Medieval India: Sultanates, Vijayanagara–Bahmani, Mughals, Bhakti and Sufi
Medieval Indian History covers the Delhi Sultanate, the Vijayanagara and Bahmani kingdoms, the Mughal Empire, regional powers, and the Bhakti–Sufi movements. Marks come from precise administrative terminology, source criticism and explanations that weigh causes rather than narrate events.
Core content to command
- Five Sultanate dynasties. Mamluk (1206), Khalji (1290), Tughlaq (1320), Sayyid (1414), Lodi (1451); the sequence ends at Panipat, 1526.
- Revenue and military terms. Iqta (transferable revenue assignment), khalisa (crown land), jagir, mansab, zat and sawar, zabt and dahsala (Todar Mal's ten-year settlement), Maratha chauth and sardeshmukhi.
- The Deccan. Vijayanagara founded in 1336 by Harihara and Bukka; Bahmani Sultanate from 1347 under Hasan Gangu; Krishnadevaraya's Amuktamalyada; the nayaka system.
- Mughal ideology and strain. Akbar's sulh-i kul and the 1582 Din-i-Ilahi; Aurangzeb's Deccan campaigns and the jagirdari crisis.
- Bhakti and Sufi. The Chishti silsila at Ajmer, qawwali, wahdat al-wujud; Kabir, Nanak, Mirabai, Chaitanya.
Worked example
Question: Distinguish between the iqta and the jagir.
Reasoning: both were revenue assignments that were normally transferable and non-hereditary, so the answer must move beyond similarity. An iqta was held by a muqti under the Sultanate, who retained a share and maintained troops; a jagir was held by a mansabdar whose zat and sawar ranks fixed salary and troop obligation, and was recorded and audited through the Ain-i-Akbari. Conclude that the jagir sat inside a more elaborately ranked and documented system.
Traps
- Claiming that mansabdari was hereditary.
- Treating sulh-i kul and Din-i-Ilahi as the same policy.
- Mixing up the three Panipat battles (1526, 1556, 1761).
- Assuming Vijayanagara's religious policy was uniformly hostile or uniformly tolerant.
- Overstating Mughal centralisation despite jagirdari instability.