Old NCERT Summary (Satish Chandra): India & the World - History for UPSC CSE

1. EUROPE
(i) Roman empire broken into two by 6th century:

• West, with capital at Rome, overwhelmed by Slav and Germanic tribesmen. (Roman empire). It followed catholic Church.
• East, with capital at Constantinople, encompassed eastern Europe, Turkey, Syria and North Africa. (Byzantine Empire). The church of the east was called Greek Orthodox Church which later spread to Russia.

(ii) Byzantines acted as a bridge between Greco-Roman civilization and Arabs. Byzantine empire disappeared in middle of 15th century when Constantinople fell to Turks.

(iii) After collapse of western roman empire cities disappeared and trade declined (dark ages). Revival occurred around 10th century.

(iv) 12^th to 14^th century saw rapid progress and prosperity and a new outlook towards life. Universities were established and helped in dissemination of knowledge and growth of new ideas. This eventually led to Renaissance.

2. GROWTH OF FEUDALISM
(i) Most powerful elements were the chiefs who dominated large tracts of land with military power and played an important part in government. King was in effect the most I powerful feudal chief controlling chiefs by making them take oath of loyalty as vassals I to the king. Tensions arose time and again between the king and vassals (fiefs). I Government was thus dominated by landed aristocracy which was hereditary. Features of feudal system:

• Landed aristocracy
• Serfdom and Manor system
• Military organization

(ii) Serfs = peasants who had to compulsorily work on the land.
Manor = the house where the landlord lived. Serfs had to cultivate the lands surrounding the manor and give a part of the produce to the landlord. Landlord was tasked with I dispensing justice and maintaining law and order. This system disappeared from Western I Europe after 14th century.

(iii) Cavalry gained popularity in warfare because of iron stirrup and a new harness which I allowed the horse to pull twice the weight it pulled earlier. These inventions came to I West from East Asia and were introduced in India from 10th century. As king was unable I to manage the growing size, army was decentralized and the feudal lords got to the I responsibility of the army. In most cases, fiefs collected taxes from peasantry, gave a I tribute to the king, maintained the army and used the rest for personal consumption. I

(iv) In India, local fiefs (Samantas) exercised similar powers, with the peasantry dependent upon them.

(v) Catholic Church took on political functions and moral authority shaping Cultural life in Europe. Many monastic orders and denominations were established from revenue I obtained from tax free land grants by feudal chiefs and kings. Churches served the poor I and needy, gave medical aid and shelter to travellers and served as centres for education I and learning.

3. THE ARAB WORLD
Islam united warring Arab tribes into a powerful empire.
(i) Prophet Muhammad (570-632 A.D)
(a) He is the founder of Islam.
(b) He grew up in the deserts of Arabia.
(c) His first converts were the Arabs.
(d) Sind and Multan were conquered by the Arabs by 712 A.D.
(ii) Abbasids came to power as Caliphs at Baghdad in middle of 8th century. Claimed to belong to same tribe as prophet Muhammad. Most powerful empire for ~150 yrs. Controlled parts of North Africa, Egypt, Syria, Iran and Iraq and important trade routes connecting India and China with the Mediterranean. Region attained prosperity by levying taxes on trade and due to enterprising Arab merchants.

(iii) Arabs assimilated scientific knowledge and administrative skills of empires they had overrun. Many Chinese inventions like compass, paper, printing, gun powder reached Europe from China through Arabs

(iv) Bait-ul-hikmat = house of wisdom - translating literature from various empires into Arabic.

(v) India did not enjoy close cultural contact with Arabs until Sindh was conquered in 8th century. Decimal system reached Arabs from India after this and was popularized by Al-Khwarizmi. Suryasiddhanta (Astronomy - Aryabhatta) and Charaksamhita, Sushrutsamhita were also translated.

Arab Invasion in India
Muhammad-bin-Qasim
(i) Al-Hajjajj, the Governor of Iraq sent Muhammad-bin-Qasim to India
(ii) He Conquered Sind with the permission of Caliph Walid

Battle of Rewar
(i) Fought between Muhammad-bin-Qasim and Dahir the ruler of Sind
(ii) Dahir was defeated. Sind and Multan was captured.
(iii) Muhammad-bin-Qasim called Multan as The City of Gold'

Administrative System
(i) Sind and Multan were divided into number of Iqtas or districts by Muhammad-bin-Qasim and Arab military officers headed the Iqtas.
(ii) The sub-divisions of the districts were administered by the local Hindu Officers.
(iii) Jizya was imposed on non-Muslims.

Muhammad bin Qasim's Army
(i) 25,000 troops with 6000 Camels, 6000 Syrian horses, 3000 Bactrian Camels and an artillery force with 2000 men, advanced guards, and five catapults.

End of Muhammad-bin-Qasim
(i) Caliph Walid was succeeded by Caliph Sulaiman.
(ii) He was an enemy of Al-Hajjaj, the Governor of Iraq.
(iii) Muhammad-bin Qasim was the son-in-law of Al-Hajjaj, so he dismissed him and sent to Mesopotamia as a prisoner where he was tortured to death. For more than 150 years, Sind and Multan continued to remain as the part of the Caliph's Empire.

Rani Bai's heroic defense against Muhammad bin Qasim

(i) The wife of Dahir and the other women of Sind put up a heroic defense within the Fort of Rewar.

Effects of Arab Conquest
(i) The subjugation of Sind made way for Islam into India.
(ii) The art of administration, astronomy, music, painting, medicine and architecture were learnt by Arabs from our land and they spread astronomy, Indian Philosophy, and numerals to Europe.

Indian Impact
(i) Brahma Siddhanta- a Sanskrit work of Brahma Gupta was translated into Arabic in which the names of Indian Scientists like Sindbad, Bhala, Manaka are mentioned.
(ii) In a hospital at Baghdad, Dhana was appointed as a chief Medical officer.
(iii) A serious disease of Caliph Harun-al-Rashid Manaka, a physician cured Europe stagnated due to rigid views of Catholic church. India also did not progress much. Arab science declined after 14th century due to growing orthodoxy and other political developments.

4. EAST AND SOUTH­ EAST ASIA
(i) China: attained climax in 8th and 9th centuries under Tang dynasty. Exported countless goods to the West through Silk Route. Tangs were replaced by Sung dynasty in 10th century and then growing weakness led to Mongol invasion inl3th century. Mongols unified north and south china with help of highly disciplined and mobile cavalry. They also ruled over Vietnam and Korea for some time. Marco Polo spent some time at the court of famous Mongol ruler Kublai Khan. Visited Malabar on his way back to Italy by sea.

(ii) Sailendra dynasty: Palembang (Sumatra), Java, Malay peninsula and parts of Thailand -Sanskrit and Buddhist centres of learning - Borobudur Temple (Buddha) = mountain carved into 9 terraces surmounted by a Stupa.

(iii) Kambuja dynasty: Cambodia and Annam (South Vietnam) - group of temples near Angkor Thom = ~200 temples in 3.2 sq km area; largest = Angkor Vat - Temples contain statues of gods, goddesses & nymphs.
Temples in the above mentioned locations had panels containing scenes from Ramayana and Mahabharat. These were also the inspiration for literature, folk dances, songs, puppets and statues. Temple building here coincided with temple building in India. Buddhism declined in India and flourished here. Buddha was brought into Hinduism later in India whereas Hindu Gods were brought under Buddhist fold in SE Asia.

(iv) Traders of various parts of the world visited SE asia and led to comingling of different cultures. Religious tolerance existed and Indonesia and Malaya were converted to islam only after its consolidation in India. Elsewhere, Buddhism continued to flourish. Commercial and cultural contacts were snapped only after the Britishers and Dutch came in the 17th century.