Table Of ContentANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL INDIA
For UPSC and State Civil Services Examinations
ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL INDIA
For UPSC and State Civil Services Examinations
Poonam Dalal Dahiya
McGraw Hill Education (India) Private Limited
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Ancient and Medieval India
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Dedicated to my late father Sh. Randhawa Singh Dalal
who taught me to dream big.
PREFACE
The syllabus of the General Studies for the UPSC and State Service
examinations is pretty exhaustive in nature and Ancient and Medieval History
has emerged as one of the important component of this syllabus. Many aspirants
find history a boring factual subject that has to be crammed and is not a fun to
learn. It is indeed difficult for any new aspirant to cover it comprehensively in a
short span of time. The very purpose of writing this book is to break this myth
and to make learning of history a joyful process.
This book has a completely new approach towards study of Ancient and
Medieval History. It attempts to make the learning of history simple and
interesting and provides a one-stop solution to all your history needs. The book
is structured in a way that it is in sync with each and every topic in the
syllabus. The information is given in an interesting format to make one
comfortable with history.
Special Features of this Book
1. Comprehensive coverage of entire syllabus pertaining to Ancient and
Medieval History demanded for UPSC, State Services and other competitive
exams.
2. Inclusion of two comprehensive detachable quick revision charts each
pertaining to Ancient and Medieval history to simplify the learning process.
3. In every chapter, the keywords have been highlighted so that it becomes easy
for the reader to make a quick reference to important points.
4. Ample diagrams are included in the chapters to provide conceptual clarity
about historic events.
5. Along with the repository of last year’s questions (both Prelims and Mains),
practice questions are provided for each chapter to make students practice,
assess and master the particular topic.
6. Use of simple and lucid language to cater to the needs of students of different
backgrounds. The last chapter is more of an epilogue and is provided in the
form of notes since it caters to certain crucial early modern India topics
which are generally asked in examination.
I sincerely hope that all the readers of the book will appreciate and benefit from
its contents and find it useful for their preparation.
Any remarks/recommendations towards improving the content and its richness
will be most welcome and eagerly awaited. Your valuable suggestions will go far
in enhancing this book in the future. You may reach the author at
[email protected]
All the very Best!
Poonam Dalal Dahiya
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wish to thank a multitude of people whose lives have intersected with mine in
one way or the other and inspired me to write this book. To begin with, I would
like to express my heartfelt gratitude for my dear husband Mr. Aseem Dahiya,
who has been a source of constant inspiration and encouragement ever since I
have known him and who has seen from close quarters the crests and troughs of
my struggle, all the while prodding me to never give up. Without his unflinching
support, I would not have been able to complete this challenging task or
anything else in life. He, along with my son Vikramaditya, has given a new
meaning and purpose to my life, wherein I find myself obligated to return to the
society in no small measure, what I have gained from it.
My gratitude is also due to my brothers Amit and Ajay who have always
believed in me and motivated me to develop my notes written over the years
during preparation of various exams into this work. I would also like to thank
my whole family especially my in-laws, my mother, teachers, colleagues and
friends who in their own unique ways have helped me to form my views on
various issues as delineated in this book and without their support it would not
have been possible for me to research and write this book.
I am also indebted to every teacher of mine who have not only relentlessly
mentored me in this endeavour but also helped me during the course of my own
UPSC preparation specially Pavan Sir (of Pavan Kumar IAS Academy),
Ravindran Sir (of Vajiram and Ravi), Praveen Bansal Sir (of Abhimanu IAS
Study Group), Anil Narula Sir (of Anil Narula’s IAS Study Center). I am also
sincerely thankful to Shri D.S. Mishra, IAS, Dr. Dinesh Arora, IAS, Shri
Maheswar Dayal, IPS, Dr. Ajay Chikkara, IRS who have always supported me
through this journey of mine, and have encouraged and helped me in their own
ways in completing this work in time.
I would also like to express my true appreciation to McGraw Hill Education,
India and their entire team who gave consistent support and helped me in the
creation and edition of the book. My special thanks to Mr. Tanmoy Roy
Chowdhury, Ms. Shukti Mukherjee, Ms. Gargi Bhattacharya and Mr. Ankur
Shankrit for their continued support all through the venture.
I finally hope that this book will help the readers in a better conceptual
understanding of the Ancient and Medieval History of India and help all those
civil service aspirants who have fire in their eyes and who dare to dream.
Poonam Dalal Dahiya
CONTENTS
Preface
Acknowledgements
1. Ancient India
Pre-history phase
Palaeolithic Age(Hunters and Food Gatherers)
Mesolithic Age (Hunters and Herders)
Neolithic Age (Food-Producing Stage)
Chalcolithic Age / Copper-Stone Age(c. 3000−500 BCE)
