In ancient India, kings held various titles. The most common of these were the Maharajah, Rajah and Sultan. Learn more about the rulers of Ancient India, the Middle Ages and the colonial era from this article.
Title Meaning
Maharaja in India is the great prince or king of kings, to whom the smaller rulers obeyed. It is considered the highest title that was available to the lords of these lands. Initially, it belonged to the lord of the vast Indian kingdom that existed in the II century and occupied most of the Hindustan peninsula, Sumatra, Malacca and several other islands. Also, this title was sometimes worn by smaller rulers. They could accept it themselves or receive it from the British colonialists.
The Sultan is the supreme ruler during the times of Muslim rule in India. The first to take this title was Hassan Bahman Shah. He ruled the state of the Bahmanids from 1347 to 1358. Later, this title was held by all representatives of the Muslim dynasties, which belonged to the Delhi Sultanate - land in northern India.
Raja - a title that was originally worn by representatives of dynasties that owned any territory. Later, they began to call all sovereign persons who had at least some power. The ruler of India, who wore the title of raja, could only be a native of the higher castes - kshatriyas (warriors) or brahmanas (priests).
Empire Mauryev
The state existed from about 317 to 180 BC. e. His education began after Alexander the Great left these lands, not wanting to help Chandragupta in the war with the kings who ruled the Nanda empire. However, he was able to expand his own state without the intervention of the Greeks.
The highest heyday of the Maurya Empire was during the reign of Ashoka. He was one of the most powerful rulers in ancient India, who managed to subjugate the vast territories on which at least 40 million people lived. The empire ceased to exist half a century after the death of Ashoka. It was replaced by a state led by the newly formed Shung Dynasty.
Medieval India. Reign of the gupta dynasty
During this period, neither a strong centralized power nor a united empire existed. There were only a few dozen small states that constantly fought with each other. At that time, the ruler in India bore the title of either a rajah or a maharajah.
With the advent of the Gupta dynasty, a period began in the history of the country, which is called the "Golden Age", since at the imperial court Kalidas composed plays and poems, and the astronomer and mathematician Aryabhata was able to calculate the length of the equator, predicted solar and lunar eclipses, determined the value "π and "and also made many other discoveries. In the silence of the palace, the philosopher Vasubandhu wrote his Buddhist treatises.
Representatives of the Gupta dynasty, who ruled in the IV-VI centuries, were called maharajas. Its founder was Sri Gupta, belonging to the Vaishya caste. After his death, the empire ruled Samundragupt. His state stretched from the Bay of Bengal to the Arabian Sea. At this time, there is a practice related to donating land, as well as transferring the rights of administration, tax collection and court to local rulers. This state of affairs entailed the formation of new centers of power.
The Fall of the Gupta Empire
The endless feuds between the many rulers weakened their states, so they were often subjected to raids by foreign conquerors, who were attracted by the countless riches of these places.
In the V century, tribes of nomadic Huns came to the lands belonging to the Gupta dynasty. By the beginning of the VI century, they were able to capture the central and western parts of the country, but soon their troops were defeated, and they were forced to leave India. After that, the Gupta state did not last long. By the end of the century, it broke up.
The formation of a new empire
In the 7th century, many countries in northern India fell under the onslaught of the troops of one of the then rulers - Kharshavardhana, the lord of Kanaudzha. In 606, he created an empire, the size of which can be compared with the state of the Gupta dynasty. It is known that he was a playwright and poet, and Kanaudzh with him became the cultural capital. Documents of those times have been preserved that state that this ruler of India introduced taxes that are not burdensome for people. Under him, a tradition appeared, according to which every five years he distributed generous gifts to his subordinates.
The state of Harshavardhana was constituted by vassal principalities. After his death in 646, the empire immediately broke up into several Rajput principalities. At this time, the formation of the caste system, which operates in India to this day, has completed. This era is characterized by the crowding out of the Buddhist religion from the country and the widespread establishment of Hinduism.
Muslim rule
In the eleventh century, medieval India was still bogged down in contention that constantly took place between many states. Taking advantage of the weaknesses of local nobles, the Muslim ruler Mahmoud Ganzevi invaded their territory.
In the XIII century, the entire northern part of India was conquered. Now power belonged to Muslim rulers who wore the titles of sultans. Local Rajas lost their lands, and thousands of beautiful Indian temples were looted and then destroyed. In their place began to build mosques.
Mughal Empire
This state existed in the years 1526-1540 and 1555-1858. It occupied the entire territory of modern Pakistan, India and southeastern Afghanistan. For all this time, the borders of the Mughal empire, where the rules of the Baburid dynasty were constantly changing. This was facilitated by the conquering wars waged by representatives of this dynasty.
It is known that its founder was Zahireddin Mohammed Babur. He came from the clan Barlas and was a descendant of Tamerlane. All members of the Baburid dynasty spoke two languages - Persian and Turkic. These rulers of India have quite complex and varied titles. But they still had one similarity. This is the title "padishah", once borrowed from the Persian rulers.
Initially, the future ruler of India was the ruler of Andijan (modern Uzbekistan), which was part of the Timurid state, but he had to flee this city under the pressure of nomads - Deshtikipchak Uzbeks. So, together with his army, consisting of representatives of various tribes and peoples, he ended up in Herat (Afghanistan). Then he moved to northern India. In 1526, at the Battle of Panipat, Babur was able to defeat the army of Ibrahim Lodi, who was then the Delhi Sultan. A year later, he again defeated the Rajput rulers, after which the territory of North India passed into his possession.
The heir to Babur, the son of Humayun, could not hold power in his hands, so for more than 15 years, starting from 1540 and ending with 1555, the Mughal empire was in the hands of representatives of the Afghan dynasty of Surids.
Titles of sovereigns in colonial India
Since 1858, when the British Empire established its rule on the Hindustan Peninsula, the British needed to replace all the local rulers who were not satisfied with the presence of the conquerors on their land. So there were new rulers who received titles directly from the colonialists.
Such was the ruler of Shinde from the province of Gwalior. He received the title of Maharajah when he sided with the British during the famous sepoy uprising. The same title for his services to the invaders received in honor of the coronation of Emperor George V and Bhagavad Singh, who lived in the province of Gondal. The land lord in Baroda Sajajirao III became maharajah after having removed the previous one for embezzlement.
Interestingly, not only native Indians could wear this title. There were so-called white Rajas, for example, representatives of the English Brook dynasty. They ruled the small state of Sarawak for about a hundred years, beginning in the mid-19th century. Only when in 1947 India gained independence and became a republic, all the titles of rulers were officially abolished.