Indian History

Avvaiyar was an early Tamil poetess during the Sangam Age in ancient India. Her works are known for their literary merit.

Born in the second half of the fifth century AD, Aryabhata was a top astronomer and mathematician of the Gupta times in ancient India. He suggested that the earth revolved around the sun and rotated on its axis.  He was the first to have the knowledge of zero. It can be said with certainty that knowledge of mathematics in the Gupta period was more advanced than that reached by any other country of antiquity. Aryabhata was the author of Aryabhatiya which was written in 499 AD.

Minhaj-ud-din Abu Uraar bin Siraj-ud-din al-Juzjani, popularly known as Minhaj-us-Siraj,  was a medieval historian who was patronized by Slave Sultan Nasir-ud-din Mahmud to whom he had dedicated his magnum opus Tabaqat-i-Nasiri . Since Siraj held the high office of the Chief Qazi of Delhi to which he was appointed by Nasir-ud-din Mahmud, it is natural that Tabaqat-i-Nasiri gives a first hand account of the historical events from the conquest of Delhi by Muhammad of Ghur up to the year 1260 AD. Siraj was temporarily removed from the post of Chief Qazi from 1253 to 1255 when a section of nobles induced the Sultan to send his prime minister Balban into exile.  Tabaqat-i-Nasiri has been translated into English by Raverty .   -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This page was last edited on 24 July 2021

One of the foremost medieval historians of India, Ziauddin Barani was born in 1286 during the reign of Salve Sultan Balban of Delhi Sultanate. His famous works are Tarikhi-Firozshahi and Fatwa –i- Jahandajri which were written under the patronage of Firoz Tughlaq, the last prominent ruler of the Tughlaq dynasty.  A highly educated man of noble descent, Barni lived more than seventy five years and was a contemporary of Muhammad bin Tughluq and Friuz Shah Tughluq. Completed in 1359 AD, Tarikh-i-Firozshahi begins with the accession of Balban and concludes with the sixth year of the reign of Firoz Firoz Tughlaq. Fatwa –i- Jahandajri describes about principles and ideals of government.

Located in the Malakapur village near Vasant Kunj in Delhi, Sultan Ghari tomb is the first Turkish tomb in India. It was built by Slave Sultan Iltutumish on the grave of his eldest son Nasir-ud-din Mahmud, who died in April, A.D. 1229, while looking after the state of affairs in Bengal as the governor of that province. Nasir-ud-din Mahmud is not to be confused with his namesake who later became a ruler of the Slave dynasty. Architecturally, the Sultan Ghari tomb is more Hindu than any other tomb in India.

Rajendra Chola I is one of two greatest kings of the Chola dynasty which, one of three ancient dynasties in the Tamil tradition, again rose in the middle of the 9th century and ruled for well neigh three centuries over a large part in South India with their capital at Tanjuvur (modern Tanjore also  Thanjavur ). The power of the Chola dynasty reached its pinnacle during the reigns of Rajendra Chola (1014- 1042) and his father Rajaraja I (985-1014). Rajendra Chola was the worthy son and successor of his father. Though he succeeded to the Chola throne in 1014, his regal years are counted from 1012 AD when he was declared heir-apparent. By his military prowess and administrative skill, Rajendra Chola raised the Chola power to the zenith of glory. Probably in 1017 AD, he conquered the whole of Sri Lanka, the northern part of which was already annexed to the Chola empire during the reign of his father Rajaraja I. In the next year (1018 AD) Rajendra Chola forced the rulers of K