Gupta 550: Gupta Empire fell, fragmented India, Buddhism and Hinduism thrived, warring states period.
711 Indus Valley: Muslims conquered and remained in the region
1000: Muslims, Turks, and Africans push in to India
1100's: Delhi Capital, Sultan of Ghur defeats Islam
sultanate: land ruled by a Sultan
1206-1526: span of the Sultanate, marks the rule of Islam in northern India
*reasons for Muslim triumph: greater mobility of mounted archers, as compared to slow moving war elephants. Also, India was infighting, Islam was united.
castes: social groups from which you could not change, Hindu
escaping from Mongols led to: scholars flee Baghdad, new center of learning becomes Delhi
1398 Tamerlane: invaded India and plundered the Northern Plain
Decline of Buddhism: monasteries were destroyed by Muslims
Hindu-Muslim differences: poly vs mono, number of sacred texts, social mobility
rajahs: Hindu rulers, appointed by the sultan to keep Hindu population under control
Urdu: language of Hindi, Persian, and Arabic
Nanak: Indian holy man, blended Hindu and Islam, creating Sikhism
Sikhism: mix of Hindu and Islam
Babur: military genius, poet and author. Claimed ancestry of Genghiz Khan and Tamerlane, fought under God’s name, conquered the Deccan Plateau and The Northern Plains.
Mughal Dynasty: led and begun by Babur. 1526-1857.
Akbar the Great: grandson of Babur, stopped attacks on Hindus, married a Hindu princess. 1556-1605: centralized strong government.
Jahangir: son of Akbar the Great, weaker ruler than his father, his wife ruled.
Nur Jahan: wife of Jahangir, actually led the country for her weak husband.
Shah Jahan: Akbar’s Grandson, distraught at his wife’s death. Usurped by his son Aurangzeb.
Mumtaz Mahal: beloved wife of Shah Jahan, died during childbirth.
Taj Mahal: tomb for Mumtaz Mahl, 20 years to build, ordered to be built by Shah Jahan
Aurangzeb 1658: son of Shah Jahan, usurped the throne in 1658, kept his father in prison, rejected Akbar’s tolerance policies.
