History Optional Paper-1 Solution – 1984: Q.1 (Map based question)

Q.5 Mark any fifteen of the following places on the map supplied to you and give brief descriptive notes on them:

(1) Ahmedabad

(2) Ajmer

(3) Aurangabad

(4) Bikaner

(5) Baroda

(6) Calicut

(7) Cutch

(8) Deogiri

(9) Fatehpur Sikri

(10) Gulbarga

(11) Halebid

(12) Hospet

(13) Indore

(14) Jaisalmer

(15) Jodhpur

(16) Kalyan

(17) Kanyakumari

(18) Kucknow

(19) Meerut

(20) Murshidabad

(21) Nasik

(22) Panjim

(23) Raichur

(24) Rameshwaram

(25) Shravari Belgola

(26) Sommath

(27) Tirupati

(28) Udaipur

(29) Vasar (Bassein)

(30) Warangal

(1) Ahmedabad

It was founded by Ahmad Shah of Muzaffarid dynasty of Gujarat in the 1411 AD. In 1487, Mahmud Begada, the grandson of Ahmed Shah, fortified the city. It was capital of Gujarat. Akbar annexed it in 1572 and made it Mughal province. Here many Hindu-Islamic architectures are found like: Jami Masjid, Jhoomta Minar, Tomb of Rani Sipri etc. Shahjahan sponsored the construction of the Moti Shahi Mahal.

During  the  Mughal  reign,  Ahmedabad  became  one  of  the  Empire’s  thriving centres  of  trade,  mainly  in  textiles,  which  were  exported  as  far  as  Europe. Ahmedabad remained the provincial headquarters of the Mughals until 1758, when they surrendered the city to the Marathas.

(2) Ajmer

Ajmer, surrounded by the Aravalli Mountains in Rajasthan, is a pilgrimage centre for the shrine of the Sufi Saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti.

Ajmer was founded in the late 7^th century A.D. by Ajayraj Singh Chauhan. It was conquered by Muhammad Ghori in 1193 after Battle of Terrain with Prithviraj Chauhan. It regained independence under the ruler of Mewar in 1365. Later it was conquered by the Marwar in 1532.

The city was conquered by the Mughal emperor Akbar in 1559 from Rathor ruler Madeo. In the early 1700s century, control passed to the Marathas.

(3) Aurangabad

(4) Bikaner

(5) Baroda

(6) Calicut

Calicut is situated on the Malabar Coast of Kerala which was the capital of Malabar during the time of Zamorins. It was an important commercial port of the ancient and medieval period. It has traded in spices with Jews, Arabs, and Chinese for hundreds of years. Here traders had full freedom and security.

Ibn Battuta who visited six times in 14^th century, describes it as one of the great ports where merchants of all parts of the world are found. Abdur Razzak, the ambassador of Persian Emperor in 15^th century, finds the city harbour perfectly secured. In 15^th century, the Italian Niccolo de Conti and the Russian Nikitn describes Calicut.

Vasco da Gama landed in 1498, as the leaders of a trade mission from Portugal. He was received by the Zamorin himself. Later on, the Dutch, English and the French arrived in Kerala. Zamorins allowed them to trade in Kozhikode and sought their help to drive out the Portuguese. Later, Calicut was captured by English.

(7) Cutch

(8) Deogiri (Daulatabad)

It is situated in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra. Bhillama V who was one of the powerful Yadava rulers founded the city of Deogiri and shifted his capital here. Deogiri was a great centre of trade and commerce.

During the rule of Rama Chandra Deva, Ala-ud-din Khilji invaded and captured Deogiri in A.D. 1296.  However, Ramachandradeva was allowed to rule as a vassal. Later, Malik Kafur led two campaigns against Deogiri. Later the fort was annexed to the Delhi Sultanate.

Muhammad-bin-Tughluq renamed Deogiri as Daulatabad and and shifted the capital from Delhi in A.D. 1328 for two years, before it was abandoned later.

Fort of Daulatabad was impregnable hill fortress. Other buildings are Char Minar and Chini Mahal.

(9) Fatehpur Sikri

It is in Agra district of Uttar Pradesh. This city was built by Mughal Emperor Akbar which took about 11 years (1569-80). It was built on the outskirts of Akbarabad (name of Agra). Here Akbar built Diwan-i-Khas, Diwan-i-Aam, Panch Mahal, Mariam Palace, Jodha Bai Palace etc.

There is also the Jami Masjid with Buland Darwaza (built after conquering Gujarat) and tomb of Shaikh Salim Chisti. During Akbar’s time, it became a city of poets and musicians, historians, artists, craftmen. Ibadat Khana debate of theologians used to happen here during Akbar time where foundation of a new syncretistic faith, Din-e-Ilahi was laid by Akbar.

The imperial complex of Fatehpur Sikri was abandoned in 1585, shortly after its completion, due to the exhaustion of the small, spring fed lake that supplied the city with water.

(10) Gulbarga

Gulbarga is situated in Karnataka. It was made capital by the Bahmani Sultan Alauddin Hasan Bahmani in the 14^th century. In 1425, Ahmed Shah made Bidar his capital and the glory of Gulbarga was eroded.  Later it was ruled by the Nizams of Hyderabad through the 18^th to the 20^th century.

Gulbarga Fort was built after the decline of the Chalukyas in the 12^th century by Raja Gulchand of the Warangal Kakatiyas and was expanded and improved to its grandest state by the Bahmani Sultans.  The structure is one of the earliest examples of the cross between the Indian and the Persian architectural styles and was built using lime mortar and granite.

The mausoleum of Khwaja Banda Nawaz, a Sufi saint of the Chishti order is in Gulbarga.

Basaveshwara Temple was built in the 12^th century by the Lingayat Saint Basaveshwara. The temple has stone carved pillars, towers and various flowers, elephants and garuda on the temple walls.

(11) Halebid (or Dwarsamudra)

It is in Hassan district of Karnataka. It was the capital of the Hoysala kings in 10^th-12^th century, who became prominent in the region during the later period of the Chalukyas of Kalyani. Malik Kafur, the commander of Alauddin Khilji invaded it in 1310 A.D.

The temple complex comprises two main Hindu temples, the Hoysaleswara and Kedareshwara temple and two Jain basadi. The two Nandi images on the sides of the Hoysaleswara temple are monoliths.  Soapstone was used for the construction of these temples.

The temple’s walls of the temple are covered with an endless variety of depictions from Hindu mythology, animals, birds and shilabalikas or dancing figures. The Jain basadi are equally rich in sculptural detail.

(12) Hospet

(13) Indore

(14) Jaisalmer

Jaisalmer is in Rajasthan. It was named after Maharawal Jaisal Singh, a Rajput king who founded the city in 1156 AD.

The town has a fort, which contains the palace and several ornate Jain temples. Many of the houses and temples are finely sculptured. This strategic location continued to serve Jaisalmer well, as it lay right on the two main routes connecting India with Persia, Egypt and farther west.

The majority of the inhabitants of Jaisalmer are Bhati Rajputs, who was renowned as a warrior. In 1293, the Bhattis so enraged the Sultan of Delhi Alauddin Khilji that his army captured and sacked the fort and city of Jaisalmer.

Jaialmer accepted the supremacy of Mughal Emperor Akbar.

Jaisalmer signed the defensive alliance with British East India Compay in 1818 at the time of the Governor General Lord Hastings.

(15) Jodhpur

(16) Kalyan

(17) Kanyakumari

(18) Lucknow

(19) Meerut

(20) Murshidabad

It is situated in West Bengal. In 1704, Murshid Quli Khan, the Diwan of Bengal under Aurangzeb transferred the capital of Bengal from Dacca, and renamed the city Murshidabad after his own name.  In 1716, he attained the title of Nawab of the Subah (province) of Bengal, and Murshidabad became his capital.

In 1742, Marathas under the Bhonsle of Berar plundered Murshidabad and got booty.

(21) Nasik

(22) Panjim

Between the 2^nd century BC and the 6^th century AD, Goa was ruled by the Bhojas of Goa. The rule later passed to the Chalukyas of Badami between 6^th and 8^th century and then under the between 8^th and 10^th century. From 8^th to 10^th century, the Southern Silharas of Konkan ruled Goa as the feudatories of the Chalukyas and the Rashtrakutas. Over the next few centuries, Goa was successively ruled by the Kadambas as the feudatories of the Chalukyas of Kalyani. They patronised Jainism in Goa.

In 1312, Goa came under the governance of the Delhi Sultanate. By 1370 it was forced to surrender it to Harihara I of the Vijayanagara Empire. Later it was appropriated by the Bahmani sultans of Gulbarga.  After that dynasty crumbled, the area fell into the hands of the Adil Shahis of Bijapur.

In 1510, the Portuguese catured Goa by defeated the ruling Bijapur sultan Yousuf Adil Shah. They set up a permanent settlement in Velha Goa (or Old Goa). Portuguese made many faus churches and buildings here. In 1843 the Portuguese moved the capital to Panjim from Velha Goa.

In 1962, Goa was taken over by India from the Portuguese.

(23) Raichur

It is situated in Karnataka between the rivers of Krihna and Tungbhadra. During the 14^th century, it was the part of Kakatiya kingdom. It was later captured by the Bahmanis and became the bone of contention between the Bahmanis and Vijayanagara Empire. In 16^th Century, Vijayanagara King Krishnadevaraya made extensive preparations for a grand attack on Raichur doab.

The city is famous for Raichur Fort which was built by Kakatiya king Rudra.It was capture by the Bahmanis in 1323 CE.  

Bijapur Sultanate made Raichut its capital in 1489.

Raichur is very rich from the epigraphical point of view. The inscriptions are in a variety of languages such as Sanskrit, Prakrit, Kannada, Arabic, and Persian and belonging to almost all the dynasties that ruled over the Deccan.

Among the ruins of the immense fort are many irrigation tanks and old temples.

(24) Rameshwaram

(25) Shravari Belgola

Shravanabelagola is in Hassan district of Karnataka. Shravanabelagola has two hills, Chandragiri and Vindhyagiri. It is famous for Jaina monuments and antiquities.

According to the Jaina legends, Jaina guru Bhadrabahu and his pupil Chandragupta Maurya are believed to have meditated in Sravana Belgola and died of starvation (called Salekhana vrata) as per Jaina rules.

Sravana belagola has two important Jaina monuments, both created by Chamundaraya, the minister and general of the western Ganga king Rajamalla. One of them is the Chamundaraya basadi (a Jaina temple) on the Chandragiri hill. The other monument is the monolithic image of Gomateshvara also called Bahubali, the son of the first tirthankara Rishabhdeva.

The 58-feet tall monolithic statue of Gommateshvara is carved out of a single block of granite. It is considered to be the world’s largest monolithic stone statue. The statue was created around 983 AD by Chamundaraya. Every twelve years, devotees congregate here to perform the Mahamastakabhisheka, a ceremony in which the statue is covered with milk, curds, ghee, saffron etc.

A large number of inscriptions in different languages have been found at Shravanabelagola, dating from 7^th century to 19^th century. Some of these inscriptions mention the rise and growth in power of the Western Ganga Dynasty, the Rashtrakutas, the Hoysala Empire, the Vijayanagar Empire and the Wodeyar dynasty.

(26) Sommath

(27) Tirupati

(28) Udaipur

Udaipur is situated in Rajasthan. It was founded by Maharana Udai Singh II. In 1567, the Mughal emperor Akbar attacked & laid siege of the venerated fort of Chittor. Udai Singh II shifted the capital of Mewar kingdom from Chittorgarh to Udaipur and continued struggle against Mughals. After his death, the struggle was continued by his brave son Maharana Pratap.

Being a mountainous region and unsuitable for heavily armoured Mughal horses, Udaipur remained safe from Mughal influence in spite of much pressure.

Udaipur remained the capital of the state of Mewar and later became a princely state of British India in 1818. In 1852, Udaipur was absorbed into the British Empire under Lord Dalhouse’s Doctrine of Lapse, but the decision was reversed by Lord Canning.

(29) Vasai (Bassein)

Bassain was an impostant port in the Konkan region of Maharashtra. Vasai or Bassein Fort is a large fort called the fort of St. Sebastian of Vasai.

The Treaty of Bassein was signed by Sultan Bahadur Shah of Gujarat and the Portugese in 1534, based on which, the Portuguese gained control of Bassein. They built churches, cathedrals and other huge buildings here.

In 1739, Maratha captured Bassain through the treaty of Salbai. After Maratha’s defeat from British in 1818, it became part of British territories.

(30) Warangal

Warangal is locted in Telangana. It was the capital of the Kakatiya dynasty from the 12^th to the 14^th centuries. The Kakatiyas left many monuments, including an impressive fortress, four massive stone gateways, the Swayambhu temple dedicated to Shiva, and the Ramappa temple situated near Ramappa Lake. The cultural and administrative distinction of the Kakatiyas was mentioned by the famous traveller Marco Polo.

Later, it cae under Delhi Sultanate and then the Nayakas captured Warangal from Delhi sultanate and ruled for fifty years. Later it became the part of Mughal Empire when Aurangzeb conquered Golconda in 1687.