Ancient India

The oldest name - Indus civilization. According to archelogical tradition, the most appropriate name- Harrapan Civilization (Harrapa- the first discovered site).According to geographical point of view, the most suitable name - Inuds-Saraswati Civilization. The most accepted period - 2500 BC - 1750 BC. John Marshall was the first scholar to use the term 'Indus civilization'. The Indus civilization belongs to Proto- Historic period.Scholar generally believed that Harrapan- Ghaggar- Mohenjodrao axis represent the heartland of the Indus civilization.

                    The northern most site of Indus civilization- Ropar (sutlej)/Punjab (earlier); Manda (chenab)/ Jammu kashmir(now).
                    The southern most site of Indus civilization- Bhagatrav(Kim)/ Gujarat(earlier); Daimabad(pravara)/ Maharashtra(Now).
                    The Eastern most site of Indus civilization- Alamgirpur (Hindon)/Uttar pradesh. The Western most site of Indus civilization- Sutkagendor(Dashk)/Makran Coast, Pakistan- Iran border.

Site                          Archaeological Finds

Harrapa  -    6 Granaries in a row, working floors,workmen's quarters, virgin -Goddess (seal), cementery, stone symbols of lingum (male se organ) and yoni (female sex organ) painted            pottery , clay figures of Mother Goddess, wheat                                 and barley in wooden mortar, copper scale.

Mohenjodaro -   Great granary, great bath( the largest building of  civilization), assembly hall, shell strips, pashupati Mahadeva, bronze image of nude woman dancer,Human skeleton huddled together, Brick kilns.

Chanhudaro  -  Lipstick, metal workers, Terracotta model of  bullock cart, bronze toy cart.

Mohenjodaro is the largest site of Indus civilization, Rakhigarhi is the largest Indian site of Indus civilization.

Surkotada(kutchh districy, Gujarat) is the only Indus site where the remains of horse have actually been found.

Main corps:- wheat and Barely; evidence of cultivation of rice in Lothal and Rangpur(Gujarat) only. other corps are Dates, mustard, seasamum, cotton etc. Indus people were the first to produce the cotton in the world.

Animal:- sheep, goat, humped and humpless bull, buffalo, boar, dog. cat , pig, deer, tortoise, elephant, camel, tiger etc.

• A very interesting feature of this civilization was that Iron was not known to people.
• The sumerian text refers to trade relation with 'Meluha' which was the name given to the Indus civilization.
• Shatughai and Mundigaq were the Indus sites found in Afghanistan.
• The Harrapan were the earliest people to produce the cotton.
• As there is no evidence of coins, barter is assumed to have been the normal method of exchanges of goods.
• The Harrapn people didn't worship their God in temple. No temple in fact has been unearthed. An idea of their religion is formed from the statues and figurines found.
• The most commonly found figurine is that of Mother Goddess(Matridevi or shakti).
• Shiva Shakti worship, the oldest form of worship in India, appears to have been part of the religious belief of Harrapan people.     

Arab civilization

Arab civilization in the 7th century, a new religion, Islam, arise in Arabia which led to the establishment of a began empire. Muhammad, the prophet of Islam,was born in Mecca in 571 AD.When he was 40,he had 'vision of truth' and became a prophet. Muhammad's vision completely convinced him that Allah was the only God.He forbade the worship of idols and made many enemies.Ultimately he had to leave Mecca and take refuse in Medina.This event took place in 622 AD and he is known as the year of Hijira and from it Muslim date their era.

           The Quran, the holy book of Islam is divided into a number of suras , or chapters, and contains the teaching of Muhammad. Beside the Quran , the life of Muslim is guided by the sunna, the   practices of Muhammad and the Hadees, the saying of Muhammad.
Muhammad was not only a religious leader but also a political leader. After his death(632 AD), his successors were  known as  Caliphs, or Khalifas who held both religious and political authority.

         Nearly all Arabia had accepted the new religion and became a unified state before the death of prophet Muhammad in 632 AD.From Arabia, Islam spread very fast to many other parts of the world. With in a 100 years, the khalifas and their general, had conquered Iran, Syria, Egypt, central asia, North Africa and Spain. The Arab Empire was the largest that  world had so far seen.The first three Khalifa ruled from the city of Medina. Then the capital was shifted Kufah.

      By 660 AD, when the Omayyad dynasty took over the reins of government the principal city was Damascus.About 750, the Omayyad were overthrown by Abbasids, who made Baghdad their capital. Harun Rashid, famous in many legends, was an Abbasid ruler.The Abbasid ruler for about 300 years, till the Seljug Turks took Baghdad and the Arab rule. During the next four centuries, the Turks dominated the Islamic world. In the 15th century , most of these territorries came under the domination of the Ottoman Turks. It was the ottoman Turks who took Constantinople and ended the eastern Roman empire in 1453.

Contribution of Arab civilization

• The establishment of vast empire facilitated the coming together of intellectual and scientific tradition of various civilization, particularly Greek, Iranian. The Arab made their knowledge their own and developed in further.
• Al Razi, an Arab scientist discovered the true nature of small pox, and Ibn Sina discovered that tuberculosis is infectious.
• In mathematics, the Arab learned the Indian numerals and spread their use far and wide, so that in the West they are to this day called Arabic numerals.
• The Arabs developed their own decorative designs. Their buildings had bulblike domes, small minerals, horse shoe arches and twisted columns.
• The Arabs also developed a decorative style of writing called Calligraphy and made book illumination an art. 

ROMAN CIVILIZATION

• The center of Roman civilization was italy, the peninsula that projects into the mediterranean sea in the west of Greece.The river Tiber on which the city of Rome is located runs through the central part of the peninsula.
• The city of Rome was founded about 1000 BC by Romulus, in the district of Latium.
• The early Romans had a king, an assembly and a senate.
• Toward the end of the 6th century BC the king was overthrown and a republic was established .Under the republic the Roman conquered other parts of the peninsula, and by 265 BC controlled all of italy. The political system of the Roman republic consisted of two consults, the senate and the assembly.
• The Roman was involved in a series of wars with carthage, a city on the north coast of Africa.The danger of Carthagnian occupation of Sicily led the Roman to attack Carthage.The wars that followed, known as the Punic Wars, lasted from 264 BC to 146 BC.The carthagnian were defeated in the war.
• By the beginning of Ist century BC the Roman had conquered Greece and Asia Minor and established a protectorate over Egypt.
• Rivalry for power grew between generals,Pompey &Julius Caesar war between them followed and Pompey was murdered by his enemies in the Egypt.Caesar remained in Egypt for some time,attracted by the captivating beauty of the Egyptian queen Cleopatra.On his return to Rome ,in 46 BC,he made himself dictator.However, on the charge that Caeser intended to become a king, he was assassinated in 44 BC,in a senate meeting.
• After the Assassination of caesar ,power passed into the hands of Mark Antony and Lapidus, Caeser 's friends and Octavian,Caeser's grand nephew. The leader of the cospiracy, Brutus and Cassius, fled and organised a large army, but they were captured and slain.
• In 37 BC, Octavian became the most powerful man in the Roman empire.He ruled for 44 years under the titles of Augustus Imperator, meaning 'holy victorious-general'.He also called himself Princeps,'first citizen of the states'.
• The period of Roman history beginning with his rule up to 284 AD is called 'the principate'.His rule and the period following it were peaceful and are known in history as Pax Romana,which means 'Roman Peace'.
• In 284 AD, Diocletian became ruler, From this time on , Roman civilization declined more rapidly.One of Dioclectian's successor,Consrantine, built a new capital called Constantinopole, on the site of ancient Byzantium,in 330 AD. Not long after, the Roman empire was divided into two empires-western & Eastern. The Western part soon broke into many pieces. But Eastern part, called as Byzantine empire,continued for a thousand years more.
• The final blow to the Roman empire at the hands of northern invaders they were German tribes.By 476 Ad, the once powerful Roman empire was no more.
• The Roman worshipped as many Gods & Goddesses as the Greeks.Jupiter sent rain for the corps; Mars helped them in war;Mercury carried their messages;Neptune, the god of sea; Vesta guarded the home;Juno protected their women.

Contribution of Greek civilization

In my last blog i was talking about greek civilization.Now i am talking about the contributon of Greek civilization on entire world

• The glory of Greece that the world has never forgotten was largely the glory of Athens at the time of Pericles
• The Olympic games were first held in 776 BC by the Greeks in honour of God Zeus at Mouut Olympus in Greece,hence the name and they continued till 394 AD.From 394 Ad these games started degenerating and by 580 Ad they altogether vanished.They were banned by the Roman Emperor theodosius as Pegan manifestation.
• It was the French Baron,Pierre de Coubertin,who revived these games in 1894 and the modern series of Olympic games started in 1896 at Athens and since then they are being held every fourth year.
• Homer's 'illad' and 'Odysesey' are among the best epics of the world.The Illad is the story of seize and destruction of the city of Troy,as the western coast of Asia Minor.The Odyssey describe the adventures and home coming from Troy ,of a Greek hero,Odyssey.
• The founder of Greek tragedy was Aeschylus author of 'promethus Bound'.Sophocles is considered the greatest of Greek tragedians.His famous plays are 'Oedipus Rex','Antigone' and 'electra'.
• Greek produced the some of the world's earliest great historian e.g Herodotus(known as the father of history)
• The most famous philosophers of Greece were Socrates,Plato and Aristotle.Aristotle was both philosopher and scientist.He made important contribution to philosophy,medicine,biology and astronomy.
• The Greek made many contributions to mathematics,especially to geometry as is seen in work of Euclid and Pythagoras.
• In medicine,Hippocrates laid the foundation of modern medicine.He is known as the 'father of medicine'.
• The most important astronomers were: Aristarchus, Ptolemy, Hipparchus,Eratosthenes etc.Ptolemy's belief that the earth was the center of the universe was accepted as truth until the 16th century.Eratosthenes prepared a fairly accurate map of the globe and was the first to suggest that one could reach India from Europe by sailing west.
• The temple of Athens,the parthenon, is the best example of Greek architecture.Myron and Phidias are two best known sculptors of ancient Greece.It was Phidias whom Pericles appointed to supervise the construction of Acropolis in athens

Greek civilization

The early Greeks lived in tribes,each composed of a numbers of families under a leader.A group of tribes had a king.The main occupation are agriculture and herding.The early Greeks had many Gods whom they imagined to be like human beings,though more powerful and immortal.Zeus was the God of the sky and hence caused thunder.Poseidon,God of the sea,raised stroms that sank ships.Appollo,the sun God,could reveal the future.Athena,was the Goddess of victory and patroness of the Arts.Dinosys was the God of wine and there were many others.The Greeks thought their gods lived on mount Olympus.

Around 800 BC,groups of Greek villages began joining into larger units to form city-states.At the highest point in  a city-state,an acropolis or citadel was built for defence and city spread out around the acropolis.Such cities were Sparta, Athens, Macedonia, Corinith. Athens and Sparta were two important city-states.The spartans main concern was with militarism and war so much so that the word 'spartan' is often used to mean militaristic.Spartans were fine soldiers,but they contributed little else to Greek culture.

The city state of Athens developed along lines quite different from Sparta.The territories it ruled had been occupied gradually and peacefully and militarim had not developed.Athens had excellent harbours and mineral deposits.Athenians built a posperous trade and culture.Pericles was the most important ruler of Athens.

The Battle of Marathon:-The Greek defeated the Iranian king DariousI at Marathon near Athens.Philip of Macedonia conquered most of states in the year following Athens defeat.Then his son Alexander, set out at the age of 20 to conquer the world.During the 13 years, he compelled all Greece to accept his leadership and conquered the Achaemenid empire.This brought him to border of India where he defeated king Porus on the Jhelum in 326 BC.He sailed down the Indus and then returned to Mesopotamia where he died of fever in 323BC at the age of 32.Alexender's conquests brought many important changes to the world.Trade between Europe and Asia was developed.Many new cities were founded.
In the 2nd Century BC,the Roman empire started expanding eastward.As a result of Roman attack,almost the entire territory of the Greeks and their empire became a part of the Roman Empire.

Chinese civilization

Today I am talking about Chinese civilization

The earliest Chinese civilization is the Shang civilization.The Shang dynasty was overthrown by the Chou dynasty.The Chinese script is pictographic script.It is remarkable that the Chinese script has changed very little since the earliest times.The Chinese calender-Solar-Lunar calender,was a combination of solar and lunar calender.The Chinese were the first to calculate the length of the year as 365.In the 3rd century BC, the Chin dynasty became important.To keep out invades from the north,he began construction of a wall known  as the Great Wall.The Han dynasty followed the Chin dynasty in 202 BC and the Han emperors ruled China for almost 400 years.The Chinese was the first civilization in history to have a system of selecting public officials on the basis of education and competitive examination.Under the Hans,silk was a principal item of export.Two main roads were built across the Great Wall to carry on trade with the west.The two major religions of ancient China are Taoism and Confucianism.Confucius was a contemporary of Mahavira and Buddha.Buddhism was brought into China by Indian during the Hal rule.The Great wall is a mightily monument to the building skill of ancient China.This wall,built of stone and earth to a height of 6 meter and extending over 2400 km.The Chinese script was standardized by the China ruler.The Chinese script spread to other countries also.It influenced the Japanese,korean and vietnames script.In the ist century AD,paper was invented in China.The invention of paper and its importance in spreading knowledge within the outside China makes it one of great contribution of China to the world.Some of the first historical works in the world were written in China.Each dynasty compiled its own history.The pattern of these histories was set by Ssuma Chien,and is commonly remembered as the 'Herodotus of China'.The water clock,abacus,umbrella were invented by Chinese.In the 2nd century AD,Chinese invented a seismograph.

Egyptian civilization

Egypt is called the 'Gift of the Nile'.The Greek historian Herodotus called Egypt the "gift of the Nile", since the kingdom owed its survival to the annual flooding of the Nile and the resulting depositing of fertile silt. The Nile River flows into the Mediterranean Sea, and there is a delta at the mouth.Historians divide the history of Egypt into three periods:the Old Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom.The Egyptian was called the pharaoh.The Egyptian were the worshipper of the nature and sun wad their most important God.The Egyptian believed that after death both the body and the soul live while other people believe that only the soul lives and body perishes.So Egyptians took great care in preserving the body of the dead.The body was embalmed in spices and then wrapped in strips of fine linen.Such a preserved body is called a mummy.The mummy was put in a wooden box and buried.The pyramids and the Sphinx are the two specimens of Egyptian architectural excellence.The Pyramids were the tombs of kings and they contained the mummies of these monarchs.The most imposing of all is the Great Pyramids at Gizen in cairo,built by the king Cheops of the old kingdom.The Great Pyramids is one of seven wonders of the ancient world.The Sphinx is a mythological animal with the body of lion and the head of man.Each Sphinx was carved out a single solid stone.The Egyptian script, known as hieroglyhic was deciphered by chapolilian.The Egyptian developed a decimal system of numeration.The crowning achievement of the Egyptians was the solar calender.

Mesopotamia the Oldest civilization

Mesopotamia civilization was the oldest civilization of the world.

Mesopotamia means 'land between the rivers'.Mesopotamia is the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.Mesopotamia comprises four regions: Sumer(Southernmost region),Babylonia and akkad(middlr region) and Assyria(Northernmost region). Hammurabi(C.2100BC), the greatest Babylonian ruler,united the whole of what is now called Iraq into single kingdom.Hammurabi gave his people a code of laws. His code covered every aspect of life.His code was based on the law of 'eye foe eye' and 'tooth for

 tooth' i.e the law of 'tit for tat'.Hittites,who came from Asia Minor(now turkey) and destroyed the Babylonian kingdom,were the first to make regular use of horses for war chariots and to make iron implements.The Potter's wheel was perhaps first used in Mesopotamia.The Mesopotamia also seem to have been the first to make glassware.The Sumerians were the first to evolve a proper system of writing.This System is called cuneiform.The cunieform script was deciphered by Henry Rawlinson.The Mesopotamian system of counting in known as sexagesimal because the Mesopotamian people counted by sixties as we count by tens.Their sexagesimal system is no longer in  use but we still use it as the basis of division of time into minutes and seconds of circle into 360 degrees.In geometry, the Mesopotamians had discovered what was later called the Pythagoras theorem.In astronomy, the Mesopotamians made astonishing progress.They could calculate the length of the day and the night.They divided the whole day into 24 hours.They divided the sky into 12 parts,each assigned a name.This has come down to us as the 12 signs of zodiac or rashis as we call them in India.Another remarkable achievement of the Mesopotamians was the invention of lunar calender,based on the  moon.

Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi was born on october 2,1869 in Porbandar,Gujarat.
His father name is Karamachand Gandhi,Mother name is Putali Bai.His real name is Mohandas Karamachand Gandhi.In may 1883, the 13th years old Mohandas gandhi was married to 14 yrs old Kasturaba.In late 1885 his father was died.In London he studied law for becoming a barrister.In june 1891 he left londn for India when he came to know that his mother had died while he was in London and his family had kept the news from him.Gandhi was 24 yrs old when he arrived in south Africa in 1893.He spent 21 yrs in south Africa where he developed his political views,ethics and political leadership skill.In south Africa Gandhi faced the discrimination directed at all people of colour.He was thrown off a train after refusing to move from first class.Indians were not allowed to walk on Public footpath on South Africa.Mr Gandhi was kicked by the police officer out of the footpath onto the street without warning.These were the turning point in his life and shaped his social activism and awakened him to social injustice.After witnessing the racism,he began to question his place in society in British Empire

Struggle for Independence

Khilafat movement:-  The sultan of Turkey,was looked upon by the muslim as their religious head.During the first world war,when the safety and welfare of Turkey were threatened by the British thereby weakening the sultan's position.Indian muslim adopted an aggressive anti-British movement in 1920 the Khilafat movement for the restoration of Khilafat.It was supported by Gandhiji which paved the way for Hindu Muslim unity.

Dandi March/Salt Satyagraha:- To achieve the goal of 'complete Independence' Gandhi launched another civil disobedience movement.Alongwith 78 followeres,Gandhi started his famous march from Sabarmati Ashram on march 12,1930 for small village Dandi to break the salt law.Gandhi covered a distance of 240 miles in 24 days. On reaching the seashore on April 6,he broke the salt salt Law by picking up salt from seashore.By picking a handful of salt,Gandhi inaugurated the civil disobedience movement,a movement that was to remain unsurpassed in the history of Indian National movement for the countrywide mass participation.The movement became so powerful that is sparked off patriotism even among the Indian soldiers in the army.The Garhwal soldiers refused to fire on the people at peshawar.Gandhi was arrested on may 5,1930.This was followed by another round of boycott of foreign goods and it took the shape of nationwide Civil Disobedience Movement in which ladies also participated.Soon thereafter followed repressive measures such as mass arrests,lathi charges,police-firing etc.About 100000 people went in jail.

In 1948 Gandhiji was shot dead by Nathu ram Godse while on his way to the evening prayer meeting at Birla House,new Delhi.He died, with 'hey Ram' on his lips.

The revolt of 1857

The revolt of 1857 is an important landmark in the history of India.

Causes of the revolt:-

The revolt of 1857 was a combination of political,economic,socio-religious and military causes.

Political:- Nana Sahib was refused pension,as he was adopted son of Peshwa Baji Rao II.Avadh was annexed in 1856,on charges of administration Satara,Jhansi,Nagpur and Sambhalpur were annexed owing to doctorine of lapse.

Economic:- Heavy Taxation,forcibly eviction,discriminatory tariff policy against Indian products and destruction of traditional handcrafts that hit peasant and artisans.

Socio-religious:- British social reforms(abolition of sati,1829;legalisation of widow remarriage,1856) hurted the sentiments of orthodox and conservative people.

Military:- Discrimination with Indian soldiers.

The beginning of the revolt:-

On march 29,1857 an Indian sepoy of 34 Native Infantry,Mangal pandey,killed two British officers.The Indian soldiers present,refused to obey orders to arrest Mangal Pandey.However, he was later on arrested ,put to and hanged.The mutiny really started at merrut on 10t may 1857.The soldiers alongwith some civillians,went on a rampage shouting 'maro firangi ko'.They broke open jails,murdered Europeans,burnt their houses and marched to delhi after sunset.The apperance of the marching soldiers next morning (11th may) in Delhi was a signal to the local soldiers,who in turn revolted,seized the city and proclaomed the 82 yrs old Bahadur Shah Zafar as Shaheshah-i-Hindustan.With in a month of capturing Delhi,the revolt spread to the different parts of India.In these revolt Rani laxmi bai was died in the battle field.She was the best and bravest military leader of the rebel.She was known as the 'jhansi ki rani'.

Causes of Failure of revolt 1857:-

The revolt of 1857 was an unsuccessful but heroic effort to eliminate foreign rule.The main causes were:-

• Disunity of Indians and poor organisation
• Lack of complete nationalism
• Lack of coordination between sepoys,peasant,Zamindars etc.
• Many had different motives for participating in the revolt.

Impact of revolt 1857:-

• In august 1858,the British parliament passed an act,which put an end to the rule of the company.The control of the British government in India was transferred to The British crown.
• After the revolt the British pursued the policy of 'divide and rule'
• Marked the end of British imperialism.

British came to India

Before the English East India company established trade in India,john Mildenhall,a merchant adventure,was the first english man who arrived in India in 1599 by the over land route,for the purpose of trade with Indian merchants.The governer and company of merchants of London Trading into the east Indies, popularly known as the English East India company was formed in 1600. Captain William Hawkins arrived at Jahangir's court to seek permission to open a factory at Surat.A Farman was issued by Jahangir permitting the English to build a factory at Surat.Sir Thomas Roe came to India as ambassador of James I to Jahangir's court in 1615 to obtain the permission to trade and erect factories in different parts of empire.The english east India company acquired Bombay from Charles II on lease.Gerald was its first governer from 1669 to 1677.In 1690.Job Charnock established a factory at Sultanati and the zamindari of three villages of Sutanati,Kalikata and Gobindpur was acquired by the british.These villages later grew into the city of Calcutta. In 1694,the British parliament passed a resolution giving equal rights to all Englishmen to trade in the East.A new rival company,known as 'the English company of merchants trading to East Indies' was formed. The final amalgamation of the company came in 1708 under the title of 'The united company of Merchants of England trading to East Indies'. This new company continued its existence till 1858

Portuguese come to India

The Cape route was discovered from Europe to India by Vasco da Gama.He reached the port of Calicut on may 17,1498 and was received by the Hindu ruler of Calicut(city of kerala).This led to the establishment of trading station at Calicut,Cochin and Cannanore.Cochin was the early capital of portugues in India.Later Goa replaced it.Francisco de Almeida was the first governer of Portuguese.Almeida introduced 'the policy of Blue water'.Blue water means that he wanted to make the portuguese the master of Indian ocean.Alfonso d' Albuquerque was the second governer of portuguese.He introduced 'the policy of Imperialism'.He captured Goa from the ruler of Bijapur in 1510.Policy of Imperaliasim means that the policy of extending the rule or authority of nation or empire over foreign countries. Ninho da Cunha transferred his capital from Cochin to Goa.The Portuguese witnessed a decline by the end of 16th century.They lost Hugni in 1631 after being driven out by Qasim khan,a Mughal noble of Shahjahan.In 1661 the king of Portugal gave Bombay to Charles II of England as dowry when he married the former's sister.At the end they were only left with Goa,Diu and Daman which they retained till 1961.The Diu and Daman, a union territory in west India,consist of two separate areas divided by arabian sea. The daman ganga river flows through the coastal town of Daman.Diu is a small island. The fort of Moti Daman and diu fort and 16th century church reflect territorry's past as portuguese colony.

MARATHA KING SHIVAJI

• Maratha king Shivaji was born at Shivneri fort in 1627.
• His father-Shahji Bhonsle,mother-Jija Bai
• Shivaji inherited the jagir of Poona from his father in 1637.
• He conquired many fort i.e Singh Garh/Kondana(1643),Rohind and Chakan(164445),Toran(1646),Purandhar(1648) ,Rajgarh(1656 ) and Panhala(1659).
• Afzal Khan was deputed by Adil Shah(ruler of Bijapur) to punish Shivaji but the later Afzal khan was killed by Shivaji in 1659.
• Shaista Khan,was deputed by Aurangzeb to put down the rising power of Shivaji in 1660.Shivaji lost poona and suffered several defeat till he made a bold Attack on Shaista khan and plundered Surat and later Ahmadnagar.
• Shivaji continued his struggle with mughals. He conquested Karnataka in 1677.
• He divided his territory under his rule into three provinces. provinces were divided into prants which were subdivided into parganas.The lowest unit was village headed by Patel.

Aurangzeb

Auranzeb was the son of Shahjahan.He put his father into prison.He ruled for 50 years till his death in feb,1707 in Ahmadnagar.During the first 23 years of the rule he concentrated on North India.During this period the Marathas under Shivaji rose to power.Auranzeb captured Guru Teg Bahadur,the 9th guru of Sikh in 1675. The 10th and last Sikh Guru ,Guru Gobind Singh,son of guru teg bahadur,organise his followers into community of warrior called Khalsa to fight the muslim tyranny and avenge the killing of his father.Guru Gobind Singh was,however assassinated in 1708 by an afghan at Nander . Banda Bairagi,a trusted disciple of Guru Gobind Singh continued the war against Mughals.Auranzeb left the North in 1682 and for the next 25 years trying to crush the Marathas.Shivaji was the most powerful Maratha king and an enemy of Auangzeb.When Aurangzeb could not elliminate him,he conspired in 1665 with Jai singh of Amber,a rajput to eliminate Shivaji.On a assurance given by Jai singh,Shivaji visited Auranzeb'court.Shivaji was imprisoned by Aurangzeb but he managed to escape .The Mughal conquest reached a climax during Aurangzeb's reign.Aurangzeb died in 1707.Aurangzeb ban on Hindu festival.He destroyed many Hindu temples

Shahjahan

Shahjahan is the son of Jahangir.He ascended the throne in 1628 after his father's death.He was best known for his deccan and foreign policies.He was the fifth Mughal ruler in India.He was the most creative builder in history of India.Shahjahan is best known for his magnificent architectural structure.He built the TajMahal for his beloved wife Mumtaj.He also built the Jama masjid which is the largest mosque of India.He also built the Red fort in Delhi.Until the year 1657 he remained as a ruler afterwords he became ill.A civil war for succession soon got going between his sons.Among his sons Aurangzeb emerged Triumphant.He was imprisoned by his son Aurangzeb and was put in the fort of Agra.From Agra fort he was allowed to see TajMahal that was situated across the yamuna.This was the resting place of his beloved wife Mumtaj.His death took place in captivity in year 1666. 

Jahangir,son of Akbar

Salim(Jahangir),son of Akbar came to the throne after Akbar'death in 1605.he is known for his strict administratorsof justice.He established Zanjir-i-Adal(i.e chain of justice) at agra fort for the seeker of Royal justice.In 1611,Jahangir married Mihar-un-nisa,widow of Sher afghan,a Persian nobleman of Bengal.Lateron She was given the title Nurjahan.Nurjahan exercised tremendous influences over the state affairs.She was made the official Padshah Begum.Jahangir issued the coin jointly in Nurjahan's name and his own.Jahangir also married Manmati of Marwar and a Kachwaha Princess.In 1608, Captain William Hawkins,a representative of East India Company came to Jahangir's court.His reign was marked by several revolts.His son Khusrau,who recieved patronage of 5th sikh guru Arjun Dev,revolted against Jahangir.Arjun Dev,was later sentenced to death for his blessing to the rebel prince. During his last period,Khurram(Shanjahan),son of Jahangir and Mahavat khan,military general of Jahangir also revolted.He was buried in Lahore.

Akbar

Akbar,the eldest son of Humayun ascended the throne under the title of Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar Badshah Ghazi at the young age of 14 at Kalanpur,punjab and his tutor Bairom khan was appointed as the regent.Second Battle of Panipat was fought between Hemu and Bairam khan.Hemu was defeated,captured by Bairam khan.This war ended the Mughal -Afghan contest for the throne of delhi in favour of the Mughals and enabled Akbar to reoccupy Delhi and Agra.To expand his empire he conquered various provincial states.The Rajputa Kingdom of Mewar put up a fierce defence under Rana Uday Singh and his son MahaRana Pratap. The battle of Haldighati was fought between  Maharana Pratap of Mewar and Mughal army led by Man singh of Amer. Maharana Pratap was defeated but he did not submit and continued to struggle.Akbar built Fatehpur sikri,Agra fort,Lahore fort and Allahabad fort and Humayun tomb in Delhi.
Navaratna i.e nine jewels of Akbar:-

1. Birbal(administrator)
2. Abul Fazl(scholar and statesman)
3. Faizi(scholar and statesman)
4. Todarmal(finance minister)
5. Bhagwandas(mansabdar)
6. Man singh(mansabdar)
7. Tansen(musician)
8. Abdur Rahim Khanekhana(statesman and hindi poet)
9. Mulla do pyaja

Begining of Mughal empire

 The foundation of the Mughal rule in India was laid by Babur in 1526.Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodhi in the first battle of Panipat on april 21,1526 and established Mughal dynasty which lasted till the establishment of British rule in India.In 1527 he defeated Rana Sanga of Mewar at khanwa.In 1528,he defeated Medini rai of chaneri at Chanderi.In 1529 he defeated Muhammad Lodhi at Ghangra.In 1530 he died at agra.His tomb is at Kabul.His son Humayaun ascended the throne in 1530.His succession was challenged by his brother Kamran,Hindal and Askari alongwith the afghans.He fought two battles against Shershah at Chausa and at Kannauj and was completely defeated by him.He escaped to Iran where he passed 12 years of his life in exile.After Shershah's death Humayun invaded India in 1555 and defeated his brothers.He once again became the ruler of India.He died while climbing down the stairs of his library in 1556.

Gautam Buddha

Gautama Buddha was born in 563 BC on the vaishakha purnima day at Lumbinivana(a district of nepal) in the Sakya Kshatriya clan.His father sudhodhana was the republican king of Kapilvastu and mother Mahamaya was a princess of Kollia republic.His father married him at an early age to Yasodhara .from whom he had a son named Rahul.Four sights-an old man,a disease person,a dead body and an ascetic proved to be a turning point in his life.At the age of 29 he renounced his home and became a wandering ascetic.His first teacher was a Alara Kalama from whom he learnt the technique of meditation.At the age of 35,under pipal tree at uruvella(Bodh gaya) on the bank of river Niranjana he attained Nirvana(enlightenment) after 49 days of continuous meditation,now he was a fully enlightened.Buddha delivered his first sermon at sarnath to his five deciples,this is known as the Dharmachakra Pravartna(turning of the wheel of law).He died at the age of 80 in 463 BC at kushinagar.
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Effect of Alexander invasion

• By opening up both the land and sea routine between India and  Europe, it brought both of them closer to each other.
• Indirectly this invasion made possible the establishment of Indo-Bacterian and Indo-parthian states,which at a later stages considerably influenced Indian architecture,astronomy,coinage etc.
• The invasion opened eyes of Indian politicians to the necessity of creating a unified empire.
• The date of the Invasion of Alexander is the 'first reliable date in early India history, and considerably helps us in solving chronological difficulties.

Alexander invasion

• In the 4th century BC,the Greeks and the Iranianfought for the supremacy of the world.Under the leadership of Alexander of Macedonia the Greek finally destroyed the Iranian empire.
• Alexander succeeded his father Philip to the throne of Macedonia.He was then only 20 years of age.
• From his very childhood he used to dream of world-conquest. He quickly conquered many areas.
• As a preliminary step to conquer India,the kabul valley and the hilly area of North-west frontier were conquered,and he reached Ohind near Attock in 326 BC.
• The rules of Taxila and Abhisara submitted but Porus refused to do so.
• Alexander then crossed the jhelum by trick.Porus was defeated in the battle that followed.but Alexander treated him very generously for his bravery.
• This was how the Indians were defeated because of their disunity.
• After making administrative arrangement for the conquered territory,Alexander marched back in sept 325 BC.
• He reached Babylon in 323 BC where he died at the age of 33.