Indian overseas trade continued in the medieval period. Several foreign visitors provided accounts which attest to a flourishing trade. The chief articles of import were certain articles of luxury like silk. Being mainly an agricultural country, India was obviously rich… Read More
While progress in science and technology in general was relatively slow in this period, there were a few noteworthy advances. An important development during this period was the introduction of some new crops, plants and fruits in India. Many of… Read More
The rulers of the small kingdoms in the Rajputana region built many forts. The Meharangarh fort in Jodhpur and the fort at Chittor are massive structures. Rana Kumbha of Mewar built the famous Victory Tower at Chittor. Vijayanagar The capital… Read More
North India A large number of temples were constructed in north India during the early medieval period. Every king and every powerful feudatory built a temple. The style of temple architecture was known as nagara. A good example of this… Read More
Vaishnavism Among the Marathas The Maratha school of Vaishnavism or the Bhagavata Dharma has a long history. In the 13th century, the Bhakti movement in Maharashtra was enriched by a number of poet-saints. The most significant of these was Gyaneshwara,… Read More
The Bhakti movement had a long history in India. The movement was started in the eighth century by the ‘alvar’ and ‘nayannar’ saints of South India. Shankaracharya, Ramanuja and Madhava further popularised the bhakti trend. During the medieval period, the… Read More
The medieval period saw the growth of two religious trends which influenced the life of the people. These were the Sufi trend and the Bhakti trend. Both these ideologies were not new to the Muslims and Hindus of India. What… Read More
Political History Bengal remained independent for a large part of the medieval period. Two important dynasties ruled over Bengal. These were the Ilyas Shahi Dynasty, from 1342 to 1414 and again from 1433 to 1486 and the Hussain Shahi Dynasty… Read More
Language Sanskrit and Persian functioned as the link languages in the country. Arabic works under the Mughals were largely confined to religious subjects, though a few poets composed verses in Arabic. Persian was the official language of the Mughal court…. Read More
Painting The art of painting was popular during the early medieval period. Palaces and temples were decorated with murals. Miniature painting was only beginning to develop. The Sultanate Period From the Sultanate period onwards, the art of painting depended entirely… Read More