Medieval India:
The period between 8th and 18th century CE in the Indian subcontinent is referred to as the Medieval Period in the Indian History.
Many historians divide the period into ‘early medieval period’ (up to 13th century) and ‘late medieval period’ (beyond 13th century).
This period witnessed many dramatic changes in the Indian subcontinent.
Indian Maps;
Over a period of time, the map of an area made by a person differs significantly from that made by another person.
This is because of the changes in the information about that region.
For example, consider the following maps:
![indian map arab cartographer]()
This was by the Arab geographer Al-Idrisi.
It was made in 1154 CE (Christian era).
In this map south India is where we would expect to find north India.
Sri Lanka is an island at the top of India.
The names of places are marked in Arabic and there are some popular places of Uttar Pradesh like Kanauj (spelt as Qanauj).
![indian map french cartographer]()
It was made by a French cartographer (a person who makes maps).
It was drawn in the 1720s, i.e. 600 years after Map 1.
This map is more familiar to us, i.e. it is more similar to the map we know of than the map drawn by Al-Idrisi. The coastal areas, in particular are detailed.
It was used by the European sailors and merchants on their voyages.
Another reason for difference in the maps of two distinct periods is the difference in the science of cartography.
When documents, maps and texts from the past are read by historians, they have to keep in mind the differences in the historical backgrounds and the contexts in which the information about the past was produced.
Hence maps and documents cannot be interpreted in absolute and independent terms.
New and old terminologies:
Information changes over a period of time;
In terms of the context in which it is produced.
In terms of meaning and language – For instance medieval Persian is different from modern Persian both with reference to grammar, vocabulary and meanings.
Meanings of Hindustan:
The term ‘Hindustan’ is interpreted differently by different people, which are as follows:
Present Context: Today, this term refers to what we know as ‘India’, the modern nation-state.
Thirteenth Century: In this period, when this term was used by Mihaj-i-Siraj, a chronicler who wrote in Persian, it included;
In the geographical sense: The areas of Punjab, Haryana and the lands between the Ganga and Yamuna were referred to as Hindustan.
In the political sense: The lands that were a part of the dominions of the Delhi Sultan were referred to as Hindustan. The areas included in this term shifted with the extent of the Sultanate. It never included south India.
Sixteenth Century: This term was used by Babar to describe the geography, culture and fauna of the inhabitants of the subcontinent.
Fourteenth Century:
The term ‘Hind’ used in this period by the poet Amir Khusrau was somewhat similar to the way it was used in the sixteenth century.
The term ‘Hindustan’ did not carry the political and national meaning that we associate with it today in spite of the existence of a geographical and cultural entity like ‘India’.
Meanings of ‘foreigner’:
Present Context: In the present times, the term ‘foreigner’ means a person who is not an Indian.
Medieval Period:
In this period, the term ‘foreigner’ meant a stranger who appeared in a given village, i.e. a person who was not a part of that society or culture.
Thus a city dweller would consider a forest dweller as ‘foreigner’ whereas two farmers of the same village even if they belonged to different castes, religion etc.; were not foreigners to each other.
Different sources are used by historians to study the past, depending on;
The period of their study
Nature of their investigation
Historians and their sources:
The sources used by historians in the period 700 to 1750 (the Medieval Period) were quite different from the ones used in the period of Gupta dynasty and Hashavardhana.
There is definitely some continuity in the sources used by the historians of both the distinct periods.
For example, for obtaining information they still relied on
Coins
Inscriptions
Architecture
Textual records
But there is also significant discontinuity in the sources used by the historians of both the distinct periods. Some of the changes in the sources are as follows:
Dramatic increase in the number and variety of textual records.
Slowly displaced other types of available information.
Paper became cheaper and more widely available as opposed to the earlier periods when people used to write on barks of birch trees, hides, walls of caves, etc. due to non-availability of paper.
Use of Paper:
Paper was used to write holy texts, chronicles of rulers, letters and teachings of saints, petitions and judicial records, and for registers of accounts and taxes.
Manuscripts were collected by wealthy people, rulers, monasteries and temples.
They were placed in libraries as well as archives.
These manuscripts and documents were rich and vital sources of information for the historians.
But they were difficult to use.
Copying manuscripts:
Since printing press was not available in the ancient times, scribes copied manuscripts by hand.
This was a challenging task because there are instances where the handwriting is not very clear and legible.
Hence, while copying they were forced to guess what was written.
Consequently there are small but significant changes in the original record and the copied record.
Over many rounds of copying, these small differences got accumulated and became big enough to bring about a substantial difference in texts.
This is a serious matter because we rarely find the original manuscript of the author today.
We are therefore dependent on the copies made by later scribes.
Hence historians have to read many copies of manuscripts, i.e. different versions of manuscripts before concluding what was originally written.
Revision of Chronicles:
Some authors revised their chronicles at different times.
The fourteenth century chronicler Ziyauddin Barani wrote his chronicle first in 1356 and wrote another version two years later.
Both the versions differ from each other.
Historians were not aware of the existence of the earlier version till the 1960s because it remained lost in large library collections.
New social and political groups:
The study of the thousand years from 700 to 1750 is a big challenge for historians.
This is because of the scale and variety of developments that took place during this period.
Some instances of these are as follows:
Emergence of new technologies: During this period, new technologies made their appearance like the Persian wheel in irrigation, Spinning wheel in weaving and Firearms in combat.
New foods and beverages arrived in the subcontinent; like potatoes, corn, chillies, tea and coffee.
Economic, social, political and cultural changes also took place during this period.
This was a result of the ideas of people who also brought new ideas.
This was a period of great mobility, i.e. groups of people travelled long distances in search of opportunities offered by the subcontinent.
The subcontinent had immense wealth and opportunities for people to carve a fortune.
Castes and sub-castes:
Castes:
Rajputs were a group of people who became popular during this time.
The name Rajput is derived from ‘Rajputra’ which means ‘son of the ruler’.
The term was applied more generally to a group of warriors during the period between the eighth century and the fourteenth century.
These groups of warriors claimed the Kshatriya status.
The term ‘Kshatriya’ included, apart from rulers and chieftains, the soldiers and commanders who served in the armies of different monarchs all over the subcontinent.
Qualities attributed to Rajputs by their poets were extreme valour and a great sense of loyalty.
Other groups which used the opportunities of the period for becoming politically relevant were Jats, Marathas, Sikhs, Ahoms and Kayasthas (a caste of scribes and secretaries).
Sub-castes:
This period was marked by the migration of forest- dwellers due to a change in their habitat.
This change in habitat was due to the clearing of forests and extension of agriculture at different paces in different areas.
Those who did not migrate started tilling the land and became peasants.
These new peasant groups slowly began to be influenced by the regional markets, chieftains, priests, monasteries and temples.
They became a part of large, complex societies and hence had to pay taxes and also offer the goods and services to the local lords.
Resultantly huge differences emerged among the peasants, socially and economically.
Some of them had big productive land holdings, cattle and also did some artisanal work during the lean season of agriculture.
These differences in the society led to the grouping of the people into jatis or sub-castes which were ranked based on their backgrounds and occupations.
The ranks kept changing at different areas and time periods based on the power, influence and resources controlled by the members of the jati.
Functioning of jatis:
The conduct of the members of jatis was managed by the rules and regulations framed by the jati.
These regulations were enforced by the jati panchayat which was an assembly of elders.
Jatis were also required to follow the rules of their villages which were governed by chieftains.
Together, the jatis were only a small unit of a state.
Region and empire:
Large states like those governed by the Cholas, Tughluqs and Mughals encompassed many regions.
For example; the Delhi Sultan Ghiyasuddin Balban was the ruler of a vast empire that stretched from Bengal in the east to Ghazni in Afghanistan in the west and included all of south India also.
He was a great conqueror and people of many regions.
According to a prashashti; in praise of Balban; Gauda, Andhra, Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra apparently fled before his armies.
However, this appears to be an exaggeration.
By 700; many regions possessed their distinct geographical dimensions, languages and culture.
They were associated with specific ruling dynasties which had considerable conflicts amongst them.
Occasionally; dynasties like the Tughlaqs, Mughals, Cholas and Khaljis were able to build an empire that was pan-regional i.e. spanning different diverse regions.
All these empires were not equally stable or successful.
The decline of the Mughal Empire led to the re-emergence of regional states.
But the character of the regions was altered by the years of pan-regional, imperial rule.
Regions of most of the sub-continent were left with the legacies of big and small states that had ruled over them.
This was apparent from the emergence of many distinct and shared traditions in the spheres of governance, management of the economy, and elite cultures and language.
The character of the different regions, through the thousand years felt the impact of pan-regional forces of integration. But these regions did not lose their distinctiveness.
Language and region:
In 1318, the great poet Amir Khusrau noted that there was a different language in every region of the subcontinent.
Languages like Lahori, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Dwarsamudri, Awadhi, etc. existed in different regions.
But the language Sanskrit did not belong to any region.
It was an old language and a language not known to the common man, it was known only to the Brahamanas.
Some of the languages that he mentioned exist even today in those specific regions whereas some of the languages have got a different name today.
Old and new religions:
Major developments in religious traditions took place in these thousand years i.e. between 700 and 1750.
The belief people had in the divine was sometimes deeply personal, but more often it was collective in nature.
This collective belief in religion was influenced by the social and economic organization of local communities.
Hence, as the social worlds of these groups altered, their beliefs also changed.
Hinduism:
Many major changes took place during this period in what we call Hinduism today. These changes include;
the worship of new deities
construction of temples by royalty and
The growing importance of Brahamanas, the priests, as dominant groups in the society.
Brahamanas earned a lot of respect in the society due to their knowledge of Sanskrit texts. Their patrons played an important role in enhancing their respect in the society.
Another major development during this period was the emergence of the idea of bhakti- of a loving, personal deity that devotees could reach without the aid of priests or elaborate rituals.
Emergence of new religions
Islam:
The teachings of the holy Quran were brought by the merchants and migrants in the seventh century.
Quran is regarded as the holy book of Muslims and they accept the sovereignty of one God Allah.
Many rulers patronized Islam and the ulama.
Different interpretations of Islam:
Shia Muslims believed that the Prophet Muhammad’s son-in-law Ali was the legitimate leader of the Muslim community; whereas another group, the Sunni Muslims accepted the authority of the early and succeeding leaders (Khalifas) of the community.
There were major differences in the schools of law – Hanafi and Shafi’i mainly in India.
Important differences also existed in the theology and mystic traditions.
For historians; ‘time’ does not have a relation with clock or calendar only. In other words, it is not just the passing of hours, days or years. It also reflects;
The changes in the social and economic organizations.
The persistence and transformation of ideas and beliefs.
The study of time is made simpler by dividing the past into large segments called periods. These large segments of time shared some common characteristics.
Period classification by the British:
The British historians in the mid-nineteenth century divided India’s history into three periods, namely ‘Hindu’, ‘Muslim’, and ‘British’.
The premise of dividing it this way was that the religion of rulers was the only important historical change, and there was no change in the social, economic and cultural aspects.
Such classification also ignored the rich diversity of the subcontinent.
Classification based on social and economic factors:
Few historians follow the classification based on religion of ruler mentioned above.
They consider the major developments in the economic and social front for the purpose of periodisation.
The histories you studied last year included a wide range of early societies i.e. it included people as primitive as hunters-gatherers and early farmers; and also people who were more developed like those living in the cities and towns as well as early empires and kingdoms.
The history you will be studying this year is often described as ‘medieval’ that is ‘between the ancient and the modern’.
This period has witnessed the following:
spread of peasant societies,
the rise of regional and imperial state formations,
the development of Hinduism and Islam as major religions,
The arrival of European trading companies.
Wide spectrum of the medieval period:
There were dramatic changes in this period.
This is quite expected because the scenario in the eighth or eleventh century will definitely be very different from those of the sixteenth or eighteenth century.
Therefore, describing the entire period as one historical unit does not give a clear picture of the period.
Moreover often the ‘medieval’ period is contrasted with the ‘modern’ period.
The term modernity refers to material and intellectual progress.
But this does not mean that the medieval period lacked in advancement or was quite static without any changes.
It was definitely a dynamic period having a lot of advancement and transformation.
The economies and the societies underwent a lot of progress and development during these thousand years.
Many regions also reached a level of prosperity to the extent that it attracted the interest of European trading companies.
Keywords:
Period: The large segments into which the past is divided based on shared characteristics.
Ulama: Learned theologians and jurists.
Pan regional: Spanning diverse regions.
Patron: An influential, wealthy individual who supports ‘another person’. ‘Another person’ may be an artist, craftsperson, learned man or a noble.
Cartographer: A person who makes maps.
Archive: A place where documents and manuscript are stored. All old official records and transactions are kept by the national and state governments in archives today.
Habitat: This refers to the environment of a region and the residents’ social and economic lifestyle.
