183-511: Mewat ( / ˈ m eɪ w ɑː t / ; Hindustani: [ˈmeːwaːt] ) is a historical and cultural region which encompasses parts of the modern-day states of Haryana , Rajasthan , and Uttar Pradesh in northwestern India. The loose boundaries of the Mewat region generally include parts of the following districts: The region is located at the intersection of three states: Rajasthan , Haryana , and Uttar Pradesh . In between
366-540: A Hindu religious and intellectual resurgence is known as the Classical or Golden Age of India . Aspects of Indian civilisation, administration, culture, and religion spread to much of Asia, which led to the establishment of Indianised kingdoms in the region, forming Greater India . The most significant event between the 7th and 11th centuries was the Tripartite struggle centred on Kannauj . Southern India saw
549-783: A Member of the Punjab Provincial Assembly and the Punjab Legislative Assembly for over 20 years. Yasin Khan's political leadership created three infamous political dynasties in the region, the Tayyab Husain clan , Rahim Khan clan and the Ahmed clan . Khan guided two political leaders during his lifetime, his own son, Tayyab Husain as well as Khurshid Ahmed . Later on, Rahim Khan also emerged as political leader in rebellion to these two in
732-695: A "centralized structure in the Persian tradition whose task was to mobilize human and material resources for the ongoing armed struggle against both Mongol and Hindu monarchies ". The monarch was not the Sultan of the Hindus or of, say, the people of Haryana, rather in the eyes of the Sultanate's chroniclers, the Muslims constituted what in more recent times would be termed a "Staatsvolk". For many Muslim observers,
915-604: A description on the use of water wheels in the Delhi Sultanate. According to historians Arnold Pacey and Irfan Habib , the spinning wheel was introduced to India from Iran during the Delhi Sultanate. Smith and Cothren suggested that it was invented in India during the latter half of the first millennium, but Pacey and Habib said these early references to cotton spinning do not identify a wheel, but more likely refer to hand spinning . The earliest unambiguous reference to
1098-530: A discriminatory tax on non-Muslims, although even then it is difficult to see how such a measure could have been enforced outside the principal centres of Muslim authority. The Delhi Sultanate also continued the governmental conventions of the previous Hindu polities, claiming paramountcy of some of its subjects rather than exclusive supreme control. Accordingly, it did not interfere with the autonomy and military of certain conquered Hindu rulers and freely included Hindu vassals and officials. The economic policy of
1281-458: A handful of his slaves and family. In 1298, between 15,000 and 30,000 Mongols near Delhi, who had recently converted to Islam, were slaughtered in a single day, due to a mutiny during an invasion of Gujarat. He is also known for his cruelty against kingdoms he defeated in battle. After Ala ud-Din died in 1316 by assassination through his nobles, his general Malik Kafur, who was born to a Hindu family but converted to Islam, assumed de facto power and
1464-419: A highly diverse one, second only to Africa in human genetic diversity. According to Tim Dyson: Genetic research has contributed to knowledge of the prehistory of the subcontinent's people in other respects. In particular, the level of genetic diversity in the region is extremely high. Indeed, only Africa's population is genetically more diverse. Related to this, there is strong evidence of 'founder' events in
1647-717: A hundred years, during which the chiefs of Mewat appear to have maintained satisfactory relations with the authorities in Delhi. During the Wali-e-Mewat era, the Mewat region was ruled as a tributary to the Delhi Sultanate by the Khanzada Rajputs , a distinct ethnic identity separate from the Meos . In 1398, during the time of the invasion of Timur and during the rule of Delhi Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq , one of
1830-677: A nationwide struggle for independence was launched by the Indian National Congress , led by Mahatma Gandhi . Later, the All-India Muslim League would advocate for a separate Muslim-majority nation state . The British Indian Empire was partitioned in August 1947 into the Dominion of India and Dominion of Pakistan , each gaining its independence. Hominin expansion from Africa is estimated to have reached
2013-497: A reformist movement. The Meos although Muslim, then had adopted Hindu traditions, attitudes and syncretism as Muslim political power declined long ago in the region, lacking the necessary acumen required to resist the cultural and religious influence of majority Hindus, prior to the arrival of Tablighi Jamaat. Tablighi Jamaat heavily influenced the culture in the region leading the Meos to mostly re-adopt traditionalist Sunni Islam under
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#17327662096502196-521: A spinning wheel in India is dated to 1350. The worm gear roller cotton gin was invented in the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries; Habib states that the development may likely occurred in peninsular India, before becoming more widespread across India during the Mughal era. The incorporation of the crank handle in the cotton gin may have appeared sometime during the late Delhi Sultanate or the early Mughal Empire. India and China have connections throughout
2379-449: A system of weights, punch-marked coins , and the introduction of writing in the form of Brahmi and Kharosthi scripts. The language of the gentry at that time was Sanskrit , while the languages of the general population of northern India are referred to as Prakrits . Many of the sixteen kingdoms had merged into four major ones by the time of Gautama Buddha . These four were Vatsa, Avanti, Kosala, and Magadha. Magadha formed one of
2562-705: A systematic war of expansion into northern India in 1173. He sought to carve out a principality for himself and expand the Islamic world. Muhammad of Ghor created a Sunni Islamic kingdom of his own extending east of the Indus river, and he thus laid the foundation for the Muslim kingdom called the Delhi Sultanate. Some historians chronicle the Delhi Sultanate from 1192 due to the presence and geographical claims of Muhammad Ghori in South Asia by that time. Muhammad Ghori
2745-486: A town near Delhi named Tughlaqabad . His son Juna Khan and general Ainul Mulk Multani conquered Warangal in south India. According to some historians such as Vincent Smith , he was killed by his son Juna Khan, who then assumed power in 1325. Juna Khan renamed himself as Muhammad bin Tughlaq and ruled for 26 years. During his rule, the Delhi Sultanate reached its peak in terms of geographical reach, covering most of
2928-480: A tribute to him. The joint effort of the Gandhian leaders and Yasin Khan had succeeded in checking the mass migration of thousands of the Meos. Many who had left India would return to Mewat in the proceeding months. Yasin Khan cemented his political leadership and legacy in the region and was generally revered as a hero by the Meos. Although in recent times, he has become a controversial figure. Yasin Khan served as
3111-522: A vast army, consisting of 200,000 infantry , 20,000 cavalry , 2,000 war chariots and 3,000 war elephants (at the lowest estimates). The Maurya Empire (322–185 BCE) unified most of the Indian subcontinent into one state, and was the largest empire ever to exist on the Indian subcontinent. At its greatest extent, the Mauryan Empire stretched to the north up to the natural boundaries of
3294-418: Is also part of a longer trend predating the spread of Islam . Like other settled , agrarian societies in history, those in the Indian subcontinent have been attacked by nomadic tribes throughout its long history. In evaluating the impact of Islam on the subcontinent, one must note that the northwestern subcontinent was a frequent target of tribes raiding from Central Asia in the pre-Islamic era. In that sense,
3477-580: Is described in the texts of Vedas , still sacred to Hindus, which were orally composed and transmitted in Vedic Sanskrit . The Vedas are some of the oldest extant texts in India. The Vedic period, lasting from about 1500 to 500 BCE, contributed to the foundations of several cultural aspects of the Indian subcontinent. Historians have analysed the Vedas to posit a Vedic culture in the Punjab , and
3660-901: Is heavily mentioned in Jain and Buddhist texts. It is also mentioned in the Ramayana , Mahabharata and Puranas . The earliest reference to the Magadha people occurs in the Atharva-Veda where they are found listed along with the Angas , Gandharis , and Mujavats. Magadha played an important role in the development of Jainism and Buddhism . Republican communities (such as the community of Rajakumara) are merged into Magadha kingdom. Villages had their own assemblies under their local chiefs called Gramakas. Their administrations were divided into executive, judicial, and military functions. Early sources, from
3843-424: Is noted for its cities built of brick, and its roadside drainage systems, and is thought to have had some kind of municipal organisation. The civilisation also developed an Indus script , the earliest of the ancient Indian scripts , which is presently undeciphered. This is the reason why Harappan language is not directly attested, and its affiliation is uncertain. After the collapse of Indus Valley civilisation,
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#17327662096504026-412: Is today Nepal and Bihar state); reaching its prominence under the king Janaka , whose court provided patronage for Brahmin sages and philosophers such as Yajnavalkya , Aruni , and Gārgī Vāchaknavī . The later part of this period corresponds with a consolidation of increasingly large states and kingdoms, called Mahajanapadas , across Northern India. The period between 800 and 200 BCE saw
4209-519: The Vedanta (conclusion of the Vedas ). The increasing urbanisation of India in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE led to the rise of new ascetic or "Śramaṇa movements" which challenged the orthodoxy of rituals. Mahavira ( c. 599–527 BCE), proponent of Jainism , and Gautama Buddha ( c. 563–483 BCE), founder of Buddhism, were the most prominent icons of this movement. Śramaṇa gave rise to
4392-590: The Atharvaveda . The Kuru state organised the Vedic hymns into collections and developed the srauta ritual to uphold the social order. Two key figures of the Kuru state were king Parikshit and his successor Janamejaya , who transformed this realm into the dominant political, social, and cultural power of northern India. When the Kuru kingdom declined, the centre of Vedic culture shifted to their eastern neighbours,
4575-533: The Deobandi Hanafi school of thought. Muhammad Ilyas Kandhlawi was responsible for establishing the first Madrasah of Mewat in modern-day Nuh, Moin Ul Islam, which is still functional till this day. During the early 1930s, The rulers of the princely states of Alwar and Bharatpur imposed heavy taxes on the peasants, who were mostly Meos. The King of Alwar, Jai Singh Prabhakar also began to suppress
4758-606: The Dewan of Bharatpur, accompanied by Chaudhary Azmat Khan Chhiraklot and other Chaudharies, to Nuh so they could met Yasin Khan , where Batra assured him to give special attention to the improvement of the Meos. This incident lead Yasin Khan to be accepted as " Chaudhriyon ka Chaudhary ," ( lit. ' the Social Head of Social Heads ' ), the absolute social leader of the Meo community . During Indian independence, there
4941-582: The East India Company . Parts of northern Mewat (modern-day Palwal , Faridabad ) remained under the local Jat kings. During Indian Rebellion of 1857 , Meos played an active role against the British. The rebellion mostly erupted due to the long resentment amongst the sepoys based on the introduction of new cartridge which was coated with the fat of pigs and cows. As the rebellion began in Meerut ,
5124-655: The Himalayas and to the east into what is now Assam . To the west, it reached beyond modern Pakistan, to the Hindu Kush mountains in what is now Afghanistan. The empire was established by Chandragupta Maurya assisted by Chanakya ( Kautilya ) in Magadha (in modern Bihar ) when he overthrew the Nanda Empire . Chandragupta rapidly expanded his power westwards across central and western India, and by 317 BCE
5307-629: The Indian subcontinent approximately two million years ago, and possibly as early as 2.2 million years ago. This dating is based on the known presence of Homo erectus in Indonesia by 1.8 million years ago and in East Asia by 1.36 million years ago, as well as the discovery of stone tools at Riwat in Pakistan . Although some older discoveries have been claimed, the suggested dates, based on
5490-775: The Indus Valley Civilisation of the third millennium BCE. According to Tim Dyson: "By 7,000 years ago agriculture was firmly established in Baluchistan... [and] slowly spread eastwards into the Indus valley." Michael Fisher adds: The earliest discovered instance ... of well-established, settled agricultural society is at Mehrgarh in the hills between the Bolan Pass and the Indus plain (today in Pakistan) (see Map 3.1). From as early as 7000 BCE, communities there started investing increased labor in preparing
5673-573: The Indus Valley Civilisation , one of three early cradles of civilisation in the Old World , flourished between 2500 BCE and 1900 BCE in present-day Pakistan and north-western India. Early in the second millennium BCE, persistent drought caused the population of the Indus Valley to scatter from large urban centres to villages. Indo-Aryan tribes moved into the Punjab from Central Asia in several waves of migration . The Vedic Period of
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5856-592: The Punjab from Central Asia in several waves of migration . The Vedic period is when the Vedas were composed of liturgical hymns from the Indo-Aryan people. The Vedic culture was located in part of north-west India, while other parts of India had a distinct cultural identity. Many regions of the Indian subcontinent transitioned from the Chalcolithic to the Iron Age in this period. The Vedic culture
6039-528: The Rajput Confederation of Rana Sanga with 5,000 allies. When Rana Sanga was struck by an arrow and fell from his elephant, the Mewati king took charge of the commander's flag and led the attack against Babur's forces. Hasan Khan Mewati along with his 12,000 Meo horse soldiers, fiercely confronted Babur's army. They were initially successful and seemed to be overpowering the Mughal forces. During
6222-470: The 23rd Tirthankara , was a historical figure. The Vedas are believed to have documented a few Tirthankaras and an ascetic order similar to the Śramaṇa movement. The period from c. 600 BCE to c. 300 BCE featured the rise of the Mahajanapadas , sixteen powerful kingdoms and oligarchic republics in a belt stretching from Gandhara in the north-west to Bengal in
6405-904: The 4th century CE. The most famous clan amongst the ruling confederate clans of the Vajji Mahajanapada were the Licchavis . This period corresponds in an archaeological context to the Northern Black Polished Ware culture. Especially focused in the Central Ganges plain but also spreading across vast areas of the northern and central Indian subcontinent, this culture is characterised by the emergence of large cities with massive fortifications, significant population growth, increased social stratification, wide-ranging trade networks, construction of public architecture and water channels, specialised craft industries,
6588-536: The 6th century BCE is defined by the rise of Janapadas, which are realms , republics and kingdoms —notably the Iron Age Kingdoms of Kuru , Panchala , Kosala and Videha . The Kuru Kingdom ( c. 1200–450 BCE) was the first state-level society of the Vedic period, corresponding to the beginning of the Iron Age in north-western India, around 1200–800 BCE, as well as with the composition of
6771-513: The 8th century, followed by the invasions of Mahmud Ghazni . The Delhi Sultanate was founded in 1206 by Central Asian Turks who were Indianized . They ruled a major part of the northern Indian subcontinent in the early 14th century. It was ruled by multiple Turk , Afghan and Indian dynasties, including the Turco-Mongol Indianized Tughlaq Dynasty but declined in the late 14th century following
6954-575: The British forces which called upon the local population to support the forces of Rao Tula Ram also played a major role in the Meo uprising. Mufti Nizamuddin was later hanged in Tijara, Alwar. The villages of Pinangwan, Mahu, Rupraka, Raisina, Ghasera, Ferozepur Jhrika and Nuh were key players in the revolt. The Meos sided with the Gurjars, Ahirs and other ethnic groups of the region and defeated William Ford,
7137-653: The British. Yasin Khan , called a conference at Ferozepur Jhirka , which was popularly known as the Alwar conference. Khan received the advice and assistance of national leaders, including Marxist leader Kunwar Mohammad Ashraf , Sayyed Mufti Faridabadi from the Indian National Congress , and the Majlis-e Ahrar-e Islam party volunteers. The demands of the Meo people were sent to the British Government and were also published and distributed among
7320-738: The Buddhist Pāli Canon , the Jain Agamas and the Hindu Puranas , mention Magadha being ruled by the Pradyota dynasty and Haryanka dynasty ( c. 544–413 BCE) for some 200 years, c. 600–413 BCE. King Bimbisara of the Haryanka dynasty led an active and expansive policy, conquering Anga in what is now eastern Bihar and West Bengal . King Bimbisara was overthrown and killed by his son, Prince Ajatashatru , who continued
7503-603: The Central Asian steppes and raising many of them to become loyal army slaves called Mamluks . Soon, Turks were migrating to Muslim lands and becoming Islamicized . Many of the Turkic Mamluk slaves eventually rose to become rulers and conquered large parts of the Muslim world , establishing Mamluk Sultanates from Egypt to present-day Afghanistan , before turning their attention to the Indian subcontinent. It
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7686-659: The Deccan region also marked campaigns of destruction and desecration temples, for example, the Svayambhu Shiva Temple and the Thousand Pillar Temple in Warangal . Revolts against Muhammad bin Tughlaq began in 1327, continued over his reign, and over time the geographical reach of the Sultanate shrunk. The Vijayanagara Empire originated in southern India as a direct response to attacks from
7869-887: The Delhi Sultanate into southern India with the help of Indian slave generals such as Malik Kafur and Khusro Khan . They collected much war booty (anwatan) from those they defeated. His commanders collected war spoils and paid ghanima (Arabic: الْغَنيمَة, a tax on spoils of war), which helped strengthen the Khalji rule. Among the spoils was the Warangal loot that included the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond. Ala ud-Din Khalji changed tax policies, raising agriculture taxes from 20% to 50% (payable in grain and agricultural produce), eliminating payments and commissions on taxes collected by local chiefs, banning socialization among his officials as well as inter-marriage between noble families to help prevent any opposition forming against him, and he cut salaries of officials, poets, scholars. These tax policies and spending controls strengthened his treasury to pay
8052-678: The Delhi Sultanate was characterized by greater government involvement in the economy relative to the Classical Hindu dynasties, and increased penalties for private businesses that broke government regulations. Alauddin Khalji replaced the private markets with four centralized government-run markets, appointed a "market controller", and implemented strict price controls on all kinds of goods, "from caps to socks ; from combs to pins ; from vegetables to soups , from sweetmeats to chapatis " (according to Ziauddin Barani [c. 1357] ). The price controls were inflexible even during droughts. Capitalist investors were completely banned from participating in
8235-410: The Delhi Sultanate was responsible for making India more multicultural and cosmopolitan. The establishment of the Delhi Sultanate in India has been compared to the expansion of the Mongol Empire and called "part of a larger trend occurring throughout much of Eurasia, in which nomadic people migrated from the steppes of Inner Asia and became politically dominant". According to Angus Maddison , between
8418-442: The Delhi Sultanate were left in a state of anarchy, chaos, and pestilence. Nasir ud-Din Mahmud Shah Tughlaq, who had fled to Gujarat during Timur's invasion, returned and nominally ruled as the last ruler of the Tughlaq dynasty, as a puppet of the various factions at the court. The Sayyid dynasty was founded by Khizr Khan and it ruled the Delhi Sultanate from 1415 to 1451. Members of the dynasty derived their title, Sayyid , or
8601-411: The Delhi Sultanate, and liberated south India from the Delhi Sultanate's rule. In the 1330s, Muhammad bin Tughlaq ordered an invasion of China, sending part of his forces over the Himalayas . However, they were defeated by the Kangra State . During his reign, state revenues collapsed from his policies such as the base metal coins from 1329 to 1332. Famines, widespread poverty, and rebellion grew across
8784-431: The Delhi Sultanate, the Mongol Empire may have been successful in invading India. The strength of the armies changes according to time. Historians state the Delhi sultanate during the Khalji dynasty maintained 300,000–400,000 horse cavalry and 2500–3000 war elephant as a standing army. Its successor state, the Tughlaq dynasty further expanded into 500,000 horse cavalry in their force. Some historians argue that
8967-418: The Delhi Sultanate. He was succeeded by Firuz Shah Tughlaq (1351–1388), who tried to regain the old kingdom, boundary by waging a war with Bengal for 11 months in 1359. However, Bengal did not fall. Firuz Shah ruled for 37 years. His reign was marked with prosperity much of which was due to the wise and capable Grand Vizier, Khan-i-Jahan Maqbul, a South Indian Telugu Muslim. His reign attempted to stabilize
9150-412: The Delhi army retreated. In 1425, great-grandsons of Bahadur Nahar named Khanzada Jalal Khan and Khanzada Abdul Qadir Khan (Jallu and Qaddu) revolted against Delhi Sultanate but were defeated by Delhi Sultan Mubarak Shah (1421– 1434 CE) who overran Mewat and killed Qaddu. Jallu continued the native Mewati rebellion against the Delhi sultanate, in 1427, the Mewati army fortified themselves for one year in
9333-613: The Deputy Commissioner of Gurgaon. The British decided to withdraw and without a commonly accepted leader, the Meos ousted the British and formed their own government under the different chaudharies of the villages. Meos continued to fight the British for up to 2 months after Delhi was reconquered by the British. After the British reconquered Gurgaon, many leaders of the rebellion were hanged to death, including Raja Nahar Singh of Ballabgarh. The prominent Meo leaders who were hanged to death include Sharfuddin Mewati, Saadat Khan Mewati and his family, Chaudhary Firoz Shah Mewati. Majlis Khan (who
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#17327662096509516-465: The Ghurid conqueror Muhammad Ghori , who routed the Rajput Confederacy , led by Ajmer ruler Prithviraj Chauhan , in 1192 near Tarain in a reversal of an earlier battle . As a successor to the Ghurid dynasty, the Delhi Sultanate was originally one of several principalities ruled by the Turkic slave-generals of Muhammad Ghori, including Taj al-Din Yildiz , Qutb ud-Din Aibak , Bahauddin Tughril and Nasir ad-Din Qabacha , that had inherited and divided
9699-494: The Ghurid territories amongst themselves. Khalji and Tughlaq rule ushered a new wave of rapid and continual Muslim conquests deep into South India . The sultanate finally reached the peak of its geographical reach during the Tughlaq dynasty, occupying most of the Indian subcontinent under Muhammad bin Tughluq . A major political transformation occurred across North India , triggered by the Central Asian king Timur 's devastating raid on Delhi in 1398, followed soon afterwards by
9882-407: The Harappan urbanisation which had been abandoned. The early Indo-Aryan presence probably corresponds, in part, to the Ochre Coloured Pottery culture in archaeological contexts. At the end of the Rigvedic period, the Aryan society expanded from the north-western region of the Indian subcontinent into the western Ganges plain. It became increasingly agricultural and was socially organised around
10065-492: The Hindu rulers. He also attacked, defeated, executed Taj al-Din Yildiz , who asserted his rights as heir to Mu'izz ad-Din Muhammad Ghori. Iltutmish's rule lasted until 1236. Following his death, the Delhi Sultanate saw a succession of weak rulers, disputing Muslim nobility, assassinations, and short-lived tenures. Power shifted from Rukn ud-Din Firuz to Razia Sultana and others, until Ghiyas ud-Din Balban came to power and ruled from 1266 to 1287. Ghiyasuddin Balban destroyed
10248-405: The Indian subcontinent by hominins was sporadic until approximately 700,000 years ago, and was geographically widespread by approximately 250,000 years ago. According to a historical demographer of South Asia, Tim Dyson: Modern human beings— Homo sapiens —originated in Africa. Then, intermittently, sometime between 60,000 and 80,000 years ago, tiny groups of them began to enter the north-west of
10431-442: The Indian subcontinent with Central Asia. After the Kalinga War , the Empire experienced nearly half a century of peace and security under Ashoka. Mauryan India also enjoyed an era of social harmony, religious transformation, and expansion of scientific knowledge. Chandragupta Maurya's embrace of Jainism increased social and religious renewal and reform across his society, while Ashoka's embrace of Buddhism has been said to have been
10614-577: The Indian subcontinent. Muhammad bin Tughlaq was an intellectual, with extensive knowledge of the Quran, Fiqh , poetry and other fields. He was also deeply suspicious of his kinsmen and wazirs (ministers), extremely severe with his opponents, and took decisions that caused economic upheaval. For example, he ordered the minting of coins from base metals with face value of silver coins – a decision that failed because ordinary people minted counterfeit coins from base metal they had in their houses and used them to pay taxes and jizya . Muhammad bin Tughlaq chose
10797-416: The Indian subcontinent. The East India Company , acting as a sovereign force on behalf of the British government , gradually acquired control of huge areas of India between the middle of the 18th and the middle of the 19th centuries. Policies of company rule in India led to the Indian Rebellion of 1857 . India was afterwards ruled directly by the British Crown , in the British Raj . After World War I ,
10980-527: The Indian subcontinent. India previously already had highly sophisticated agriculture, food crops, textiles, medicine, minerals, and metals. Water wheels also previously existed in India, as described by various Chinese monks and Arab travellers and writers in their books. During the Delhi Sultanate, various mechanical devices were introduced from the Islamic world to India, such as geared water-raising wheels and other machines with gears, pulleys , cams , and cranks . Later, Mughal emperor Babur provided
11163-630: The Indian subcontinent. It seems likely that initially they came by way of the coast. It is virtually certain that there were Homo sapiens in the subcontinent 55,000 years ago, even though the earliest fossils that have been found of them date to only about 30,000 years before the present. According to Michael D. Petraglia and Bridget Allchin : Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonisation of South Asia by modern humans originating in Africa. ... Coalescence dates for most non-European populations average to between 73–55 ka. Historian of South Asia, Michael H. Fisher , states: Scholars estimate that
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#173276620965011346-534: The Kotla village of present-day Nuh. Bahadur Nahar had helped Abu Bakr Shah , the grandson of Tughlaq, in expelling Abu Bakr's uncle, Ghiyath-ud-din Tughluq Shah , from Delhi and in establishing the Abu Bakr Shah on the throne. After the fall of Tughlaq dynasty in 1398, Nahar Khan reconciled with Timur . In 1420, during the era of Nahar Khan's grandson, Khanzada Feroz Khan , Mewat was attacked by Sultan Khizr Khan of Delhi Sayyid dynasty . The Mewati army fortified themselves for one year in Kotla Fort , after which
11529-403: The Mamluk dynasty. Aibak reigned as the Sultan of Delhi for four years, from 1206 to 1210. Aibak was praised by the contemporary and later accounts for his generosity and due to this was called with the sobriquet of Lakhbaksh . (giver of lakhs) After Aibak died, Aram Shah assumed power in 1210, but he was assassinated in 1211 by Aibak's son-in-law, Shams ud-Din Iltutmish . Iltutmish's power
11712-499: The Meo peasantry and increased the land revenue and other taxes in his dominion, which directly affected the Meo population. The agriculturist farmers and peasants in the Alwarr region were the Meos who were already living under heavy taxation and miserable life. The enhanced tax was the great burden on Meo peasants and beyond their paying capacity so the Meo peasants showed their resentment and decided not to pay taxes and revenue until they were reduced. Chaudhary Mohammad Yasin Khan led
11895-403: The Meos in their struggle. The rebellion was called the Alwar Movement. It was a big challenge for Raja Jai Singh and he attempted the movement. Having failed in his attempt to the control the Meos struggle, the Raja switched the entire movement into a communal movement. The Muslims of Alwar were forced to abandon the city. They camped near Jama Masjid in Delhi and demanded central intervention by
12078-409: The Meos threw themselves into the war with the British and the Khanzada Rajputs . The Khanzadas allying with the British as well as the historical class divide between the Meos and Khanzadas were the main reason as to why the Meos turned against them. During the Siege of Delhi , the Meos enthroned Bahadur Shah Zafar as the emperor of India. Mufti Nizamuddin of Lahore and his Fatwa issued against
12261-502: The Mughal army and urban populations. Control over Mewat was crucial for safeguarding Agra and Delhi. The Khanzadas were absorbed into the Mughal polity as zamindars, while the Meos were employed in lower administrative roles. Akbar employed many Meo boys as post carriers and palace guards, transforming them from notorious thieves to loyal servants. This integration extended to social assimilation, with Meos starting to adopt Islamic customs and rituals due to their regular interaction with
12444-516: The Mughal court. This also created a greater social divide between the Khanzada Rajputs and the Meos . Akbar also utilized Mewat's resources by setting up horse-training centers, utilizing local artisans and trainers. The region was known for salt and iron production, with significant trade in these commodities. During the Mughal period, the qasbas in Mewat served various functions, from pargana headquarters to centers of trade and manufacturing. The administrative integration of Mewat also contributed to
12627-419: The Muslim intrusions and later Muslim invasions were not dissimilar to those of the earlier invasions during the 1st millennium. By 962 AD, Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms in South Asia faced a series of raids from Muslim armies from Central Asia. Among them was Mahmud of Ghazni , the son of a Turkic Mamluk military slave, who raided and plundered kingdoms in northern India from east of the Indus river to west of
12810-406: The Panchala kingdom. The archaeological PGW (Painted Grey Ware) culture, which flourished in north-eastern India's Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh regions from about 1100 to 600 BCE, is believed to correspond to the Kuru and Panchala kingdoms. During the Late Vedic Period, the kingdom of Videha emerged as a new centre of Vedic culture, situated even farther to the East (in what
12993-465: The Partition and the British leaving India were significant factors for the violence. The Meos were unable to rely on British protection as they had in the past. Earlier Kathumar , Nadbai , Kumher , Kherli , Bhusawar , Weir and till Mahwa was heavily populated with the Meo population. The population of Meos drastically decreased in Alwar and Bharatpur . An estimated 300,000 Meos including women and children were killed in riots that took place in
13176-664: The State of Bharatpur, Alwar and Jaipur and around four thousand mosques were destroyed. The violence of 1947 naturally altered the syncretic Hindu-Muslim lifestyle of people to a greater extent in the region. The violence, alongside the reformist movement of Tablighi Jamaat , lead the Meos to embrace a more Islamic identity in contrast to the Hindu nationalist ideology held by the kings, including Sawai Tej Singh Naruka . During this period, around eight lakh Mewatis had decided to leave for Pakistan. On 19 December 1947, Mahatma Gandhi visited
13359-468: The Sultanate's control. Over the course of 20 years and three major campaigns, Balban killed around two thousand Meos. In 1247, Balban led his first invasion of Mewat. The local Meo chief, Ransi Ran Pal (also known as Ant Pal), had provided refuge to a Delhi rebel leader, prompting Balban's intervention. Balban's forces engaged in a pitched battle, resulting in heavy casualties among the Mewatis and forcing
13542-592: The Turco-Afghani regular units named Wajih , which were composed of elite household cavalry archers who came from slave backgrounds. A major military contribution of the Delhi Sultanate was their successful campaigns repelling the Mongol Empire 's invasions of India , which could have been devastating for the Indian subcontinent, like the Mongol invasions of China , Persia and Europe . Were it not for
13725-653: The Vedic people in northern India (1500–500 BCE) was marked by the composition of their extensive collections of hymns ( Vedas ). The social structure was loosely stratified via the varna system , incorporated into the highly evolved present-day Jāti system. The pastoral and nomadic Indo-Aryans spread from the Punjab into the Gangetic plain . Around 600 BCE, a new, interregional culture arose; then, small chieftaincies ( janapadas ) were consolidated into larger states ( mahajanapadas ). Second urbanization took place, which came with
13908-664: The Yamuna river seventeen times between 997 and 1030. Mahmud of Ghazni raided the treasuries but retreated each time, only extending Islamic rule into western Punjab. The series of raids on northern and western Indian kingdoms by Muslim warlords continued after Mahmud of Ghazni. The raids did not establish or extend the permanent boundaries of the Islamic kingdoms. In contrast, the Ghurid Sultan Mu'izz ad-Din Muhammad Ghori (commonly known as Muhammad of Ghor) began
14091-421: The adjoining areas, thousands of Meo were displaced from Alwar and Bharatpur States . Many thousands were killed. They shifted to Gurgaon and many went to Pakistan . Bacchu Singh, the prince of Bharatpur and son of Raja Brijendra Singh , played a main role in this act of ethnic cleansing . Although the Meos had previously had a good relationships with the Alwar and Bharatpur States, the communal tensions of
14274-744: The amirs and chiefs. Ibrahim Lodi was unable to consolidate his power, and after Jalal Khan's death, the governor of Punjab, Daulat Khan Lodi , reached out to the Mughal Babur and invited him to attack the Delhi Sultanate. Babur defeated and killed Ibrahim Lodi in the Battle of Panipat in 1526. The death of Ibrahim Lodi ended the Delhi Sultanate, and the Mughal Empire replaced it. The historian Peter Jackson explains in The New Cambridge History of Islam : "The elite of
14457-464: The area of the earliest known cultivation of rice in South Asia and by 1800 BCE was the location of an advanced Neolithic population associated with the sites of Chirand and Chechar". In this region, the Śramaṇic movements flourished, and Jainism and Buddhism originated. The time between 800 BCE and 400 BCE witnessed the composition of the earliest Upanishads , which form the theoretical basis of classical Hinduism , and are also known as
14640-680: The assassination of the then-emperor Brihadratha by his general Pushyamitra Shunga . Shunga would form the Shunga Empire in the north and north-east of the subcontinent, while the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom would claim the north-west and found the Indo-Greek Kingdom . Various parts of India were ruled by numerous dynasties, including the Gupta Empire , in the 4th to 6th centuries CE. This period, witnessing
14823-455: The battle, Hasan Khan Mewati was struck by a cannonball that hit his chest. the injury proved fatal, and Hasan Khan Mewati lost his life in the midst of the battle. The consequences of the Battle of Khanwa affected the fortunes of a number of Indian chiefs, though in varying degrees, but the Khanzadas of Mewat were the worst hit. The territory of Mewat was annexed by Babur and this shifted
15006-475: The beginning of urban civilisation on the Indian subcontinent. It included cities such as Harappa , Ganweriwal , and Mohenjo-daro in modern-day Pakistan, and Dholavira , Kalibangan , Rakhigarhi , and Lothal in modern-day India. Inhabitants of the ancient Indus River valley, the Harappans, developed new techniques in metallurgy and handicraft, and produced copper, bronze, lead, and tin. The civilisation
15189-573: The city of Deogiri in the present-day Indian state of Maharashtra (renaming it Daulatabad ), as the second administrative capital of the Delhi Sultanate. He ordered a forced migration of the Muslim population of Delhi, including his royal family, the nobles, Syeds, Sheikhs and 'Ulema to settle in Daulatabad. The purpose of transferring the entire Muslim elite to Daulatabad was to enrol them in his mission of world conquest. He saw their role as propagandists who would adapt Islamic religious symbolism to
15372-630: The concept of the cycle of birth and death, the concept of samsara , and the concept of liberation. Buddha found a Middle Way that ameliorated the extreme asceticism found in the Śramaṇa religions. Around the same time, Mahavira (the 24th Tirthankara in Jainism) propagated a theology that was to later become Jainism. However, Jain orthodoxy believes the teachings of the Tirthankaras predates all known time and scholars believe Parshvanatha (c. 872 – c. 772 BCE), accorded status as
15555-636: The conflict, Babur took Hasan Khan Mewati's son as a hostage. Despite the defeat, Hasan Khan Mewati did not yield to the foreign invader. Babur had stated that Hasan Khan Mewati was the leader of the ‘Mewat country’. Following the Battle of Panipat, Hasan Khan Mewati aligned himself with Rana Sanga to continue the fight against Babur and the Mughal Empire. In March 15, 1527, the Battle of Khanwa occurred, between Rana Sanga of Mewar and Babur. Hasan Khan Mewati, once again, went against Babur and joined
15738-661: The construction of the Qutb Minar but died before it was completed. It was later completed by his son-in-law, Iltutmish. The Quwwat-ul-Islam (Might of Islam) Mosque was built by Aibak, now a UNESCO world heritage site. The Qutub Minar Complex was expanded by Iltutmish, and later by Ala ud-Din Khalji in the early 14th century. During the Mamluk dynasty, many nobles from Afghanistan and Persia migrated and settled in India, as West Asia came under Mongol siege. The Khalji dynasty
15921-517: The control of Mewat from the Khanzadas to the Mughals. The Khanzadas ceased to be a significantly influential regional political entity. Nevertheless, the Mughal emperors endeavored to integrate the Khanzadas by establishing matrimonial alliances or incorporating them into the administration. For example, when Humayun regained his power in 1555 CE, he sought to consolidate his position by marrying
16104-486: The cultural and political landscape of India. The early modern period began in the 16th century, when the Mughal Empire conquered most of the Indian subcontinent, signaling the proto-industrialisation , becoming the biggest global economy and manufacturing power. The Mughals suffered a gradual decline in the early 18th century, largely due to the rising power of the Marathas , who took control of extensive regions of
16287-499: The dating of fluvial sediments , have not been independently verified. The oldest hominin fossil remains in the Indian subcontinent are those of Homo erectus or Homo heidelbergensis , from the Narmada Valley in central India, and are dated to approximately half a million years ago. Older fossil finds have been claimed, but are considered unreliable. Reviews of archaeological evidence have suggested that occupation of
16470-457: The daughter of Jamal Khan. During the reign of Akbar, the Mewat region was integrated into the Mughal Empire , divided into four sarkars—Alwar, Tijara, Sahar, and Rewari—comprising 67 parganas within the subas of Agra and Delhi. The region's strategic location was economically advantageous due to its suitability for cash crops like indigo, sugarcane, and cotton, and its proximity to Agra and Delhi facilitated grain transport, essential for feeding
16653-788: The death of Aurangzeb, Badshapur was under the Hindu Badgurjar King, Hathi Singh and the Nuh area were under the Jat king of Bharatpur State , Maharaja Suraj Mal . The Maratha ruler, Mahadaji Shinde , had conquered most of the region from the Jats and northern Mewat came under the Maratha Confederacy . All of the Gurgaon district area of Punjab (which consisted of present-day districts of Faridabad, Rewari, and Mahendargah and Nuh)
16836-479: The descendants of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad , based on the claim that they belonged to his lineage through his daughter Fatima . Abraham Eraly thinks his forebears were likely that Khizr Khan's ancestors were likely descendants of an Arab family who had long ago settled in the region of Multan during the early Tughluq period, but he doubts his Sayyid lineage. A.L. Srivastava shares a similar viewpoint. According to Richard M. Eaton and Simon Digby , Khizr Khan
17019-697: The development of the Hindustani language and Indo-Islamic architecture . It was also one of the few powers to repel attacks by the Mongols (from the Chagatai Khanate ) and saw the enthronement of one of the few female rulers in Islamic history , Razia Sultana , who reigned from 1236 to 1240. Their treatment of Hindus, Buddhists, and other dharmic faiths are generally perceived to be unfavourable, as mass forcible conversions were popular during
17202-585: The earliest supposed records of this region and its surroundings can be found in the Mahabharata . The Bhadanakas are clearly related to the ancient Bhadras mentioned in the Sanskrit epic as a republic or oligarchy that Karna conquered during his expeditions. These Bhadanakas are located in the Rewari - Bhiwani area, and Bhadavasa, a present-day village located nearby confirms their historic presence. After
17385-486: The early Delhi sultanate comprised overwhelmingly first-generation immigrants from Iran and Central Asia : Persians , Turks , Ghūrīs , Khalaj from the hot regions ( garmsīr ) of modern Afghanistan ". Medieval scholars such as Isami and Barani suggested that the prehistory of the Delhi Sultanate lay in the Ghaznavid state and that its ruler, Mahmud Ghaznavi, provided the foundation and inspiration integral in
17568-468: The eastern part of the Indian subcontinent—including parts of the trans- Vindhyan region. Ancient Buddhist texts , like the Aṅguttara Nikāya , make frequent reference to these sixteen great kingdoms and republics— Anga , Assaka , Avanti , Chedi , Gandhara , Kashi , Kamboja , Kosala , Kuru , Magadha , Malla , Matsya (or Machcha), Panchala , Surasena , Vṛji , and Vatsa . This period saw
17751-402: The elder daughter of Jamal Khan Mewati, the nephew of Hasan Khan . Simultaneously, his prominent Turkish noble, Bairam Khan , married the younger daughter. According to Arzang-i-Tijara , the infamous Mughal emperor, Akbar , also married the daughter of Hasan Khan’s brother, although this event is not recorded in Persian chronicles. Additionally, Akbar also married Bairam Khan ’s widow, who was
17934-600: The empire had fully occupied north-western India. The Mauryan Empire defeated Seleucus I , founder of the Seleucid Empire , during the Seleucid–Mauryan war , thus gained additional territory west of the Indus River. Chandragupta's son Bindusara succeeded to the throne around 297 BCE. By the time he died in c. 272 BCE, a large part of the Indian subcontinent was under Mauryan suzerainty. However,
18117-481: The era of Northern Black Polished Ware . The Mauryan Empire was based on a modern and efficient economy and society in which the sale of merchandise was closely regulated by the government. Although there was no banking in the Mauryan society, usury was customary. A significant amount of written records on slavery are found, suggesting a prevalence thereof. During this period, a high-quality steel called Wootz steel
18300-627: The expansionist policy of Magadha. During this period, Gautama Buddha , the founder of Buddhism, lived much of his life in the Magadha kingdom. He attained enlightenment in Bodh Gaya , gave his first sermon in Sarnath and the first Buddhist council was held in Rajgriha. The Haryanka dynasty was overthrown by the Shaishunaga dynasty ( c. 413–345 BCE). The last Shishunaga ruler, Kalasoka,
18483-735: The fall of the Maurya Empire , this place has seen foreign invaders like the Bactrians , Greeks , Parthians , Scythians , and the Kushanas . Samudragupta and Yashovarman had also ruled the area. The Mewat region was also part of the Harsha Empire during the first half of the century 7th century, then Gurjara-Pratiharas . The Tomaras , who were once the Pratiharas' feudatories but eventually gained independence, established
18666-523: The first successful expansion of the Homo sapiens range beyond Africa and across the Arabian Peninsula occurred from as early as 80,000 years ago to as late as 40,000 years ago, although there may have been prior unsuccessful emigrations. Some of their descendants extended the human range ever further in each generation, spreading into each habitable land they encountered. One human channel was along
18849-878: The food supply and reduce famines by commissioning an irrigation canal from the Yamuna river. An educated sultan, Firuz Shah left a memoir. In it he wrote that he banned the practice of torture, such as amputations, tearing out of eyes, sawing people alive, crushing people's bones as punishment, pouring molten lead into throats, setting people on fire, driving nails into hands and feet, among others. He also wrote that he did not tolerate attempts by Rafawiz Shia Muslim and Mahdi sects from proselytizing people into their faith, nor did he tolerate Hindus who tried to rebuild temples that his armies had destroyed. Firuz Shah Tughlaq also lists his accomplishments to include converting Hindus to Sunni Islam by announcing an exemption from taxes and jizya for those who convert, and by lavishing new converts with presents and honours. He also vastly expanded
19032-400: The form of grain were stored in the kingdom's storage. During famines that followed, these granaries ensured sufficient food for the army. Historians note Ala ud-Din Khalji as being a tyrant . Anyone Ala ud-Din suspected of being a threat to this power was killed along with the men, women, and children of that family. He grew to eventually distrust the majority of his nobles and favoured only
19215-773: The formation of the Śramaṇa movement, from which Jainism and Buddhism originated. The first Upanishads were written during this period. After 500 BCE, the so-called "second urbanisation" started, with new urban settlements arising at the Ganges plain. The foundations for the "second urbanisation" were laid prior to 600 BCE, in the Painted Grey Ware culture of the Ghaggar-Hakra and Upper Ganges Plain; although most PGW sites were small farming villages, "several dozen" PGW sites eventually emerged as relatively large settlements that can be characterised as towns,
19398-401: The former Ghurid territories in India. The sultanate's history is generally divided into five periods: Mamluk (1206–1290), Khalji (1290–1320), Tughlaq (1320–1414), Sayyid (1414–1451), and Lodi (1451–1526). It covered large swaths of territory in modern-day India , Pakistan , Bangladesh , as well as some parts of southern Nepal . The foundation of the Sultanate was established by
19581-547: The foundation of Delhi, then known as Dhillika , in 736 AD. The northern Mewat region was ruled by the Tomaras until Visaladeva (Chahamana) captured Delhi around the year 1156. In 1206, Muhammad of Ghor invaded Delhi and Qutb ud-Din Aibak became the first Sultan of Delhi. During his reign, Hemraj, the son of Prithviraj, was assigned to invade Mewat from Alwar, but he was defeated. Aibak then dispatched Sayyid Wajih-ud-Din, who
19764-536: The foundation of the reign of social and political peace and non-violence across India. Ashoka sponsored Buddhist missions across the Indo-Mediterranean , into Sri Lanka , Southeast Asia , West Asia , North Africa , and Mediterranean Europe . The Arthashastra written by Chanakya and the Edicts of Ashoka are the primary written records of the Mauryan times. Archaeologically, this period falls in
19947-678: The grandson of Firuz Shah Tughlaq who ruled from Delhi, and Nasir ud-Din Nusrat Shah Tughlaq , another relative of Firuz Shah Tughlaq who ruled from Firozabad , which was a few miles from Delhi. The battle between the two relatives continued until Timur's invasion in 1398. Timur , also known as Tamerlane in Western scholarly literature, was the Turkicized Mongol ruler of the Timurid Empire . He became aware of
20130-413: The growth of Agra continued during the Mughal Empire, after the end of the Delhi Sultanate. Sikandar Lodi died a natural death in 1517, and his second son Ibrahim Lodi assumed power. Ibrahim did not enjoy the support of Afghan and Persian nobles or regional chiefs. Ibrahim attacked and killed his elder brother Jalal Khan, who was installed as the governor of Jaunpur by his father and had the support of
20313-523: The hierarchy of the four varnas , or social classes. This social structure was characterised both by syncretising with the native cultures of northern India but also eventually by the exclusion of some indigenous peoples by labelling their occupations impure. During this period, many of the previous small tribal units and chiefdoms began to coalesce into Janapadas (monarchical, state-level polities). The Sanskrit epics Ramayana and Mahabharata were composed during this period. The Mahabharata remains
20496-539: The hills of Tijara, after which the Delhi army retreated. In 1526, Hasan Khan Mewati , the last Khanzada Rajput ruler of Mewat, supported Ibrahim Lodi , the Sultan of Delhi , in the first Battle of Panipat . This battle was a pivotal conflict between the founder of the Mughal Empire , Babur , and the Sultanate of Delhi , led by Ibrahim Lodi . In this battle, Babur emerged victorious, and Lodi lost his life. During
20679-414: The horse trade, animal and slave brokers were forbidden from collecting commissions, and private merchants were eliminated from all animal and slave markets. Bans were instituted against hoarding and regrating , granaries were nationalized and limits were placed on the amount of grain that could be used by cultivators for personal use. Various licensing rules were imposed. Registration of merchants
20862-593: The inhabitants migrated from the river valleys of Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra, towards the Himalayan foothills of Ganga-Yamuna basin. During the 2nd millennium BCE, Ochre Coloured Pottery culture was in Ganga Yamuna Doab region. These were rural settlements with agriculture and hunting. They were using copper tools such as axes, spears, arrows, and swords, and had domesticated animals. Starting c. 1900 BCE , Indo-Aryan tribes moved into
21045-591: The invasions of Timur and saw the advent of the Malwa , Gujarat , and Bahmani Sultanates, the last of which split in 1518 into the five Deccan sultanates . The wealthy Bengal Sultanate also emerged as a major power, lasting over three centuries. During this period, multiple strong Hindu kingdoms , notably the Vijayanagara Empire and the Rajput states , emerged and played significant roles in shaping
21228-536: The keep of his growing army; he also introduced price controls on all agricultural produce and goods in the kingdom, as well as controls on where, how, by whom these goods could be sold. Markets called "shahana-i-mandi" were created. Muslim merchants were granted exclusive permits and monopoly in these "mandis" to buy and resell at official prices. No one other than these merchants could buy from farmers or sell in cities. Those found violating these "mandi" rules were severely punished, often by mutilation. Taxes collected in
21411-548: The kingdom. In 1338 his nephew rebelled in Malwa, whom he attacked, caught, flayed alive, and killed ultimately. By 1339, the eastern regions under local Muslim governors and southern parts led by Hindu kings had revolted and declared independence from the Delhi Sultanate. Muhammad bin Tughlaq did not have the resources or support to respond to the shrinking kingdom. The historian Walford chronicled that Delhi and most of India faced severe famines during Muhammad bin Tughlaq's rule in
21594-435: The land and selecting, planting, tending, and harvesting particular grain-producing plants. They also domesticated animals, including sheep, goats, pigs, and oxen (both humped zebu [ Bos indicus ] and unhumped [ Bos taurus ]). Castrating oxen, for instance, turned them from mainly meat sources into domesticated draft-animals as well. The Bronze Age in the Indian subcontinent began around 3300 BCE. The Indus Valley region
21777-462: The largest of which were fortified by ditches or moats and embankments made of piled earth with wooden palisades. The Central Ganges Plain, where Magadha gained prominence, forming the base of the Maurya Empire , was a distinct cultural area, with new states arising after 500 BCE. It was influenced by the Vedic culture, but differed markedly from the Kuru-Panchala region. "It was
21960-525: The last Mauryan ruler, Brihadratha , was assassinated by Pushyamitra Shunga to establish the Shunga Empire . Under Chandragupta Maurya and his successors, internal and external trade, agriculture, and economic activities all thrived and expanded across India thanks to the creation of a single efficient system of finance, administration, and security. The Mauryans built the Grand Trunk Road , one of Asia's oldest and longest major roads connecting
22143-469: The latter of which resulting in conversion of significant parts of the population to Islam. The death of Firuz Shah Tughlaq created anarchy and disintegration of the kingdom. Firuz Shah's successor, Ghiyath-ud-Din Shah II was young and inexperienced and gave himself up to wine and pleasure. The nobles rose against him killed the Sultan and his vizier, and installed Abu Bakr Shah on the throne. However,
22326-415: The longest single poem in the world. Historians formerly postulated an "epic age" as the milieu of these two epic poems, but now recognise that the texts went through multiple stages of development over centuries. The existing texts of these epics are believed to belong to the post-Vedic age, between c. 400 BCE and 400 CE. The Iron Age in the Indian subcontinent from about 1200 BCE to
22509-422: The major cities of Delhi , Jaipur and Agra . The historical capital of the region is Alwar in modern day Rajasthan . Mewat is also part of the historical Braj region of India. The region roughly corresponds to the ancient kingdom of Matsya , founded in the 5th century BCE . There is little mention of the Mewat region in the classical era, although there are many speculative stories and legends. However,
22692-599: The making of the Delhi regime. The Mongol and Hindu monarchies were the great "Others" in these narratives and the Persianate and class-conscious, aristocratic virtues of the ideal state were creatively memorialized in the Ghaznavid state, now the templates for the Delhi Sultanate. Cast within a historical narrative it allowed for a more self-reflective, linear rooting of the Sultanate in the great traditions of Muslim statecraft. Over time, successive Muslim dynasties created
22875-485: The most dominant Jadaun Rajput chiefs in the region was Sonpar Pal , popularly known as Bahadur Nahar, whose tomb still stands at Alwar . Sonpar Pal converted to Islam through Firuz Shah Tughlaq in 1355 and adopted the new name, Nahar Khan Mewati (not to be confused with Jat king Nahar Singh ). He became the patriarch of Khanzada Rajputs . He had also constructed the Kotla Bahadur Nahar fort in
23058-703: The new district of Palwal . In 2016, the district was renamed from the Mewat district to the Nuh district to avoid confusion between the vast historical region and the district. The Nuh district, although was called Mewat, did not encompass the vast historical region, rather the district only a small part of it. History of India Anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago. The earliest known human remains in South Asia date to 30,000 years ago. Sedentariness began in South Asia around 7000 BCE; by 4500 BCE, settled life had spread, and gradually evolved into
23241-437: The nobility. Khusro Khan's reign lasted only a few months, when Ghazi Malik, later to be called Ghiyath al-Din Tughlaq , defeated and killed him and assumed power in 1320, thus ending the Khalji dynasty and starting the Tughlaq dynasty. The Tughlaq dynasty was a Turko-Mongol or Turkic Muslim dynasty, which lasted from 1320 to 1413. The first ruler was Ghiyath al-Din Tughlaq . Ghiyath al-Din ruled for five years and built
23424-690: The number of slaves in his service and those of Muslim nobles, who were converted to Islam, taught to read and memorize the Quran, and employed in many offices especially in the military, out of which he was able to amass a large army. These slaves were known as the Ghulaman-i-Firuz Shahi formed an elite guard which later became influential in the state. The reign of Firuz Shah Tughlaq was marked by reduction in extreme forms of torture, elimination of favours to select parts of society, but also increased intolerance and persecution of targeted groups,
23607-534: The old Ghulaman-i-Firuz Shahi turned against Abu Bakr, who fled, and on their invitation Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad Shah was installed on the throne. The anamalous institution of the Ghulaman-i-Firuz Shahi became a corrupting influence on the successive Sultans following Firuz Shah. The last rulers of this dynasty both called themselves Sultan from 1394 to 1397: Nasir ud-Din Mahmud Shah Tughlaq ,
23790-666: The paper may have arrived in Bengal from a separate route, as 15th-century Chinese traveller Ma Huan remarked that Bengali paper was white and made from "bark of a tree" similar to the Chinese method of papermaking (as opposed to the Middle-Eastern method of using rags and waste material), suggesting a direct route from China for the arrival of paper in Bengal and paper was already very well established and widespread in that part of
23973-423: The peasantization of the Meos, who gained zamindari rights over several parganas . This process intensified post-Akbar, with the Meos ' peasant households forming a significant part of Alwar state's population by the British era. However, this growth often came at the expense of the Khanzadas , who suffered socio-economic decline. During Aurangzeb (Akbar's great-grandson)'s rule, he sent Jai Singh I to crush
24156-475: The people including national leaders. Subsequently, in the area of Govindgarh , the army of Alwar State fired upon the Meos, killing hundreds of them and injuring many. The Meos began to demand to deploy the British army to save them from Maharaja's atrocities. In 1937, the British Government under the pressure of the Meos had to despose the Jai Singh Prabhakar to France in exile. He later died and
24339-621: The period. The rise of the Delhi Sultanate in India was part of a wider trend affecting much of the Asian continent, including the whole of southern and western Asia: the influx of nomadic Turkic peoples from the Central Asian steppes . This can be traced back to the 9th century when the Islamic Caliphate began fragmenting in the Middle East , where Muslim rulers in rival states began enslaving non-Muslim nomadic Turks from
24522-400: The politics and culture of the Mewat region to present-day. On 4 April 2005, the government of Haryana officially established the Mewat district , named after the historical region. The district was created by taking parts of the Gurgaon district ( Nuh , Ferozepur Jhirka , Punahana , Taoru ) and Hathin from the Faridabad district. However, in 2008, Hathin sub-division was reorganized into
24705-437: The power of the Corps of Forty , a council of 40 Turkic slaves who had played a role as kingmakers and had been independent of the Sultan. He was succeeded by 17-year-old Muiz ud-Din Qaiqabad , who appointed Jalal ud-Din Firuz Khalji as the commander of the army. Khalji assassinated Qaiqabad and assumed power in the Khalji Revolution , thus ending the Mamluk dynasty and starting the Khalji dynasty. Qutb al-Din Aibak initiated
24888-415: The power of the Sayyid dynasty faltering, Islam's history on the Indian subcontinent underwent a profound change, according to Schimmel. The previously dominant Sunni sect of Islam became diluted, alternate Muslim sects such as Shia rose, and new competing centres of Islamic culture took roots beyond Delhi. In the course of the late Sayyid dynasty, the Delhi Sultanate shrank until it became a minor power. By
25071-499: The re-emergence of rival Hindu powers such as Vijayanagara and Mewar asserting independence, and new Muslim sultanates such as the Bengal and Bahmani Sultanates breaking off. In 1526, Timurid ruler Babur invaded northern India and conquered the Sultanate , leading to its succession by the Mughal Empire . The establishment of the Sultanate drew the Indian subcontinent more closely into international and multicultural Islamic social and economic networks, as seen concretely in
25254-498: The rebels to flee. By 1260, the Mewatis had regrouped under a new leader, Malkha. In response to ongoing raids and unrest, Balban launched a second campaign. His forces captured Mewat's operations capital, and conducted a thorough and brutal suppression of the rebels. Over a twenty-day period, Balban's troops ravaged villages and executed many inhabitants. The campaign was noted for its cruelty, including public executions and severe punishments for captured rebels. In 1266, after ascending
25437-470: The region of Kalinga (around modern day Odisha ) remained outside Mauryan control, perhaps interfering with trade with the south. Bindusara was succeeded by Ashoka , whose reign lasted until his death in about 232 BCE. His campaign against the Kalingans in about 260 BCE, though successful, led to immense loss of life and misery. This led Ashoka to shun violence, and subsequently to embrace Buddhism. The empire began to decline after his death and
25620-413: The region. This type of cruel treatment was common throughout the period of the Delhi Sultanate , and it became a standard way of treating the Meos. It seems that in spite of the Meos' conversion to Islam, they were just as turbulent as their Hindu ancestors and did not assimilate well with the Delhi Sultans. The last operation of Balban was so effectual that there is little to no mention of Mewat for over
25803-514: The region. Rahim Khan became the individual to re-unite the ethnic Meos that were scattered across India with the All India Meo Sabha organization. Tayyab Husain due to the region of Mewat spanning across different regions and states became the first and only person to date in Indian political history to serve as a cabinet minister for three separate state governments at three different times. The legacy of Tayyab Husain , Khurshid Ahmed and Rahim Khan continue to have significant influence in
25986-399: The revolting Khanzada chief Ikram Khan, the Jagir of Tijara , a descendant of Raja Nahar Khan (through his son Malik Alaudin Khan ). Aurangzeb was responsible for major conversations to Islam in the Mewat region. As generations passed and as most of the Meos became Muslim, the ethnic term 'Meo' became specific and almost synonymous with the term Muslim, which is in effect till date. After
26169-442: The rhetoric of empire, and that the Sufis could by persuasion bring many of the inhabitants of the Deccan to become Muslim. Tughluq cruelly punished the nobles who were unwilling to move to Daulatabad seeing their non-compliance with his order as equivalent to rebellion. According to Ferishta, when the Mongols arrived in Punjab, the Sultan returned the elite to Delhi, although Daulatabad remained an administrative centre. One result of
26352-450: The rise of multiple imperial powers from the middle of the fifth century. The Chola dynasty conquered southern India in the 11th century. In the early medieval period, Indian mathematics , including Hindu numerals , influenced the development of mathematics and astronomy in the Arab world , including the creation of the Hindu-Arabic numeral system . Islamic conquests made limited inroads into modern Afghanistan and Sindh as early as
26535-571: The rise of new ascetic movements and religious concepts, including the rise of Jainism and Buddhism . The latter was synthesized with the preexisting religious cultures of the subcontinent, giving rise to Hinduism . Chandragupta Maurya overthrew the Nanda Empire and established the first great empire in ancient India, the Maurya Empire . India's Mauryan king Ashoka is widely recognised for his historical acceptance of Buddhism and his attempts to spread nonviolence and peace across his empire. The Maurya Empire would collapse in 185 BCE, on
26718-522: The ruler, then proceeded east to make claims on Bihar . The Muslim governors of Bihar agreed to pay tribute and taxes but operated independently of the Delhi Sultanate. Sikandar Lodi led a campaign of destruction of temples, particularly around Mathura . He also moved his capital and court from Delhi to Agra , an ancient Hindu city that had been destroyed during the plunder and attacks of the early Delhi Sultanate period. Sikandar thus erected buildings with Indo-Islamic architecture in Agra during his rule, and
26901-425: The second major rise of urbanism in India after the Indus Valley Civilisation . Early "republics" or gaṇasaṅgha , such as Shakyas , Koliyas , Mallakas , and Licchavis had republican governments. Gaṇasaṅgha s, such as the Mallakas, centered in the city of Kusinagara , and the Vajjika League , centred in the city of Vaishali , existed as early as the 6th century BCE and persisted in some areas until
27084-442: The sixteen Mahajanapadas ( Sanskrit : "Great Realms") or kingdoms in ancient India . The core of the kingdom was the area of Bihar south of the Ganges ; its first capital was Rajagriha (modern Rajgir) then Pataliputra (modern Patna ). Magadha expanded to include most of Bihar and Bengal with the conquest of Licchavi and Anga respectively, followed by much of eastern Uttar Pradesh and Orissa. The ancient kingdom of Magadha
27267-438: The subcontinent. By this is meant circumstances where a subgroup—such as a tribe—derives from a tiny number of 'original' individuals. Further, compared to most world regions, the subcontinent's people are relatively distinct in having practised comparatively high levels of endogamy. Settled life emerged on the subcontinent in the western margins of the Indus River alluvium approximately 9,000 years ago, evolving gradually into
27450-468: The sultanate's rule and large-scale desecrations of Hindu and Buddhist temples, including universities and libraries took place. Mongolian raids on West and Central Asia set the scene for centuries of migration of fleeing soldiers, intelligentsia, mystics, traders, artists, and artisans from those regions into the subcontinent , thereby establishing Islamic culture there. Although conventionally named after its principal capital city, Delhi ,
27633-399: The terminology applied to domains under Delhi Sultanate was often unspecified. It was called as "Empire of Delhi" ( Persian : Mamalik-i-Delhi) by Juzjani and Barani while Ibn Battuta called the empire under Muhammad bin Tughlaq as " Hind and Sind ". The Delhi Sultanate was also known as the "Empire of Hindustan " ( Persian : Mamalik-i-Hindustan) , a name that gained currency during
27816-413: The thousands of years of history. Paper had already reached some parts of India as early as the 6th or 7th century, initially through Chinese travellers and the ancient silk road which India was very well connected with. Earlier some historians believed that paper failed to catch on as palmyra leaves and birch bark remained far more popular but this theory was discredited later on. On the other hand,
27999-407: The throne as Sultan, Balban conducted his third major campaign against Mewat. The Meo leader during this period was Kaku Rana, who attempted to resist Balban's forces with limited success. Balban's army subdued the region. The aftermath of this campaign saw the establishment of police posts and forts to maintain control, with Balban implementing policies to clear the forests and settle loyal soldiers in
28182-405: The time of the last Sayyid ruler, Alam Shah (whose name translated to "king of the world"), this resulted in a common northern Indian witticism, according to which the "kingdom of the king of the world extends from Delhi to Palam ", i.e. merely 13 kilometres (8.1 mi). Historian Richard M. Eaton noted that this saying showcased how the "once-mighty empire had become a joke". The Sayyid dynasty
28365-561: The traders. A network of spies was instituted to ensure the implementation of the system; even after price controls were lifted after Khalji's death, Barani claims that the fear of his spies remained and that people continued to avoid trading in expensive commodities. The sultanate enforced Islamic religious prohibitions on anthropomorphic representations in art. The army of the Delhi sultans initially consisted of nomadic Turkic Mamluk military slaves belonging to Muhammad of Ghor. The nucleus of this Southeast Asian sultanate military were
28548-449: The transfer of the elite to Daulatabad was the hatred of the nobility to the Sultan, which remained in their minds for a long time. The other result was that he managed to create a stable Muslim elite and result in the growth of the Muslim population of Daulatabad who did not return to Delhi, without which the rise of the Bahmanid kingdom to challenge the Vijayanagara kingdom would not have been possible. Muhammad bin Tughlaq's adventures in
28731-496: The ultimate justification for any ruler within the Islamic world was the protection and advancement of the faith. For the Sultans, as for their Ghaznavid and Ghurid predecessors, this entailed the suppression of heterodox Muslims, and Firuz Shah attached some importance to the fact that he had acted against the ashab-i had-u ibadat (deviators and latitudinarians). It also involved plundering and extorting tribute from, independent Hindu principalities. Firuz Shah, who believed that India
28914-516: The upper Gangetic Plain . The Peepal tree and cow were sanctified by the time of the Atharva Veda . Many of the concepts of Indian philosophy espoused later, like dharma , trace their roots to Vedic antecedents. Early Vedic society is described in the Rigveda , the oldest Vedic text, believed to have been compiled during the 2nd millennium BCE, in the north-western region of the Indian subcontinent. At this time, Aryan society consisted of predominantly tribal and pastoral groups, distinct from
29097-468: The village of Ghasera in the Nuh district and requested Meos not to leave India. Yasin Khan was responsible for bringing Gandhi to Ghasera. This is when Gandhi said his iconic quote: "You are the backbone of India, India belongs to you and you belong to India." Mahatama Gandhi championed the resettlement of some Meos in Laxmangarh , Nagar , Kaman , Deeg of Alwar district and Bharatpur district . Ghasera celebrate "Mewat Day" on 19 December as
29280-498: The warm and productive coastal lands of the Persian Gulf and northern Indian Ocean. Eventually, various bands entered India between 75,000 years ago and 35,000 years ago. Archaeological evidence has been interpreted to suggest the presence of anatomically modern humans in the Indian subcontinent 78,000–74,000 years ago, although this interpretation is disputed. The occupation of South Asia by modern humans, initially in varying forms of isolation as hunter-gatherers, has turned it into
29463-590: The weakness and quarrelling of the rulers of the Delhi Sultanate, so he marched with his army to Delhi, plundering and killing all the way. Estimates for the massacre by Timur in Delhi range from 100,000 to 200,000 people. Timur had no intention of staying in or ruling India. He looted the lands he crossed, then plundered and burnt Delhi. Over fifteen days, Timur and his army raged a massacre. Then he collected wealth, captured women and men and children, and enslaved people (particularly skilled artisans), and returning with this loot to Samarkand. The people and lands within
29646-421: The years 1000 and 1500, India's GDP , of which the sultanates represented a significant part, grew nearly 8% to $ 60.5 billion in 1500. Though the overall the percentage of the GDP share reduced from 33% to 22% According to Maddison's estimates, India's population grew from 85 million in 1200 to 101 million in 1500 AD in the period. The Delhi Sultanate period coincided with more use of mechanical technology in
29829-512: The years after the base metal coin experiment. In 1335, Jalaluddin Ahsan Khan, a Sayyid native of Kaithal in North India, revolted and founded the Madurai Sultanate in South India. By 1347, the Bahmani Sultanate had become independent through the rebellion of Ismail Mukh . It became a competing Muslim kingdom in the Deccan region of South Asia, founded by Ala-ud-Din Bahman Shah . Muhammad bin Tughlaq died in 1351 while trying to chase and punish people in Gujarat who were rebelling against
30012-578: Was a Punjabi chieftain from Khokhar clan. The Timurid invasion and plunder had left the Delhi Sultanate in shambles, and little is known about the rule by the Sayyid dynasty. Annemarie Schimmel notes the first ruler of the dynasty as Khizr Khan, who assumed power as a vassal of the Timurid Empire . His authority was questioned even by those near Delhi. His successor was Mubarak Khan, who renamed himself Mubarak Shah, discontinued his father's nominal allegiance to Timur and unsuccessfully tried to regain lost territories in Punjab from Khokhar warlords. With
30195-405: Was a surge in communal tension when Jinnah demanded for the separate Muslim nation of Pakistan as a result of which Partition of India was proposed by the British rulers. As Meos professed Islam, a branch of the All India Muslim League was established in the area and a significant number of Meos became members of the organization. During 1947, Communal riots broke out in Alwar, Bharatpur and
30378-431: Was also defeated. It was Wajih-ud-Din's nephew, Miran Hussain Jang, who then conquered Mewat. Meos , the native ethnic group of the region, were introduced to Islam and became Muslim under Qutb ud-Din's rule. In the mid-13th century, Ghias-ud-din Balban , who was once the regent of Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah (8th Sultan of Delhi), launched several brutal military campaigns against the Mewat region to consolidate and expand
30561-417: Was assassinated by Mahapadma Nanda in 345 BCE, the first of the so-called Nine Nandas (Mahapadma Nanda and his eight sons). The Nanda Empire ( c. 345–322 BCE), at its peak, extended from Bengal in the east, to the Punjab in the west and as far south as the Vindhya Range . The Nanda dynasty built on the foundations laid by their Haryanka and Shishunaga predecessors. Nanda empire have built
30744-408: Was assassinated in 1206, by Ismāʿīlī Shia Muslims. After the assassination, one of Ghori's slaves (or Mamluks), the Turkic Qutb al-Din Aibak, assumed power, becoming the first Sultan of Delhi. Qutb al-Din Aibak , a former slave of Mu'izz ad-Din Muhammad Ghori , was the first ruler of the Delhi Sultanate. Aibak was of Turkic Cuman - Kipchak origin, and due to his lineage, his dynasty is known as
30927-405: Was changed into a Muslim nation, declared that "no zimmi living in a Musalman country might dare to act". The Hindu kingdoms who submitted to Islamic rule qualified as "protected peoples" according to the wide spectrum of the educated Muslim community within the subcontinent. The balance of the evidence is that in the latter half of the fourteenth century, if not before, the jizyah was levied as
31110-401: Was close to Rao Tula Ram ) and Sadruddin Meo were also lead players in the revolt. After the rebellion was over, all of the Gurgaon district (modern-day Palwal , Faridabad , Nuh and Gurugram ) passed to the direct control of British rule, whereas the other southern parts of the Mewat region remained with the kings of Alwar and Bharatpur . During the colonial era, religious syncretism
31293-448: Was conquered by French generals in late 18th century. Daulat Rao Sindhia , the successor of Shinde, ceded the Gurgaon region to the British on 30 December 1803 under the Treaty of Surji-Anjangaon to the British East India Company leading to the Company rule in India . During the British Raj , the east and west of Mewat came under the Alwar State and the Bharatpur State . These kingdoms were princely states that were entities of
31476-411: Was conquered by the Grand Vizier Nusrat Khan Jalesari , the kingdom of Malwa by Ainul Mulk Multani , as well as Rajputana . However, these victories were cut short because of Mongol attacks and plunder raids from the northwest. The Mongols withdrew after plundering and stopped raiding northwest parts of the Delhi Sultanate. After the Mongols withdrew, Ala ud-Din Khalji continued to expand
31659-401: Was cremated in Alwar. The new Maharaja, Sawai Tej Singh Naruka , finally conceded the demands and reduced one-fourth of the land revenue that he was demanding in taxes. Illegal taxes and beggars were also declared unlawful. The Alwar Movement greatly influenced the Bharatpur State as well. Raja Brijendra Singh of Bharatpur decided not to take any risks by disturbing the Meos. He sent Batra,
31842-411: Was developed in south India and was later exported to China and Arabia. Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate or the Sultanate of Delhi also known as the Empire of Hindustan was a late medieval empire primarily based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent , for more than three centuries. The sultanate was established around c. 1206–1211 in
32025-413: Was displaced by the Lodi dynasty in 1451, however, resulting in a resurgence of the Delhi Sultanate. The Lodi dynasty was an Afghan, or Turco-Afghan dynasty, related to the Pashtun ( Afghan ) Lodi tribe . The founder of the dynasty, Bahlul Khan Lodi , was a Khalji of the Lodi clan. He started his reign by attacking the Muslim Jaunpur Sultanate to expand the influence of the Delhi Sultanate and
32208-448: Was murdered in 1296 by Muhammad Salim of Samana, on the orders of his nephew and son-in-law Juna Muhammad Khalji , who later came to be known as Ala ud-Din Khalji. Ala ud-Din began his military career as governor of Kara province, from where he led two raids on the Kingdom of Malwa (1292) and Devagiri (1294) for plunder and loot. After he acceded to the throne, expansions towards these kingdoms were renewed including Gujarat which
32391-457: Was of Turko-Afghan heritage. They were originally Turkic, but due to their long presence in Afghanistan, they were treated by others as Afghan as they adopted Afghan habits and customs. The first ruler of the Khalji dynasty was Jalal ud-Din Firuz Khalji . He was around 70 years old at the time of his ascension and was known as a mild-mannered, humble and kind monarch to the general public. Jalal ud-Din Firuz ruled for 6 years before he
32574-415: Was one of three early cradles of civilisation in the Old World ; the Indus Valley civilisation was the most expansive, and at its peak, may have had a population of over five million. The civilisation was primarily centred in modern-day Pakistan, in the Indus river basin, and secondarily in the Ghaggar-Hakra River basin. The mature Indus civilisation flourished from about 2600 to 1900 BCE, marking
32757-446: Was partially successful through a treaty. Thereafter, the region from Delhi to Varanasi (then at the border of Bengal province), was back under the influence of the Delhi Sultanate. After Bahlul Lodi died, his son Nizam Khan assumed power, renamed himself Sikandar Lodi and ruled from 1489 to 1517. One of the better-known rulers of the dynasty, Sikandar Lodi expelled his brother Barbak Shah from Jaunpur, installed his son Jalal Khan as
32940-437: Was precarious, and several Muslim amirs (nobles) challenged his authority as they had been supporters of Qutb al-Din Aibak. After a series of conquests and brutal executions of opposition, Iltutmish consolidated his power. His rule was challenged several times, such as by Qubacha, and this led to a series of wars. Iltutmish conquered Multan and Bengal from contesting Muslim rulers, as well as Ranthambore and Sivalik from
33123-424: Was required, and expensive goods such as certain fabrics were deemed "unnecessary" for the general public and required a permit from the state to be purchased. These licenses were issued to amirs , maliks , and other important persons in government. Agricultural taxes were raised to 50%. Traders regarded the regulations as burdensome, and violations were severely punished, leading to further resentment among
33306-406: Was seen throughout the Muslim Meos of the region. "The Meos (Muhammadans) of the eastern Punjab still participate in the observance of the Holi and Diwali festivals. On the latter occasion they paint the horns, hoofs, etc., of their bullocks and join in the general rejoicings" . In the 1920s the grassroots Islamic movement Tablighi Jamaat arose from this region under Muhammad Ilyas Kandhlawi as
33489-522: Was supported by non-Khalji nobles like Kamal al-Din Gurg . However, he lacked the support of the majority of Khalji's nobles who had him assassinated, hoping to take power for themselves. However, the new ruler had the killers of Kafur executed. The last Khalji ruler was Ala ud-Din Khalji's 18-year-old son Qutb ud-Din Mubarak Shah Khalji , who ruled for four years before he was killed by Khusro Khan, another slave-general with Hindu origins, who reverted from Islam and favoured his Hindu Baradu military clan in
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