Medieval India

Medieval India refers to a long period of the history of the Indian subcontinent between the “ancient period” and “modern period”. It is usually regarded as running between the breakup of the Gupta Empire in the 6th century AD and the start of the Mughal Empire in 1526, although some historians regard it as both starting and finishing later than these points.

Definitions

One definition, used in the rest of this article, includes the period from the 6th century, the “first half of the 7th century”, or the 8th century up to the 16th century, essentially coinciding with the Middle Ages of Europe. It may be divided into two periods: The ‘early medieval period’ which lasted from the 6th to the 13th century and the ‘late medieval period’ which lasted from the 13th to the 16th century, ending with the start of the Mughal Empire in 1526. The Mughal era, from the 16th century to the 18th century, is often referred to as the early modern period, but is sometimes also included in the ‘late medieval’ period.

An alternative definition, often seen in those more recent authors who still use the term at all, brings the start of the medieval times forward, either to about 1000 CE, or to the 12th century. The end may be pushed back to the 18th century, Hence, this period can be effectively considered as the beginning of Muslim domination (North India) to British India. Or the “early medieval” period as beginning in the 8th century, and ending with the 11th century.

The use of “medieval” at all as a term for periods in Indian history has often been objected to, and is probably becoming more rare (there is a similar discussion in terms of the history of China). It is argued that neither the start nor the end of the period really mark fundamental changes in Indian history, comparable to the European equivalents. Burton Stein still used the concept in his A History of India (1998, referring to the period from the Guptas to the Mughals), but most recent authors using it are Indian. Understandably, they often specify the period they cover within their titles.

Periods

Early medieval period

The start of the period is typically taken to be the slow collapse of the Gupta Empire from about 480 to 550, ending the “classical” period, as well as “ancient India”, although both these terms may be used for periods with widely different dates, especially in specialized fields such as the history of art or religion. Another alternative for the preceding period is “Early Historical” stretching “from the sixth century BC to the sixth century AD”, according to Romila Thapar.

At least in northern India, there was no larger state until the Delhi Sultanate, or certainly the Mughal Empire, but there were several different dynasties ruling large areas for long periods, as well as many other dynasties ruling smaller areas, often paying some form of tribute to larger states. John Keay puts the typical number of dynasties within the subcontinent at any one time at between 20 and 40, not including local rajas.

• Pratihara dynasty, was the last largest dynasty of northern India which rivaled the Gupta empire in extent and ruled most part of India from 6th century up-to 11th century. They were successful for stopping Muslim conquests of India for nearly 400 years and destroyed Muslim armies according to the Arab accounts. their capital was kannuaj and were the first Rajput empire. They can be differentiated from other kingdoms as they were called Imperial Pratiharas.
• Chalukya dynasty ruled most of the western Deccan and some of South India, between the 6th to 12th centuries. Kannada-speaking, with capital at Badami.
• Rashtrakuta dynasty, was a Kannada Dynasty ruling large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the 6th and the 10th centuries and one who built World Heritage center Ellora, Maharashtra.
• Eastern Chalukyas, 7th and 12th centuries, a South Indian Kannada dynasty whose kingdom was located in the present-day Andhra Pradesh they were the descendants of Western Chalukyas.
• Pallava dynasty, rulers of Telugu and some Tamil areas from the 6th to 9th centuries.
• Pala Empire, the last major Buddhist rulers, from the 8th to 12th centuries in Bengal. Briefly controlled most of north India in the 9th century.
• Chola Empire, a South Indian empire which ruled from Tamil Nadu and extended to include South-east Asian territories at its height. From 9th century to 13th century.
• Empire of Harsha, a brief period of control of most of north India, from 601 to 647, under Harsha of the Vardhana dynasty.
• Western Chalukya Empire, ruled most of the western Deccan and some of South India, between the 10th to 12th centuries. Kannada-speaking, with capital at Badami.
• Kalachuri dynasty, ruled areas in Central India during 10th-12th centuries.
• Western Ganga dynasty, was an important ruling dynasty of ancient Karnataka, often under the overlordship of larger states, from about 350 to 1000 AD. The large monolithic Bahubali of Shravanabelagola was built during their rule.
• Eastern Ganga dynasty, was a royal dynasty ruling Odisha region who are descendants of Kannada Western Ganga Dynasty and Tamil Chola Empire. They have built famous Konark Sun Temple and Jagannath Temple, Puri.
• Hoysala Empire, a prominent South Indian Kannadiga empire that ruled most of the modern day state of Karnataka between the 10th and the 14th centuries. The capital of the Hoysalas was initially located at Belur but was later moved to Halebidu.
• Kakatiya Kingdom, a Telugu dynasty that ruled most of current day Andhra Pradesh, India from 1083 to 1323 CE.
• The Sena dynasty, was a Hindu dynasty that ruled from Bengal through the 11th and 12th centuries. The empire at its peak covered much of the north-eastern region of the Indian subcontinent. The rulers of the Sena Dynasty traced their origin to the south Indian region of Karnataka.
• Kamarupa, 4th to 12th century in Assam, ruled by three dynasties

Late medieval era

Following the Muslim conquests of the Indian subcontinent and the decline of Buddhism were seen to be taken place, eventually founding the Delhi Sultanate and creating the Indo-Islamic architecture, followed by the world’s major trading nation Bengal Sultanate.

• Delhi Sultanate, five short-lived dynasties, based in Delhi, from 1206 to 1526, when it fell to the Mughal Empire.
• Chero dynasty, 12th CE-18th CE ruled much parts of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand.
• Bengal Sultanate, 1352 to 1576, ruled over Bengal and much of Burma.
• Reddy Kingdom, 1325 to 1448, in Andhra Pradesh.
• Seuna (Yadava) dynasty, 1190–1315, an old Kannada-Maratha dynasty, which at its peak ruled a kingdom stretching from the Tungabhadra to the Narmada rivers, including present-day Maharashtra, north Karnataka and parts of Madhya Pradesh, from its capital at Devagiri.

• Rajput States, were a group of Rajput Hindu states that ruled present-day Rajasthan, and at times much of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh, Western Uttar Pradesh and Central Uttar Pradesh. Many Rajput kingdoms continued under the Mughals and as Princely States in British India until Indian independence.

Other prominent kingdoms

• Vijayanagara Empire, 1336–1646, a Hindu-Kannadiga empire based in Karnataka, in the Deccan Plateau region. UNESCO World Heritage site Hampi in Bellary district of Karnataka was their capital city.
• Gajapati Empire, was a medieval Hindu dynasty that ruled over Kalinga (the present day Odisha).

Northeast India

• Kamata kingdom, established in the middle of 13th century, broke up in 1582 into Koch Bihar (eventually a princely state) and Koch Hajo (eventually absorbed by the Ahom kingdom).
• Chutia kingdom, unknown to 1523, around Sadiya in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, fell to the Ahom kingdom.
• Ahom Kingdom, 1228–1826, Brahmaputra valley in Assam, successfully resisted the Mughals in Battle of Saraighat and Battle of Itakhuli, eventually taken by the British.
• Dimasa kingdom, 13th century to 1832, in North Cachar Hills and Barak valley in Assam, eventually annexed by the British.
• Tripura kingdom, unknown origin, survived as princely state during British Raj and absorbed into India.
• Manipur kingdom, unknown to 1949, princely state during British Raj and absorbed into India in 1949.
• Jaintia kingdom

Early modern era

The start of the Mughal Empire in 1526 marked the beginning of the early modern period of Indian history, often referred to as the Mughal era. Sometimes, the Mughal era is also referred to as the ‘late medieval’ period.

• Mughal Empire, was an imperial state founded by Babur, who had Turco-Mongol origin from Central Asia. The empire ruled most of the Indian subcontinent from 16th to 18th century, though it lingered for another century, formally ending in 1857.
• Maratha Empire, was an imperial power based in modern-day Maharashtra in western India. Marathas replaced the Mughal rule over large parts of India in the 18th century, but lost the Anglo-Maratha Wars in the early 19th century, and became rulers of Princely States.
• Kingdom of Mysore, was a Kannada kingdom have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. Fully independent after the fall of the Vijayanagara Empire in 1646, reduced in size by the British, but ruled as a princely state until 1947.
• Nayak dynasty of Kannada, Telugu, Tamil kings ruled parts of south India after the fall of the Vijayanagara Empire in 1646. Their contribution can be seen in Ikkeri, Sri Ranga, Madurai, and Chitradurga.
• Sikh Empire, was a major power in the Northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, which arose under the leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the Punjab region. They were usurped by the British East India Company between early and mid 19th century, following the British victory in the Anglo-Sikh wars.

Historiography

Modern historical works written on Medieval India have received some criticism from scholars studying the historiography of the period. E. Sreedharan argues that, after Indian independence up until the 1960s, Indian historians were often motivated by Indian nationalism. Peter Hardy notes that the majority of modern historical works on Medieval India up until then were written by British and Hindu historians, whereas the work of modern Muslim historians was under-represented. However, he argues that some of the modern Muslim historiography on Medieval India at the time was motivated by Islamic apologetics, attempting to justify “the life of medieval Muslims to the modern world.”

Ram Sharan Sharma has criticised the simplistic manner in which Indian history is often divided into an ancient “Hindu” period, a medieval “Muslim” period, and a modern “British” period. He argues that there is no clear sharp distinction between when the ancient period ended and when the medieval period began, noting dates ranging from the 7th century to the 13th century.