Humayun The Moghal Empire

Humayun

(1530-40; 1555-56)

Campaigns

1530 – Kalinjar: The Raja offered nominal submission.

1532 – Muhamud Lodi defeated at Dauhrua.

1533 – Siege of Chunar, Sher Khan (later Sher Shah) offered nominal submission by sending son Qutb Khan to Humayun’s Court.

Humayun then built Dinpanah at Delhi as his second capital.

Second siege of Chunar and then the march to Gaur which was stopped at Teliagarhi pass by Jalal Khan (Sher Shah’s son) in 1538. Occupied Gaur where Sher Shah left wine, women and opium to delay Humayun who renamed it Jannatabad (paradise). Hindal meanwhile assumed the crown at Agra.

1539: Battle of Chausa Buxar. Humayun was saved by Nizam, the water carrier (saqqa). 1540 Humayun was again defeated by Sher Shah at Kanauj.

• He faced formidable opponent in the Afghan, Sher Khan (Shah) who in the successive battles of Chausa and Kannauj defeated Humayun and forced him to flee India.
• Humayun saw the death of Sher Shah as an opportunity to regain the throne. Humayun had conquered Qandahar and re-established his control over Kabul with the help of Safavid King of Persia. He could now use Kabul as his base for campaigns into India.
• His sister, Gulbadan Begum, wrote his biography Humayunama.
• Humayun died while climbing down the stairs of his library in 1556.

Chalcolithic phase

Chalcolithic phase
Towords the end of the Neolithic period, metals like bronze and copper began to be used. This was the Chalcolithic phase (1800 BC ? 1000 BC). Chalcolithic cultures extended from the Chotanagpur plateau to the upper Gangetic basin. Some of the sites of this era are Brahmgiri ( near Maysore) and Navada Toli on the Narmada.

Neolithic Age

Neolithic Age
The Neolithic Age (4000 BC ? 2500BC) or the New Stone Age was the last phase of the Stone Age and is characterized by very finely flaked, small stone tools, also known as blades are so sharp that the modern blades cannot match their smooth surface and cutting edges. The Neolithic Age also saw the domestication of cattle, horses, and other farm animals, which were used for dairy and meat products. An important invention of this time was the making of the wheel. The Neolithic Age quickly gave way to a number of small ?cultures? that were highly technical. These people used copper and bronze to make a range of utilitarian tools. This phase or period is termed as the Chalcolithic Age ( 1800 BC ? 1000BC ). A number of such sites have found in the Chotta Nagpur Plateau region, the upper Gangetic basin, Karnataka and near the banks of river Narmada.

Mesolithic Age

Mesolithic Age
In the Mesolithic Age, the stone tools began to be made more pointed and sharp. To ensure a life that had abundance of food and clothing, the stone tools began to appear in increasingly specialized way. The simple handheld stone tools were now attached to thick branches from trees with rope made from animal skin and sinew. These tools are known as hand axes, which could be flung at fast moving animals from a distance. Apart from hand axes, they also produced crude stone tipped wooden spears, borers, and burins. This period also saw the domestication of animals and growing of wild varieties of crops. Because of farming, small settlements began to take shape. Archaeological excavations have unearthed Mesolithic sites in the Choto Nagpur area of central India and the areas south of the Krishna River. The famous Bhimbetka caves near Bhopal belong to the Mesolithic Age and are famous for their cave paintings. The exact date of these paintings is not certain, but some of the paintings are as old as 12,000 years. The prehistoric artist used natural white and red pigments in depicting the various themes, which were close to his heart and sustenance.

Paleolithic Age

Paleolithic Age
The human beings living in the Paleolithic Age were essentially food gatherers and depended on nature for food. The art of hunting and stalking wild animals individually and later in groups led to these people making stone weapons and tools. First, crudely carved out stones were used in hunting, but as the size of the groups began increase and there was need for more food, these people began to make ?specialized tools? by flaking stones, which were pointed on one end. There kind of tools were generally used to kill small animals and for tearing flesh from the carcass of the hunted animals. The basic technique of making these crude tools was by taking a stone and flaking its sides with a heavier stone. These tools were characteristic of the Paleolithic Age and were very rough. By this time, human beings had come to make and use fire.

Stone Age ........part 1

Stone Age
The age when the prehistoric man began to use stones for utilitarian purpose is termed as the Stone Age. The Stone Age is divided into three broad divisions ? Paleolithic Age or the Old Stone Age ( from unknown till 8000 BC), Mesolithic Age or the Middle Stone Age (8000 BC ? 4000 BC) and the Neolithic Age or the New Stone Age (4000 BC ? 2500 BC) on the basis of the stone tools, which were made during that time.

The Prehistoric period

The Prehistoric period

The prehistoric period in the history of mankind can roughly be dated from 200000 BC to about 3500-2500BC, when the first civilizations began to take shape. The history of India is no exception. The first modern human beings of the Homo Sapiens set foot on the Indian subcontinent anywhere between 200000BC and they soon spread throughout a large part of the subcontinent, including peninsular India. They continuously flooded the Indian subcontinent in waves after waves of migration from what is present-day Iran. These primitive people moved in groups of few ‘families’ and lived mainly on hunting and gathering.