NCERT History Notes 7th Class
History
7th Class
(700 -1750)
Chapter 1 Tracing changes through a thousand years
[Period between 700 – 1750]
-Inventions during this period:
1.
spinning wheel in weaving
2.
irrigation wheel in irrigation
3.
firearms in combat
New food & beverages:
Potatoes, corn, chillies, tea & coffee
People brought these inventions along with them.
This period was a period of economic, cultural, political n
social changes
This was a period of great mobility as groups travelled long
distances in search of opportunity
Rajputs (Name derived from Rajaputra – the son of a ruler)
became important during this period.
From 8th - 14th centuries: [700 – 1400]
Rajput meant - body of warriors who claimed Kshatriya
status.
A chivalric code of conduct
Gradual clearing of forests and extension of agriculture
during this period
-forest dwellers migrated
-Ppl started tilling lands n Peasant groups arose
-A differentiated
society arose
-ppl grpd into jatis
-jatis enforced their own rules thru jati panchayats
(Assembly of elders)
Religious Beliefs
altered during this period
-Imp changes in Hinduism
-worship of new deities, construction of temples by royalty
-growing influence of brahmanas as dominant groups in
society
-emergence of Bhakti
New religions arrived:
Merchants & migrants first brought the teachings of holy
Quran to India in 7th Century[600-700]
Chapter 2:
New Kings and Kingdoms
Chapter 3, Chapter 4 [Notes made in Hard copy]
Chapter 5:
Rulers and Buildings
From 8th till 18th century 2 kinds of structures were built
by kings and their officers:
1).Forts, palaces, tombs
2).Temples, mosques, tanks, wells, caravan serais, bazaars
-Rulers hoped to win praise of people by building these
structures for them.
·
Monuments provide an insight into the skills and
technology used for construction
Between 7th n 10th centuries architects started adding more
rooms, doors n windows.
Trabeate or corbelled style: A horizontal beam is
placed across two vertical columns.
Trabeate was used between 8th n 13th centuries to construct
temples, mosques, tombs, baolis (large stepped wells)

Temple
construction in Early 11th century [1000-1100]:
Kandariya temple:
dedicated to Shiva
-built by king Dhangadeva of Chandela dynasty in 999
Rajarajeshwara temple:
At Thanjavur, By King Rajarajadeva to worship god Rajarajeshwaram
-2 technological stylistic developments noticeable from 12th
century: -
1).Arcuate form
was sometimes used wherein a keystone carried the weight of the superstructure
above
2).Limestone cement began to be used increasingly.

-Muslim rulers & padshahs didnot claim to be the incarnations
of god but Persian court chronicles describe sultan as 'shadow of god'.
-Why Kings built
temples: Kings wanted to emphasise their moral right to be rulers so they
constructed temples to proclaim their close relationship with god.
-Why temples were
destroyed: In Middle Ages Kings built
temples to demonstrate their devotion to God and their power and wealth so most
enemy rulers displayed their political might and military success by attacking n
looting the places of worship of defeated rulers.
-Hauj-i sultani or
king's reservoir by illtutmish
Mughal
Architecture:
Babur was interested in planning n laying of gardens placed
within rectangular walled enclosures n divided into four quarters by artificial
channels. These were called Chahar Bagh
Architectural
innovations during akbar's reign:
Central towering dome n tall gateway (pishtaq) became imp
aspects of Mughal Architecture, first visible in Humayun's tomb.
-Tombs were built in a eight paradise tradition or hasht
bihisht where a central hall was surrounded by 8 rooms.
-Tombs inspired by Central Asian ancestor timur
-During Shah jahan's
reign different elements of Mughal arct were fused together.
·
Huge construction activity in Agra and Delhi
Diwan-i khas or am (ceremonial hall of public and private
audience): described as Chihil sutun
or forty pillared halls, placed within a large courtyard.
-Audience halls resembled a mosque
-His throne was placed on a pedestal known as Qibla
-Behind Shah Jahan's throne were a series of pietra dura that depicted Greek god
Orpheus playing lute.
-Shah Jahan adapted the river-front garden (in which the
dwelling was not in the middle of chahar bagh but at the edge close to the bank
of the river) in the layout of Taj Mahal
The river front garden form was developed to control access
to the water. Only select few nobles cud construct in this way rest had to do
build houses away from the river.
Cross
fertilization of art forms:
In Vrindavan near Mathura the temples were constructed in
architectural styles similar to Mughal Palaces of Fatehpur sikri.
Chapter 6:
Towns, traders & Craftspersons
Temple towns grew
near the famous temples.
Kings gave these temples land grants through which they maintained
their specialist workers. Temple authorities used their wealth for financing
and in banking. Gradually, artisans, workers, traders etc settled near the
temples to cater to its needs and to those of pilgrims. Thus grew temple towns.
Emergence of small
towns from 8th century[700-800]:
They emerged from large villages. They had their mandapika
(mandi) to which nearby villagers brought their produce to sell. They had
street markets (haats) too.
-Usually samantas or zamindars fortified such towns and
levied taxes on artisans, traders & sometimes donated the right to collect
taxes to local temples.
Guild - a formal association of people with similar
interests. Traders formed guilds to protect their interests. There were many
such guilds in South during 8th century. The most famous being,
1).Manigramam
2).Nanadesi
Bidri: Inlay work by craftperson of bidar.
Panchalas or Vishvakarma community: Blacksmiths, goldsmiths
etc
Saliyar or Kaikkolars: Weavers
Hampi:
Nucleus of Vijaynagara empire which was founded in 1336.
Well fortified city .No mortar used .Interlocking was done.
Hampi fell to ruin after defeat of Vijaynagara in 1565 by Deccani Sultans
Surat:
It was the Gateway for trade with West Asia through Gulf of
Ormuz.
-Cosmopolitan city where people of all castes lived
together.
- Textiles of Surat were famous for Zari
-Surat Hundis were honoured in far-off
markets of Cairo (Egypt), Basra (Iraq) and Antwerp (Belgium)
Hundi is a note
recording a deposit made by a person. The amount deposited can be claimed in
another place by presenting the record of the deposit.
It has also been
called as gate to Mecca as many pilgrim ships set sail from here. Surat declined
towards end of the 17th century due to loss of markets & productivity due
to decline of Mughal Empire
-control of sea routes by Portuguese
-Competition from Bombay where English East India
company shifted its headquarters in 17th
century in 1668.
Masulipatnam or Machlipatnam
:
Lies on the delta of krishna river. It became most imp port
on andhra coast.
The fort at masulipatnam was built by Dutch. This town declined
as company traders moved to Bombay, Calcutta and madras.
In the 16th and
17th centuries:
Independence of craftpersons declined. They lost the liberty
of selling their own cloth or weaving their own patterns. They now worked on
system of advances and had to reproduce designs supplied to them by European
agents.
The 18th century saw,
-the rise of 3 towns namely, Bombay, Calcutta and Madras.
Merchants and artisans were moved into Black
towns built by European companies within these cities.
Chapter 7:
Tribes, Nomads and settled communities
Under Delhi sultans and Mughals the social hierarchy (Varna
proposed by Brahmins in later Vedic period) grew further with distinctions
between poor and rich becoming more rigid then before.
Tribal Society:
Tribal people didn’t follow the social rules and rituals
prescribed by brahmans.
-No class discrimination followed.
-Had rich customs and traditions
Punjab:
-Khokhar tribe was influential during 13th n 14th centuries.
-Gakkhars became important later
-Kamal khan Gakkhar
their chief was a Mansabdar under Akbar
Multan and Sind:
Langahs & Arghuns dominated before Mughals subdued them.
Balochis:
A Tribe in NW. It was divided into small clans.
Gaddis: Shepherd
tribe lived in Himalayas
NE: Nagas,
Ahoms
Orissa: Mundas
Santhals:
Bengal
Chero chiefdoms
emerged in 12th century in Bihar
& Jharkhand areas and were
defeated by Raja Man Singh in 1591.

Maharashtra, Areas
of Gujarat - Kolis
K'tka -
Berads
Large tribe spread
across Central n Western India: Bhils
Present day Chhattisgarh,
MP, Maharashtra and AP: Gonds
Nomadic pastoralists moved long distances with their
animals. They lived on milk & other pastoral products.
-Exchanged wool, ghee with settled agriculturists for
utensils, cloth & other products.
Banjaras were most
imp trader nomads. Their caravan was called Tanda
|
As economy grew and people with new skills were required so
smaller castes emerged within Varnas.
Many tribal n social groups were given status of jatis. Spl
artisans like smiths, carpenters and masons were now recognised by jatis.
Jati rather than Varna now became the basis for organising
society.
Many dominant tribes of Punjab, Sind and the North-West
Frontier had adopted Islam quite early.
|
A closer look:
Gonds:
·
Lived in vast forested region called Gondwana
·
Practiced shifting cultivation
·
Gond clan divided into smaller clans with each
having its raja or rai.
·
Administration became centralised with kingdom divided
into 'garhs".
·
Each garh was controlled by particular Gond
clan.
·
Garh was further divided into units (of 84
villages) called Chaurasi.
·
Chaurasi was further divided into units called barhots which were made up of 12
villages each.
·
Emergence of large states changed the Gond
society and it gradually got divided into unequal social classes.
·
Brahmans received grants from Gond rajas and
became influential.
·
Garha
katanga's Gond king assumed the title of Sangram Shah.
·
Gonds raised resources by trapping and exporting
elephants to other kingdoms.
Ahoms:
·
Migrated to Brahmaputra valley from Myanmar in
13th century.
·
Suppresed Bhuyians(landlords) and created a new
system
·
they used firearms as early as 1530s
·
Ahom state depended upon forced labour
·
Paiks
- those forced to work for the state
·
Ahom society divided into Clans or Khels. Khel controlled several
villages.
·
even king couldn’t take away the land given to a
peasant by the village community.
·
In reign of Sib Singh (1714-44) Hinduism became
important.
·
Buranjis:
historical works written in Ahom and then in Assamese.

Tribes of Eastern India
Chapter 8:
Devotional Paths to the Divine
Bhakti & Sufi movements evolved from the 8th century.
-Beliefs in cycle of birth & idea that all human beings
are not equal gained hold during this period.
People turned to Jainism n Buddhism as according to them it
was possible to overcome social differences & break the cycle of rebirth
through personal effort.
-Bhakti could deliver from such cycle.
-ideas of Bhakti became popular & even Jainas n
Buddhists adopted these beliefs.
Bhakti in South
India:
[7th - 9th century]
·
Nayanars (saints devoted to shiva)
·
Alvars (saints devoted to vishnu) emerged.
·
They had members from all castes n untouchables
too like Pulaiyar & Panars.
·
Criticised Buddhists & Jainas n preached
that ardent love of Shiva or Vishnu was the path for salvation.
·
drew inspiration from Sangam literature n
blended its ideals with values of Bhakti.
Tevaram,Tiruvacakam: compilation of
songs of Nayanars
Divya Prabandham:
Compilation of songs by Alvars
In 10th century (900-1000) Chola & Pandya kings built
temples
Hagiographies =
Biographies of Nayanars n Alvars
|
Shankara:
·
philosopher was born in Kerala in 8th century
·
Advocate of Advaita
or doctrine of Oneness of the
individual soul & the supreme god which is the ultimate reality
·
Brahma the only or ultimate reality was formless
·
World as Maya & illusion
Ramanuja:
·
born in Tamilnadu in 11th Century
·
Influenced by Alvars
·
Path to salvation through devotion to Vishnu
·
Doctrine of Vishishtadvaita
or Qualified oneness in that the
soul even when united with supreme god remains distinct
|
·
It began in Karnataka in mid 12th century(around
1150s)
·
against the casteism n treatment of women n
believed in equality of human beings
·
against ritual n idol worship
·
Inititated by Basavanna , Allama Prabhu &
akkamahadevi
|
·
From 13th till 17th centuries there were many
saint-poets.
·
janeshwar, Namdev, Eknath, tukaram
·
women like Sakkubai n family of chokhamela
belonged to untouchable Mahar caste
·
This regional tradition of Bhakti focused on Vithal temple in Pandharpur as well as personal god residing in the hearts of
people.
·
It rejected ritualsim, outward display of piety
, social differences
·
It even rejected the idea of renunciation &
preferred to live with their families
·
stressed that bhakti lay in sharing others' pain
·
Abhang:
marathi devotional hymn
|
·
Rejected ritualism
·
Believed in meditation of the formless reality
and realisation of oneness with it.
·
Practiced Yogasanas
·
These groups became popular in lower castes
|
·
Sufis were Muslim mystics
·
Rejected outward religiosity n emphasised love n
devotion to god n compassion to fellow human beings.
·
Islam propagated Montheism or submission to one
god.
·
rejected idol worship
·
Simplified rituals of worship into collective
prayers
·
Sufis rejected the elaborate rituals & codes
of behavior demanded by Muslim religious scholars.
·
Famous sufis: Ghazzali, rumi n sadi.
·
Like Siddhas & Nathpanthis & yogis they
too believed that heart can be trained to look at the world in a different way
·
Developed training methods using zikr (chanting of a sacred formula), raqs (dancing)
·
Silsilas
- genealogy of Sufi teachers
·
Large number of sufis settled in hindustan during
11th century and esp after Delhi sultanate strengthened its establishment.
·
Chishti Silsila was most influential
·
Khwaja Muinuddin Chisti of Ajmer, Qutbuddin
Bakhtiar kaki of delhi, Baba Farid of Punjab, Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi
&
·
Bandanawaz Gisudaraz of Gulbarga
Khanqahs or Hospices:
Sufi masters held their assemblies here. People believed in
miraculous healing powers of Sufi saints so Dargahs or tombs of Sufi saints
became centres of pilgrimage gradually
|
·
Period after 13th century saw Hinduism, Islam,
Sufism & various strands of Bhakti influencing each other.
·
Tulsidas
- Ramcharitmanas in awadhi (language in east UP)
·
Surdas
- krishna: sursagara, surasaravali and sahitya lahari
·
Shankaradeva
of Assam - devotion to Vishnu: He started the practice of setting up Namghars
or houses of recitation n prayer
·
Mirabai:
Rajput princess of Mewar in 16th century: She became a disciple of Ravidas (who
was from an untouchable caste). Her songs challenged the norms of upper caste
& became popular in Rajasthan & Gujarat

|
[15-16th century]
·
family of weavers in or near city of Benares
·
Sakhis & pads: collection of his verses
·
Gurugranth sahib, Panch Vani & Bijak contain
some of his bhajans
Teachings:
·
rejected all major religious traditions
·
ridiculed all form of external worship
·
against caste system n pre-eminence of priestly
class
·
Believed in formless supreme god
·
his verses were in a spoken form of Hindi or in
a cryptic language
|
[1469-1539]
Born at talwandi, Nankana sahib in pakistan
·
estb a centre of worship on river Ravi
·
Followers despite of their caste ate in langar
·
dharmsal or
gurudwara
·
appointed Lehna or Guru Angad as his successor
Teachings of Guru
Nanak
·
Emphasised 1 god
·
caste, creed , gender irrelevant
·
His idea of liberation was active life with a
sense of social commitment & not of internal bliss.
He used following 3 words for essence of his teaching:
·
nam: right worship
·
dam: welfare of others
·
isnan: purity of conduct
·
Angad compiled Guru Nanak's compositions and he
added his own to them too in gurmukhi
·
3 successors of Guru Angad wrote under the name
of Nanak and all of their verses were compiled by Guru Arjan in 1604.To this
version was added the writing of other figures like Shaikh farid, Sant kabir,
Teg bahadur
-In 1706: The compilation was authenticated by Guru
Arjan’s son and successor and it is now known as Guru Granth Sahib
·
By the beginning of 17th century the town of
Ramdaspur (Amritsar) had developed around central Gurudwara called Harmandar
sahib.
-Jahangir perceived Sikhs as a threat and ordered execution
of Guru Arjan in 1606.
-The Sikh movement began to get politicized in 17th century
and it culminated in 1699 by the estb of Khalsa
by Guru Gobind Singh.
-The community of Sikhs called Khalsa Panth became a political entity.
Chapter 9: The
Making of Regional Cultures
Cheras and development of Malyalam:
·
Chera kingdom was established in 9th century in
SW part of Peninsula (part of present day Kerala)
·
Malayalam was already spoken there and rulers
introduced it into their inscriptions
·
the 1st literary works in 12th century in Malayalam are indebted to Sanskrit
·
Lilatilakam
-14th century - grammar n poetics -composed in Manipravalam (diamonds n corals)
Anantavarman:
·
Ruler of Ganga dynasty. He erected a temple for
Purushottama Jagannatha at Puri.
|
·
Derived from Katha, a word used in Sanskrit
& other languages for 'story'.
·
Kathaks were originally storytellers in temples
of North India, who embellished their performances with gestures & songs.
·
Kathak evolved in to a distinct dance form in
15th n 16th centuries with the spread of Bhakti Movement
·
Rasa lila
combined folk dance with basic gestures of Kathak story tellers.
·
it was performed in Mughal courts & that is
where it acquired its present features.
-Developed in 2 Gharanas or traditions
1).In Lucknow
2).Courts of Rajasthan (Jaipur)
Under Wajid Ali Shah it grew as a major art form. By 3rd
quarter of 19th century Kathak was entrenched as a dance form not only in above
2 regions but in the adjoining areas of Haryana, Punjab, J&K, Bihar, MP
-it was recognised as one of the 6 classical dance forms
after independence.
|
·
-small sized paintings
·
-done in water color on cloth or paper
·
-Earliest were on palm leaf or wood
·
-those found in West india illustrate jaina text
·
-Basohli : Himalayan foothills around the
Himachal Pradesh by late 17th century had developed a bold n intense style of
miniature paintings.
·
-Bhanudatta's Rasamanjari.
-Invasion by Nadir Shah in 1739 forced these artists to flee
to hills where they found ready patrons and it led to the founding of Kangra School of Painting.
·
-Kangra school was inspired by Vaishnavite tradition.
·
-Soft colors (cool blue n greens)
·
-Lyrical treatment of themes
Early Bengali literature
has 2 categories:
1).one indebted to Sanskrit
·
-includes translations of Sanskrit epics, the
Mangalakavyas (poems dealing with local deities)
·
Bhakti literature such as biographies of
Chaitanyadeva , leader of Vaishnva Bhakti Movement
·
It has been passed on in manuscripts
2).Independent of it
·
-Nath
literature such as songs of Maynamati & gopichandra ; stories concerning
the worship of Dharma Thakur & fairy tales , folk tales & ballads
·
-circulated orally
·
-popular in Eastern Bengal where influence of Brahmanas
was weak.
·
-Naths were ascetics who engaged in various
yogic practices
Pirs: includes
saints or Sufis & other religious personalities, daring colonisers &
soldiers, various Hindu & Buddhist deities & even animistic spirits
Animism:
Attribution of living soul to plants, inanimate objects, and natural phenomena.
Brihaddharma
Purana - A 13th century text in Sanskrit from Bengal allowed local Brahmins
to eat varieties of fish.
|
Later Mughals:
A Crisis was faced by Mughals at the close of 17th century
due to:
1).Depletion of army & financial resources by long wars
in Deccan by Aurangzeb
2).Successors of Aurangzeb were administratively
inefficient.
3).Powerful Mansabdars became difficult to control
4).Subadars (governors) controlled offices of revenue
(diwani) & military(Faujdari) administration which gave them extraordinary
powers over vast region of Mughal Empire and gradually the remission of revenue
to the capital declined. The inefficient successors of Aurangzeb were
unsuccessful in curbing the growing influence of provincial governors.
5).Peasant & zamindari rebeliions in North & West
compounded the problems.
6).Attacks by Nadir Shah on Delhi in 1739 and frequent invasions
of Afghan ruler Ahmed Shah Abdali left Delhi in tatters.
8).Competition between different group of Nobles of Irani
and Turani (turkish descent) factions.
|
Through 18th century the Mughal Empire crumbled into number
of Independent regional States which can be divided into 3 overlapping groups:
1).States that were old Mughal Provinces like Awadh (founded
by Sa'adat Khan), Bengal (founded by Murshid Quli Khan) and Hyderabad(Asaf
jah).They didn’t broke their ties with Mughal Emperor.
2).States that had enjoyed a considerable degree of
independence under Mughal rulers as watan Jagirs eg: several Rajput
principalities (territories ruled by Prince)
3).States under control of Marathas, Sikhs and others like
Jats.
Hyderabad:
·
Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf jah the founder of Hyderabad
was one of the most powerful members at the court of Mughal Emperor Farrukh
Siyar.
·
Hyderabad was engaged with Marathas to the West &
with independent Telugu warriors (Nayakas) in the plateau
Awadh:
·
Sa'adat Khan became its Subadar in 1722
·
Awadh controlled the trade route between North
India and Bengal.
·
controlled rich alluvial Ganga plain
·
Ijaradars
- revenue farmers - paid the state a fixed sum of money
·
Now moneylenders and bankers influenced the
management of state's revenue system.
Bengal:
Murshid Quli Khan was appointed as Naib to the governor i.e. deputy
3 common features
of Awadh, Hyderabad and Bengal:
1).All the Nobles were highly suspicious of the admin system
they had inherited esp. Jagirdari system
2).Method of tax collection was different. All 3 contracted
revenue farmers rather than relying on the officers of the state.
|
Rajput families of amber & Jodhpur claimed Subadaris of
rich provinces of Malwa and Gujarat resp.
-Raja Ajit Singh of Jodhpur - governor of Gujarat
-Sawai Raja Jai Singh of Amber - governor of Malwa
-they also tried & annexed imperial territories to
Watans like nagaur by Jodhpur & large parts of Bundi by Amber
-Sawai Raja Jai Singh founded his new capital in Jaipur & was given subadari of
Agra in 1722.
|
Organisation of Sikhs into a political community in 17th
century helped in regional state building in Punjab.
-Guru Gobind Singh fought against Rajput & Mughal rulers
both before & after institution of Khalsa in 1699.
-Under Banda Bahadur's leadership khalsa rose in revolt
against Mughal authority; declared their sovereignity by striking coins in the
name ofGuru Nanak & Guru Gobind Singh & estb their own administration
between Sutlej & Jamuna .
-Banda Bahadur was captured in 1715 & executed in 1716.
Sikhs organised themsleves into number of bands in 18th
century known as jathas & later
on misls
-Combined forces of different bands of Sikhs = dal khalsa
·
used to meet at Amritsar at Baisakhi &
Diwali to take collective decisions known as 'Resolutions of the Guru (gurmatas)"
·
Rakhi
- system under which protection to cultivators on the payment of 20% of produce
was given.
-Khalsa declared their sovereign rule in 1765.
|
Shivaji (1627-1680):
·
carved out stable kingdoms with the help of
warrior families known as Deshmukhs
·
Kunbis
or highly mobile pastoralists provided backbone of maratha army
-After his death the power was wielded by Chitpavan Brahamanas who served
Shivaji's successors as Peshwa(or
principal minister)
-Maratha Empire expanded between 1720 & 1761
-Malwa & Gujarat was seized by 1720 from Mughals.
-By 1730s, Maratha king was recognised as overlord of entire
Deccan peninsula
-He possessed the right to levy Chauth (25% of the land revenue claimed by zamindars) and Sardeshmukhi (9-10% of the land revenue
paid to the head revenue collector in Deccan)
-After raiding Delhi in 1737 the frontiers of Maratha Empire
expanded into,
·
Rajasthan & Punjab in North
·
Bengal & Orissa in the east
·
Karnataka & Tamil & Telugu countries in
the south.
- Marathas established a sound admin system too.
|
·
Consolidated their power during late 17th and
18th century
·
Under Churaman they acquired control over cities
West to Delhi
·
By 1680s they had control over region between
imperial cities of Delhi & Agra
·
Jats were agriculturists
·
Panipat & Ballabhgarh - trading centres in
areas dominated by them
·
Suraj Mal –Under him Bharatpur emerged as a
strong state.
·
At Dig Jats built an elaborate garden palace influenced
by architectural form prevalent under Shah Jahan.


British
Territories in Mid-18th Century
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