Cartographer

Al-Idrisi

guillaume de l'isle
atlas noavau

Minhaj-i-Siraj

He used the term in a political sense for lands that were a part of the dominions of the Delhi Sultan but term never included south India.

Babur

Amir Khusrau

Hindustan did not carry the political and national meanings which we associate with it today.

Historians use different types of sources to learn about the past depending upon the period of their study and the nature of their investigation such as on coins, inscriptions, architecture and textual records for information.

In the absence of printing press, scribes copied manuscripts by hand. They also introduced small changes- a word, a sentence. These small differences grew over centuries of copying until manuscripts of the same texts became substantially different from one another.

This was a period of economic, political, social and cultural changes. This was also a period of great ‘ mobility. Groups of people travelled long distances in search of opportunity.

The term Rajput was applied more generally to a group of warriors who claimed Kshatriya caste status. The term included not just rulers and chieftains but also soldiers and commanders who served in the armies of different monarchs all over the subcontinent.

Throughout this period, there was a gradual clearing of forests and the extension of agriculture. This forced many forest-dwellers to migrate. Others started tilling the land and became peasants.

As a result, significant economic and social differences emerged amongst peasants. Some possessed more productive land, others also kept cattle, and some combined artisanal work with agricultural activity during the lean season

Ranks of jatis were not fixed permanently, and varied according to the power, influence and resources controlled by members of the jati. The status of the same jati could vary from area to area.

The Cholas, Tughluqs and Mughals encompassed many regions.

Amir Khusrau noted (1318) that there was different language in every region of this land. In southern Karnataka, Sindhi, Lahori, Kashmiri, Dvarsamudri; In Andhra Pradesh, Telangani; In Gujarat, Gujari; in Tamil Nadu, Ma’bari; in Bengal-Gauri; in eastern UP, Awadhi; around Delhi, Hindawi

During this period important changes occurred in what we call Hinduism today. These included the worship of new deities, the construction of temples by royalty and the growing importance of Brahmansas, the priests, as dominant groups in society

One of the major developments of this period was the emergence of the idea of bhakti.

In 7th century merchants brought teaching of Islam as well as Quran. Muslims regard the Quran as holy book and accept the sovereignty of the God.

Islam was interpreted in variety of ways by its followers. There were the Shia Muslims and Sunni Muslims. Shia who believed that the Prophet Muhammad’s son-in-law, Ali was the legitimate leader of the Muslim community while Sunni accepted the authority of the four Khalifas which also includes Ali as an one and last Khalifa.

Manuscript

Jati

Region

Periodization

pan-regional

Cartographer

Habitat

7th century

1154:

1266-1287