2. Reshaping India’s Political Map

Alexander was a famous Greek conqueror who won a very large empire. Ala-ud-din Khilji also conducted military campaigns over large areas of north and central India. He wanted to show that he was as great a conqueror as Alexander. So he put the title ‘Sikander Sani’ on his coins.

• Salaries for soldiers and commanders.
• Weapons — swords, spears, bows and arrows, shields, armour and later guns and cannons.
• Animals — horses, elephants and camels, and fodder for them.
• Food grain and water for soldiers on the march.
• Tents, carts and boats for transport.
• Building roads, bridges and forts.
• Spies, messengers, doctors and craftsmen to repair weapons.

All this needed a huge amount of money. This is why rulers depended on plunder and heavy taxes.

The words ‘idol’ and ‘icon’ are considered insulting (pejorative) in the context of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, whose orthodox sects condemn idol worship. ‘Image’ is a neutral English word. India’s classical texts used words like mūrti, vigraha, pratimā and rūpa for images used in worship.

No, it would not have been easy.

• There were no quick means of communication. Messages had to be sent on horseback.
• Each chieftain had his own interests and pride.
• Some may have been rivals of one another.
• Trust had to be built and the fear of the Sultanate’s army had to be overcome.

It shows the great leadership of the Musunuri Nayakas and the strong wish of the people to remain free.

Pros:

• Height gave a clear view of approaching enemies.
• Steep slopes and forests made it hard for enemies to climb and attack.
• It was difficult to drag heavy cannons and big armies up the hills.
• A small army could defend the fort against a much larger army.

Cons:

• Bringing food and water to the top was difficult.
• During a long siege, the people inside could run short of supplies.
• Such forts were far from trade routes and towns.
• Building them was costly and took many years.

• Narapati — lord of men (nara = man). The Vijayanagara kings were called Narapati.
• Ashwapati — lord of horses (ashwa = horse). The Bahmani rulers had a strong cavalry.
• Chhatrapati — lord of the royal umbrella (chhatra = umbrella, a symbol of sovereignty). The Maratha rulers used this title.

Similarly, Gajapati means lord of elephants (gaja = elephant).

The panel shows horses with riders, elephants, camels, soldiers carrying spears, swords and shields, and scenes of hunting and processions.

This tells us that horses and elephants were very important in war. Soldiers used spears, swords and shields. Hunting was a royal sport. The kingdom traded in horses. It also shows the skill of the sculptors of Vijayanagara.

• Babur missed Central Asia and called India a ‘country of few charms’.
• Yet he admitted that India was a large country with masses of gold and silver.
• He praised the pleasant air of the rainy season.
• He noted that India had countless skilled artisans and workmen.

It strikes us that India’s great wealth and skilled people made Babur stay and build his empire here, even though he did not like the country much.

• Akbar realised that force alone could not keep a huge and diverse empire stable.
• Earlier sultans faced constant rebellions and short reigns.
• Marriage alliances and posts in his court won him the support of Rajput rulers.
• Abolishing the jizya and following sulh-i-kul (peace with all) reduced unrest among his subjects.
• A peaceful empire meant more trade, more revenue and a longer rule.

• Fig. 2.3 shows the Delhi Sultanate. Under the Tughlaqs it covered most of the Subcontinent, but under the Lodis it shrank to a small area in the north.
• Fig. 2.12 shows the Deccan — the Bahmani Sultanate, the Gajapati kingdom and the growing Vijayanagara Empire.
• Fig. 2.16 shows the Mughal Empire expanding under Akbar and Aurangzeb, and later the rise of regional powers like the Rajputs, Ahoms and Sikhs.

The ‘reshaping’ is that the boundaries of kingdoms kept changing. Old dynasties fell and new empires and regional powers rose in their place.

• The Delhi Sultanate was very unstable. Most sultans seized power by killing their predecessor.
• The early Mughals (up to Aurangzeb) gave a more stable government, so they ruled longer.
• After Aurangzeb, the empire declined. Weak rulers and fights for the throne made the average reign shorter.

These words show that at the end of his life Aurangzeb felt lonely, helpless and full of regret. He realised that his long wars and harsh policies had not done good for the country and its people.

We feel that even a powerful emperor can feel empty if he does not care for the welfare of his people. Power and conquest do not bring peace of mind.

Under the paik system, every able-bodied man had to serve the state through labour or military duty. In return, he got land rights.

• Benefits: People got land to cultivate. The king could build roads, embankments and other public works. He could raise a large army quickly without keeping a permanent army.
• Challenges: Men had to leave their own work and families for some time. Their own farming could suffer during service.

Thus the system helped the king manage both the army and the economy.

• They knew the dense forests, hills and rivers well. The Mughal army did not.
• They used guerrilla tactics — surprise attacks from forests and hills.
• They were expert boatmen. They fought on the Brahmaputra and defeated the Mughals at Saraighat (1671).
• Hills and forests acted as natural walls against big armies.
• Rivers flooded in the rainy season and made it hard for invaders to move.

It marks the site where Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh Guru, was beheaded on Aurangzeb’s orders in 1675. The Sikh Regiment salutes it in the Republic Day parade every year. It is a symbol of faith and sacrifice.

• Guru Tegh Bahadur stood for the freedom of every person to follow his own faith. He was protecting the Kashmiri Pandits. He believed his sacrifice would give courage to people to resist religious persecution.
• The Sikh Gurus and the Khalsa embodied equality, truthfulness, compassion, humility, self-control, seva (service), justice and courage.
• Today these values help us respect all faiths, serve others (as in the langar), stand up against injustice and treat everyone as equal.

Similarities:

• Both depended on military campaigns and conquest.
• Both collected heavy land revenue from peasants to maintain the army.
• Both had violent successions to the throne.
• Both destroyed temples at times and imposed the jizya (except Akbar).

Differences:

• The sultans relied mostly on military might. Akbar also used marriage alliances, gave high posts to Rajputs and abolished the jizya.
• The Sultanate used the iqta system. The Mughals used the mansabdari system.
• The Sultanate was unstable, with an average reign of about 9 years. The early Mughals were more stable, with an average reign of about 27 years.
• The Mughals had a better-organised administration with ministers and provinces (subahs).

• Geographical: Vijayanagara was far from Delhi, protected by hills and the Tungabhadra river. The Ahoms had dense forests, hills and the Brahmaputra.
• Military: Vijayanagara had a strong army with horses bought from the Portuguese. The Ahoms used guerrilla warfare, river boats and the paik system to raise soldiers quickly.
• Social: Both had prosperous economies and strong rulers like Krishnadevaraya and Lachit Borphukan. The Ahoms accepted local culture and diverse faiths, which united the people.

• He realised that force alone could not hold a vast and diverse empire together.
• He needed the support of the Rajputs and his Hindu subjects for a stable rule.
• He met scholars of many faiths and held interfaith dialogues.
• He became interested in Indian texts and had them translated into Persian.
• As he grew in knowledge, he felt ashamed of forcing his faith on others, as he himself told Abul Fazl.

If Vijayanagara had won, the city of Hampi would not have been destroyed. The empire might have stayed strong for many more years. South India might have stayed united under one rule and resisted the Mughals and later the Europeans better.

Temples, art, music and literature in Sanskrit, Telugu and Kannada would have continued to flourish. Trade with foreign countries would have grown, and the capital would have remained one of the richest cities in the world.

Seva (selfless service): In the gurudwara langar, everyone sits together and eats the same food. Volunteers cook and serve without any payment.

Today seva is very relevant. During floods, earthquakes and the pandemic, many people served free food and helped strangers. Seva teaches us to help others without expecting anything. It also removes the feeling of high and low among people.