Krishnadeva Raya, the Greatest Vijayanagar king

One of the greatest kings of India, Krishnadeva Raya raised the Hindu power of Vijayanagar to the zenith of its prosperity and glory. He belonged to the Taluva dynasty, one of the four main dynasties, combination of which is known as the Vijayanagar empire. A valiant and active warrior, he successfully fought all the wars he waged throughout his reign. It is said that had he lived longer, he might have driven the Muslims from the Deccan altogether. 

Krishnadeva Raya ruled from 1509 to 29. 

Of him, the Portuguese traveller Domingo Paes, who visited the Vijayanagar kingdom, writes in terms rarely used by a European traveller of an oriental king,: "He is the most learned and perfect king that could possibly be, cheerful of disposition and very merry; he is one that seeks to honour foreigners and receives them kindly; asking all about their affairs whatever their condition may be. He is a great ruler and a man of much justice, but subject to certain fits of rage . . . he is by rank a greater lord than any, by reason of what he possesses in armies and territories, but it seems that he has in fact nothing compared to what a man like him ought to have, so gallant and perfect is he in all things."

Military conquests of Krishnadeva Raya

Krishnadeva Raya at first made an onslaught on the feudatories in the central portion of his empire. He reduced the rebellious chief of Ummattur in Southern Mysore to obedience and captured the fortress of Sivasundram in 1511. In the following year he seized the Raichur doab. He chastised the Gajapati king Prataparudra of Orissa in 1513 and captured the fortresses of Udayagiri, Kondavidu and kondapilli.  He inflicted a crushing defeat on Isma'il 'Adil Shah of Bijapur on the 19th March, 1520. The Muslim sultanates of Gulbarga and Bidar were also defeated and the puppet Bahmani Sultan was restored to the throne. To commemorate the event, he assumed the title of 'Yavanarajya Sthapanacharya' or restorer of the Yavana kingdom.

Thus by his indomitable military prowess, Krishnadeva Raya extended the limits of the Vijayanagar empire to the greatest ever.

As a patron of art and architecture

Apart from the military laurels, Krishnadeva Raya’s personal accomplishments were no less remarkable. Himself a scholar, a musician and poet, he patronized poets, philosophers, and religious teachers and is known as Abhinava Bhoja. He wrote his magnum opus, Amuktamalyada, in Telugu. It is a work on polity. He is credited to have written five Sanskrit works. His court was adorned by the 'Ashtadiggajas', 'the eight elephants' (famous poets), whose contribution the world of Telugu literature is immense. His poet laureate, Peddana, was proficient in Sanskrit and Telugu and was honoured with numerous gifts. Krishnadeva Raya is called as the Andhra Pitamaha for his contribution to the Telugu literature. His reign is considered as the golden period of Telugu literature.

Krishnadeva Raya was also a great builder. The famous Hazara temple, dedicated to Lord Rama, was built during his reign. The temple is, according to Longhurst, "one of the most perfect specimens of Hindu temple architecture in existence".  He founded a new town Nagalapur which was razed to the ground after his death by Ibrahim Adil Shah as a retaliation for the treatment of Bijapur by the Vijayanagar monarch which has been mentioned earlier.

Krishnadevaraya was a great builder. He founded a town called Nagalapur named after his mother Nagalamba. He built several temples there.

As an Administrator

Krishnadeva Raya ranks very high as an administrator who introduced a number of innovations in the administration. "A crowned King," writes Krishnadeva Raya in his Amuktamalyada, "should always rule with an eye towards Dharma." He further says that "a King should rule collecting round him people skilled in statecraft, should investigate the mines yielding precious metals in his kingdom and extract the same, should levy taxes from his people moderately, should counteract the acts of his enemies by crushing them with force, should be friendly, should protect one and all of his subjects, should put an end to the mixing up of the castes among them, should always try to increase the merit of the Brahmanas, should strengthen his fortress and lessen the growth of the undesirable things and should be ever mindful of the purification of his cities..."

A detailed land survey and assessment was conducted during his reign. Krishnadeva Raya knew how to secure the goodwill of the people. He remitted a marriage tax because it was not popular.

Some facts about Krishnadeva Raya

• Vyasaraja was the rajguru or royal teacher of Krishnadeva Raya.
• Krishnadeva Raya was the first Vijayanagar ruler who concluded treaties with the Portuguese.
• The foreign travellers who visited Vijayanagar during Krishnadeva Raya’s reign were Domingo Paes and Duarte Barbosa.

Muslim Sultanate of Kashmir

Before the emergence of the Muslim rulers on the political landscape of Kashmir, the province was a famous centre of Shaivism. Maumud of Ghazni made unsuccessful attempts to conquer the vale of Kashmir. With the passage of time, the area began to attract Muslim settles, many of whom entered the service of its Hindu rulers. One such Muslim adventurer was Shah Mir, who after the death of his Hindu ruler seized the throne for himself and became the king in 1339 under the title of Shamsuddin Shah. Thus was founded the Shah Mir dynasty of Kashmir.

After his death in A.D. 1349, Shamsuddin Shah was succeeded by his sons, Jamshid, Alauddin, Shihabuddin, and Qutb-ud-din. Alauddin transferred his capital from Indrakot to Alauddinpur (Srinagar).  Qutb-ud-din was succeeded by his son Sikandar who ascended the throne of Kashmir in 1394 after his father’s death. It was during Sikandar’s reign that Mangol leader Timur Lang or Tamerlane invaded India in 1398. He, however, by way of exchanging envoys with the invader, managed to save the people of Kashmir from his bloody massacres which he indulged in after invading different parts of India.

Though generous towards the men of his own faith, Sikandar was a bigot. His prime minister, Suha Bhatta, was a new covert and worked with a missionary zeal for the spread of Islam. This resulted in the dismissal of the Kashmiri Brahmins from the top positions. During his tenure, desecration of a number of temples including the famed Sun-temple of Martand, took place. The Hindus were confronted with the jezia tax for the first time. He earned the title of But-shikan or idol breaker.

Sikandar died in 1416 was succeeded by his eldest son Ali Shah. Ali Shah deposed by his brother, Shahi Khan, who seized the throne for himself in 1420 and assumed the title of Zain-ul-Abidin. Zain-ul-Abidin ruled for fifty long years and during the period Zain-ul-Abidin initites a lot of projects for the benefit his subjects. He is credited with the construction of the engineering marvel of Zaina Lanka, an artificial island in Woolur Lake. 

Zain-ul-Abidin is known to be the greatest Kashmiri Muslim ruler. So much so that the Kashmiris gave him the title of Budshah (the Great king).  

Unlike his predecessors, he was an enlightened ruler with a liberal attitude. He ordered the rebuilt of some of the temples destroyed by his father Sikandar.  He exhorted the Kashmiri Brahmins, who had left the kingdom during his father's reign, to return to their homeland. Well versed in Persian, Hindi, and Tibetan, besides his own language, he was a patron of learning and education. At his instance, the Mahabharata and the Rajatarangini were translated from Sanskrit into Persian. All these qualities have earned him the title of “Akbar of Kashmir’ by historians.

Zain-ul-Abidin died in 1470, and was succeeded by his son Haidar Shah.

The history of the later Sultans of Kashmir does not merit attention. The province was incorporated into the Mughul Empire by Akbar in 1586.

Indian History Questions: Mughal Empire 1

1. Babur–namah or Tuzuk –i-Baburi is the Wakai or Memoirs (autobiography) of the first Mughal emperor Babur. In which language was it written?
(a) Arabic
(b) Persian
(c) Turkish or Turki
(d) Pushto

2. Who among the following foreigners was not impressed with the state of public security in Mughal Empire during the reign of Shah Jahan?
(a) Nicholas Withington
(b) Peter Mundy
(c) William Hawkins
(d) William Finch

3. Who among the following foreign traveler was eyewitness to the Dara Sikhoh’s public humiliation in Delhi by his brother Aurangzeb after war of succession?
(a) Travernier
(b) Munucci
(c) Francois Bernier
(d) Dr. Gemelli-Carreri

4. Sir Thomas Roe was sent as accredited ambassador of the King of England, James I to the Mughal court of
(a) Akbar
(b) Jahangir
(c) Shah Jahan
(d) Aurangzeb

5. In the war of succession Dara Shikoh was finally defeated by Aurangzeb in the battle of
(a) Deorai
(b) Samugarh
(c) Dharmat
(d) Khajwah

6. Which of the following is not a historical work of the reign of Mughal emperor Akbar?
(a) Akbarnamaha of Abul Fazal
(b) Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh of Badauni
(c) Padshahnama of Amin Kazwini
(d) Tabaqat-i-Akbari of Nizam-ud-din Ahmad

7. Which of the following has been described as Aurangzeb’s height of political unwisdom?
(a) Imprisonment of Shivaji at Agra
(b) Waging unnecessary and ruinous wars in the North-west frontier
(c) Execution of the ninth Sikh Guru Teg Bahadur in 1675
(d) Attempt to annex Marwar

8. Which of the following historical works was not written during the reign of Mughal emperor Auranzeb?
(a) Alamgirnamah of Mirza Muhammad Kazim
(b) Khulasat-ut-Tawarikh by Sujan Rai Khatri
(c) Nushka-i-Dilkusha by Bhimsen
(d) Amal-i-Salih by Muhammad Salih

9. Who among the following was the last great royal patron of Mughal school of painting?
(a) Akbar
(b) Jahangir
(c) Shah Jahan
(d) Aurangzeb

10. Who amog the following Mughal emperors was an accomplished veena player?
(a) Humayun
(b) Akbar
(c) Shah Jahan
(d) Aurangzeb

Answers: 
1-C; Turkish or Turki was Babur’s mother tongue.

2-b; While Flinch came to India during Akbar’s reign, Nicholas Withington and William Hawkins visited India during his son Jahangir’s reign. Peter Mundy, an English merchant-traveller, has also left a detailed account of the horrors of famine that took place in Gujarat and Deccan from 1630-1632 during Shah Jahan’s reign.

3-C; Bernier writes about the disgrace faced by Dara: "The crowd assembled was immense; and everywhere I observed the people weeping, and lamenting the fate of Dara in the most touching language. . . . From every quarter I heard piercing and distressing shrieks . . . men, women and children wailing as if some mighty calamity had happened to themselves.”

4-b: Sir Thomas Roe stayed at Jahangir's court from the end of 1615 till the end of 1618.

5-a; Battle of Dharmat took place on the 15th April, 1658. Dharmat is fourteen miles from Ujjain. Battle of Samugarh took place on 29th May, 1658. Muran, another brother of Aurangzeb aiming for the Mughal throne was defeated by his in the battle of Khajwah, near Allahabad, on the 5th January, 1659. The battle of Deorai was fought for three days( 12th-]4th April, 1659) resulting in the defeat of Dara. Deorai is four miles south of Ajmer.

6-c; Padshahnama of Amin Kazwini was written during the reign of Shah Jahan. Other important works during the reign of Akbar are Tarikh-i-Alfi of Mulla Daud, Akbarnamah of Faizi Sarhindi and Maasir-i-Rahimi of Abdul Baqi.

7-d;

8-d; Other historical works of Aurangzeb’s period are Muntakhab-ul-Lubab of Khafi Khan, Maasir-i-Alamgiri of Muhammad Saqi and Fatuhat-i-Alamgiri of Ishwar Das. Since Aurangzeb was opposed to the idea of writing of histories of his reign, Muntakhab-ul-Lubab was written by Khafi Khan in secrecy.

9-c;

10-d;

Theosophical Society

Theosophical Society was founded in 1875 in New York in the USA by Madame H. P. Blavatsky and Colonel H. S. Olcott. They came to India in January 1879 and set up the headquarters of the society at Adyar, presently a suburb of Chennai in Tamil Nadu. It was however with the joining of the society by Annie Besant in 1888 in England that the movement began to gain momentum. Theosophical society owes its success in India to Annie Besant who arrived in India in 1893 at the age of forty six and made permanent residence in the country.

Fundamental teachings of the Theosophical Society

·         The spiritual hierarchy of God

·         The unity of God and three-fold emanation of God

·         Universal brotherhood

Though Theosophical society had several branches all across India, it exerted a compelling influence on the social and religious life of South India to a good measure. Its role in “the awakening and self-respect of the Indians” has been acknowledged by everyone. However, since its beliefs were a bizarre mixture of religion, philosophy and occult mysticism, they proved to be a deterrent for many who might have supported the movement. 

Theosophical society is remembered for its great work in the field of education. The opening of the Central Hindu College in Varanasi by Annie Besant in 1898 is case in point. 

Efficient Drainage System Of Indus Valley Civilization

Drainage System at Lothal / Image Credit

One of the most striking features of Harappan civilization, also known as Indus valley civilization, is its elaborate drainage system which was a product of careful thought and planning. Furnished with sophisticated sewage system, the main streets of the cities of the Indus valley civilization had sewers below them. The bathrooms of the houses flowed into sewers leading to the soak pits. The drains were covered with large slabs of bricks and stones. However, one defect of the drains during the period was that they were located near the wells.

This unique drainage system of the Indus people indicates the existence of a highly organized municipal organization without which it would not have been possible to maintain such an efficient system of drains.

It can be safely said that no other ancient civilization can come close to the Harappan culture when it comes to drainage system.

The efficient sewage system, characteristic feature of the Indus Valley Civilisation site of Lothal in Gujarat, underscores the importance of cleanliness accorded by the Harappan people. 

Aram Shah (2010-2011): Second Slave Ruler of Delhi Sultanate

After his death at Lahore in early November in 1210, Qutb-ud-din Aibak, the founder of the Slave (Mamluk) dynasty, was succeeded by Aram Bakhsh who ascended the throne of Delhi Sultanate under the title of Sultan Aram Shah. The exact nature of relationship of Aram Bakhsh with Qutb-ud-din is not known. According to one school of thought, he was his son. However, contemporary historian Minhaj –us-Siraj makes no mention of Qutb-ud-din’s son and says that he had only three daughters. According to Abul Fazal, court historian of Mughal Emperor Akbar, Aram Shah was Qutb-ud-din’s brother. 

Sultan Aram Shah proved to be an inexperienced and incapable ruler. The nobles and amirs invited Qutb-ud-din Aibak’s son-in-law Iltutmish, then governor of Badaun, who defeated Aram Shah in the plains of Jud near Delhi. Thus ended the eight month rule of Aram Shah who was not heard of afterwards.