medieval terminologies Flashcards
purohita
Priest
mandalam
Province of Chola kingdom
valanadu
District
ur
A council
brahmadeya/agrahara
Tax-free land given to a brahmin as a gift
manigramam
Name of a merchant-guild
gopuram
Gateway of a temple
shikhara
A spire-like structure over the central shrine of a temple
advaita
A system of Indian philosophy preached by Shankara.
It means a unique which has no second.
He taught - it was only through knowledge that one could worship God.
lingayats
Group of religious Kannada teachers
alvars and nayannars
Tamil saints
bhakti
A system of Indian philosophy preached by Ramanuja.
He preached that one should devote oneself entirely to worship of God through bhakti (devotion and love)
mlechchhas
A barbarian or outcast
varaha
A boar incarnation of Vishnu
surya-vamshi
Sun family
chandra-vamshi
Moon family
agni-kula
Fire family
rai & thakur
some titles of feudatories (persons who received grants)
maharajadhiraja
“king of kings” - a high sounding titles used by feudatory to declare his independence
apabhramsha
language spoken by the common people
ulema
scholars of Islamic learning - generally orthodox
iqta
The grant of revenue from a village or a piece of land
muqaddam
hereditary headman of the village
patwari
one who kept local records of revenue accounts
mushrif
one who supervised the accounts and attended to the revenue when it was collected
wazir
Chief Minister and adviser to the Sultan
mir bakshi
head of military
Chief Qazi
chief judge
khutba
a sermon read in the name of ruling king on the occasion of Friday prayers
karkhanahs
workshops - slaves were employed by Sultan to produce variety of things
baniyas, multanis,
communities who made trade their special work
tankah
silver coin
pir
Hindu guru
banjaras
a group of merchants who owned large caravans and transported goods from market to market
qawwah
a form of singing practiced by followers of Muin-ud-din Chishti at gatherings
dohas
are couplets composed by Saint Kabir and taught to his followers
kabirpanthis
a group formed by followers of Saint Kabir
Adi-granth
A religious book of the Sikhs in which teachings of Nanak was collected in the form of verses.
langar
a common kitchen
khalsa
followers of the tenth guru - it means “the pure”
What are the 5 K’s/characteristic of Sikhs?
- kesha - hair
- kangha- comb
- kara- iron bracelet
- kripan- dagger
- kachchha- underwear
mansabdar
Mansab means rank or office.
A Mansabdar was bearer of a rank whose salary was fixed in accordance with the grade indicated by the number of troopers under his command.
He had to perform civil/military duties in accordance with orders of the emperor.
The rank was not hereditary.
Salary was often paid by means of assignments of land revenue.
khan-i-saman
Chief steward who attended to the royal household.
Diwan-i-khas
hall of private audience
Diwan-i-am
hall of public audience
jharokha
balcony of emperor’s palace where he would appear and people would gather to see him.
subas
means province.
Mughal empire was divided into a number of subas.
During Akbar there were 15 subas
sarkars
every suba was divided into a number of sarkars.
paragans
each sarkars was divided into a number of paragans.
A group of villages made one paragans.
subadar
Governor of the province
diwan
person who kept records of revenue from the land.
kotwal
officer in charge of town administration.
Responsible for catching criminals.
He inspected weights and measures used by merchants.
He also kept records of all persons living in the neighborhood including foreigners–> made him kind of a census officer.
kotwali
police station
Din-i-Illahi
A religious path laid down by Akbar.
It means divine monotheism or the religion of one God.
ashtapradhan
A Council of 8 ministers who acted as advisers to the Maratha king in matters relating to the state
chauth
One-quarter of land revenue paid to the government, collected as tax by Marathas from people living outside Maratha kingdom in return for security against plunder and raid of their territory by the Marathas
sardeshmukhi
A tax equivalent to one-tenth of land revenue levied by Marathas on all territories
