On an outline map of India, plot three major sufi shrines, and three places associated with temples (one each of a form of Vishnu, Shiva and the goddess).
Draw the map
Discuss the ways in which the Alvars, Nayanars and Virashaivas expressed critiques of the caste system.
Examine how and why rulers tried to establish connections with the traditions of the Nayanars and the sufis.
What were the similarities and differences between the be-shari‘a and ba-shari‘a sufi traditions?
Explain with examples what historians mean by the integration of cults.
To what extent do you think the architecture of mosques in the subcontinent reflects a combination of universal ideals and local traditions?
Describe the major teachings of either Kabir or Baba Guru Nanak, and the ways in which these have been transmitted.
Analyse, with illustrations, why bhakti and sufi thinkers adopted a variety of languages in which to express their opinions.
Discuss the major beliefs and practices that characterised Sufism.
Read any five of the sources included in this chapter and discuss the social and religious ideas that are expressed in them.
Choose any two of the religious teachers/thinkers/saints mentioned in this chapter, and find out more about their lives and teachings. Prepare a report about the area and the times in which they lived, their major ideas, how we know about them, and why you think they are important.
Write a note on the Kitab-ul-Hind.
What have been the methods used to study the ruins of Hampi over the last two centuries? In what way do you think they would have complemented the information provided by the priests of the Virupaksha temple?
What are the problems in using the Ain as a source for reconstructing agrarian history? How do historians deal with this situation?
Describe the process of manuscript production in the Mughal court.
Compare and contrast the perspectives from which Ibn Battuta and Bernier wrote their accounts of their travels in India.
How were the water requirements of Vijayanagara met?
To what extent is it possible to characterise agricultural production in the sixteenth-seventeenth centuries as subsistence agriculture? Give reasons for your answer.
In what ways would the daily routine and special festivities associated with the Mughal court have conveyed a sense of the power of the emperor?
Discuss the picture of urban centres that emerges from Bernier’s account.
What do you think were the advantages and disadvantages of enclosing agricultural land within the fortified area of the city?
Discuss the picture of urban centres that emerges from Bernier’s account.
What do you think was the significance of the rituals associated with the mahanavami dibba?
Discuss the ways in which panchayats and village headmen regulated rural society.
Analyse the evidence for slavery provided by Ibn Battuta.
Describe the process of manuscript production in the Mughal court.
What have been the methods used to study the ruins of Hampi over the last two centuries? In what way do you think they would have complemented the information provided by the priests of the Virupaksha temple?
What were the elements of the practice of sati that drew the attention of Bernier?
Compare and contrast the perspectives from which Ibn Battuta and Bernier wrote their accounts of their travels in India.
Discuss whether the term “royal centre” is an appropriate description for the part of the city for which it is used.
Identify the elements that went into the making of the Mughal ideal of kingship.