History: 2017: CBSE: [All India]: Set – II

Kshatriyas were to engage in warfare, protect people and administer justice, study the Vedas, get sacrifices performed and make gifts. This Varna contained most of the political leaders and kings.

During medieval period, sieges were conducted by starving defenders into submission, by capture or destruction of agricultural lands. While most rulers built large granaries within fortifications to counter this, Vijayanagara rulers adopted a more complicated approach of fortifying agricultural tracts.

In 1565, Rama Raya, the chief minister of Vijayanagara, led the army into battle at Rakshasi-Tangadi (also known as Talikota).

His forces were defeated by the combined armies ofBijapur, Ahmadnagar and Golconda.

The victorious armies sacked the city of Vijayanagara.

Communal identities were consolidated by many developments in early 20^th century, especially during 1920s and early 1930s. Muslims were angered by “music-before-mosque”, by cow protection movement, and by AryaSamaj’s efforts to bring back recent converts to Islam, to Hinduism (shuddhi). Simultaneously, Hindus were angered by rapid spread of tabligh(propaganda) and tanzim(organisation) by Muslims, after 1923.

As middle-class publicists and communal activists built greater solidarity and unity within their own communities, against other communities, riots spread all over India. Every communal conflict deepened inter-religious differences, creating disturbing memories of violence.

For Mahatma Gandhi, freedom of India meant not just political freedom, but also social and religious freedom. He wanted to root out all the social problems that had plagued and divided Indian society for centuries. He also viewed unity of all religions as necessary to achieve India’s freedom. Hence, his focus was not merely centered on politics, but also on social welfare and equality of all Indians, regardless of their caste or religious identities.

Some members of the Depressed Castes, who were present in the Constituent Assembly, stressed that protection and safeguards could not solely resolve the problem of “Untouchables”.

According to them, their misery was due to social norms and moral values of caste society. The latter had used their services and labour, but socially stayed aloof from them, refusing to mix or dine with them or allow them into temples.

Depressed Castes formed between 20-25% per cent of total population. Yet, their suffering was caused by systematic marginalisation. They had neither access to education, nor share in administration.

The original story of Mahabharata was probablycomposed by charioteer-bards known as sutas whogenerally accompanied Kshatriya warriors to thebattlefield and composed poems celebrating theirvictories and other achievements.

These compositionscirculated orally.

Then, from the 5^thcentury BCE,Brahmanas took over the story and began to commit it towriting.

According to Ibn Battuta, in India the postal system in India was of two kinds:

The horse-post, called uluq, was run by royal horses that were stationed at a distance of every four miles.

The foot-post, which covered three stations per mile, wascalled dawa. 

Ibn Battuta was amazed by the efficiency of the postal system in India, which allowed merchants to send information and remit credit across long distances, as well as dispatch goods that were required at short notice. The postal system was so efficient that while normally it took fifty days to reach Delhi from Sind, news reports of spies would easily reach the Sultan, through the postal system, in just five days.

Ranks known as mansabs were held by those who were able and fortunate enough to be a member of the Mughal nobility.

This rank denoted the position of the noble in theimperial hierarchy and the amount of salary that was to be received by him.

The mansabdars were also supposed to maintain an army in order to aid the Mughal Emperor in times of need.

The Emperor took personal interest in reviewing the titles, ranks and official postings of the nobility. This made the nobility especially close to central figure of power.

Certain nobles known as the tainat-i rakab were stationed at the Mughal court, and had to report to the Emperor on a daily basis. These nobles managed to stay at the helm of Mughal affairs due to their proximity to the Emperor and his court.

Many residential buildings in Lower Town of Mohenjodaro were centred on a courtyard, surrounded by rooms on all sides. All activities were probably centred on the courtyard.

Concern for privacy is apparent by the lack of windows in walls at ground level. Moreover, the main entrance does not provide a direct view of the courtyard’s interior.

Every house had its own brick-paved bathroom, with drains connected, through walls, to street drains. Some houses have remains of staircases, leading to a second storey or roof. Many houses had wells, often in rooms accessible from outside, probably used by passers-by.