Alexander Cunningham the first Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), often called the father of Indian archaeology. He used the accounts left by Chinese Buddhist pilgrims who had visited the subcontinent between the fourth and seventh centuries.
His central policy was that the state remained in a constant state of military preparedness but still flourished under conditions of unparalleled peace and prosperity. Eg: During his rule, the land between the Tungabhadra and Krishna rivers was acquired. The rulers of Odisha were subdued and severe defeats were inflicted on the Sultan of Bijapur yet there was peace in the empire.
Objectives resolution was a momentous resolution because: 1. It outlined the defining ideals of the Constitution of Independent India and provided the framework within which the work of constitution-making was to proceed. 2. It proclaimed India to be the Independent Sovereign Republic which guaranteed its citizens justice, equality and freedom, and safeguards for depressed classes.
There were residential buildings in the lower town. The houses were centered at courtyard with rooms on all sides. Every house had its own bathroom paved with bricks and it drained into the street drains. Many houses had wells also. On the citadel there were buildings that were used for special public purposes. Citadel was a platform that was on some height from ground level. There were warehouses made of bricks and wood. The Great bath was also situated in the citadel which was used for special public purposes such as ceremonial bath etc. The bath was surrounded by a corridor on all four sides, a tank in the center, stairs on two sides, and bathrooms on three sides. Mortar and gypsum were used. There was a big drain also which tells that the tank was cleaned from time to time. Therefore planned urban center is the most unique feature of the site of Mohenjodaro.
Mahabharata is a colossal epic running in its present form into over 1,00,000 verses with depictions of a wide range of social categories and situations, was composed for more than a.100 years. Therefore, Mahabharata is a suitable; text to give insight in familial and Kinfolk values of ancient times. Kinfolks are a large network of people defined as relatives. The kinfolks values which are depicted through episodes of Mahabharata are patriline, rules of marriage, the status of women, etc. Patriliny means tracing descent from father to son, grandson, and so on. We find that most of the families’ inheritance transcended to sons only. Only in a few cases do we find that it sometimes went to brothers also. Women had no claims on the resources of the household. Rules of marriage were defined along exogamy. Marrying outside the clan and relatives was considered good. Example: All Pandavas married for far-off reasons in India. Polygeny was a common practice for example Arjuna married more than one woman, but polyandry was also in practice sometimes, less often though, for example Draupadi had five husbands. There was gendered access to the property and therefore there was the practice of kanyadana or the gift of a daughter in marriage was an important religious duty of the father.
Ahimsa and Renunciation is a fundamental principle forming the cornerstone of its ethics and doctrine in Jainism. This concept of ahimsa left mark on the society of India and many philosophies evolved based on this concept. The concept of Ahimsa in Jainism is different from non-violence in other religions. It not only seeks non-violence to other beings but non-violence to self-soul. According to Mahavir, our soul is entrapped in this world, and unless we renunciate the world we are inflicting violence on our souls. In Jainism renunciation has not only to do with the abandonment of outer things but abandoning our attachment to the outer things is the real definition of renunciation. According to Lord Mahavir, external renunciation is meaningless if the soul remains fettered by internal shackles. Therefore, we need to practice asceticism and penance to free ourselves from the cycle of karma. For Example, Jaina monks and nuns took five vows: to abstain from killing, stealing, and lying, to observe celibacy, and to abstain from possessing property. These teachings were developed in texts in Prakrit, Sanskrit, and Tamil, thus spreading it across the world and leaving an impact.
Modern historians explain Magadha as the rqost powerful reason because of various reasons: 1. Magadha was a region where agriculture was especially productive. Agriculture was very important for the economy of any empire. 2. There is an abundance of minerals in the Magadh area, iron mines were accessible and provided resources for tools and weapons. 3. Magadh army was a powerful army and they had elephants in their army. Elephants were found in forests in the region. 4. Also, the Ganga and its tributaries provided a means of cheap and convenient communication, which is very important to have information about other kingdoms and served economy also. Changing the capital from Rajgriha to Pataliputra also helped because it commanded routes of communication along the Ganga. 5. Buddhist and Jaina writers also attributed its power to the policies of ruthlessly ambitious kings such as Bimbisara, Ajatasatru, and Mahapadmanand, etc. 6. There were five major political centers in the empire—the capital Pataliputra and the provincial centers of Taxila, Ujjayaini, Tosali, and Suvarnagiri. The empire ranged from the present-day northwest Frontier Provinces of Pakistan to Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Uttarakhand in India, thus signifying the power of Magadha Janapada.
Montesquieu and German Karl Marx.” Bernier traveled extensively and gave accounts of the social and economic life of India and her villages during the seventeenth century. He said that there was crown ownership of land and there was no concept of private property. He said the whole of the land belonged to the king and the cultivators were merely renters on the land. Bernier was of the view that India is inferior to the west. Bernier’s descriptions influenced western theorists from the eighteenth century onwards. The French philosopher Montesquieu used this account to develop the idea of oriental despotism. He said that rulers enjoyed absolute authority over their subjects, who were kept in conditions of subjugation and poverty, because all land belonged to the king and that private property was non-existent. He said except for the emperor and his nobles everybody else barely managed to survive. Bernier’s accounts also influenced Marx also and he gave the concept of “The Asiatic Mode of Production”. He said that in India, before colonialism, the surplus was appropriated by the state. This led to the emergence of a society that was composed of a large number of autonomous and egalitarian village communities. Thus he romanticized the Indian villages. The imperial court presided over these village communities, respecting their autonomy as long as the flow of surplus was unimpeded. Though this was regarded as a stagnant system. Though, there are doubts about what Rentier said because none of the Mughal official documents such as Akbarnama suggest that the state was the sole owner of the land.
The features of Islam that contributed to its spread through the subcontinent are : 1. Believers of Islam accepted in principle, the five “pillars” of the faith. 2. There is just one God i.e., Allah, and Prophet Muhammad is his messenger (shahada). 3. They offered prayers five times a day (namaz/ salah). 4. Believed in giving alms (zakat). 5. Fasting during the month of Ramzan (sawm). 6. Performed the pilgrimage to Mecca (haj). 7. Kings played an important role in spreading’ Islam. 8. Sufi saints also played an important role. 9. The Arab traders who had settled in the Malabar Coast adopted local languages and the local customs. 10. The architectural features of mosques were influenced by regional (local) traditions. 11. The Khojahs, a branch of the Ismailis-(the Shi’a sect), developed new modes of communication, spreading ideas from the Qur’an through indigenous literary genres.
Chronicles lay down with great precision the rules defining status amongst the Mughal elites. In court, status was determined by spatial proximity to the king. The place accorded to a courtier by the ruler was a sign of his importance in the eyes of the emperor. Once the emperor sat on the throne, no one was permitted to move from his position or to leave without permission. Social control in court society was exercised through carefully defining in full detail the forms of address, courtesies, and speech that were acceptable in court. The slightest infringement of etiquette was noticed and punished on the spot. The forms of salutation to the ruler indicated the person's status in the hierarchy: deeper prostration represented higher status. The highest form of submission was or complete prostration. Under Shah Jahan, these rituals were replaced with Chahar Muslims and zamindar (kissing the ground). The protocols governing diplomatic envoys at the Mughal Court were equally explicit. An ambassador presented to the Mughal emperor was expected to offer an acceptable form of greetings—either by bowing deeply or kissing the ground, or else to follow the Persian custom of clasping one’s hand in front of the chest. On special occasions such as the anniversary of accession to the throne, Eid, Shab-e-Barat and Holi, the court was full of life. Perfumed candles set in rich holders and palace walls festooned with colorful hangings made a tremendous impression on visitors. The Mughal Kings celebrated three major festivals a year the solar and lunar birthdays of the monarch and Nauroz, the Iranian new year on the vernal equinox. On his birthdays, the monarch was weighed against various commodities which were then distributed in charity.