Sharqi resistance continued in Bihar to about 1500.
Sikandar Lodi systematically demolished the Sharqi buildings in 1493 to 1494, which is why so little survives.

Sharqi architecture

The signature of the style is the propylon, a huge arched screen rising in front of the dome and hiding it.
Sharqi mosques have no minarets at all, and the propylon, flanked by tapering turret like buttresses, is the vertical accent.
Heavy battered walls and austere surfaces came from the Tughlaqs.
Reused temple pillars form trabeate side aisles against an arcuated centre.
The Atala Masjid is the prototype, with the Jama Masjid and the Lal Darwaza Masjid in the same style.

Before the sultanate

Lalitaditya Muktapida, c. 724 to 760, of the Karkota dynasty, built the Martand Sun Temple and the capital Parihasapura.
Kalhana presents him as a world conqueror, but only his defeat of Yashovarman of Kannauj and his embassies to Tang China are securely attested.
Avantivarman, 855 to 883, of the Utpala dynasty, recovered Kashmir from disorder.
His engineer Suyya drained the Jhelum flood basin, the one named hydraulic engineer of early medieval India.
Didda, the Lohara queen, ruled to 1003.

Kota Rani and Shah Mir, 1339

The last Hindu ruler was Udyan Dev, whose queen Kota Rani was the effective ruler.
On her death in 1339 Shah Mir founded the sultanate, which lasted 222 years.

Sikandar Shah, But Shikan, 1389 to 1413

Sikandar Shah was titled But Shikan, the idol breaker.
He was the first to impose jizya on Kashmiri Hindus, and his reign saw large scale temple destruction, Martand included.
His minister Suha Bhatta, a Brahmin convert, is generally named as the driver of the persecution.
Whether the motive was religious or political realpolitik is disputed, as the Debates tab sets out.

Zain ul Abidin, Bud Shah, 1420 to 1470

Zain ul Abidin is called Bud Shah, the great king, and the standard framing is the Akbar of Kashmir.
Mohibbul Hasan calls him undoubtedly the greatest of the sultans of Kashmir.
His religious policy made these changes:
- He abolished jizya and recalled the Hindus who had fled.
- He restored Brahmin stipends and permitted temple reconstruction.
- He prohibited cow slaughter and appointed Hindus to high office.
He had works translated both ways:
- The Mahabharata and Kalhana's Rajatarangini went into Persian.
- Persian and Arabic works went into Sanskrit.
His chronicler Jonaraja wrote the second Rajatarangini, continued by Srivara.

Zain ul Abidin's crafts and public works

From Samarqand he brought paper making, papier mache, carpet weaving, shawl weaving, wood carving, bookbinding and gun making.
These crafts are the foundation of Kashmir's entire later handicraft economy.
He built the Zaina Kadal bridge on the Jhelum, irrigation canals and the artificial island Zaina Lank in the Wular lake.
He also regulated the currency and fixed commodity prices.

Zain ul Abidin, the Akbar of Kashmir

Zain ul Abidin, Bud Shah, 1420 to 1470

Religious policy
- Abolished jizya
- Recalled Hindus who had fled
- Restored Brahmin stipends and permitted temple reconstruction
- Prohibited cow slaughter
- Hindus in high office
Translations
- Mahabharata and Rajatarangini into Persian
- Persian and Arabic works into Sanskrit
- Jonaraja's second Rajatarangini
Crafts from Samarqand
- Paper making and papier mache
- Carpet and shawl weaving
- Wood carving, bookbinding, gun making
Public works
- Zaina Kadal bridge on the Jhelum
- Irrigation canals
- Zaina Lank island in the Wular lake
- Currency regulated, prices fixed

Four kinds of work earned him the name Bud Shah, the great king.Source: Regional Kingdoms handout

The devotional traditions

Kashmir Shaivism is the non dualist Trika school of Vasugupta and Abhinavagupta.
Lal Ded, or Lalleshwari, c. 1320 to 1392, Shaiva in doctrine and revered by Hindus and Muslims alike, gave Kashmir its earliest surviving literature in her vakhs. (The Bhakti and Sufi movements)
Nund Rishi, Sheikh Nooruddin, c. 1377 to 1438, founded the Kashmiri Rishi order and composed in Kashmiri, with his shrine at Charar i Sharief. (The Bhakti and Sufi movements)

The Chaks and Akbar

The Chak dynasty ruled Kashmir from 1561.
Akbar annexed Kashmir in 1586, with resistance continuing to 1589, and it became a sarkar of the Kabul suba.

Dilawar Khan and Hoshang Shah, 1406 to 1435

Alauddin Khalji conquered Malwa in 1310, and it stayed in the Sultanate until the Tughlaq collapse.
Dilawar Khan Ghuri then declared Malwa independent.
His son Hoshang Shah moved the capital to Mandu, renamed Shadiabad, the city of joy.
He fortified the plateau with a wall of about 45 km and twelve gateways.

Mahmud Khalji I, 1436 to 1469

Under Mahmud Khalji I the kingdom reached its greatest extent.
He fought long wars with Rana Kumbha of Mewar, and both sides claimed victory.
Kumbha's Vijaya Stambha at Chittor, 1448, commemorates his claim.
Mahmud raised a victory tower at Mandu for the same wars, so the two are best given as contested claims.

Mahmud II and Medini Rai

Mahmud II called in the Rajput Medini Rai to crush his own disloyal nobles.
He then made Medini Rai his prime minister.

Baz Bahadur, 1555 to 1562

Baz Bahadur, the last sultan, is remembered for his association with Rani Roopmati.
Rupmati's Pavilion and Baz Bahadur's Palace at Mandu are the setting of their story.
Akbar took Malwa in 1561 and annexed it in 1562. (The Mughal empire: the emperors)

Mandu architecture

Hoshang Shah's Tomb, completed 1440, is India's first marble building, in white marble facing over local stone.
An inscription at the site records a visit in 1659 by architects sent by Shah Jahan.
That visit is the basis of the claim that the tomb influenced the Taj, so the claim should be attributed to the inscription, not asserted.
The Jama Masjid, completed 1454 and modelled on the Great Mosque of Damascus, is the finest Malwa mosque.
The Hindola Mahal, the Swing Palace, and the Jahaz Mahal, the Ship Palace, take their names from the illusions they give.

The buildings of Mandu

Building	What it is
Hoshang Shah's Tomb	Completed 1440; India's first marble building, white marble over local stone; square chamber, central dome on a low drum, corner cupolas, pierced marble jalis
Jama Masjid	Completed 1454; modelled on the Great Mosque of Damascus; vast courtyard on a high plinth, 158 domes, deep colonnades, no minarets
Hindola Mahal	The Swing Palace, an audience hall whose massive side walls slope at about 77 degrees
Jahaz Mahal	The Ship Palace, a long narrow pleasure palace between two tanks, so that it appears to float
Rupmati's Pavilion and Baz Bahadur's Palace	The buildings of the last phase, and the setting of the Baz Bahadur and Roopmati story

Mandu is the reason Malwa is on the syllabus, and its tomb, mosque and two palaces are the four to know.Source: Regional Kingdoms handout

Zafar Khan, Muzaffar Shah

Zafar Khan, a Tank Rajput convert, was appointed governor of Gujarat by Firuz Shah Tughlaq.
He threw off allegiance after Timur's invasion and took the title Muzaffar Shah in 1407.

Ahmad Shah I, 1411 to 1442

Ahmad Shah I founded Ahmedabad on the Sabarmati in 1411, replacing Anhilwada Patan as capital.
He built the Bhadra Fort, the Jama Masjid of Ahmedabad with its 260 pillars, and the Teen Darwaza.

Mahmud Begarha, 1458 to 1511

Mahmud Begarha, the greatest Gujarat sultan, reigned for fifty three years.
The standard reading of Begarha is be, two, and gadh, fort: the conqueror of Girnar or Junagadh and Champaner or Pavagadh.
The alternative reading takes the name from his moustaches, said to curl upward like a bullock's horns.
He founded Muhammadabad Champaner and shifted his court there.
Allied with Mamluk Egypt against the Portuguese, he fought two battles at sea:
- He won at Chaul in 1508.
- He lost the Battle of Diu in 1509, which ended Muslim naval power in the western Indian Ocean.
Barbosa records the tradition that he was fed poison from childhood, so that a fly settling on his hand died, and that his appetite was enormous.

Bahadur Shah, 1526 to 1537

Under Bahadur Shah the sultanate reached its greatest extent, in these campaigns and treaties:
- He took Mandu in 1531.
- The Treaty of Bassein, 1534, ceded Bassein, Daman and the Bombay islands to Portugal.
- He stormed Chittor in 1535.
In 1535, with Humayun pressing, he allowed the Portuguese a factory at Diu, and they built the Diu fort instead.
Then Humayun routed him, and he lost Gujarat. (The Mughal empire: the emperors)
Trying to reverse this, he was killed by the Portuguese aboard ship off Diu in February 1537.

Akbar's conquest, 1572 to 1573

Akbar's campaign began in 1572, Surat fell early in 1573, and Gujarat became a Mughal suba.
The Buland Darwaza at Fatehpur Sikri commemorates this victory.

Gujarat architecture

Gujarat's is the most thoroughgoing Indo Islamic fusion in India, because its Muslim builders inherited the intact Maru Gurjara or Solanki temple tradition and its guilds.
Its marks are richly carved minarets, pillared trabeate halls derived from temple mandapas, toranas and jali screens.
The Sidi Saiyyed mosque has the celebrated tree jali, now the emblem of Ahmedabad.
The Adalaj stepwell, 1499, five storeys, was begun by a Hindu queen and completed under Mahmud Begarha.
With Hindu, Jain and Islamic motifs together, Adalaj is the best single object lesson in the synthesis.
Champaner Pavagadh is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and Ahmedabad became India's first World Heritage City in 2017.

Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah, 1342 to 1358

Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah united Lakhnauti, Satgaon and Sonargaon into one Bengal, with his capital at Pandua.
He took the titles Shah i Bangalah and Sultan i Bangalah, the origin of a unified Bangla political identity.
He withstood Firuz Shah Tughlaq's siege of Ekdala in 1353 to 1354.

Sikandar Shah, 1358 to 1390

Sikandar Shah repulsed Firuz Shah's second invasion, and a peace treaty recognised Bengal's independence.
He built the Adina Masjid at Pandua, 1373 to 1375, the largest mosque in the subcontinent when built.
The Adina Masjid had 260 pillars and a monumental ribbed barrel vault over the central nave.

Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah, 1390 to 1411

Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah exchanged letters and verses with the poet Hafiz of Shiraz, the best documented literary contact between Bengal and Persia.
He sent embassies to Ming China, and a later Bengal mission presented a giraffe to the Ming court.
He was the patron of Krittibas Ojha's Bengali Ramayana.
He is famous for submitting himself to the qazi's court in a case against him.

Raja Ganesha and Jalaluddin

About 1414 Raja Ganesha, a Hindu zamindar, seized power in Bengal.
His converted son Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah ruled as a Muslim sultan and struck coin in his own name.
Jalaluddin was the patron of the Eklakhi Mausoleum at Pandua, the prototype of the square, single domed Bengali brick tomb with a curved cornice.

Alauddin Hussain Shah, 1494 to 1519

Alauddin Hussain Shah's reign was the golden age of the Bengal sultanate.
He conquered and campaigned widely to the east and south:
- He conquered Kamata and Kamrup.
- He campaigned into Assam, Tripura, Orissa and Chittagong.
Bengali became a court supported literary language beside Persian, and the Mahabharata was translated for his Chittagong governor, Paragal Khan.
His chief minister Sanatana and private secretary Rupa resigned office to become the foremost theologians of Gaudiya Vaishnavism at Vrindavan.
Chaitanya, born at Nabadwip in 1486, preached under this sultan, who, the Bengali hagiographies record, restrained his officers from interfering with the movement. (The Bhakti and Sufi movements)

Nusrat Shah and the end, 1519 to 1538

Nasiruddin Nusrat Shah made peace with Babur after the battle of the Ghaghra and built the Bara Sona Masjid at Gaur.
In 1538 Sher Shah Suri defeated Ghiyasuddin Mahmud Shah and made Bengal part of his empire.

The sultans of Bengal

Dynasty	Ruler and dates	What matters
Ilyas Shahi	Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah, 1342 to 1358	United Lakhnauti, Satgaon and Sonargaon, capital at Pandua; Shah i Bangalah; withstood Firuz Shah at Ekdala, 1353 to 1354
Ilyas Shahi	Sikandar Shah, 1358 to 1390	Repulsed Firuz Shah's second invasion; built the Adina Masjid
Ilyas Shahi	Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah, 1390 to 1411	Letters with Hafiz; embassies to Ming China; Krittibas's Ramayana; stood trial before the qazi
House of Raja Ganesha	Raja Ganesha c. 1414, then Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah	A Hindu zamindar seized power; his converted son struck coin and built the Eklakhi Mausoleum
Hussain Shahi	Alauddin Hussain Shah, 1494 to 1519	The golden age; Kamata and Kamrup conquered; Bengali at court; Rupa and Sanatana
Hussain Shahi	Nasiruddin Nusrat Shah, 1519 to 1532	Peace with Babur after Ghaghra; the Bara Sona Masjid at Gaur
End	1538	Sher Shah Suri defeated Ghiyasuddin Mahmud Shah and took Bengal

Two dynasties carried Bengal for most of two centuries, with a Hindu zamindar's house between them.Source: Regional Kingdoms handout

Bengal architecture

Besides the Adina Masjid at Pandua, the Chhota and Bara Sona Masjid stand at Gaur.
The regional signature is the curved do chala and chau chala roof, borrowed from the bamboo and thatch hut.
The curved roof was later carried into terracotta temple building and, through the Mughals, into the Bangla roof.

Kamarupa

The Varman dynasty of Kamarupa began with Pushyavarman, c. 350.
Samudragupta's Prayaga Prashasti names Kamarupa as a frontier kingdom paying tribute, its earliest historical mention.
Bhaskaravarman, c. 600 to 650, allied with Harshavardhana against Shashanka and hosted Xuanzang.
Bhaskaravarman also appears in Banabhatta's Harshacharita.

Sukaphaa and the Ahom kingdom, 1228

The Ahom kingdom, 1228 to 1826, lasted nearly six hundred years, the longest lasting uninterrupted kingdom in Indian history.
It was founded by Sukaphaa, a Tai prince from Mong Mao who crossed the Patkai hills.
The name Assam derives from the Ahoms.

Suhungmung, the Dihingia Raja, 1497 to 1539

Suhungmung's reign was the decisive one for the Ahom kingdom.
He was the first Ahom king to take a Hindu title, Swarganarayan.
The dynastic style Swargadeo comes from that title, which marks the Hinduisation of the Ahoms.
He expanded and organised the kingdom:
- He annexed the Chutia kingdom and campaigned against the Kachari.
- He conducted the first population survey in 1510.
- He destroyed Turbak Khan's invading army and pursued the invaders to the Karatoya.
Under him Assamese began to displace Tai Ahom at court, and the Buranjis, the state chronicles, began to be written in Assamese as well.

The paik system

The paik system was the backbone of Ahom administration.
Every able bodied non noble male, the paik, owed corvee labour and military service.
The paiks were organised in units under four officers:
- The bora was over twenty.
- The saikia was over a hundred.
- The hazarika was over a thousand.
- The phukan was over six thousand.
Each paik received rent free wet rice land in return.

The paik ladderTap to enlarge

Every able bodied commoner was a paik, and four ranks of officer stood over units of twenty to six thousand.

Pratap Singha, 1608

Pratap Singha reorganised the paik system in 1608.
He also created the Barphukan, viceroy of Lower Assam at Guwahati.

Biswa Singha and Nara Narayan

Biswa Singha united the Koch and Mech.
His son Nara Narayan, 1540 to 1587, with his brother and commander Chilarai, brought the Koch kingdom to its height.
On Nara Narayan's death it split into Koch Bihar and Koch Hajo.

Sankaradeva's institutions

Sankaradeva, traditionally 1449 to 1568, dates that imply a life of about 119 years and are contested, founded Ekasarana Nama Dharma. (The Bhakti and Sufi movements)
He created the Sattra, a monastery and cultural centre, and the Namghar, the village prayer hall.
The Namghar also served as the village assembly, carrying worship and local self government into modern Assam.
His Borgeet are devotional songs in Brajavali, an artificial literary language mixing Maithili and Assamese.
His Ankia Naat, one act devotional plays, are performed as Bhaona with a Sutradhar narrating.
Sattriya, the dance handed down in the monasteries, was recognised as India's eighth classical dance in 2000.

Mir Jumla's invasion, 1662 to 1663

The Mughal and Ahom wars ran from 1615 to 1682.
Mir Jumla invaded in 1662 and took Guwahati and the Ahom capital Garhgaon.
The monsoon, flooding and disease then destroyed his army.
The Treaty of Ghilajharighat, 1663, imposed a heavy indemnity and vassal status on the Ahoms.
Mir Jumla died on the return march.

Lachit Barphukan and Saraighat, 1671

The Ahoms repudiated the treaty and retook Guwahati, and Aurangzeb sent Raja Ram Singh of Amber against them.
The decisive action at Saraighat, in March 1671, was fought on the Brahmaputra.
There the Mughals, strong on land but weak on water, were destroyed.
Lachit Barphukan, mortally ill, rallied a retreating fleet.
Lachit Divas is observed on 24 November.
The battle of Itakhuli in 1682 finally expelled the Mughals from Guwahati.

Rudra Singha, 1696 to 1714

Rudra Singha, the greatest of the later Swargadeos, shifted the capital to Rangpur.
He built the Joysagar tank and the Namdang stone bridge of 1703.
The Namdang bridge was cut from a single rock and still carries a national highway.
Illiterate himself, he was a great patron of art and learning.

The end of the Ahom kingdom

The Moamoria rebellion from 1769 gutted the Ahom state.
Burmese invasions followed, and the Treaty of Yandabo, 1826, transferred Assam to the British.

Five successors of the Bahmanis

Five independent kingdoms emerged from the disintegration of the Bahmani sultanate. (Vijayanagara and the Bahmanis)
Bijapur, Ahmadnagar and Golconda became the powerful ones.
Berar and Bidar were absorbed by their neighbours.

Independence, in order

Berar, Bijapur and Ahmadnagar broke away around 1490, Berar often cited as the first.
Golconda declared independence in 1518, though some accounts give 1512.
Bidar came last, its rulers taking the royal title only from about 1542.

The five Deccan sultanates

Sultanate	Dynasty and founder	Independence	End
Bijapur	Adil Shahi, Yusuf Adil Shah	1489 to 1490	Annexed by Aurangzeb, 1686
Ahmadnagar	Nizam Shahi, Malik Ahmad Nizam Shah I	1490; city founded 1494	Extinguished by Shah Jahan, 1636
Berar	Imad Shahi, Fathullah Imad ul Mulk	c. 1490	Annexed by Ahmadnagar, 1574
Golconda	Qutb Shahi, Sultan Quli Qutb ul Mulk	1518, some accounts 1512	Annexed by Aurangzeb, 1687
Bidar	Barid Shahi, Qasim Barid	Control from c. 1492, royal title only from c. 1542	Annexed by Bijapur, 1619

Three of the five became powers, two were swallowed by their neighbours, and the Mughals took the rest.Source: Regional Kingdoms handout

Against Vijayanagara, and then the Mughals

All five combined to destroy Vijayanagara at Rakshasi Tangadi in 1565. (Vijayanagara and the Bahmanis)
Berar fell to Ahmadnagar in 1574 and Bidar to Bijapur in 1619.
The Mughals swallowed the rest: Ahmadnagar in 1636, Bijapur in 1686 and Golconda in 1687.

Yusuf Adil Shah, 1490 to 1510

Yusuf Adil Shah, an Afaqi who claimed Ottoman descent, founded the Adil Shahi kingdom.
Bijapur was earlier known as Vijayapura.
He was killed fighting Krishnadeva Raya's forces. (Vijayanagara and the Bahmanis)

Ibrahim Adil Shah II, 1580 to 1627

Ibrahim Adil Shah II, the most interesting ruler of any Deccan state, is known in Indian history as Jagadguru Badshah, teacher of the world.
He wrote the Kitab i Navras, the Book of Nine Rasas, a work on music in Dakhni.
It opens with a poem to Saraswati and invokes both Saraswati and the Prophet Muhammad, the best illustration of Deccani syncretism.
He was the patron of the Bijapur school, the finest of the Deccani painting traditions.
His tomb, the Ibrahim Rauza, is celebrated for the delicacy of its carving and sometimes called the Taj of the Deccan.

Muhammad Adil Shah, 1627 to 1656

Muhammad Adil Shah defended Bijapur against Mughal forces under Aurangzeb.
He built the Gol Gumbaz, his own mausoleum, unfinished at his death in 1656.

The Gol Gumbaz

The Gol Gumbaz is a cubical chamber about 41.5 m a side, under a dome about 44 m in external diameter.
Its total height is about 60.5 m, with four seven storey octagonal corner towers.
The dome rests on intersecting pendentives, an engineering solution that dispenses with internal supports.
The Whispering Gallery at the dome's base carries a whisper across some 37 m.
It is often called the largest dome in the world, but it is the largest masonry dome in India and among the largest anywhere.
The Malik i Maidan, a monster cannon, sits on Bijapur's fort wall.

Sikandar Adil Shah and the end, 1672 to 1686

Sikandar Adil Shah was the last sultan of Bijapur.
Aurangzeb annexed Bijapur on 12 September 1686. (The Mughal empire: the emperors)

Malik Ahmad Nizam Shah I

The founder, Malik Ahmad Nizam Shah I, was the son of Malik Hasan Bahri, the Deccani noble who forged the letter that destroyed Mahmud Gawan. (Vijayanagara and the Bahmanis)
So the founder of Ahmadnagar was the son of the man who broke the Bahmani state.
He became independent in 1490 and founded the city of Ahmadnagar in 1494.

Chand Bibi, 1595 to 1600

Chand Bibi, daughter of Hussain Nizam Shah of Ahmadnagar and wife of Ali Adil Shah I of Bijapur, linked the two states.
She was not a ruling sultan but regent and the effective defender of the kingdom.
She defended Ahmadnagar fort against Akbar's forces in 1595, appealing without success to Bijapur and Golconda.
By treaty in 1596 she ceded Berar to the Mughals.
She was killed by her own men in 1600, and the fort fell to the Mughals in August 1600.

Malik Ambar, the administrator, 1600 to 1626

Malik Ambar, an Ethiopian Habshi sold into slavery and brought to the Deccan, rose to be regent and effective ruler of Ahmadnagar.
He introduced a measurement settlement on the model of Todar Mal's, replacing crop sharing with a fixed cash assessment.
This is the revenue system the Marathas later inherited.
He founded Khadki in 1610 as his capital, with the Nahr i Ambari water system.
Aurangzeb later renamed Khadki Aurangabad.

Malik Ambar at war

He perfected bargi giri, the guerrilla method of harassment, interception of supply and refusal of pitched battle.
He employed Maratha bargirs, among them Shahji Bhonsle, the direct line from Malik Ambar to Shivaji's military method.
He sheltered the rebel Prince Khurram in the Deccan during his revolt against Jahangir in 1623 to 1624.
He defeated a Mughal army at Bhatvadi in 1624, his greatest victory.
Jahangir, who loathed him, commissioned the famous allegorical painting of himself shooting Malik Ambar's severed head.
He died on 14 May 1626, so he cannot have helped Shah Jahan, who acceded in February 1628, take the throne.

Fateh Khan and the end, 1633 to 1636

Fateh Khan, Malik Ambar's son, lacked his father's ability and murdered the sultan he served.
He then surrendered Daulatabad to Shah Jahan in 1633.
Ahmadnagar was extinguished in 1636 and partitioned between the Mughals and Bijapur.

Sultan Quli Qutb ul Mulk, to 1543

Sultan Quli Qutb ul Mulk was a Qara Qoyunlu Turkman from Hamadan in Persia.
Appointed tarafdar of Telangana by the Bahmanis around 1495, he was based at Golconda from 1496.
He rebuilt Golconda from a mud fort into a granite fortress.
He declared independence in 1518, and was murdered at prayer by his own son in 1543.
Firishta records he was about ninety at his death, so the dates 1485 to 1543 found in some books are wrong.

Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah, 1550 to 1580

Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah transformed the Golconda fort into a fortified city.
He was a notable patron of Telugu, out of genuine attachment to the language.
He had spent his exile at the Vijayanagara court, which shows in his cultural policy.

Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, 1580 to 1612

Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah founded Hyderabad in 1591 on the south bank of the Musi, Golconda being overcrowded and short of water.
He built the Charminar in the same year, a square of about 20 m a side with four minarets of about 48.7 m.
The Charminar is about 56 m high, and its minarets are integral to the structure rather than detached.
Two explanations are given for it, the end of a plague and the start of the second Islamic millennium, and both should be given.
He was the first poet to compile a divan in Urdu, that is Dakhni.
His romance with Bhagmati, and Hyderabad's first name Bhagyanagar, are popular tradition of uncertain historicity.

The diamonds of Golconda

The Golconda mines, above all Kollur on the Krishna, were the world's only significant source of diamonds before the Brazilian finds of the eighteenth century.
The Koh i Nur, the Hope and the Regent all came from these mines.
Golconda was the market, not the mine, which is why its name attached to the stones.
Tavernier is the eyewitness to the trade.

Abul Hasan Tana Shah, 1672 to 1687

Abul Hasan Tana Shah, the last ruler, was a patron of art who made the Brahmin brothers Madanna and Akkanna his chief ministers.
Golconda fell to Aurangzeb in September 1687 after an eight month siege ended by treachery. (The Mughal empire: the emperors)
The Qutb Shahi tombs outside the fort are the finest necropolis of the Deccan.

Berar, the Imad Shahis

Fathullah Imad ul Mulk, a Hindu convert originally from Vijayanagara territory, founded Berar around 1490.
He is often cited as the first of the five to break away.
Berar was annexed by Ahmadnagar in 1574, and ceded by Chand Bibi to the Mughals in 1596.

Bidar, the Barid Shahis

Qasim Barid, a Turk, became master of Bidar as chief minister around 1492, but ruled in the Bahmani sultan's name.
His successors took the royal title only from about 1542, which is why Bidar is the last of the five.
Bidar was annexed by Bijapur in 1619.
Bidar is remembered for its city: the Mahmud Gawan Madrasa, the Bahmani tombs at Ashtur and the Rangin Mahal with its mother of pearl inlay.
Bidriware, silver inlay on blackened zinc alloy, takes its name from the town and holds a Geographical Indication today.

The five independence dates
- Berar, Bijapur and Ahmadnagar broke away around 1490, Golconda in 1518, and Bidar last, with the royal title only from about 1542, not all five in 1518.
Malik Ambar and Shah Jahan
- Malik Ambar died in May 1626 and Shah Jahan acceded in February 1628, so he only sheltered the rebel Prince Khurram in 1623 to 1624.
Sultan Quli's dates
- Sultan Quli became governor of Telangana around 1495 and declared independence in 1518, and he was about ninety in 1543, so 1485 is wrong.
The Gol Gumbaz dome
- The Gol Gumbaz is the largest masonry dome in India and among the largest anywhere, not the largest dome in the world.
Sharqi minarets
- Sharqi mosques have no minarets at all, and their signature is the propylon that hides the dome.
Hoshang Shah's tomb
- Hoshang Shah's tomb is India's first marble building, not red sandstone, and an inscription records Shah Jahan's architects visiting in 1659.
Begarha
- Begarha is usually read as be plus gadh, the conqueror of two forts, Girnar and Champaner, not the bearded one, with the moustache reading as the alternative.
Diu, 1509 and 1535
- 1509 was the naval Battle of Diu, a defeat but not the loss of the port, which Bahadur Shah granted in 1535 before the Portuguese killed him in 1537.
Chaitanya's theology
- Chaitanya wrote almost nothing, and the theology came from the Six Goswamis of Vrindavan, of whom Rupa and Sanatana had served Alauddin Hussain Shah.
Sankaradeva's dates
- Sankaradeva's traditional dates, 1449 to 1568, imply about 119 years, so give them but say they are contested.

Malik Sarwar
sultan
Founder of the Sharqi sultanate of Jaunpur; a eunuch slave under the later Tughlaqs, titled Malik us Sharq, sent east as governor in 1394.
Ibrahim Shah Sharqi
sultan
r. 1402 to 1440 CE; the first Sharqi coinage, Jaunpur as Shiraz i Hind, and the Atala Masjid of 1408.
Hussain Shah Sharqi
sultan
r. 1458 to 1479 CE; traditionally credited with khayal and the Jaunpuri raga; the last independent Sharqi, defeated by Bahlul Lodi.
Lalitaditya Muktapida
king
Karkota king of Kashmir, c. 724 to 760 CE; built the Martand Sun Temple and Parihasapura; defeated Yashovarman of Kannauj.
Kota Rani
queen
Queen of Udyan Dev, the last Hindu ruler of Kashmir, and the effective ruler; Shah Mir founded the sultanate on her death in 1339.
Shah Mir
sultan
Founded the Kashmir sultanate in 1339, which lasted 222 years.
Sikandar Shah of Kashmir
sultan; also Sikandar But Shikan
r. 1389 to 1413 CE; titled But Shikan; first to impose jizya on Kashmiri Hindus; temple destruction including Martand.
Suha Bhatta
minister
Sikandar Shah's minister, a Brahmin convert, generally named as the driver of the persecution in Kashmir.
Zain ul Abidin
sultan; also Bud Shah
r. 1420 to 1470 CE; Bud Shah, the Akbar of Kashmir; abolished jizya, had works translated both ways, and brought crafts from Samarqand.
Lal Ded
saint; also Lalleshwari
c. 1320 to 1392 CE; Shaiva in doctrine and revered by Hindus and Muslims; her vakhs are among the earliest Kashmiri literature.
Nund Rishi
saint; also Sheikh Nooruddin
Sheikh Nooruddin, c. 1377 to 1438 CE; founded the Kashmiri Rishi order and composed shruks in Kashmiri; shrine at Charar i Sharief.
Hoshang Shah
sultan
Malwa, r. 1406 to 1435 CE; moved the capital to Mandu, Shadiabad, and walled the plateau; his tomb is India's first marble building.
Mahmud Khalji I
sultan
Malwa, r. 1436 to 1469 CE; the kingdom's greatest extent; long wars with Rana Kumbha, each side raising a victory tower.
Rana Kumbha
king
Of Mewar; fought Mahmud Khalji I of Malwa and raised the Vijaya Stambha at Chittor in 1448 for his claim of victory.
Baz Bahadur
sultan
Malwa, r. 1555 to 1562 CE; the last sultan, remembered with Rani Roopmati; Akbar took Malwa in 1561.
Zafar Khan
sultan; also Muzaffar Shah
A Tank Rajput convert, Firuz Shah Tughlaq's governor of Gujarat, who took the title Muzaffar Shah in 1407.
Ahmad Shah I
sultan
Gujarat, r. 1411 to 1442 CE; founded Ahmedabad on the Sabarmati in 1411 and built the Bhadra Fort, Jama Masjid and Teen Darwaza.
Mahmud Begarha
sultan
Gujarat, r. 1458 to 1511 CE; took Girnar and Champaner; won at Chaul in 1508 and lost at Diu in 1509.
Bahadur Shah of Gujarat
sultan
r. 1526 to 1537 CE; took Mandu and Chittor, ceded Bassein in 1534 and Diu in 1535, and was killed by the Portuguese off Diu in 1537.
Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah
sultan
Bengal, r. 1342 to 1358 CE; united Bengal with its capital at Pandua, took the title Shah i Bangalah, and withstood Firuz Shah at Ekdala.
Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah
sultan
Bengal, r. 1390 to 1411 CE; wrote to Hafiz of Shiraz, sent embassies to Ming China and patronised Krittibas's Ramayana.
Alauddin Hussain Shah
sultan
Bengal, r. 1494 to 1519 CE; the golden age; conquered Kamata and Kamrup; Bengali at court; Rupa and Sanatana were his ministers.
Chaitanya
saint; also Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
1486 to 1533 or 1534 CE; born at Nabadwip; founder of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, preaching in Alauddin Hussain Shah's Bengal.
Sukaphaa
king
A Tai prince from Mong Mao who crossed the Patkai hills and founded the Ahom kingdom in 1228.
Suhungmung
king
Ahom, r. 1497 to 1539 CE; the Dihingia Raja; first to take the Hindu title Swarganarayan; annexed the Chutia kingdom; first population survey, 1510.
Sankaradeva
saint; also Srimanta Sankaradeva
Traditionally 1449 to 1568 CE, dates contested; founder of Ekasarana Nama Dharma, the Sattra and Namghar, Borgeet and Ankia Naat.
Nara Narayan
king
Koch, r. 1540 to 1587 CE; with his brother Chilarai brought the Koch kingdom to its height.
Lachit Barphukan
general
The Ahom commander who, mortally ill, won the battle of Saraighat on the Brahmaputra in March 1671; Lachit Divas is 24 November.
Rudra Singha
king
Ahom, r. 1696 to 1714 CE; moved the capital to Rangpur and built the Joysagar tank and the Namdang stone bridge of 1703.
Yusuf Adil Shah
sultan
Bijapur, r. 1490 to 1510 CE; an Afaqi who claimed Ottoman descent; founder of the Adil Shahis, killed fighting Krishnadeva Raya's forces.
Ibrahim Adil Shah II
sultan
Bijapur, r. 1580 to 1627 CE; Jagadguru Badshah; wrote the Kitab i Navras; patron of the Bijapur school of painting.
Chand Bibi
regent
Regent and defender of Ahmadnagar against Akbar in 1595; ceded Berar in 1596; killed by her own men in 1600.
Malik Ambar
regent
Ahmadnagar, 1600 to 1626 CE; an Ethiopian Habshi; measurement revenue, bargi giri, Khadki founded in 1610; won at Bhatvadi in 1624.
Sultan Quli Qutb ul Mulk
sultan
Founder of the Qutb Shahis; tarafdar of Telangana about 1495; independent in 1518; murdered at about ninety in 1543.
Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah
sultan
Golconda, r. 1580 to 1612 CE; founded Hyderabad and built the Charminar in 1591; first to compile a divan in Urdu.

Atala Masjid, Jaunpur
The central propylon of the Atala Masjid, completed by Ibrahim Shah Sharqi in 1408, the prototype of the Sharqi style.
Varun Shiv Kapur from Berkeley, United States, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Martand Sun Temple
The ruins of the Sun Temple built by Lalitaditya Muktapida of the Karkota dynasty.
Goutam1962, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Hoshang Shah's Tomb, Mandu
Completed 1440, India's first marble building, with its central dome and corner cupolas.
Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Jahaz Mahal, Mandu
The Ship Palace, a long narrow pleasure palace set between two tanks so that it appears to float.
Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The tree jali, Sidi Saiyyed mosque
The celebrated tree jali of the Sidi Saiyyed mosque, now the emblem of Ahmedabad.
Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Adalaj stepwell
The five storey stepwell of 1499, completed under Mahmud Begarha, with Hindu, Jain and Islamic motifs together.
Tejal Acharya, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Adina Masjid, Pandua
Built by Sikandar Shah, 1373 to 1375, the largest mosque in the subcontinent when built.
Amitabha Gupta, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Eklakhi Mausoleum, Pandua
Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah's square, single domed brick tomb with a curved cornice, the prototype of the Bengali tomb.
Amitabha Gupta, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Rang Ghar, Sivasagar
A pavilion at Rangpur, the Ahom capital to which Rudra Singha moved the court.
Rangan Datta Wiki, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Namdang stone bridge
Rudra Singha's bridge of 1703, cut from a single rock, which still carries a national highway.
Rangan Datta Wiki, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Gol Gumbaz, Bijapur
Muhammad Adil Shah's mausoleum, the largest masonry dome in India, with its seven storey octagonal corner towers.
Rangan Datta Wiki, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ibrahim Rauza, Bijapur
The tomb of Ibrahim Adil Shah II, celebrated for its carving and sometimes called the Taj of the Deccan.
Ganesh.Subramaniam85, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Charminar, Hyderabad
Built by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah in 1591, with its four minarets integral to the structure.
DidierTais, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Golconda fort
The granite fortress Sultan Quli rebuilt from a mud fort, which Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah made a fortified city.
Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sharqi: Of the East: the Jaunpur dynasty, named from Malik Sarwar's title Malik us Sharq, Lord of the East.
Propylon: A huge arched screen rising in front of a mosque's dome and hiding it, the signature of Sharqi building.
Shiraz i Hind: The Shiraz of the East: Jaunpur under Ibrahim Shah Sharqi, a centre of jurisprudence, Persian letters and Sufism.
But Shikan: The idol breaker: the title of Sikandar Shah of Kashmir, 1389 to 1413.
Bud Shah: The great king: the name given to Zain ul Abidin of Kashmir.
Rishi order: The Kashmiri order founded by Nund Rishi, fusing Sufism with pre Islamic Kashmiri asceticism.
Vakh: A verse saying of Lal Ded, among the earliest surviving Kashmiri literature.
Shadiabad: The city of joy: Hoshang Shah's name for Mandu, the capital of Malwa.
Begarha: The name of Mahmud of Gujarat, read as be, two, and gadh, fort: the conqueror of Girnar and Champaner; or from his moustaches.
Do chala: The curved two sided Bengali roof, with the four sided chau chala, borrowed from the bamboo and thatch hut.
Swargadeo: The dynastic style of the Ahom kings, from Suhungmung's Hindu title Swarganarayan.
Paik: An able bodied non noble male in the Ahom kingdom, owing corvee labour and military service for rent free wet rice land.
Bora: The Ahom officer over twenty paiks.
Saikia: The Ahom officer over a hundred paiks.
Hazarika: The Ahom officer over a thousand paiks.
Phukan: The Ahom officer over six thousand paiks.
Barphukan: The Ahom viceroy of Lower Assam at Guwahati, an office created by Pratap Singha.
Buranji: An Ahom state chronicle, written in Tai Ahom and, from Suhungmung's reign, in Assamese as well.
Sattra: A Vaishnava monastery and cultural centre in Assam, created by Sankaradeva.
Namghar: The village prayer hall of Assam, created by Sankaradeva, which also served as the village assembly.
Borgeet: Sankaradeva's devotional songs in Brajavali, a literary language mixing Maithili and Assamese.
Ankia Naat: Sankaradeva's one act devotional plays, performed as Bhaona with a Sutradhar narrating.
Jagadguru: Teacher of the world: Jagadguru Badshah was the name of Ibrahim Adil Shah II of Bijapur.
Kitab i Navras: The Book of Nine Rasas, Ibrahim Adil Shah II's work on music in Dakhni, opening with a poem to Saraswati.
Bargi giri: The guerrilla method of harassment, interception of supply and refusal of pitched battle, perfected by Malik Ambar.

Was Sikandar But Shikan's persecution religious or political?

Religious

Sikandar Shah took the title But Shikan, the idol breaker.
He was the first to impose jizya on Kashmiri Hindus, and his reign saw large scale temple destruction, Martand included.

Political

His minister Suha Bhatta, a Brahmin convert, is generally named as the driver of the persecution.

The record of jizya and temple destruction is not in doubt, but the motive behind it is disputed and should be given as disputed.

What made Zain ul Abidin the Akbar of Kashmir?

His religious policy

He abolished jizya, recalled the Hindus who had fled and restored Brahmin stipends.
He permitted temple reconstruction, prohibited cow slaughter and appointed Hindus to high office.
He had the Mahabharata and the Rajatarangini put into Persian, and Persian and Arabic works into Sanskrit.

His wider statecraft

From Samarqand he brought the crafts that founded Kashmir's handicraft economy.
He built the Zaina Kadal bridge, canals and the Zaina Lank island, and fixed commodity prices.

Both together earned him the name Bud Shah, and Mohibbul Hasan calls him undoubtedly the greatest of the sultans of Kashmir.

Prelims

Try each before opening the answer; every question is also on the Prelims PYQs pages.

2026 · Q37

Which one of the following statements with regard to the Moidams, built by the Tai-Ahom kingdom and inscribed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, is/are correct?

1.They acted as army fortresses.
2.They were recreation centres of the Royals and Nobles.
3.They were burial grounds of the Royals and Nobles.
4.They were battle drill centres of the Royals and Nobles.

(a)1 only
(b)1 and 3
(c)3 onlyUPSC key
(d)2 and 4

Show answer and explanation

Only statement 3 is correct, so (c) is the answer. Moidams are the burial mounds of the Ahom royalty and nobility, concentrated at Charaideo in Sivasagar district of Assam, each consisting of a vaulted brick or stone chamber holding the body together with grave goods, covered by an earth mound and enclosed by a wall, and the site became India's first cultural World Heritage inscription from the Northeast in 2024.

Statements 1, 2 and 4 are all wrong because they assign a military or recreational function to what is a funerary complex. The Ahom kingdom did build fortifications and earthworks, the ramparts and ditches associated with the Battle of Saraighat being the well known example, but those are separate structures and are not moidams.
Options (a), (b) and (d) therefore all rest on transferring functions from other Ahom remains to the burial mounds.

Easy · Current Affairs Inspired · Art and Culture · Heritage Listing and Conservation

Not covered in the theme; see the answer.

2023 · Q49

Who among the following rulers of medieval Gujarat surrendered Diu to Portuguese?

(a)Ahmad Shah
(b)Mahmud Begarha
(c)Bahadur ShahUPSC key
(d)Muhammad Shah

Show answer and explanation

Bahadur Shah of Gujarat, hard pressed by Humayun in the 1530s, sought Portuguese assistance and by the treaty of 1535 conceded Diu, where the Portuguese built a fortress. Relations soured and Bahadur Shah died in 1537 during a confrontation aboard a Portuguese vessel. Ahmad Shah, founder of Ahmedabad in the early fifteenth century, predates Portuguese arrival in India, so (a) is wrong. Mahmud Begarha, the most powerful Gujarat sultan, in fact fought the Portuguese and won at Chaul in 1508 before losing at Diu in 1509, the opposite of surrender, so (b) is wrong. Muhammad Shah is not associated with the Diu cession, so (d) is wrong.

Moderate · Static · Ancient and Medieval History · Early Medieval and South India

2018 · Q73

Which one of the following foreign travellers elaborately discussed about diamonds and diamond mines of India ?

(a)Francois Bernier
(b)Jean-Baptiste TavernierUPSC key
(c)Jean de Thevenot
(d)Abbe Barthelemy Carre

Show answer and explanation

Option (b) is correct. Jean Baptiste Tavernier was a French gem merchant who made six voyages to the East between 1630 and 1668 and whose Les Six Voyages describes the diamond mines of India at first hand, including Kollur on the Krishna in Golconda, together with the methods of working them, the organisation of the labour and the trade in stones. He is the traveller who handled the stones professionally, and the Hope diamond descends from a stone he sold in France, which is why his account of diamonds is the detailed one.
Option (a) is wrong on emphasis rather than on presence. Francois Bernier was a physician attached to Dara Shukoh and later to Danishmand Khan, and his Travels in the Mogul Empire is the great political and social account of the war of succession, of Mughal administration and of the absence of private property in land, but it is not a treatise on mining.
Option (c) is wrong: Jean de Thevenot travelled in India in the 1660s and left useful descriptive notes on towns, routes and manners, but he was a scholarly traveller rather than a merchant and did not write on the diamond trade in comparable detail.
Option (d) is wrong: Abbe Barthelemy Carre travelled as an emissary in the 1670s and his account is chiefly diplomatic and narrative. Governing principle for the seventeenth century French travellers, who are regularly confused: match the traveller to the occupation. Bernier was a physician and writes politics, Tavernier was a jeweller and writes gems and trade, Thevenot was a scholar and writes description, Carre was an envoy and writes missions.

Hence (b).

Moderate · Static · Ancient and Medieval History · Sources, Chronology and Historiography

2014 · Q83

With reference to the famous Sattriya dance, consider the following statements:

1.Sattriya is a combination of music, dance and drama.
2.It is a centuries-old living tradition of Vaishnavites of Assam.
3.It is based on classical Ragas and Talas of devotional songs composed by Tulsidas, Kabir and Mirabai.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a)1 only
(b)1 and 2 onlyUPSC key
(c)2 and 3 only
(d)1, 2 and 3

Show answer and explanation

Statements 1 and 2 are correct and statement 3 is incorrect, so the official answer is (b).
Statement 1 is correct: Sattriya grew out of the ankiya nat, the one-act devotional play, and combines music, dance and dramatic narration, so it is a total theatre form rather than dance alone.
Statement 2 is correct: it was created in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries by Srimanta Sankaradeva as a medium of the Ekasarana Nama-dharma form of Vaishnavism, and has been preserved as a living tradition in the sattras, the Vaishnava monasteries of Assam, where it was performed by celibate monks, the bhokots; it was recognised as a classical dance form by the Sangeet Natak Akademi in 2000, the eighth to be so recognised.
Statement 3 is incorrect and is the pivot. The musical basis of Sattriya is the borgeet, the devotional songs composed by Sankaradeva and his disciple Madhavadeva in Brajavali, set to their own ragas and to the talas played on the khol and cymbals. Tulsidas, Kabir and Mirabai belong to the northern Bhakti tradition and have no connection with the Assamese Vaishnava repertoire. The governing point is that Sattriya is the creation of one identifiable regional Bhakti movement with its own literature and music, which the statement replaces with unrelated northern saint-poets.

Moderate · Static · Art and Culture · Performing Arts and Intangible Heritage

Not covered in the theme; see the answer.