Medieval History — PPSC previous year questions

The Ain-i-Akbari is the third volume of the Akbarnama. Abul Fazl wrote it in Persian. He was Akbar's court historian and one of his Navaratnas. It describes the empire's administration, revenue system, army and provinces. Todar Mal was the revenue minister whose settlement the book records. Firdausi was the 10th–11th century Persian author of the Shahnama.

Muhammad-bin-Tughluq created the Diwan-i-Kohi, a department of agriculture. It aimed to extend cultivation in the Doab (the land between the Ganga and the Yamuna) by giving loans (sondhar) to farmers. The scheme failed within two years, due to corruption and poor land selection. It is one of his celebrated 'ambitious projects', with the move of the capital to Daulatabad and the token currency.

Ibn Battuta was a Moroccan traveller, born at Tangier in 1304, who reached Delhi in 1333 during the reign of Muhammad bin Tughlaq. The Sultan appointed him qazi of Delhi and later sent him as envoy to China; his travelogue Rihla is a major source for fourteenth-century India. He was neither Egyptian, Greek nor Iranian, though his journeys took him through Egypt and Persia.

The First Battle of Panipat (21 April 1526) was fought between Babur and Ibrahim Lodi, the last Delhi Sultan. Babur won with artillery and the tulughma tactic, and founded the Mughal Empire. Humayun and Sher Shah fought at Chausa and Kannauj in 1539–40. The Second Battle of Panipat (1556) was Akbar and Bairam Khan against Hemu. The Third (1761) was Ahmad Shah Abdali against the Marathas.

In medieval India, land whose revenue went straight to the state or royal treasury was Khalisa, not assigned as iqta or jagir (land revenue granted to an officer in place of salary). Raiyati land was tilled by peasants, the raiyats. Zabti (jabti) was Akbar's revenue-assessment system based on measurement, devised under Raja Todar Mal (dahsala or bandobast). Hasil meant the revenue actually collected, as against jama, the assessed revenue.

The five dynasties of the Delhi Sultanate ruled in this order. The Slave (Mamluk) dynasty 1206-90. The Khilji dynasty 1290-1320. The Tughluq dynasty 1320-1414. The Sayyid dynasty 1414-51. The Lodhi dynasty 1451-1526, which ended with Babur's win at Panipat.

Both statements are wrong. The famous remark that Raziya had every quality of a king but 'was not born of the right sex' comes from Minhaj-us-Siraj in his Tabaqat-i-Nasiri, not from Barani. Badauni's line 'the king was freed from his people and they from their king' describes the death of Muhammad bin Tughlaq, not Balban.

In 1579 Akbar issued the Mahzar (often called the 'infallibility decree'), which made the emperor the final judge when the ulema disagreed on a point of Islamic law. Sulh-i-Kul was his policy of peace with all, Din-i-Ilahi his new religious order, and Fatwa-i-Alamgiri a legal digest compiled under Aurangzeb.

Muhammad bin Tughlaq (1325–51) ran both experiments. He issued the bronze/copper token currency (1330) and raised taxes in the Doab (the land between the Ganga and the Yamuna). Both failed. He is equally remembered for moving his capital from Delhi to Devagiri, renamed Daulatabad, in 1327, and then bringing the people back. Jahanpanah was his own fortified city in Delhi. Dinpanah and Shergarh belong to Humayun and Sher Shah. The shift to Fatehpur Sikri was Akbar's.

Todar Mal's revenue settlement under Akbar sorted land by how steadily it was cultivated. Polaj was cultivated every year and never left fallow. Parauti was left fallow for a year or two to recover. Chachar had lain fallow for three to four years. Banjar was uncultivated for five years or more. Revenue rates were highest on Polaj and were graded down for the other categories.