Record · Medieval world · South Asia
Act No. 39 of 2010 and the Nalanda that Xuanzang described
Xuanzang recorded Nalanda's gatekeeper and debates; the ASI dug the site in 1915–37 and 1974–82; an Act of September 21, 2010 revived the name.
· AD 629Medieval world South Asia
South Asia in the medieval world (500 – 1500). A thousand years of kingdoms, caliphates, steppe empires and trading cities between the fall of Rome and the voyages that joined the hemispheres.
Record · Medieval world · South Asia
Why did Rajendra Chola send a fleet against Srivijaya in about 1025?
Rajendra I's inscriptions list the ports his ships took, from Srivijaya to Kadaram, but give no reason for the war. Historians read the gap differently.
· 1025
Record · Medieval world · South Asia
Who built Angkor Wat? Suryavarman II, and the tomb of Lu Ban
Angkor Wat was built in the reign of Suryavarman II (anointed 1113). A Chinese envoy of 1296 called it only the tomb of Lu Ban; later books credited Rome.
· 1113
Record · Medieval world · South Asia
An iron pillar older than its mosque: the Qutb Minar complex, Delhi
The Archaeological Survey of India dates the Qutb Minar to 1199; a metallurgist traces its courtyard iron pillar to Udayagiri, centuries earlier.
· 1199
Record · Medieval world · South Asia
Iltutmish's written heir: Razia, sultan of Delhi, 1236–1240
Minhaj's Tabaqat-i Nasiri records Iltutmish naming his daughter Raziyya heir over his sons. She ruled Delhi 1236-1240 and died near Kaithal in 1240.
· 1236
Record · Medieval world · South Asia
Konark's Sun Temple: a stone chariot, and a hall filled with sand
The Archaeological Survey of India calls Konark's Sun Temple a stone chariot with twelve pairs of wheels and seven horses; its hall held sand until 2022.
· 1250
Record · Medieval world · South Asia
Fondest of making gifts and of shedding blood: Ibn Battuta's Delhi
Ibn Battuta met Muhammad bin Tughluq on June 8, 1334, and served as qadi at 12,000 dinars a year. In 1342 he left for China and was wrecked at Calicut.
· 1334
Record · Medieval world · South Asia
'Never seen a place like it': Abdur Razzaq at Vijayanagara, 1443
A Herat envoy reached Vijayanagara in April 1443 and described seven walls, rose bazaars and elephant stables. The city was sacked after January 23, 1565.
· 1443