Dynasties
The Mauryan Empire (325BC-183BC)
Chandragupta Maurya
In 305 BC Chandragupta defeated Seleucus Nikator, who surrendered
a vast territory. Megasthenese
was a Greek ambassador sent tothe court of Chandragupta Maurya by Seleucus. Chandragupta
became a Jain and went to Sravanbelgola with Bhadrabahu, where he died by slow starvation
(Sale/than). Trade flourished, agriculture was regulated, weights and measures
were standardized and money came into use.
Bindusara
Bindusara extended the kingdom further and conquered the
south as far as Mysore.
Asoka
Asoka usurped the throne alter killing his 99 brothers and spared Tissa, the
youngest one. Radhagupta a Minister of Bindusar helped himin fratricidal
struggle. Under Asoka, the Mauryan Empire reached its climax. For the first
time, the whole of the subcontinent, leaving out the extreme south, was under
imperial control. Asoka fought the
Kalinga war in 261 BC
in the 9th years of his coronation. The king was moved by massacre in
this war and therefore abandoned the policy of physical occupation in favour of
policy of cultural conquest. In oilier words, Bherighosha was replaced by
Dhammaghosha.
Facts about Mauryas During Mauryan period, the punch marked
coins (mostly of silver) were the common units of transactions. Tamralipti m
the Gangetic delta was the most prosperous port on the East Coast of India. Megasthenes
in his Indies had mentioned 7 castes in Mauryan society. They were
philosophers, farmers, soldiers, herdsmen, artisans, magistrates and
councilors.
The Mauryan Administration
The King è The Mauryan government was a centralised bureaucracy
of which the nucleus was the king.
The Mantri Parishad èThe king was assisted by Mantri Parishad,
whose members included The Yuvaraj, the crown prince The Purohita, the chief
priest The Senapati. The commander-in-chief of the army a few other
ministers.
Art & Architecture è The Mauryas introduced stone masonry
on large scale. Fragments of stone pillars and slumps indicating the existence
of an 80-pillared hall have been discovered at Kumarhar on outskirts of Patna. The
pillars represent the Masterpiece of Mauryan sculpture. Each pillar is made of
single piece of sandstone. only their capitals which are beautiful pieces of
sculpture in form of lion or bulls are joined with pillar on the top. Single
Lion capital at Rampurva and Lauriya Nandangarh. Single bull capital at
Rampurva. Four lion capital at Sarnath and Sanchi. A carved elephant at Dhauli
and engraved elephant at Kalsi. The Mauryan artisans also started the practice
of hewing out caves from rocks for monks to live in. the earliest example are
Barabar caves in Gaya. Stupas were built throughout the empire to enshrine
(herelics of Buddha. Of these, the most famous are at Sanchi and Bui hut
The Decline è The Mauryan Empire lasted a little over a century and
broke up fitly years after the death of Asoka. Slowly, the various princes of
the empire began to break away and set up independent kingdoms. In 185 BC.
theMauryan king was overthrown by Pushyamitra Shunga, an ambitious
Commander-in-Chief of armed forces. He started the Shunga dynasty in Magadha.
The Mauryan Empire ushered in a dream that was to survive and echo again andagain
in centuries to come. Some probable causes of decline of the Mauryan Empire:
Brahmanical reaction
Financial crisis è Oppressive rule Neglect of
north-west frontier.
Weak successors è Pacific policy of Asoka New
knowledge in outlying areasDissemination of knowledge of manufacturing Iron
Sunga dynasty :(185–73B.C.)
Sunga Dynasty was established by Pushymitra Sunga, a Brahmin Commander-in-Chief
of last Mauryan ruler named
Brihadratha in 185 BC. The capital of Sungas was Videsa in
modern MadhyaPradesh. Pushyamitra didn‘t adopt any royal title and ruled
with the name of Senani The great Buddhist Stupa at Bharhut (in M.P.) was built during the reign of
Sungas. The Greek king Antialcidas sent
his ambassador named Herodotus to the court of Sungas. Herodotus constructed a
pillar ―Garudadhwaj in the honour of God Vasudeva
Kanva Dynasty :(73to28B.C.)
In 73 BC,
Devabhuti, the last ruler of the Sunga dynasty, was murdered by his minister Vasudeva, who
usurped the throne and founded the Kavana dynasty. The dynasty was confined to
Magdha only The period of Kanva rule came to an end in 28 BC when their kingdom
was annexed by Satvahanas.
Satavahana Dynasty :(60B.C.to225A.D.)
The most important of the native successors of the Mauryas in
the Deccan and Central India were the Satvahanas. Their capital was Pratishtana
or Paithan while Bhrauch was the most important port city. The early Satvahana
kings appeared not in Andhra but in Maharashtra but most of their early
inscriptions have been found in Andhra.
Simuka (60 BC–37 BC) was the founder of the Satvahana
dynasty. He was immediate successor of Ashoka in this region.
ChediDynasty
After Mauryas, the Chedi dynasty emerged in the Kalinga
region, i.e. modern Odisha The capital city of this dynasty was Sisupalgarh The important
ruler of this dynasty was Kharwela.
Kharvela patronized Jainism and the Hatigumpha inscription gives a reference of
his victories.
The Sakas
The Sakas, also known as Scythians, replaced the
Indo-Greeks in India. Among the five branches of Sakas with their seats of
power in different parts of India, the most important was the one which ruled
in Western India till the 4th Century AD. The five seats of power or Satraps
were: 1. Kapisa (Afghanistan) 2. Taxila (Pakistan) 3. Mathura (Uttar Pradesh)
4. Upper Deccan 5. Ujjain The most famous Saka ruler in India was Rudradaman
(130 AD-150 AD). He is famous not only for his military conquests but also for
his public works. He repaired the famous Sudarsan lake of the Mauryan period
and gave patronage to Sanskrit language The Junagarh inscription in Gujarat is
attributed to Rudradaman
is first ever inscription written in Sanskrit
Other important Saka rulers in India were Nahapana, Ushavadeva, Ghamatika,
Chashtana etc. Inabout 58 BC a king of Ujjain, Vikramaditya– is supposed
to have fought effectively against the Sakas. An era called Vikrama Samvat is reckoned
from 58 B.C.
The Kushans (1stto3rdCenturyA.D.)
The Kushans were one of the five Yeuchi clans of Central Asia. They replaced the
Parthians in North-Western India and then expanded to the lower Indus basin and
the upper and middle Gangetic basin. The Kushans controlled famous silk route starting from China, passing through their
empire on to Iran & Western Asia. This route was a source of great
income to the Kushans. The dynasty was founded by Kadphises I or Kujul Kadhphises. The Kushans were
the first rulers in India to issue gold coins on a wide scale. The second king
was Kadphises II or Vema Kadphises was the first king who issued the gold
coins. The most famous Kushan ruler was Kanishka (78 AD–101 AD), also known as‗Second Ashoka‘.
He started an era in 78 AD which is now known as the Saka era and is used officially by the
Government of India. The empire of Kanshika was spread over a large area in the
portion of five countries i.e. Russia, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and India.
His capital was Peshawar Kanishka was a great patron of Mahayana Buddhism. In
his reign 4th Buddhist council
was held in Kundalavana, Kashmir where the
doctrines of the Mahayana form of Buddhism were finalized. Large
size headless statue of Kanishka is found at Mathura The last great Kushan ruler was Vasudeva I.
Gupta Period
SriGupta (240-280 AD) è was ruling a small Hindukingdom
called Magadha from Vaishya community near Ganga river, a prayag based
feudatory of Kushanas. He and
his son Ghatotkach‘ (ruled from c. AD 280-319) was having hold over
Patliputra‘ and nearby areas. Ghatotkacha (280–319 AD) became the successor of
Sri Gupta.
Chandragupta I
He was the
first Gupta ruler to assume the title of Maharajadhiraja. He started the Guptan era i.e. 320 A.D.
His marriage to Lichchhvi princess Kumaradevi,
brought an enormous power, resources and prestige. He took advantageof the
situation and occupied the whole of fertile Gangetic Valley. After the marriage
he issued the special type of coins called ―Chandragupta I-kumaradevi type. Chandragupa
I was able to establish his authority over Magadha, Prayaga & Saketa.
Samudragupta (335–380 A.D.)
Samudragupta was the greatest king of Gupta dynasty. He took
the title Lichchhvidhutra as his mother was Lichchhvi princess.
He is also described as a monarch with sharp intellect and
polished poetry skills, for this he is described as Kaviraj. In the Gangetic Valley & Central
India, Samudragupta annexed the territories of the defeated monarchs, but in
South India he remained content with victories alone-he did not annex the
territories of the conquered rulers. Samudragupta‘s military compaigns justify
description of him as the Napoleon
of India‘ by V.A. Smith.
Ramgupta
Samudragupta was succeeded by Ramgupta. Ramgupta ruled for a
very short period. He was the only Gupta ruler to issue copper coins‘. Ramagupta,
a coward and impotent king, agreed to surrender his queen Dhruvadevi to Saka
invader. But the prince Chandragupta II, the younger brother of the king,
resolved to go to the enemy‘s camp in the guise of the queen with a view to
kill the hated enemy. Chandragupta II succeeded in killing the Saka ruler.
Chandragupta II ‘Vikramaditya
(380-414 A.D.)
Chandragupta II also succeeded in killing Ramagupta, and not
only seized his kingdom but also married his widow Dhruvadevi. He issued the
silver coins in the memory of victory over Sakas. He was the first Gupta ruler
to issue silver coins and adopted the titles Sakari & Vikramaditya. Ujjain
seems to have been made the second capital by Chandragupta II.
Chinese pilgrim Fa-Hien visited India during his regime.
Kumargupta I : 415-455 AD
Chandragupta II was succeeded by his son Kumaragupta I.
Kumargupta took the titles like Mahindraditya, Mahendra Singh and Ashvamedha
Mahendrah Kumaragupta was the worshipper of god Kartikeya. He founded the
Nalanda Mahavihara which developed into a great centre of learning. Towards the
end of his reign, the Gupta Empire was threatened from the North by the Huns,
which was temporarily checked by his son Skandagupta.
Skandagupta : 455-467 AD
Skandagupta, the last great ruler of the Gupta dynasty. During
his reign the Gupta Empire was invaded by the Huns. He succeeded in defeating
the Huns. The continuous attacks of the Huns weakened the empire and adversely
affected its economy. The gold coinage of Skandagupta bears testimony to this.
The Huns : (500-530A.D.)
Huns were primitive pastoralists owing herds of cattle &
horses but knowing nothing of agriculture. They roamed in the Steppe in search
of pasture & water. From the Oxus, the white Huns came into Afghanistan,
destroyed the local powerand after establishing themselves, began to pour into
India in 458 AD.
MEDIEVALHISTORY
The period between AD 750 and AD 1200 is referred to as an
early medieval period of Indian History.
PALLAVA DYNASTY
The Pallava dynasty emerged in South India at atime when the Satavhana
dynasty was on the decline. Shivaskandavarman is said to have been the founder
of the Pallava dynasty. During their reign, the Pallava rulers made Kanchi
their capital. The noteworthy rulers
during this period were: Simhavarama I, Sivaskkandavarma I, Veerakurcha,
Shandavarma II, Kumaravishnu I, Simhavarma II, and Vishnugopa. Vishugopa is
said to have been defeated in battle by Samudragupta after which the Pallavas
become weaker. It was Simhavishnu, the son of Simhavarma II, whoeventually
crushed the Kalabhras‘ dominance in 575 AD and re-established his kingdom. In
670, Parameshwaravarma I came to the throne and restricted the advance of the
Chlukyan king Vikramaditya I. However, the Chalukyas joined hands with the
Pandya king Arikesari Maravarma, another promients enemy of the Pallavas, and defeated
Parameshwaravarma I. Parameshwaravarma I died in 695 and was succeeded by
Narasimhavarma II, a peace living ruler.He is also remembered for building the
famousKailashanatha templeat Kanchi. He died grieving his elder son‘s
accidental death in 722. His youngest son, Parameshwaravarma II, came to
power in 722.He died in 730 with no heirs to the throne, which left the Pallava
kingdom in a state of disarray.
Nandivarma II came to power after some infighting for the
throne among relatives and officials of the kingdom. Nandivarma married the
Rashtrakuta princess Reetadevi, and reestablished the Pallava kingdom. He was
succeeded by Dantivarma (796-846) who ruled for 54 long years. Dantivarma was
defeated by the Rastrakuta king, Dantidurga, and subsequently by the Pandyas.
He was succeeded by Nandivarma III in 846. Nandivarma III was succeeded by
Nrupatungavarma, who had two brothers, Aparajitavarma and Kampavarma. The Chola
king provoked Aprajitavarman into waging a civil war in the Pallava kingdom.
Subsequently, Aprajita Varma captured the throne.
THE CHALUKYAS
History of the Chalukyas, the Karnataka rulers, can be
classified into three eras: 1) The early western era (6th-8th century), the
Chalukyas of Badami(vatapi); 2) The later western era (7th-12th century), the
Chalukyas of Kalyani; 3) The eastern chalukya era (7th-12th century), the
chalukyas of Vengi. 1) Pulakesin I (543-566) was the first independent ruler of
Badami with Vatapi in Bijapur as his capital. 2) Kirthivarma I (566-596)
succeeded him at the throne. When he died, the heir to the throne, Prince
Pulakesin II, was just a baby and so the king‘s brother, Mangalesha (597-610),
was crowned the caretaker ruler. Over the years, he made many unsuccessful
attempts to kill the prince but was ultimately killed himself by the prince and
his friends.
3) Pulakesin II (610-642), the son of Pulakesin I, was a
contemporary of Harshavardhana and the most famous of the Chalukyan kings.His
reign is remembered as the greatest period in the history of Karnataka. He
defeated Harshavardhana on the banks of the Narmada. 4) After conquering the
Kosalas and the Kalingas, and eastern Chalukyan dynasty was inaugurated by his (Pulakeshin
II) brother Kubja Vishnuvardana.
5) By 631, the Chalukyan empire extended from sea to sea.
However, Pulkeshin II was defeated and probably killed in 642, when the
Pallavas under Narsimhavarma I attack on their capital & captured the
chalukyan capital at Badami. 6) The Chalukyas rose to power once again under
the leadership of Vikramaditya I (655-681), who defeated his contemporary
Pandya, Pallava, Cholas and Kerala rulers to establish the supremacy of the
Chalukyan empire in the region. 7) Vikramaditya II (733-745) defeated the
Pallava king Nandivarma II to capture a major portion of the Pallava kingdom.
8) Vikramaditya II‘s son, Kirtivarma II (745), was disposed by the Rastrakuta
ruler, Dhantidurga, who established the Rashtrakuta dynasty.
TH ECHOLAS (9TH
TO 13TH CENTURY)
1) The Chola dynasty was one of the most popular dynasties of
south India which ruled over Tamil Nadu and parts of Karnataka with Tanjore as
its capital.
2) Early Chola rulers were the Karikala Cholas who ruled in
the 2nd century.
3) In 850, Vijayalaya captured Tanjore during the
Pandya-Pallava wars. To commemorate his accession, he built a temple at
Tanjore. The giant statue of Gomateswara at Shravanbelagola was also built
during this period.
4) Vijayalaya‘s son Aditya I (871-901) succeeded him to
throne.
5) It was Rajaraj I (985-1014) during which the CHOLAS
reached at its zenith. He snatched back lost territories from the Rashtrakutas
and become the most powerful of the Chola rulers. Rajaraja‘ is also famous for the beautiful shiva temple which
he constructed at Thanjavur(TN). It is called Rajarajeswara after his
name.
6) Rajendra Chola (1014-1044), son of Rajaraja I, was an
important ruler of this dynasty who conquered Orissa, Bengal, Burma and the
Andaman and Nicobar Island. The Cholas dynasty was at its zenith also during
his reign. He also conquered Sri Lanka.
7) Kulottunga I (1070-1122) was another significant Chola
ruler. Kulottunga I united the two kingdom of the eastern Chalukyas of Vengi
and the Cholas of Thanjavur. After a long reign of about half a century,
Kulottunga I passed away sometime in 1122 and was succeeded by his son, Vikrama
Chola, surnamed Tyagasamudra.
8) The last ruler of the Chola Dynasty was Rajendra III
(1246-79).He was a weak ruler who surrendered to the pandyas. Later, Malik
Kafur invaded this Tamil state in 1310 and extinguished the Chola empire.
THE RASHTRAKUTA
1) Dhantidurga (735-756) established this kingdom. They
overthrew the Chalukyas and ruled up to 973 ad.
2) Dhantidurga was succeeded by his son Krishna I (756-774).
Krishna I is credited to have built the Kailasa temple at Ellora. 3) Other
kings of this dynasty were Govinda II (774780), Dhruva (780-790), Govinda III
(793-814) and Amoghavarsa Nrupatunga I (814-887).
4) Amoghavarsawas the greatest king of this dynasty & he
was the son of GOVINDA III. The extend of the Amoghavarsa‘s empire can be
estimated from the accounts of the Arabian traveller, Sulaiman, who visited his
court in 851 and wrote in his book that ‗his kingdom was one of the four great
empires of the world at that time.‘
5) The Arab traveler Al-Mashdi, who visited India during this
period, calls the Rashtrakuta king the, ‗greatest king of India.‘ The dynasty
of the Chalukyas of Kalyani was founded by Taila I after overthrowings the
Rashtrakutas in 974-75,
6) The dynasty founded by him, with its capital at Kalyani
(Karnataka), is known as the later Chalukyas of the Chalukyas of Kalyani (the
early Chalukyas being the Chalukyas of Badami). Tailapa ruled for twenty
threeyears form 974 to 997.
THE PRATIHARAS (8THTO10THCENTURY)
a) The Pratiharas were also called Gurjar Pratihars probably
because they originated from Gujarat or Southwest Rajasthan.
b) Nagabhatta I,
defended western India from the Arab incursions fromSindh into Rajasthan.
c) After the Nagabhatta I, the Pratiharas suffered a series
of defeats mostly at the hands of the Rashtrakutas.
d) The Pratihara power regained its lost glory only after
only after the succession of Mihirbhoja, popularly known as Bhoja.
e) His eventful career
drew the attention of the Arab traveler, Sulaiman .
f) Mihirbhoja was succeeded by his son Mahendrapala I whose
most notable achievement was the conquest of Magadha and northern Bengal. The
most brilliant writer in his court was Rajasekhara who has to his credit a
number of literary works1) Karpuramanjari, 2) Bala Ramayana, 3) Bala and
Bharta, 4) Kavyamimamsa. g) Mahendrapala‘s death was followed by a scramble for
the possession of the throne. Bhoja II seized the throne, but step brother,
Mahipala soon usurped the throne. The withdrawal of Indra III to the Deccan
enabled Mahipala to recover from the fatal blow. Mahendrapala II, son and
successor of mahipala, was able to keep his empire intact.
THE PALAS (8TH TO 11TH CENTURY)
1) Sulaiman, an Arab merchant who visited India in the 9th
century has termed the Pala empire as Rhumi.
2) The Pala Empire was founded by Gopala in 750 AD.Gopala was
an ardent Buddhist and is supposed to have
3) He built the monastery at Odantapuri (Sharif district of
Bihar).
4) Gopala was succeeded by his son Dharmapala who raised the
Pala kingdom to greatness. The kingdom expanded under him and it comprised the
whole of Bengal and Bihar.
5) After a reign of 32 years Dharmapala died, leaving his
extensive dominions unimpaired to his son Devapala.
6) Devapala ascended the throne in 810 and Ruled for 40
years. He extended his control over Pragjyotishpur (Assam), parts of Orissa and
parts of Modern Nepal.
7) He patronised Haribhadra, one of the great Buddhist
authors. Devapala‘s court was adorned with the Buddhist poet Vijrakatta, the
author of Lokesvarasataka.
