Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals (1206-1526) by Satish Chandra
Publisher: Har-Anand Publications Originally
Published: 1997
Book Blurb: The present work is a broad survey of political, social, economic and cultural developments in India between 1206 and 1526.
Introduction: This book is the first part of a two-volume set of roughly eight hundred pages by the renowned historian Satish Chandra. The Delhi Sultanate is sometimes seen as a dark age filled with bloodshed and plunder with little to no developments taking place.
However, the author argues this narrative by providing the reader with a chronological assessment of relations between the political, social economic, and cultural spheres.
Book Review: Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals (1526-1748) by Satish Chandra (Part Two)
In the present work, the author has tried to bridge the gap between current historical research and popular perception of a controversial phase in Indian history.
Recommended For: History enthusiasts who wish to know more about the early medieval and medieval period of India in a chronological manner.
This book is divided into fourteen chapters that begin with an informative introduction of the political intentions and migration patterns of the Ghaznavids and Ghurids towards the Rajput Kingdoms in North India and the consequences that follows.
The author then discusses the establishment of the Sultanate period and the fight for legitimacy by various rulers of the dynasties whose reign together is known as the Delhi Sultanat.
Satish Chandra also discusses the Sultanat’s interaction and relations with other regions of the Indian subcontinent such as Bengal, Gujarat, Kashmir, Rajasthan and the Vijayanagar Kingdom in the South.
Prof Chandra has meticulously discussed the policies of Balban, Alauddin Khalji and Muhammad Bin Tughlaq. Though the author has written extensively on the political developments of the time, he has written only one chapter on culture and social life.
Some of the information in this book might feel like common knowledge because his research was on one of the driving forces that have shaped the National Council of Research and Educational Training (NCERT) History Textbook’s content on Medieval India.
This book is a good read for those who wish to have a more detailed account of the historical events taught in our history class. The language is unassuming and straightforward. Happy Reading!
