Page 54 - SST Class 07

Time Period Particulars of Construction such as Hindi, Bengali and Marathi were also
Between the The trabeate style was used for
eighth and the constructing temples, mosques,
thirteenth tombs and buildings attached to
centuries large stepped wells (baolis).
There were two technological and stylist develop-
ments noticeable from the twelfth century; which
were :
g Arcuate Form of Architecture : In this
form of architecture, the weight of the
superstructure above the doors and win-
dows was sometimes carried by the arches.
In an arch, a keystone bears the weight of
the superstructure and transfers the weight
to the base of the arch.
g Increased Use of Limestone Cement in
Construction : This was of high quality. It
hardened into concrete when mixed with
stone chips. It made the construction of
large structures easier and faster.
After the decline of Mughal empire, many paint-
ers moved out to the neigbouring courts of
Rajputana and the foothills of the Himalayas
(modern day state of Himachal Pradesh). As a
result, Rajputana miniatures and Pahari minia-
tures were created based on local themes. The
Indian painting traditions reached excellence
during the Mughal Period.
LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
With the arrival of Turks in India in the 10th
century, a new language – ‘persian’ was intro-
duced in India. From the very beginning, the
Turks adopted persian as the language of litera-
ture and administration. The most important
Persian writer of the period was Amir Khusrau.
Khusrau wrote a number of poetical works
including historical romances. Khusrau praised
the Indian languages including Hindi. He was
also a great musician.
Along with Persian, many regional languages
Social Science-7
developing. Bhakti and Mararthi were also
developing. Bhakti poems were composed in
these regional languages so that they could be
understood by the common people. The main
theme of these poems was love and devotion
towards God.
Persian literature reached its excellence during
Akbar’s reign. Writers like Abul Fazl wrote the
Akbarnama and Ain-i-Akbari in Persian.
Mahabharata was translated in Persian. The most
notable Hindi poet of this period was Tulsidas
who wrote his famous work Ramcharitmanas in
Awadhi (a dialect of Hindi) spoken in Eastern
Uttar Pradesh.
w Amir Khusrau wrote his poems mainly in Persian,
but also in Hindavi. He has been called “The father
of qawwali” (The devotional music of the Indian
sufis). He enriched Hindustani classical music by
introducing Khayal and Tarana style of music. The
invention of the tabla is also attributed to him.
w Tulsidas wrote Ramcharitmanas which is the
Awadhi version of Ramayana and is read and
worshipped in many homes even today.
w Tansen one of the navaratnas (nine jewels) at the
court emperor Akbar is one of the greatest
musicians in Hindustani classical music. According
to legends by singing raga Deepak, Tansen could
light fire.
In Deccan, Marathi language developed and
Bhakti saints like Eknath and Tukaram wrote in
this language. In Kerala, Malayalam developed
as a language. Due to the writings of the Sikh
Guru, Punjabi too flowered.
Thus, a very positive feature of Medieval India
was the flowering of regional language and
literature.
Music : Although orthodox Islam frowned upon
music, the influence of Sufi ideas in which music
is an important part led to the flowing of music in
54