UPSC

  THE DELHI SULTANATE     Struggle for the Establishment of a Strong Monarchy             Muizzuddin (Muhammad Ghori) was succeeded (1206) by Qutbuddin Aibak, Turkish slave who had played an important part in the expansion of the Turkish Sultanat in India after the battle of Train. Another slave of Muizzuddin, Yalduz, succeeded at Ghazni. As the ruler of Ghazni, Yalduz claimed to rue over Delhi as well. This, however was not accepted by Aibak and from this time, the Delhi Sultanat severed its helped to Prevent India being drawn into central Asian politics.   Illtutamis (1210-36)             In 1210, Aibak died of injuries received in a fall from his horse while playing Chaugan (polo). He was succeeded by Iltutmish who was the son-in-law of Aibak. But before he could do so, he had to fight and defeat the son of Aibak.                         Iltutmish more...

  ARCHITECTURE                One of the first requirements of the new rulers was houses to live in, and places of worship. They at first converted temples and there existing buildings into mosques. Examples of this are the Quwwatul-Islam mosque near the Quatab Minar in Delhi and the building at Ajmer called Arhai Din ka Jhonpra. The only new construction in Delhi was a façade of three elaborately carved arches in front of the deity room (garbha griha) which was demolished. In their buildings, the Turks used the arch and the dome on a wide scale. Neither the arch nor the dome was a Turk- ish or Muslim invention. The Arabs borrowed them from Rome through the Byzantine empire, developed them and made them their own.               The use of the arch and the dome had a number of advantages. The dome rose more...

 15TH And 16TH CENTURY RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT   The Sufi Movement Mystics, who are called Sufis, had risen in Islam at a very early stage these saints wanted to have nothing to do with the state- a tradition which continued later on. Some of the early Sufis, such as the woman mystic Rabia and Mansur bin Hallj laid great emphasis on love as the bond between God and the individual soul. But their pantheistic approach led them into conflict with the orthodox elements who had Mansur executed for heresy Despite this setback, mystic ideas continued to spread among the Muslim masses.   Al-Ghazzaili (1112), who is venerated both by the orthodox elements and the Sufis, tried to reconcile mysticism with Islamic orthodoxy. This more...

 LITERATURE   Sanskrit Literature Following the great Sankara, works in the field of Advaita philosophy by Ramanuja, Mad-hava, Vallabha, etc., continued to be written in Sanskrit. Besides philosophy, works in the field of kavya (poetical narrative), drama, fiction, medicine, astronomy, music, etc., continued to be written. A large number of commentaries and digests on the Hindu law (Dharmashastras) were prepared between the twelfth and the sixteenth century. The great Mitakshara of Vijneshwar, which forms one of the two principal Hindu schools of law, cannot be placed earlier than the twelfth century. Most of the works were produced in the south, followed by Bengal, Mithila and western India under the patronage of Hindu rulers. The Jains too, contributed to the growth of Sanskrit. Hemachandra Suri was the most eminent of these. Little attempt was made more...

  MUGHAL EMPIRE   WHEN HUMAYUN was retreating from Bikaner, he was gallantly offered shelter and help by the Rana of Amarkot. It was at Amarkot, in 1542, that Akbar, the greatest of The Mughal rulers, was born. When Humayun died, Akbar was at Kalangaur in the Punjab, commanding operations against the Afghan rebels there. He was crowned at Kalanaur in 1556 at the young age of thirteen years and four months.               Akbar succeeded to a difficult position. The Afghans were still strong beyond Agra, and were regrouping their forces under the leadership of Hemu for a final showdown. Kabul had been attacked and besieged. Sikandar Sur, the defeated Afghan ruler, was loitering in the Siwalik Hills, However, Bairam Khan, the turor of the prince and a loyal and favourite officer of Humayun, rose to the occasion. He became the more...

  SOCIAL AND CULTURE AWAKENING IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY   IMMENSE intellectual and cultural strirings characterized 19th century India. The impact of modern Western culture and consciousness of defeat by a foreign power gave birth to a new awakening. There was an awareness that a vast country like India had been colonised by a handful of foreigners because of internal weaknesses of Indian social structure and culture. Thoughtful Indians began to look for the strengths arid weaknesses of their society and for ways and Means of removing the weaknesses. While a large number of Indian refused to come to terms with the West and still put their faith in raditional Indian ideas and institutions, others gradually amen to hold that elements of modern Western though bad to imbibed for the regeneration of their society. They were impressed in particular by more...

  THE REVOLT OF 1857     The Revolt of 1857             A MIGHTY popular revolt broke out m Northern and Central India in 1857 and nearly swept away the British rule. It began with a mutiny of the sepoys or the Indian soldiers of the Company's army but soon engulfed wide regions and involved the masses.   General Causes             The Revolt of 1857 was much more than a mere product of sepoy discontent. It was in reality a product of the character and policies of colonial rule, of the accumulated grievances of the people against the Company's administration and of their dislike for the foreign regime. For over a century, as the British had been conquering the country bit by bit, popular discontent and hatred against foreign, rule had been gaining strength among the different sections of Indian society. It more...

  Growth of New India-Religious and Social Reform After 1858   THE RISING tide of nationalism and democracy, which led to the struggle for freedom, also found expression in movements to reform and democratise the social institutions and religious outlook of the Indian people. Many Indians realised that social and religious reformation was an essential condition for the all-round development of the country on modem lines and for the growth of national unity and solidarity. The growth of nationalist sentiments, emergence of new economic forces, spread of education, impact of modem western ideas and culture, and increased awareness of the world not only heightened the consciousness of the backwardness and degeneration of Indian society but further strengthened the resolve to reform. After 1858, the earlier reforming tendency was broadened. The work of earlier reformers, like Raja Rammohan Roy and Pandit Vidyasagar, was carried further more...

  Nationalist Movement     The Partition of Bengal             The conditions for the emergence of militant nationalism had thus developed when in 1905 the partition of Bengal was announced and the Indian national movement entered its second stage. On Curzon issued an order dividing the province of Bengal into two parts: Eastern Bengal and Assam with a population of 31 million and the rest of Bengal with a population of 54 million, of whom 18 million were Bengalis and 36 million Biharis and Oriyas. It was said that the existing province of Bengal was-too big to be   efficiently administered by a single provincial government. However, the officials who worked out the plan had also other political ends in view. They hoped to stem the rising tide of nationalism in Bengal, considered at the time to be the nerve center of Indian nationalism.   more...

  India - Location   The mainland of India, extends from Kashmir in the north to Kanniyakumari in the south and Arunachal Pradesh in the east to Gujarat in the west. India's territorial limit further extends towards the sea upto 12 nautical miles (about 21.9 km) from the coast.   (See the box for conversion).             Statute mile= 63,360 inches             Nautical mile= 72,960 inches             1 Statute mile= about 1.6 km (1.584 km)             1 Nautical mile= about 1.8 km (1.852 km)   Our southern boundary extends upto \[6{}^\circ 45\] N latitude in the Bay of Bengal. If you work out the latitudinal and longitudinal extent of India, they are roughly about 30 degrees, whereas the actual distance measured from north to south extremity is 3,214 km, and that from .east to west is only 2/933 km. What is more...