Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c4.s1.t2.1

c4.s1.t2.1

The period under review is equally important for a study of social developments in Hindustan, and, to a certain degree, for the whole of India. Opinions do not agree as to the division of the various periods—ancient, mediæval, and modern—of Indian history. Some historians choose to close the mediæval period of Indian history with the battle of Panipat in 1526 A.D.; others with the coming of Akbar; and still others with the establishment of British rule. A similar want of agreement is shown in fixing the limits of the ancient period. We have no desire to dispute any opinion, still less to accept a particular division. In most cases these divisions lack a basis for differentiation and appear purely arbitrary. An application of these terms to a social system which has not undergone any substantial material change for thousands of years, is more likely to confuse than to clear the historical perspective. It is not quite safe to borrow them from European history, which finds a clear line of demarcation in the industrial Revolution, which revolutionised the whole basis of European society. The periods of Indian social development on the other hand—by whatever name we choose to call them—have a more or less uniform character, as far as historical records can help us to judge.