Download The political history of the subcontinent in the early medieval period

History of India
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HISTORY
Subject
:
History
Paper No.
:
Paper - II
History of India
Topic No. & Title
:
Topic - 3
Political developments of the Early
Medieval India
Lecture No. & Title :
Lecture - 1
Political Developments of the Early
Medieval India
(For under graduate student)
Political Developments: Nature of Regional politics with
special
reference
Rashtrakutas,
to
Cholas
the
and
Palas,
other
Pratiharas,
Contemporary
Dynasties.
Introduction
The political history of the subcontinent in the early medieval
period is featured by multiplicity of powers which were rooted
to their respective regions. Political situations became more
complex with the disintegration of the Gupta empire in the
north and the passing away of the Vakatakas in the Deccan. A
number of ruling houses originally vassals under the Guptas,
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became independent over different areas of north India. The
Deccan and the far south too witnessed a multiplicity of
powers. There was contestation over prize areas among those
who thought of themselves as significant powers.
At the turn of the seventh century north India did not have a
power to match the prowess of the Gupta empire. While
Magadha and also possibly Malwa came under the possession
of the Later Guptas, in the Ganga Yamuna doab the
Maukharis became important. In the upper Ganga valley the
Pushyabhutis came into prominence. The Maitrakas made
their presence felt in western India including Gujarat and
western Malwa. In eastern India Bengal emerged as a power
to reckon with under Sasanka of Gauda. The Varmans were
ruling in the upper Brahmaputra valley. The major pattern of
political activities lies in the shift
of the political citadel of
north India from Pataliputra to Kanauj in the doab. It is
interesting to note that there were major power formations.
Political alliances resulted in the formation of two rival
groups: the Pushyabhutis and the Maukhari combinations
versus the Gauda-Malava alliance. Harshavardhan of the
Pushyabhuti dynasty finally emerged as an important power
of north India.
The Vakatakas in the western Deccan gave way to Chalukya
power with a base in Badami. For three hundred years after
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the mid sixth century three major kingdoms were in conflict.
These were the Chalukyas of Badami, the Pallavas of
Kanchipuram and the Pandyas of Madurai, all seeking to
control the fertile tracts. The Chalukya-Pallava struggle set a
pattern in the political history of trans-Vindhyan India:
hostilities between the powers to the north and to the south
of the Tungabhadra became a permanent feature of political
activities and aggressive designs. Powers situated both in the
Ganga-Yamuna doab and the Deccan showed unmistakable
interests in occupying and controlling Malwa, for the region
stood as a corridor linking north India and the Deccan and
also provided passages to the Gujarat coast.
Major Political Powers of Northern and Southern India
(c.700-1300CE)
With this prelude it will be in order to study the activities of
the major powers. As mentioned earlier during this period the
focus in the Ganges plain shifted from Pataliputra to Kanauj.
The importance of Kanauj lay in the fact that it was closer to
north-west and was linked to routes going eastwards as well
as to those going south. The city was already established as a
symbol
of
power
by
Harsha.
It
had
strong
agrarian
concentration in and around that area and so huge number of
land grants were issued. Thus contestation for the control of
Kanauj was inevitable. The three important powers of the
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eighth century-the Pratiharas, Rashtrakutas and the Palas
vied with each other for the control of the area and thus
directed their military activities towards its conquest from the
eighth to the tenth centuries. This struggle has been
designated the ‘Tripartite Struggle’ in Indian history. Before
delving deep into the political activities of these three powers
attention may be drawn to other regional powers of northern
India. One of the new powers that came to limelight was
Kashmir in the far north. Kashmir had come into prominence
with Lalitaditya of the Karkota dynasty in the eighth century
and through gradual expansion it began to control part of
north-western
India
and
the
Punjab.
His
widespread
conquests into the Ganga-Yamuna doab and also against the
Gauda king are mentioned by Kalhana though a permanent
acquisition of conquered areas did not necessarily materialize.
In the subsequent centuries the kings of Kashmir consolidated
their positions in the mountainous areas and upper Jhelum
valley, leaving the Punjab to fend for themselves. The
Karkota dynasty came to an end in 855-56CE. It was followed
by the Utpala dynasty, founded by Avantivarman. The history
of this region also reveals a tradition of powerful queens. The
best known is Didda, who dominated Kashmir politics in the
second half of the 10th century. The contemporary western
region of the subcontinent was marked by the Arab conquest
of Sind in the early part of the 8th century. Some aspects of
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the Arab conquest of Sind were described in the Chachnama.
Sind and lower Punjab was held in the name of the Caliph
through
Governors
traditional
appointed
historiography
the
by
Arab
him.
Though
invasion
of
in
the
Sind
is
generally perceived as an advent of political troubles, this
hardly had an impact in the overall political fabric of the
subcontinent. The Kabul valley and Gandhara were ruled by a
Turkish family, the Shahiyas in the early ninth century. The
state
became
a
buffer
between
northern
India
and
Afghanistan. A later Hindu Shahi ruler, Jayapala, consolidated
the kingdom and made himself the master of the Punjab
plain. In Orissa in the late sixth century we find the
Shailodbhavas who established theselves in Kongada (modern
Puri and Ganjam districts). The decline of the Shailodbhavas
in the 8th century was paralleled by the rise of the Gangas. In
north Orissa, the Bhauma-Karas exercised power from the 8th
to 10th centuries. There were several new dynasties and the
Somavamshis of Dakshin Kosala expanded their dominion to
include large parts of northern and central Orissa. The
Gangas finally unified north and south Orissa. Further east
Kamrupa in the Brahmaputra valley, under the Varman rulers
became important and Bhaskarvarman formed alliance with
Harshavardhan of Kanauj. The Varman dynasty was followed
by the Salastambha dynasty and the Palas of Assam.
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It will be in order now to revert to the heartland of north
Indian politics, the Ganga valley. The Gurjara Pratiharas,
also known as Pratiharas were one of the mightiest of political
powers of early medieval north India. Several houses of the
Gurjaras generally thought to have a non-indigenous origin
but gradually absorbed into the Indian society, were known in
the western part of north India around the seventh century.
By the early 8th century, one of the Gurjara branches became
powerful enough to establish their seat of power at Ujjayini
and from there they expanded their authority to Kanauj in the
Ganga-Yamuna doab. As mentioned earlier, the second half of
the 8th century ushered in two more formidable powers in the
political scene, viz. the Palas with their base in Bihar and
major areas of Bengal and the Rashtrakutas in the Deccan. In
the opinion of Romila Thapar, since these powers were
equally matched, it became a war of attrition which was to
exhaust all three. The Rashtrakutas are known to have
wrested away Ujjayini from the Gurjaras, performed the
Hiranyagarbha sacrifice and reduced the Gurjara king to a
doorkeeper (pratihara). Dantidurga was a tributary of the
Chalukyas and declared independence in the 8th century and
took full imperial titles. Important rulers were Dhruva and
Govinda III. Amoghavarsha in the 9th century and Krishna III
in the 10th stabilized the kingdom despite internal problems
and
the
additional
ambition
of
capturing
Kanauj.
The
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Rashtrakuta-Pratihara rivalry had its roots in the contention
over occupation of Malwa. When the Gurjaras occupied
Kanauj, the Rashtrakutas lost no time in extending their
hostilities into the north Indian plains. For the first time, the
Rashtrakutas with their power base in Deccan became
involved in north Indian politics. The Pala ruler Dharmapala
wanted to make the Pala kingdom a force in north Indian
politics.
Dharmapala
and
later
on
his
son
Devapapala
consolidated the Pala kingdom. Considering the importance of
Kanauj Dharmapala too aimed at aggressive designs in the
doab. Thus began the celebrated tripartite struggle. The first
round of confrontation took place among Pratihara Vatsaraja
(778-94), Dharmapala (775-805) of the Pala dynasty and
Dhruva
(780-93)
Rashtrakutas
of
proved
the
Rashtrakuta
militarily
superior
kingdom.
to
both
The
the
adversaries and Vatsaraja perished. Towards the late 8 th
century Dharmapala led
a successful campaign against
Kanauj, resulting in the removal of the reigning king,
Indrayudha,a protégé of the Pratiharas, with Dharmapala
claiming suzerainty. He held an extravagant assembly at
Knanauj to proclaim himself as the master. This resulted in a
confrontation between the Pratihara ruler NagabhataII and
Dharmapala, resulting in the defeat of Dharmapala. But the
Pratihara success was cut short by the greatest of the
Rashtrakuta kings Govinda III (793-814) who also defeated
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the Pala adversary. But the Rashtrkuas again left for the
Deccan keeping the Palas in a better position. The next ruler
Devapala (810-847) claims to have defeated the Gurjaras
under Ramabhadra (833-836). Devapala’s son Mahendrapala
contained the Pala kingdom. Meanwhile the Pratiharas had
consolidated their position and Mihira Bhoja captured Kanauj
and the other two powers were driven back. After this the
Palas withdrew from the race of capturing Kanauj. The Arab
menace was also tackled by Bhoja who was the most
renowned of the Pratiharas. It has been suggested by
D.C.Sircar that this struggle should not be called tripartite as
the Ayudhas, the local rulers of Kanauj was also involved in
the conflict. Moreover the struggle between the Palas and
Pratiharas could be an extension of the earlier GaudaKanyakubja struggle known since the second half of the 6th
century and continued later in the 12th century between the
Senas of Bengal and Gahadvalas of Kanauj. The Rastrakutas
struck for the last time in 916CE and attacked Kanauj. Their
rivalry was self destructive. A Turkish army attacked Kanauj
in 1018, which virtually ended Pratihara rule. The feudatory
chiefs and provincial governors of the Gurjara Pratiharas
gradually started asserting their independence. The empire
disintegrated and was reduced to the area around Kanauj.
Their powerful successor states in central and western India
included
the
Chahamanas
of
Rajasthan,
Chaulukyas
of
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Gujarat and Parmaras in Malwa. The Pala realm over greater
parts of Bihar and Bengal was not threatened by Ghaznavid
invasions. They were affected with internal problems. The
Senas, who succeeded the Palas as a major regional power in
eastern India, ultimately ended the Pala rule in 1161. In the
western Deccan, the Rashtrakutas had been supplanted by
the Kalyani Chalukyas or Western Chalukyas.
The fall of the Rashtrakutas, who really stole the lime light in
the politics of the Deccan and south India, seems to have
shifted the balance to far south. The political history of the
south was then dominated by the Pallavas, Pandyas, Cholas
and Cheras. The greatest power from the late tenth century
onwards was definitely the Cholas with its principal stronghold
in Cholamandalam, the area around Tanjavur in the Kaveri
delta up to the eastern coast, the Coromandal of present
times. The Pallavas were associated with Tondaimandalam,
the land between the north Penner and north Vellar rivers.
The
strong
hold
of
the
Pandyas
of
Madurai
was
the
Tamraparni and the Vaigai valleys. The Cheras ruled in the
present Kerela region. The history of the Cholas will be
discussed in details.
In AD 907 the first important ruler of the dynasty, Parantaka
I came to power and ruled for almost half a century. He
secured the southern frontier of the kingdom by campaigning
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against the Pandyas and capturing their capital Madurai. This
brought him into contact with Sri Lanka with which the
Pandyas had had close relations. The later part of his reign
was not very successful and Parantaka was inflicted a
crushing defeat by the Rashtrakutas. It took nearly four
decades for the Cholas to recover their position with the
beginning
of
the
reign
of
Rajaraja
I
(985-1014).
An
aggressive design was followed by Rajaraja I against the
Pandyas and the Cheras in Kerela who were subjugated. This
was perhaps with an aim to break the monopoly of trade held
by these kingdoms with West Asia. The conflict over the rich
province of Vengi continued with the Eastern Chalukyas. The
Cholas led a campaign in Sri Lanka and devastated the capital
Anuradhapura
and
moved
to
Pollannaruva.
The
Chola
aggressive attitudes and designs became more pronounced
during the time of its most powerful ruler Rajendra I, son of
RajarajaI. He ascended the throne in 1014 AD. The policy of
expansion continued with the annexation of the southern
provinces of the Chalukyas, the rich Raichur doab and Vengi.
The attempt of the Cholas to expand their superiority and
influence
contiguous
over
Vengi
Kalinga.
was
countered
Rajendra
I’s
by
the
intervention
rulers
into
of
the
succession problems in Vengi spilled over the area in eastern
Deccan. Challenges from the neibouring Sakkarakottam,
Masunidesa, Oddavisaya led to the military penetration of the
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Cholas into Kalinga. Emboldened by success the Chola army
proceeded further north till Tandabhuti (Danton area in
eastern Midnapore , West Bengal), the southern and northern
portions of Ladha or Radha (areas in Bengal to the west of
Bhagirathi)
and
finally
to
Vangaladesa
(south-eastern
Bengal).No territorial annexation followed and the object of
the raid according to Chola inscriptions, was to bring the
sacred water of the Ganges to the Chola capital. Bringing
back water through conquest symbolized ascendancy over the
north. He took the epithet Gangaikonda. The Chola navy
became irrepressible during Rajendra’s time when the entire
island of Sri Lanka (Ilam) was conquered and Ilam was
incorporated as a mandalam (province) in the Chola realm.
More ambitious was the overseas campaign, involving both
the army and navy against the kingdom of Srivijaya in
Southeast Asia. Known as the Kadaram campaign, twelve
areas in Southeast Asia were conquered by the Chola navy.
Though the conquered areas were not annexed to the Chola
empire, the campaign certainly speaks of the power of the
Chola
navy.
It
has
been
suggested
that
this
major
undertaking arose from a desire of an overseas empire and
according to another opinion is a result of the politics of
plunder. But the
campaign has not been followed by
colonization and therefore the cause of the war was most
likely a desire to protect Indian commercial interests. We
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know that by the tenth century merchants in China and south
India had trading relationships.
The successors of Rajendra-I was more busy with conflicts
within the peninsula, primarily with the Chalukyas reviving
the competition to control the province of Vengi. The old
pattern of lightning raids into each other’s territory was
repeated. Rivalry was less intense during the time of
Kulottunga I (1070-1118), perhaps because of kinship links
between the royal families. Originally an eastern Chalukya
king under the name of Rajendra II, he ascended the Chola
throne under the new name of Kulottunga by virtue of his
being connected with the Cholas by marriage alliances and at
a time when the Cholas suffered from internal troubles,
including succession problems. Kulottunga made conscious
attempts to legitimize his accession by various means
including the use of religion and existing sacred centers in the
Chola heartland. His reign doubtless paved the way for the
amalgamation of Vengi with the Chola realm for the first time.
The integration of Vengi with the Chola territory was however
short lived. Soon after the end of the reign of Kulottunga I,
the contemporary Western Chalukya king Vikramaditya VI
conquered and captured Vengi and a long drawn dream was
fulfilled.
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The Cholas maintained their political presence in the far south
but were now seriously challenged by the rise of the Pandyas
in Madurai who dominated the political scene of the far south
from the middle of the thirteenth century onwards. By the
latter part of the 12th century Chola ascendancy was waning.
Neighbours were annexing territories at the fringes of the
kingdom. The power of the subordinate rulers in the Deccan
increased as central control weakened. Frequent campaigns
had exhausted Chola resources. The eventual breaking of the
Chalukya power by the Cholas led to the set up of
independent
kingdoms
by
the
tributary
rulers
of
the
Chalukyas.
The most powerful tributary rulers of the Chalukyas were the
Yadavas, the Hoysalas and the Kakatiyas. The Yadavas of
Devagiri were confined to the Deccan and did not play any
significant role in the final disintegration of the Cholas. The
Kakatiyas were ruling in eastern Deccan. The Hoysalas and
the Kakatiyas became active from the twelfth century
onwards. The main attack on the Cholas from the west came
from the Hoysalas. The Pandya kings saw this as an ideal
opportunity to rvive the hostility. Thus the Cholas had to take
care of two fronts, the western and the southern.
Finally in the thirteenth century Chola power weakened. The
Yadavas and the Hoysalas were in power till the fourteenth
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century, when new arrivals in the politics of northern India,
the Turkish and Afghan sultans of Delhi, intervened in the
affairs of the Deccan. The Pandyas had superseded the Cholas
as a dominant power of the Tamil country.
It is interesting to note that the dynasties of both early
medieval north and south India crafted origin myths for
themselves. This tendency gained further ground in the later
part of the period. These myths were rooted in the epicopuranic tradition of the Suryavamsha and Chandravamsha.
Thus we have the Gurjara Pratiharas claiming their descent
from Suryavamsha. The Senas were known as Brahma
Kshatriyas. Claim to Kshatriya status is reflected in epithets
e.g. Rajaraja’s title of Kshatriya Shikhamani, crest jewel of
the Kshatriyas. Kings also legitimized their power through
different kinds of sacrifices The Vedic sacrifices were again
brought into the forefront. Different kinds of donations or gifts
were given which included land donations and performances
of rituals in order to gain legitimation for the royalty.
Inscriptions abound in grandiose claims of political success
made by kings of one dynasty along with counter claims by
other. A case in point is the claims made by the Gurjaras and
the Rastrakutas relating to the use of the epithet ‘Pratihara’
by the Gurjaras. These powers were essentially rooted to the
region and there was no great effort for any kind of
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annexation. There was merely occupation of certain territories
by the rulers which were sometimes regained by the original
power. It appears that some powers lived for long whereas
other kingdoms were short lived and had limited territorial
control.
Questions:
1. What was the political scenario of India at the turn of the
seventh century?
2. Why did the focus of attention in the Ganges plain shift
from Pataliputra to Kanauj?
3. Which were the three major powers involved in the
struggle for control of Kanauj? Write a brief note on the
struggle.
4. Why did Rajendra Chola send his army till Bengal? Was it
an expression of political ascendancy?
5.
How did the powers in early medieval India seek
legitimation of their rule?