SSC CGL History · Medieval India
Literature, Music and Travellers
The chronicles and poems of medieval India with their authors, the great books on music, and the foreign travellers with the ruler each one visited.
Why this matters
Fourteen questions in the bank: six from the 2023 shifts, five from the 2024 shifts and three from the 2025 shifts. Nearly every one pairs a book with its author or a traveller with a ruler, so three short tables answer them.
Concept 1 of 3: Chronicles and poems
Definition
Persian chronicles of the Sultanate:
- Taj-ul-Maasir: Hasan Nizami.
- Khazain-ul-Futuh (on Alauddin Khalji's conquests): Amir Khusrau.
- Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi: Ziauddin Barani.
- Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi: Yahya bin Ahmad Sirhindi.
Regional works:
- Prithviraj Raso: Chand Bardai, court poet of Prithviraj Chauhan.
- Ramacharita: Sandhyakar Nandi; its hero is the Pala king Ramapala.
- Pampa, Ponna and Ranna: the three jewels of Kannada literature (10th century).
- Basavanna (12th century): founder of the Virashaiva (Lingayat) movement; first a Jaina and a minister at a Chalukya court.
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
Example 1 · Medieval India · Literature, Music and Travellers
| Book | Author |
|---|---|
| a) Tajul Ma’asir | i) Yahya bin Ahmad Sirhimdi |
| b) Khazain-ul Futuh | ii) Hasan Nizami |
| c) Tarikh-i-Firuzshahi | iii) Ziauddin Barani |
| d) Tarikh-i-Mubarakshahi | iv) Amir Khusrav |
Barani is the historian, Khusrau the poet
Concept 2 of 3: Books on music
Definition
The books:
- Sangeet Ratnakara (13th century): Sharangadeva, at the Yadava court of Devagiri in Maharashtra; a founding text for both Hindustani and Carnatic music.
- Raga Tarangini: ascribed to Lochana Kavi.
- Sangeet Raj: Rana Kumbha of Mewar (15th century).
Even under Aurangzeb, who banished singing from his court, many Persian books on Indian classical music were written; SSC's key credits his reign with the most.
| Book | Author |
|---|---|
| Sangeet Ratnakara | Sharangadeva |
| Raga Tarangini | Lochana KaviQ |
| Sangeet Raj | Rana Kumbha |
Practice this conceptself-check · 3 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
Example 2 · Medieval India · Literature, Music and Travellers
The Natya Shastra is far older
Concept 3 of 3: Foreign travellers
Definition
In time order:
- Al-Biruni (11th century): came with Mahmud of Ghazni; wrote Kitab-ul-Hind.
- Marco Polo (late 13th century): Venetian; on his voyage back from China he described the pepper trade of Malabar.
- Ibn Battuta (14th century): Moroccan, at the court of Muhammad bin Tughlaq. In his Rihla he wrote that Delhi's people threw abusive letters at the Sultan, who shifted the capital to punish them, and that rebel chiefs hid in bamboo groves and hills.
- Abdur Razzaq (1443): Persian envoy at Vijayanagara.
- Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (17th century): a French jeweller who made six journeys to India under the Mughals.
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
Example 3 · Medieval India · Literature, Music and Travellers
Megasthenes is 2,000 years early
Summary — formulas & gotchas at a glance
A revision cheat-sheet for the formulas and gotchas above. Click any concept name to jump back to its full explanation.
Reference tables (3)
Chronicles and poems5 rows
Books on music3 rows
| Book | Author |
|---|---|
| Sangeet Ratnakara | Sharangadeva |
| Raga Tarangini | Lochana KaviQ |
| Sangeet Raj | Rana Kumbha |
Foreign travellers4 rows
Watch out for (3)
- Barani is the historian, Khusrau the poet→ Chronicles and poems
- The Natya Shastra is far older→ Books on music
- Megasthenes is 2,000 years early→ Foreign travellers
Test yourself on Medieval India
20 past SSC CGL questions from this chapter, timed at 12 minutes and marked the way the exam marks it. You see your score and every answer the moment you finish. Free to start.