Ajathashatru's successor Udayin (460–440BC) built a fort at the confluence of the Ganges and the Son at Patna. This was so because by then the empire expanded vastly and Patna lay at the centre of the empire. In the 5th C BC, Magadhan princes shifted their capital to Pataliputra given its excellent communications.

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).