Hist(Chap-2) New Kings and Kingdoms

Hist(Chap-2)                                New Kings and Kingdoms

Ø  By the 7^th century there were big landlords or warrior chiefs in different regions of India. Existing kings often acknowledged them as their subordinates or Samantas.

Ø  The Samantas were expected to bring gifts for their kings or overlords, be present at their courts and provide them with military support.

Ø  As the Samantas gained power and wealth, they declared themselves to be ‘Maha-samanta’, ‘Mahamandaleswara’( the great lord of a “circle” or region).

Ø  Sometimes Samantas asserted their independence from their overlords. One such instance was that of Rashtrakutas in the Deccan. Initially it was a subordinate of Chalukyas of Karnataka.

Ø  In the mid-8^th century, Dantidurga, a Rashtrakuta chief, overthrew his Chalukya overlord and performed a ritual called’Hiranyagarbha’(literally, golden womb). When the ritual was performed with the help of Brahmanas, it was thought to lead the “rebirth” of the sacrifice as a kshatriya, even if he was not one by birth.

Ø  Also, man from enterprising families used their military skills to carve out kingdoms. For instance, the following Brahmins gave up their traditional professions and took to arms for establishing successful kingdoms.

 Kadamba Mayurasharman  of Karnataka &

Pratihara king Harichandra of Rajasthan founded Pratihara dynasty (6^th-11^th century)

Ø  Many of these kings adopted high-sounding titles like ‘Maharaja-Adhiraja’(great king, overlord of kings), ‘Tribhubana Chakravartin’(lord of three worlds) & so on. They often shared power with their Samantas as well as with association of peasants, traders and Brahmanas.

Ø  Resources were obtained from the producers- peasants, cattle keepers, artisans- who were often compelled to surrender part of what they produced, sometimes in the form of ‘Rent’. Revenue was collected from traders.

Ø  The inscriptions of the Cholas(Tamilnadu) mentioned 400 types of taxes, such as Vetti, taken out in cash but in the form of forced labour and Kadambai or land revenue. Tax on thatched house, the use of ladder to climb palm tree, a cess on succession to family property etc. were the medium of tax collection.

Ø  Now-a-days we are paying tax to the govt. in the form of…..

Ø  The resources from taxes were used to finance the kings establishment, as well as for the construction of temples & forts and also for fighting wars.

Ø  The functionaries for collecting revenue generally recruited from influential families(close relatives of the king). It was hereditary.

Ø  Prashastis: These are a special kind of inscription which means ‘in praise of’ the rulers. Prashastis contain details that may not be literally true but they tell us how rulers wanted to depict themselves as valiant, victorious warriors. For example,(i) Prashasti of Samudragupta inscribed on the Ashokan pillar at Allahbad described the his bravery by Harisena. (ii) Pulakeshin’s prashasti was composed by his court poet Ravikirti. (iii)prashasti of Pratihara king Nagabhata is found at Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh

Ø  Prashastis were written by the learned Brahmanas(court poets) who occasionally helped in the administration.

Ø  Kings often rewarded Brahmanas by grants of land. These were recorded on copper plates.

Ø  Unlike the writers of prashastis, an author named Kalhana composed a long poem in Sanskrit(12^th century) known as ‘Rajtarangini’(the river of kings)containing the history of kings who ruled over Kashmir.

Ø  Kalhana used a variety of sources, including inscriptions, documents, eyewitness accounts & earlier histories to write the ‘Rajatarangini’.

Ø  For centuries, rulers belonging to the Gurjara-Pratihara, Rashtrakuta & Pala dynasties fought for control over Kanauj(prized area in the Ganga valley). As there were 3 “parties” in this drawn conflict, historians often describe it as the “Tripartite Struggle”.

Ø  When the rulers were attacking one another’s kingdoms, they often chose to target the temples which were sometimes extremely rich. One of the best known of such rulers was Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, Afganisthan, who ruled from 997-1030AD. & extended control over parts of central Asia, Iran & north-western part of India. He raided the subcontinent every year(17 times)- his last target was  Somnath temple of Gujarat.

Ø  Md Ghazni carried away much of the wealth to create a splendid capital city at Ghazni.

Ø  Md Ghazni entrusted a scholar named Al-Beruni to write an account of his achievement from India and this Arabic work is known as ‘Kitab-ul-Hind’.

Ø  Other kings who engaged in warfare were the Chauhans, who ruled over Delhi & Ajmer. They attempted to expand their control to the west and to the east but they were opposed by the Chalukyas of Gujarat & the Gahadavalas of western Uttar Pradesh.

Ø  The best known Chauhan ruler was Prithviraja-III(1168-1192), who defeated an Afghan ruler named Md Ghori, but lost to him the very next year in 1192. He is regarded as  the last Hindu king of India.

Ø  A minor chiefly family known as Muttaraiyar, who were subordinates to the Pallava kings of Kanchipuram held power in the Kaveri delta. Vijayalaya, who belonged to the ancient chiefly family of the Cholas from Uraiyar, captured the delta from the Muttaraiyar in the middle of 9^th century. He built the town of Thanjavur and a temple for Goddess Nishubhasudini there.

Ø  The successors of Vijayalaya conquered neighbouring  regions and the kingdom grew in size and power. The Pandyan and Pallava territories to the south & north were made part of the kingdom.

Ø  Rajaraja-1 was the most powerful Chola ruler(985AD) who built the Brihadeswar temple(1003-10)at Thanjavur.

Ø  Rajaraja’s son Rajendra Chola-1 continued his father’s policies and even raided Ganga valley, Srilanka and countries of south-east Asia(Malayasia, Indonesia included), developing a navy for these expeditions. He built Gangaikonda cholapuram temple in 1025AD.

Ø  Chola temples often became the nuclei of settlements which grew around them as these were the centre of craft production.

Ø  The product of temple’s land went to maintain all those who worked at temples and very often lived near it- priests, garland makers, cooks, sweepers, musicians, dancers etc. In other words, temples were not only the places of worship but also were the hub of economic, social and cultural life as well.

Ø  Amongst the crafts associated with temples, the making of bronze images were the most distinctive. Chola bronze images are considered as the finest in the world.

·         Agriculture & Irrigation:

Ø  Kaveri river branches off into several small channels before emptying into the Bay of Bengal. These chhanels overflow frequently, depositing fertile soil on their banks. Water frm the channels helps for cultivation of crops.

Ø  In the delta region embankments had  built to prevent flooding and canals had constructed to carry water to the fields. In many areas two crops were grown in a year.

Ø  For irrigation a variety of methods were used- by digging of wells and constructing tanks to collect rain water.

·         Administration of the Empire:

Ø  Settlements of peasants known as ‘ur’, became prosperous with the spread of irrigation agriculture. Groups of such villages formed larger units called ‘nadu’.

Ø  The village council and the nadu had several administrative functions including dispensing justice & tax collection.

Ø  Rich peasant of the Vellala caste exercised considerable control over the affairs of the ‘nadu’ under the supervision of the central Chola govt.

Ø  The Chola kings gave some titles to rich landowners like ‘Muvendavelan’(a velan or peasant serving 3 kings), ‘Araiyar’(chief) etc. as markers of respect and entrusted them with important offices of the state at the centre.

Ø  Types of land mentioned in Chola inscription:

Vellanvagai- land of non-Brahmana( peasant proprietors)

Brahmadeya- land gifted to Brahmanas

Shalabhoga- land for the maintenance of a school

Devadana- land gifted to temples

Pallichchhandam-  land donated to Jaina institutions

Ø  Brahmanas received land grants or Brahmadeya. As a result, a large number of Brahmana settlements emerged in the Kaveri valley as in other parts of South India.

Ø  Each Brahmadeya was looked after by an Assembly or Sabha of prominent Brahmana landlords. These assemblies worked very efficiently. Their decisions were recorded on the stone walls of temples.

Ø  Inscriptions from Uttaramerur in Chinglput district of Tamilnadu provide details of the way in which Sabha was organized. The Sabha had separate committees to look after irrigation works, gardens, temples etc.

Ø  Names of those eligible members of the committees were written on small tickets of palm leaf and kept in a earthenware pot, from which a young boy asked to pick the tickets, one by one for each committee.  

·         New  Kings & Kingdoms Formed During the Period:

ü  Pratihara dynasty - founded by Harichandra(6^th-11^th century) originated from Ujjain

ü  Pala dynsty - founded by Gopala in 8^th century, earlier was a chieftain & became king in Bengal

ü  Rashtrakuta dynasty- founded by Dantidurga in 8^th century, originated from Chalukya kingdom

ü  Chola dynasty – founded by Vijayalaya(848-1279) at Kavery delta

ü  Pandya dynasty – founded by Kadungan in 6^th century

ü  Chera dynasty – founded by Kulashekhara Alwar in 800AD.

ü  Chalukya dynasty – founded by Pulakeshin-I (543-753)