5 Editorial6 Rajput Age : From 750 A.D. to 1200 A.D.6 Origin of Rajputs and Prominent Rajput

Dynasties7 Rashtrakut Dynasty8 Gurjar Pratiharas8 Pala Dynasty9 Tripartite Struggle

11 Other Prominent Rajput States15 Political Condition of the Rajputs17 Political Views and Institutions22 Trade and Commerce24 Agriculture and Land System25 Art, Religion and Philosophy27 Religion and Philosophy27 Education, Literature and Art of Rajput

Period28 Shankaracharya30 The Chola Empire32 The Chola Rulers as Builders and Patrons

of Art32 The Chola Administration35 Indo-Arab Relations37 Invasion of Mahmud Ghaznavi of India39 Alberuni’s Description of India40 Invasion of Mohammed Ghori of India41 Memorable Facts42 Objective Questions58 Medieval Period : From 1200 to 170758 Historians of Medieval India and their

Historical Texts61 Foundation of Delhi Sultanate in North India66 Circumstances and Causes for the Estab-

lishment of Muslim Rule68 Muslim Impact on Indian Society71 Khalji Empire74 Tughlaq Dynasty

75 Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq75 Mohammad-Bin-Tughlaq77 New Political Policies and Administrative

Principles of State under MohammadTughlaq

77 Firoz Shah Tughlaq78 Feroz Shah Tughlaq’s—Religious Policy

and Public Works79 Indian Kingship and the Effect of the

Disintegration of Sultanate79 Nature of State : Political Thought and

Institutions81 Impact of Islam on Indian Culture82 Economy of Thirteenth and Fourteenth

Century83 Caste System and Slavery During Sultan-

ate Period84 Change in Technology84 Architecture of Early Sultanate Period86 Important Facts to Remember91 Vijaynagar Empire99 Bahamani State

101 Religious Movements of 15th and 16thCenturies

101 Sufism of Mysticism102 Bhakti Movement—Nature and Relevance

of the Saints of the Bhakti Movement105 Role of the Vaishnava Revivalists and

Their Work106 Emergence of Regional States in Fifteenth

and Early Sixteenth Century108 Foundation of Mughal Empire in North

India123 Jahangir125 Shahjahan127 Aurangzeb148 The Maratha Empire161 Memorable Points167 Objective Questions

Medieval India / 3

Medieval India / 5

Nurture Good ThoughtsNurture Good ThoughtsNurture Good Thoughts We seldom realise that our thoughts affect not only those with whom we come into contact, but also the nature outside. Though vibrations have immense potential of creating bad or good outside environment, thoughts do deeply affect our nervous system. Our evil thoughts will cause harm to us first, somebody else later. In order to have a healthy life, we should nurture good thoughts. We must at all cost stop thought pollution which does no good to anybody, but harms one and all. All of us like to live in an atmosphere free of the negative thoughts like jealousy, cunningness, fraud, deceit, treachery, malice, distrust and fear. Let us inculcate healthy and positive thoughts so as to make the environment livable to all.

These days environmental pollu-tion is a subject of universal concernamong the thinkers. Various maga-zines and journals are full of materialconcerning the subject. The mainidea behind it is that the dangerposed by environmental pollution ismore damaging than that of theatomic blasts. Out of the discussionsthe idea comes up that the human lifepollutes the environment. The treespurify the environment. The environ-mental pollution affects adverselyboth human life and trees.

While talking of environmentalpollution we centralise our thoughtson the physical life and the thingswhich create pollution. Subtle worldor subtle causes of pollution are oftenignored. We miss the point thatour thoughts affect environment on awider scale. We often read such con-clusions of research that the milchanimals yield more milk and trees gobetter in an atmosphere replete withmusic and trees also give more fruits.Even then we remain indifferent to-wards thought pollution.

Thought motivates all actionsand also determines the outline of allactivities.

Our personality is formed accord-ing to our thought so much so thatour physical body is deeply affectedby our thought power.

Thoughts create vibrations in theatmosphere which affect other per-sons. How the thought forms affect

the other side can be understood withthe help of the example given herebelow. Once a king went in a gardento take rest. Without introducinghimself he asked the gardener togive him some water to drink—Thegardener plucked a pomegranate andpresented its juice in a tumbler to theking. The king was surprised to seethat the juice of a pomegranate hadfilled the whole tumbler. The kingmade up his mind that he would levysuitable tax on this garden as thesefruits must be a source of a greatincome.

After some time the king calledthe gardener and said, “give me onemore tumbler of juice.” The gardenerwas surprised to see that this timethe juice of the fruit could fill only halfthe tumbler. He immediately ques-tioned, “Are you a king and have anevil eye on my garden ?” The kinghad to say yes. The king silently wentfrom there.

Do we ever think that our pollu-ted thoughts may be behind thewhirlwind, storms, accidents andother disturbances of nature. Our evilthoughts take us to the evil actions.And for our evil actions they createdesired atmosphere also. Jealousy,malice, hatred, classstruggle etc.have created the painful atmosphereof plunder, murder, terror, insecurityetc. The government full of goodwilland without economic inequalities iscalled the welfare state. The welfare

state is considered to be the gift ofthe best cultural and political thoughtof the modern age. The Indianthinkers have visualised the welfarestate as Ram-Rajya, which has beenbeautifully described by Tulsidas inRamcharitmanas.

The effect of good thoughts isnot limited to human life but also itaffects the outer atmosphere and thebehaviour of nature.

We want to solve these pro-blems on political and social levels,while they are concerned with moralaspect or formation of ideas. Evilthoughts induce evil behaviour. Onexamining the hearts of cunningpeople we will find a sea of fraud,tricks and cunningness. The psycho-logists after examining minutely thehuman behaviour have come to theconclusion that the thoughts greatlyaffect the behaviour and health of theperson. We know it too well thatanger makes the man lose himselfand even makes him mad. Jealousymakes a man very narrow–minded. Itis said that thoughts of Jealousy andanger even adversely affect the flowof blood and emotions of malice andhatred make the man intolerant andbad tongued. Hundreds of years agothe Upanishads declared that thenegative thoughts destroy the powerand potential of the person.

The Australian thinker BishopLead-Beater in his book, ‘Thoughtforms’, has dealt with thought formsat length in the book. Persons cominginto our contact leave some effectwithout uttering a word. But why ? Itis due to the thought forms created bythem.

Evil thoughts create bad effectand healthy thoughts create healthyeffect. Our young men will do well torealize the power of thought formswhich are our life and blood and theywill always try to have healthythoughts. This would make themlovable and dear to all those whocome into their contact.

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Medieval India / 6

RAJPUT AGERAJPUT AGERAJPUT AGE

(From 750 A.D. to 1200 A.D.)

Origin of Rajputs and ProminentRajput Dynasties

The mid of the 7th century A.D.,present a changing scenario andcarves out certain amaging facts. Thesuzerainty of Harsha Vardhan overthe entire North India was a landmark in Indian history. The way hebrought under his sway, differentstates to establish one organised statewas remarkable feast but in theabsence of able and worthy succes-sors, the entire north India was divi-ded into small estates and it remaineddivided till 12th century. In themeantime, many small estates sprangup in western India. All of theseestates were called ‘Rajput estatesand the main region where the Rajputdynasties ruled was, in course oftime, designated as Rajasthan. TheRajputs were brave, fearless and self-respecting people. It is difficult totrace as to who were the Rajputs andhow did they rise to power. Thehistorians have propounded a numberof theories regarding their origin.Main principle theories of their originwhich can be relied on are as under—

1. Foreign OriginThere as occasional reference to

the ‘Gurjaras’ in the record of theearly period which enable us to tracetheir existence as from the latter partof the sixth century A.D. Accordingto Cunningham they were the des-cendents of the Kushans or Gushans.AMT Jackson propounds anothertheory about their origin. He pointsout that a tribe known as the Khazarslived in South Armenia and Media inthe fourth century A.D. The Arabwriters believed that the Khazarswere Geo-regions. A Georgian tradi-tion relates that the Georgian kingVakhtang (469AD–500AD) led anarmy to India. About this time thewhite Huns also invaded India. Itseems that the Khazars along withthe Hun poured into India and settled.

There in the early years of the sixthcentury A.D. These Khazars wereknown to the Indians as ‘Gurjaras.’

2. Theory of Descent fromKshatriya HeroesSome Indian scholars do not

agree to the theory of foreign originof Rajputs. They assert that the originof Rajputs came from Suryavanshiand Chandravanshi Khashtriyas. Themain protagonist of this theory areVaidya and Ojha etc. They assert thatAnthropology, Totems and otherfactors emphasize upon the fact thatthe origin of Rajputs has been fromthe indigenous heroes and not fromforeign races. They have supportedtheir views as under—

(i) Many traditions of the Rajputsresemble the Aryan traditions.

(ii) The physical constitution ofRajputs is like Aryans.

(iii) The rulers of Mewar, Jaipurand Bikaner etc. feel proud on theirAryan ancestry. They consider them-selves as Suryavanshi or the descen-dant of Ram.

(iv) The fire worship among theRajputs came from the Aryans andnot from the foreign races. TheIndian literature refers to fire worshipamong the Aryans before the rise ofBuddhism. It was not a traditionexclusively among the foreigners.

(v) Likewise the traditions ofSacrifice and Yajana existed amongthe Aryans.

3. Theory of Descent fromOriginal Inhabitants ofIndiaSome scholars hold that the

castes of Rajputs who mainly livednear Vindhyachal mountain, haveoriginated from the original inhabi-tants of India. This theory is supported

by the fact that Chandel Rajputs ofBundelkhand originated from theGonds. The famous queen Durgawatibelonged to this Gond tribe. Themodern historians do not give anyimportance to this theory althoughthere are many supporting proofs.

4. Origin from Fire (Agni-kund)

This theory was propounded byChandbardai in his book ‘PrithvirajRaso’. According to this theory someRajput clans believe that their fore-fathers were born from the holy fireburnt on the Abu Mountains. Accord-ing to it when Parshuram killed allKshatriyas and there remained noKshatriya on the earth to protect theBrahmins, the Brahmins burnt holyfire on mount Abu and performedYajna for forty days. They prayed toGod to grant them for their security aheroic race. Ultimately their prayeryielded results and four heroes wereborn of the Agni Kund (fire place).These four heroes founded four line-age of Chauhans, Chalukyas, Parmarsand Pratihars. Some historians do notagree to it. They assert the possibilityof a big Yajna performed on mountAbu for converting the foreign racesto Hinduism. No proofs have beenavailable to support this view. And sothe origin of Rajputs is still a contro-versy.

5. Most Plausible Theory ofMixed Origin

Though all the above mentionedtheories have some truth, still nosingle theory completely satisfies thehistorians. Historians like V.A. Smithconclude that, “Rajput is a mixedrace.” Some Rajput castes were thedescendants of foreign aggressorslike Saka, Kushans and Huns andsome were the descends of ancientKshatriya clans who could wieldsword efficiently and fought in thebattle field with extraordinary cour-age, began to be called as Rajputstransformed into a social group werethe Rajputs.

Medieval India / 7

In the words of V. A. Smith, ‘theterm Rajput is used for such a socialhuman group who had no referenceto caste and blood relations. They areknown only as a war loving race whopossess sovereignty and the Brahminsdesignate them as Kshatriyas.’According to V. A. Smith, the Rajputswere born of various races and castes.

RASHTRAKUTDYNASTY

The southern neighbours of theTraikutakas were the Rahtrakutaswho rose into prominence during thelast quarter of the 4th century A.D.Their original home was Lattalura,modern Latur in the Osmanabad dis-trict of Maharashtra. The founder ofthe dynasty is said to be Nannarajawhose rule extended from 630 AD to650 AD. He selected the eagle as theinsignia of the family, which wasaccepted by his successors. Nanarajawas succeeded by Dantivarman,who ruled from 665 AD to 700 AD.Dantivarman ws succeeded by hisson and grandson. His grandson wassucceeded by his son Karkkarajafrom 700 AD to 715 AD. He wasstaunch Vaishavite. Indra, the son ofDantivarman was highly amitiousthough he remained feudatory ofcomtempory Chalukya emperor, heextended his principality north wards,which included the majority of theMarathi speaking districts of MadhyaPradesh. he forcibly married aChalukya Princess, named Bhava-naga.

DantidurgaSon of Indra, Dantidurga began

his carrier as a feudatory of Chalu-kyas. He was very strong and laid thefoundation of lasting empire. He wasgiven the title of Prathvivallabha.He destroyed the Gurjara Kingdomof Nandipuri. He led an expeditioninto Malwa. He brought easternMadhya Pradesh under his control.Ultimately he became the master ofcentral and southern Gujarat, wholeof Madhya Pradesh and Berar. Bydefeating the Chalukya ruler Kirti-varman II became the master ofwhole of Maharashtra.

Krishna IHe ruled from 758 to 773 AD.

He defeted the reorganised forces of

Kirtivarman II and thus brought theend of Chalukya empire. Encouragedby this, he defeated the Gangas whowere ruling in Mysore. SouthernKonkan was also conquered. Greatconqueror, Krishna was equally greatas builder. He got a magnificenttemple of Shiva constructed at Ellora.The temple is considered to be amarvel of architecture.

Govinda IIWorthy son of Krishna I,

Govinda II was a fun loving king andhe practically left the whole empireto the care of his younger brotherDhruva.

DhruvaDhruva, served his elder brother

Govinda II faithfully as a governor ofNasik and Khandesh. But his ambi-tion compelled him to seize thethrone for himself. He ruled from 780AD to 793 AD. He wanted to ruleover the entire Northern India. Hedefeated Vatsaraja, the Pratihararuler. He also defeated Dharmapalaof the Pala dynasty. The ruler ofVengi was humbled. He brought theRashtrakuta power to its zenith.

Govinda IIILike Dhruva, he was also an

ambitious ruler like Dhruva. Hedefeated Nagabhatta II to put his ownnominee on the throne. Govinda IIIadvanced as far as the Himalayas. Hewas unrivalled in courage general-ship, statemanship and marital exp-loits.

AmoghavarshaGovinda III was succeeded by

his son Amoghavarsha who ruledfrom 814 AD to 878 AD. There weredissensions in the royal family andconsequently there was a lot of trou-ble. But he won a decisive victoryover the Eastern Chalukyas in abattle of vengavalli. He then turnedhis attention to the Gangas andcrushed them. His reign was long butlacked vigour and brilliance of hisfather and grandfather. In his laterlife he was attracted towards Jainism.He was devotee of Mahalaxami.

Krishna IIHe succeeded his father Amogh-

varsha and ruled for 32 years from878 AD to 914 AD. His important

wars were against the Pratiharas andEastern Chalukyas. He wanted to puthis grandson on the Chola thron butall in vain.

Indra IIIGrandson of Krishna II, he ruled

from 940 AD to 968 AD. He un-successfully attacked Cholas in 943AD but the attempt was foiled.But he defeated them in the battleof Takkolam and marched uptoRameshwaram. He also marched intoBundelkhand. He led an expeditionto Malwa. He usurped a large part ofChola Kingdom.

KottingDuring his reign, Parmara king

Singaka reached Malked, in Rashtra-kuta capital. he imperial capital wascompletely ransacked.

Karakka IITaila II, who was as feudatory of

the Rashtrakutas revolted in 973 ADand defeated Karakka II In 975 AD.It was under these circumstances thatthe Rashtrakutas disappeared fromthe history.

ADMINISTRATION

CentralThe head of all the administra-

tive affair was the king. It washereditary and the crown usuallypassed to the eledest and sometimesto the ablest one. A group of minis-ters, consists of Prime Minister,Foreign Minister, Revenue Minister,Treasures, Chief Justice, Commanderin Chief and Purohita, helped theking in the performance of hisadministrative duties.

ProvincialThe Rashtrakuta empire was

divided into several Provinces orRashtras, which were further dividedinto Vishyas or districts, which inturn were divided in bhuktis. Thebhuktis were further divided intosmall groups of 10 to 20 villages.

The provinces were headed byRashtrapati. He was also an inchargeof revenue administration and wereresponsible for the tax collection.

Vishyas were headed by Vishya-pati and Bhogapati at Tehsil level.They performed their duties ofrevenue collection.

Medieval India / 8

Village administration was carr-ied on by the village headman andthe village accountant. The headmanwas responsible for maintaining lawand order. The headman had a localmilitia at his disposal.

MilitaryThe Rashtrakutas were very

ambitious and no wonder they did allthat they could to make their militarymachine powerful and effient. Themaintained big and powerful armiesfulfil their aspirations.

RevenueIn Rashtrakuta empire, there

were many sources of revenue.Jeudatories contributed their share inthe form of tributes. Besides, land taxbrough in a huge amount of money.It was me-fourth of the praduce.Taxes on fruits, vegetables etc. werealso collected.

Religion(s)The worship of Siva and Vishnu

was popular Besides, many Brahma-nical sacrifices were performedduring this period. Temples wereconstructed to instal images. Theonly important temple of this periodis Shiva temple at Ellora. Jainismwas patronised by Amoghavarsha I,but Buddhism had witnessed a steepfall during this period.

ArtThe Rashtrakutas made a

splendid contribution to the Indianart. The rock-cut shrines at Ellora andElephanta belong to this period. Thetemple of Kailasa at Ellora is themost extensive and sumptuous. Thesculptured panels of Dasavatara,Bhairava, Ravana shaking. Themount Kailasa, dancing Shiva,Vishnu and Laxmi listening to musicare superb.

GURJAR PRATIHARAS

The Pratihars, to which Nag-bhatta 11 belonged, appears to havebeen of foreign extraction. Indeed thePhrase “Gurjara—Pratiharanvayah”i.e. Partihara clan of Gurjaras occur-ing in the line four of the Rajorestone inscription indicates that theywere a branch of the famousGurjaras. One of these central Asiantribes poured into India.

Nagbhatta I was the first signifi-cant ruler who started this dynasty.He defended the western India fromthe onslaught of the Arab invaders.He captured the Gurjar state ofNandipur. He gave to his successor amighty empire in which Malwa,Rajputana and Gujarat were included.

After Nagbhatta I, Kakkuk andDevraj ascended the throne but theywere not very influential rulers. Theson of Devraj named Vatsaraj becamea powerful king and he ascended thethrone in 778 A.D. He includedMalwa and Rajputana in his empire.Vatsaraj seized the kingdom of theBhandi people, which was perhapsincluded in Kannauj. He defeated theruler of Bengal named Dharampal andseized even his crown.

Taking advantage of the time,the Rashtrakut ruler Dhruva invadedupon Vatsaraj and defeated him. Hewas forced to take refuge in theDesert. Nothing is known aboutVatsaraj after he was defeated byDhruva. Possibly, his empire re-mained centralized in Rajputana.

The son of Vatsaraj, Nagbhatt IIruled from 805 to 833 A.D. He triedto reinstate the lost glory of thePratihar dynasty. He was defeated bythe Rashtrakut ruler Govind III.Nagbhatt II defeated Chakrayudh ofKannauj. He captured the hill forts ofthe kings of Aavert, Malwa, Kirat,Vatsa, Matsya and Tumshka. It is saidthat Nagbhatt II went in hybernationdue to fear of Govind III. The Palarulers got an opportunity to extendtheir empire. Rambhadra, the son ofNagbhatt II ascended the throne afterhim.

The son of Rambhadra namedMihirbhoj ruled from 836 A.D. to885 A.D. During the reign of kingBhoja, the Pratihara dynasty was atthe zenith of its glory. Within a fewyears he strengthened the empire andestablished his suzerainty upto theregion of Himalaya. Later, he thoughtof taking revenge with Devpala buthis pride was shattered away byDevpala. Then, Bhoja changed thedirection of his expeditions towardssouth. He subjugated the regions ofNarmada. In 867 A.D. he was defea-ted by the Rashtrakut ruler, Dhruva II.Mihirbhoj had to wage war uponKrishna II and the struggle continuedfor a long time.

The Arabian author writes aboutBhoj that, “This king keeps a bigarmy. No king had such a best cavalryas his. No other state in India was safeand secure from the dacoits as hisstate.”

After him, his son Mahendrapal Iruled from 885 to 910 A.D. He con-quered a large portion of Bihar andBengal. It seems that he suffered adefeat at the hands of the king ofKashmir.

After Mahendrapal, his sonnamed Bhoj II ascended the throne,but his step brother Mahipal deposedhim. Mahipal ruled from 912 to 944A.D. During his tenure, Indra IIIdestroyed Kannauj. The Pala rulerstook the advantage and extended,their kingdom on the east bank ofriver ‘Son. ’ Yet Mahipal again estab-lished his stronghold over his empire.

After Mahipal’s death, Rajyapalsuccessfully ruled his kingdom since948 A.D. He was the last famous kingof Pratihara dynasty. When the armyof Mahmud Ghazni entered the cityof Kannauj he fled away out of fear.Ghazni not only plundered the citybut also destroyed beautiful buildingsand temples. This act of cowardiceoffended the Rajputs who killed himand enthroned his son Trilochanapala.He too was defeated by MahmudGhazni. Yashopal was perhaps, thelast ruler of this dynasty. The Pratiharkingdom was divided among theChalukyas of Anhilwara, Chandelsof Jaijakbhukti, Chedi of Kalchuri,Parmars of Malwa, Guhils of easternRajputana and Chauhans of Shakam-bhari.

PALA DYNASTY

It is significant that the Palas donot trace their descent from anyancient hero. We merely learn froman inscription discovered at Khalum-pur that the Pala dynasty, so calledbecause the name of all its membershad the termination—Pala, sprangfrom one Dayitavinsu, whose sonwas Vapyata, Probably this showsthat the family rose from humblebeginnings, and had no illustriousancestry. Later on, however, attemptswere made to connect it with sea orthe Sun.

Medieval India / 9

The foundation of Pala dynastyabout the middle of the 8th centuryA.D. marks a new epoch in thehistory of Bengal. After the death ofShashank about a century, there waslack of a central authority in Bengalfor Political instability continued.Due to political uncertainty thereprevailed anarchy in entire Bengal. Itwas urgently felt in Bengal that acentral authority was required. Thepeople selected Gopal through a‘Sabha’ (Great meeting) and en-throned him as king. Gopal removedall anarchy and successfully ruledover Bengal from 750 A.D. to 770A.D. He became the founder of Paldynasty in Bengal. He was aKshatriya. His empire was extendedin eastern Bengal. The historianLama Taranath writes that Gopalbuilt the famous monastery or‘Vihar’ of Odantpur.

Dharampal who succeeded Gopalwas a brave and illustrious king ofPala dynasty. He ruled from 710 to810 A.D. He had to his credit manyachievements. He sent military expe-ditions to some foreign countries.During his time, the Rashtrakuta andPratihar rulers were busy in consoli-dating their strength and expandingtheir kingdom. It was quite obviousthat both of them had to clash withDharampal. Dharampal invadedKannauj and defeated Indrayudh. Hehad enthroned Chakrayudh on thethrone of Kannauj. His suzerainitywas acknowledged by Bhoj, Matsya,Bhadra, Kuru, Yadu, Yavan, Avantiand Gandhar states. Dharampal estab-lished his power in north India. He iscalled ‘Swami’ of north. Yet he couldnot rule peacefully. The Pratihar kingVatsaraj defeated him in the Doab ofGanga and Yamuna and Vatsaraj tookaway the royal insignia—Rajchhatra.Vatsaraj was defeated by theRashtrakut ruler Dhruva. He had torun away to the Desert for takingrefuge. Afterwards Dhruva defeatedDharampal II. However, he could notdo much harm to Dharampal. WhenDhruva returned to south, Dharampalagain established his power in northIndia.

After some years, Dharampal hadto face the Pratihar ruler Nagbhattawho conquered Kannauj. NearMoongher, a fierce battle was foughtbetween Dharampal and Nagbhatta.

In this battle, Dharampal was defeat-ed. Nagbhatta, after some time, wasdefeated by Govind III. So Dharampaldid not bear a heavy loss. InSwayambhoo Puran, it is referredthat Dharampal conquered Nepal andadopted the title of ‘Parmeshwar,Param Bhattarak’ and ‘Maharaja-dhiraj’. Dharampal founded theVikramshila University and built theSompur Vihar. He established theOdantpur Buddhist Vihar whichearned great reputation.

After Dharampal, his son Devpalruled from 810 to 850 A.D. Heextended his empire and establishedhis power in north India. He con-quered Pragjyotishpur and defeatedthe Gurjar and Dravida rulers. Hisbrother Jaipal and other familymembers were his main supporters.Rambhadra, the son of Nagbhatta IIand Amoghvarsh, his grandson weredefeated by Devpal. He was a greatpatron of Buddhism. He providedshelter to the Buddhist monks. Hedonated five villages for the mainte-nance of Vihar constructed byBalputradeva. Devpal built a numberof Vihars and temples of Buddha.

After Devpal, Vigrahpal ascend-ed the throne. He abducted the throneafter three or four years and became aSanyasi. After him, Narayanpal be-came the king and ruled about fiftyyears. The kingdom faced many upsand downs and at a time his kingdomshrunk to the region of Bengal only.In his later years, he reconquered thelost territories. In 908 A.D., just be-fore his death he established hispower in Bihar and Bengal.

After Narayanpal, three kingsruled upto 988 A.D. They wereRajpal, Gopal II and Vigrahpal II.Mahipal I, the son of Vigrahpal ruledfrom 988 to 1038 A.D. In hiskingdom, the states of Divajpur,Muzzaffarpur, Patna, Gaya andTibwera were included. He conquerednorth Bengal. In Sarnath inscription,it is referred that Mahipal builtGandhkuti. During his rule RajendraChola invaded north India between1021 and 1025 A.D. He defeatedGovind Chandra and Mahipal. In lastdays of his rule, the Kalchuri rulerGangeydev invaded upon him anddefeated him.

After Mahipal, Nayapal ruledfrom 1038 to 1055 A.D. He defeated

the Kalchuri ruler Karnadev. But theProfessor of Vikramshila DeepankarShri Gyan gave shelter to Karna. Theruler of Kosala, Mahasiv Gupta alsohad to face Nepal’s invasion.

During the time of Vigrahpal III,clashes between the Pals and theKalchuris became the order of theday. Karnadev again invaded the Palruler but he himself was defeated. Hemarried his daughter, Yovanshree toVigrahpal III. In 1068 A.D. theChalukya ruler Vikramaditya VIdefeated Vigrahpal III who died in1070 A.D. After him three rulers—Mahipal II, Sukhpal and Rampalbecame kings, but Sukhpal ruled onlyfor two years and Rampal was thelast successful ruler of this dynasty.He had defeated the leader of Kaivertnamed Bhim. He had also invadedupon Kamrup and Kalinga. YadavVerma tried to secure his protection.Rampal jumped into Ganges anddied.

Kumarpal succeeded Rampal.His minister Vidyadeva suppressedthe rebellion which ocurred in Kamrupand then established his independentKingdom there. All rulers were in-capable and weak after Rampal. Therise of feudal lords into independentrulers and the emergence of Vijay Senlimited the Pala dynasty. The last ofthe Pala rulers was Govindpal whosereference has been found in aninscription of 1175 A.D.

TRIPARTITESTRUGGLE

In the early decades of 8thcentury, Kannauj was ruled byAyudh rulers. They were too weak incomparison to their contemporarieslike Gurjar Pratihars, Palas and theRashtrakuts and they were bound tobow before them. All of them had atempting eye on Kannauj. It led toregular conflict between the threepowers. The conflict has been desig-nated by the historians as Tripartitestruggle. This struggle continued forabout a century in an uncommon andinteresting manner. Kannauj wassometimes under one authority andsometimes under the other. Afterabout a struggle of hundred years,ultimately the Gurjar Pratihars suc-ceeded in conquering Kannauj.

Medieval India / 10

Yet, only the ascendancy ofKannauj was not the reason of thislong struggle. In fact the ambitions ofthe three great powers clashed witheach other and all of them weredesirous of being known as theMaster of north India. So they usedto quarrel mutually .

During Harsha’s time, Kannaujoccupied an important reputation innorth India. In Gupta age, the impor-tance of Patliputra was supreme andthe same status was occupied byKannauj in this era. It was the symbolof prosperity and culture. It was situ-ated besides the Ganga and from theriver-trade point, it was very impor-tant place in between north andcentral India. It was very fertile dueto its situation in the midst of Gangaand Yamuna. So the Gurjar Pratiharsand Palas were restless to occupy it.Rashtrakuts, keen to unfurl theirconquest flag in north India, used tofight with these two powers. It there-fore assumed the shape of a tripartitestruggle. It is notable that by partici-pating in these wars, Rashtrakutsbecame the first southern power tointerfere in the politics of north Indiaand the first southern power to attacknorth India. They played the samerole as later was played by theMarathas in 18th century.

To establish their ascendancyupon Kannauj, the Gurjar Pratiharswere very keen and restless. TheRashtrakuts had become all powerfuland were hammering regulary on theGurjar Pratihars. So they decided toestablish themselves at a distance

Tripartite Rulers

Pala Rulers Pratihara Rulers Rashtrakuta Rulers

1. Dharampala(780-815 A.D.)

1. Vatsaraj(783 A.D.)

1. Dhruva(779-793 A.D.)

2. Devapala(815-855 A.D.)

2. Nagabhatta(815 A.D.)

2. Govinda III(793-813 A.D.)

3. Vighrapala(855-860 A.D.)

3. Rambhadra 3. Amoghavarsha(814-877 A.D.)

4. Naryanpala(860-915 A.D.)

4. Bhoja(836-885 A.D.)

4. Krishna II(877-914 A.D.)

5. Mahendrapala(885-910 A.D.)

from them. For this, they could notfind a better and safer place thanKannauj. They were impatient tooccupy this prosperous region. It maybe remembered that Malwa was underthe Gurjar Pratihars. The southernlimits of Malwa state touched theRashtrakuta kingdom. The Rash-trakuts were already interfering in thepolitics of north India. They had be-come very powerful. This also gavethe reason to Gurjar Pratihars tooccupy Kannauj.

The tripartite struggle startedwith the defeat of Indrayudh andKannauj at the hands of Vatsaraj. ThePal ruler, Dharampal was alsodesirous to extend his suzerainity tonorth India. This led to the compu-lsion of a struggle between Dharam-pal and Vatsaraj. In the meantime,the Rashtrakut king Dhruva alsoinvaded north India. He first defeatedthe Gurjar Pratihar and droveVatsaraj to Rajputana. Afterwards hedefeated Dharampal in the plains ofDoab, situated in the midst of Gangaand Yamuna. For the ascendancy ofKannauj, a long struggle thus started.

The interference of the Rash-trakuts in the politics of north India,proved of immediate benefit toDharampal because after the defeatof Gurjar Pratihars at the hands ofRashtrakuts had led to a fall in theirprestige and power. When theRashtrakut ruler Dhruva returned tosouth India after his conquest ofnorth, Dharampal snatched the oppor-tunity to invade Kannauj. He defeatedIndrayudh and enthroned Chakrayudh

in his place. The ascendancy ofKannauj went to Pal rulers.

The Gurjar Pratihars could notbear it. They defeated Chakrayudhunder the leadership of Nagbhatt, theson of Vatsaraj and occupiedKannauj. It was a great challenge forDharampal and he accepted it. Hemade preparations and fought withthe Gurjar Pratihars near Moongher.Dharampal was badly defeated. How-ever the success of Nagbhatt wasshort lived. Hardly the Pratihar kingcould celebrate his victory, theRashtrakut ruler Govind III attackedand badly defeated him breaking theirdream of occupying the ascendancyof Kannauj. An inscription ofRashtrakuts tells that Dharampal andChakrayudh invited the Rashtrakutking Govind III against their enemyNagbhatt II. After this conquest ofGovind III against Gurjar Pratihars,Dharampal and Chakrayudh bothsurrendered to the Rashtrakut kingjust to win his sympathy. Gobind IIIattained this victory about 809 and810 A.D.

After the defeat of Nagbhatt II,the Pratihar power degenerated forsome time. When Govind III wentback to south, Dharampal and his sonDevpal seized the opportunity torecapture the north India. After thedeath of Dharampal, Nagbhatt IIagain cultivated the desire to conquerKannauj. After capturing it, he madeKannauj as the new kingdom of thePratihar empire. The changed cir-cumstances favoured him. TheRashtrakuts were facing internaltrouble due to mutual conflict in theirstate and external dangers. Amogh-varsh, their king was not a goodcommander and conqueror like hisfather. He was a peace loving ruler.The Gurjar Pratihars had occupiedKannauj and had become thesupreme power in north India due tothe exit of Rashtrakuts from thisstruggle and due to the Pal ruler’sadopting Buddhism. However, theirenemity did not end and the strugglecontinued. As a result of this strug-gle, Pratihars ultimately assumedpower in the north India.

Medieval India / 11 / 2

Other Prominent Rajput States

Chandelas of JijakbhuktiThere is no definite view accep-

ted by mall the historians regardingtheir origin. Different theories pro-pounded about their origin are asfollows :

1. Inscriptional evidence describethem as the Kshatriyas of Chandra-vansi. According to Chandbardai,they were born out of a Brahmin girlHemavati and Moon. According toV. A. Smith they were mixture ofGonds, Bhars and Gahadvals.

2. The original home of theChandellas were Khajuraho, Chhat-tarpur, Mahoba, Kalinjar, Rajgarh etc.Nannuka was the first ruler of thisdynasty. The other important rulers ofthis dynasty includes Vakapati, Jaya-sakti, Yasovarman, Ganda, Vidhya-dhar, Vijaipal etc. Parmardi was thelast important ruler of the Chandellaswho was defeated by PrithvirajChauhan.

3. Chandella dynasty immenselycontributed in the field of Art andarchitecture. Jaganika’s compositionof ‘Alaha-Udal’ is a famous bookwritten during the reign of Parmardi.The Chandellas are chiefly known forthe temples of Khajuraho. Fort ofKalinjar, palace of Mahoba etc.

The ParamarasIn the beginning, the Pratihars

possessed Malwa but after theirdownfall, the Parmar dynasty cap-tured it. Vakpati II and Bhoja weretwo prominent kings of Parmardynasty. Vakpati II ruled from 973to 996 A.D. During his period, themilitary strength of Malwa increasedmuch and lot of development tookplace in cultural field. The bound-aries of his empire spread far andwide. After Vakpati II, Sindhurajruled for some years. After Sindhuraj.

Bhoj became the king who wasthe most powerful king of thisdynasty. He ruled from 1010 to 1055A.D. i.e., about 45 years. During histime, he fought many wars and con-quered Chedi, Karnad, Laat, Turushketc. Bhoja fought throughout his life.

Besides being a great ruler andconqueror, Bhoja was a great poet,scholar and a lover of art and liter-ature. He has been described asKavirai. His wife Arundhati was alsoa great scholar. He accorded patron-age to scholars like Dharampala,Solhara and poetess Sita. After Bhojamany rulers succeeded him but allwere weak and incapable. In 1135A.D. Malwa was captured by theChalukya ruler, Jai Singh Siddhraj.Till 1155 A. D. Malwa remainedunder Chalukyas. But VindhyaVerman of the Parmar clan defeatedthe Chalukya king Moolraj II andcaptured again the region of Malwa.At the time of the invasion ofMuhammed Ghori, Vindhya Varmanruled over Malwa. He died in 1193A.D. In the thirteenth century, Malwacame under Muslim rule.

Chalukyas of AnhilwaraThe Chalukyas are also called as

Solankis dynasty. This state ofChalukyas had much significance be-cause the foreigners (Muslims) ruledover the north-western regions of thisstate. The bravest and ablest ruler ofthis dynasty was Jai Singh Siddhrajwho ruled from 1094 to 1142 A.D.He successfully tried to extend thefrontiers of his empire. After him in1143 A.D., Kumarpal became theking of Chalukyas. He defeated theking of Konkan named Mallikarjuna.He also conquered the ruler of Ajmernamed Arnoraj. He capturedSaurashtra. After him Ajaypal ruledfrom 1173 to 1176 over this region.His son Moolraj II, succeeded him asruler of Anhilwara. During his timeMahmud Ghori attacked on India.Moolraj defeated him in a war. Afterhis death Bhim II succeeded him. Hebravely faced the invasion ofQutubuddin Aibak and forced him togo back.

SenasThe Senas, who gave the death

blow to the Pala power in Bengalwere probably of Southern origin.The founder of the dynasty, Saman-tasena, is described as descendent of

Virasena. Senas, as they are termedas Brahma-Kshatriyas which signi-fies that the Senas were at firstBrahmans, but subsequently adoptedthe military profession and becameKshatriyas.

Vijayasena—Grandson of Sa-manta sena, brought the family intoprominence during his long reign ofover sixty two years. Vijayasenadrove out the Palas from NorthernBengal. He extended his authorityover Eastern Bengal also. He defea-ted a number of his contemporaries,the chief among them being Nanya-deva of Tirhut and the kings ofKamarupa and Kalinga.

Vallalsena—He succeeded hisson, Vallalasena, whose mother wasvilasadevi, a princes of the sura lineof western Bengal. Traditions affirmthat he introduced Kulirism and re-organised the caste-system in WestBengal.

Lakshmanasena—Lakshmana-sena or Rai Lakhmaniya was the lastimportant member of the dynasty. Heis credited with extensive conquests.But if the Moslem historians deserveany credence, he must have beenextremely cavern hearted man, for hefled, as has been told, from the backdoor without offering any resistance,at the approach of Mohammad ibnBakhtyar Khilji. After his death, theSenas continued to exercise authorityin eastern Bengal, for almost anotherhalf a century when it ultimatelypassed into the hands of the Moslims.

In fact the Senas were generousand devout Shaiva. They took manytasks for the welfare of the commonbeing. They excavated an artificiallake, and built a splendid temple ofPradyumnesvara Siva at Deopara.Besides, vallalsena was also Shaivaand he is said to have compiled twowell known works, the ‘Danasagar’and the Abhutasagara. Under theguidance of his preceptor. On the topof everything, Laxman encouragedthe cultivation of literary hands.Among the literary ornaments of hiscourt, Dhokiya, who wrote thePavan-duta and Jaidev, the celebratedauthor of the Gita Govinda deservespecial mention. Laxmanasenahimself was something of a poet,because he is credited to have com-pleted the Adbhuta-Sagara, begun byhis father.

Medieval India / 12

Gurjar Pratiharas rulers and some facts about them

1. Nagbhatt I — He was the founder of the Gurjar Pratihar state. During his time, the Arabs invaded upon India.The Gwalior inscription tells that he defeated the Arabs.

2. Kakkuk — He was nephew and successor of Nagbhatt.

3. Devraj — He was younger brother of Kakkuk and a follower of Vaishnav Cult.

4. Vatsaraj — He extended the empire and conquered Rajputana and Kannauj. He conquered Dharampal. He wasdefeated by the Rashtrakut ruler, Dhruva.

5. Nagbhatt II — He changed the capital from Ujjain to Kannauj. He subjugated Andhra, Sindh, Vidarbh, Kaling,Malwa, Turusp and Vatsa. He was defeated by Gobind III in 802. He defeated Dharampal inMoongheyr.

6. Raj Bhadra — He was the weak successor of Nagbhatt II and many kingdoms declared their freedom.

7. Mihirbhoj — He was son of Rambhadra and he succeeded him. He adopted the title of Adi Varah and Prabhas.He defeated Bundelkhand, Guhil and Kalchuris. He conquered southen Rajputana and Saurashtra.Gunambodhideva was a feudal lord of Mihirbhoj.

8. Mahendra Pal — He was son and successor of Mihirbhoj. He defeated Pals and captured Bengal. He conquered theRashtrakutas. He gave patronage to the poet Raj Shekhar.

9. Bhoj II — He ruled from 910 to 912 A.D.

10. Mahipal No important event occured and after him no worthy ruler occupied the throne.

11. Rajyapal — During his time, Mahmud Ghazni invaded Kannauj. He ran away and was killed by Chandela rulerVidhya Dhar.

12. Trilochanpal — He was appointed the king under Vidya Dhar. He had to face the invasion of Mohammad Ghori.

Sindh—In 8th century the Arabsconquered Sindh. After them MahmudGhazni occupied it. Later, the Sumrarulers of the Shia sect captured it.

Multan—In north of Sindh,Multan is situated in western Punjab.In 12th century, the KarmathianMuslims established their kingdom inMultan. They were also Shias. WhenMohammad Ghori invaded India, theywere ruling over Multan.

Prominent Dynasties and theirFounders

Parmar dynasty — Vakpati Munj

Gahadwal dynasty — Chandra Dev

Pala dynasty — Gopal

Sen dynasty — Vijay Sen

Shahi dynasty — Kallar

Kalchuri dynasty — Vam-Rajdeo

Mall dynasty — Arimall Deo

Lohar dynasty — Sangram Raj

Karkot dynasty — Durlabh Varman

Utpala dynasty — Avanti Varman

Gurjar Pratihar(Ujjani branch)

— Nagbhatt I

Punjab—Mahmud Ghazni occu-pied Punjab and since then it was anintegral part of his empire. Theboundaries of Punjab were vast. Inthe north-east it spread upto Jammu.In south and south-west the frontiersoften increased and decreased. In the

north it spread upto Peshawar andSialkot. In 1186 Mohammad Ghoriinvaded upon the capital of Punjabi.e. Lahore and occupied it. The localruler Malik Khusrau was imprisonedand he died in 1192.

Theories of Rajput Origin

1. Foreign Origin

2. Kshatriya Origin

3. Indian Origin

4. Agnikul Origin

5. Accepted view of Mixed Origin

Nepal—In the early 11th century,the feudal lords had become verypowerful. There were a few powerfulnobles who made their capital in Patanand Bhatt villages and Kathmandu.But in the last decade of 11th century,the ruler of Tirhut, Nanyadev occu-pied Nepal. After his death the rulersof Nepal ruled under the suzerainityof Tirhut. After some years, the Malldynasty ruled over Nepal. It wasfounded by Arimalldev.

Kannauj—The Gahadwal Raj-puts ruled over Kannauj. In thebeginning their state extended uptoBanaras, Awadh, Allahabad andDelhi. The rulers of Gahadwal dynastywere brave and powerful. They con-quered a number of states and ex-tended their frontiers far and wide.They were counted as the mostpowerful kings of north India. The

most powerful ruler of this dynastywas Govind Chandra who defeatedthe Turk aggressors. His great grand-son was Jai Chandra, who was theruler of Kannauj when MohammadGhori invaded India contemporaryhistorians have described him as apowerful king of north India. He wasthe last ruler of Kannauj. He wasdefeated by Mohammad Ghori in thebattle of Chandawar.

Chedi—Kalchuris ruled overChedi and their capital was Tripuri.Its founder was Vamrajdev. Gangey-dev and Lakshmi Karna are consi-dered to be powerful rulers of thisdynasty. Gangeydev not only im-proved his administration but ex-tended the frontiers of his state. Hecaptured Prayag and Banaras andconquered Orissa. According to Rewainscription, with the blood of ele-phants killed by the soldiers ofGangeydev, the whole region of seacoasts turned into mud. This state-ment testifies to the cruelty ofGangeydev. He died in 1041 A.D.After him, Lakshmi Karna becamethe ruler who ruled upto 1072 A.D.Lakshmi Karna followed the policiesof his father and conquered manystates. He was even more powerfulthan his father. Many other Kalchurikings ruled after him. During theinvasion of Mohammad Ghori,Vijaysingh Kalchuri ruled overChedi.

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