Medieval India

This period of Indian history includes the invasion of Muslims ,the establishment of Sultanate of Delhi and Mughal Empire .

Invasions by Muslims

Muhammad Bin Qasim of Iraq was the first Arab to invade India .Mahmood of Ghazni raided India 17 times from 1001 CE to 1027 CE .He attacked the Somnath temple in the year  1025 He patronised Firdaus ,a persian Poet,who wrote Shanama and Alberuni ,a scholar who wrote Tahqiq -E-Hind .
Mohammed Ghori of Afghanistan fought the first battle of Tarain (1191) against Prithviraj Cahuhaan and was defeated .But in the second battle of Tarain (1192),he defeated Prithviraj and captured Delhi ,which led to the foundation of the Sultanate of Delhi ,which marks the beginning of Muslim Rule in India ,

Delhi Sultanate  

Five dynasties ruled Delhi overa period of more than 300 years .these are as follows .
1) Ilabari or Slave Dynasty (1206-1290)
2)Khilji Dynasty (1290-1320)
3)Tughlaq Dynasty (1320-1414)
4)Saiyyad Dynasty(1414-1451)
5)Lodhi Dynasty (1451-1526)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       The founder of the slave dynasty was Qutub-ud-din Aibak .(1206-1210)who laid the foundation of the Qutub Minar and built 'Adhai -din -ka Jhopara '  (Ajmer).

Iltutmish (1210-1286)-formed Chalisa ,a group of 40 Turkish nobles and introduced Silver tanka and Copper Jitat .

Razia Sultan 

Raziya Sultan (1236-1239)- was the first and only women ruler .

Balban(1266-86)- was a member of Chalisa ,who introduced Sijah or Paibos practice and started the festival of Nauraj .

Khilji Dynasty - The founder of Khilji dynasty ,Jalalluddin Khilji (1290-1296),was killed and succeeded by his nephew Alauddin Khilji .He had a permanent army and introduced market control .
The poet ,muscian and Historean Amir Khusaro served seven rulers of Delhi Sultanate .He invented Sitar and was given a tiltle of Tuti-E-Hind .

Tughlaq Dynasty -(1320-1414)




Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq (1320-1325) 

He was the founder of this dynasty .

Mohammed Bin Tughlaq(1325-1351)-

He introduced token coins of brass and copper .He set up department of agriculture  Diwan-e-kohi.The famous traveller Ibn Batuta came to Delhi during his period and while here had written Satarnamah .                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Firoz Shah Tughlaq (1351-1388)

He imposed four new taxes .Kharaj (a land tax) ,Jaziya (a tax by non muslims) .Zakat(tax on property )and Khams(one fifth booty captured wars) .He built the towns of Hissar ,Firozabad and Firozshah Kotla .Barani ,his court historean ,wrote Tarikh-e-Firozshahi and Fatwa-e-Jahandari.

Taimur the Lame,a Mongol leader  ,invaded Delhi in December 1398 during the reign of Nasiruddin Mohammad Tughlaq .

Saiyyad Dynasty -(1414-1451)

Khizr Khan was the founder of Saiyyad Dynasty .Other rulers were Mubarak Shah, Mohammad Shah and Alauddin Alam Shah .

Lodhi Dynasty -(1451-1526)- The founder of Lodhi Dynasty was Bahlol Lodhi .(1451-1488).Sikandar Lodhi (1489-1517) and Ibrahim Lodhi (1517-1526)were other rulers  .Babar defeated Ibrahim Lodhi in the battle of Panipat in 1526 ,which marked the end of Delhi sultanate .                                                                                                                                                                                         Religious movements -

The Sufis - The Chistis ,the Suharawadis and the Silsilah of Firdausi were the three major orders of Sufis in India . The relationship between the teacher or Pir and his deciple orMurid was an important aspect of Sufism .

The Chisti -This movement was established by Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti (Ajmer) .Its other saints were Nizamuddin ,Auliya ,Nasiruddin Chirag-e-Dehli ,Barni and Amir Khusaro .

The Suharrawadi - The famous saints of thsi order were Shaikh Shahabuddin and Hamidud-din-Nagry.It was popular in Punjab and Sindh Region .

The Silsilah - This religious movement was established by Firdausi and was popular in Bihar .

The Bhakti movement (Fifteenth century )- Ramananda a worshiper of Lord Rama ,was the first the fist Bhakti saint .This movement was propounded by Chitanya Mahaprabhu ,Bhagat Namdeva ,Tukaram,Jayadeva ,Saint Kabirdas ,Sadhana,Ravidas and Sena .

Chitanya Mahaprabhu was a ascetic Hindu Monk and social reformer in sixteenth century in Bengal.A great proponent of loving devotion for God ,Bhaktiyoga ,Chaitanya worshipped Lord Krishna .He popularized the Krishna culture .

Tulsidas ,Surdas ,Meerabai were all contemporary .

The Mughal Empire 

Mughal Empire till Aurangzeb's reign

Babar (1526-1530)

He Defeated Ibrahim Lodhi in the first battle of Panipat in 1526 and established the Mughal Empire  .
He defeated Rana Sanga of Mewar in the battle of Khanuwa in 1527.He died in 1530 and was buried in Aram Bagh in Kabul .
His autobiography Tuzuk-e-Babari was written in Turkish language .

Humayun -(1530-1556)

He was defeated by Sher Shah Suri .in the battle of Chausa (1539) and again in the battle of Bilgram (also known as the battle of Kannauj in 1540) and remained exiled from India till 1555.He regained the throne in 1555 but died in 1556.His tomb is the prototype of Tajmahal .His sister Gulbadan wrote Humayun Nama .

                                                              Akbar The Great  -(1556-1605)

Akbar the Great 

Born at Amarkot in 1542,Akbar was coronated at the age of 14 .He was the most famous ruler of all the Mughals .He faught the second battle of Panipat in 1556 against Hemu and emerged victorious .He defeated the Rajputs led by Rana Pratap in the battle of Haldighati in 1576.He conquered Malwa in 1561 ,Gondwana in 1564 ,and Gujrat in 1573 and built Buland Darwaza at Fatehpur Sikari to commemorate this victory .Akbar constructed the Royal city of Fatehpur Sikari in 1570 which served as the empire's capital from 1571 till 1585 .He introduced the Manshabdari system (under this system the army and beaurocracy were organised in order of rank ).The Zabti system (for land revenue) which is also known as Todar Mal Bandobast and the Dahasala system (a revenue on crops).He abolished Jaziya 1564 and formulated a new order Tauhit-e-illahi (Din-e-illahi)or universal religion .He built agra fort and his own tomb at Sikandara (Agra).Akbar's court poet Abul Fazal wrote Ain-e-Akbari and Akbarnama .

Jahangir (1605-1627) 

Jahangir executed the fifth Sikh guru ArjunDev ,who helped Khusaro (Jahangir's son,later known as Shah Jahan )in the rebellion against him .He married Mehr-un-Nisa (Nur Jahan) in 1611 .Thomas Roe visited his court ,and he allowed the Brithish to establish factories at Surat .Jahangir Built the Moti Masjid at Agra and his mausoleum at Shahdara(Lahore).He wrote his memoir Tuzuk-e-Jahangiri in Persian Language .

Shah Jahan (1627-1658)

Shah jahan annexed Ahmednagar (1633) and concluded treaties with  Bijapur and Golkonda (1636).He was defeated and imprisoned by his son Aurangzeb(1658).He died in 1666.

Aurangzeb (1658-1707)

Aurangzeb came to power by murdering his three brothers (Dara,Suja and Murad ) and imprisoning his father Shah Jahan .Various rebillions took place during his reign .He reimposed Jaziya and banned Nauraz (singing and dancing in court ).He was Zinda Peer or Darvesh .He built Moti Masjid in Delhi and Bibi ka Maqbara at Aurangabad .
                                                                           
Later Mughal Rulers 

Emperor Akbar sitting in his Durbar on Peacock Throne 

Aurangzeb successors were weak and incapable rulers ,which led to the fall of the Mughal Empire .Nadir Shah ,a Persian king ,invaded India during the rule of Mohammed Shah and took away the "Peacock Throne" and "Kohinoor Diamond "..Bahadur Shah II (1837-57) was the last Mughal ruler.He was deported to Rangoon after the 1857 revolt .

Regional Uprisings -

Sikhs 

Guru Angad was the successor of Guru Nanak and he invented the Gurumukhi script .
Guru Ramdas was the founder of Amritsar city .
Guru Arjun dev compiled the Adigranth and built the Swarna Mandir .Aurangzeb executed Guru Teg Bahadur (the ninth guru ) in 1675.
Guru Govind Singh (10th and last guru )organized the Sikhs into a military force and called them Khalsa (1699).Later he was killed by an Afghan .

Marathas 

The Kohinoor Diamond in the Crown of queen of Britain 

Marathas became powerful under the rule of Shivajii .Shivaji was imprisoned by Aurangzeb ,but he managed to managed to escape and was coronated in 1674 at Raigarh .He died in 1680 and was succeeded by his son Sambha ji ,who was executed by Aurangzeb .
      Rajaram ,brother of Sambhaji ,became the ruler .After the death of Rajaram ,Shivaji II was declared ruler by his mother Tarabai .

Peshawas - Balaji Vishwanathan became powerful and established the Peshawas as hereditary rulers of the realm .Baji Rao came to the throne and Maratha power reached its zenith .Baji Rao began the system of confideracy and thereby several Maratha families became powerful in different parts of India Gaekwad in Baroda ,Bhosale in Nagpur ,Holkar in Indore,Scindhia in Gwalior and Peshawa in Pune .