RBSE VU History cheat sheet

Indus Valley Civilization (c. 2600–1900 BCE mature phase): Harappa and Mohenjo-daro had grid streets, covered drains, and standardised burnt bricks; Lothal had a dockyard, Dholavira a water-reservoir system.

Harappan script is undeciphered and boustrophedon; seals are mostly steatite with unicorn, bull, and pipal motifs - literacy claims about the script are unproven.

Vedic corpus order: Rigveda (1028 hymns, 10 mandalas), Samaveda (melodies), Yajurveda (ritual formulas), Atharvaveda (spells); Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads are later layers.

Rigvedic geography centres on Sapta Sindhu and the rivers Sindhu, Vitasta, Asikni, Parushni, Vipasha, Shutudri, Sarasvati; the Dasarajna hymn (VII.18) names Sudas and Vishvamitra.

Sixteen Mahajanapadas appear in Anguttara Nikaya; Magadha rises under Bimbisara, Ajatashatru, and the Haryanka line, later Nandas and Mauryas.

Mauryan administration: Arthashastra of Kautilya lists adhyakshas, rajjuka, and pradeshika; Ashokan edicts use Prakrit in Brahmi and Kharoshthi, with Major Rock Edict XIII recording the Kalinga war.

Buddhism: Four Noble Truths, Eightfold Path, and Pratityasamutpada; first council at Rajgriha, second at Vaishali, third at Pataliputra under Ashoka, fourth at Kundalvana under Kanishka.

Gupta era begins 320 CE with Chandragupta I; Samudragupta's Allahabad pillar inscription by Harishena lists conquests; Aryabhata's Aryabhatiya (499 CE) and Kalidasa belong to this period.

Delhi Sultanate dynasties in order: Slave (1206–1290), Khalji (1290–1320), Tughlaq (1320–1414), Sayyid (1414–1451), Lodi (1451–1526); First Battle of Panipat 1526 ends Lodi rule.

Alauddin Khalji's reforms: 50% kharaj on produce, market price controls with shahna-i-mandi, ban on liquor and social gatherings, and dagh (branding) and huliya (descriptive roll) for the army.

Muhammad bin Tughlaq's projects: transfer of capital from Delhi to Daulatabad, token copper currency, and Khurasan/Sind expedition schemes - each recorded by Barani and Ibn Battuta.

Vijayanagara founded 1336 by Harihara and Bukka; Krishnadevaraya (1509–1529) wrote Amuktamalyada and patronised the Ashtadiggajas; the empire falls after Talikota (1565).

Bahmani kingdom (1347) with capital Gulbarga then Bidar; Mahmud Gawan's madrasa and administrative reforms; it fragments into five Deccan sultanates after 1518.

Bhakti and Sufi currents: Kabir's dohas, Mirabai's padas, Chaitanya's Bengal Vaishnavism, Guru Nanak's founding of Sikhism, and the Chishti silsila of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer.

Mughal line: Babur (1526–1530), Humayun, Akbar (1556–1605), Jahangir, Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb (1658–1707); Akbar's mansabdari grades zat and sawar, and the Din-i-Ilahi (1582).

Sher Shah Suri's administration: rupiya silver coin, sarais, the Grand Trunk Road, and the patta-qabuliyat revenue system later adapted by Todar Mal under Akbar.

Battle of Plassey 1757 and Buxar 1764; Diwani of Bengal granted to the Company in 1765; Regulating Act 1773 creates Governor-General post, first held by Warren Hastings.

Permanent Settlement 1793 (Cornwallis, Bengal), Ryotwari (Munro, Madras), and Mahalwari (North-Western Provinces) are the three main land-revenue systems.

Revolt of 1857: Meerut outbreak on 10 May, Bahadur Shah II as symbolic leader, Rani Lakshmibai at Jhansi, Kunwar Singh in Bihar; Government of India Act 1858 transfers power to the Crown.

Indian National Congress founded 1885 in Bombay with W.C. Bonnerjee as first president; the Moderates-Extremists split at Surat 1907; reunification at Lucknow 1916.

Partition of Bengal 1905 by Curzon triggers the Swadeshi movement; annulled 1911, with the capital shifted from Calcutta to Delhi.

Gandhian mass movements: Champaran 1917, Kheda 1918, Ahmedabad mill strike 1918, Non-Cooperation 1920–22, Civil Disobedience 1930 with the Dandi march, Quit India 1942.

Constitutional milestones: Government of India Act 1919 (dyarchy in provinces), Government of India Act 1935 (provincial autonomy), Cabinet Mission 1946, Indian Independence Act 1947.

Social reform laws: Sati abolition 1829 (Bentinck), Widow Remarriage Act 1856, Age of Consent Act 1891, Sharda Act 1929; Arya Samaj 1875 and Brahmo Samaj 1828 as reform bodies.

Renaissance humanism shifts focus to classical texts and the individual; key figures include Petrarch, Erasmus, Machiavelli (The Prince, 1513), and Leonardo da Vinci.

Protestant Reformation begins with Luther's Ninety-Five Theses (1517); Peace of Augsburg 1555 allows cuius regio, eius religio; Council of Trent 1545–1563 drives the Counter-Reformation.

French Revolution phases: Estates-General 1789, Bastille 14 July 1789, Declaration of the Rights of Man, Reign of Terror 1793–94, Directory, then Napoleon's coup of 1799.

Industrial Revolution begins in mid-18th-century Britain with textiles, the steam engine (Watt, 1769), and railways; urbanisation and the factory system follow.

Russian Revolution 1917: February revolution ends Tsardom, October Bolshevik seizure under Lenin; Treaty of Brest-Litovsk 1918 and the USSR formed 1922.

World War I triggers: assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo (28 June 1914), alliance blocs, and the July Crisis; Treaty of Versailles 1919 imposes reparations and the League of Nations.

World War II: invasion of Poland 1939, Operation Barbarossa 1941, Pearl Harbor December 1941, D-Day 1944, Hiroshima and Nagasaki 1945; the United Nations is founded in 1945.

Cold War structures: Truman Doctrine 1947, Marshall Plan 1948, NATO 1949, Warsaw Pact 1955, Berlin Wall 1961–1989, Cuban Missile Crisis 1962, and the USSR's dissolution in 1991.

Rajasthan's former name Rajputana; the state was formed in stages from 1948–1956 with the States Reorganisation Act, and Jaipur is the capital.

Major dynasties: Guhilas/Sisodias of Mewar, Rathores of Marwar (Jodhpur), Kachwahas of Amber/Jaipur, Chauhans of Ajmer and Ranthambore, and Bhatis of Jaisalmer.

Key battles: Tarain 1191 and 1192 (Prithviraj Chauhan vs Muhammad Ghori), Khanwa 1527 (Babur vs Rana Sanga), Haldighati 1576 (Akbar's forces vs Maharana Pratap).

Maharana Pratap's resistance after Haldighati, the Bhil support, and Bhamashah's financial aid are standard exam points; Pratap's capital later at Chavand.

Forts and architecture: Chittorgarh, Kumbhalgarh (built by Rana Kumbha), Amber, Jaisalmer's Sonar Quila, Mehrangarh, and Jaisalmer and Kumbhalgarh as UNESCO World Heritage hill forts.

Folk deities and saints: Pabuji and Gogaji as folk heroes, Tejaji of Kharnal, Ramdevji of Runicha, Mallinath, and Mirabai of Merta as a Bhakti poet-saint.

Fairs and festivals: Pushkar cattle fair (Kartik), Nagaur cattle fair, Desert Festival at Jaisalmer, Gangaur and Teej at Jaipur, and the Marwar and Shekhawati festivals.

Performing arts and crafts: Kalbelia dance (UNESCO intangible heritage), Ghoomar, Kathputli puppetry, Maand singing, blue pottery of Jaipur, Thewa art of Pratapgarh, and Kota doria weaving.

Indus Valley Civilization (c. 2600–1900 BCE mature phase): Harappa and Mohenjo-daro had grid streets, covered drains, and standardised burnt bricks; Lothal had a dockyard, Dholavira a water-reservoir system.

Harappan script is undeciphered and boustrophedon; seals are mostly steatite with unicorn, bull, and pipal motifs - literacy claims about the script are unproven.

Vedic corpus order: Rigveda (1028 hymns, 10 mandalas), Samaveda (melodies), Yajurveda (ritual formulas), Atharvaveda (spells); Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads are later layers.

Rigvedic geography centres on Sapta Sindhu and the rivers Sindhu, Vitasta, Asikni, Parushni, Vipasha, Shutudri, Sarasvati; the Dasarajna hymn (VII.18) names Sudas and Vishvamitra.

Sixteen Mahajanapadas appear in Anguttara Nikaya; Magadha rises under Bimbisara, Ajatashatru, and the Haryanka line, later Nandas and Mauryas.

Mauryan administration: Arthashastra of Kautilya lists adhyakshas, rajjuka, and pradeshika; Ashokan edicts use Prakrit in Brahmi and Kharoshthi, with Major Rock Edict XIII recording the Kalinga war.

Buddhism: Four Noble Truths, Eightfold Path, and Pratityasamutpada; first council at Rajgriha, second at Vaishali, third at Pataliputra under Ashoka, fourth at Kundalvana under Kanishka.

Gupta era begins 320 CE with Chandragupta I; Samudragupta's Allahabad pillar inscription by Harishena lists conquests; Aryabhata's Aryabhatiya (499 CE) and Kalidasa belong to this period.

Delhi Sultanate dynasties in order: Slave (1206–1290), Khalji (1290–1320), Tughlaq (1320–1414), Sayyid (1414–1451), Lodi (1451–1526); First Battle of Panipat 1526 ends Lodi rule.

Alauddin Khalji's reforms: 50% kharaj on produce, market price controls with shahna-i-mandi, ban on liquor and social gatherings, and dagh (branding) and huliya (descriptive roll) for the army.

Muhammad bin Tughlaq's projects: transfer of capital from Delhi to Daulatabad, token copper currency, and Khurasan/Sind expedition schemes - each recorded by Barani and Ibn Battuta.

Vijayanagara founded 1336 by Harihara and Bukka; Krishnadevaraya (1509–1529) wrote Amuktamalyada and patronised the Ashtadiggajas; the empire falls after Talikota (1565).

Bahmani kingdom (1347) with capital Gulbarga then Bidar; Mahmud Gawan's madrasa and administrative reforms; it fragments into five Deccan sultanates after 1518.

Bhakti and Sufi currents: Kabir's dohas, Mirabai's padas, Chaitanya's Bengal Vaishnavism, Guru Nanak's founding of Sikhism, and the Chishti silsila of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer.

Mughal line: Babur (1526–1530), Humayun, Akbar (1556–1605), Jahangir, Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb (1658–1707); Akbar's mansabdari grades zat and sawar, and the Din-i-Ilahi (1582).

Sher Shah Suri's administration: rupiya silver coin, sarais, the Grand Trunk Road, and the patta-qabuliyat revenue system later adapted by Todar Mal under Akbar.

Battle of Plassey 1757 and Buxar 1764; Diwani of Bengal granted to the Company in 1765; Regulating Act 1773 creates Governor-General post, first held by Warren Hastings.

Permanent Settlement 1793 (Cornwallis, Bengal), Ryotwari (Munro, Madras), and Mahalwari (North-Western Provinces) are the three main land-revenue systems.

Revolt of 1857: Meerut outbreak on 10 May, Bahadur Shah II as symbolic leader, Rani Lakshmibai at Jhansi, Kunwar Singh in Bihar; Government of India Act 1858 transfers power to the Crown.

Indian National Congress founded 1885 in Bombay with W.C. Bonnerjee as first president; the Moderates-Extremists split at Surat 1907; reunification at Lucknow 1916.

Partition of Bengal 1905 by Curzon triggers the Swadeshi movement; annulled 1911, with the capital shifted from Calcutta to Delhi.

Gandhian mass movements: Champaran 1917, Kheda 1918, Ahmedabad mill strike 1918, Non-Cooperation 1920–22, Civil Disobedience 1930 with the Dandi march, Quit India 1942.

Constitutional milestones: Government of India Act 1919 (dyarchy in provinces), Government of India Act 1935 (provincial autonomy), Cabinet Mission 1946, Indian Independence Act 1947.

Social reform laws: Sati abolition 1829 (Bentinck), Widow Remarriage Act 1856, Age of Consent Act 1891, Sharda Act 1929; Arya Samaj 1875 and Brahmo Samaj 1828 as reform bodies.

Renaissance humanism shifts focus to classical texts and the individual; key figures include Petrarch, Erasmus, Machiavelli (The Prince, 1513), and Leonardo da Vinci.

Protestant Reformation begins with Luther's Ninety-Five Theses (1517); Peace of Augsburg 1555 allows cuius regio, eius religio; Council of Trent 1545–1563 drives the Counter-Reformation.

French Revolution phases: Estates-General 1789, Bastille 14 July 1789, Declaration of the Rights of Man, Reign of Terror 1793–94, Directory, then Napoleon's coup of 1799.

Industrial Revolution begins in mid-18th-century Britain with textiles, the steam engine (Watt, 1769), and railways; urbanisation and the factory system follow.

Russian Revolution 1917: February revolution ends Tsardom, October Bolshevik seizure under Lenin; Treaty of Brest-Litovsk 1918 and the USSR formed 1922.

World War I triggers: assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo (28 June 1914), alliance blocs, and the July Crisis; Treaty of Versailles 1919 imposes reparations and the League of Nations.

World War II: invasion of Poland 1939, Operation Barbarossa 1941, Pearl Harbor December 1941, D-Day 1944, Hiroshima and Nagasaki 1945; the United Nations is founded in 1945.

Cold War structures: Truman Doctrine 1947, Marshall Plan 1948, NATO 1949, Warsaw Pact 1955, Berlin Wall 1961–1989, Cuban Missile Crisis 1962, and the USSR's dissolution in 1991.

Rajasthan's former name Rajputana; the state was formed in stages from 1948–1956 with the States Reorganisation Act, and Jaipur is the capital.

Major dynasties: Guhilas/Sisodias of Mewar, Rathores of Marwar (Jodhpur), Kachwahas of Amber/Jaipur, Chauhans of Ajmer and Ranthambore, and Bhatis of Jaisalmer.

Key battles: Tarain 1191 and 1192 (Prithviraj Chauhan vs Muhammad Ghori), Khanwa 1527 (Babur vs Rana Sanga), Haldighati 1576 (Akbar's forces vs Maharana Pratap).

Maharana Pratap's resistance after Haldighati, the Bhil support, and Bhamashah's financial aid are standard exam points; Pratap's capital later at Chavand.

Forts and architecture: Chittorgarh, Kumbhalgarh (built by Rana Kumbha), Amber, Jaisalmer's Sonar Quila, Mehrangarh, and Jaisalmer and Kumbhalgarh as UNESCO World Heritage hill forts.

Folk deities and saints: Pabuji and Gogaji as folk heroes, Tejaji of Kharnal, Ramdevji of Runicha, Mallinath, and Mirabai of Merta as a Bhakti poet-saint.

Fairs and festivals: Pushkar cattle fair (Kartik), Nagaur cattle fair, Desert Festival at Jaisalmer, Gangaur and Teej at Jaipur, and the Marwar and Shekhawati festivals.

Performing arts and crafts: Kalbelia dance (UNESCO intangible heritage), Ghoomar, Kathputli puppetry, Maand singing, blue pottery of Jaipur, Thewa art of Pratapgarh, and Kota doria weaving.

Indus Valley Civilization (c. 2600–1900 BCE mature phase): Harappa and Mohenjo-daro had grid streets, covered drains, and standardised burnt bricks; Lothal had a dockyard, Dholavira a water-reservoir system.

Harappan script is undeciphered and boustrophedon; seals are mostly steatite with unicorn, bull, and pipal motifs - literacy claims about the script are unproven.

Vedic corpus order: Rigveda (1028 hymns, 10 mandalas), Samaveda (melodies), Yajurveda (ritual formulas), Atharvaveda (spells); Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads are later layers.

Rigvedic geography centres on Sapta Sindhu and the rivers Sindhu, Vitasta, Asikni, Parushni, Vipasha, Shutudri, Sarasvati; the Dasarajna hymn (VII.18) names Sudas and Vishvamitra.

Sixteen Mahajanapadas appear in Anguttara Nikaya; Magadha rises under Bimbisara, Ajatashatru, and the Haryanka line, later Nandas and Mauryas.

Mauryan administration: Arthashastra of Kautilya lists adhyakshas, rajjuka, and pradeshika; Ashokan edicts use Prakrit in Brahmi and Kharoshthi, with Major Rock Edict XIII recording the Kalinga war.

Buddhism: Four Noble Truths, Eightfold Path, and Pratityasamutpada; first council at Rajgriha, second at Vaishali, third at Pataliputra under Ashoka, fourth at Kundalvana under Kanishka.

Gupta era begins 320 CE with Chandragupta I; Samudragupta's Allahabad pillar inscription by Harishena lists conquests; Aryabhata's Aryabhatiya (499 CE) and Kalidasa belong to this period.

Delhi Sultanate dynasties in order: Slave (1206–1290), Khalji (1290–1320), Tughlaq (1320–1414), Sayyid (1414–1451), Lodi (1451–1526); First Battle of Panipat 1526 ends Lodi rule.

Alauddin Khalji's reforms: 50% kharaj on produce, market price controls with shahna-i-mandi, ban on liquor and social gatherings, and dagh (branding) and huliya (descriptive roll) for the army.

Muhammad bin Tughlaq's projects: transfer of capital from Delhi to Daulatabad, token copper currency, and Khurasan/Sind expedition schemes - each recorded by Barani and Ibn Battuta.

Vijayanagara founded 1336 by Harihara and Bukka; Krishnadevaraya (1509–1529) wrote Amuktamalyada and patronised the Ashtadiggajas; the empire falls after Talikota (1565).

Bahmani kingdom (1347) with capital Gulbarga then Bidar; Mahmud Gawan's madrasa and administrative reforms; it fragments into five Deccan sultanates after 1518.

Bhakti and Sufi currents: Kabir's dohas, Mirabai's padas, Chaitanya's Bengal Vaishnavism, Guru Nanak's founding of Sikhism, and the Chishti silsila of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer.

Mughal line: Babur (1526–1530), Humayun, Akbar (1556–1605), Jahangir, Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb (1658–1707); Akbar's mansabdari grades zat and sawar, and the Din-i-Ilahi (1582).

Sher Shah Suri's administration: rupiya silver coin, sarais, the Grand Trunk Road, and the patta-qabuliyat revenue system later adapted by Todar Mal under Akbar.

Battle of Plassey 1757 and Buxar 1764; Diwani of Bengal granted to the Company in 1765; Regulating Act 1773 creates Governor-General post, first held by Warren Hastings.

Permanent Settlement 1793 (Cornwallis, Bengal), Ryotwari (Munro, Madras), and Mahalwari (North-Western Provinces) are the three main land-revenue systems.

Revolt of 1857: Meerut outbreak on 10 May, Bahadur Shah II as symbolic leader, Rani Lakshmibai at Jhansi, Kunwar Singh in Bihar; Government of India Act 1858 transfers power to the Crown.

Indian National Congress founded 1885 in Bombay with W.C. Bonnerjee as first president; the Moderates-Extremists split at Surat 1907; reunification at Lucknow 1916.

Partition of Bengal 1905 by Curzon triggers the Swadeshi movement; annulled 1911, with the capital shifted from Calcutta to Delhi.

Gandhian mass movements: Champaran 1917, Kheda 1918, Ahmedabad mill strike 1918, Non-Cooperation 1920–22, Civil Disobedience 1930 with the Dandi march, Quit India 1942.

Constitutional milestones: Government of India Act 1919 (dyarchy in provinces), Government of India Act 1935 (provincial autonomy), Cabinet Mission 1946, Indian Independence Act 1947.

Social reform laws: Sati abolition 1829 (Bentinck), Widow Remarriage Act 1856, Age of Consent Act 1891, Sharda Act 1929; Arya Samaj 1875 and Brahmo Samaj 1828 as reform bodies.

Renaissance humanism shifts focus to classical texts and the individual; key figures include Petrarch, Erasmus, Machiavelli (The Prince, 1513), and Leonardo da Vinci.

Protestant Reformation begins with Luther's Ninety-Five Theses (1517); Peace of Augsburg 1555 allows cuius regio, eius religio; Council of Trent 1545–1563 drives the Counter-Reformation.

French Revolution phases: Estates-General 1789, Bastille 14 July 1789, Declaration of the Rights of Man, Reign of Terror 1793–94, Directory, then Napoleon's coup of 1799.

Industrial Revolution begins in mid-18th-century Britain with textiles, the steam engine (Watt, 1769), and railways; urbanisation and the factory system follow.

Russian Revolution 1917: February revolution ends Tsardom, October Bolshevik seizure under Lenin; Treaty of Brest-Litovsk 1918 and the USSR formed 1922.

World War I triggers: assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo (28 June 1914), alliance blocs, and the July Crisis; Treaty of Versailles 1919 imposes reparations and the League of Nations.

World War II: invasion of Poland 1939, Operation Barbarossa 1941, Pearl Harbor December 1941, D-Day 1944, Hiroshima and Nagasaki 1945; the United Nations is founded in 1945.

Cold War structures: Truman Doctrine 1947, Marshall Plan 1948, NATO 1949, Warsaw Pact 1955, Berlin Wall 1961–1989, Cuban Missile Crisis 1962, and the USSR's dissolution in 1991.

Rajasthan's former name Rajputana; the state was formed in stages from 1948–1956 with the States Reorganisation Act, and Jaipur is the capital.

Major dynasties: Guhilas/Sisodias of Mewar, Rathores of Marwar (Jodhpur), Kachwahas of Amber/Jaipur, Chauhans of Ajmer and Ranthambore, and Bhatis of Jaisalmer.

Key battles: Tarain 1191 and 1192 (Prithviraj Chauhan vs Muhammad Ghori), Khanwa 1527 (Babur vs Rana Sanga), Haldighati 1576 (Akbar's forces vs Maharana Pratap).

Maharana Pratap's resistance after Haldighati, the Bhil support, and Bhamashah's financial aid are standard exam points; Pratap's capital later at Chavand.

Forts and architecture: Chittorgarh, Kumbhalgarh (built by Rana Kumbha), Amber, Jaisalmer's Sonar Quila, Mehrangarh, and Jaisalmer and Kumbhalgarh as UNESCO World Heritage hill forts.

Folk deities and saints: Pabuji and Gogaji as folk heroes, Tejaji of Kharnal, Ramdevji of Runicha, Mallinath, and Mirabai of Merta as a Bhakti poet-saint.

Fairs and festivals: Pushkar cattle fair (Kartik), Nagaur cattle fair, Desert Festival at Jaisalmer, Gangaur and Teej at Jaipur, and the Marwar and Shekhawati festivals.

Performing arts and crafts: Kalbelia dance (UNESCO intangible heritage), Ghoomar, Kathputli puppetry, Maand singing, blue pottery of Jaipur, Thewa art of Pratapgarh, and Kota doria weaving.