History Homework

i)
In medieval period rulers built private and public buildings like forts, palaces, tombs,
temples, mosques, tanks, etc.
Engineering Skills and Construction

 Monuments provide an insight into the technologies used for

construction.
 Between the seventh and tenth centuries, architects started adding
more rooms, doors and windows to buildings.
 Roofs, doors and windows were made by placing a horizontal beam across
two vertical columns, a style of architecture called ‘trabeate’ or ‘corbelled’.
 Two technological and stylistic developments from the twelfth century are
‘arcuate architectural’ form and use of limestone mixed with stone chips
that led to faster construction.
 Assimilation of Indian style with Persian style of architecture was
prominent.
 Buildings, Temples, Mosques and Tanks

 Temples and mosques were beautifully constructed because they were

places of worship and meant to demonstrate the power, wealth and
devotion of the patron.
 The largest temples were all constructed by kings. The other, lesser

deities in the temples were gods and goddesses of the allies and
subordinates of the ruler.
 Muslim Sultans and Padshahs did not claim to be incarnations of God but

Persian court chronicles described the Sultan as the ‘Shadow of God’.

 As each new dynasty came to power, kings wanted to emphasize

their moral right to be rulers.

 It was widely believed that the rule of a just king would be an age of plenty
when the heavens would not withhold rain.
Why Were Temples Destroyed?

The kings built temples to demonstrate their devotion to God and their
power and wealth.
Rulers from other countries like from Afghanistan the Sultans would attack
the temples to loot the riches in those Temples.
After that they destroyed the temples they looted.
In the early 11th century, when the Chola king Rajendra I built a Shiva temple
in his capital he filled it with prized statues seized from defeated rulers.
Aurangzeb was among the sultans who destroyed the temple.
Most historians project Aurangzeb as a strong iconoclast who destroyed
Hindu temples in order to oppose idolatry, curb polytheism and strike a blow
on the Brahmanical tradition. However, a few historians have gone deep into
the history and have revealed that there were in fact other reasons for
Aurangzeb to destroy Hindu temples and in fact the number of temples
sponsored or built by him was much more than the number he destroyed.
The Krishna Janmbhoomi temple was also
destroyed by Emperor Aurangzeb .
Gardens, Tombs and Forts

Under the Mughals, architecture became more complex. Babur, Humayun,

Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan were personally interested in literature, art
and architecture.
Babur got gardens called Chahar Bagh (four gardens) built in Kabul. They
were further constructed in Kashmir, Agra and Delhi by Akbar, Jahangir
and Shah Jahan.
Akbar’s architecture is visible in his father, Humayun’s tomb.
Under Shah Jahan, Mughal architecture was fused together in a grand
harmonious synthesis.
The ceremonial halls of the public and private audience (diwan- i-Khas;
diwan-i-am) were carefully planned.
Shah Jahan adapted the Chahar Bagh technique in the layout of the Taj
Mahal, the grandest architectural accomplishment of his reign.
Region and Empire

As construction activity increased between the eighth and eighteenth

centuries, there was also a considerable sharing of ideas across regions.
In Vijayanagar, for example, the elephant stables of the rulers were strongly
influenced by the style of architecture found in the adjoining Sultanates of
Bijapur and Golconda.
In Vrindavan, near Mathura, temples were constructed in architectural styles
that were very similar to the Mughal palaces in Fatehpur Sikri.
The creation of large empires that brought different regions under their rule
helped in this cross¬fertilisation of artistic forms and architectural styles.
The Mughals adopted the ‘Bangla dome’ in their architecture.
Between the eighth and the eighteenth centuries kings and their officers built
two kinds of structures—the first were forts, palaces, garden residences and
tombs and the second was structures meant for public activity including
temples, mosques, tanks, bazaars, etc.

Merchants and others also carried out construction activity. They built temples,
mosques and wells.
 ii)
During the Medieval Age, several social, economic and political
developments took place. The Indian society was divided on the basis varnas.
During the medieval period, gap between the rich and poor increased. There
were, however, several communities which did not follow rules laid down by
the Brahmins. These included the tribes, nomads and settled communities.

Tribal Societies
Tribes are people who do not follow norms laid down by
society.
Most of the tribes were dependent on agriculture. Others were herders
or hunter-gatherers.
Tribes were even nomadic and moved from one place to
another.
Many tribes lived in forests, hills, deserts and other places which were
difficult to reach. They preserved their culture and heritage through
oral tradition.
 There were even clashes between tribes and powerful caste- based
societies.
Contemporary historians and travellers from medieval India hardly
give any information about the tribes.
Many of the tribes emerged as politically powerful groups
through their areas of influence and activities varied.
Some of the powerful tribes were Khokhar tribe in Punjab;
Langahs and Arghuns in Multan; Gaddis in the Himalayas;
Kolis and Berads of Gujarat; Gonds of Chhattisgarh, Bhil tribe in Central
India, etc.
The tribal societies underwent a change as a result of
interaction with the Hindu and Islamic societies.

Pastoral Nomads

The pastoral nomads moved from one place to another with their
herd of animals.
They survived on milk products and exchanged ghee, wool, etc. with
farmers for grains, cloth, utensils, etc.
The most important trader nomads were Banjaras. Their
caravan was called ‘tanda’. Sultan Alauddin Khilji used
Banjaras to move grain to the city markets.
Pastoral tribes thus basically reared and sold animals like horses
and cattle to the prosperous people.
 Postral Nomads

Changes in Caste Structure of India

In the fields of trade and agriculture, there emerged a multi- caste

population in many villages on account of the spread of Islam.
Sufi and Bhakti movement preached equality between different castes
and religious groups.
Inter-caste marriages started between Rajputs and Muslim nobles.
With the growth of the economy, new jatis and varnas emerged.
Many tribes became part of rule changes.

The Gonds

Gonds were sometimes referred to by their tribal dialect, Gondi. They

practised shifting cultivation.
The Gonds rose when Delhi Sultanate declined.
 The Gond kingdom Gondwana in southeastern Madhya
Pradesh was founded in the 15th century.
Ahoms

The Ahom tribe is traced to some tribes living in south-east Asia who had
travelled overland through the forests of Assam.
The religion and culture of Assam is a fusion of the local
traditions and of migrant tribes.
The Ahoms belonged to a warrior class and built roads and
irrigation system even before establishing their rule.
The Ahoms formed the new kingdom by suppressing the older political
system of Bhuiyans.

Summary
Tribal societies were absolutely different from those which existed in big
cities.
Tribal societies did not follow the social rules and rituals, prescribed by the
Brahmanas, because they divided societies into numerous unequal classes.
These societies were known as tribes.
There was a unique bond of kinship among the members of each tribe.
Their main source of livelihood was agriculture. However, hunter-
gatherers or herders were also there.

Some tribes were nomadic and kept on moving from one place to another.
A tribal group controlled land and pastures jointly and divided these amongst
households as per its own rules. In Punjab, the Khokhar tribe was very influential
during the 13th and 14th centuries. Later, the Gakkhars became more important.
In Multan and Sind, the Languages and Arghuns dominated extensive regions.
The Balochis were found in the north-west. The Shepherd tribe of Gaddis lived in
the western Himalayas. The north-eastern part of the subcontinent was
dominated by the Nagas, Ahoms and many others. The Mundas and Santals
were important tribes found in Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and Bengal. The Bhils
were spread across western and central India. The Gonds lived in Chhattisgarh,
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Nomadic pastoralists lived
on milk and other pastoral products. The Banjaras were the most important
trader-nomads. Smaller castes or jatis emerged with the growth of society.
Smiths, carpenters and masons were recognised as separate jatis. Among the
Kshatriyas, new Rajput clans became powerful by the 11th and 12th centuries.
They belonged to different lineages such as Hunas, Chandelas, Chalukyas, etc.
Some of these had been tribes earlier. Many of these clans came to be regarded
as Rajputs. The rise of Rajput clans to the position of rulers set an example for
the tribal people to follow. The Gonds lived in a vast forested region known as
Gondwana. They practised shifting cultivation. The large Gond tribe was further
divided into many smaller clans. Each clan had its own raja or rai. About the time
that the power of the Delhi Sultans was declining, a few large Gond kingdoms
were beginning to dominate the smaller Gond chiefs. The Akbar Nama mentions
the Gond kingdom of Garha Katanga.