CHAPTER - 2

NEW KINGS AND KINGDOMS

Major ruling Kingdoms/Dynasties in Indian Subcontinent between 7th and 12th centuries:
DYNASTY PRESENT DAY STATES

Gurjara-Pratihara Rajasthan, Western Uttar Pradesh, Northern

Madhya Pradesh

Chahamanas (Chauhans) East Rajasthan, Parts of Gujarat, Delhi,

Haryana

Parmars Parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh

Chandelas Eastern Uttar Pradesh

Rashtrakutas Maharashtra, Central Madhya Pradesh, Parts

of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka

Palas Bengal, Parts of Bihar, North East part of

India

Kalinga Orissa and parts of Bihar

Cholas Tamilnadu and some parts of Andhra

Pradesh

Pandyas Tamil Nadu

Cheras Kerala

Chalukyas Karnataka

Kadamba Karnataka

1. Big landlords or warrior chiefs acknowledged by existing kings as their subordinates

were called Samantas.
2. Samanta → maha-samanta → maha-mandaleshwar (great lord of a circle or region)
3. Deccan is present day karnataka
4. Rashtrakutas were subordinates or samanata of Chalukyas of Deccan or Karnataka.
5. Dantidurga, a Rashtrakuta chief overthrew his Chalukya overlord or king.
6. Dantidurga performed hiranya-garbha (the golden womb), when performed with the help
of brahmans, the sacrificer was thought to be reborn as a kshatriya, even if he was not
one by birth.
7. Kadamba Mayurasharman of Karnataka and Gurjara-Pratihara of Rajasthan were
Brahmans who gave up their traditional professions, took to arms and established
kingdoms.
8. In the Cholas kingdom:
a. Inscriptions refer to 400 terms for different kinds of taxes.
b. The tax taken not in cash but forced labour was called “vetti”
c. Land revenue was called Kadamai
d. There was a tax to thatch the house.
e. There was a tax for use of ladder to climb palm trees.
f. There was a cess on succession of family property
9. The functionaries for collecting revenue were generally recruited from influential families
and positions were often hereditary.
10. Prashastis were composed by learned brahmanas.
11. Grant of land by the kings were
a. recorded on copper plates,
b. written partly in sanskrit and partly in tamil
c. The ring holding these copper plates were secured by the royal seal to indicate
that this is an authentic document.
12. Long sanskrit poem containing history of kings who ruled Kashmir was composed by
Kalhana. Unlike the Prashastis he was often critical about the rulers and their policies.
13. Kanauj in the Ganga valley was one particularly prized area that many rulers fought for
control, some of these rulers are:
a. Gurjara-Pratihara
b. Rashtrakuta
c. Pala
14. Kannauj (near modern Kanpur) was rich fertile plain between the Ganges and Yamuna
rivers. Kannauj was already established business hub. It had been capital city and a
political center. These were the reasons rulers wanted to control Kannauj and the Ganga
valley.
15. Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni in Afghanistan: Ruled over Central Asia, Iran and North west
part of sub-continent. He ruled from 997-1030.
16. Sultan Mahmud entrusted a scholar named Al-Biruni to write an account of the
subcontinent. Al-Biruni wrote a book named Kitab ul-Hind in Arabic.
17. Chahamanas, later known as the Chauhans, ruled over the region around Delhi and
Ajmer
18. 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.
19. The best-known Chahamana ruler was Prithviraja III (1168-1192).
20. Prithviraja III defeated an Afghan ruler named Sultan Muhammad Ghori in 1191, but lost
to him the very next year, in 1192.
21. Muttaraiyar held power in the Kaveri delta.
22. Muttaraiyar were subordinate to the Pallava kings of Kanchipuram
23. Vijayalaya, who belonged to the Chiefly family of the Cholas from Uraiyur, captured the
Kaveri delta from the Muttaraiyar in the middle of the ninth century.
24. Vijayalaya built the town of Thanjavur and a temple for goddess Nishumbhasudini there.
25. The successors of Vijayalaya conquered neighbouring regions and the kingdom grew in
size and power.
26. Rajaraja I, considered the most powerful Chola ruler,
27. became king in 985 and expanded control over most
28. 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.
29. Temples were not only places of worship; they were the hub of economic, social and
cultural life as well.
30. Amongst the crafts associated with temples, the making of bronze images was the most
distinctive. Chola bronze images are considered amongst the finest in the world.
31.