Political Science

1. Ancient Empires of the
Sub-Continent

2.  Some of the earliest relics of Stone Age man were found in the
Soan valley near Rawalpindi, dating back to at least 50,000 years.
Predominantly an agricultural region, its inhabitants learned to
tame and husband animals and cultivate crops some 9,000 years
ago.
 Farming villages dating from 6000 BC have been excavated in
Baluchistan, the North West Frontier Province and Punjab.
 The Indus Valley Civilization is considered to have evolved
around 2600 BC. Built on the ruins of fortified towns near Kot
Diji, it is now believed to have emerged from farming
communities of the area.
 The Civilization boasted immense cities like Moenjodaro and
Harappa. These towns were well planned, with paved main roads,
multistoried houses, watchtowers, food warehouses, and assembly
halls.
 Their people developed an advanced script that still remains un-
deciphered. The Indus Civilization’s decline around 1700 BC is
attributed to foreign invaders, who at some sites violently
destroyed the cities.
 But with recent research, historians have become unsure as to the
exact causes of decline of the Indus Civilization.

3.  Aryans, who were rough cattle breeders, came from Central Asia around 1700
BC, seeking grazing land for their herds. Their religion was well developed,
with gods identified from elements of nature. They followed a strict caste
system, which later became Hinduism.
 They wrote the first book of Hindu scripture, the Rig Veda, which was a
collection of hymns remembered through several generations. Some
anthropologists believe that there is no real historical evidence to prove the
coming of Aryans, and consider their coming as a myth.
 In sixth century BC, the people of the region were getting increasingly
dissatisfied with the Hindu caste system.
 When Buddha, son of a Kshatriya king preached equality in men, his teachings
were quickly accepted throughout the northern part of the Sub-continent.
 Around the same time Gandhara, being the easternmost province of the
Achaemenid Empire of Persia, became a major power in the region. Its two
cities – Pushkalavati, or present day Charsadda near Peshawar, and the capital
Taxila, were the center of civilization and culture.
 Alexander the Great invaded the Sub-continent in 327 BC.

4.  Conquering the Kalash valley, he crossed the mighty Indus at
Ohind, sixteen miles north of Attock. He then defeated the
mighty elephant army of Porus at Jhelum, and began his
march towards the long Ganges plain. However, he was forced
to plan for homeward sailing when his war-wary troops
refused to advance further.
 On his way back, a serious wound, received while battling the
Malloi people at Multan, finally took its toll, and Alexander
died in 323 BC, leaving his conquests for grab among his own
officers.
 Chandragupta Maurya was an exiled member of the royal
family of Magadha, a kingdom flourishing since 700 BC on
the bank of river Ganges.
 After Alexander’s death, Chandragupta captured Punjab with
his allies, and later overthrew the king of Magadha in 321 BC
to form the Mauryan Empire. After twenty-four years of
kingship, his son, Bindusara, who added Deccan to the
Mauryan rule, succeeded Chandragupta.

5.  Ashoka, son of Bindusara, was one of the greatest rulers the world
has ever known. Not only did he rule a vast empire; he also tried to
rule it compassionately.
 After initially causing thousands of lives during his conquest of
Kalinga, he decided to rule by the law of piety. He was instrumental
in spreading Buddhism within and outside the Sub-continent by
building Buddhist monasteries and stupas, and sending out
missionaries to foreign lands.
 The Greek king of Bactria, Demetrius, conquered the Kabul River
Valley around 195 BC.
 The Greeks re-built Taxila and Pushkalavati as their twin capital
cities in Gandhara. They were followed in 75 BC by the Scythians,
Iranian nomads from Central Asia, and in about 50 BC by the
powerful Parthians, from east of the Caspian Sea.
 After defeating the Greeks in 53 BC, the Parthians ruled the northern
Pakistan area.
 During their era of trade and economic prosperity, the Parthians
promoted art and religion. The Gandhara School of art developed,
which reflected the glory of Greek, Syrian, Persian and Indian art
traditions.

6.  The Kushana king, Kujula, ruler of nomad tribes from
Central Asia, overthrew the Parthians in 64 AD and took
over Gandhara. The Kushans further extended their rule
into northwest India and Bay of Bengal, south into
Bahawalpur and short of Gujrat, and north till Kashghar and
Yarkand, into the Chinese frontier.
 They made their winter capital at Purushapura, the City of
Flowers, now called Peshawar, and their summer capital
north of Kabul.
 Kanishka, the greatest of Kushans, ruled from the year 128
to 151. Trade flourished during his rule, with the Romans
trading in gold for jewelry, perfumes, dyes, spices and
textiles.
 Progress was made in medicine and literature. Thousands of
Buddhist monasteries and stupas were built and the best
pieces of sculpture in the Gandhara School of art were
produced. He was killed in his sleep when his own people
resisted his unending expansionist pursuits.

7. The Kushans Empire was usurped both from the North, where the
Sassanian Empire of Persia eroded their rule. and the South where the
Gupta Empire took hold. In the fourth century, due to decline in
prosperity and trade, the Kushans Empire was reduced to a new dynasty
of Kidar (Little) Kushans, with the capital now at Peshawar.
Coming from Central Asia, the White Huns, originally the horse-riding
nomads from China, invaded Gandhara during the fifth century.
With declining prosperity, and the sun and fire-worshipping Huns ruling
the land, Buddhism gradually disappeared from northern Pakistan,
taking the glory of the Gandhara School of art with it.

8.  After the defeat of Huns by Sassanians and Turks in
565, the area was mostly left to be ruled by small
Hindu kingdoms, with the Turki Shahi rulers
controlling the area till Gandhara from Afghanistan,
and the raja of Kashmir ruling northern Punjab, and the
areas east of the Indus.
 Buddhism’s decline continued as more people were
converted to Brahman Hindus.
 Overthrowing the Turki Shahis, the Central Asian
Hindu Shahis ruled from 870 till the year 1008.
 With their capital established at Hund on the Indus,
their rule extended from Jalalabad in Afghanistan to
Multan, and covered as far north as Kashmir.

9. The Arabs came to the Indian sub continent as traders long before they came as
invaders.
• Earliest contacts of Islamized Arab with Indian sub continent
Since the first appearance on the world stage, Islam has had close relation with
sub continent
1. In the region of Hazrat Umar Farooq (634-644), Sarafqi who governed Oman
sent an expedition to Thana and Barouch without seeking permission of caliph.
2. Hazrat Usman sent an expedition through Baluchistan into Sindh to gather
information about the people of India.
3. Hazrat Ali appointed Muahlib to pursue sub continent
• Muhammad bin Qasim and the conquest of Sindh
Muhammad bi Qasim was conquest Sindh in 712 A.D. al walid ibn abdul malik.
The king of Ceylon (present day Srilanka) dispatched a ship to the governor of Iraq ;
Hajjaj bin Yousaf . The ship was attacked by the pirates as it passed the mouth of
Indus.

10. The were seized by the pirates and the Arab merchants were detained.
Hijjaj bin Yousaf asked Raja Dahir, to set the captives free and take
action against the pirates.
Raja Dahir bluntly replied that he had no control over the pirates. Hijjaj
Bin Yousaf the decided to retaliate.
First two expeditions sent by Hijjaj against Dahir failed.
He then commissioned his son in law Imdad ud Din Muhammad Bin
Qasim, who at that time was at Fars (Iran), was reinforced 6000 men
from Syria and other places.
• Muhammad bin Qasim recalled and post Qasim developments.
After the death of Walid Bin Abdul Malik, Suleman bin Abdul Malik
succeeded him, New caliph recalled Muhammad bin Qasim to his
country where he was executed in 715 A.D.
Recalling of Muhammad Bin Qasim stopped the further advance of Arab
army towards north and east.

11.  Muslim intrusion from the north-west
By the 10th century, many new principalities were conquered and
ruled by the Turks who had been initially brought into the Arab
Armies as slave soldiers. The Turks were central Asian people
who after their conversion to Islam in the 8th and 9th century led
the next wave of Islamic conquests.

• Ghaznavid Density
Ghaznavid dynasty receives its name from the city of Ghazni in
modern Afghanistan. Alaptagin one of the most enterprising of
Turkish officers was the founder of Ghazni. After the death of
Alaptagin in 977 A.D his son in law Subuktugin ascended the
throne of Ghazni.

• Subuktugin
• He deserve the footnote in the history for being the first Muslim
to move across the Khyber pass into the sub-continent. After his
victory, subuktugin did not established a foothold across the
Khyber pass and returned to Ghazni.

12.  Sultan Mahmood Ghaznavi, the idol broker

He became the king of Ghzni in 997 A.D after the death of his father
Subuktugin. Between the year 1001 and 1025 he conducted seventeen
campaigns in India. The most famous expedition od Mahmood’s was on the
temple of somnath in 1025 A.D.
 The house of Ghazni fell into terminal decline with the death of Sultan
Mahmood Ghaznavi in 1031 A.D. However, thenks to sheer awe in which his
name was held, the Ghaznavid dynasty managed to survive another 150 years.
• Critical analysis of sultan Mahmood Ghaznavi
• Hindu writers have described him as a barbarian who indulged in wanton
crimes against humanity and civilization.
• Muslim writers present Sultan Mahmood as the champion of Islam and the
idol breaker.
Sultan Mahmood contented himself with raiding the sub-continent. Rather he
eyed the treasures of the land of Indo-Pak coupled with the added attraction of
fighting the idol worshippers.

13.  Ghurid Dynsity
Expansion of Muslim power from the Indus valley to India
2. Muizz ud din Sam commonly known as Shahabudin Ghuri captured the throne of
Ghazni in 1174 A.D. he than laid his first raid into the sub-continent in1175 A.D
capturing Peshawar, Mulatn, and Sindh. In 1186 Ghuri captured Lahore by defeating the
last Ghaznavid king Khusru Malik bringing the Ghaznavid dynasty to an end.

Expansion of Muslim power from the Indus valley to India
Muhammad Ghuri became the first Muslim conqueror to move across the rivers of
Punjab to fight the Hindu rulers for Delhi. His capturing of Bhainda angered the
Chauhans and war became inevitable.
First battle of Tarain
The battle B/w Ghuri and combined army of Rajputs led by pirthvi raj Chuhan took
place at Tarain.in 1190-91. Ghuri was defeated and had to retreat to his bastion of
Ghazni.
Second battle of Tarain
In 1192 another battle took place b/w the armies of Ghuri and Pirthvi. This time
Mamood ghuri eventually turned successful and Punjab was captured. After this Ghuri
captured whole of the northern part of the sub-continent. He also moved south wards
and captured Banars, Gwalior as wellas Rajhistan.

14.  Mahmood Ghuri appointed his brilliant slave general Qutub ud
din Aibak as a governor of Lahore and Delhi while himself
returned to ghazni.
• Muhammad Ghauri an Appraisal.
He must credited for providing the Muslim with an opportunity
of establishing permanent foothold in the sub-continent. After his
death the Ghurid dynasty relapsed into insignificance but the
dominations it had conquered in India were not lost to the
Muslim; they were consolidated under the rule of Ghuris until
1857, there was always a Muslim ruler on the throne of Delhi.
Delhi Sultanate
The period from the death of Muhammad Ghuri in 1206 till the
advent of Mughals in the Sub-continent in 1526 is known in
history as a period Delhi sultanate

15. Five Dynasty ruled on sub continent
(S.K.T.S.L)
1. Slave or Mamulak Dynasty (1206-1290)
The slave dynasty was founded by Qutub ud din Aibak who was credited
with the establishment of first Muslim sultanate in the sub-continent. The
rulers of slave dynasty were all the Turks.
Qutub ud din Aibak was succeeded by his son in law Shams udin iltumish in
1210.
In the early years of his region he was faced threats from Nasirudin Qabecha of
Multan and the khilji ruler of Bengal and Bihar, Ali Mardan khan. Iltutimish
was able to subdue both khilji and Qabacha but the khilji threat did not go
away and many years later they were eventually successful in taking over
Delhi.
Iltumish was succeeded by his daughter Razia sultana in 1236. She has the
distinction of being the first female Muslim ruler of the sub-continent.
Although a very competent ruler, her only disqualification was that she was
a woman, thus she was unable to survive very long time and was murdered
in 1240 and replaced by his brother Bahram shah.
Another famous ruler of this dynasty was Ghaisud din balbone , was a Turkish
slave. He ascended the throne of delhi in 1266. And restored law and order.
The slave dynasty ended when the khiljis appeared to take charge of the
throne of delhi.

16.  2. Khilji dynasty (1290-1320)
Dynasty was founded by Jalaludin khilji, at the age of 70. He
was succeeded by his nephew Alaudin khilji who became the
first Muslim ruler to conquer centeral and southern India. He
died in 1316 and was succeeded by Mumbarak shah who proved
to be the last ruler of the khilji dynasty.
3. Taghlak Dynasty(1320-1412)
Founded by Ghaisud din Tughliq in the year 1320A.D. He ruled
delhi for five years and was killed in 1325 by his own son Juna
khan or Muhammad Tughliq who became the ruler of delhi. In
1398, Timor invaded the sub-continent and decimated whatever
came in his way.his invasion shook the Tughlaq dynasty to its
core and ultimately in 1412A.D the Tughliq dynasty went into
oblivion for good.

17. 4. Sayyed Density (1414-1451)
Founded by Khizr Khan who appointed as a nominee by Timor
to delhi. It lasted till 1451. And four Sulatns ruled Delhi during
this time. Last one was Shah Alam who was happy to retire in
peace after giving his authority to rule to Bahlol Khan Lodhi, the
first Pathan sultan of Delhi.
5. Lodhi Dynasty ( 1451-1526)
Bahlol Lodhi was succeeded by Sikander lodhi. The last ruler of
Lodhi dynasty was Ibrahim Lodhi defeated by Babur in the first
battle of Panipat in 1526..
• Delhi Sultanate and Islam
Majority of saints and Sufi came to the Indian sub continent in
the reign of Delhi sultanate. These Sufis played an important role
in spreading the teaching of islam.

18. • Mughal Dynasty (1526-1857)
Mughals ruled India from the 1526 till 1857, founded by Bbur who had descended from the Turik
conqueror Timor on his father side and from Mangol ruler Genghis Khan on his mother’s side
Rulers of Mughal
Babur (1526-1530)
Humayon (1530-1555)
Akber (1555-1605)
Jahangir (1605-27)
Shah Jahan (1628-58)
Aurangzab (1658-1707)
Factors contributing towards the spread of Islam in sub continent
• Arrival of mystics and missionaries
• Inter marriages
• Irresistible appeal of Islamic teaching
Monotheism, equality, tolerance, justice
• Financial aid to religious seminars
• Liberation from caste system
• Escaping from Jazya( poll tax)