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The history of India is so vivid that it will be unfair to omit such small yet very important details about the developments that occurred before the establishment of the greatest empires in India, the Mauryan empire. Therefore, we are presenting here a consolidated view of the major dynasties that flourished before paving the way for the Mauryans. Let us then look at the reasons for the rise of Magadha among all other Mahajanapadas. Rise of Magadha: Of all the kingdoms of India, Magadha had emerged prosperous and powerful. Its rise in ancient India was aided by these factors: Location of Magadha was across the upper and lower parts of Gangetic valley, this was highly adventageous. This area had fertile soil, which supported agriculture. Rajgir, the capital city of Magadha had reserves of Iron ore readily available. There were copper and iron deposits near Gaya. Magadha was situated on the highways of trade which contributed to its wealth. There...

The Marathas rose to power under Shivaji. He was born at Shivner Fort in 1627. His father was Shahji Bhonsle and mother was Jijabai. He inherited the Jagir of Poona from his father. He conquered many forts like, Kondana, Chakan, Toran, Purandhar, Rajgarh, Supa and Panhala. The Bijapur Sultan sent Afzal Khan against Shivaji, but  he was murdered by Shivaji in 1659. Shaista Khan, was sent by Aurangzeb against Shivaji. Shaista Khan defeated and captured Poona from Shivaji. But Shivaji made a bold attack on Shaista Khan and plundered Surat and Ahmednagar. Raja Jai Singh of Amer was sent by Aurangzeb to put down Shivaji in 1665. He succeeded in besieging the Fort of Purandar and opened negotiations with Shivaji. The Treaty of Purandhar was signed in 1665, according to which, Shivaji had to surrender 23 forts out of 35 forts held by him to Mughals. The remaining forts were to be left to Shivaji on condition of service and loyalty to Mughal emperor. When Sivaji visited Agra, he was ...

Babur  was the founder of Mughal Empire. He was related to Timur from his father’s side and Chengiz Khan to his mother’s side. His original name was Zahiruddin Muhammad. He defeated ibrahim lodhi in the first Battle of Panipat in 1526 and established Mughal rule in India. He defeated Rana Sanga of Mewar in Battle of Khanua in 1527 near Agra. He then assumed the title of ‘Ghazi’. Babur also defeated the Afgans in battle of Gogra in Bihar. Babur wrote his memoirs in Tuzuk-i-Baburi in Turki language, describing the flora and fauna of India. Humayun(1530-1540 AD and 1555-56 AD) He was the eldest son of Babur and ascended the throne in 1530. He fought two battles against Sher Shah, the afgan leader at Chausa and Kannauj, where he was completely defeated. Humayun then escaped to Iran for next fifteen years. Sur Empire/ Interregenum(1540-1555AD) The founder was Sher Shah. He waged wars with Rajputs expanding his empire to include Punjab, Sind, Multan, Bundelkhand. He ruled f...

Slave dynasty of Delhi Sultanate(1206-90): The Slave dynasty was also known as Mamluk dynasty. They were turkish in origin. Qutub-ud-din-Aibak established the slave dynasty. He was a slave of Mohammad Ghori. Other important rulers of this dynasty were: Iltutmish Razia Sultan Ghiyassudin Balban Qutub-ud-din-Aibak constructed 2 mosques, ‘Quwat-ul-Islam’ at Delhi and ‘Adhai din ka Johpra’ at Ajmer. He also commsioned the construction of Qutub Minar in honour of Sufi saint Khwaja Qutubuddin Bakhtiyar. Iltutmish was a slave of Aibak. He belonged to Ilbari tribe. Iltutmish is credited for shifting the capital of his empire to Delhi from Lahore. Iltutmish saved India from Mongol wrath of Chengiz Khan . Iltutmish issued silver Tanka, introducing arabic coinage in India. Various sufi saint Minhaj-us-Siraj, Taj-ud-din, Nizam-ul-mulk, Fakhrul-Mulk Isami. Iltutmish completed the construction of Qutb Minar at Delhi. Raziya was nominated by Iltutmish as his successor. She was the firs...

The Jain Tradition: The Jain tradition had a succession of tirthankars(religious leader). The first Tirthankar was Rishabha Dev. The 23rd Tirthankar was Parshavanath who founded Jainism. According to the Jain tradition, time is infinite and constituted by upward and downward movements. The tirthankars appear in succession in time, to teach the about the way of release of soul from material entanglements of this world. Vardhaman Mahavira (539- 467 B.C.) Vardhamana Mahavira was the  24th Tirthankar  of the Jain tradition. He is considered the last tirthankar. He was born at Kundagrama near Vaisali in about 546 BC. He was born to Kshatriya parents Siddhartha and Trisala. He was married to Yasoda and had a daughter from his marriage named Anojja or Priyadarsana. He renounced the world at the age of thirty to become an ascetic and wandered for twelve years. He also practiced self-mortification for these years. In the 13th year of his pe...

Gautama Buddha: The founder of Buddhism was  Gautam Buddha,  was born as   Siddhartha . Siddhartha was  born in 566 BC at Lumbini (now falls in territory of Nepal) in the  Sakya clan of Kshatriya. T hat is why Buddha is also known as  Sakyamuni . He died at 80 years of age in 486 BC at Kushinagar  (near Gorakhpur in uttar Pradesh) . The mother of Siddhartha was ‘Mahamaya’ who died after giving birth to him. Thereafter, he was brought up by ‘Prajapati Gautami’ his maternal aunt. Therefore, he was also called Gautam. The name of  his father was  Sidhdhodhana.  He was the only son of his father. Siddhartha was married to  Yashodhara.  He also had a son named Rahul. But neither his wife nor his son were able to tie him to the worldly life. He then left his home and became an ascetic at the age of 29 in search of truth and end of sorrows . This event in Buddha’s life is known as “ Mahabhishkramana ”. B...

he History of Sixteen Mahajanapadas: In 6th century BC, ancient India had a number of kingdoms which emerged during  the Vedic Age  . This period saw socio-economic deveopment along with religious and political developments across the Indo-Gangetic plain. These permanent settlements led the evolution from janapadas to mahajanpadas. By sixth century BC, the centre of major political activity shifted from western part of gangetic plain to the eastern part, comprising the present day Bihar and eastern UP. Major reason for this shift was, the fetile lands of this area with better rainfall and rivers, their closeness to iron production centres also played a key role. In fact, it was the increased use of iron tools and weapons that enabled small states to become kingdoms, known as Mahajanapadas. Political structure of these Sixteen Mahajanpadas : Majority of these states were monarchical but some were also republics, known as “ganasangha”. Ganasangha had oligarchic syst...

Vedic Civilization – History Study Material & Notes The Vedic Civilization was the culture and traditions of the society prevalent during the Vedic age ( 1500- 600 BCE). In various examinations which have a section of general studies, often ask a question or two about the Vedic civilization. This chapter of the history study material & notes is meant to cover the essential and exam-worthy details of the ancient Vedic period. It should be noted here that after the decline of Indus Valley civilization by 1500 BCE, the next wave of civilization began to take shape in form of Aryan occupation of Indo-Gangetic plain. The Aryans: Typically, the age of Aryans is known as the Vedic age because the four major Vedas were created in this time. The word Aryan is derived from the Sanskrit word “arya” which means noble, not ordinary. They arrived from russian steppes, as is believed and agreed to by majority historians. But various scholars voice different opinion abou...

The Discoverers of Indus Valley Civilization: Alexander Cunningham – He was the first Director-General of ASI. He Began excavations around mid nineteenth century. John Marshall – He was the DG of ASI in 1927 and first professional Archaeologist of India.But he excated horizontlly and all finds were grouped together even when they were found at different stratigraphic layers. This caused loss of very valuable information regarding. R.E.M. Wheeler – He followed the stratigraphy of excavations rather than just excavating horizontally. Basic features of Indus Valley Civilization: The Indus Valley civilization is the first known Urban Culture in India. Majority of the sites developed on the banks of river Indus, Ghaggar and its tributaries. This civilisation is credited for building cities complete with : town planning, sanitation, drainage system and broad well-laid roads. They also built double storied houses of burnt-bricks complete with bathroom , kitchen, and a...