Maharashtra HSC History flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Mature Harappan period

The urban phase of the Indus Valley Civilisation, roughly 2600 to 1900 BCE, marked by planned cities, standardised brick ratios, seals, script and uniform weights.

Great Bath of Mohenjo-daro

A large brick-lined water tank with steps at Mohenjo-daro, interpreted as a site of ritual bathing, showing advanced drainage and civic planning.

Dhamma policy of Ashoka

Ashoka's moral programme after the Kalinga war, promoting tolerance, non-violence and welfare, propagated through rock and pillar edicts.

Kosambi's historical method

D.D. Kosambi applied archaeology, anthropology and philology together to reconstruct ancient Indian social and economic life, founding a materialist school of historiography.

Alauddin Khalji market reforms

Price controls on grain, cloth, horses and slaves, enforced by market officers and harsh punishment, enabling a large standing army on limited revenue.

Dagh and huliya

Alauddin Khalji's system of branding army horses and preparing descriptive rolls of soldiers to prevent false muster and corruption.

Iqta system

Assignment of land revenue from a territory to an officer, the iqtadar, in return for military and administrative service; it became hereditary under Firoz Shah Tughlaq.

Tarikh-i-Firozshahi

Ziauddin Barani's Persian chronicle covering the Delhi Sultanate, an important but partisan source reflecting the author's orthodox political views.

Battle of Talikota

The 1565 defeat of Vijayanagara by a coalition of Deccan Sultanates, after which the empire declined and its capital was abandoned.

Mansabdari system

Akbar's ranking system where nobles held zat (personal) and sawar (cavalry) ranks, receiving jagirs while supplying troops to the state.

Ashta Pradhan

Shivaji's council of eight ministers, including the Peshwa, Amatya and Senapati, advising on revenue, military and judicial matters.

Chauth and sardeshmukhi

Maratha levies: chauth was one-fourth of revenue claimed from neighbouring territories for protection, and sardeshmukhi an additional tenth as hereditary overlord's share.

Third Battle of Panipat

Fought in 1761 between Marathas and Ahmad Shah Abdali, ending in a severe Maratha defeat that checked expansion but did not destroy the confederacy.

Din-i-Ilahi

A syncretic order proclaimed by Akbar in 1582 emphasising loyalty and ethical conduct, interpreted variously as a religion or a court loyalty device.

Doctrine of Lapse

Dalhousie's policy denying adoption rights to rulers without natural heirs, used to annex Satara, Jhansi and Nagpur, and a cause of resentment before 1857.

Drain Theory

Dadabhai Naoroji's argument that British rule transferred India's wealth to Britain through home charges, trade surpluses and unrequited exports, explaining Indian poverty.

Dandi March

Gandhi's 1930 walk to the Gujarat coast to break the salt law, launching the Civil Disobedience Movement and mass arrests.

Purna Swaraj resolution

The 1929 Lahore Congress declaration demanding complete independence, followed by 26 January 1930 being observed as Independence Day.

Government of India Act 1935

British legislation introducing provincial autonomy, a federal structure and separate electorates, and a major source of India's later constitution.

Estates-General of 1789

The French assembly of clergy, nobility and commoners, whose deadlock over voting led to the National Assembly and the outbreak of revolution.

Treaty of Versailles

The 1919 settlement ending World War I, imposing reparations and territorial losses on Germany; its terms fuelled resentment and later Nazi propaganda.

Bolshevik October Revolution

Lenin's 1917 seizure of power in Russia, promising peace, land and bread, leading to withdrawal from World War I and a socialist state.

Bismarck's blood and iron

Otto von Bismarck's policy of unifying Germany through war and statecraft, achieved in 1871 after victories over Denmark, Austria and France.

Non-Aligned Movement

A grouping of states led by Nehru, Nasser and Tito that avoided alignment with Cold War blocs, formalised at Belgrade in 1961.

States Reorganisation Act 1956

Indian legislation redrawing state boundaries largely along linguistic lines, following the creation of Andhra in 1953.

Green Revolution

The adoption of high-yielding wheat and rice varieties, irrigation and fertilisers from the mid-1960s, which made India food self-sufficient.

Economic liberalisation of 1991

India's reforms under P.V. Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh, removing licence controls, devaluing the rupee and opening the economy to foreign investment.

Primary source

Evidence produced at or near the time of the event by participants or witnesses, such as inscriptions, coins, letters, chronicles and official records.

Numismatics

The study of coins, used to date dynasties, identify rulers, trace trade and read titles, reign years and religious symbols.

Internal criticism

Evaluation of a source's meaning, author, purpose and bias after its authenticity is established, testing consistency with other evidence.

Aihole inscription

A seventh-century record of Pulakeshin II by the poet Ravikirti, a key source for Chalukya history and for early Kannada and Sanskrit literary dating.

NBPW pottery

Northern Black Polished Ware, a glossy fine pottery of the mid-first millennium BCE associated with urban centres and the second urbanisation of the Ganga valley.