Three waves hit India before any Turk actually sat on the throne of Delhi: an Arab raid on Sindh, seventeen plundering expeditions from Ghazni, and finally the Ghurid conquest that stayed.

The Islamic world behind the invasions

• Islam originates around 610 AD in the 7th century; the Middle East was its centre.
• Khalifa — the uppermost Islamic ruler. The Umayyads, then the Abbasids, ruled in the name of the Prophet.
• Transoxiana and Khorasan were originally Turkish lands. Islamic rulers bought slaves from around Samarkand (modern Uzbekistan), converted them, and promoted them — some rose to become rulers themselves. This is the root of the entire "slave sultan" phenomenon in India.
• The Abbasid empire disintegrated around the 10th century and independent kingdoms emerged.
• Manshur — a formal letter of investiture issued by the Khalifa to a Sultan, authorising him to rule a region.
• Dynasties of Transoxiana & Khorasan: Samanid (819–999) → Ghaznavid (977–1186) → Seljukid → Khwarizmi (crushed by Genghis Khan, 13th century).

Wave 1 — Muhammad bin Qasim 712 AD

• The first Muslim invasion of India, in Sindh. He came from Arabia. Repeat
• He killed Raja Dahir, the last Hindu ruler of Sindh.
• He was the first to introduce Jizya in the Indian subcontinent.

Wave 2 — Mahmud of Ghazni 998 – 1030

Second Islamic and first Turkish invasion. The Turks came from Turkmenistan; their court language was Persian.

• The dynasty was founded by Alaptigin, a Turkish slave. His successor Subuktigin defeated Jayapala of the Hindu Shahi dynasty (Peshawar region — earlier called Waihind / Udbhand).
• Mahmud attacked India 17 times between 1001 and 1027. Repeat
• Battle of Peshawar, 1001 — first attack, against Jayapala, who was defeated and later ended his life on a funeral pyre.
• Battle of Waihind / Chaach, 1008 — against Anandapala (Jayapala's son). Ghazni captured the forts of Bhimnagar and Nagarkot, opening Lahore, Taxila and Punjab to Ghaznavid power.
• Mahmud could never take Kashmir, then ruled by Queen Didda.
• 1015 — Mathura: defeated Kokkala II of the Kalachuris, who resisted strongly; Mathura was plundered.
• Kannauj: the Gurjara-Pratihara ruler Rajyapala fled without resistance and was replaced by Trilochanapala, whom Ghazni defeated in 1019.
• 1021: faced strong resistance from the Chandela ruler Vidyadhara.
• Somnath, 1025 — his 16th attack; he plundered the Somnath temple in Gujarat. His last major expedition outside Punjab. Repeat
• 1027 — final raid, a punitive naval campaign against the Jats near the Indus, after they attacked his returning army. The Khokhars also harassed him on the way back.
• Died 1030 AD.

Scholars at Ghazni's court

Wave 3 — Muhammad Ghori 1175 – 1206

• Third Islamic / second Turkish invader. Persian name: Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad ibn Sam. Younger brother of Ghiyasuddin Muhammad of the Ghurid empire.
• First attack 1175 — Multan (successful).
• 1178 — Gujarat: defeated by Mularaja II / Bhima II and their mother Naikidevi at Kayadara.
• Conquered Peshawar from the Ghaznavids (then under Khusrau Malik) and captured the Tabarhinda fort of Bhatinda in 1191.

The three decisive battles

• Chand Bardai, court poet of Prithviraj, wrote Prithviraj Raso in Braj in the 12th century — it says Sanyogita, daughter of Jaichand, married Prithviraj. CHSL
• Tradition holds that Jaichand invited Ghori to attack Prithviraj.
• Ghori was killed by the Khokhar tribe in 1206. MTS 2026

Ghori's slaves — who took what

Bakhtiyar Khalji

• Initially took service under Rajput rulers, then consolidated his own power.
• Destroyed Nalanda and Vikramashila universities (c. 1200). Steno
• Conquered the Odantapuri fort (a Buddhist vihara) in Bihar, 1193; occupied Lakhnauti in Bengal, 1204.
• During the Tibet/Assam expedition he was assassinated by his own general Ali Mardan Khan on the bank of the Bagmati, 1205–06.
• Later, Ghiyasuddin Iwaj accepted Iltutmish's suzerainty; in 1227 Iltutmish's son Nasiruddin Mahmud defeated Iwaj and annexed Bengal & Bihar. Malik Jani was made governor of Bihar.

Almost none of this was in your notes, and SSC now asks a full chapter's worth of it. Harsha dies, the north fragments, and three powers spend two centuries fighting over one city.

• Harshavardhana (Pushyabhuti dynasty) ascended in 606 and died in 647 AD. His empire fragmented immediately. MTS Feb 2026
• Into that vacuum rose the Rajput clans — Gurjara-Pratiharas, Chauhans, Paramaras, Chandelas. They claimed descent from the Agnikula (Fire Family) or from solar/lunar lines to legitimise their rule.
• Samantas — big landlords or warrior chiefs of the 7th century whom kings acknowledged as subordinates. They brought gifts, gave military support and attended court; as they grew powerful they styled themselves Maha-Samantas. Repeat
• Hiranyagarbha ("golden womb") — a ritual performed with the help of Brahmanas by non-Kshatriya rulers (e.g. Dantidurga) to be "reborn" as a Kshatriya. MTS Feb 2026
• Araghatta — the Persian wheel, a geared waterwheel for lifting well water. (Not bonded labour, which is vishti; not a land grant, which is iqta / madad-i-maash.) Misc

The Tripartite Struggle

Roughly 8th–10th century, three empires fought for control of Kannauj, the strategic, wealthy city of the Gangetic plain.

Gurjara-Pratiharas

• Harichandra — founder of the Mandore line, described in inscriptions (Bauka inscription) as a Brahmin who gave up his priestly profession, took up arms and founded a kingdom in Rajasthan. He married a Kshatriya wife (Bhadra) — the Brahma-Kshatra idea. CHSL Nov 2025
• Nagabhata I (c. 730–760) — founder of the imperial line; repelled the Arab invasions from Sindh, checking Arab expansion for nearly three centuries. The Pratiharas are therefore called the "doorkeepers of India." Steno 2025
• The Gwalior Prasasti inscription (found at Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh) is the main source on the dynasty's early rulers and praises Nagabhata as destroyer of the mlechchha armies. CHSL Nov 2025
• Mihira Bhoja (836–885) — the real founder / consolidator of the empire, with Kannauj as permanent capital. A devotee of Vishnu, he took the title Adivaraha (the boar incarnation) and minted coins bearing it. Repeat
• Rajyapala — the ruler who fled from Kannauj before Mahmud of Ghazni.

Palas of Bengal & Bihar

• Gopala — founder, 8th century. The Khalimpur copper plate suggests he was elected by regional chieftains to end the prevailing anarchy (Matsyanyaya, "law of the fishes"). Repeat — asked 4×
• Dharmapala (c. 770–810) — founded Vikramashila University (Bihar) and the Somapura Mahavihara (Bangladesh). Vikramashila specialised in Vajrayana/Tantric studies and was destroyed by Bakhtiyar Khalji c. 1200. Repeat
• Devapala — expanded to Assam and Odisha. Mahipala I — revived the dynasty later; he was the ruler Rajendra Chola defeated on his Ganga expedition.
• Jayadeva, in the court of Lakshmana Sena of Bengal (12th c.), composed the Gita Govinda — on the love of Krishna and Radha. MTS Feb 2026

Rashtrakutas of the Deccan

• Dantidurga (Dantivarman II) — founded the dynasty in the mid-8th century by overthrowing his Chalukya overlord Kirtivarman II in 753 CE. Performed the Hiranyagarbha ritual at Ujjain. Capital: Manyakheta. Repeat
• Krishna I — built the Kailasanatha Temple at Ellora (Cave 16), the largest monolithic rock-cut structure in the world, carved top-down from a single basalt rock of the Charanandri hills, in Maharashtra (Aurangabad district). Repeat
• Govinda III and Dhruva — campaigned into north India and occupied Kannauj more than once.
• Amoghavarsha — wrote Kavirajamarga, the earliest Kannada literary work.
• Krishna III — defeated the Chola Parantaka I (his son Rajaditya was killed on his elephant) at the Battle of Takkolam, 949 CE, and occupied Tondaimandalam for ~30 years. Erected a victory pillar at Rameswaram. CGL Sep 2025

Other regional houses you must recognise

Temple architecture — the three styles

The Cholas were not in your notes at all, and they are now one of the most heavily asked topics in the medieval section. Learn the four rulers, the two taxes and the two temples.

The rulers

Rajendra Chola I — everything he is asked for

• Took the title Gangaikonda ("he who took the Ganga") after defeating Mahipala I of the Palas on his northern expedition.
• Founded a new capital, Gangaikonda Cholapuram, and built the grand temple there — designed to rival his father's Thanjavur temple. Thanjavur's tower has straight lines; Gangaikonda Cholapuram's has a concave curve.
• Built the huge irrigation tank Cholagangam, ~16 miles long, filled from the Kollidam and Vellar — he poured Ganga water into it and called it a "liquid pillar of victory."
• Overseas naval expedition to Southeast Asia (Kadaram campaign), c. 1025, against the Srivijaya empire — defeating king Sangrama-Vijayatungavarman. A unique trans-oceanic Indian campaign, launched to secure trade routes.

Chola economy & administration

• The great constraint on agriculture was not rocky land but water for irrigation — the Tamil region depends on an erratic monsoon. Chola kings built tanks (eris), embankments, canals and sluices (kumizhi). The Kaveri delta was the rice bowl. CGL Sep 2025
• Early Chola king Karikala built the Grand Anicut (Kallanai).
• Chola taxes — the two the paper wants:
• Kadamai — land revenue, the main state income. CHSL Nov 2025
• Vetti — forced unpaid labour (corvée); the most frequently mentioned tax in Chola inscriptions. Not cash, not gold, not grain. MTS Feb 2026
• Kudimai — dues owed by tenant to landlord.
• Chola inscriptions mention over 400 tax terms.
• Village assemblies: Ur (general assembly of landholders), Sabha (brahmadeya villages), Nagaram (merchants).
• Titles: Tribhuvana-chakravartin = "Lord/Emperor of the Three Worlds." Compare — Maharaja-adhiraja = great king of kings; Ekrat = sole ruler; Devraja = divine king. CHSL Nov 2025
• The Devadasi temple system was prevalent in Chola temples.

• Also known as the Mamluk dynasty and the Ilbari dynasty (rulers came from the Ilbari / Shamshi Turkish tribe). It produced the largest number of sultans.
• Order of rulers: Qutbuddin Aibak → Aram Shah → Iltutmish → Ruknuddin Firuz → Razia → Muizuddin Bahram → Alauddin Masud → Nasiruddin Mahmud → Balban → Muizuddin Qaiqabad.
• Bandagan (sing. banda) — the Persian word for military slaves purchased by the Sultan. Trained to be loyal only to their master, they were raised to high office as governors and generals; this bypassed entrenched tribal loyalties. Bandagan-i-Khas = royal slaves. Repeat

Qutbuddin Aibak 1206 – 1210

• A slave and commander of Muhammad Ghori; declared independence after Ghori's death in 1206 and founded the Slave dynasty. Repeat
• Capital: Lahore.
• Title Lakh Baksh — "giver of lakhs", for his generosity.
• Died in 1210 falling from his horse while playing Chaugan (polo) at Lahore; his mausoleum is at Lahore, Pakistan.
• Built the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque at Mehrauli, Delhi (in the corbel-arch technique) and the Adhai Din ka Jhonpra at Ajmer (site of earlier Jain monasteries/basadis).
• Laid the foundation of the Qutub Minar — only the basement — in honour of the Sufi saint Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki, whose mausoleum is in Delhi.
• Imposed jizya in the Sultanate for the first time.
• Patronised Hasan-un-Nizami (Tajul-Ma'asir) and Fakhruddin.
• He had two daughters — one married Iltutmish, the other Qabacha.

Shamsuddin Iltutmish 1211 – 1236

• Considered the real founder of the Delhi Sultanate. Son-in-law of Aibak; before accession he was governor of Badaun. Defeated Aram Shah in 1211.
• Shifted the capital from Lahore to Delhi.
• Called the "Slave of Slaves" — a slave of Aibak, who was himself a slave of Ghori.
• First Sultan of Delhi to receive the title Sultan-e-Azam from the Caliph of Baghdad, 1229 — formal legitimacy.
• Formed the Turkan-i-Chahalgani / Chalisa, the corps of forty loyal Turkish slave-nobles. Repeat — the founder is Iltutmish, the destroyer is Balban
• First Turkish Sultan to issue pure Arabic coins. Introduced the silver Tanka and the copper Jital.
• Introduced / institutionalised the Iqta system. Repeat
• Nizam-ul-Mulk Junaidi was his wazir. Minhaj-us-Siraj, author of Tabaqat-i-Nasiri, lived at his court.
• Completed the Qutub Minar (added three storeys). Built the reservoir Hauz-i-Shamsi outside Delhi and the Sultan Garhi mausoleum. His own tomb was built in 1235.

Razia Sultan 1236 – 1240

• The first and only woman ruler of the Delhi Sultanate, and the only female Muslim sovereign of medieval India. Daughter of Iltutmish. Repeat — asked 5×
• Iltutmish bypassed his incompetent sons — including Ruknuddin Firuz — and nominated her; the Turkish nobles disapproved.
• She discarded the purdah, held open durbars and led armies.
• Appointed the non-Turk Jalaluddin Yakut (an Abyssinian/Ethiopian slave) as Amir-i-Akhur — superintendent of the royal stables. The nobles resented this.
• Altunia, governor of Bhatinda, refused her suzerainty. He killed Yakut and imprisoned Razia in Qila Mubarak, Bhatinda. Later Razia and Altunia married.
• In 1240 both fell victim to a conspiracy and were killed near Kaithal (Haryana). She ruled about 4 years. Selection Post 2025 · MTS 2026
• The chronicler Minhaj-us-Siraj wrote in Tabaqat-i-Nasiri that she was "more able and qualified than all her brothers" — while lamenting that she was not born a man. Historian Al-Numan made a similar judgement. CHSL Nov 2025

Ghiyasuddin Balban 1266 – 1287

• Original name Baha-ud-Din. He was Naib, then wazir, under Sultan Nasiruddin Mahmud, who gave him the title Ulugh Khan. On Nasiruddin's death in 1265 he took the throne. Ruled 21 years.
• Broke the power of the Chalisa / Chahalgani — the group he himself came from — and restored the prestige of the crown. He effectively ended the Turkish slave-noble oligarchy created by Iltutmish. Repeat
• Introduced Persian court practices: Sijda (prostration before the monarch) and Paibos (kissing the Sultan's feet) as the normal salutation, and the Iranian new-year festival Nowruz / Navroz (celebrated on the spring equinox). Repeat
• Policy of "Blood and Iron" to enforce order.
• Titles for himself: Zil-i-Ilahi — Shadow of God. Claimed descent from the legendary Turkish hero Afrasiyab.
• Established the military department Diwan-i-Arz, and the intelligence system Barid-i-Mumalik (its head: the Barid).
• Tughril Beg, governor of Bengal (Lakhnauti), revolted and declared independence in 1279; Balban crushed and killed him with his son Bughra Khan's help.
• Hindustanis and Hindus never attained high positions under him.
• The Persian poet Amir Khusro began his career in Balban's court. Balban's Tomb was the first mausoleum in India built in a pure Islamic style, with a true mehrab arch built on scientific principles.

Qaiqabad 1287 – 1290

• Grandson of Balban; became ruler in 1286/87 after Balban's death. Shamsuddin Kayumars (Kamboh) was the last ruler of the Slave dynasty and was murdered.
• After him Jalaluddin Firuz Khalji took the throne and founded the Khalji dynasty.

Officers of the Slave dynasty

• The Khaljis were Turks, but not of the Ilbari/Shamshi tribe — which is why the old Turkish nobility resisted them.
• The shortest-reigning dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate — 30 years.

Jalaluddin Khalji 1290 – 1296

• Founder. The first Sultan of Delhi who was largely secular and tolerant; he refrained from harsh punishment and allowed Hindus and non-Turks into high positions.
• Murdered by his nephew and son-in-law Alauddin Khalji.

Alauddin Khalji 1296 – 1316

• Real name Ali Gurshasp; nephew and son-in-law of Jalaluddin. Held the title Amir-i-Tuzuk (master of ceremonies) under his uncle. His brother was Nusrat Khan. Ruled 20 years.
• Known as Sikandar-i-Sani — the Second Alexander — a title taken after the Deccan expeditions.
• The first Muslim ruler whose empire covered almost the whole of India, down to the southern tip.
• He abolished the iqta system in the heartland and paid soldiers in cash (naqdi) — the first emperor to maintain a standing army on cash salaries. Repeat

Political campaigns

The Deccan — Malik Kafur's campaigns

• Malik Kafur — a eunuch slave-general, bought at Gujarat market for 1000 dinars, hence Hazar Dinari. He led all southern campaigns and was commander-in-chief. Repeat

• Sources on the southern campaigns: Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi by Ziauddin Barani and Khazain-ul-Futuh by Amir Khusro.
• Against the Mongols, who invaded seven times (1297, 1299 under Kutlugh Khwaja, 1303 under Targhi, 1305…), Alauddin was successful every time — deploying Zafar Khan and Ghazi Malik. He built and fortified Siri as his capital in 1304. Repeat — "which foreign invader?" → Mongols

Military reforms

• First Sultan to establish a permanent standing army; appointed a military minister, Ariz-i-Mumalik.
• Dagh — branding of horses with a hot iron mark, so weak substitute horses could not be shown at muster.
• Chehra (also called huliya) — a descriptive roll of every soldier's physical features. Repeat — both reform the ARMY, not the market
• Soldiers paid in cash, on fixed low salaries — which is precisely why prices had to be controlled.

Market reforms (Zawabit)

• Markets set up in Delhi (four are listed in some sources, three in others — learn the three functional ones):
• Food grains market — officer in charge: Shahna-i-Mandi.
• Sarai-i-Adl — costly cloth and manufactured goods; government-supported.
• Horses, slaves (bandagan) and cattle.
• Prices of all goods were fixed, from grain to needles. Cheating was not allowed.
• Each market was under a Shahna, a high officer who kept a register of merchants, shopkeepers and prices. Sadr-i-Riyasat managed the market department overall.
• Grain was brought to the city by the Banjaras, a nomadic trading community, who were required to settle near Delhi and register with the state. Shuhna were appointed to supervise them. CHSL Nov 2025
• Spy network: Munhiyans and Barid. Currency in use: dirham / dam.
• Alauddin is described as the creator of the "public distribution system."

Land revenue & agrarian reforms

• First Sultan of Delhi to order the measurement of land; measurement was called Masahat, in units of bigha and biswa (1 bigha = 20 biswa).
• Land revenue was collected in cash, fixed at half (50%) of the produce.
• Special officer Mustakhraj collected revenue and arrears; Mustasarif collected arrears; Amil = collector; Gumashtas = agents.
• Four main taxes: Jizya (non-Muslims), Kharaj / bhumi-kar (land tax on peasants), Ghari (house tax), Charai (pasture / grazing tax). Zakat was levied on Muslims.
• Villages were brought under Khalisa — crown land outside any iqta — including the Doab.
• He deliberately weakened intermediaries: the Rana and Rawat Rajput chiefs, and the village heads called Muqaddam / Chaudhary (Barani calls the pargana-level intermediary khut; Khusro calls him zamindar).

Amir Khusro

• Sufi poet, musician and scholar, 1253–1325; served in the courts of many rulers from Balban to Muhammad bin Tughlaq.
• Disciple of the Sufi saint Sheikh Nizamuddin Auliya.
• Called Tuti-e-Hind — the Parrot of India — a title conferred by Alauddin. He gave Alauddin the title Sultan-e-Jahan.
• Often called the first poet of Urdu and the "father of the sitar"; credited with starting Qawwali in India and with inventing the tabla and sitar.
• First to mention jauhar in Persian, in Khazain-ul-Futuh. Other works: Tughlaq Nama, Nuh Sipihr.

Buildings & the end of the dynasty

• Built Siri — the 2nd city of Delhi (1st was Qila Rai Pithora, Tomara) — the Alai Darwaza (1311, red sandstone with white marble, the southern gateway to Quwwat-ul-Islam in the Qutb complex), the Hauz Khas tank, the Alai Fort and the Hazar Sutun ("palace of a thousand pillars"), and the Jamaat Khana Mosque. Repeat — Alai Darwaza = Alauddin, not Iltutmish
• Qutbuddin Mubarak Shah (1316–20) — Alauddin's son. Malik Kafur seized power briefly after Alauddin's death in 1316; Mubarak killed Kafur and his brother Omar, then ended all his father's strict regulations.
• In 1320 Nasiruddin Khusrau Shah assassinated Mubarak and took the throne. Governor Ghazi Malik of Dipalpur then killed Khusrau Shah and, as Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq, founded the Tughlaq dynasty.

• Turkic ethnic group; the largest and longest-ruling dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate — 94 years — and the one with the greatest territorial reach.

Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq 1320 – 1325

• Real name Ghazi Malik. Killed Khusrau Khan (last Khalji-era ruler) and founded the dynasty.
• Built the fortified city of Tughlaqabad — the 3rd city of Delhi — and the Tughlaqabad Fort, c. 1321–25, as a stronghold against Mongol attack. Its massive battered (sloping) walls are the hallmark of Tughlaq architecture. Repeat
• Started the postal and revenue systems.
• 1321 — sent his son Jauna Khan against Prataparudra of Warangal (unsuccessful); 1322 — Jauna took Warangal; 1324 — Bengal brought under Delhi.
• Died in 1325 in an accident (a collapsing pavilion at Afghanpur). Succeeded by Jauna, who took the title Muhammad bin Tughlaq.

Muhammad bin Tughlaq 1325 – 1351

• Original name Jauna Khan / Ulugh Khan. Ruled 26 years and held the largest kingdom of the Sultanate. Known as the "wisest fool."
• A scholar of logic, philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, calligraphy and physics. First Sultan to visit the tomb of Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer.
• He appointed people from humble professions to high posts — Aziz Khummar (wine distiller), Firuz Hajjam (barber), Manka Tabbakh (cook), Ladha and Pira (gardeners). Barani, who believed in aristocracy of birth, cited this as proof of the Sultan's "loss of judgment"; modern historians read it as an attempt to break the old Turkish nobility's monopoly. Repeat
• The most rebellions of the whole Sultanate took place in his reign. Some historians called him ruthless, bloodthirsty and irreligious.
• Died near Thatta (Sindh) in 1351.

His five experiments — and why they failed

• Created the agriculture department Diwan-i-Kohi (Diwan-i-Amir Kohi) — to bring barren land under cultivation with direct state support. Repeat — Diwan-i-Kohi = AGRICULTURE
• Gave Sondhar loans (cash against gold) and Taccavi / Takkavi agricultural loans to farmers.
• Built Jahanpanah, the 4th city of Delhi, and the mausoleum of Nizamuddin Auliya.
• Like Alauddin, he raised a massive standing army against the Mongol threat and camped it in Delhi.

Ibn Battuta

• Full name Muhammad Ibn Battuta, born 25 February 1304; a Moroccan traveller — geographer, jurist, judge and explorer.
• Arrived in India 1333/1334 via the mountains of Afghanistan, when the Tughlaq dynasty was at its height. Repeat — he visited under Muhammad bin Tughlaq
• Presented the Sultan with arrows, camels, thirty horses and slaves; in return received 2,000 silver dinars, a furnished house and the post of judge at 5,000 silver dinars a year. He became chief Qazi of Delhi and was later sent to China as ambassador.
• Wrote Rihla ("The Journey") in Arabic.
• He described Indian chieftains fortifying themselves in dense bamboo groves, so intertwined that fire could not burn them — natural forts the Sultan's army struggled to penetrate. CGL Sep 2025
• He described the postal system: Uluq — horse post, stations every 4 miles; Dawa — foot post, 3 stations per mile; the runners carried a bell to announce arrival.

Firoz Shah Tughlaq 1351 – 1388

• Cousin and successor of MBT. Crowned twice; his first rajyabhishek took place at Thatta (Sindh) in 1351.
• Autobiography: Futuhat-i-Firozshahi.
• Contemporaries called him the "first welfare-state builder" and an autocratic ruler; historian Elphinstone called him the "Akbar of the Sultanate era."
• Established a Translation Department and was the first Sultan to have Hindu religious texts translated into Persian.
• Took back all the agricultural loans given by Muhammad bin Tughlaq and waived the farmers' debts; ended illegal and unjust practices. Organised the first proper revenue system of the Sultanate.

Firoz Shah's taxes — the four

• Canals — the most famous being Rajwahi and Ulugkhani.
• Introduced mixed copper-and-silver coins named Adha and Bikh.
• Founded cities: Firozabad (the 5th city of Delhi, with Feroz Shah Kotla fort, built 1354 on the Yamuna — famous today as the "home of the djinns", and housing the Ashokan pillar brought from Topra); Hisar; Fatehabad (south-west Haryana, named after his son Fateh Khan); and Jaunpur — named after Jauna Khan (MBT), which under the later Sharqi dynasty became Shiraz-i-Hind, the "Shiraz of the East." Repeat
• Repaired the Qutub Minar and built its 5th storey.
• New departments: Diwan-i-Khairat (charity — including marriage of poor girls), Dar-ul-Shifa (a government hospital at Delhi), Diwan-i-Bandagan (slaves), Diwan-i-Ishtiaq (pensions).
• Military policy: soldiers were not paid in cash but by assignments on village land revenue called Vajeha, and the iqta was made hereditary — a reversal of Alauddin.
• Khan-i-Jahan Maqbul was his powerful wazir; his son Khan-i-Jahan II followed but clashed with Prince Muhammad.

Timur's invasion 1398

• Timur (Tamerlane), a Turco-Mongol commander of Central Asia, invaded from Samarkand through Punjab and captured Delhi in 1398. Repeat
• The Sultan then was Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah Tughlaq (1394–1412), the last Tughlaq ruler.
• Timur stayed about 15 days, looted on a massive scale, and appointed Khizr Khan as ruler of Multan on his way out.
• Timur died in 1405 while marching to conquer China.
• In the same period Jaunpur, Gujarat and Malwa broke away from the Delhi Sultanate.

Sayyid Dynasty 1414 – 1451

• The fourth dynasty of the Sultanate. Four rulers — Khizr Khan, Mubarak Shah, Muhammad Shah, Alam Shah — ruled for 37 years. MTS Feb 2026
• Known as Kulah-Daran ("cap wearers").

Khizr Khan 1414 – 1421

• Founder; formerly governor of Multan and Timur's deputy there. Marched on Delhi in the power vacuum left by Timur's 1398 invasion, defeated Daulat Khan and took power. Repeat
• Ruled as a representative of Shah Rukh, Timur's son and successor.
• Title taken: Rayat-i-Ala.
• In Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi, Yahya bin Ahmad Sirhindi describes him as "Sayyid" — a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. Died of illness in 1421.

Mubarak Shah 1421 – 1434

• Son of Khizr Khan; the most capable ruler of the dynasty. Issued coins and had the khutba read in his own name — a declaration of independence from Timurid overlordship, and he accepted no foreign power's rule.
• Suppressed rebellions in Bhatinda and the Doab and crushed the rebel leader Jasrat.
• Patronised Yahya bin Ahmad Sirhindi, author of Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi.
• Founded the city of Mubarakabad on the banks of the Yamuna.

Muhammad Shah 1434 – 1445 & Alauddin Alam Shah 1445 – 1451

• Muhammad Shah became ruler with the help of Sarwar-ul-Mulk; he declared Bahlol Lodi his son and gave him the title Khan-i-Khanan. The decline of the dynasty began in his reign.
• Alauddin Alam Shah — the weak last ruler; displaced by Bahlol Lodi in 1451.

Lodi Dynasty 1451 – 1526

• The first (and only) Afghan / Pashtun dynasty to rule the Delhi Sultanate — earlier dynasties were Turkish or Turko-Afghan. Repeat
• This dynasty introduced double-dome architecture to India — e.g. Moth ki Masjid.

Bahlol Lodi 1451 – 1489

• Founder. Under Muhammad Shah he had been governor of Lahore and Sirhind; seized the areas round Delhi to re-establish the Sultanate.
• His most successful campaign was against Mahmud Shah Sharqi of Jaunpur.
• Conquered Mewat, Sambhal, Suket, Bhongir, Rewari, Etawah and Chandwar.
• In 1498 his son Nizam Shah succeeded as Sultan Sikandar Shah.

Sikandar Lodi 1489/1498 – 1517

• The ablest of the three Lodi rulers. Also known as Nizam Shah.
• Founded Agra in 1504 (on the site of a village, Badalgarh) and shifted the capital from Delhi to Agra in 1506 — to control the rebellious chiefs of the Doab, Etawah and Gwalior and to dominate the Rajasthan rulers. Repeat — asked 4×
• Introduced Gaz-i-Sikandari — the "Sikandari yard" of 32 digits / 39 units — for measuring cultivated land. Repeat
• Established an efficient spy system and a system to audit government accounts.
• Defeated the kings of Bihar and Tirhut; signed a treaty with Alauddin Hussain Shah of Bengal; appointed Daria Khan governor of Bengal.
• A devout Sunni; lacked religious tolerance, imposed jizya and restricted Hindu pilgrimage.
• A liberal patron of art and culture; wrote Persian poetry under the pen name Gulrukhi. Ordered the building of Moth ki Masjid.

Ibrahim Lodi 1517 – 1526

• After Sikandar's death his sons Ibrahim and Jalal ruled Agra and Jaunpur; Ibrahim killed Jalal and became sole heir. The last Sultan of the Lodi dynasty.
• Many rebellions: Dariya Khan Lohani declared Bihar independent. His oppressive treatment of the Lohani and Lodi clans, and of Lahore's governor Daulat Khan, turned the nobles against him.
• Fought Rana Sanga at Khatoli and Dholpur (1517–19) — the conflict was over eastern Rajasthan and Malwa. Delhi Police
• Daulat Khan Lodi invited Babur to invade. Repeat
• Defeated and killed by Babur at the First Battle of Panipat, 21 April 1526 — the event that ends the Delhi Sultanate and begins the Mughal Empire. Repeat — asked 6×

The Iqta system

• Large land areas (iqtas) were assigned to nobles or soldiers (iqtadars) in exchange for military service, revenue collection and local administration.
• They were temporary and transferable revenue assignments — not hereditary land grants. This is the crucial point: the state kept ownership.
• The holder of an iqta was the Muqti (also Wali, Iqtadar). His duty: lead military campaigns and maintain law and order in his iqta, collect the revenue, pay his soldiers from it, and remit the surplus (fawazil) to the Sultan. He acted as provincial governor. Repeat — asked 3×
• Timeline of the system: Iltutmish institutionalised it → Alauddin Khalji largely abolished it in the core (cash salaries instead) → Firoz Shah Tughlaq revived it and made it hereditary → the Mughals replaced it entirely with Mansabdari.

Major departments (Diwans)

Coins of the Sultanate

Taxes of the Sultanate

Writing history — the Tawarikh

• Tawarikh — histories written in Persian, the language of administration. Their authors were both administrators/secretaries and poets/courtiers, who not only recorded events but advised sultans on just rule. They lived mostly in cities and wrote hoping for rewards. MTS Feb 2026
• Fakhr-i Mudabbir wrote in Adab al-Harb wa-l-Shuja'a: "A king cannot survive without soldiers, and soldiers cannot survive without salary." This is the circle of justice — soldiers need salaries, salaries come from revenue, revenue comes from peasants, peasants pay only when prosperous and protected by a just king. MTS Feb 2026

Society — tribes and communities

• The Delhi Sultanate introduced the true arch and the dome to India — built from precisely cut wedge-shaped stones (voussoirs) around a central keystone. This replaced the indigenous trabeate (post-and-lintel) system. Repeat
• Aibak's Quwwat-ul-Islam still uses the older corbel arch; the true arch matures later.
• The Qutub Minar: Indo-Islamic, 5 storeys, 73 m tall (72.5 m), red sandstone; base diameter 14.32 m, tapering to about 2.75 m at the top. The tallest brick minaret in the world; UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993. CHSL Nov 2025
• Qutub Minar construction chain: Aibak laid the foundation → Iltutmish added three storeys and completed it → Firoz Shah Tughlaq repaired it and built the 5th storey → later repaired by Sikandar Lodi.

The seven cities of Delhi — the first five

Provincial styles

• Provincial kingdoms developed styles distinct from imperial Delhi, blending Islamic structure with local craft traditions. They were highly diverse, not uniform. Steno 2025
• Bengal — brick and terracotta, curved bangla roofs.
• Jaunpur — the Sharqi style; monumental propylon screens; Atala Masjid.
• Gujarat — the richest fusion: mosques and tombs carry toranas (gateways), bell-and-chain motifs and finely carved pillars taken from Hindu/Jain temple vocabulary. The style embraced, not avoided, indigenous decoration. Steno 2025
• Malwa — Mandu; Bijapur — Deccan Indo-Islamic (see Ch. XI).

• Founded in 1336 by the brothers Harihara I and Bukka Raya I, sons of Sangama of Warangal, on the southern bank of the Tungabhadra. They were originally feudatories of the Kakatiyas and later ministers at Kampili. Advised by the sage Vidyaranya, they rebelled against Delhi's control. Repeat — asked 4×
• When they set up the principality, Muhammad bin Tughlaq was the Sultan of Delhi.
• Capital: Hampi. The name derives from Pampa, the ancient name of the Tungabhadra, associated with the local mother goddess Pampadevi, consort of Lord Virupaksha — not from Harihara or Bukka. Repeat
• Harihara I took the title Karnataka Vidya Vilas; Bukka renamed the city from Vidyanagar to Vijayanagara.
• Rulers styled themselves Rayas and Narapati — Lord of Men. The Deccan Sultans were Ashvapati (Lord of Horses, for their cavalry) and the Gajapatis of Odisha Gajapati (Lord of Elephants). Early rulers also called themselves Hindu-raya-suratrana (Hindu Sultans). Repeat
• Hampi's ruins were brought to light in 1800 by Colin Mackenzie, the first Surveyor General of India. Alexander Greenlaw took the first detailed photographs; John Marshall began conservation.

The four dynasties

Sangama dynasty

• Harihara conquered the Hoysala kingdom; Bukka succeeded him, destroyed the Madurai Sultans and extended the empire across South India.
• Sayana and Madhava — learned commentators on the Vedas — were ministers under Bukka.
• Deva Raya I — was first defeated by Firuz Shah Bahmani and had to give his daughter in marriage plus Bankapur as dowry; he later defeated Firuz Shah. He built the Hiriya Canal, drawing Tungabhadra water to irrigate the valley and supply the Sacred Centre and Urban Core.
• Deva Raya II — greatest Sangama ruler. In 1443 he crossed the Tungabhadra to recover Mudgal and Bankapur. The Persian envoy of Shah Rukh, Abdur Razzaq, visited his court. The Telugu poet Srinatha lived in his court and wrote Shringara Naishadham. Fernao Nuniz records that the kings of Ceylon, Pulicat, Pegu and Tenasserim paid him tribute. He also built the Anantaraj Sagar tank for field irrigation and to supply the Royal Centre.

Saluva & Tuluva

• Saluva Narasimha silenced rebellions and kept the kingdom intact; his weak successor Immadi Narasimha lost control to Narasa Nayaka. Vasco da Gama landed at Calicut in 1498 during this period.
• Vira Narasimha, son of Narasa Nayaka, founded the Tuluva dynasty; succeeded by his half-brother Krishnadevaraya in 1509.

Krishnadevaraya 1509 – 1529

• Born 17 January 1471; father Tuluva Narasa Nayaka, mother Nagaladevi. Placed on the throne by Saluva Timma, chief minister of Vira Narasimha. The greatest ruler of Vijayanagara. Repeat
• 1510 — defeated Mahmud Shah, ruler of Bidar. 1512 — took the Raichur gate and the fort of Gulbarga. 1513 — defeated the Gajapatis of Odisha. 1520 — defeated Golconda and captured Warangal.
• Battle of Raichur, 1520 — defeated Ismail Adil Shah of Bijapur and recovered the Raichur Doab (between the Krishna and Tungabhadra); he used Portuguese musketeers. He demarcated the Krishna as the empire's northern boundary. Repeat
• Titles: Andhra Bhoja / Abhinava Bhoja, Andhra Pitamaha, Yavanaraja Sthapanacharya (restorer of the Bidar kingdom).
• Founded the suburb Nagalapuram, named after his mother Nagaladevi.
• Allowed the Portuguese governor Albuquerque to build a fort at Bhatkal; maintained friendly relations with Portuguese and Arab traders; developed naval power for overseas trade.
• Literature: Amuktamalyada in Telugu — a work on statecraft, telling of Ranganatha's wedding to the saint-poetess Andal; the title means "one who wears and gives away the garland." And Jambavati Kalyanam, a Sanskrit drama. Repeat
• His court held the Ashtadiggajas, the 8 great Telugu poets — his reign is the Golden Age / classical age of Telugu literature: Allasani Peddana, Nandi Thimmana, Madayyagari Mallana, Dhurjati, Ayyalaraju Ramabhadrudu, Pingali Surana, Ramarajabhushanudu and Tenali Ramakrishna (who wrote Panduranga Mahatyam).
• Built Vijaya Mahal (House of Victory), the Hazara Rama Temple and the Vitthala Swami Temple; built the main gopuram of the Virupaksha Temple.
• Babur, in the Baburnama, describes Krishnadevaraya as the most powerful ruler of India.
• Died 17 October 1529. His brother Achyuta Deva Raya succeeded.

Decline — the Battle of Talikota 1565

• After Achyuta's death (1542), his nephew Sadashiva Raya was made emperor, but real power lay with Aliya Rama Raya, Krishnadevaraya's son-in-law, acting as regent.
• His constant interference in the Deccan Sultanates' internal affairs pushed them into a rare alliance — the "Muslim Confederacy" of Bijapur, Ahmadnagar, Golconda and Bidar. Berar did not join, because of its rivalry with Ahmadnagar. Repeat
• Also called the Battle of Rakshasi-Tangadi or Bannihatti, because the fighting took place between the villages of Rakshasi and Tangadi.
• Vijayanagara was crushed. The commander-in-chief was Rama Raya; the nominal ruler was Sadashiva Raya. Hampi was sacked and never recovered. This ends the last great empire of South India. Repeat — asked 4×
• The empire survived in reduced form. Tirumala Raya founded the Aravidu dynasty but ruled in the name of Sadashiva Raya; the capital shifted to Penukonda and then Chandragiri. Last ruler: Sri Ranga III.

Administration

• The king was the supreme head, assisted by a Council of Ministers.
• Hierarchy: Rajya (province) → Mandalam → Nadu / Sthala → Grama (village). The empire was divided into six provinces, each under a Naik (governor).
• Nayankara / Amara-Nayaka system — military commanders (Amara-Nayakas) were granted territories to govern, collect taxes from, and maintain troops on, under the supreme authority of the Raya. The land granted was called Amaram — a military fief. The system flourished under Krishnadevaraya. Repeat — "Amaram" = military fief
• Village administration: each village was an independent unit run by 12 officers (Ayagars) — hereditary accountants, watchmen, weights-men and officers of forced labour.
• Mahanayakacharya — the officer who was the contact point between the villages and the central administration.
• Coins: the gold Varaha, called Pagoda by foreign travellers.
• Irrigation: large tanks and canals — the Anantaraj Sagar tank (on the Maldevi river) and the Hiriya Canal.

Status of women

• Women held a high position and took an active part in political, social and literary life. They were educated and trained in wrestling, in weapons of offence and defence, and in music and fine arts.
• Nuniz writes that the kings employed women as astrologers, clerks, accountants, guards and wrestlers.
• Slavery, however, was a documented reality — it was not banned.

Hampi — the city and its buildings

• Three zones: the Royal Centre (south-west, near the river — 60+ temples and 30+ palaces), the Sacred Centre (containing the temples), and the residential Urban Core.
• Virupaksha Temple — dedicated to Lord Shiva as Virupaksha ("oblique-eyed"); the oldest and principal temple at Hampi, pre-dating the empire. The main hall was built by Lakkan Dandesha; the gopuram by Krishnadevaraya. Pampadevi did penance here to marry Virupaksha. Repeat — deity is SHIVA
• Vitthala Temple — dedicated to Vishnu (Vitthala). Its famous Stone Chariot appears on the ₹50 note.
• Lotus Mahal — secular architecture showing clear Indo-Islamic influence (lobed Islamic arches + Indian pyramidal towers). Probably a council chamber or a space for royal women. Repeat
• Hazara Rama Temple — the royal chapel, for the king, not for commoners.
• Mahanavami Dibba — a huge platform, ~11,000 sq ft, 40 ft high, with relief carvings, for royal ceremonies. Its superstructure was wooden (now lost) on a stone base — not stone.
• The Sacred Centre lay south of the Tungabhadra, not north.
• Abdur Razzaq records seven lines of fortification, enclosing not just the city but also agricultural fields and forests.
• The distinctive feature of Vijayanagara temples is the Kalyana Mandapam — the marriage hall where, during festivals, the deity's idol was installed and divine marriages performed.
• Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site near Hospet, Karnataka.

Foreign travellers to Vijayanagara

• The Bahmani Kingdom was one of the most powerful Muslim kingdoms in India and the first independent Islamic kingdom in South India. It arose from a revolt against Muhammad bin Tughlaq.
• Founded in 1347 by Alauddin Hasan Bahman Shah, also known as Hasan Gangu — a Turkish officer of Devagiri. He claimed descent from the Iranian hero Isfandyar. Repeat
• Ruled the northern Deccan, north of the Krishna; stretched from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal.
• First capital Gulbarga; later shifted by Ahmad Shah I to Bidar. Repeat — the capital did NOT stay only at Gulbarga
• He defeated the Kakatiyas of Warangal. After his death in 1358, his son Muhammad Shah divided the state into four provinces (Tarafs): Gulbarga, Daulatabad, Berar, Bidar.
• Firuz Shah Bahmani — fought Deva Raya I of Vijayanagara, won initially and married his daughter, but lost later battles. Associated with the Sufi saint Gesu Daraz.

Mahmud Gawan

• A brilliant Persian merchant who rose to become the Prime Minister (Vakil-us-Sultanat / Peshwa) and general of the Bahmani kingdom in the 15th century. Repeat
• Titles: Khwaja-i-Jahan and Malik-ut-Tujjar ("chief of merchants", given by Humayun Shah — a ruler so cruel he was nicknamed Zalim).
• Captured the ports of Chaul and Dabhol from Vijayanagara; conquered Vijayanagara territory up to Kanchi, and Goa. Introduced gunpowder and built a grand Madrasa at Bidar.
• He was unjustly executed in 1481 by Sultan Muhammad Shah III. That killing triggered factionalism and instability, and directly caused the fragmentation of the Sultanate into five states. Repeat

• Nobles (Amirs) were of two hostile groups: Afaqi / Pardesi — Sunni Muslims from Iran and Iraq — and Deccani — local Shia Muslims. This split fatally weakened the state.

The five successor Sultanates

Bijapur & the Gol Gumbaz

• Gol Gumbaz — the tomb of Mohammed Adil Shah, seventh Sultan of the Adil Shahi dynasty, completed 1656, at Vijayapura (formerly Bijapur), Karnataka. Repeat
• Famous for its Whispering Gallery; one of the largest single-chamber structures in the world and the second-largest dome. Architect: Yakut of Dabul. The dome rests on eight intersecting arches.
• Ibrahim Rauza, also at Bijapur, is the monument formally cited as the "Taj Mahal of the South" and an inspiration for the Taj.
• Ibrahim Adil Shah II introduced Dakhini as the court language in place of Persian.

Golconda & Hyderabad

• Quli Qutb Shah — first ruler of the Qutb Shahi dynasty. The Golconda Fort was originally built by the Kakatiyas and later fortified by the Qutb Shahis. Golconda is famous for its diamond mines — the Kohinoor came from the Kollur mine there.
• He founded the city of Hyderabad, originally Bhagyanagar, after Bhagmati, and built the Charminar.
• Aurangzeb annexed Bijapur in 1686 and Golconda in 1687 — the end of the Deccan Sultanates.

Babur — Zahiruddin Muhammad 1526 – 1530

• Founder of the Mughal Empire in India. From Ferghana in Central Asia (Uzbekistan). Assumed the title Padshah at Kabul in 1507.
• Descended from Timur on his father's side and Genghis Khan on his mother's side. The Mughals preferred the Timurid link (Timur had taken Delhi in 1398) and disliked the Mongol name because of Genghis's reputation. Repeat — mother's side = Genghis
• Became ruler of Ferghana in 1494 at the age of 11/12, succeeding his father Umar Shaikh Mirza. Repeat
• Driven out of Ferghana and Samarkand by the Uzbeks under Shaibani Khan; crossed the Hindu Kush and captured Kabul in 1504. CPO Dec 2025
• Timurid decline in the later 15th century was caused chiefly by internal wars of succession and the custom of partitioning the empire among princes, which let the rising Uzbeks push them out of Transoxiana. Repeat
• His first Indian conquest was the frontier fortress of Bhira (and Bajaur) in 1519 — the first time he used gunpowder in the region. CGL Sep 2025
• Daulat Khan Lodi, the most powerful noble of Punjab and discontented with Ibrahim Lodi, invited Babur to invade.
• Babur was the first to use field artillery massively in Indian warfare — his artillery corps under Ustad Ali and Mustafa.

Tulughma — the war formation

• The tactic learned from the Uzbeks, used first at Panipat. The army was divided into:
• Harawal — centre / vanguard
• Jaranghar — left wing
• Baranghar — right wing
• Tulughma — flanking units that swing round to encircle the enemy

Babur's four battles in India

• Died 26 December 1530 at Agra, aged ~47. First buried at Aram Bagh (Ram Bagh), Agra, then moved to Kabul (Bagh-e-Babur) per his wishes — the first Mughal emperor buried outside India. CPO Dec 2025
• Introduced the Charbagh — the four-part paradise garden divided by walkways or water channels — to India; he laid out the Ram Bagh at Agra. This style reaches its peak in the Taj Mahal. Repeat
• Autobiography: Baburnama / Tuzuk-i-Baburi, written in Turkish (Chagatai). Translated into Persian by Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan, and into English by Madam (Annette) Beveridge. Repeat

Humayun 1530–1540 & 1555–1556

• Eldest son of Babur; ascended in 1530 at the age of ~22. His name means "fortune", and he was the most unfortunate of the Mughals — his was a broken reign, in two parts.
• Three brothers: Kamran, Askari, Hindal. He divided the empire among them — a great blunder. Kamran got Kabul and Kandahar (and Punjab); Sambhal and Alwar went to Askari and Hindal respectively.
• Rani Karnavati of Mewar sent him a rakhi seeking protection against Bahadur Shah of Gujarat.
• Built Dinpanah ("refuge of the faith") in 1533 on the mound of ancient Indraprastha — today's Purana Qila area — as his second capital. Sher Shah later continued it as Shergarh. MTS Feb 2026
• Hindu Beg — a Central Asian Turkish noble (the "Hindu" is a name, not a religion) who served as a provincial governor (Jaunpur/Oudh) under Humayun. CGL Sep 2025
• Credited with founding the Mughal school of painting by bringing the Persian masters Mir Sayyid Ali and Abdus Samad from Iran after his exile. Steno 2025

The two defeats

• 1555 — defeated the Afghans and recovered the Mughal throne. Died six months later, in 1556, after falling from the staircase of his library. Repeat
• Kind and generous, but not a good general or warrior.
• Humayun-Nama — his biography, written by his sister Gulbadan Begum. Repeat

Humayun's Tomb — the prototype

• Built in Delhi in the 1560s, commissioned by his widow Bega Begum (Haji Begum); architect Mirak Mirza Ghiyath.
• The first monumental charbagh garden-tomb (rauza) in India, and the first mature Mughal building. Introduced the double dome (an outer shell for height, an inner one for interior proportion) and the octagonal hasht-bihisht plan. Sometimes called the "dormitory of the House of Timur."
• It is the direct prototype of the Taj Mahal. Repeat

• Original name Farid; son of Hasan Khan, jagirdar of Sasaram (Bihar). Ibrahim Lodi had transferred his father's jagir to him. Given the title Sher Khan for killing a tiger, under the Afghan rule of Bihar.
• Founder of the Sur Dynasty — the "Second Afghan Empire" (the first being the Lodis). Assumed the title Sher Shah after Chausa. CGL Sep 2025
• Defeated Humayun at Chausa (1539) and Kannauj (1540), driving him into 15 years of exile.
• His conquests: Bundelkhand, Malwa, Multan, Punjab, Sindh. His empire covered all of North India except Assam, Gujarat, Kashmir and Nepal.
• Ruled just five years (1540–45) himself; the dynasty lasted 15 years in total. Died 1545 at Kalinjar in a gunpowder explosion. Succeeded by his son Jalal Khan, who took the title Islam Shah Suri.
• His tomb is at Sasaram, Bihar — set in the middle of an artificial lake, the finest example of Afghan/Sur architecture, built in his own lifetime. Repeat

Administration — the blueprint Akbar copied

Four ministers

Land revenue

• Land was accurately measured, using the Gaz-i-Sikandari (the yard inherited from Sikandar Lodi).
• All cultivable land was classified into three grades — good, middle and bad.
• The state's share was one-third of the average produce, payable in cash or crop.
• Introduced Patta (title deed, stating the peasant's holding and dues) and Qabuliyat (deed of agreement) — defining peasants' rights and taxes. Removed zamindars in many areas to collect directly.

Currency, roads, buildings

• Introduced the silver Rupiya — the ancestor of the rupee — and the copper Dam, which stayed in circulation until 1835. Fixed standard weights and measures across the empire. Repeat
• Rebuilt and formalised the Grand Trunk Road, which he called Sadak-i-Azam, connecting Sonargaon (Bengal / modern Bangladesh) in the east to Peshawar in the north-west. Built sarais (rest houses) along it, providing food, water and lodging. Repeat — Sonargaon to Peshawar
• Built the Qila-i-Kuhna mosque inside the old fort of Delhi (Purana Qila) and the Rohtasgarh fort.
• Police were competently restructured; crime fell sharply. He borrowed the branding of horses (dagh) from Alauddin Khalji.
• Four major highways: Sonargaon–Sindh · Agra–Berhampur · Jodhpur–Chittor · Lahore–Multan.
• Malik Muhammad Jayasi, who composed the Padmavat, was his contemporary.

• Full name Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar; eldest son of Humayun and Hamida Banu Begum.
• Ascended at the age of 13, in 1556, at Kalanaur (Punjab). His position was in danger — Delhi was held by the Afghans.
• Second Battle of Panipat, 1556 — Akbar's forces, led by Bairam Khan, defeated Hemu (Hemachandra Vikramaditya), the Hindu general/wazir of Muhammad Adil Shah. Hemu was struck in the eye by an arrow, captured and killed; his army fled, making the victory decisive. Repeat
• Bairam Khan — his tutor — acted as regent for the first five years. Akbar then removed him and sent him to Mecca; Bairam Khan was killed by an Afghan on the way.
• Died 1605; buried at Sikandra, near Agra.

Timeline of conquests

Rajput policy

• Won over the Rajputs through matrimonial alliance and high office, inducting them into Mughal service on par with Mughal nobility.
• Raja Man Singh and Raja Bhagwan Das held senior positions; for four generations the Rajputs served the Mughals as military generals. Man Singh held a mansab of 7,000 (Sapt Hazari). CPO Dec 2025
• The Sisodiyas of Mewar were the only major Rajput house that defied Mughal power for a prolonged period — Amber (Kachhwaha), Marwar (Rathore), Bikaner and Jaisalmer all submitted. Mewar under Rana Pratap did not. Repeat
• Mewar finally signed a treaty under Jahangir in 1615 (Rana Amar Singh), on honourable terms; the Sisodiyas got their ancestral lands back as watan jagirs and were exempted from personal attendance at court. Repeat
• He also integrated tribal chiefs — e.g. made the Gakkhar chief Kamal Khan a mansabdar. CHSL Nov 2025

Religious policy

• 1563 — abolished the pilgrimage tax. 1564 — abolished the Jizya. Repeat
• 1575 — built the Ibadat Khana (House of Worship) at Fatehpur Sikri: a hall for religious debates and discussions, not a mosque or a tomb. He gathered scholars of Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism. Repeat
• 1579 — issued the Mahzar / Mahjarnama, a declaration giving him the right to decide on disputed points of Islamic law. He wanted to be the Insan-i-Kamil, the perfect man. He disliked the intrusion of the Ulema in politics.
• 1582 — proclaimed Din-i-Ilahi ("Divine Faith"), a syncretic code drawing on Islam, Hinduism, Jainism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism. It believed in one God, endorsed no philosophy, and aimed to bridge religions. It had only about 15 followers, including Birbal — the only prominent Hindu to adopt it. Akbar compelled no one to join; it failed after his death.
• Sulh-i-Kul — "peace with all" / universal tolerance, the centrepiece of his religious policy: equal treatment of all subjects regardless of faith. Repeat — asked 3×
• 1582 — prohibited forced sati, requiring officials to ensure women were not coerced. (Aurangzeb issued a total ban in 1663.) CPO Dec 2025
• 1580 — the first Jesuit missionaries arrived at his court. 1585 — Ralph Fitch, the first Englishman to reach India, reached his court; called the "pioneer/torch-bearer Englishman." 1604 — the Portuguese introduced tobacco to India at his court. Akbar was emperor when the English East India Company was founded (1600).

Land revenue — the Zabt / Dahsala system

• Devised by Raja Todar Mal, Akbar's finance minister (Diwan / Vazir-i-Ashraf), completed in 1580. Also called Bandobast or Todar Mal's Bandobast. It gave a scientific basis to Sher Shah's system. Repeat — asked 4×
• Revenue was fixed on the average yield of the previous ten years — calculated from crop yields, prevailing market prices and the area actually cultivated, not from land size alone or a flat percentage. Repeat
• Land classification:

• Where it worked: only in the densely surveyed core provinces — roughly Lahore to Allahabad, including Malwa and Gujarat. It required meticulous survey data.
• Where it did not: Bengal and Gujarat as newly conquered territories at the time of formulation, and generally in distant Deccan regions, volatile frontiers and shifting-cultivation tribal zones. There, older systems like Nasaq (estimation) or crop-sharing continued. Repeat

Mansabdari system 1571

• A single hierarchy that organised both the military and the civil nobility for efficient administration. Every officer (Mansabdar) got a numerical rank (mansab) fixing his status, salary and cavalry obligation. Repeat
• Zat — the personal rank; it determined the noble's position in the hierarchy and his personal salary. Repeat
• Sawar — the number of cavalrymen/horsemen he had to maintain. Every sawar had to keep at least two horses.
• Lowest rank 10; highest 5,000 for nobles, raised to 7,000–10,000 for princes of royal blood.
• Not hereditary. All appointments, promotions and dismissals were made directly by the emperor.
• Paid in cash or in jagirs (revenue assignments). Mansabdars did NOT have to reside in their jagirs — they were frequently transferred and often posted far away, precisely so they could not build local power bases; agents collected the revenue for them. Repeat — this is the standard false statement

The Navratnas — Nine Jewels

Architecture & the capital moves

• Agra Fort (1565) and Lahore Fort (1566); Allahabad Fort (1585).
• Fatehpur Sikri — begun c. 1569/1571, near Agra, built in red sandstone as his new capital, named "city of victory" after the Gujarat conquest, and built in honour of the Sufi saint Salim Chishti, who had foretold the birth of his heir. Capital moved here from Agra 1571–1585. Repeat
  • Buland Darwaza — the "door of victory", 54 m, the highest and most imposing gateway in the world, built to commemorate the Gujarat victory of 1572–73. Main entrance to the Jama Masjid complex. Repeat — GUJARAT, not Bengal or Rajasthan
  • Panch Mahal — a five-storeyed columnar pleasure pavilion; its progressively diminishing terraces are modelled on a Buddhist vihara — not a Jain temple, Rajput fort or mosque. MTS Feb 2026
  • Diwan-i-Aam — hall of public audience, where the emperor heard petitions in open court. Diwan-i-Khas — hall of private audience for elite nobles. Repeat
  • Salim Chishti's tomb (built by Akbar, later redone in marble by Jahangir), and the houses of Birbal and Todar Mal.
• Capital moves: 1571 Agra → Fatehpur Sikri · 1585 Sikri → Lahore · 1598 Lahore → Agra.
• Founded the city of Maqsudabad, later called Murshidabad.
• Akbar's Tomb at Sikandra — planned by Akbar, completed 1605–1613 by Jahangir. It deviates from the standard hasht-bihisht plan: a five-tiered pyramidal structure with no main dome, topped with open chhatris. Repeat
• Daswant and Basawan were the leading painters of his court. His reign is called the "Golden Age of Hindi Literature."

Books & translations

• Akbarnama by Abul Fazl, in Persian, in three volumes:
  • Vol. 1 — Akbar's ancestors (from Adam to Humayun) and his birth Repeat
  • Vol. 2 — events of Akbar's reign up to the 46th year
  • Vol. 3 — Ain-i-Akbari, the "Administration of Akbar": administration, army, revenues, geography and statistics; inspired by Sher Shah's system
• Set up the translation bureau Maktab Khana at Fatehpur Sikri, and started the department for translating Sanskrit into Persian. Mahabharata → Razmnama ("Book of War"), illustrated with miniatures; Ramayana translated by Badayuni; Lilavati by Faizi. Repeat

Jahangir 1605 – 1627

• Early name Salim / Nur-ud-din Muhammad Salim. Son of Akbar and Harka Bai (Mariam-uz-Zamani). Born 1569. Succeeded in 1605 with the title Jahangir — "Conqueror of the World."
• Set up the Zanjir-i-Adal, the Chain of Justice, at Agra Fort for anyone seeking royal justice. Known for strict administration of justice.
• Made Lahore his capital city. Died 1627; cremated/buried at Shahdara, Lahore.

Wives

• Man Bai / Shah Begum — Kachhwaha princess.
• Jagat Gosai (Jodha Bai) — Rathore princess of Marwar; mother of Prince Khurram (Shah Jahan).
• Nur Jahan — born Mehr-un-Nisa, widow of Sher Afghan, a Persian nobleman of Bengal; married Jahangir in 1611. Titles: Nur Mahal (light of the palace), then Nur Jahan (light of the world), and Badshah Begum.
  • Because Jahangir struggled with addiction, she became the real power behind the throne — effectively co-ruler. She struck coins in her own name and ran the imperial court. Repeat

Events of the reign

• 1606 — executed the fifth Sikh Guru, Guru Arjan Dev, for sheltering his rebellious son Prince Khusrau. Repeat
• 1608–09 — William Hawkins, envoy of King James I of England, reached his court to start trading; given a mansab of 400.
• 1615 — Sir Thomas Roe arrived as ambassador of James I. Also in 1615, defeated Maharaja Amar Singh, son of Maharana Pratap, who accepted Mughal suzerainty; the Sisodiyas were treated honourably and given back their watan jagirs. Repeat
• Granted permission to establish a factory/port at Surat.
• Faced revolts from his son Shah Jahan and his commander Mahabat Khan.
• Captured part of Ahmadnagar; Malik Ambar ceded Balaghat.
• The Italian traveller Pietro della Valle came during his reign.
• Prohibited tobacco in India.

Art & architecture

• His period is the Golden Age of Mughal painting. He was himself a painter and a connoisseur — he claimed in his memoirs that if one face were painted by several artists, he could tell which artist had painted which eye or eyebrow. Repeat
• Famous court painters: Ustad Mansur and Abul Hasan.
• Tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah, Agra (1622–28) — built by Nur Jahan for her father Mirza Ghiyas Beg. The first use of pietra dura in India and the transition from red sandstone to white marble. Nicknamed the "Baby Taj." Repeat — built by NUR JAHAN
• Shalimar Bagh and Nishat Bagh in Srinagar (Kashmir). Sarai Nurmahal at Jalandhar, Punjab — a centrally protected monument built under Nur Jahan's patronage.
• Autobiography: Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri (Jahangirnama), in Persian — candid, with observations on nature, flora and fauna, and his experiments. Also Iqbalnama-i-Jahangiri by Mutamid Khan. Repeat

Shah Jahan 1627 – 1658

• Born 1593 at Lahore; childhood name Khurram. Son of Jahangir and Jagat Gosai.
• Married Arjumand Bano Begum in 1612, daughter of Asaf Khan (brother of Nur Jahan) — later known as Mumtaz Mahal. She died in 1631.
• His reign is the pinnacle of the dynasty and the Golden Age of Mughal architecture; he is called the "Prince of Builders." In his own court chronicles he was styled Insan-i-Kamil, "the perfect man" — a Sufi concept projecting the emperor as a divinely guided ideal ruler. CGL Oct 2025

Campaigns & policy

• 1631/1632 — destroyed the Portuguese settlement at Hugli.
• 1636/1637 — annexed Ahmadnagar. He also annexed four southern provinces — Khandesh, Berar, Telangana and Daulatabad.
• Fought a long war in the north-west to recover Kandahar. Kandahar mattered because it controlled the land routes between Kabul and Herat — the north-western gateway to India — and was a fortified outpost against the Safavids and Uzbeks. It changed hands repeatedly and was lost permanently in 1649. Steno 2025
• Administrative change: introduced Chakla, a unit placed between the Subah and the Pargana. Hierarchy: Subah → Chakla → Pargana.
• 1642 — appointed Dara Shikoh his successor with the title Shahzada-e-Buland Iqbal ("prince of high fortune").

Architecture

• Taj Mahal, Agra — begun 1632 (construction from 1631), completed 1653, in memory of Mumtaz Mahal. Architect Ustad Ahmad Lahori. UNESCO World Heritage Site, 1983. Popularised pietra dura (inlay of semi-precious stone in marble) and the perfected double dome. Inspired by Humayun's Tomb. Repeat — asked 4×
• Shahjahanabad — new capital in Delhi, 1638; the capital shifted from Agra.
• Red Fort (Lal Qila), Delhi — construction began 1639, completed 1648, i.e. 9 years; red sandstone; modelled on Akbar's Agra Fort; architect Ustad Ahmad Lahori. Inside it: Diwan-i-Aam, Diwan-i-Khas, Rang Mahal (palace of mirrors) and the Moti Masjid. Repeat — asked 4×
• Jama Masjid, Delhi — 1650–1656, red sandstone and white marble; one of India's largest mosques.
• Moti Masjid in Agra Fort (marble) — by Shah Jahan.
• Shalimar Gardens, Lahore — 1641. (Distinct from Shalimar Bagh, Kashmir, by Jahangir.) MTS Feb 2026
• Musamman Burj / Jasmine Tower in Agra Fort.
• Peacock Throne (Takht-i-Taus) — made with roughly 1,100 kg of gold, encrusted with diamonds, emeralds and pearls, and mounted with the Kohinoor. Looted by Nadir Shah in 1739. Repeat
• Chandrabhan Brahmin wrote Char Chaman during his reign, describing the Mughal nobility. Official chronicle: Padshahnama (Badshahnama) by Abdul Hamid Lahori.

Foreign travellers under Shah Jahan

• The Portuguese introduced European painting in India during his reign.

War of succession

• Shah Jahan's four sons: Dara Shikoh (heir apparent), Shuja (governor of Bengal), Aurangzeb (governor of the Deccan), Murad Baksh (governor of Malwa and Gujarat).
• Battle of Dharmat (1658) — Aurangzeb defeated the imperial army (Jaswant Singh supporting Dara).
• Battle of Samugarh, 1658 — the decisive battle; Aurangzeb (allied with Murad) defeated Dara Shikoh. Repeat
• Battle of Deorai, 1659 — Dara finally defeated, later executed.
• Dara Shikoh was a scholar who translated the Upanishads into Persian as Sirr-i-Akbar.
• 1658 — Shah Jahan was imprisoned in Agra Fort (Musamman Burj), nursed by his daughter Jahanara, and died there in 1666 after eight years. Buried next to Mumtaz Mahal in the Taj Mahal.

Aurangzeb 1658 – 1707

• Made himself Padshah in 1658; actual coronation in 1659. Adopted the title Alamgir — "Conqueror of the World." Repeat
• Known as Zinda Pir — the "living saint" — for his austere life; he supported himself by copying the Quran and stitching caps. Repeat
• The last of the "Great Mughals". Under him the empire reached its greatest territorial extent; his death in 1707 begins the irreversible decline. Repeat — asked 4×
• An orthodox Sunni. His ideal was to transform India into an Islamic state.

Religious policy

• 1675 — executed the ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur, at Chandni Chowk, Delhi, for refusing to convert and for defending the religious freedom of Kashmiri Pandits. Repeat
• 1679 — re-imposed Jizya and the pilgrim tax, abolished by Akbar in 1564. Repeat
• Appointed Muhtasib — censors of public morals — to enforce Islamic law.
• Commissioned the Fatawa-i-Alamgiri, a digest of Islamic law compiled by ~500 scholars from Medina, Baghdad and India; it covers ethics, military strategy, economic policy, justice and punishment. Repeat
• Banned music and dance and dismissed court artists — though he was himself an accomplished veena player. Discontinued Dasara and the celebration of Muharram; dismissed royal astronomers and astrologers. Broke temples and restricted Diwali and Holi.
• 1663 — issued a farman for a total, empire-wide ban on sati.

The Deccan & the drain

• Moved to the Deccan in 1681/1682 and spent his last 25 years there, personally campaigning against the Marathas (Shivaji, then Sambhaji and Rajaram) and the Deccan Sultanates.
• Bijapur annexed 1686 (Sikandar Adil Shah); Golconda annexed 1687.
• His Deccan campaigns drained the treasury — they did not strengthen Mughal finances. His absence from Delhi weakened central administration. Repeat — this is the standard "false statement"
• Died 1707 at Ahmadnagar / Devagiri (Aurangabad); buried at Khuldabad, near Daulatabad, Maharashtra.
• His religious and Deccan policies made Rajputs, Marathas and Sikhs enemies of the empire — the standard textbook explanation for the decline.

Aurangzeb and Shivaji

• Called Shivaji a "mountain rat" and gave him the title Raja, acknowledging his guerrilla skill.
• 1660 — entrusted Shaista Khan (his maternal uncle) with defeating Shivaji.
• 1665 — the Treaty of Purandar, signed on the emperor's behalf by Raja Jai Singh I of Amber. Repeat
• Gemelli-Careri, an Italian physician, visited India during his reign and saw him in 1695 at the age of 77.

Architecture & literature

• Bibi ka Maqbara, Aurangabad — built by Azam Shah (Aurangzeb's son) in memory of his mother Dilras Banu Begum (Rabia-ud-Durrani). Known as the "Taj of the Deccan" / "Crown of the Deccan" — a copy of the Taj Mahal. Repeat
• Moti Masjid in the Red Fort, Delhi — built by Aurangzeb in 1659–60, white marble, his private prayer chamber, for his second wife Nawab Bai; three arches, two aisles. (The Moti Masjid in Agra Fort is Shah Jahan's — this is the trap.) Repeat
• Badshahi Mosque, Lahore — 1673.
• The historian Bhimsen wrote Tarikh-i-Dilkusha during his reign.

Central officers

Territorial hierarchy

• Shah Jahan inserted the Chakla between Subah and Pargana.
• Mughal provincial capitals included Lahore, Allahabad (Ilahabad) and Ajmer. Bidar was NOT a Subah capital — it was the Bahmani and later Barid Shahi capital, annexed much later. CGL Sep 2025

The nobility

• The Mughal nobility was a mix of ethnic groups: Turanis (Central Asians), Iranis (Persians), Afghans, and Shaikhzadas / Hindustanis — indigenous Indian Muslims (converts or descendants of early settlers) holding administrative posts. The Sayyid Brothers, later kingmakers, were of the Hindustani faction. Steno 2025
• Rajas vs Zamindars: Rajas were autonomous chiefs who governed broader regions and held higher political and social status, often serving as mansabdars with military obligations. Zamindars were local landholders whose hereditary right was to collect land revenue for the state, retaining a share. Both were intermediaries, but rajas had more political autonomy. Steno 2025
• Watan jagir — a Rajput chief's own ancestral homeland, granted back to him as an assignment, giving him considerable autonomy. Amber and Jodhpur families claimed the subadari of rich provinces like Gujarat and Malwa.

Mughal architecture — the defining features

• A syncretic style, blending Persian (bulbous domes, arches, iwans — large vaulted portals opening onto a courtyard), Islamic/Turkish (minarets, calligraphy), and indigenous Indian (chhatris, brackets, kalash) elements. Repeat
• Primary materials: red sandstone (favoured by Akbar and Sher Shah) and white marble (favoured by Shah Jahan). Both statements are true in the standard two-statement question. Repeat
• Purana Qila — built by Humayun and Sher Shah; double-storeyed gates (Bara Darwaza, Humayun Darwaza) of red sandstone with white marble and blue-glaze inlay. Traditionally on the site of Indraprastha. Repeat
• Charbagh — introduced by Babur; the four-part paradise garden.
• Double dome — introduced at Humayun's Tomb, perfected and popularised by Shah Jahan. Pietra dura — first used at Itimad-ud-Daulah (Nur Jahan), popularised by Shah Jahan. Repeat
• Hasht-bihisht ("eight paradises") — the standard square, nine-part tomb plan. Akbar's Tomb at Sikandra deviates from it: pyramidal, five-tiered, domeless.

Causes of the decline

• The empire declined rapidly after Aurangzeb's death in 1707.
• His religious and Deccan policies alienated Rajputs, Marathas and Sikhs.
• Weak successors and demoralisation of the Mughal army.
• Financial ruin from continuous wars — the Deccan campaigns above all.
• Invasions of Nadir Shah (1739) and Ahmad Shah Abdali (repeatedly, 1748–67).
• Rise of regional powers: Marathas, Sikhs, Jats, and independent successor states.

After Aurangzeb — the war of his sons

• Aurangzeb's sons fought: Muazzam (Kabul), Azam Shah (Gujarat), Kam Bakhsh (Deccan). Muazzam killed his brothers and ruled as Bahadur Shah I.

Nadir Shah's invasion 1739

• Ruler of Iran. Defeated Muhammad Shah at the Battle of Karnal, then sacked and plundered Delhi, massacring thousands. Repeat
• Carried away the Peacock Throne and the Kohinoor diamond. Muhammad Shah had called Nizam-ul-Mulk and Saadat Khan for help; both were defeated and captured.
• The invasion exposed the terminal weakness of the empire.

Successor states & Rajput houses

• Hyderabad — Nizam-ul-Mulk, 1724. Awadh — Saadat Khan; Shuja-ud-Daulah was Nawab of Awadh 1754–75, allied with Abdali at Panipat III (1761) and with Mir Qasim and Shah Alam II at Buxar (1764), which led to the Treaty of Allahabad. Bengal — Murshid Quli Khan; Alivardi Khan; then Siraj-ud-Daulah (his maternal grandson) from 1756, betrayed by Mir Jafar at Plassey, 1757. CHSL Nov 2025
• Sawai Raja Jai Singh II of Amber — governor of Malwa; given the subadari of Agra in 1722; founded the planned city of Jaipur in 1727, designed by Vidyadhar Bhattacharya on Vastu principles, later called the "Pink City". Built five Jantar Mantar observatories (1724–35) at Delhi (first built), Jaipur (largest, UNESCO 2010), Varanasi, Ujjain, Mathura. Repeat
• Nagaur was conquered and annexed by the Rathores of Jodhpur (Bakht Singh, Vijay Singh) in the late Mughal period.
• Mehrangarh Fort — Jodhpur, the "Blue City", built by Rao Jodha, Rathore ruler of Marwar. Udaipur founded by Rana Udai Singh.
• Maharaja Suraj Mal — the Jat ruler of Bharatpur; built the Lohagarh Fort ("iron fort"), considered impregnable, which withstood British sieges including Lord Lake's in 1805. Called the "Plato of the Jat tribe." CHSL Nov 2025

• Two phases: the Maratha State, 1674–1720, and the Maratha Confederacy, 1720–1818.
• Most Maratha state documents, administrative papers and literary texts of this era are written in the Modi script.
• Kunbis — the large community of peasant-pastoralists (cultivators) who formed the backbone of the Maratha army, supplying infantry and light cavalry. Under Shivaji these hardy peasants became the Mavalis, famous for guerrilla warfare, and returned to their fields at harvest. Distinct from the elite Maratha warrior caste and from the Brahmins. Repeat — asked 3×

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj 1630 – 1680

• Born at Shivneri Fort (near Junnar, Pune) — 19 February 1630 in most modern accounts, 6 April 1627 in some older texts. Named after the local deity Goddess Shivai. Repeat — birthplace Shivneri, capital Raigad
• Son of Shahaji Bhonsle (a general serving the Ahmadnagar and Bijapur Sultanates) and Jijabai, who shaped his ambition for Swarajya. Brought up at Poona under Dadaji Kondadev. His spiritual guru was Samarth Ramdas / Guru Ramdas.
• Made Raigad his capital. Died 1680.
• Master of Ganimi Kava — guerrilla warfare: surprise attacks, ambushes, cutting supply lines and rapid retreat into hill forts, exploiting the rugged Sahyadri terrain to beat far larger armies. He avoided pitched battles in the open. Repeat — asked 3×
• He also built a navy — but not for large-scale bombardment; the answer to "reason for success" is always the guerrilla tactics + Deccan topography.

The key episodes

The Ashtapradhan — Council of Eight

• All ministers except the Panditrao and the Nyayadhish had to serve in war when required.
• Most administrative reforms were inspired by Malik Ambar's reforms in Ahmadnagar and by Deccan practice generally.

Administration & revenue

• Marathi replaced Persian as the official language; they compiled their own statecraft dictionary, Raja Vyavahara Kosh, and appointed Hindus to high posts.
• Territory divided into three provinces under viceroys, then Prants → Parganas → Tarafs; the lowest unit was the village under its headman, the Patel.
• Shivaji abolished the Jagirdari system and replaced it with a Ryotwari arrangement, paying officers in cash. He curbed hereditary revenue officials — Deshmukhs, Deshpandes, Patils and Kulkarnis.
• The revenue system was patterned on Malik Ambar's Kathi system — every piece of land measured by a rod (kathi).
• Two famous taxes, levied on territory outside direct Maratha control (outside Swarajya):

Successors of Shivaji

The Peshwas

• After Shivaji, Sambhaji and Rajaram, effective power passed to the family of the Peshwas — Chitpavan Brahmanas of the Konkan, of the Bhat family. The office became hereditary and supreme, reducing the Chhatrapati to a titular head. The Peshwas were the de facto rulers till 1772. Repeat

Third Battle of Panipat 1761

• Marathas led by Sadashivrao Bhau vs Ahmad Shah Abdali (Durrani), supported by Najib-ud-Daula (Rohilla) and Shuja-ud-Daula (Awadh).
• The Marathas lost — one of the deadliest single days of battle in world history.

The Maratha Confederacy — five houses

Administration under the Peshwas

• Their secretariat was called the Huzur Daftar, at Poona.
• Feudal lords ruled their jagirs largely independently. Villages were headed by Patils, assisted by Kulkarnis who kept village records. Potdars inspected the currency. Deshmukh, Deshpande and Darakhdars were appointed to check corruption.
• Balute system — farmers paid in kind, usually a share of agricultural produce each year after harvest.

Anglo-Maratha Wars

• Originated in the 7th century in Tamil country (modern Tamil Nadu and Kerala), spreading to east and north India from the 15th century and peaking between the 15th and 17th centuries.
• Two broad schools — this is the single most-asked classification:

The Alvars and Nayanars of Tamil Nadu

• Active roughly 6th–9th century. They travelled from place to place singing hymns in Tamil, and initiated a movement of protest against the caste system and Brahmanical dominance — or at least attempted to reform it. They also revived Hinduism against Buddhist and Jain influence.

The philosopher-acharyas

The North Indian saints

The two orders you must be able to separate

The saints

The ten Gurus — the six that are actually asked

The Khalsa 1699

• Instituted on Baisakhi 1699 at Anandpur Sahib. Guru Gobind Singh initiated the Panj Pyare ("five beloved ones") and mandated the Five Ks — Kesh, Kangha, Kara, Kachhera, Kirpan — for all baptised Sikhs. Repeat
• It transformed the community into a disciplined, egalitarian, politically conscious military brotherhood.
• The gradual militarisation of the Panth was a response to rising persecution and oppressive Mughal policies (under Jahangir and Aurangzeb) — not an offensive expansion, not internal theology, not an anti-Maratha alliance. Repeat
• Baisakhi in Punjab primarily celebrates the founding of the Khalsa Panth, though it is also a harvest festival. CHSL Nov 2025

After Guru Gobind Singh

• Banda Singh Bahadur — after 1708 he led the Khalsa in revolt, rallied the Sikh peasantry, defeated the Mughal governor Wazir Khan at the Battle of Chappar Chiri, and established the first sovereign Sikh state in Punjab, striking coins in the Gurus' names. Captured after the siege of Gurdas Nangal and executed in Delhi in 1716 on the orders of Farrukhsiyar. Repeat — 1716, not 1708
• Sarbat Khalsa — the assembly of the Sikh community at Amritsar (at the Akal Takht) twice a year, at Baisakhi and Diwali. Its collective resolutions were the Gurmatas, binding on all Misls. Repeat
• Dal Khalsa — the combined army of the Sikh Jathas (bands) and Misls (confederacies), formally organised in 1748 at Amritsar under Jassa Singh Ahluwalia. It repelled Ahmad Shah Abdali's invasions and paved the way for Sikh rule before Ranjit Singh's empire. Repeat

Ahoms of Assam

• 1662 — Mir Jumla II, Aurangzeb's general, led the Mughal invasion of the Ahom kingdom, captured the capital Garhgaon and forced king Sutamla (Jayadhwaj Singha) to sign the Treaty of Ghilajharighat. The occupation collapsed under monsoon, disease and Ahom counter-attacks. MTS Feb 2026
• Battle of Saraighat, 1671 — on the Brahmaputra near Guwahati. The Mughals, led by Raja Ram Singh I (Kachhwaha), wanted to recapture Guwahati. The Ahoms, commanded by Lachit Barphukan, used naval tactics, guerrilla methods and terrain to win decisively despite a smaller army. Mughal expansion into the North-East was permanently halted. Repeat — asked 3×

Gonds — Garha Katanga

• Territory divided into units called Garh; each Garh subdivided into Chaurasi (84 villages), and each Chaurasi into Barhots (12 villages). This administrative vocabulary is unique to the Gonds — Marathas used Prants/Parganas, the Sultanate used Iqtas, the Kushans used Satraps. MTS Feb 2026
• King Dalpat Shah married Rani Durgavati, a Chandela princess of Mahoba. After his early death she ruled as regent for her minor son Vir Narayan.
• 1565 — Mughal forces under Asaf Khan invaded Garha Katanga; Rani Durgavati fought valiantly and chose death over surrender. (Some sources date the campaign 1564.) Repeat

Bundelas — Chhatrasal

• His father Champat Rai was killed by the Mughals when Chhatrasal was 12. He went to Shivaji's court seeking employment; Shivaji told him "go back to your own land and fight for the freedom of your people," taught him guerrilla warfare and gifted him a sword.
• He began his revolt with 5 horsemen and 25 swordsmen, harassing the Mughals so effectively that in 1705 Aurangzeb offered him a mansab of 4,000 for peace.
• After Aurangzeb's death he declared independence (c. 1720). When the Mughal governor Muhammad Khan Bangash attacked Bundelkhand, the 80-year-old Chhatrasal appealed to Peshwa Baji Rao I, who defeated Bangash. In gratitude Chhatrasal gave Baji Rao one-third of his kingdom (Jhansi, Sagar, Kalpi) and his daughter Mastani.

Mysore — Hyder Ali & Tipu Sultan

• Tipu Sultan became ruler of Mysore in 1782, after the death of his father Hyder Ali during the Second Anglo-Mysore War. CHSL Nov 2025
• Capital: Seringapatam (Srirangapatna), an island fortress on the Kaveri. It houses his summer palace Dariya Daulat Bagh and his mausoleum, the Gumbaz. Stormed by the British in 1799.
• Established close ties with the French to counter the British: employed French experts to modernise his army and manufacture arms, and joined the Jacobin Club, planting a "Tree of Liberty" at Seringapatam. Repeat
• Military innovations: the iron-cased Mysore rockets.
• Died 1799 at the Battle of Seringapatam.

Every battle that matters

All the "firsts"

Author → book

Titles & nicknames

Systems and terms — one line each