In ancient India, the kings had different titles. The most common of them were maharaja, raja and sultan. You will learn more about the rulers of Ancient India, the Middle Ages and the colonial era in this article.
Meaning of titles
Magaraja in India is a great prince or king of kings, to whom lesser rulers obeyed. It is considered the highest title that was available to the rulers of these lands. Initially, it belonged to the ruler of a huge Indian kingdom that existed in the 2nd 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 take it themselves or get it from the British colonizers.
Sultan - the supreme ruler during the Muslim rule in India. Hasan Bahman Shah was the first to wear this title. He ruled the Bahmanid state from 1347 to 1358. Later, this title was held by all representatives of the Muslim dynasties that owned the Delhi Sultanate - lands in the northern part of India.
Raja - a title that was originally worn by representatives of dynasties that owned any territories. Later, they began to call all the sovereignpeople who have some kind of power. The ruler of India, who bore the title of Raja, could only come from the highest castes - Kshatriyas (warriors) or Brahmins (priests).
Mauryan Empire
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 on his own without the intervention of the Greeks.
The Mauryan Empire reached its peak during the reign of Ashoka. He was one of the most powerful rulers in ancient India, who managed to subjugate vast territories inhabited by at least 40 million people. The empire ceased to exist half a century after the death of Ashoka. It was replaced by a state led by the newly formed Shunga dynasty.
Medieval India. Rule of the Gupta dynasty
During this period, neither a strong centralized government nor a unified empire existed. There were only a few dozen small states that were constantly at war with each other. At that time, the ruler in India bore the title of either Raja or Maharaja.
With the coming to power 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 managed to calculate the length of the equator, predicted solarand lunar eclipses, determined the value of "pi", and also made many other discoveries. In the quiet of the palace, the philosopher Vasubandhu wrote his Buddhist treatises.
The representatives of the Gupta dynasty, who ruled in the 4th-6th centuries, were called Maharajas. Its founder was Sri Gupta, who belonged to the Vaishya caste. After his death, the empire was ruled by Samundragupta. His state stretched from the Bay of Bengal to the Arabian Sea. At this time, there is a practice associated with the donation of land, as well as the transfer of the rights of administration, tax collection and court to local rulers. This state of affairs entailed the formation of new centers of power.
Fall of the Gupta Empire
Endless feuds between numerous rulers weakened their states, so they were very often subjected to raids by foreign conquerors, who were attracted by the untold riches of these places.
In the 5th 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. It fell apart by the end of the century.
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 - Harshavardhana, the lord of Kanauj. 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 Kanaujit became a cultural capital. Documents of those times have been preserved, which say that this ruler of India introduced taxes that were 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 made up of 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 was completed, which operates in India to this day. This era is characterized by the displacement of the Buddhist religion from the country and the widespread establishment of Hinduism.
Muslim rule
Medieval India in the 11th century was still bogged down in discord that constantly took place between numerous states. Taking advantage of the weakness of the local nobles, the Muslim ruler Mahmud Ganzevi invaded their territory.
In the XIII century, the entire northern part of India was conquered. Now the power belonged to Muslim rulers who bore the titles of sultans. Local rajahs lost their lands, and thousands of beautiful Indian temples were looted and then destroyed. Mosques began to be built in their place.
Mughal Empire
This state existed in 1526-1540 and 1555-1858. It occupied the entire territory of modern Pakistan, India and the southeastern part of Afghanistan. During all this time, the boundaries of the Mughal Empire, where the Baburid dynasty ruled, were constantly changing. This was facilitated by the wars of conquest that ledrepresentatives of this dynasty.
It is known that Zahireddin Mohammed Babur became its founder. He came from the Barlas clan 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 did have one similarity. This is the title of "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 from this city under the onslaught 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 North India. In 1526, at the Battle of Panipat, Babur managed to defeat the army of Ibrahim Lodi, who was then the Sultan of Delhi. A year later, he again defeated the Rajput rulers, after which the territory of Northern India passed into his possession.
Babur's heir, the son of Humayun, could not hold power in his hands, so for more than 15 years, from 1540 to 1555, the Mughal Empire was in the hands of representatives of the Afghan Surid dynasty.
Titles of rulers in colonial India
Starting from 1858, when the British Empire established its dominion in the Hindustan peninsula, the British had to replace all local rulers who were not satisfied with the presence of conquerors on theirearth. This is how new rulers appeared, who received titles directly from the colonizers.
This was the ruler of Shinde from the province of Gwalior. He received the title of Maharaja when he went over to the side of the British during the famous sepoy uprising. Bhagavat Singh, who lived in the province of Gondal, received the same title for his services to the invaders in honor of the coronation of Emperor George V. The ruler of the lands in Baroda, Sayajirao III, became a Maharaja after the previous one was removed for embezzlement.
Interestingly, not only native Indians could bear this title. There were also so-called white rajahs, for example, representatives of the English Brooke dynasty. They ruled the small state of Sarawak for about a hundred years, starting in the middle of the 19th century. It wasn't until India gained independence and became a republic in 1947 that all titles of rulers were officially abolished.
