Gujarat: Dynasties, Administration and Society up to the Marathas

What the official syllabus says

GPSC Main Examination, Paper IV: General Studies-I, (A) History.

• Important developments in Administration, Social, Religious and Economic conditions, etc. from Ancient to Modern India and Gujarat.

This page covers the Gujarat part of the line, from the earliest kingdoms to Maratha rule. Gujarat under the British is on the modern history page.

Topics in detail

For each period note the dynasty, its capital, its main rulers, how it ran the land, and what it left behind in monuments, literature and religion. Questions often ask how Gujarat's trade and ports shaped its society.

Mauryas, Kshatrapas and Guptas

• The Junagadh (Girnar) rock: Ashoka's fourteen major rock edicts, Rudradaman I's Sanskrit inscription (c. 150 CE) and Skandagupta's inscription on the same rock
• The Sudarshan lake: built under Chandragupta Maurya by his governor Pushyagupta, extended under Ashoka, repaired by Rudradaman I and again under Skandagupta
• Western Kshatrapas (Shakas): Chashtana, Rudradaman I; silver coinage; trade through Bharuch (Barygaza)
• Gupta rule in Gujarat and its end

Maitrakas of Valabhi (c. late 5th to 8th century)

• Founded by Bhatarka; capital at Valabhi in Saurashtra
• Valabhi as a centre of learning, mentioned by Chinese travellers; the Jain council at Valabhi
• Copper-plate land grants and what they tell us about administration and villages
• Decline after Arab raids in the 8th century

Chavdas, Chaulukyas (Solankis) and Vaghelas

• Vanraj Chavda and the founding of Anahilvad Patan
• Chaulukyas: Mularaja I; Bhima I and Mahmud of Ghazni's raid on Somnath (1025-26); Siddharaja Jayasimha; Kumarapala and the Jain scholar Hemachandra
• Victory of Mularaja II's forces over Muhammad of Ghor at Kasahrada (1178)
• Monuments: the Sun Temple at Modhera, Rani ki Vav at Patan, Rudra Mahalaya at Siddhpur, Sahasralinga Talav at Patan
• Vaghelas: Viradhavala and the ministers Vastupala and Tejapala; Karna Vaghela and the conquest of Gujarat by Alauddin Khalji's generals (1299)
• Administration, revenue and the role of merchants, temples and Jain patronage

Gujarat Sultanate (1407 to 1573)

• Zafar Khan (Muzaffar Shah I) and independence from Delhi
• Ahmad Shah I and the founding of Ahmedabad (1411); Ahmedabad's Jama Masjid and Bhadra fort
• Mahmud Begada: conquest of Junagadh and Champaner; Champaner as capital
• Battle of Diu (1509) and the Portuguese in western India; Bahadur Shah and his death at Diu (1537)
• Indo-Islamic architecture of the Sultanate; maritime trade through Khambhat, Surat and Diu

Mughal Gujarat

• Akbar's conquest (1572-73) and Gujarat as a Mughal subah; revenue settlement under Todar Mal
• Surat as the chief port of the empire; the English factory at Surat (1613) and Sir Thomas Roe's embassy
• Shivaji's raids on Surat (1664, 1670)
• Sources: the Mirat-i-Sikandari and the Mirat-i-Ahmadi

Maratha period

• Rise of the Gaekwads of Baroda; Peshwa-Gaekwad control of Ahmedabad (1753)
• Kathiawar's princely chiefs and the tribute system
• Economic and social conditions in the 18th century: decline of Surat, growth of Bombay

Dynasties at a glance

Themes across the periods

• Ports and trade (Bharuch, Khambhat, Surat, Diu) as the base of Gujarat's prosperity
• Jain merchant patronage of temples, manuscripts and learning
• Revenue: land grants of early dynasties, Sultanate and Mughal settlements, Maratha shares
• Religious coexistence and conflict; the history of Somnath

Overlaps

• Prelims General Studies: major dynasties of Gujarat, their rulers, administration and conditions.
• The monuments named here are covered as heritage on Gujarat: Art, Literature, Architecture, Music and Theatre.