Tracing Changes Through A Thousand Years

Key Features of NCERT Material for Class 7 History Chapter 1 –  Tracing Changes Through A Thousand Years

Quick revision notes

In Chapter 1 of Class 7 NCERT book: you must have learnt about changes through thousand years.

New and Old Terminologies

As you have seen meanings of words change over time. Term “Hindustan”, is known as “India,” the modern nation-state today. The term was first used in the 13th century by Minhaj-i-Siraj, a chronicler who wrote in Persian and contains the areas of Punjab, Haryana and the lands between the Ganga and Yamuna. The term was used in a political sense for lands that were a part of the dominions of the Delhi Sultan. Areas included in this term shifted with the extent of the Sultanate, but it never included South India. In early 16th century, Babur used Hindustan to describe the geography, the fauna and the culture of the inhabitants of the subcontinent, same as how 14th-century poet Amir Khusrau used the word “Hind”. Even if the idea of a geographical and cultural entity like “India” did exist, the term “Hindustan” did not carry the political and national meanings associated with it today.

New Social and Political Groups

The study of the 1000 years changes spanning 700 and 1750 is a challenge. The scales and variety of developments that occurred over the period are huge. At different moments in this period, new technologies made their appearances – like the Persian wheel in irrigation, the spinning wheel in weaving, and firearms in combat. New foods and beverages arrived in the subcontinent – potatoes, corn, chillies, tea and coffee. All these new technologies and crops – came along with people, who brought other ideas with them as well, thus resulting in a period of economic, political, social and cultural changes.

The period from the second half of the eighth century up to first half of the eighteenth century is known as the “middle age period” of Indian history. 

The guides by Arab geographer Al-Idrisi (1154) and French map maker (1720) give an enormous sketch of the Indian subcontinent as known as before times. 

Study of map making, in any case, was distinctive in double cross periods. 

New and Old Terminologies 

• Authentic records exist in an assortment of dialects. 
• The term Hindustan was begat by Minhaj-I-Siraj, a writer who wrote in Persian for regions around Punjab, Haryana, also, the terrains between the Ganga and the Yamuna. 
• Babur utilized Hindustan to portray the widely varied vegetation and the way of life of the occupants of the subcontinent. 
• Fourteenth-century artist Amir Khusrau utilized the word, Hind. 
• In Hindi, the term ‘pardesi’ was utilized to portray an outsider. In Persian, it was called ‘ajnabi’. 

History specialists and their Sources 

• The data about the archaic period is gotten from two sources: Archeological and Literary. 
• Archeological sources accessible to us incorporate landmarks, sanctuaries, coins, burial chambers, decorations and artistic creations. 
• Since paper opened up in great quantum, a ton of composed records as annals, collections of memoirs, farmaans and records of unfamiliar explorers are accessible from this period in Persian and Arabic. 

New Social and Political Group 

• The investigation of the thousand years somewhere in the range of 700 and 1750 is a gigantic test to history specialist to a great extent due to the scale and assortment of improvements that happened over the period. 
• It was a time of incredible portability. One such gathering of individuals was Rajputs. Different gatherings of warriors were Marathas, Sikhs, Jats, Ahoms and Kayasthas. 
• All through the period there was a progressive freeing from timberlands and the augmentation of horticulture. Difficulties in their natural surroundings constrained many woodland tenants to relocate. 
• As society turned out to be more separated individuals were assembled into jatis or sub-standings and positioned based on their experiences and their occupations. 
• Positions were not fixed forever and fluctuated by the force, impact and assets constrained by the individuals from the jati. 
• A significant improvement of this period was the rise of the possibility of bhakti. 
• The lessons of the Holy Quran was likewise brought to India in the seventh century. 
• Devotees of Islam were isolated into two sub-groups—’Shias’ and ‘Sunnis’. 
• At various minutes in this period, new advancements showed up, similar to Persian wheel in water system, the turning wheel in weaving and guns in battle. New nourishments and refreshments additionally showed up in the subcontinent in this period. 

Region and Empires 

• Huge states like those of the Cholas, the Tughlaqs, or the Mughals incorporated numerous locales. 
• A Sanskrit prashsti that acclaims Delhi Sultan Balban tells that he was the leader of an immense realm that extended from Bengal in the east to Ghazni in Afghanistan in the west and incorporated all of South India (Dravida). 
• There were impressive clashes between different states changes.
• At the point when the Mughal Empire declined in the eighteenth century, it prompted the reappearance of provincial states. 

Old and New Religions 

• Religion was regularly firmly connected with the social and monetary association of neighborhood networks. 
• It was during the period that significant changes happened in religion. It incorporated the love of new gods, development of sanctuaries by eminence and the developing significance of Brahmanas in the Hindu religion. 
• Information on Sanskrit helped Brahmins to gain regard. 
• Islam was disparaged by numerous rulers. 

Verifiable Periods 

• The British antiquarians partitioned the historical backdrop of India into three periods: Hindu, Muslim and British. 
• Most antiquarians look to financial and social components to describe the significant components of various snapshots of the past. 
• The life of tracker finders, early ranchers and early realms were called early social orders. 
• The development of supreme state arrangements, advancement of Hinduism and Islam as significant religions and the appearance of 
• European exchanging organizations were known as the archaic period. 
• The last time was known as the modem time frame which conveyed a feeling of material advancement and scholarly turn of events. 
• Success during this period brought European exchanging organizations to India. 

Guides are the sources through which we can follow out the chronicled changes and settings. 

Map makers were the talented craftsmen who recorded these sequential impacts in Maps. 

The method of introduction and the settings shift through time. The guides of 1154 CE are not equivalent to the guides of the 1720s, for example one can see the guides given in NCERT Textbook on pages 1 and 2. Both the guides show a similar area however with a ton of varieties. Indeed, even the names of the spots are spelt in an unexpected way. 

Map maker: The craftsman who is gifted in drawing or making maps. . 

Recorder: One who records history or pens the occasions of the time from the authentic perspective. 

Chronicles: An assortment of authentic reports or records of the legislature, a family, a spot or an association; where these records are put away. 

Compositions: The first content composed by the Author in his/her own penmanship. 

Natural surroundings: The day to day environment of specie. 

Benefactor: An individual with impact and luxuriousness who offers help with cash and mental lift up to a craftsman, an expert, a scholarly man, or an honorable, or some different people of such classes. 

Jati: The sub-standing which was characterized or recognized based on one’s calling, status and impact. 

District: The specific region assigned or involved by a specific gathering or realm. 

Periodisation: Division of time into various sections with the end goal of study from the recorded perspective. It was done based on predominant components of the time. In the nineteenth century, British antiquarians isolated the historical backdrop of India into three periods—Hindu, Muslim, and British. 

Seventh century AD – The lessons of the sacred Quran brought to India. 

1154 – Map of the Indian Subcontinent made by al-ldrisi. 

1266-1287 – Ghiyasuddin Balban became the sultan of Delhi.

1356 – Ziyauddin Barani composed his first narrative. He composed another form two years after the fact.