Medieval India Culture

[Klacee Sawatzky]

Medieval India refers to a long period of post-classical history of the Indian subcontinent between the "ancient period" and "modern period". It is usually regarded as running approximately from the breakup of the Gupta Empire in the 6th century CE to the start of the early modern period in 1526 with the start of the Mughal Empire, although some historians regard it as both starting and finishing later than these points. The medieval period is itself subdivided into the early medieval and late medieval eras.

In the early medieval period, there were more than 40 different states on the Indian subcontinent, which hosted a variety of cultures, languages, writing systems, and religions.[1] At the beginning of the time period, Buddhism was predominant throughout the area, with the short-lived Pala Empire on the Indo Gangetic Plain sponsoring the Buddhist faith's institutions. One such institution was the Buddhist Nalanda mahavihara in modern-day Bihar, India, a centre of scholarship and brought a divided South Asia onto the global intellectual stage. Another accomplishment was the invention of the Chaturanga game which later was exported to Europe and became Chess.[2]In Southern India, the Tamil Hindu Kingdom of Chola gained prominence with an overseas empire that controlled parts of modern-day Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Indonesia as overseas territories, and helped spread Hinduism and Buddhism into the historic cultural area of Southeast Asia.[3] In this time period, neighboring regions such as Afghanistan, Tibet, and Southeast Asia were under South Asian influence.[4]

One definition includes the period from the 6th century,[10] the first half of the 7th century,[11] or the 8th century[12] up to the 16th century, essentially coinciding with the Middle Ages of Europe. It may be divided into two periods: The 'early medieval period' which lasted from the 6th to the 13th century and the 'late medieval period' which lasted from the 13th to the 16th century, ending with the start of the Mughal Empire in 1526. The Mughal era, from the 16th century to the 18th century, is often referred to as the early modern period,[10] but is sometimes also included in the 'late medieval' period.[13]

An alternative definition, often seen in those more recent authors who still use the term at all, brings the start of the medieval times forward, either to about 1000 CE, or to the 12th century.[14] The end may be pushed back to the 18th century, Hence, this period can be effectively considered as the beginning of Muslim domination to British India.[15] Or the "early medieval" period as beginning in the 8th century, and ending with the 11th century.[16]

The use of "medieval" at all as a term for periods in Indian history has often been objected to, and is probably becoming more rare (there is a similar discussion in terms of the history of China).[17] It is argued that neither the start nor the end of the period really mark fundamental changes in Indian history, comparable to the European equivalents.[18] Burton Stein still used the concept in his A History of India (1998), referring to the period from the Guptas to the Mughals, but most recent authors using it are Indian. Understandably, they often specify the period they cover within their titles.[19]

The start of the period is typically taken to be the slow collapse of the Gupta Empire from about 480 to 550,[21] ending the "classical" period, as well as "ancient India",[22] although both these terms may be used for periods with widely different dates, especially in specialized fields such as the history of art or religion.[23] Another alternative for the preceding period is "Early Historical" stretching "from the sixth century BC to the sixth century AD", according to Romila Thapar.[24]

At least in northern India, there was no larger state until the Delhi Sultanate, or certainly the Mughal Empire,[25] but there were several different dynasties ruling large areas for long periods, as well as many other dynasties ruling smaller areas, often paying some form of tribute to larger states. John Keay puts the typical number of dynasties within the subcontinent at any one time at between 20 and 40,[26] not including local rajas.

This period follows the Muslim conquests of the Indian subcontinent and the decline of Buddhism, the eventual founding of the Delhi Sultanate and the creation of Indo-Islamic architecture, followed by the world's major trading nation, the Bengal Sultanate.[28][29]

The start of the Mughal Empire in 1526 marked the beginning of the early modern period of Indian history,[10] often referred to as the Mughal era. Sometimes, the Mughal era is also referred as the 'late medieval' period.

Modern historical works written on medieval India have received some criticism from scholars studying the historiography of the period. E. Sreedharan argues that, from the turn of the century until the 1960s, Indian historians were often motivated by Indian nationalism.[34] Peter Hardy notes that the majority of modern historical works on medieval India up until then were written by British and Hindu historians, whereas the work of modern Muslim historians was under-represented.[35] He argues that some of the modern Muslim historiography on medieval India at the time was motivated by Islamic apologetics, attempting to justify "the life of medieval Muslims to the modern world."[36]

Ram Sharan Sharma has criticised the simplistic manner in which Indian history is often divided into an ancient "Hindu" period, a medieval "Muslim" period, and a modern "British" period. He argues that there is no clear sharp distinction between when the ancient period ended and when the medieval period began, noting dates ranging from the 7th century to the 13th century.[37]

Crystal Bartolovich, Jean-Franois Bdard, Brian Brege, Virginia Burrus, Dympna Callaghan, Sally Cornelison, Albrecht Diem, Wayne Franits, Ken Frieden, Samantha Kahn Herrick, Amy Kallander, George Kallander, Norman Kutcher, Christopher Kyle, Anne Leone, Matilde M. Mateo, Gladys McCormick, Ana Mendez-Oilver, Patricia Moody, Tessa Murphy, Glenn Peers, Kara Richardson, William Robert, Martin Shanguhyia, Stephanie Shirilan, Scott Manning Stevens, Junko Takeda, Matthieu van der Meer, Amanda Eubanks Winkler

Students who minor in Medieval and Renaissance Studies explore the vibrant historical, social, visual, intellectual, political, religious, and literary cultures of the Middle Ages and Renaissance (c. 300-1800). Taught by dynamic scholars whose teaching and research interests span medieval and early modern Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas, courses in the minor give students the opportunity engage with perennially relevant issues related to life, death, sexuality, faith, power, conflict, ingenuity, and creativity.

Disclaimer: Historical accuracy, cultural sensitivity and academic honesty are of the utmost importance to me as a writer and a food historian. I am aware that there are elements of ancient history that may be controversial. I do not claim to be an expert in Indian history, but I do conduct thorough research using reputable academic sources, which are cited at the end of this article.

Indian food as we know it is influenced by many factors. It varies significantly by region, caste and religion. Overall, the staples of India consist of basmati rice, millet, legumes (lentils, chickpeas, etc.), dairy like ghee, yogurt and paneer cheese, citrus fruit and a wide variety of nuts, spices and herbs. Here is a great list of Indian pantry essentials.

Around 1500 BC, there were widespread invasions throughout the continent. The Dorians, Hittites, and others systematically raided this part of the world. India was invaded by Indo-Aryan warriors from Central Asia, who are credited by some with introducing the Sanskrit language and the caste system. According to Professor Ken Albala, these warriors were polytheistic and practiced meditation and fasting. Their clergy later became known as Brahmins.

Under the caste system, Brahmins and warriors (Kshatriyas) were kept separate from the other castes. In the early days they did eat beef, but all of that changed around 600 BC. There are theories as to how and why this happened, which I will not get into. But the result of this change brought about the early Dharmasutras/Dharmasastras. In these early Hindu texts a number of food prohibitions were laid out for each caste. Also included were some guidelines as to which foods were considered pure or unpolluted. Among the purest food items was clarified butter, also known as Ghee.

Around this same time, Buddhism was spreading quickly throughout Asia. The religion taught strict vegetarianism. Hindu Brahmins adopted and enforced vegetarianism as a way of life with ayurvedic medical benefits.

In Ayurveda medicine, the ultimate goal is balance. Human beings are run by a set of forces that affect our bodily functions. These forces are called doshas and consist of space, air, fire, earth and water. Also present in our bodies are other forces, one of which is called Ojas. Healthy ojas is directly related to diet.

Throughout the medieval period, strong Persian, Turkish and Iranian influences began to manifest in Indian cuisine. Various empires and dynasties rose and fell. Among these were the Gupta, Chalukya, Rashtrakuta, Pala and Chola. In the Late Middle Ages, A Muslim Indo-Turkish sultanate ruled from the 13th to the 16th century.

Probably the most significant culinary influence came with the Mughal Empire, a Persian-Mongol Islamic empire which covered a huge area including much of India, Pakistan and part of Afghanistan between the 16th and 19th centuries. This cuisine hybrid became known as Muglai cuisine, which survives today in northern India, especially in the state of Punjab.

This recipe belongs to Dassana Amit of Veg Recipes of India and I will not take any credit by posting her actual recipe here. If you want to try it at home, please go to her website for the full recipe.

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