Emergency of Regional States in India : From the 12th to 18th century

        There are twenty eight states in India today. Each of these states has a specific language, geography, food and culture that make the culture of India rich and full of variety. Have you ever wondered how these different states and the regional cultures developed in them? Were they like this since time immemorial? When we go back in history, we realize that these states existed in different ways that underwent a constant process of change at different periods of time. In this lesson, you will study the history of various regional states that existed from the 12th to the 18th century. Some of the regional states of this period are today part of a single state. For example, Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur that existed as independent regional states in the medieval period are today districts of the state of Rajasthan. 

        Some of the regional states are now part of more than one state. For example, the Vijayanagar Empire (1336–1565 AD) is now part of the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. There are some regional states that had the same names as those of today's modern states, but were different in terms of the areas they covered.

 

Understanding of the term Regional State and Regionalism

        In the history of India, and gujrat there has been aevolution and development of regionalism and regional states. How is the emergence of regional states explained? From the 7th century AD onwards, which is the early medieval period until the 17th and 18th centuries, agricultural and farming activities played a very important role in the development of regional states. Trade and commercial activities, both land and sea, also provided an important source of income. There is the emergence of powerful sectors in society that controlled the agricultural surplus. . Sometimes some groups came from abroad and conquered the land, controlled the administration, and became powerful. It is true that a large number of regional states after the 13th century arose due to the internal weakness of the Delhi Sultanate. Similarly, with the decline of the Mughal Empire, important states emerged in the 18th century. 

        But all of these states had a regional history that predated the Sultanate and the Mughal state. For example, Bengal was an important regional kingdom in the 8th and 9th centuries under Palas and later in the 12th century under Senas. It was an important independent state in the 13th and 15th centuries and also became a powerful provincial kingdom in the 18th century. We all know that the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal Empire ruled over numerous and different cultural zones. Therefore, it needs be remembered that regionalism and people never disappeared even though regional dynasties gained and lost power and regions changed their geographical boundaries. What is this regionalism? In addition to political features, such as regional ruling dynasties, there are some important features of regionalism that developed, evolved, and changed over a period of time in these regional states.

Rise of Territorial Status : General History

        The lessons you have learned about regional states from the 7th to the 13th century. What happened to these states? Did they disappear completely from medieval Indian politics? A large number of these territorial states continued to exist after the thirteenth century but the ruling dynasty and geography of these states changed. In this section, you will find a general overview of the regional states from the thirteenth to the eighteenth century. The annexation of various Rajput states of Bengal, Bihar, Gujarat, Malwa, Rajasthan such as Ranthambore, Jalor, Nagore, Ajmer, Varangal, Telangana, Yadav of Deviur, and Yadav of Devgor resulted in the expansion of the Delhi Sultanate. The southern states of Hoysalas in Dwarasamudra, Pandya in Madurai and so on. 

        We have studied the various expeditions of Alauddin Khalji during the period of Mohammad bin Tughlaq and the relocation of the capital from Delhi to Daulatabad in Dakta. The states that were attached to the sultanate formed different provinces and they were kept under the administration of the provincial governors. From the founding of the Delhi Sultanate in the thirteenth century to its fall in the fifteenth century, there was at one time constant interaction between the independent states and the center i.e. the provinces of Delhi. However, the revolt never captured these areas as we all know that as a prince, Muhammad bin Tughlaq spent his entire career crushing the revolts in Deccan, Orissa and Bengal. Although these areas were now part of the Delhi Sultanate, regional characteristics of language, art, literature and religion remain. In fact, when Islam arrived here, it acquired a regional flavor. These states already have Muslim merchants and Muslim settlements serving in the military. Although there was hardly any regional ruling dynasty, the sultanate's provincial rulers insisted on their independence by allying with local kings and landlords. After the fourteenth century, when the Delhi Sultanate was declining, most of the regional states were the result of rebellions by governors.  

        Bengal in the east and Multan and Sindh in the west became independent. Feroze Shah Tughlaq tried to regain the lost territories but could not. He tried unsuccessfully to occupy Bengal. He attacked and looted Jajnagar (Orissa) but did not pair it. He plundered Kangra and suppressed the revolts in Gujarat and Thatta. With the death of Feroze Shah Tughlaq in 1338, the fall of the Sultanate began. As we have just said, a large number of local governors became powerful and emphasized their independence in the provinces. The relationship between the sultan and the aristocracy deteriorated further. The sultanate was further weakened by conflicts with local rulers and landlords and regional and geographical tensions. The declining sultanate received its final blow with the invasion of Timur in 1398 AD. Timur was a Turk who came from Central Asia to plunder India's wealth. Timur entered Delhi and brutally killed both Hindus and Muslims and also murdered women and children. Fifteen years after the raid of Timur in Delhi, the Delhi Sultanate refused. 

        The Sultanate emerged as a powerful regional state in Gujarat, Malwa and Jainpur near Varanasi. Gujarat and Jaunpur were engaged in constant tensions with the Lodhis of the Delhi Sultanate (1451 to 1526 AD). The new territorial states that became independent from the Delhi Sultanate also sprang up in Central and South India. Lodhi sultans like Bahlol Lodhi (1451–1485) and Alexander Lodhi (1489–1526) tried to control these regional states. Finally, during the reign of Ibrahim Lodhi (1517 151526), Bihar declared its independence. Daulat Khan, the Governor of the Punjab, revolted and invited Babur to invade India in 1526. 1526 A.D. With the establishment of the Mughal Empire in, and its subsequent expansion, the ruling dynasties in the regional states gradually lost their power and these states became part of the Mughal Empire over time. But the regional features of language, art, literature and religion continued to change. With the fall of the Mughals in the nineteenth century, there was a revolt of the provincial governors and a few allied states declared their independence. As a result, new regional empires sprang up, for example, Punjab, Bengal, Awadh, Hyderabad, Mysore and Maratha.