Notes and Study material for Exams
Pandyan Contributions Economic contribution External trade was carried on between South India and Hellenistic kingdom of Egypt and Arabia as well as the Malay Archipelago. The author of the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea (75 A.D.) gives the most valuable information about the trade between India and the Roman Empire. He mentions the port of … Read more
The Bhakti Movement in Indian history represents a movement that popularized devotional surrender to a personally conceived supreme God. Its origins are traced to the Brahamanical and Buddhist traditions of ancient India. It was in south India that it grew from a religious tradition into a popular movement based on religious Equality and broad based … Read more
Jainism Originated in India thousands of years ago and is thought to have heavily influenced the two other main belief systems of the region at that time: Buddhism. The religion centres on the progress of one’s soul towards a divine consciousness through self-reformation, wisdom and self-control and pacifism towards all living creatures. There are two … Read more
The Katyuri kings were a medieval ruling clan of present-day Uttarakhand, India. They ruled over the Kumaon region from 800 to 1100 AD. They called their state Kurmanchal, the land of Kurma, the second Avatar of Vishnu, which gives the region its present name, Kumaon. ORIGIN Historians such as Badri Dutt Pandey believe the Katyurs … Read more
Buddhism is a world religion and is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, who is known as the Buddha (literally the Enlightened One or Awakened One). Siddhārtha Gautama was the historical founder of Buddhism. After asceticism and meditation, he discovered the Buddhist Middle Way—a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and … Read more
Kautilya was the Prime Minister of Chandragupta Maurya. Chandragupta found the Mauryan Empire with his help. Arthashastra was written by him. It is the most important source for writing the history of the Mauryas and is divided into 15 adhikarnas or sections and 180 Prakaranas or subdivisions. It has about 6,000 slokas. The book was … Read more
Kabir Scholars differ about Kabir’s parentage, his family, the place of his birth, the time and place of his death etc. Instead of concentrating on various beliefs about Kabir’s life, the scholar deems it appropriate to side with the beliefs that are widely accepted. Scholars agree with the fact that Kabir belonged to the time … Read more
Swami vivekanand Swami Vivekananda is one of the greatest thinkers of Indian Renaissance. Vivekananda was moved with pity on seeing the impoverished state of the masses. He says: “Material civilization, may even luxuries necessary to create work for the poor. Bread, I do not believe in a God who cannot give me bread here, giving … Read more
El Nino El Niño is the name given to the occasional development of warm ocean surface waters along the coast of Ecuador and Peru. When this warming occurs the usual upwelling of cold, nutrient rich deep ocean water is significantly reduced. El Niño normally occurs around Christmas and usually lasts for a few weeks to a few months. Sometimes … Read more
Although the Rig Veda deals with devotional work of religious nature, yet it gives a vivid picture of the early Vedic civilization. The Vedic Civilization is best understood from the social life, political organisation, economic life and religious beliefs. The Kula or family was the basic unit of Rig-Vedic Society. The Kula was headed by … Read more