Canberra, 12 January 2021 On 5th June 1659 (or on 15th June, according to some historians), Aurangzeb celebrated his coronation for the second time, after two decisive victories, over Shuja at Khajuha and Dara at Deorai. Unlike the earlier crowning, grand banquets and dazzling illumination enlivened these functions with many loyal officers and nobles promoted […]
Continue readingIndian History Part 79 Babur – First of the Great Mughals Section V: A Dynasty is Established
Canberra, 6 April 2020 On arrival at Agra, Babur was presented a magnificent diamond by Humayun his son, who had taken charge of the Lodi capital. The stone had been given to Humayun by the family of the Raja of Gwalior who had taken shelter in the Agra fort, since the Raja had died in […]
Continue readingIndian History Part 50: The Ghurids
Canberra, 1 June 2016 The Sansabani clan of Ghur (also known as Ghor) were of Tajik Iranian origin as can be derived from their original name Al e-Sansab in Persian, which in the colloquial language of Afghanistan became Sansabani. There are recent claims that the Ghurids were Pashtuns, which is an incorrect assertion not […]
Continue readingIndian History Part 45 ISLAM IN INDIA: AN OVERVIEW OF THE EARLY DAYS
Canberra, 28 October 2015 Analysing and explaining the arrival of Islam and its deepening thrust into the Indian sub-continent is an endeavour in Indian historiography that is fraught with difficulty, primarily because of the confrontational rhetoric associated with any discussion of the religion in the 21st century, both in India and elsewhere in the world. […]
Continue readingPart 42 THE RAJPUT CLANS Section II: Early Rajput Kingdoms
Canberra, 2 August 2015 The second half of 8th century saw two critical developments in the Indian political scenario, which were to have profound influence on the next thousand years of political growth in the sub-continent. The first was the rise of regionalisation. During this period, a large number of regional kingdoms, of varying sizes, […]
Continue readingPart 42 THE RAJPUT CLANS Section I: The Origins
Canberra, 7 July 2015 The death of Emperor Harsha Vardhana, and a little later the early Islamic invasions, stirred the affairs of North India. Internecine wars with kings and clan leaders of limited merit and vision scrambling for power, created a sense of disquiet and instability. In fact instability dominated North India across the great […]
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