GUPTA CIVILIZATION

Introduction :
The Gupta Empire was an Ancient Indian empire which existed approximately from 320 to 550 CE and covered much of the Indian Subcontinent. Founded by Maharaja Sri-Gupta, the dynasty was the model of a classical civilization. The peace and prosperity created under leadership of Guptas enabled the pursuit of scientific and artistic endeavors.

This period is called the Golden Age of India and was marked by extensive inventions and discoveries in science, technology, engineering, art, dialectic, literature, logic, mathematics, astronomy, religion and philosophy that crystallized the elements of what is generally known as Hindu culture.

Chandragupta I, Samudragupta, and Chandragupta II were the most notable rulers of the Gupta dynasty. The Gupta period produced scholars such as Kalidasa, Aryabhata,Varahamihira, Vishnu Sharma and Vatsyayana who made great advancements in many academic fields.

Science and political administration reached new heights during the Gupta era. Strong trade ties also made the region an important cultural center and set the region up as a base that would influence nearby kingdoms and regions in Burma, Sri Lanka, Malay Archipelago and Indochina.

The empire gradually declined because of many factors like the substantial loss of territory and imperial authority caused by their own erstwhile feudatories and the invasion by the Hunas from Central Asia.After the collapse of the Gupta Empire in the 6th century.

Main Rulers of Gupta Age

Chandragupta (319 - 335 A.D): Chandragupta was a very powerful Gupta ruler who waged many battles to attain his title. He married Kumaradevi after which the Gupta dynasty came into eminence. He assumed the title of Maharajadiraja, which means king of kings.

Samudragupta (335 - 375 A.D): Samudragupta was the son and successor of Chandragupta. Samudragupta was popularly known as the "Indian Napoleon" as he conquered many territories without making much of an effort. It is said that after Emperor Ashoka, the empire of Samudragupta was the supreme. The coins found in excavation reveal much information about his empire. He performed the Asvamedha Yagna and gained much fame and power. During his reign, many great discoveries and advancements were made in different fields like astronomy, mathematics, medicine, etc.

Chandragupta II (375 - 414 A.D): Also known by the name of Vikramaditya, Chandragupta II was chosen by his father as the successor and the future ruler. Chandragupta II was an able ruler and a great conqueror. His conquest of the peninsula of Saurashtra via the Arabian Sea is considered to be one of his greatest military successes. With the annexation of Saurashtra and Malwa, he opened up sea ports to facilitate trade and commerce. His capital city was Pataliputra.

Kumaragupta I (415 - 455 AD): Kumaragupta ruled for forty years and he was considered to be one of the most powerful rulers of the Gupta Period. He was known by different names such as, Shri Mahendra, Ajita Mahendra, Simha Mahendra, Asvamedha Mahendra, Mahendra Karma, etc. During his reign, the whole of India was united as one single entity. Though it was secular and people had their own thoughts and beliefs, yet they remained united and intact in any adversity. This was proved when the subjects drove out the Hunas from the kingdom after the death of Kumaragupta.


Skandagupta (455 - 467 A.D): Most historic scripts propound that Skandagupta was the ruler after Kumaragupta, though there are some theories that also mention Purugupta, Kumaragupta - II, etc. Skandagupta was a very powerful conqueror and is considered to be at par with God Indra. His empire included the whole of North India from west to east and the peninsular regions of Gujarat.

Gupta Civilization The Golden Age Civilization :

During this age, art and education flourished and many great discoveries were made in these fields. Aryabhatta and Varahamihira, the two great mathematicians contributed much during this period in the field of Vedic Mathematics. Algebra was developed to a great extent and the concepts of zero and infinity were found. The symbols of numbers 1 to 9 were devised which was a great contribution in mathematics. These symbols came to be known as Hindu Arabic numerals later when the Arabs too adopted them. Varahamihira and Aryabhata, who is believed to be the first to come up with the concept of zero, postulated the theory that the Earth moves round the Sun, and studied solar and lunar eclipses.

Kalidasa, who was a great playwright, who wrote plays such as Shakuntala, which is said to have inspired Goethe, and marked the highest point of Sanskrit literature is also said to have belonged to this period.

During the reign of the Gupta rulers, astronomers and philosophers proposed the theory that the earth was not flat but round. The theory of gravity was also propounded during this time. The astronomers made a breakthrough when they found out the different planets and started to make horoscopes based on the planetary positions. The field of medicine also advanced a lot during this time and doctors used to perform operations even during that era.

Chess is said to have originated in this period,where its early form in the 6th century was known as caturaga, which translates as "four divisions [of the military]" infantry, cavalry, elephants, and chariotry represented by the pieces that would evolve into the modern pawn, knight, bishop, and rook, respectively.

MUGHAL EMPIRE
The Mughal Empire or Mogul (also Moghul) Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids. It began in 1526, at the height of their power in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, they controlled most of the Indian Subcontinentextending from Bengal in the east to Balochistan in the west, Kashmir in the north to the Kaveri basin in the south.

Origin
The "classic period" of the empire started in 1556 with the accession of Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar, better known as Akbar the Great. Under the rule of Akbar the Great, India enjoyed much cultural and economic progress as well as religious harmony.

The Mughals also forged a strategic alliance with several Hindu Rajput kingdoms. However, some Rajput kings, such as Maha Rana Pratap, continued to pose significant threat to Mughal dominance of northwestern India. Additionally, regional states in southern and northeastern India, such as the Ahom Kingdom of Assam, successfully resisted Mughal subjugation.

The reign of Shah Jahan, the fifth emperor, was the golden age of Mughal architecture. He erected many splendid monuments, the most famous of which is the legendary Taj Mahal at Agra as well as Pearl Mosque, the Red Fort, Jama Masjid (Mosque) and Lahore Fort. The reign of Aurangzeb saw the enforcement of strict Muslim fundamentalism which caused rebellions among the Sikhs and Hindus.

By early 1700s, the Sikh Misl and the Hindu Maratha Empire had emerged as formidable foes of the Mughals. Following the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, the empire started its gradual decline,although the dynasty continued for another 150 years.

During the classic period, the empire was marked by a highly centralized administration connecting the different regions. All the significant monuments of the Mughals, their most visible legacy, with brilliant literary, artistic, and architectural results.

Following 1725, the empire began to disintegrate, weakened by wars of succession, agrarian crises fueling local revolts, the growth of religious intolerance, the rise of the Maratha, Durrani, as well as Sikh empires and finally British colonialism. The last Emperor, Bahadur Shah II, whose rule was restricted to the city of Delhi, was imprisoned and exiled by the British after the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

The name Mughal is derived from the original homelands of the Timurids, the Central Asian steppes once conquered by Genghis Khan and hence known as Moghulistan, "Land of Mongols". Reign Death Period

Emperor

Birth

Notes

Zaheeruddin MuhammadBabur

Feb 23, 1483

1526 1530

Dec 26, 1530

Founder of the Mughal Dynasty.

Nasiruddin MuhammadHumayun

Mar 6, 1508

1530 1540

Jan 1556

Reign interrupted by Suri Dynasty. Youth and inexperience at ascension led to his being regarded as a less effective ruler than usurper, Sher Shah Suri.

Sher Shah Suri

1472

1540 1545

May 1545

Deposed Humayun and led the Suri Dynasty.

Islam Shah Suri

c.1500

1545 1554

1554

2nd and last ruler of the Suri Dynasty, claims of sons Sikandar and Adil Shah were eliminated by Humayun's restoration.

Nasiruddin MuhammadHumayun

Mar 6, 1508

1555 1556

Jan 1556

Restored rule was more unified and effective than initial reign of 15301540; left unified empire for his son, Akbar.

Jalaluddin MuhammadAkbar

Nov 14, 1542

1556 1605

Oct 27, 1605

Akbar greatly expanded the Empire and is regarded as the most illustrious ruler of the Mughal Dynasty as he set up the empire's various institutions; he married Mariam-uz-Zamani, a Rajput princess. One of his most famous construction marvels was the Lahore Fort.

Nooruddin MuhammadJahangir Oct 1569

1605 1627

1627

Jahangir set the precedent for sons rebelling against their emperor fathers. Opened first relations with the British East India Company. Reportedly was an alcoholic, and his wife Empress Noor Jahan became the real power behind the throne and competently ruled in his place.

Shahaabuddin Muhammad Shah Jan 5, Jahan 1592

1627 1658

1666

Under him, Mughal art and architecture reached their zenith; constructed the Taj Mahal, Jama Masjid, Red Fort, Jahangir mausoleum, and Shalimar Gardens inLahore. Deposed and imprisoned by his son Aurangzeb.

Mohiuddin Oct 21, MuhammadAurangzeb Alamgir 1618

1658 1707

He reinterpreted Islamic law and presented the Fatawa-e-Alamgiri; he captured thediamond mines of the Sultanate of Golconda; he spent more than 20 years of his life defeating major rebel factions in India; Mar 3, his conquests expanded the empire to its greatest extent; the over1707 stretched empire was controlled by Nawabs, and faced challenges after his death. He made two copies of the Qur'an using his owncalligraphy.

Bahadur Shah I

Oct 14, 1643

1707 1712

Feb 1712

First of the Mughal emperors to preside over a steady and severe decline in the territories under the empire's control and military power due to the rising strength of the autonomousNawabs. After his reign, the emperor became a progressively insignificant figurehead.

Jahandar Shah

1664

1712 1713

Feb 1713

He was highly influenced by his Grand VizierZulfikar Khan.

Furrukhsiyar

1683

1713 1719

1719

In 1717 he granted a firman to the English East India Company granting them duty free trading rights for Bengal and confirmed their position in India.

Rafi Ul-Darjat

Unknown 1719

1719

Rafi Ud-Daulat a.k.a Shah Jahan II

Unknown 1719

1719

Nikusiyar

Unknown 1719

1743

Muhammad Ibrahim

Unknown 1720

1744

Muhammad Shah

1702

1719 1720, 1720 1748

1748

Got rid of the Syed Brothers. Fought a long war with the Maratha Empire, losing Deccanand Malwa in the process. Suffered the invasion of Nadir-Shah of Persia in 1739. He was the last Mughal Emperor to preside effective control over the empire.

Ahmad Shah Bahadur

1725

174854 1754

Mughal forces massacred by the Marathaduring the Battle of Sikandarabad;

Alamgir II

1699

1754 1759

1759

Shah Jahan III

Unknown In 1759 1770s

consolidation of the Nizam of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa, during the Battle of Buxar; Hyder Ali becomes Nawab of Mysore in 1761;

Shah Alam II

1728

1759 1806

1806

Ahmed-Shah-Abdali in 1761 defeated theMarathas during the Third Battle of Panipat; The fall of Tipu Sultan of Mysore in 1799;

Akbar Shah II

1760

1806 1837

1837

Titular figurehead under British protection

Bahadur Shah Zafar

1775

1837 1857

1862

The last Mughal emperor was deposed by the British and exiled to Burma following theIndian Rebellion of 1857.

Decline
After Emperor Aurangzeb's death in 1707, the empire fell into succession crisis. Barring Muhammad Shah, none of the Mughal emperors could hold on to power for a decade. In the 18th century, the Empire suffered the depredations of invaders like Nadir Shah of Persia and Ahmed Shah Abdali of Afghanistan, who repeatedly sacked Delhi, the Mughal capital. Most of the empire's territories in India passed to the Marathas, Nawabs, and Nizams by c.1750. In 1804, the blind and powerless Shah Alam II formally accepted the protection of the British East India Company. The company had already begun to refer to the weakened emperor as "King of Delhi", rather than "Emperor of India". After some rebels in the Sepoy Rebellion declared their allegiance to Shah Alam's descendant, Bahadur Shah II, the British decided to abolish the institution altogether. They deposed the last Mughal emperor in 1857 and exiled him to Burma, where he died in 1862.

BRITISH RAJ IN INDIA

Introduction
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; it can also refer to the period of dominion, and even the region under the rule. The region, commonly called India in contemporary usage, included areas directly administered by the United Kingdom. After 1876, the resulting political union was officially called the Indian Empire and issued passports under that name. The system of governance was instituted in 1858, when the rule of the British East India Company was transferred to the Crown in the person of Queen Victoria (and who, in 1876, was proclaimed Empress of India), and lasted until 1947, when the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two sovereign dominion states, the Union of India (later theRepublic of India) and the Dominion of Pakistan (later the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the eastern half of which, still later, became the People's Republic of Bangladesh). The eastern part of the Indian Empire became the separate colony of Burma in 1937, and this gained independence in 1948.

Origin :
The Mogul Empire was in a state of collapse by the 1720s. Other European powers were competing for control in India, and sought alliances with the shaky states that inherited the Mogul territories.

The East India Company established its own army in India, which was composed of British troops as well as native soldiers called sepoys. The British interests in India, under the leadership of Robert Clive, gained military victories from the 1740s onward, and with the Battle of Plassey in 1757 were able to establish dominance.

The East India Company gradually strengthened its hold, even instituting a court system. British citizens began building an "Anglo-Indian" society within India, and English customs were adapted to the climate of India.

1857: Resentment Toward the British Spills Over

The Indian Rebellion of 1857, which was also called the Indian Mutiny, or the Sepoy Mutiny, was a turning point in the history of Britain in India. The traditional story is that Indian troops, called sepoys, mutinied against their British commanders because newly issued rifle cartridges were greased with pig and cow fat, thus making them unacceptable for both Hindu and Muslim soldiers. There is some truth to that, but there were a number of other underlying causes for the rebellion. Resentment toward the British had been building for some time, and new policies which allowed the British to annex some areas of India created tensions. By early 1857 things had reached a breaking point. The Indian Mutiny erupted in May 1857, when sepoys rose up against the British in Meerut and then massacred all the British they could find in Delhi. Uprisings spread throughout British India. It was estimated that less than 8,000 of nearly 140,000 sepoys remained loyal to the British. The conflicts of 1857 and 1858 were brutal and bloody, and lurid reports of massacres and atrocities circulated in newspapers and illustrated magazines in Britain.

Partition
On August 17, 1946, violent fighting broke out between Hindus and Muslims in Calcutta. The trouble quickly spread across India.Meanwhile, cash-strapped Britain announced its decision to withdraw from India by June of 1948.

Sectarian violence flared again as independence approached. In June of 1947, representatives of the Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs agreed to divide India along sectarian lines.Hindu and Sikh areas stayed in India, while predominantly Muslim areas in the north became the nation of Pakistan. Millions of refugees flooded across the border in each direction. Between 250,000 and 500,000 people were killed in sectarian violence during the Partition. Pakistan became independent on August 14, 1947. India followed the next day.