New kings and kindgoms

New kings and kingdoms

​Part 1

​Important terms

​​Revenue: The tax traders had to pay to their lords. 

Prashastis: A literary composition often in verse written in praise of the ruler depicting him as a valiant, victorious warrior. It was mainly done by the Brahmanas who were often rewarded by grants of land for such jobs. This reward was recorded on copper plates and given to those who received the land. 

Sultan: An Arabic term used for the ruler. 

Ur: Settlements of peasants. 

Nadu: Group of Urs i.e. villages formed a large unit called Nadu.

​Brahmadeya: The land given to the Brahmanas as a grant. 

Vellanvagai: The land of non-Brahmana peasant proprietors. 

Shalabhoga: The land for the maintenance of a school. 

Devadana/Tirunamattukkani: The land gifted to temples. 

Multiple Choice

What is a revenue ?

• The tax traders had to pay to their lords. 

• A literary composition often in verse written in praise of the ruler

• Group of Urs i.e. villages formed a large unit

​important terms and years

​Pallichchhandam: The land donated to Jaina institutions. 

Nagarams: Associations of traders. 

Sabha: The assembly of Brahmanas. 

7th century – Rise of the new dynasties. 

Mid-eighth century – Rise of Rashtrakuta chief as Kshatriya.

1168-1192 – Prithviraja III ruled over the regions around Delhi. 

1191 – Prithviraja III defeated Muhammad Ghori. 

1192 – Prithviraja III lost a battle and was finished by Muhammad Ghori. 

985 – Rajaraja I became a great Chola ruler. 

5th/6th century – The area of Tamil Nadu was opened up for large-scale cultivation. 

 

Poll

what is Pallichchhandam ?

• The land donated to Jaina institutions. 

• Associations of traders. 

• The assembly of Brahmanas. 

• Rise of Rashtrakuta chief as Kshatriya.

​important terms

​Maharaja-adhiraja: A high sounding title used for great king, overlord. 

Tribhuvan-chakravartin: Lord of the three worlds. 

Rent: The part of the product that the producers—the peasants, cattle-keepers, artisans- were compelled to pay to the lords. 

Revenue: The tax traders had to pay to their lords. 

Prashastis: A literary composition often in verse written in praise of the ruler depicting him as a valiant, victorious warrior. It was mainly done by the Brahmanas who were often rewarded by grants of land for such jobs. This reward was recorded on copper plates and given to those who received the land. 

​Prashashtis and Land Grants 

• Prashashtis tells us how rulers wanted to depict themselves as valiant and victorious warriors. 

• The kings often rewarded Brahmanas by grants of land. These were recorded on copper plates, which were given to those who received the land. 

​Administration in the Kingdoms

​  . The kings at apex adopted big titles like Maharaja-adhiraja. 

• The kings shared power with their samanras, and with an association of peasants, traders and Brahmanas. 

• Resources were obtained from the producers who were persuaded to surrender part of what they produced. 

• These resources were used to finance the king’s establishment and construct temples and forts. 

• Functionaries for collecting revenue were recruited from influential families. 

​ Warfare for wealth

​

• For centuries Gurjara-Pratihara, Rashtrakuta and Pala’s dynasties fought for control over Kanauj. 

• The long drawn conflict is known as a tripartite struggle as three parties were involved in it. 

• Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni raided the subcontinent seventeen times between AD 1000—AD 1025. His sole purpose was to plunder the wealth of India. He looted temples like Somnath, Gujarat, Mahmud entrusted a scholar named al-Biruni to write an account of the subcontinent. 

• Other kings engaged in warfare were Chauhan, who ruled over the region around Delhi and Ajmer. 

​Warfare for wealth

​Chauhans were engaged in conflict with Chalukyas of Gujarat and the Gahadavalas of western UR  Prithviraj III was a popular Chauhan ruler who defeated Afghan ruler Ghori in 1191 but lost to him in 1192. 

​The Cholas 

• Cholas were from a small family of Uraiyur. The successors of Vijayalaya conquered neighbouring regions and the kingdom grew in size and power. 

• Rajaraja I was considered the most powerful Chola ruler and expanded control over most of these areas. 

• His son Rajendra I, conquered Sri Lanka and countries of Southeast Asia. 

• Cholas were big temple builders. Two famous temples were in Thanjavur and Gangaikondacholapuram. 

​The Cholas

• ​The new rulers were previously the big landlords or warriors working under the existing kings as subordinates or samantas. They gradually gained power and wealth and thereafter declared themselves to be maha-Samanta, maha-mandleshwar (the great lord of the circle or region). They were now independent lords. 

  Dantidurga, a Rashtrakuta chief, overthrew his Chalukya overlord and performed a ritual known as hiranya-garbhk (literally, the golden womb). It was done in order to transform one’s identity as kshatriya, even if one was not one by birth. 

  Some other lords like Kadamba Mayurashrman and Gurjara-Pratihara Harichandra, brahmanas by birth, used their military skills to establish their kingdoms in Karnataka and Rajasthan. 

​The Cholas

​Many of these new kings adopted high-sounding titles like maharaja-adhiraja (great king, overlord of kings), tribhuvana-chakravartin (lord of the three worlds), though they shared power with their samantas as we!! as with associations of peasants, traders and Brahmanas. 

The producers—the peasants, cattle-keepers, artisans—were the main feeders to these states. The land was owned by the lords and so the producers were compelled to pay rent to the owners whereas traders were to pay revenue to the lords. 

These resources were used to finance the establishment of the king, construction of temples and forts, and also for fighting wars which were also done to expand resources through plundering, acquiring land and finding trade routes. 

​The Cholas

​The revenue functionaries were recruited from influential families, and positions were  often hereditary. Similar was the case with army positions. In most cases, such posts were held by the close relatives of the king. 

Prashastis were composed by learned Brahmanas in praise of the rulers. It used to depict the rulers as valiant, victorious warriors. 

Brahmanas were also rewarded by grants of land. 

Kalhana’s long poem in Sanskrit recorded the history of kings who ruled over Kashmir. He usually used a variety of sources, including, inscriptions, documents, eyewitness accounts, and earlier histories, in order to present his accounts. 

​The Cholas

Ruling Dynasties were based in a particular region. 

Kanauj was a prized area in the Ganga valley. There was a tripartite struggle among Gurjara-Pratihara, Rashtrakuta and Pala dynasties over Kanauj. 

Rulers used to build large temples in order to demonstrate their power and resources. So temples were the first target of when one ruler attacked over the other. One prominent reason for this was that the temples were often very rich. 

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​Thank you

​see you in part 2