India: Early History
What happened during that time period??...
By Cory Riemer Published on March 12, 2014 at 1:41 PM
In early Indian history the people that invaded India called themselves Mughals, which means “Mongols.” The Gupta Empire crumbled in the 600s. First, Arabs invaded. Then, warlike Muslims tribes were ruled by leaders called Rajputs, or “sons of kings.” In the 8th century began with a long, bloody clash between Hindus and Muslims in this fragment land. For almost 300 years, though, the Hindus held off the Arab Muslims. They were able to advance only as far as the Indus River valley. Starting around the year 1000, however, well trained Turkish armies swept into India. The armies were led by Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, they devastated Indian cities and temples in 17 brutal campaigns. in Delhi 33 different sultans ruled this divided territory between the 13th and 16th century.
In Uzbekistan or Tajikistan there was a 11-year-old boy named Babur in 1494, one of Babar’s successes was that he lashed heavy cannons on armies of people that were mounted on elephants. Babar was one of the most sensitive, and strongest leaders in history. One time when he went to war against 100,000 soldiers commanded by a sultan of Delhi, and he only had 12,000 soldiers and he victored over the 100,000 soldiers, Babar’s soldiers made him an effective leader and made the other leaders scared of him. After all of the wars Babar had a son and he was named Akbar and that meant “Great One.” Akbar was Muslim, but he firmly defended religious freedom. Akbar built a very large library so the people of the city could keep up with all of the things that were going on in the city and keep their learning abilities up to date. Before Akbar died in 1605 he had a son named Jahangir and that is what he wanted to call himself in means “Grasper of the World.” Jahangir’s wife was the Persian princess Nur Jahan, she was a very talented women with a variety of interests. She liked to ride horses and hunt for tigers in her free time or for a lifetime thing, she liked to write poetry when she felt like to write poetry, she designed clothes that still influence Indian fashion, above all, she was a brilliant politician who perfectly understood the use of power.When the son of Jahangir rebelled against his father, he turned to the Sikhs. The Sikhs were a nonviolent group whose doctrines blended Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sufism (Islamic mysticism). Mumtaz Mahal died at the ripe old age of 38 and giving birth to her 14th child. “Empire has no sweetness,” the heartbroken Shah Jahan Lamented, “life has no relish for me now.” To enshrine his wife’s memory, he ordered that a tomb be built “as beautiful as she was beautiful.” 20,000 workers labored for many years to build this tomb now known as the Taj Mahal. Shah Jahan built the Red Fort at Delhi and completed the Peacock Throne, a priceless seat of gold encrusted with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and pearls. Shah Jahan had four kids and when he was ill, his four sons scrambled for the throne, the third son, Aurangzeb moved first and the decisively. After the third son got the throne the three other children went and arrested their father and put him in prison because they were mad that Aurangzeb got the throne. |
Information Retrieved from: Beck, Roger, Linda Black, Larry Krieger, Phillip Naylor, and Dahia Ibo Shabaka. World History: Patterns of Interaction. 1st ed. Evanston, Boston, Dallas: McDougal Littell, 2003. Print.
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