Indian History

Ashtadhyayi is a treatise on grammar composed in the 4th century B.C. by Panini. The work is the most detailed and scientific grammar composed before the 19th century in any part of the world.  Consisting of over 4000 grammatical rules, Panini’s grammar is one of the greatest intellectual achievements of any ancient civilization.  Later Indian grammars such as Mahabhasya of Patanjali and Kasika Vrtti of Jayaditya and Vamana are commentaries on Panini. Panini was associated the ancient university of Taxila or Takshashila.   Reference: The Wonder that was India by A. L. Basham 

                                        Aihole inscription of Ravi Kirti/Wikimedia Commons Aihole Prasasti (Inscription) is a panegyric of Pulakesin II, the greatest king of Chalukya Dynasty, which ruled from Vatapi (now called Badami) in Karnataka. Pulakesin II reigned from 610 to 642 CE.  Dated A.D. 634, Aihole Inscription was composed by his Jain court poet, Ravikirti, who claimed equal sta tus with poets  Kalidasa and  Bharavi as a result of his composition . Engraved on the walls of Meguti temple at  Aihole, the inscription gives a detailed account of his victories.  Jain Maguti Temple Jain Meguti Temple is the  only dated architectural monument in Aihole. 

Written by Diwan Ali Muhammad Khan in 1750s, Mirat-i-Ahmadi is a rare piece of history writing in Persian. It gives statistical information on the history of Gujarat from the beginning of the Muslim rule.  Mirat-i-Ahmadi was translated into English by James Bird. It was translated into Gujarati by Nizamuddin Faruqi in 1913. 

Mirat-i-Sikandari is a Persian work describing the political history of Gujarat from the inception of the Muzaffarid dynasty by Muzaffar Shah (Jafar Khan). The work was composed by Sikander bin Muhammad Manzu and completed in 1611. Sikander bin Muhammad Manzu served in the army of Aziz Koka, a leading noble and Mughal Subahdar of Gujarat. Mirat-i-Sikandari also describes the cultural and social life of Gujarat.

Born in 1540, Mulla Abdul Qadir Badauni, also spelt Badayuni, was a contemporary historian of Akbar in the Mughal empire. He had entered his court in 1574.  Badauni had studied together with Abdul Fazi and both had been trained by Abul Fazal’s father, Shaykh Mubarak. He had joined Man Singh’s army against Maharana Pratap in the Battle of Haldighati in 1576. A Sunni Muslim, he was an inveterate enemy of Akbar.  He had charged Akbar of working against Islam. His most important work was Tarikh-e Badauni (“Badauni’s History”), also called the Muntakhab al-Tawarikh (“Selection from History”). It is a general history of India from the time of the the Ghaznavids to the 40th year of Akbar’s reign (1595-96). He also wrote Kitāb al-Ḥadīth (“Book of Ḥadīth”), the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad. .  Tarikh-i-Alfi (“History of Thousand Years”) is another famous work by Badauni who is also credited with the translation of Singhasan Battisi , Ramayana and Mahabharata into Persian.

                                                  Hoshang Shah's Tomb|Wikimedia Commons Hoshang Shah or Hushang Shah was the second ruler (first independent ruler) of the Sultanate of Malwa. (Importance of Malwa’s geographical situation in Medieval times can be ascertained from the fact that it commanded the trunk routes from Gujarat and South India to North India).  Hoshang Shah was known as Alp Khan before his accession to the throne in 1406. He was the son of Husain Ghuri on whom Tughlaq Sultan, Firuz Shah Tughlaq , had bestowed the title of Dilawar Khan and appointed him a noble.  Hoshang Shah ruled for thirty years. After his accession, he had to face invasion from Sultan Muzaffar Shah (reigned 1407-1411) of Muzaffarid dynasty of Gujarat. In medieval times, Malwa was the bitterest rival of the Gujarat Sultanate. The invasion resulted in the defeat of Hoshang Shah and he was taken prisoner by Muzaffar Shah who, however, restored the kingdom to him. Back in his kingdom, Hoshang

                Kakatiya’s well at Warangal|Wikimedia Commons/Aravind Pakide A famous kingdom of eastern Deccan in South India, Kakatiya dynasty rose in prominence in the 12th and 13th centuries. Ruling over an area corresponding to the modern day Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and parts of southern Odisha and eastern Karnataka, the Kakatiya dynasty produced rulers who created some exquisite pieces of temple architecture in India like the  Ramappa temple and  Thousand Pillar temple (Sri Rudreshwara Swamy Temple) . The Kakatiyas were at first the subordinates of the Rastrakutas and then Western Chalukyas of Kalyani. It was in or around 1163 that they threw their allegiance to them.  Ganapati Deva (ruled 1199–1262) was the greatest ruler of the Kakatiya Dynasty. Earlier, he was imprisoned by Yadava ruler Jaitugi who had killed his father Mahadeva. Later on, Ganapati was set free by Jaitugi and ascended the Kakatiya throne in 1199. He ruled for over 60 years and proved to be a good adminis