Introduction The Vajji was an important Mahajanpada that flourished from the 6th Century to the 4th century BCE. Its uniqueness lies in its political structure, where the rulers were elected by people rather than by succession on a hereditary basis. At that time, when the majority of the kingdoms were governed by an autocratic ruler, the Vajjis had a republican form of government. It was a confederation that included eight different clans. Out of these- the Videhas, Lichhavis, Jantrikas and Kshatriyas were the most popular. And the political organization in Vajji was known as Gana-sanghas. The capital of this Mahajanpada ... Read More

Introduction During the Mughal period, the Mughals institutionalized a new concept of Watan Jagirs, in which the word Jagir refers to the land grant and Watan refers to the territories of local rulers of that particular area. In a way after several battles with the Mughals, these local kingdoms accepted the suzerainty of the Mughal rulers. This strategy of Watan Jagir was started during the reign of Akbar, who realized that in order to expand and consolidate his empire, it is important to have the support of the Rajputs. Therefore, he tried to gain the loyalty of the Rajputs by ... Read More

Introduction The most formidable kingdom that emerged during the Mughal empire was the Maratha confederacy. The Marthas remained in power from 1674 to 1818. The Marthas dominated the Deccan region of India. They posed a serious threat to Mughals as well as the British empire during the eighteenth century. These Marathas were very well versed in the guerilla technique of warfare. This Martha confederacy was broken into different states under different chieftains such as Gaikwad, Sindhias, Holkar, and Bhonsle. One of the powerful clans of Martha was the Bhonsle and two important warriors of this clan were Shahji and his ... Read More

Introduction The decline of the Mughal Empire led to the emergence of numerous independent and semi-independent regional powers to assert their authority over the Mughal empire. The Jats were agriculturist settlers, living around Delhi, Agra, and Mathura who were offended due to the oppressive policies of Aurangzeb and started rebelling against the empire. These revolts started in 1669 under the leadership of Gokul, one of the zamindars of Tilpat (which corresponds to modern-day Faridabad in Haryana). After initial difficulties, they succeeded in setting up a new Jat state of Bharatpur under the leadership of Churaman and Badan Singh. This Jat ... Read More

Introduction Since ancient times India has been a metallurgical giant. During the age of the Indus Valley Civilization(IVC) while the majority of the world was busy hunting and gathering food we had made significant progress in making bronze objects. The availability of abundant metallic resources was of great help to the Indian metallurgical industry. Today also India is one of the largest producers of products made from iron, steel, copper and other metals. The “lost wax” technique is a craft of making metallic objects with the help of wax, bronze(or any other metal), fire and a mould. This technique originated ... Read More

Introduction In the early medieval age, new kingdoms were formed. With the new kingdom, many big and small towns were established. Most of the towns were near the sea or river, so the traders could easily come and sell their products. Initially, the kings imposed taxes on the land and took a fixed proportion of the cultivation from the peasants. The practice of taking cultivation among the peasants was mostly seen in rural areas and the countryside. With the establishment of new towns and prosperous cities, the rulers found new taxation sources. They started taxing the traders and shopkeepers. The ... Read More

Introduction Sultan Mohammad bin Tughluq was the son of Ghiyassudin Tughluq, who founded the Tughluq dynasty in 1320. Ghiyasuddin became the ruler of the Delhi sultanate in 1320. The Tughluq dynasty adopted the forward policy and tried to expand their kingdom. The reign of Ghiyassudin was not long and Mohammad Tughluq became the king in 1324. Before becoming the sultan of Delhi, Mohammad fought many wars and plundered multiple kingdoms. He attacked and annexed Warangal, Malabar, and also raided Odissa and returned to Delhi with rich plunder. The expansion of the Delhi sultanate was seen in his time. The kingdom ... Read More

IntroductionThe 18th and 19th centuries were the periods of many movements such as Tribal movements, rebellions of peasants, Politico-Religious Movements and movements by landlords. After the Battle of Plassey, the old lifestyle was completely ruptured and every part of the society was also affected by this battle. The British government increased the amount of tax and that become the cause of some movement.What were Politico-Religious Movements in the 18th and 19th Centuries?Figure 1: Politico-Religious Movements in the 18th and 19th CenturiesBritish set up their economic and political dominance throughout a large part of India after the Plassey Battle in 1757. ... Read More

Introduction When the Mughal empire started weakening, some provinces turned into independent kingdoms. These autonomous states came to be called successor states. These successor states included Hyderabad, Awadh, and Bengal. The state of Hyderabad was founded by Asaf-Jah, who is popularly known as Nizam-ul- Mulk. So he was the first ruler(Nizam) of the state. He had large and strong-armed forces, which were further divided into two groups, one was regular forces and the other one was irregular forces. The regular army was an organized one with modern weapons and this included the imperial service troops, Golconda Brigade, and Myseram regiment. ... Read More

Introduction The Mughals from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century expanded their empire in the Indian subcontinent mainly through military expeditions but along with this, they consolidated their position by maintaining diplomatic relations with other kingdoms. They used to target those kingdoms, that were not ready to accept their suzerainty. Once the Mughal kingdom reached its zenith, other regional kingdoms started accepting Mughal sovereignty. Some of the Rajput kingdoms even made matrimonial alliances with them in order to prevent Mughal invasion. Similarly, Mughal rulers like Akbar treated Rajputs with honour and equality and won their respect and loyalty by providing ... Read More