Reshaping India’s Political Map: Practice Flashcards

These vocabulary flashcards cover the key political entities, administrative systems, significant battles, and social terms from the lecture notes on reshaping India's political map between the 11th and 19th centuries.

Medieval

The term meaning 'between two ages', which in the context of this study refers to the period in Indian history from the 11th to the 17th centuries.

Turkic

Refers to peoples, languages, and cultures historically associated with a vast region stretching across Central Asia to Turkey and Siberia.

Sultanate

A territory ruled by a 'Sultan', a title adopted by some Muslim rulers.

The Delhi Sultanate

A political entity formed after the defeat of King Prithviraj Chauhan in $1192$, ruled by five successive Turkic–Afghan dynasties: Mamluks, Khiljis, Tughlaqs, Sayyids, and Lodis.

Iconoclasm

The rejection or destruction of icons or religious images considered idolatrous, which motivated the destruction of sacred images in Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu temples during the Sultanate period.

Infidel

A term used to describe those who do not share a given faith; in medieval Islam in India, it referred to Hindus, Buddhists, or Jains.

Jizya

A tax on non-Muslim subjects imposed by some sultans to grant them protection and exemption from military service.

Narasimhadeva I

A mid-13th century ruler of the Eastern Ganga kingdom who repelled the Delhi Sultanate and built the Sūrya temple at Konark.

Hoysala

A dynasty in southern India (present-day Karnataka) that fended off Delhi Sultanate attacks until its decline in the mid-14th century when it was absorbed into the Vijayanagara Empire.

Rana

A title often used for Rajput kings, such as Rana Kumbha of the Mewar kingdom.

Vijayanagara Empire

An independent kingdom in southern India established in the 14th century by brothers Harihara and Bukka Raya after they rejected Delhi's authority.

Pati

A title meaning 'lord' or 'master' used by ruling dynasties to signify power, including 'Gajapati' (Lord of Elephants), 'Narapati', 'Ashwapati', and 'Chhatrapati'.

Krishnadevaraya

A celebrated 16th-century ruler of the Vijayanagara Empire who patronized literature, composed the poem Āmuktamālyada, and oversaw a cultural renaissance.

Battle of Talikota

A decisive clash in $1565$ where a coalition of Deccan Sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara forces, leading to the destruction of the city.

First Battle of Panipat

The $1526$ battle where Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi using gunpowder, field artillery, and matchlock guns, laying the foundation of the Mughal Empire.

Jauhar

A heroic act of final resistance where Rajput women, such as those at Chittorgarh, committed mass suicide by fire to avoid capture and enslavement by invading armies.

Sulh-i-kul

A doctrine promoted by Akbar meaning 'peace with all' or universal tolerance of all faiths.

Fatehpur Sikri

A city built by Akbar where he established a 'house of translation' to translate major Sanskrit texts like the Mahābhārata into Persian.

Aurangzeb

The Mughal emperor (reigned $1658–1707$) who named himself 'Alamgir', significantly expanded the empire, re-imposed the jizya, and ordered the destruction of several key temples.

Rani Durgavati

The valiant queen of the Garha kingdom who led her troops against Akbar's general in $1564$ and took her own life on the battlefield to avoid capture.

Guerrilla warfare

A style of fighting where small groups with knowledge of the terrain carry out surprise attacks and ambushes, practiced by Maharana Pratap and the Ahoms.

Paik system

An Ahom labor and military system where every able-bodied man provided service to the state in exchange for land rights.

Battle of Saraighat

A $1671$ naval battle on the Brahmaputra River where Ahom commander Lachit Borphukan defeated a much larger Mughal force.

The Khalsa

A martial brotherhood committed to justice, equality, and defense of the faith established by the 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, in $1699$.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh

The ruler who unified Sikh confederacies at the turn of the 19th century to establish a strong Sikh Empire in the Northwest.

Iqta system

An administrative system of the Delhi Sultanate where territories were assigned to nobles (iqtadars) to collect taxes for the central treasury and maintain the army.

Mansabdari system

Akbar's administrative framework where officers (mansabdars) were assigned ranks and required to maintain a specific number of troops and animals for the state.

Jagirdars

Mansabdars who were paid by being assigned land, known as jagirs.

Todar Mal

Akbar's finance minister who introduced a systematic survey of land and an efficient revenue system based on crop yields and prices.

Hundi

A written payment instruction used by trader communities like the Marwaris to transfer funds across political boundaries without transporting physical currency.

Persian wheel

An irrigation device used to draw water from wells or tanks to fields, contributing to increased agricultural productivity.

Shrenis

Guilds that formed part of the decentralized economic and social systems in India during the medieval period.