New Kings And Kingdoms - iSTUDYNCERT.com

Here is the class notes from Class NCERT History- Chapter 2: “New Kings and Kingdoms”

The Emergence of New Dynasties

By the seventh century there were big landlords or warrior chiefs in different regions of the subcontinent.
Existing kings often acknowledged them as their subordinates or samantas.
They were expected to bring gifts for their kings or overlords, be present at their courts and provide them with military support.
As samantas gained power and wealth, they declared themselves to be maha-samanta, maha-mandaleshvara (the great lord of a “circle” or region) and so on.
Sometimes they asserted their independence from their overlords.
One such instance was that of the Rashtrakutas in the Deccan.
Initially they were subordinate to the Chalukyas of Karnataka.
In the mid-eighth century, Dantidurga, a Rashtrakuta chief, overthrew his Chalukya overlord and performed a ritual called hiranya-garbha (literally, the golden womb).
- When this ritual was performed with the help of Brahmanas, it was thought to lead to the “rebirth” of the sacrificer as a Kshatriya, even if he was not one by birth.
In other cases, men from enterprising families used their military skills to carve out kingdoms.
For instance, the Kadamba Mayurasharman and the Gurjara Pratihara Harichandra were Brahmanas who gave up their traditional professions and took to arms, successfully establishing kingdoms in Karnataka and Rajasthan respectively.

Administration in the Kingdoms

Many of these new kings adopted high-sounding titles such as maharaja-adhiraja (great king, overlord of kings), tribhuvana-chakravartin (lord of the three worlds) and so on.
However, in spite of such claims, they often shared power with their samantas as well as with associations of peasants, traders and Brahmanas.
In each of these states, resources were obtained from the producers – that is, peasants, cattle-keepers, artisans – who were often persuaded or compelled to surrender part of what they produced.
Sometimes these were claimed as “rent” due to a lord who asserted that he owned the land. Revenue was also collected from traders.
These resources were used to finance the king’s establishment, as well as for the construction of temples and forts.
They were also used to fight wars, which were in turn expected to lead to the acquisition of wealth in the form of plunder, and access to land as well as trade routes.
The functionaries for collecting revenue were generally recruited from influential families, and positions were often hereditary.

Cholas 400 taxes

The inscriptions of the Cholas refers to more than 400 terms of different kinds of taxes.
The most frequently mentioned tax is vetti, taken not in cash but in the form of forced labour, and kadamai, or land revenue.
There were also taxes on thatching the house, the use of a ladder to climb palm trees, a cess on succession to family property, etc.

Prashastis and Land Grant

Prashastis contain details that may not be literally true. But they tell us how rulers wanted to depict themselves.
These were composed by learned Brahmanas, who occasionally helped in the administration.
Kings often rewarded Brahmanas by grants of land.
These were recorded on copper plates, which were given to those who received the land
In 12th century a long Sanskrit poem containing the history of kings who ruled over Kashmir was composed by Kalhana
- He used a variety of sources, including inscriptions, documents, eyewitness accounts and earlier histories, to write his account.

Warfare and Wealth

Rulers also tried to demonstrate their power and resources by building large temples.
When they attacked one another’s kingdoms, they often chose to target temples, which were sometimes extremely rich.

Tripartite struggle

For centuries, rulers belonging to the Gurjara-Pratihara, Rashtrakuta and Pala dynasties fought for control over Kanauj. Because there were three “parties” in this long drawn conflict, historians often describe it as the “tripartite struggle”.

Mahmud of Ghazni

Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, Afghanistan ruled from 997 to 1030, and extended control over parts of Central Asia, Iran and the north-western part of the subcontinent.
He raided the subcontinent almost every year – his targets were wealthy temples, including that of Somnath, Gujarat.
He entrusted a scholar named Al-Biruni to write an account of the subcontinent.
- In his Arabic work known as the Kitab ul- Hind.

Chahamanas

Chahamanas, later known as the Chauhans, who ruled over the region around Delhi and Ajmer.
They attempted to expand their control to the west and the east, where they were opposed by the Chalukyas of Gujarat and the Gahadavalas of western Uttar Pradesh.
The best-known Chahamana ruler was Prithviraja III (1168-1192), who defeated an Afghan ruler named Sultan Muhammad Ghori in 1191, but lost to him the very next year, in 1192.

A Closer Look: The Cholas

From Uraiyur to Thanjavur

A minor chiefly family known as the Muttaraiyar held power in the Kaveri delta.
They were subordinate to the Pallava kings of Kanchipuram. Vijayalaya, who belonged to the ancient chiefly family of the Cholas from Uraiyur, captured the delta from the Muttaraiyar in the middle of the ninth century.
He built the town of Thanjavur and a temple for goddess Nishumbhasudini there.
The successors of Vijayalaya conquered neighbouring regions and the kingdom grew in size and power.
The Pandyan and the Pallava territories to the south and north were made part of this kingdom.
Rajaraja I, considered the most powerful Chola ruler, became king in 985 and expanded control over most of these areas.
He also reorganised the administration of the empire. Rajaraja’s son Rajendra I continued his policies and even raided the Ganga valley, Sri Lanka and countries of Southeast Asia, developing a navy for these expeditions.

Splendid Temples and Bronze Sculpture

The big temples of Thanjavur and Gangaikonda cholapuram, built by Rajaraja and Rajendra, are architectural and sculptural marvels.
Chola temples often became the nuclei of settlements which grew around them.
These were centres of craft production.
Temples were also endowed with land by rulers as well as by others.
The produce of this land went into maintaining all the specialists who worked at the temple and very often lived near it – priests, garland makers, cooks, sweepers, musicians, dancers, etc.
Temples were not only places of worship; they were the hub of economic, social and cultural life as well.
Chola bronze images are considered amongst the finest in the world.

Agriculture and Irrigation

Lies on the bank of river Kaveri, the land is fertile.
River Kaveri branches off into several small channels before emptying into the Bay of Bengal.
Water from the channels also provides the necessary moisture for agriculture, particularly the cultivation of rice.
In the delta region embankments had to be built to prevent flooding and canals had to be constructed to carry water to the fields.
Wells – Dug to bring underground water to the surface.
Tanks – Large man-made reservoirs to store rainwater.
Canals – Channels that diverted water from rivers to the fields.

The Administration of the Empire

The Village council

Ur: Settlements of peasants
Nadu: Groups of such villages
- The village council and the nadu performed several administrative functions including dispensing justice and collecting taxes.
Rich peasants of Vellala caste exercised considerable control over the affairs of the nadu under the supervision of the central Chola government.
The Chola kings gave some rich landowners titles like muvendavelan (a velan or peasant serving three kings), araiyar (chief), etc.

Types of land

Vellanvagai land of non-Brahmana peasant proprietors
Brahmadeya land gifted to Brahmanas
Shalabhoga land for the maintenance of a school
Devadana, tirunamattukkani land gifted to temples
Pallichchhandam land donated to Jaina institution
Inscriptions from Uttaramerur in Chingleput district, Tamil Nadu, provide details of the way in which the sabha was organised.
The sabha had separate committees to look after irrigation works, gardens, temples, etc.

China under the Tang dynasty

In China, an empire was established under the Tang dynasty, which remained in power for about 300 years (from the seventh to the tenth centuries).
Its capital, Xi’an
The Tang empire was administered by a bureaucracy recruited through an examination, which was open to all who wished to appear for it.
This system of selecting officials remained in place, with some changes, till 1911.