Indian History

                                                     Raja Ram Mohan Roy/Wikipedia Commons Born in 1772 at Radhanagar (in the Hooghly district of West Bengal), Raja Ram Mohan was known for his advocacy of social reform and has been rightly called the father of Indian Renaissance. In 1815, he founded Atmiya Shabha in Calcutta to propagate monotheism and reforms in the Hindu society. In 1828, he founded a sect named Brahmo Sabha which was later renamed Brahmo Samaj in 1882. He launched in 1821 a Bengali weekly newspaper Sambad Kaumudi or “The Moon of the Intelligence” through which he started a campaign for the abolition of Sati .   Among his Persian literary works, Tuhfat-ul-Muwahhidin (A Gift to Monotheists) published in 1803 and  Manazarutul Adyan, a discussion on various religi...

Jauna Khan aka Ulugh Khan succeeded his father and first Tughluq ruler Ghiyas -ud -Din –Tughlaq under the title of Muhammad bin Tughluq whose death in 1351 after a 26-year reign, according to the 16th century historian Badauni, liberated the Sultan from his people and freed them from him.  Muhammad bin Tughluq was among the most remarkable, enigmatic and controversial figures among the Sultans of Delhi. To his contemporaries, he was a mixture of cruelty and kindness.                                                                                                                             For Barani , who enjoyed his patronage, the ideal ruler was the next Tughlaq monarch ...

Mir Jumla was the subahdar of Bengal during the reign of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. A Persian by birth, his original name was Muhammad Saiyid. Before becoming the wazir under Shah Jahan and later during the reign of his successor Aurangzeb, Mir Jumla was originally in the service of the Qutb Shahi dynasty of Golconda. He had conquered Karnataka on behalf of Golconda ruler Abdullah Qutb Shah.   Mir Jumla was also a  diamond merchant. Mir Jumla was known for his martial and administrative ability. He was made governor of Bengal in 1659 by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. In 1661, he seized Cooch Behar and marched to Assam. However, the difficult terrain and the bad climate of the area forced Mir Jumla to retreat empty handed in 1663 and the subjugation of Assam remained incomplete. Mir Jumla died in 1663 on his way to Dacca and has been entombed at Thakurbari on the Assam-Meghalaya border in the westernmost part of West Garo Hills . 

                                   Firuz Shah Tughlaq's tomb in Delhi / Image credit Firuz Shah Tughlaq (1309 – 1388 CE) was the third ruler of the Tughlaq dynasty of the famed Delhi Sultanate. He succeeded to the throne in 1351 after the demise of his cousin Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq who had become second Tughlaq sultan in 1325 AD. During his rule of 37 years, Firuz tried to bring a semblance of prosperity to his empire which had fallen into confusion and chaos during the rule of his predecessor due to the latter’s eccentric policies. The early six years of his reign are documented in the Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi, a contemporary account by medieval historian Ziauddin Barani . Another contemporary chronicle, also known as Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi, written by Shams Siraj Afif, gives a detailed account of his reign. He is credited with the founding of the cities of Jaunpur in 1359 (Uttar Pradesh),...

Kamran Mirza was the second son of Babur, the first Mughal emperor, who had appointed him to the position of governorship of Lahore during his rule.  He had captured Bikaner’s famous Junagarh Fort, albeit for a day, which had otherwise remained unconquered in history. He tried to enlist the support of Sur ruler Islam Shah Sur against his brother Humayun but was rebuffed. He died in 1557 near Mecca to which he was on his way to perform the Hajj after being blinded on the order of Humayun. Kamran Mirza is known to have built a baradari (a typical Mughal pavilion) at Lahore, one of the oldest Mughal structures.  

An alumnus of the famed centre of learning  Taxila (presently in the Punjab province of Pakistan) in ancient India, Charaka was the author of Charaka Samahita ( Compendium  of Charaka) , basic textbook of Indian medicine.

Pandyas were one of the three major ruling dynasties of the Tamil Country during the Sangam period (between the 3rd century B.C. and 3rd century A.D.) It was in their court at Madurai that the great literary assemblies (Sangams) of the Tamil poets were held. Pandyas find mention in the edicts of the Mauyran Emperor Asoka and have been referred to in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.   The early history of the Pandyas is shrouded in obscurity. Palyagasalai Mudukudumi was the earliest known Pandyan ruler who has been described in the Sangam epics as a great conqueror, a performer of many sacrifices and a patron of poets. Aryappadaikadanda Nedunjhelian who, himself, was a poet of great merit, was the next important ruler of the dynasty.  The greatest Tamil epic Silappadigaram (the Jewelled Anklet) says that Nedunjelian had ordered, without trial, the execution of Kovalan (the hero of  Silappadigaram), who was accused by a court jeweler of theft of the anklets of the que...