BHIC-132 : HISTORY OF INDIA FROM c.

300 TO 1206
Tutor Marked Assignments
Course Code: BHIC-132
Assignment Code: ASST /TMA /July 2019 & January 2020
Total Marks: 100
Assignment A
DCQ: Answer any two questions in about 500 words each:
1. Discuss the expansion and consolidation of the Gupta empire. 20 marks
Answer- The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire existing from the mid-to-late 3rd
century CE to 543 CE. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 543 CE, it covered much of the
Indian subcontinent. This period is considered as the Golden Age of India by some historians.
The ruling dynasty of the empire was founded by the king Sri Gupta; the most notable rulers of
the dynasty were Chandragupta I, Samudragupta, and Chandragupta II alias Vikramaditya. The
5th-century CE Sanskrit poet Kalidasa credits the Guptas with having conquered about
twenty-one kingdoms, both in and outside India, including the kingdoms of Parasikas, the
Hunas, the Kambojas, tribes located in the west and east Oxus valleys, the Kinnaras, Kiratas,
and others.

After the break-up of the Maurya empire, the Satavahanas and Kushans emerged as the two
large powers.

The Satavahanas acted as a stabilizing factor in the Deccan and the south to which they
provided political unity and economic prosperity on the strength of their trade with the Roman
empire.

The Kushans performed the same role in the north. Both these empires came to an end in the
mid-third century.

On the ruins of the Kushan empire arose a new empire that established its sway over a
substantial part of the former dominions of the Kushans. This was the empire of the Guptas,
who may have been of vaishya origin. Different titles are recommended for the different varnas
by the Dharmashastras. The title sharman or auspicious is recommended for the brahmana,
varman or armour for the kshatriya, gupta or hidden (also protected) for the vaishya, and dasa
or servile for the shudra.

Although the Gupta empire was not as large as the Maurya empire, it kept north India politically
united for over a century from ad 335 to 455. The original kingdom of the Guptas comprised UP
and Bihar at the end of the third century. UP appears to have been a more important province
for the Guptas than Bihar, because early Gupta coins and inscriptions are largely found in that
state.

If we exclude some feudatories and private individuals whose inscriptions are largely found in
MP, UP stands out as the most important area in relation to finds of Gupta antiquities. UP
therefore seems to have been the place from where the Guptas operated and fanned out in
different directions. Probably with their centre of power at Prayag, they spread into the
neighbouring regions.

The Guptas were possibly feudatories of the Kushans in UP, and seem to have succeeded
them without any considerable time-lag. At many places in UP and Bihar, Kushan antiquities are
immediately followed by Gupta antiquities. It is likely that the Guptas learnt the use of the
saddle, reins, buttoned coats, trousers, and boots from the Kushans. All these gave them
mobility and made them excellent horsemen.

In the Kushan scheme of things, horse-chariots and elephants had ceased to be important,
horsemen playing the central role. This also seems to have been the case with the Guptas on
whose coins horsemen are represented. Although some Gupta kings are described as excellent
and unrivalled chariot warriors, their basic strength lay in the use of horses.

The Guptas enjoyed certain material advantages. The centre of their operations lay in the fertile
land of Madhya Pradesh covering Bihar and UP. They were able to exploit the iron ores of
central India and south Bihar. Also, they took advantage of their proximity to the areas in north
India that conducted the silk trade with the eastern Roman empire, also known as the Byzantine
empire.

Given these favourable factors, the Guptas established their rule over Anuganga (along the
Ganges in the mid-Gangetic basin), Prayag (modern Allahabad), Saketa (modern Ayodhya),
and Magadha. In the course of time, this kingdom became an all-India empire. The Kushan
power in north India came to an end around ad 230, and then a substantial part of central India
fell under the rule of the Murundas, who were possibly kinsmen of the Kushans. The Murundas
continued to rule till ad 250. Twenty-five years later, in about ad 275, the Gupta dynasty came to
power.

3. Discuss critically the debate on the origins of the Rajputs. 20 marks

Answer- There is no agreement among scholars regarding the origin of the Rajputs. It has
been opined by many scholars that the Rajputs are the descendants of foreign invaders like
Sakas, Kushanas, white-Hunas etc. All these foreigners, who permanently settled in India, were
absorbed within the Hindu society and were accorded the status of the Kshatriyas.

It was only afterwards that they claimed their lineage from the ancient Kshatriya families. The
other view is that the Rajputs are the descendants of the ancient Brahamana or Kshatriya
families and it is only because of certain circumstances that they have been called the Rajputs.

Earliest and much debated opinion concerning the origin of the Rajputs is that all Rajput families
were the descendants of the Gurjaras and the Guijaras were of foreign origin. Therefore, all
Rajput families were of foreign origin and only, later on, were placed among Indian Kshatriyas
and were called the Rajputs. The adherents of this view argue that we find references to the
Guijaras only after the 6th century when foreigners had penetrated in India.

So, they were not of Indian origin but foreigners. Cunningham described them as the
descendants of the Kushanas. A.M.T. Jackson described that one race called Khajara lived in
Arminia in the 4th century. When the Hunas attacked India, Khajaras also entered India and
both of them settled themselves here by the beginning of the 6th century. These Khajaras were
called Gurjaras by the Indians. Kalhana has narrated the events of the reign of Gurjara king,
Alkhana who ruled in Punjab in the 9th century.

A part of Rajputana was called Gurjara-Pradesh in the 9th century while, in the 10th century,
Gujarat was referred to as Gurjara. Therefore, some scholars have described that the Gurjaras
entered India through Afghanistan, settled themselves in different parts of India and were the
ancestors of the Rajputs. A stone-inscription at Rajora of 959 A.D. describes Mathandeo, a
feudal Chief of Vijaypala as Gurjara-Pratihara.

It led to the conclusion that the Pratiharas were also a branch of the Gurjaras. The Chalukyas
gave the name of Gujarat to that particular territory. It meant that the Chalukyas were also the
Gurjaras. Prithviraja Raso also described that the Pratiharas, the Chalukyas, the Parmaras and
the Chauhanas originated out of a sacrificial fire-pit which supported the theory of foreign origin
of the Rajputs.

Therefore, several scholars described that all thirty-two Kulas of the Rajputs originated from the
Gurjaras who were foreigners and, thus, all Rajputs were foreigners and were provided the
status of the Kshatriyas only afterwards.

However, this view has not been accepted by the majority of modern historians. It is not certain
that the Khajaras were called the Gurjaras. Except the Parmaras, rest of the three Rajput Kulas
refused to accept their origin out of sacrificial fire-pit. There is no proof that these four Rajput
clans had blood relations On the contrary, it has been regarded more reliable that the Parmaras
and the Chaulukvas had no relation, whatsoever, within the Gurjaras.

No early Muslim record has mentioned that the Gurjaras were a clan. Rather a particular
territory has been referred to as Gurjara. In India, several families were named on the name of
the territory’ which they inhabited. Therefore, it is more logical to accept that the Pratihara was
that clan which occupied Gurjara-Pradesh.

Assignment B
MCQ: Answer any four questions in about 300 words each:

5. The Gupta period is described by some historians as the 'Golden Age'. Comment.
Answer- The prosperity of the Gupta Empire produced a golden age of cultural and scientific
advancements. The prosperity created under the leadership of the Gupta Empire, which
covered much of the Indian subcontinent from approximately 320-550 CE, enabled the wide
pursuit of scientific and artistic endeavors. This period became known as the Golden Age of
India because it was marked by extensive inventions and discoveries in science, technology,
engineering, art, dialectic, literature, logic, mathematics, astronomy, religion, and philosophy.
These discoveries crystallized elements of what is generally considered Hindu culture.

Although Chandragupta I and his son, Samudragupta, were prominent rulers, the reign of
Chandragupta II included the greatest promotion of science, art, philosophy, and religion by the
government. Chandragupta’s court was even more influential than those that came before or
after because it contained the Navaratnas, or the Nine Jewels, a group of nine scholars who
produced advancements in many academic fields.

These scholars included Aryabhata, who is believed to have envisioned the concept of zero, as
well as working on the approximation for the long-form number Pi. Aryabhata is also believed to
be the first of the Indian mathematician-astronomers who postulated the theory that the Earth
moves round the Sun and is not flat, but instead is round and rotates on its own axis. He also
may have discovered that the moon and planets shine due to reflected sunlight.

Varahamihira was an astronomer, astrologer, and mathematician, whose main work is a treatise
on mathematical astronomy. Sushruta, a famed Indian physician of the Gupta period, wrote the
Samhita, a Sanskrit text on all of the major concepts of ayurvedic medicine, with innovative
chapters on surgery. Other scholars of the Golden Age helped create the first Indian numeral
systems with a base of ten. The game of chess also likely originated during this period, where
its early form, Chaturanga, contained game pieces for infantry, cavalry, elephants, and chariots,
each of which would evolve into the modern pawn, knight, rook, and bishop, respectively.

6. What were the main features of Harsha's administration? 12 marks

Answer- Harsha followed the traditional monarchical system of administration which had
existed in India during the earlier imperial periods.

His time having been nearer to the Gupta Age, the various features of the imperial Gupta
administration influenced Harsha’s administration to a very large extent.

Yet, there were new innovations in accordance with the needs of the time. The following were
the main features of Harsha’s administration:

1. The King:
Harsha was a true representative of ancient monarchy in its finest aspects. In theory, the king
was absolute and all-powerful. But in practice, he enjoyed limited power, being subject to the
rules of the Dharma, the laws and customs of the land, and to the wise advice of the ministers
and countries. He had also to respect the wishes of the subjects. The king was no doubt the
supreme lawmaker, the chief executive, and the fountain of justice. He was also the central
figure of the entire administrative machinery working like its pivot. In spite of all such powers,
Harsha’s monarchy was far from being autocratic.

2. The Council of Ministers:

During the time of Harsha his Council of Ministers worked in an effective manner. It took vital
decisions in times of crisis. There was a Chief Minister to head the Council of Ministers. Bhandi,
the Chief Minister or Rajya Vardhana, played a notable role in bringing Harsha to the vacant
throne when his brother died. He proposed before his Council to request a reluctant Harsha to
assume the royal authority while giving each member the freedom of opinion on his proposal.

When all members of the Council agreed with the Chief Minister, the young prince was
prevailed upon to become the king. This episode proves that the ministers of the state were
responsible for taking grave decisions in the interests of the state.

The Council of Ministers also was a decision-making body on foreign affairs and war. For
example, when Rajya Vardhana went out to fight his enemies and ultimately accepted their
invitation after victory, he was doing so on the advice of his Council of Ministers.

3. The Bureaucracy:
Harsha maintained an efficient civil service. The importance of some of the higher officers of the
state is known from their designations. The chief officers who directly received instructions and
orders from the king were Mahasamanta, Maharaja, Pramatara or Spiritual Adviser,
Rajasthaniya, Kumaramatya, Uparika, and Vishayapati, etc. Besides these, there were the
Commander-in-Chief, the chief of the Cavalry Forces, and the Chief Commandant of the
Elephant Force.

4. Revenue System:
Much light is thrown by the Chinese pilgrim on the revenue system of Harsha. In general, the
taxation policy was liberal. The people were not subjected to oppressive economic measures.
As Hiuen Tsang says: “Official requirements are few … families are not registered and
individuals were not subject to forced labour contributions. Taxation being very light and forced
service being sparingly used, everyone keeps to his hereditary occupation and attends to his
patrimony”.

5. Administrative Divisions of the Empire:

Harsha’s Empire was divided into several provinces. The number of such provinces is not
known. Each province was divided into Bhuktis. And each Bhukti was divided into several
Vishayas. They were like the districts. Each vishaya was further divided into Pathakas. Each
such area was divided into several villages.
The villages were looked after by their headmen. The government did not interfere with the
freedom of the villages in their usual ways of existence. The bigger territorial divisions of the
empire were no doubt, controlled by the centre. But a system of decentralisation also worked for
better management of various units. Harsha’s personal inspections kept the territorial units in
order, and there was co-ordination between the central and provincial administrations.

6. Penal System:
The penal system under Harsha was a curious mixture of both the Maurya severity and the
Gupta leniency. It may be noted that Harsha consolidated his power by putting down anarchical
conditions under petty rulers. He had to win the people’s confidence by a forceful penal system.
The Penal Code, therefore, was made severe, though applied with moderation.

Treason against the state and the king was considered a great crime and traitors were punished
by life-long imprisonment. For crimes against the society, for immorality, and for anti-social
conduct, the offenders suffered mutilation of limbs, or deportation to an outside country, or into
wild forests.

8. Describe the importance of Chachnama as a source of history. 12 marks

Answer- Chach Nama is one of the main historical sources for the history of Sindh in the
seventh to eighth centuries CE, written in Persian.

As one of the only written sources about the Arab conquest of Sindh, and therefore the origins
of Islam in India, the Chach Nama is a key historical text that has been co-opted by different
interest groups for several centuries, and it has significant implications for modern imaginings
about the place of Islam in South Asia. Accordingly, its implications are much disputed.

According to Manan Ahmed Asif, the Chach Nama has been historically significant. It was a
source of colonial understanding of the origins of Islam in the Indian subcontinent through the
Sindh region. The text has been one of the sources of historiography and religious antagonism
during the South Asian people's struggles to gain independence from the colonial British
Empire. The text, states Asif, has been a source of a colonial construction of a long history of
religious antagonism between Hindus and Muslims, and one of narratives of Muslim origins in
South Asia by various twentieth-century historians and writers. It has been a part of
state-sanctioned history textbooks of Pakistan. The story of the seventeen-year-old Muhammad
bin Qasim's attack on "Pak-o-Hind" was mentioned by the Pakistani professional Faisal
Shahzad prior to his 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt.

The text, with the stories of early 8th-century conquests of Muhammad bin Qasim, has been
long considered to be a 13th-century translation into Persian by `Ali Kufi of an undated, original
but unavailable Arabic text. According to Manan Ahmed Asif, the text is significant because it
was a source of colonial understanding of the origins of Islam in the Indian subcontinent through
Sindh region and influenced the debate on the partition of British India. Its story has been a part
of state-sanctioned history textbooks of Pakistan, but the text in reality is original and "not a
work of translation". Islamic scholars and modern historians question the credibility of some of
the Chach Nama's reports.

9. Discuss the nature and role of the samantas in the Gupta and post Gupta polity.
Answer- Samanta was a title and position used by the army people of kings in the history of
the Indian subcontinent. The institution of Samanta finds mention for the first time in epigraphs
of northern India dating to the 6th century. The institution is considered to and is closely
associated with the origin and growth of feudalism in India.

However, the institution is known to have existed prior to the Gupta period, though details on
them are vague. A Pallava inscription dating to the time of Santivarman (AD 455 - 470) uses the
term Samanta-Chudamanayah (best feudatories). The Samanta in South India was used to
mean a vassal to an emperor. In North India, the earliest use of the term in a similar sense was
in Bengal in the Barabar Hill Cave Inscription of the Maukhari Chief, Anantavarman (dating to
the 6th century AD) in which his father is described as the Samanta-Chudamanih (best among
feudatories) of the imperial Guptas.

The Samanta vassal provided military support to the monarch and governed over a portion of
territory.

The king was the central figure in the administration. They assumed titles like Maharajadhiraja,
Samrat, Ekadhiraja, Chakravarthi, Paramabhattaraka, Paramadaivata and Parameswara. The
Allahabad Prasasti of Samudragupta eulogizes the king as “equal to the Gods; Dhanada
(Kubera), Varuna (Rain God), Indra and Antaka (Yama), who had no antagonist of equal power
in the world”.

In Bhitari pillar inscription, Skandagupta is glorified as a person who “subdued the earth and
became merciful to the conquered people, but he became neither proud nor arrogant though his
glory was increasing day by day”. Kumaragupta is said to have followed the true path of religion.

Assignment C
SCQ: Answer any two in 100 words each: 6+6 marks
13. Answer any two in 100 words each:
(i) Chalukyas
Answer- Chalukya dynasty, Chalukya also spelled Calukya, either of two ancient Indian
dynasties. The Western Chalukyas ruled as emperors in the Deccan (i.e., peninsular India) from
543 to 757 CE and again from about 975 to about 1189. The Eastern Chalukyas ruled in Vengi
(in eastern Andhra Pradesh state) from about 624 to about 1070.
Pulakeshin I, a petty chieftain of Pattadakal in the Bijapur district whose reign began in 543,
took and fortified the hill fort of Vatapi (modern Badami) and seized control of the territory
between the Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers and the Western Ghats. After military successes
farther north, his son Kirtivarman I (reigned 566–597) secured the valuable Konkan coast. The
family then turned its attention to the fertile coastal regions to the northwest and east of the
peninsula. Pulakeshin II (reigned c. 610–642) acquired parts of Gujarat and Malwa and defied
the north Indian ruler Harsa of Kannauj; the boundary between them was fixed on the Narmada
River. About 624, Pulakeshin II took the kingdom of Vengi from the Vishnukundins and gave it
to his brother Kubja Vishnuvardhana, the first Eastern Chalukya ruler.

In 641–647 the Pallavas ravaged the Deccan and captured Vatapi, but the Chalukya family
recovered by 655 and extended its power in Gujarat. By 660 they had acquired land in Nellore
district. Vikramaditya I (reigned 655–680) took Kanchipuram (ancient Kanci), at that time of the
Pallava dynasty, about 670. Another Chalukya ruler, Vikramaditya II (reigned 733–746), again
captured, but spared, the city, in 742. His successor, Kirtivarman II, was replaced by the
Rashtrakuta dynasty in 757.

(iv) Pandyas
Answer- ​The Pandya Dynasty, also known as the Pandyas of Madurai, was a dynasty of south
India, one of the three ethnically Tamil lineages, the other two being the Chola and the Chera.
The rulers of the three dynasties were referred to as "the three crowned rulers (the mu-ventar)
of the Tamil country". The Pandyas ruled extensive territories, at times including the large
portions of present-day south India and Sri Lanka (through collateral branches subject to
Madurai).

The age and antiquity of the dynasty is difficult to establish. The early Pandya chieftains ruled
their country (the Pandya nadu) from time immemorial, which included the inland city of Madurai
and the southern port of Korkai. The country of the Pandyas finds mention in a number of
Graeco-Roman sources (as early as 4th century BCE[8]) and the edicts Maurya emperor Asoka
(3rd century BCE). The Pandyas are also celebrated in the earliest available Tamil poetry ("the
Sangam literature"). Greek and Latin accounts (early centuries CE), coins with legends in
Tamil-Brahmi script, and Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions suggest the continuity of the Pandya dynasty
from the 3rd century BCE to early centuries CE. The early historic Pandyas faded into obscurity
upon the rise of the Kalabhra dynasty in south India.

The Pandyas revived under Kadungon (r. 590 – 620 CE) towards the end of the 6th century,
helped to establish the Kalabhras in south India. From 6th century to 9th century CE, the
Chalukyas of Badami or Rashtrakutas of the Deccan, the Pallavas of Kanchi, and Pandyas of
Madurai dominated the politics of south India. The Pandyas, at one time or another, ruled or
invaded the fertile estuary of Kaveri (the Chola country), the ancient Chera country (Kongu and
central Kerala) and Venadu (south Kerala), the Pallava country and Sri Lanka. The Pandyas
went into decline with the rise of the Cholas of Tanjore in the 9th century and were in constant
conflict with them. The Pandyas allied themselves with the Sinhalese (Sri Lanka) and the
Cheras in harassing the Chola Empire until they found an opportunity for reviving their fortunes
during the late 13th century.