NCERT Textbook: Tracing Changes through a Thousand Years | Old & New NCERTs for IAS Preparation (Must Read) - UPSC PDF Download

 Page 1


1
INTRODUCTION: TRA... 
T
ake a look at Maps 1 and 2. Map 1 was made in  
1154  C E by the Arab geographer Al-Idrisi. The 
section reproduced here is a detail of the Indian 
subcontinent from his larger map of the world. Map 2 
was made in the 1720s by a French cartographer. The 
two maps are quite different even though they are of the 
same area. In al-Idrisi’s map, south India is where we 
island at the top. Place-names are marked in Arabic, 
Cart ographer 
A person who 
makes maps.
INTRODUCTION: TRACING CHANGES 
THROUGH A THOUSAND YEARS
Map 1 
A section of the world 
map drawn by the 
geographer al-Idrisi 
in the twelfth century 
showing the Indian 
subcontinent from 
land to sea.
Page 2


1
INTRODUCTION: TRA... 
T
ake a look at Maps 1 and 2. Map 1 was made in  
1154  C E by the Arab geographer Al-Idrisi. The 
section reproduced here is a detail of the Indian 
subcontinent from his larger map of the world. Map 2 
was made in the 1720s by a French cartographer. The 
two maps are quite different even though they are of the 
same area. In al-Idrisi’s map, south India is where we 
island at the top. Place-names are marked in Arabic, 
Cart ographer 
A person who 
makes maps.
INTRODUCTION: TRACING CHANGES 
THROUGH A THOUSAND YEARS
Map 1 
A section of the world 
map drawn by the 
geographer al-Idrisi 
in the twelfth century 
showing the Indian 
subcontinent from 
land to sea.
2
and there are some well-known names like Kanauj 
in Uttar Pradesh (spelt in the map as Qanauj). Map 2 
was made nearly 600 years after Map 1, during this 
period, information about the subcontinent had 
changed considerably. This map seems more familiar to 
us and the coastal areas in particular are surprisingly 
detailed. This map was used by European sailors and 
merchants on their voyages. 
Look at the areas in the interior of the subcontinent 
on Map 2. Are they as detailed as those on the coast? 
Follow the course of the River Ganga and see how it is 
shown. Why do you think there is a difference in the level 
of detail and accuracy between the coastal and inland 
areas in this map?
Map 2 
The subcontinent, from 
the early-eighteenth- 
century Atlas Nouveau 
of Guillaume de l’Isle. 
?
Page 3


1
INTRODUCTION: TRA... 
T
ake a look at Maps 1 and 2. Map 1 was made in  
1154  C E by the Arab geographer Al-Idrisi. The 
section reproduced here is a detail of the Indian 
subcontinent from his larger map of the world. Map 2 
was made in the 1720s by a French cartographer. The 
two maps are quite different even though they are of the 
same area. In al-Idrisi’s map, south India is where we 
island at the top. Place-names are marked in Arabic, 
Cart ographer 
A person who 
makes maps.
INTRODUCTION: TRACING CHANGES 
THROUGH A THOUSAND YEARS
Map 1 
A section of the world 
map drawn by the 
geographer al-Idrisi 
in the twelfth century 
showing the Indian 
subcontinent from 
land to sea.
2
and there are some well-known names like Kanauj 
in Uttar Pradesh (spelt in the map as Qanauj). Map 2 
was made nearly 600 years after Map 1, during this 
period, information about the subcontinent had 
changed considerably. This map seems more familiar to 
us and the coastal areas in particular are surprisingly 
detailed. This map was used by European sailors and 
merchants on their voyages. 
Look at the areas in the interior of the subcontinent 
on Map 2. Are they as detailed as those on the coast? 
Follow the course of the River Ganga and see how it is 
shown. Why do you think there is a difference in the level 
of detail and accuracy between the coastal and inland 
areas in this map?
Map 2 
The subcontinent, from 
the early-eighteenth- 
century Atlas Nouveau 
of Guillaume de l’Isle. 
?
3
INTRODUCTION: TRA... 
Equally important is the fact that the science 
of cartography differed in the two periods. When 
historians read documents, maps and texts from the 
past, they have to be sensitive to the different historical 
backgrounds – the  – in which information 
about the past was produced.
New and Old Terminologies
If the context in which information is produced 
changes with time, what about language and 
meanings? Historical records exist in a variety of 
languages which have changed considerably over 
the years. Medieval Persian, for example, is different 
from modern Persian. The difference is not just with 
regard to grammar and vocabulary; the meanings of 
words also change over time. 
Take the term “Hindustan”, for example. Today we 
understand it as “India”, the modern . 
When the term was used in the thirteenth century by 
meant the areas of Punjab, Haryana and the lands 
between the Ganga and Yamuna. He used the term 
in a political sense for lands that were a part of the 
the term never included south India. By contrast, in 
the early sixteenth century, Babur used Hindustan 
to describe the geography, the fauna and the culture 
of the inhabitants of the subcontinent. As we will see 
later in the chapter, this was somewhat similar to the 
way the fourteenth-century poet Amir Khusrau used 
the word “Hind”. While the idea of a geographical 
and cultural entity like “India” did exist, the term 
“Hindustan” did not carry the political and national 
meanings which we associate with it today. 
Historians today have to be careful about the terms 
they use because they meant different things in the 
past. Take, for example, a simple term like “foreigner”. 
It is used today to mean someone who is not an Indian.  
Can you think of 
any other words 
whose meanings 
change in 
different contexts? 
?
Page 4


1
INTRODUCTION: TRA... 
T
ake a look at Maps 1 and 2. Map 1 was made in  
1154  C E by the Arab geographer Al-Idrisi. The 
section reproduced here is a detail of the Indian 
subcontinent from his larger map of the world. Map 2 
was made in the 1720s by a French cartographer. The 
two maps are quite different even though they are of the 
same area. In al-Idrisi’s map, south India is where we 
island at the top. Place-names are marked in Arabic, 
Cart ographer 
A person who 
makes maps.
INTRODUCTION: TRACING CHANGES 
THROUGH A THOUSAND YEARS
Map 1 
A section of the world 
map drawn by the 
geographer al-Idrisi 
in the twelfth century 
showing the Indian 
subcontinent from 
land to sea.
2
and there are some well-known names like Kanauj 
in Uttar Pradesh (spelt in the map as Qanauj). Map 2 
was made nearly 600 years after Map 1, during this 
period, information about the subcontinent had 
changed considerably. This map seems more familiar to 
us and the coastal areas in particular are surprisingly 
detailed. This map was used by European sailors and 
merchants on their voyages. 
Look at the areas in the interior of the subcontinent 
on Map 2. Are they as detailed as those on the coast? 
Follow the course of the River Ganga and see how it is 
shown. Why do you think there is a difference in the level 
of detail and accuracy between the coastal and inland 
areas in this map?
Map 2 
The subcontinent, from 
the early-eighteenth- 
century Atlas Nouveau 
of Guillaume de l’Isle. 
?
3
INTRODUCTION: TRA... 
Equally important is the fact that the science 
of cartography differed in the two periods. When 
historians read documents, maps and texts from the 
past, they have to be sensitive to the different historical 
backgrounds – the  – in which information 
about the past was produced.
New and Old Terminologies
If the context in which information is produced 
changes with time, what about language and 
meanings? Historical records exist in a variety of 
languages which have changed considerably over 
the years. Medieval Persian, for example, is different 
from modern Persian. The difference is not just with 
regard to grammar and vocabulary; the meanings of 
words also change over time. 
Take the term “Hindustan”, for example. Today we 
understand it as “India”, the modern . 
When the term was used in the thirteenth century by 
meant the areas of Punjab, Haryana and the lands 
between the Ganga and Yamuna. He used the term 
in a political sense for lands that were a part of the 
the term never included south India. By contrast, in 
the early sixteenth century, Babur used Hindustan 
to describe the geography, the fauna and the culture 
of the inhabitants of the subcontinent. As we will see 
later in the chapter, this was somewhat similar to the 
way the fourteenth-century poet Amir Khusrau used 
the word “Hind”. While the idea of a geographical 
and cultural entity like “India” did exist, the term 
“Hindustan” did not carry the political and national 
meanings which we associate with it today. 
Historians today have to be careful about the terms 
they use because they meant different things in the 
past. Take, for example, a simple term like “foreigner”. 
It is used today to mean someone who is not an Indian.  
Can you think of 
any other words 
whose meanings 
change in 
different contexts? 
?
4
In the medieval period, a “foreigner” was any stranger 
who appeared say in a given village, someone who was 
not a part of that society or culture. (In Hindi the term 
 might be used to describe such a person and 
in Persian, .) A city-dweller, therefore, might 
have regarded a forest-dweller as a “foreigner”, but two 
peasants living in the same village were not foreigners 
to each other, even though they may have had different 
religious or caste backgrounds.
Historians and their Sources
Historians use different types of sources to learn about 
the past depending upon the period of their study 
example, you read about rulers of the Gupta dynasty 
and Harshavardhana. In this book we will read about 
the following thousand years, from roughly 700 to 1750. 
You will notice some continuity in the sources used 
by historians for the study of this period. They still 
rely on coins, inscriptions, architecture and textual 
records for information. But there is also considerable 
discontinuity. The number and variety of textual records 
increased dramatically during this period. They slowly 
displaced other types of available information. Through 
this period, paper gradually became cheaper and more  
The value of paper
Compare the following: 
(1) In the middle of the thirteenth century a scholar 
wanted to copy a book. But he did not have enough 
paper. So he washed the writing off a manuscript he 
did not want, dried the paper and used it. 
(2) A century later, if you bought some food in the 
market you could be lucky and have the shopkeeper 
wrap it for you in some paper.
When was paper more expensive and easily available 
– in the thirteenth or the fourteenth century? ?
Page 5


1
INTRODUCTION: TRA... 
T
ake a look at Maps 1 and 2. Map 1 was made in  
1154  C E by the Arab geographer Al-Idrisi. The 
section reproduced here is a detail of the Indian 
subcontinent from his larger map of the world. Map 2 
was made in the 1720s by a French cartographer. The 
two maps are quite different even though they are of the 
same area. In al-Idrisi’s map, south India is where we 
island at the top. Place-names are marked in Arabic, 
Cart ographer 
A person who 
makes maps.
INTRODUCTION: TRACING CHANGES 
THROUGH A THOUSAND YEARS
Map 1 
A section of the world 
map drawn by the 
geographer al-Idrisi 
in the twelfth century 
showing the Indian 
subcontinent from 
land to sea.
2
and there are some well-known names like Kanauj 
in Uttar Pradesh (spelt in the map as Qanauj). Map 2 
was made nearly 600 years after Map 1, during this 
period, information about the subcontinent had 
changed considerably. This map seems more familiar to 
us and the coastal areas in particular are surprisingly 
detailed. This map was used by European sailors and 
merchants on their voyages. 
Look at the areas in the interior of the subcontinent 
on Map 2. Are they as detailed as those on the coast? 
Follow the course of the River Ganga and see how it is 
shown. Why do you think there is a difference in the level 
of detail and accuracy between the coastal and inland 
areas in this map?
Map 2 
The subcontinent, from 
the early-eighteenth- 
century Atlas Nouveau 
of Guillaume de l’Isle. 
?
3
INTRODUCTION: TRA... 
Equally important is the fact that the science 
of cartography differed in the two periods. When 
historians read documents, maps and texts from the 
past, they have to be sensitive to the different historical 
backgrounds – the  – in which information 
about the past was produced.
New and Old Terminologies
If the context in which information is produced 
changes with time, what about language and 
meanings? Historical records exist in a variety of 
languages which have changed considerably over 
the years. Medieval Persian, for example, is different 
from modern Persian. The difference is not just with 
regard to grammar and vocabulary; the meanings of 
words also change over time. 
Take the term “Hindustan”, for example. Today we 
understand it as “India”, the modern . 
When the term was used in the thirteenth century by 
meant the areas of Punjab, Haryana and the lands 
between the Ganga and Yamuna. He used the term 
in a political sense for lands that were a part of the 
the term never included south India. By contrast, in 
the early sixteenth century, Babur used Hindustan 
to describe the geography, the fauna and the culture 
of the inhabitants of the subcontinent. As we will see 
later in the chapter, this was somewhat similar to the 
way the fourteenth-century poet Amir Khusrau used 
the word “Hind”. While the idea of a geographical 
and cultural entity like “India” did exist, the term 
“Hindustan” did not carry the political and national 
meanings which we associate with it today. 
Historians today have to be careful about the terms 
they use because they meant different things in the 
past. Take, for example, a simple term like “foreigner”. 
It is used today to mean someone who is not an Indian.  
Can you think of 
any other words 
whose meanings 
change in 
different contexts? 
?
4
In the medieval period, a “foreigner” was any stranger 
who appeared say in a given village, someone who was 
not a part of that society or culture. (In Hindi the term 
 might be used to describe such a person and 
in Persian, .) A city-dweller, therefore, might 
have regarded a forest-dweller as a “foreigner”, but two 
peasants living in the same village were not foreigners 
to each other, even though they may have had different 
religious or caste backgrounds.
Historians and their Sources
Historians use different types of sources to learn about 
the past depending upon the period of their study 
example, you read about rulers of the Gupta dynasty 
and Harshavardhana. In this book we will read about 
the following thousand years, from roughly 700 to 1750. 
You will notice some continuity in the sources used 
by historians for the study of this period. They still 
rely on coins, inscriptions, architecture and textual 
records for information. But there is also considerable 
discontinuity. The number and variety of textual records 
increased dramatically during this period. They slowly 
displaced other types of available information. Through 
this period, paper gradually became cheaper and more  
The value of paper
Compare the following: 
(1) In the middle of the thirteenth century a scholar 
wanted to copy a book. But he did not have enough 
paper. So he washed the writing off a manuscript he 
did not want, dried the paper and used it. 
(2) A century later, if you bought some food in the 
market you could be lucky and have the shopkeeper 
wrap it for you in some paper.
When was paper more expensive and easily available 
– in the thirteenth or the fourteenth century? ?
5
INTRODUCTION: TRA... 
widely available. People used it to write holy texts, 
chronicles of rulers, letters and teachings of saints, 
petitions and judicial records, and for registers of 
accounts and taxes. Manuscripts were collected by 
wealthy people, rulers, monasteries and temples. They 
were placed in libraries and archives. These manuscripts 
and documents provide a lot of detailed information to 
There was no printing press in those days so scribes 
copied manuscripts by hand. If you have ever copied a 
friend’s homework you would know that this is not a 
friend’s handwriting and are forced to guess what is 
differences in your copy of your friend’s work. 
Manuscript copying is somewhat similar. As scribes 
copied manuscripts, they also introduced small changes 
 – a word here, a sentence there. These small differences 
grew over centuries of copying until manuscripts of the 
Archi ve
A place where 
documents and 
manuscripts are 
stored. Today all 
national and state 
governments have 
archives where 
they keep all their 
and transactions.
Fig. 1
A painting of a scribe 
making a copy of 
a manuscript. This 
painting is only 
10.5 cm by 7.1 cm 
in size. Because of 
its size it is called a 
miniature. Miniature 
paintings were 
sometimes used to 
illustrate the texts of 
manuscripts. They 
were so beautiful that 
later collectors often 
took the manuscripts 
apart and sold just 
the miniatures.