Society and Economy

Administration Nayak System Little Kingdoms in Ramanathapuram and Pudukottai The kingdom of Ramnad was inaugurated by the Madurai Nayak Muthu Krishnappa in the early years of the seventeenth century. The inhabitants with martial tradition had served as soldiers under Pandyan, Chola and Vijayanagar kings, and were spread into Tirunelveli and other southern parts of Tamil

Vijayanagar Empire Origin and Expansion According to somelater-day tradition, Vidyaranya (also called Madhava), a renowned Saiva saint and Sanskrit scholar, is said to have persuaded the brothers to abandon their service to the Tughluqs and also to renounce Islam that they had adopted when they were imprisoned by the Sultan in Delhi. Vidyaranya is believed

Art and Architecture Golkonda Fort: The Raja Krishna Dev of the Kakatiya dynasty with Warangal as capital constructed the Golkonda Fort on a granite hill. During 1495–1496 the fort was handed over to Sultan Kali Kutub Khan as a Jagir (land grant). He reconstructed and rechristened the mud fort into a granite fort and called

Bahmani Kingdom Alaudin Hasan Bahman Shah (1347–1358) Mohammed I (1358–1375) Turquoise is a semi-precious stone sky blue in colour. Turquoise throne is one of the bejewelled royal seats of Persian kings described in Firdausi’s Shah Nama. Mohammed Gawan

Introduction Sources The Vijayanagar kings issued a large number of gold coins called Varaha (also called Pon in Tamil and Honnu in Kannada). These gold coins have the images of various Hindu deities and animals like the bull, the elephant and the fabulous gandaberunda (a double eagle, sometimes holding an elephant in each beak and

Religion Temples Cintamani, Mylapore, Tiruvotriyur, Tiruvadanai and Mahabalipuram are busy coastal trading centres recorded in inscriptions.

Economy Society Trade Irrigation Literacy Horse trade of that time has been recorded by Wassaff. He writes: “…as many as 10,000 horses were imported into Kayal and other ports of India of which 1,400 were to be of Jamaluddin’s own breed. The average cost of each horse was 220 dinars of ‘red gold’.”

State Palace and Couch Royal Officials Political Divisions Administration and Religion: Seventh to Ninth Centuries

Pandya Revival (600–920) Saivite saint Thirugnanasambandar converted Arikesari from Jainism to Saivism. Rise of Pandyas Again (1190–1310) Marco Polo, a Venetian (Italy) traveller who visited Pandya country lauded the king for fair administration and generous hospitality for foreign merchants. In his travel account, he also records the incidents of sati and the polygamy practiced by