Important Places of Medieval India | History for UPSC CSE PDF Download

Important Places of Medieval India

 Attock — It is a district place in West Punjab and Alexander crossed the Indus at Ohind, which is very near to Attock. Akbar built a fort here in 1581. Ranjit Singh invaded it on 1812. The forces of Anandpal were also defeated by Mahmud of Ghazni near Ohind.
Bidar — A district place in the Gulbarga division of hyderabad, it was captured by Muhammad Tughlaq in 1321. In 1343 Shah Gangu, the first King of Bahmani dynasty took it in his hands. In 1430 Ahmed Shah Bahmani made it his capital. After the fall of the Bahmani Kingdom, it came under the rule of Barid Shah who reigned from 1492. Later on it was captured by Bijapur. The city was plundered by Malik Amber in 1624. Aurangjeb captured it in 1655.
Chaul — This city has been referred in the writings of foreign writers like Ptolemy. The Periplus maintains that it was a local mart. In 1505 A.D., the Portugese appeared here. They established a factory here in 1516. This city was burnt by the army of Bijapur in 1521. It was a city of trade and commerce.
Chunar — A famous port, it was captured by Prithviraj Chauhan. Sher Shah got it in marriage. In 1575. Akbar captured it. After the downfall of the Mughals it came under the Nawab of Oudh (Awadh).
Hampi — It is on the site of Hampi that we find the ruins of the imperial city of Vijayanagar. Nothing remains of the splendid palace except the basement of a few of its buildings. Two masonry platforms are found here. One of them was probably the basement of the king’s audience hall. The other is called the throne platform. This is described by Paes as the house of victory. The other secular buildings are the Lotus Mahal, the Elephant tables and two tower structures called wrongly as watch-towers of the zenana enclosure. Many temples are still found extant here. The most important of these are the temples of Pampapati, Vithalaswami and Hazara Rama.

Raichur — In the medieval period, Raichur formed part of the kingdom of Kampili, a dependency of the Yadava rulers. When Ala-ud-din annexed Devagiri, Kampili declared its independence. It was subsequently conquered by the Delhi sultan. The Raichur doab was the bone of contention between the Bahmani sultans and Vijayanagar rulers. Krishnadeva Raya captured it from the Bijapur sultan.
Devagiri (Deogir) — According to Hemadri, a great writer of the medieval period and minister of Mahadeva (A.D. 1261-1271) a Yadava ruler, Devagiri was founded by Bhillama (A.D. 1185-1193) and was made his capital. In 1294 A.D. Ala-ud-din invaded and pillaged it. In 1307 A.D. Malik Kafur took its ruler Ramachandradeva as a prisoner to Delhi. Six months later, Ala-ud-din released him and allowed him to rule Devagiri as his vassal. Malik Kafur invaded it again when Sankaradeva antagonised the Sultan by his hostile activities. Haripala, the son-in-law of Ramachandra, seized it after the withdrawal of Malik Kafur. In 1317 A.D. Mubarak Khaiji recovered it and brought it under his rule. Muhammad bin Tughluq transferred his capital to Devagiri which was renamed as Daulatabad.
Udabhandapura (Walhand or Ohind) —Udabhandapura is the modern village of Und on the right bank of the Indus a few km. above Attock. It was made the capital of the Brahmana Shahis when the Arabs captured Kabul. It remained as the capital till Bhatinda was made the capital, by Jayapala. In 1008 A.D., a battle was fought at Waihand in which Anandapala, the Shahi king was defeated by Mahmud Ghazni.
Warangal — Warangal was the capital of the Kakatiyas. Malik Kafur was sent against Warangal with instructions not to harass the king if he agreed to surrender his treasure. The fort of Warangal was besieged by Kafur with great vigour and obtained his submission. Again, it was besieged by Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq. Warangal was annexed to the Delhi sultanate and was renamed as Sultanpur. The Muslim kingdom of Golkunda grow up on the ruins of the kingdom of Warangal.
Srirangam — Srirangam is in the vicinity of Tiruchi in Tamilnadu. It is associated with Vaishnavism.  It was one of the chief centres of activities of Ramanuja. The place is noted for its massive temple with gopurams, pillared halls and long colonnades. The temple appears to have been destroyed by Malik Kafur. The image of God, however, was saved and taken to Tirupati. Under Kumara Kampana’s auspices, the image was reconsecrated at Sriangam.
Udayagiri — Udayagiri in Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh was the seat of the viceroyalty of Vijayanagar empire in the 14th century. Kapilendra of Orissa sent an army under Hamvira to conquer the Tamil coastal districts. Hamvira first captured Udayagiri Salvos Narasimha recovered Udayagiri in 1469-70. But Purushottama of Orissa re-conquered it. Krishnadevaraya captured it. The Odriyans had lost it forever.
Salsette — Salsette on the western coast of India was a Portuguese settlement. It was previously under the control of the sultan of Bijapur. The occupation of Salsette brought the Portuguese into conflict with Bijapur. Finally, Bijapur agreed to leave Salsette in the possession of the Portuguese. In 1739 A.D. the Marathas captured Salsette from the Portuguese.

Quilon — Quilon or Koliam in Kerala was ruled by Ravivarman at the time of the Muslim invasions of south India in the reign of Ala-ud-din Khalji. Ravivarman was only a minor ruler. According to Ibn Batuta the Hindu ruler held the Muslims in high regard and the Muslims had a prosperous settlement under their own chief and judge who were Persians. Quilon was an important sea port. Merchants from Quilon sailed to Pegu, Malacca and Sumatra, etc. The Protuguese established their factory here. Pepper and calico were exported from here.
Raigarh— Raigarh was the capital of the Maratha empire under Shivaji. It was here that Shivaji declared himself king in 1674 A.D. with great pomp and splendour and assumed the title.