India and the Contemporary World - I

In 1602, the United East India Company of the Netherlands was formed and given permission by the Dutch government to trade in the East Indies including India. The Dutch founded their first factory in Masaulipatam in Andhra Pradesh in 1605. They went on to establish trading centers in different parts of India and thus became a threat to the Portuguese. They captured Nagapatam near Madras (Chennai) from the Portuguese and made it their main stronghold in South India.

The Hindu Gajapati rulers (c. 1435 – 1541 CE) ruled over Kalinga (Odisha), large parts of Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, and the eastern and central parts of Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand. Gajapati means “king with an army of elephants”. In c. 1435 CE, Kapilendra Deva founded the Gajapati dynasty and the last ruler of this dynasty was Prataparudra Deva. Hence statement 1 is not correct.

Alfonso de Albuquerque served as viceroy of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515. He was the real founder of the Portuguese power in the East, a task he completed before his death. He secured for Portugal the strategic control of the Indian Ocean by establishing bases overlooking all the entrances to the sea. Albuquerque acquired Goa from the Sultan of Bijapur in 1510 with ease; the principal port of the Sultan of Bijapur became “the first bit of Indian territory to be under the Europeans since the time of Alexander the Great”. Hence statement 2 is correct.

The British’s East India Company had entered the then Madras and entered a treaty with the native chieftains of the land to choose the site of their choice to settle and trade. The Company established a factory in Madras in 1639 on land leased from representatives of the Vijayanagara Empire called the Nayakas. Originally an uninhabited land, Francis Day and his superior Andrew Cogan of the British East India Company can be considered the founders of Madras, finally zeroed in on this coastal town and began construction of St George Fort and houses for their residence on 23 April 1640. Hence statement 3 is correct.

Source Citation: Modern India Bipan Chandra, Old NCERT

There are a few literary traditions about the presence of Buddhism in Andhra Pradesh during the pre-Mauryan period. The famous Buddhist sites of Amaravati and Dhanyakataka are associated with Buddha, as a birthplace of one of the previous births of Buddha and a preaching site of Buddha respectively.

Amaravati and Dharanikota, both formed part of ancient Dhanyakataka, the capital of later Satavahanas. With the spread of Buddhism to different parts of the country, many sects appeared. For example:

• The Theravadins had their centre of activity at Kausambi;
• Mathura was the centre for the Sarvastivadins;
• The Bhadra Yanika sect flourished at Nasik and Kanheri.

The origin of these sects may not have been originally due to differences in the doctrines. In fact, what contributed to their origin and growth were factors related to geographical diversities of the country, attitudes of various communities at the local levels and perhaps lack of coordination between the various exponents of the sects.

Under the Satavahavas, the Dhanyakataka (Amaravati) region became the most important stronghold of Mahayana Buddhism whereas the Sthaviravadins were popular in the north. Hence option (a) is the correct answer.

Source Citation: Themes in Indian History Part, NCERT: Kings, Farmers and Towns Early States and Economies (c. 600 BCE-600 CE)

In India, instruments of credit have been in use since time immemorial and are popularly known as Hundies. The movement of goods during the Medieval period was facilitated by the growth of a financial system which permitted easy transfer of money from one part of the country to another. This was done through the use of Hundis.

The Hundi was a letter of credit payable after a period of time at a discount.

Source: NCERT: Accountancy Chapter: Bill of Exchange

The Gurjara Pratihara dynasty was founded by Nagabhatta I in the region of Malwa in the 8th century AD. The Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty ruled much of Northern India from the mid-8th to the 11th century. The Pratiharas derived their name from the Sanskrit meaning doorkeeper, and are seen as a tribal group or a clan of the Gurjaras. Nagabhata I, Nagabhata II, Mihir Bhoj or Bhoja, and Mahendrapala were the other important rulers of the dynasty.

The expansion of the Gurjara-Pratihara kingdom involved constant conflicts with other contemporary powers such as the Palas and the Rashtrakutas, known as the tripartite struggle over the city of Kannauj. Dantidurga was the founder of the dynasty called the Rashtrakuta dynasty (8th century AD). The capital of the Rashtrakutas was Manyakheta or Malkhed near Sholapur. Dhruva-I, Krishna-I, and Amoghavarsha were the other important rulers of this dynasty.

The Chandela or Chandel was an Indian Rajput clan of Central India. They were popularly termed as Chandelas or Jejakabhukti dynasty in Indian history. Nannuk, a ruler of a small kingdom, was the founder of the Chandela Dynasty. Khajuraho was a stronghold of Nannuk, who was considered the chief of his clan. Vakapati succeeded his father in the first quarter of the tenth century. Vakapati had to often assist the Pratiharas in the battlefield, as he was a liegeman of them. Some inscriptions prove that his territory extended till the Vindhya hills.

Jaishakti, the elder son, succeeded the throne and was successful in extending his empire. Jaishakti, the elder brother who ruled first, was also called Jai Jak, and from this name, the region ruled by the Chandelas acquired the name of Jaijikbhukti. He was succeeded on the throne by his younger brother, Vijayshakti.

Source Attribution: This explanation is based on information from NCERT: Our Past II Class, NIOS: History Module, and Khajuraho India: Chandela Dynasty.

Indian examples of Ancient submerged Port Towns: In India, evidences of ship building, port, and warehouse installations are datable to Harappan culture. The important Harappan and late Harappan ports were:

• Lothal
• Lakhabawal
• Kindarkhera
• Kuntasi
• Megham
• Prabhasa
• Todio
• Amra

The excavations of these sites have yielded antiquities of Bahrain island, Persian Gulf, Egypt, and Mesopotamia cities. The same maritime traditions continued even during the lifetime of Buddha, the Mauryas, the Gupta, and in later periods. During the historical period, India had trade and cultural contacts with Egypt, Rome, Greeks, Arabs, China, and almost all Southeast Asian countries through these ports.

The ports on the west coast were:

• Barygaya
• Suppara
• Calliena
• Semylla
• Mandagore
• Palaepatme
• Malizigara
• Aurranobbas
• Byzantine
• Naura
• Tyndis
• Muziris
• Nelcynda

And the ports on the east coast were:

• Tamralipti
• Charitrapur
• Paluru
• Dantapur
• Kalingapatnam
• Pithunda
• Sopatma
• Ghantasala
• Poduca
• Puhar
• Korkai
• Camara

Merchants thronged sea-port towns like Mamallapuram, Puhar, and Korkai; or busy customs officials, and those engaged in loading and unloading vessels in the harbor. The wealth of the Roman Empire reached India through the ports of Kalyan, Chaul, Broach, and Cambay in Western India. Tamralipti was an important port in Bengal. It carried on trade with China, Lanka, Java, and Sumatra. In the Andhra region, the ports were Kadura and Ghantasala, Kaveripattanam (Puhar) and Tondail were the ports of the Pandya region. The ports of Kottayam and Muziris were on the Malabar coast. There was a great maritime trade between India and Southeast Asia and China.

Source Citation: OLD NCERT: Medieval India Satish Chandra, The Hindu, NOAA Marine Archive