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QUESTION 12
GS1
15 marks

What were the major technological changes introduced during the Sultanate period? How did those technological changes influence the Indian society?

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11 min
250 words
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What the examiner wants

Identify the main technologies that came in or spread during the Sultanate period and explain how each changed Indian economy and society.

ExplainMake clear how and why it happens: causes, process, and an example for each point.

Demand-wise check

  1. 1Technologies: Persian wheel (saqiya), spinning wheel (charkha), carding bow, paper, true arch and dome with lime mortar, stirrup and horseshoe, gunpowder later≈65 words
  2. 2Effects: irrigation and cropping, textile output and urban crafts, record-keeping and learning, new building forms, cavalry warfare≈65 words
  3. 3Social effects: rise of artisan groups, urbanisation, new elites≈65 words

Open in about 30 words and close in about 30.

Answer plan

Context (Turkish rule and Central Asian links)4–5 technologiesEconomic effect of eachSocial effectConclusion

Where marks usually go

  • Listing technologies with no effect on society, which is half the question
  • Giving Mughal-era examples instead of Sultanate ones

Draw this

  • Table: technology → sector → social or economic effect

Value addition

  • ExampleAlai Darwaza at the Qutb complex (1311) is among the earliest Indian buildings with a true arch and dome.Archaeological Survey of India, Qutb Minar complex
  • ScholarshipIrfan Habib links the spread of the spinning wheel and carding bow in the 13th–14th centuries to growth in textile production.Irfan Habib, Technology in Medieval India

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