Our Past-1

Jahangir >> Manuscript → Album & individual portrait

Narmada Valley- Hunting and gathering
Magadha- The first big kingdom
Garo hills- Early agriculture
Indus and its tributaries- The first cities
Ganga Valley- Cities about 2500 years ago

Palaeolithic >> 99% of human history

1st wild ancestors>> DOG
Burzahom>>Pit-houses (khadda ghar)
Earliest Agri. Evidences on india >> Mehrgarh(Cotton-7000 yrs ago)
Harappans grew- wheat, barley, pulses, peas, rice, sesame, linseed, mustard.
does not receive heavy rainfall >> Irrigation
Copper- Rajasthan
Gold- Karnataka
Tin- Afghanistan
Precious stones- Gujarat
Hymns mostly male + few female >> 1000+ Sukta/ wall said
the dead were buried with distinctive pots, which are called Black and Red
Ware.
recognised as rajas by performing very big sacrifices >> Ashvamedh/
horse >> rajas of janapadas rather than janas.
some janapadas became more important than others, and were known as
mahajanapadas(eg. Magdha| river- Ganga, Son| Rulers-Bimbisara & Ajatasattu)>>
have capital cities
 Taxes- 1/6th on crops
Buddha + Mahavira >> Gana/Sangha
All free men over the age of 30 were recognised as full citizens. women were not
considered citizens.
The Buddha(Prakrit) taught that life is full of suffering and unhappiness.
Upanishad (Buddha) literally means ‘approaching and sitting near’ and the texts
contain conversations between teachers and students. >> Upanishadic thinkers
were men (brahmins and rajas) women thinkers
Jain > Vardhamana Mahavira >> kshatriya prince of the Lichchhavis (Vajji
sangha)
Prakrit >> known as Magadhi
Emperors need more resources than kings because empires are larger than
kingdoms, and need to be protected by big armies.
Arthashastra tells us that the north-west was important for blankets, and south
India for its gold and precious stones. It is possible that these resources were
collected as tribute.
Ashoka’s dhamma did not involve worship of a god, or performance of a
sacrifice
medical treatment for both human beings and animals.
Central Asian people known as the Shakas, were followed by the Kushanas
Shakas who ruled over parts of western India fought several battles with the
Satavahanas,
Tamil >> Sangam Literature
Jatakas >> composed by ordinary people >> preserved by Buddhist monks
Sangam poems mention the muvendar >> three chiefs, used for the heads of
three ruling families, the Cholas, Cheras, and Pandyas
Puhar/ Kaveripattinam- port of the Cholas, and Madurai- capital of the Pandyas.
older form of Buddhism- Theravada Buddhism
Geeta >> UNESCO- Oral and intangible heritages of humanity
Mahabharata >>> Bhagavad Geeta (just a part)
Bodhisattvas- Mahayana Buddhism
Lords of the dakshinapatha- Satavahana rulers
Samudragupta’s prashasti >> as equal to the gods samantas. Whenever the ruler
was weak, samantas tried to become independent.
ur was a village assembly found in areas where the land owners were not
brahmins. nagaram was an organisation of merchants.
Abhijnana Shakuntalam- Love story- Dushyanta+ Shakuntala
Silappadikaram- Ilango
Manimekalai- Sattanar

Our Past- 2
Arab geographer al-Idrisi
Rajputs >> who claimed Kshatriya caste status
patrons — new rulers searching for prestige.
Merchants and migrants >> holy Quran to India 7th century
Dantidurga- Rashtrakuta chief
Cholas- vetti- taken not in cash but in the form of forced labour, and
kadamai- land revenue.
“tripartite struggle”- Gurjara-Pratihara, Rashtrakuta and Pala >> control over
Kanauj
Rajaraja I- most powerful Chola ruler
Thanjavur and Gangaikonda-cholapuram Temple >> by Rajaraja and Rajendra
Chola bronze >> finest in the world
Ur- settlements of peasants, Rich Peasants >> Vellala caste
Gurjara Pratiharas- Gujarat and Rajasthan
Rashtrakutas- Western Deccan
Palas- Bengal
Cholas- Tamil Nadu

Delhi 1st capital of Tomara Rajputs, Coin >> Dehliwal

Raziyya >> Delhi, Rudramadevi (Kakatiya) >> Andrapradesh, Didda >> Kash-
mir
Bandagan- special slaves purchased for military service
Tax >> cultivation of Kharaj, cattle, houses
Mughals >> Timurid ancestry
“trabeate” or “corbelled” Technique
Prilgrimage >>> Township
Traders = Banjaras
devadasis (temple dancers)
emporium- Trade, Big shops
hundis- note recording a deposit made by a person
Factor- Official merchant of the East India Company.
Hagiography- Writing of saints’ lives.
Zikr >> KARANNI
Hospice- House of rest for travellers
Buddha- questioned social differences
Shankaradeva- namghar
Nizamuddin Auliya- Sufi saint
Nayanars- worship of Shiva
Alvars- worship of Vishnu
Lilatilakam >> grammar and poetics
Manipravalam– “diamonds and corals”
Anantavarman- Orissa Mangalakavya- Bengal
Jagannatha- Puri Miniature- Kangra
Mahodayapuram- Kerala
Lilatilakam- Kerala
Sardeshmukhi- land revenue
Subadar- provincial governor
Ijaradar- a revenue farmer
Kunbis- Maratha peasant warriors
Faujdar- a Mughal military commander
Misl- a band of Sikh warriors
Umara- a high noble
Chauth- tax levied by the Marathas

Our Past- 3
big market in Europe >>Pepper, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon
Dharmashastras – Sanskrit texts >> social rules and codes of behaviour
Sawar – Men on horses
Musket – A heavy gun used by infantry soldiers
Matchlock – An early type of gun in which the powder was ignited by a match
Haats- Weekly Markets
One bigha of indigo cultivation required two ploughs.
systems of indigo cultivation – nij and ryoti >>> agreement (satta)
Indigo could be cultivated only on fertile lands
gomasthas – agents of planters >> collect rent
1859- indigo ryots- support of the local zamindars and village headmen
Birsa was born in a family of Mundas(Chottanagpur) >> followers- Santhals
and Oraons
Bewar – Madhya Pradesh for shifting cultivation

1906- revolt of Songram Sangma- Assam

Finely woven textiles as “muslin” >> Calico>> Cotton textile
jamdani weaving >> Dacca in Bengal and Lucknow
Khadi gradually became a symbol of nationalism.
The charkha came to represent India, and it was put at the centre of the tricolour flag of the Indian Na-
tional Congress adopted in 1931.
new cotton mills- Bombay, Ahmedabad, Sholapur, Nagpur, Kanpur.
high carbon steel called Wootz
Bellows – pump air
Madrasa – An Arabic word for a place of learning
Munshi – A person who can read, write and teach Persian
“English education has enslaved us”
“Literacy in itself is not education”- MG
Tagore’s “abode of peace”
William Jones- respect for ancient cultures
Rabindranath Tagore- learning in a natural environment
Thomas Macaulay- promotion of English education
Pathshalas- gurus
Mahatma Gandhi- critical of English education

Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, used the ancient texts to suggest that widows could
remarry
Women write about women
Begums of Bhopal- promoting education among women
Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain- schools 4 Muslim girls >Patna & Calcutta
Tarabai Shinde (Poona) >> Stripurushtulna
Pandita Ramabai- widows’ home at Poona
1873, Phule >> Gulamgiri >> all those Americans who had fought to free slaves

Dadabhai Naoroji Naoroji’s >> Poverty and Un-British Rule in India

Picket – People protesting outside a building or shop to prevent others from entering
Mahants – Religious functionaries of Sikh gurdwaras