When zamindars were in crisis in the eighteenth century, a group of rich peasants consolidated its position in the villages of Bengal. This class of rich peasants came to be known as jotedars. They had a control over vast areas of land. Sometimes they had even a control on many thousand acres of land. They even controlled local trade and moneylending. They exercised immense power over the poor cultivators of the region. They had even become more powerful than the zamindars. The following reasons were responsible for their strong position :
(i) They lived in villages. So they had a lot of influence on many villagers.
(ii) They opposed the efforts of the zamindars to increase the jama of the village.
(iii) They mobilised ryots to deliberately delay payments of revenue to the zamindars.
(iv) They controlled the local trade and moneylending.

The king served two main functions as the Raja: secular and religious. The religious functions involved certain acts for propitiating gods, removing dangers, and guarding dharma, among other things.

The Mauryan rule was regarded as a landmark in the country because of the following reasons:

• The Mauryan Empire was the first major empire which encompassed Afghanistan and Balochistan in north west to Bengal in the east and to south of the country. It unified the entire country.
• The Mauryan left a rich architectural legacy. They built huge stupas out of stone. The Mauryan palace which was observed by Megasthenes was a magnificent and a splendid stone structure. The Sarnath pillar is a marvelous structure.
• The Mauryans organized the administration efficiently. The empire was divided into provinces looked after by the nobles.
• King Asoka is famous for his benevolent works the policy of dhamma.

The ‘Mansab’ is an Arabic word meaning rank or position or status of a person. Thus Mansabdari was a system in which the rank of a government official was determined. Every civil and military officer was given a ‘mansab’. Different numbers which could be divided by ten were used for ranking officers. It was also meant for fixing the salaries and allowances of officers.

Significance of a mansab:

The mansab of a Mughal noble implied the following:

(a) Salary of the officer

(b) Status of the officer

(c) Number of soldiers, horses and elephants etc., maintained by an officer.

Archaeologists have faced many problems while interpreting the religious practices of Harappans. Unfamiliar structures like the terracotta figurines of women wearing heavy jewellery was recognised as female goddess. Similarly, several seals, plant motifs indicated nature worship. Then ‘proto-Shiva’ seals called Rudra, are seen as the later version of Hindu god Shiva. These problems arises because archaeologists, look for the known in the unknown i.e. from present to the past.

The Harappan civilisation extended from Baluchistan and Sindh (present-day Pakistan) to Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab and parts of western Uttar Pradesh. The civilisation approximately covered about 1,300,000 sq km. The cradle of this civilisation nested on the banks of the Indus river.

• Profession of Faith (shahada).
• Prayer (salat).
• Alms (zakat).
• Fasting (sawm).
• Pilgrimage (hajj).

The Harshacharita is a biography of Harshavardhana, the ruler of Kanauj in north India. It was composed in Sanskrit by his court poet, Banabhatta (C. 7th  century CE).

The main features of Mauryan administration were:

• There were five important political centres in the Mauryan Empire: Patliputra (the capital city) and the provincial centres of Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali and Suvarnagiri.
• It was not possible for such a large empire to have a uniform administrative system so historians believe that the administrative control was perhaps strongest in the capital and in provincial centres.
• Communications along the land and riverine routes were developed to administer the Empire.
• The army was an important tool for not only extending the territories of the empire but also for administering them.
• Committees and sub-committees were formed for coordinating military activities. They looked after the navy, horses, chariots, elephants, recruiting soldiers and managing transport and food supplies for soldiers.
• Asoka held his Empire together by propagating the doctrine of Dhamma, whose principles were simple and universally applicable. The doctrine propagated the ideas of peace, non-violence and respect towards elders. Dhamma mahamattas were appointed to spread the principles of Dhamma.

The last feature of the Mauryan administration is evident in the Asokan inscriptions that we have studied. It is because Ashoka inscribed the main features of his policy of 'dhamma'. According to the inscriptions, he had also appointed Special officers called Dhamma Mahamtras to spread Dhamma.

A humped bull, elephant and rhinoceros engraved on some seals indicate that these animals may have been considered sacred. These seals were probably used for trade or for rituals. These seals provide us with a lot of information about the life and culture of the Indus Valley people

Vaṃsa, alternatively spelled as Vamsa or Vamsha, is a Sanskrit word that means "family, lineage". A vamsa can be focussed on a dynasty, family, individual such as a saint, line of teachers of a particular tradition, or a place particularly of pilgrimage. Some of these texts are titled with vamsa as a suffix.

Inscriptions are the writings that are engraved on stones or are etched on metals in ancient times. They're mostly found in the southern parts of India and were found to engrave on copper plates, on the stones of the buildings etc., The study of inscriptions is called Epigraphy. They're a significant and essential source of important information. 

• The paintings on the walls, showcase a lot about the ancient cultures and their beliefs.
• The help the historians date the events in the proper time.
•  It gives a lot of information about the previous rulers, their lifestyle etc.
• The language and the style of writing will throw light on their economic and cultural lifestyles.
• For example, the Mandosore Stone Inscription during the reign of Kumar Gupta and Bandhuvarman of the Malwa dynasty indicates the use of seals for commercial purposes. 
• it gives information about the birth, death and other important events that took place in that century.
• Another example is the 'Rosetta' Stone, which allowed historians to find out about the Egyptian scripts
•  It also gives us valuable and approximate information about the ancient kings and queens, their names, their food habits and also about flora and fauna in that place, during that time.