Medieval India
This section examines the Delhi Sultanate, Vijayanagara, the Mughals, regional kingdoms and the Bhakti and Sufi movements. The exam favours comparison, cause-and-effect and source-based judgement.
Core concepts
- Delhi Sultanate: five dynasties (Slave, Khalji, Tughlaq, Sayyid, Lodi); Alauddin Khalji’s market controls and military reforms; Muhammad bin Tughlaq’s token currency and capital transfer; Firuz Shah Tughlaq’s canals.
- Vijayanagara: founded in the 14th century; Krishnadevaraya; Nayaka system; Hampi’s temples and fortifications; decline after Talikota (1565).
- Mughals: mansabdari, jagir and zabti revenue; Akbar’s sulh-i kul and Rajput alliances; Shah Jahan’s architecture; Aurangzeb’s Deccan wars.
- Bhakti and Sufi: Kabir, Mirabai, Chaitanya, Nanak; Chishti silsila, khanqah, urs; vernacular devotion and critique of ritual.
Worked example
“Why did Vijayanagara decline?” A full answer links the 1565 Battle of Talikota defeat by Deccan Sultanates to earlier structural strains: succession disputes, Nayaka chiefs becoming more autonomous, and costly warfare. The reasoning separates long-term weakness from the immediate military blow; a one-line “Talikota destroyed it” misses internal fragmentation.
Traps that cost marks
Do not credit Sher Shah Suri’s administration to Akbar, or say the Mughal Empire was uniformly centralised. Avoid treating Bhakti and Sufi as single movements: they had regional, sectarian and class differences. Do not confuse Vijayanagara with the Bahmani kingdom.
Key points
- Sultanate rule varied by dynasty; market reform is specific to Alauddin Khalji.
- Vijayanagara’s Nayaka system both strengthened and fragmented the state.
- Mughal revenue and military rank were linked through mansab and jagir.
- Akbar’s sulh-i kul was a policy of imperial accommodation, not modern secularism.
- Bhakti and Sufi poetry used vernacular languages to challenge ritual monopoly.