Chapter-1 Tracing Changes through a Thousand Years

In the mediaeval era, a stranger was considered a foreigner if they did not originate from that particular hamlet and did not follow that society's or culture's traditions. Because of this, a person who lives in a city can consider a person who lives in a forest to be a foreigner. Yet regardless of their various religion or caste backgrounds, if two persons are from the same village, they are not aliens.

(a) False

(b) True

(c) True

(d) False

(a) Archives are places where manuscripts are kept.

(b) Ziyauddin Barani was a fourteenth-century chronicler.

(c) Potatoes, corn, chillies, tea and coffee were some of the new crops introduced into the subcontinent during this period.

During this time, there were a number of technological advancements, including the following:

1. The Persian Wheel as an irrigation device

2. The weaving spinning wheel

3. Using weapons of war

The following are a few significant religious innovations that happened during this time period:

1. The cult of new gods

2. Royalty's building of temples

3. The priests and Brahmanas are becoming more influential in society as dominating groups.

4.The conception of bhakti, a loving, approachable deity that followers may encounter without the help of priests or complex ceremonies, began to take hold.

5.During this time period, several new faiths emerged. The teachings of the Holy Quran were first brought to India by merchants and migrants in the seventh century.

Over the years, the meaning of the word "Hindustan" has evolved. The word "Hindustan" is now used to refer to India. Nevertheless, Minhaj-i-Siraj, a historian, used the phrase to refer to the Delhi Sultan's holdings in the 13th century (in a political sense). Amir Khusrau used the name "Hind" in the 14th century to describe the Indus River region's culture and populace. In contrast, Babar used the term "Hindustan" to characterise the peoples of the subcontinent's culture, topography, and flora in the early 16th century.

The creation of Jatis, or sub-castes, where individuals were classified according to their jobs and origins, came about during this time as a result of numerous social and economic inequalities among the populace. In some regions, a group of senior citizens known as the jati panchayat oversaw matters pertaining to jatis. The laws of their communities, which were run by a chieftain, were binding on the jatis.

A pan-regional empire is one that encompasses several territories with various cultures, geographies, and religions. The Mughal, Chola, Khalji, and Tughluq dynasties are a few examples.

Using manuscripts was once quite challenging for historians. Owing to the absence of a printing press during those times, historians had to scribe the manuscripts by hand, and it was difficult to reproduce the manuscripts with updated information. Throughout the years of copying, minute inconsistencies and errors evolved to the point that copies of the same text were remarkably different from one another. Today, we seldom ever come across an author's original draught.

The middle of the nineteenth century saw the division of Indian history into three distinct eras by British historians. "Britain," "Muslim," and "Hindu" were the three categories. Except from the shift in the monarchs' faith, British historians thought that there had been little progress made in terms of culture, society, or the economy.

The British historians' separation into two groups raises issues. The variety of the Indian subcontinent is disregarded by such a categorization. In stark contrast to the sixteenth or eighteenth centuries, the eleventh and eighth centuries experienced rapid social change.

Historians do not just view time as a clock or calendar displaying years, days, or hours. When history is broken down into distinct eras or parts that share certain traits, studying it becomes simpler. It highlights the parallels and differences in social transformation, belief systems, and conceptual frameworks.

Languages used to write historical documents have changed significantly throughout time. For instance, contemporary Persian differs from mediaeval Persian. The variations extend beyond language and syntax to the meanings, which are always evolving.

While reading historical writings, maps, and records, historians must be mindful of the historical circumstances and backdrops in which they were created since the cartography in two distinct times varied.

A French cartographer produced Map 2. The Arab cartographer Al-Idrisi created Map 1. Compared to Map 2, which was created in the 1720s, Map 1 was created in 1154 C.E. Survey of India created the country's first contemporary maps.

The locations on Map 1 are marked in Arabic, but the locations on modern maps of the subcontinent are marked in English. Where North India appears on the current map, South India is situated there on Map 1.

 

While the coastal regions on Map 1 are not as well delineated as they are on Map 2, they exist in Map 2 and are well-detailed. In Map 1, several of the well-known names are spelled differently. European sailors and traders utilised Map 2.