History Notebook

MODULE 03
STATE, POLITICS, AND GOVERNANCE
TOPIC 01- Processes of the Formation of State, Its Nature, Theory of
Kinship
● The government is a part of state government changes but the state does not change a
state comprised of population, territory, government, and sovereignty. A state is the
institution of power the clan that ruled from several organisations (Judiciary executive
bureaucracy) differ from state. Government is just a part of the state who manage
things of states temporarily
● The first two kinds were examples of state formation: Sabha and Samiti
● In Aryan tribes(kuru, puru, Bharat, Raghu, yadu) the elderly people used to constitute
the sabha. In the sabha all the matters related to the tribe
● Samiti was for the day-to-day decisions, it was of a smaller council the members of
Samiti were elected nominated from Sabha. This happened in the early Vedic era
● In the later Vedic period there is the emergence of Monarchy and two other types of
state in the 6th century BC
● In north India three kinds of states emerged :
1. Monarchical state the rajyas puru vansha and the Bharat vansha made the kuru vanish
2. Oligarchy state ganas or sanghas- Lichchavi Gana and sangha, Malawgarh sangha
3. Tribal Principalities or the kabila
● These systems gradually came together and established a Monarchial system
● The king always had the fixed territory called kingdom. Same for the oligarchies they
had fixed kingdom, hence the territory held importance
● Witzel’s work on he argued that the kurus established the first state in India it was
called Kurukshetra, Hastinapur and the king of kurus was called Rajan the first
important kuru king was Rajan, Parikshit
Parikshit conducted collection and codification of the Vedas
● When the monarchy became powerful the king took the title of Rajan
1. It went the supreme authority in the monarchy like he could not have any rival
2. He got the power to give punishment
3. Control over resources
 4. He was also the leader in the battle
5. He was also the protector of the people especially the brahmins
6. Custodian of the social order he ensured that everyone followed his/her Dharma hence
he was the protector of Dharma too
7. He was the sustainer of the Rashtra
● Apart from this, some tribal societies made oligarchies rather than monarchies, and
power was shared among the members. Instead of the king assemblies existed and
they took the various decisions the chief was made on a rotatory basis whereas in
monarchy the king was made on the hereditary basis
● One important change was the hereditary system of kinship two books mention the
heredity in the monarchy
1. Shatapatha brahmana
2. Aitareya brahmana,
● They talk about one kingdom which was ruled by one family for 10 generations this
was called the dashapurusham rajyam this example proves that the hereditary system
started; the king is supreme irrespective of his family position and also he is the most
powerful form his people/Praja
● There are two more important terms: Samrajya and Samrat samrajya is an empire and
Samrat is an emperor. Chandragupta Maurya was the first emperor his empire
spanned across central and northern India as well as over parts of modern-day Iran.
THE THEORY OF KINGSHIP
● The question that arises from the authority and power of the king is how did the king
become so powerful and get this authority: the first explanation is the divine rights of
the king they said that they have been given the authority to rule by the god
themselves. Another most important concept was ideology in ancient India. In ancient
India the most important ideologies were called kinship this is how they legitimize
their authority.
● The aitareya brahmana talks one battle between demons and the gods and the devtas
the gods get defeated by the demon then gods hold a meeting that we lost because we
do not have a king they elected a king among themselves, and Indra fought the war
with demons it tells that why a king is needed that is why humans need a king to
govern themselves. Another story says that the supreme god created the world
(prajapathei), he went to Indra and told that you should become the king of gods
 because you are brave. Both these stories justify the notion of the king even the gods
needed a king so why not humans’
● The Shatapatha brahmana links the gods and the king and tells that whosoever
becomes a king must perform Rajasuya Yagya (to defeat the neighboring kingdom)
and the other Yagya was Vajapeya Yagya (to pray to lord Prajapati for legitimizing his
power) after this the rajguru declared that he is the king of the kingdom. After
becoming the king a person kind of separated from the familial relations to show the
superior authority and as a representation of a to then god.
● Another concept of monarchy was Bali, in ancient times Bali means tax, during the
ancient time the 100 percent was agriculture out of this one fixed part had to be
offered to the king it was voluntary and it was also with the cattle, initially it was
voluntary but gradually it became obligatory now the king got a new name
vishamatta(eater of the people)
● In the satapatha brahmana said the Samiti and the sabha daughters of Prajapati
constantly aid thee. This implies a shift i.e. in earlier times the Samiti was more
important but now both were under the ambit of the king
● Purohit was next important to the king he advised the king he was next most
important to the king he was the priest and also the counselor of the king
● They belonged to the brahmin varna also they were the counselor
● Purohit used to announce the king to the people and the general public when the
Rajasuya Yagya started he used to make announcements before the king and used to
introduce the king to the people.
● Kumkum Roy tells that the varna system and the monarchy system was very much
similar, it was the duty of the king to ensure that the varna system is maintained, in
Vedic period belong to the rajanya varna, it was the responsibility of Rajan that the
family system works robustly, everyone has to comply with the rules of the grihapati
 TOPIC 02- Law and Administration-Vedic Age, Mauryas and Guptas
AND
TOPIC 03- Kautaliya’s Arthashastra

MAURYAN EMPIRE

● The first empire/samrajya of Indian history, the ruler was called emperor/Samrat
● The first Samrat was Chandragupta Maurya the best source of ideology of the
Mauryas was the Arthashastra written by Kautilya/Chanakya also known as
Vishnugupta the Arthashastra is the book of Statecraft and political science
● All the others formed the core areas of the Magadha when Mauryan captures the
empire they did not say do not rule tey wet the existing kingdoms important centers of
trade were also there from Gujrat ships went to the roman empire and the Arab empire
they came under the core empires
● Periphery included the borders of the Mauryan empire some people had no concept of
state
● Afghanistan had a lot of tribal societies the ancient period the modern areas were
tribal empires they did not want to accept what was imposed because they did not
need state
● The eastern border is Kalinga
● Tribals have a more egalitarian society
● Metropolitan core and the periphery Magadha, states and another periphery; the
pre-state-society example Kalinga in the east in the north we have Kashmir
● Romila Thapar has extensively researched the Mauryan empire
● The oppression was double for periphery area for core and heterogeneous society
● There was one central government there were provincial government Ashoka was the
viceroy of Vidisha
● At the district level to we find a lot of inscriptions Mauryan depict that there was a
very complex district administration and the villages and we see the reference of the
village panchayats Kendriya prantiya grama this was the basic administrative
structure of the Murayans
● The question arises that how did they bind together this empire there is the role of
ideology
● The ideology of the Mauryan empire when we talked about the Aryans ideology was
the theory of divine rule that the king was the representative of the god but now this
new institution was established why should people accept this empire what was the
Mauryan ideology
● They propagated this ideology through books architecture than other kinds of
monuments structures and architecture
● For a long period, Kautilya ideology of Arthashastra
● Ashoka made a big change with his ideology of dhamma
● They believed in aajeevika philosophy
● Ideology is very important the ideology. Ideology has always been important for
legitimacy
● In ancient times the Mauryan used the Arthashastra later on Ashoka used the ideology
of the dhamma
● The source to know the Mauryan history is the Arthashastra it was written by
Kautaliya/Chanakya also known as Vishnu Gupta
● It is a book of statecraft, economics, and political science it is very sophisticated and
talks about complex issues used even today
● The literal meaning of artha is material wealth. Artha is one of the purusharthas the
other three are dharma karma and moksha. The arthashastra describes how can a state
ensure economic stability and provide reasonable material wealth to all people.
● Arthshastra says artha is more important than kama or dharma as they are both
dependent on artha
● He broadened the definition of Artha and explained it in detail. He says artha can only
be there if you have an income job and goes saying that whatever source of livelihood
exists we get it from the planet earth hence we have to preserve it. It is the primary
dharma of an individual to preserve it. One must protect and preserve the planet
which will ensure the material wellbeing of that person.
● The book also mentions that the state is held responsible for the protection of this
planet which will ensure the material wellbeing of people.
● The arthashastra consists of 15 books and each book is called adhikarana, 5 books
deal with internal administration. How should internal affairs be organized on day to
day basis this interior administration is known as tantra
● Next, the book deals with interstate relations how are states supposed to maintain their
relationship with others Kautaliya called this avapa
● The last two books deal with miscellaneous topics they come neither in internal
affairs nor in external affairs
● The exact date of Arthashastra is still debatable
● Chanakya was the teacher and later minister of Chandragupta he was between 323
BCE to 400 BC
● In the Arthashastra one of the shlokas mentions that it is composed by Chanakya In
the second Shloka it says this shastra that then has been composed for a future king
called Vigijishu who is the to be emperor
● In arthashastra we come across the fact of how a state should be run,
● Historian RP Kangle did research on Arthashastra and Kautliya he says that Kautaliya
was his gotra name and Vishnugupta was his real name his father’s name was Chanak
so from there he got his name Chanakya. He remarked that the Arthashastra might
have been written after Chanakya was insulted by the Nanda king.
● Romila Thapar writes that the Mauryan empire was a new type of government
different from Oligarchies and tribal societies that existed before, it was a centrally
based, planned empire and was controlled through Patliputra. But later after further
research professor, Thapar discovered that the Mauryan empire was centralized but
this did not make it homogenous. Different areas had different administrative policies
economic, cultural and, political structures. She introduced the world system theory
she used for ancient India She mentions that the empire had a metropolitan area a core
area and a periphery i.e Rajdhani, mukhya kshetra, and the seemayein. Magadha was
the metropolitan state the main center of the Mauryan empire core areas of the
Mauryan empire included the Mahajanapadas like Bengal, Kaushal, Kashi and,
Punjab. Important control of trade, important centers of trade also existed under the
core areas like Kashmir and Gujrat. The peripheral areas included many pre-state
societies, they were the borders of the empire. In the peripheral area, it wasn’t the
state but the tribal societies, viceroys of the empire were placed at the peripheries to
look after them.
● The Mauryan empire was bound together by ideology of a single empire
● The concept of saptanga Rajya, the first concept in the world that describes the state
definition of the state and he calls it Rajya
● Seven interrelated interlocking constituent elements the Rajya has seven angas/ limbs,
the other word used is prakritis
● What are the seven angas
1. Svami: lord of the king
2. Amatya: the ministers the chief minister were called mahamatya two parts mantra
Parishad the large group was called Mantri Parishad
3. Janapada: the territory and the people (literal meaning)
4. Durga: when a city is a fortified capital (fire, flood, and internal politics prophesy the
Patliputra)
5. Kosha:
6. Danda: danda meant justice or force
7. Mitra: alliance greeks, Sri Lanka were important alliance
Kautilya is in the favour of a monarchy that then should have a very powerful king at the
center.
SWAMI
● The power of swami
1. The swami is supreme according to the Arthashashtra.
2. He was supreme among the 7 angas
3. We can safely say that the ideology of Chanakya was followed in the Mauryan
empire, in the monuments and the inscriptions by Ashoka it can be seen that he is
saying that I am the king and I enjoy power, Ashoka established himself and the god
he used the term devanampiya, Priyadarshini
● Palace
1. How should the day to day activities in the palace be organized, the palace should be
provided be multiple secrets exist and entries so that they can be used during an
emergency
2. All things going outside and coming inside must be examined
3. All types of fried and drunk products consumed by the king must be tested
4. The Samrat should have personal guards most preferably a group of female archers
and should be surrounded by people whom he trusts, he believed that males can be
bribed and that females are less prone to disloyalty
5. All the ministers who live in the palace should be subject to the test of loyalty
 6. Elaborate arrangements are suggested to Guard the king from poison fire and snakes
7. Palace should have a huge network of spies (guptachar ) and should report to the king
the slightest doubt of sedition, talking of the concept of raadroha
The fear of assassination looms large front the near and dear ones of the king
especially his sons and wives,
● Duties of the king 1
1. Rakshan and palan of people lives, and property of people
2. Yoga-kshema ensures the welfare and the prosperity for the people according to one
shloka “In the happiness of his subjects lies the happiness of the kingwhat is
beneficial to the subjects is beneficial to the king he shall not consider good only what
pleases him but do what is beneficial to his subjects”
3. The king and the paternalism i.e the king should behave like the mother and father of
his subjects
4. Kantak Shodhana means removal of thorns in the path of prosperity deceitful arsons,
thieves, murderers natural disasters
5. King should maintain the helpless children and orphanages he must look after the old
people, and childless widows of the kingdom
6. He must ensure the protection of social order this includes the mainainence od the
caste system the varnahram dharma as such he must ensure that the population get
nirvana Ashoka added the dhamma of Buddhism to his rule which inculcated the
ensuring of welfare of all beings and the subjects in the world which included
protection of not only human beings but also animals and nature so that every being
strives to approach the nirvana . according to words in one of the statues of Ashoka it
says that all men are my children i must regard them as my own children just as my
children I aspire that they be provided with all welfare in this world andI wish the
same for my praja.
According The Rock edict 2 of Ashoka
Ashoka ensured the welfare of people who are living on the border of Magadaha so he
told them they should understand that he can forgive only that offence that is
pardonable if something is beyond limists it is not pardonable then it will be punished
strictly for

1
Upinder singh 340 to 349
AMATYA
1. Amatya were all the high ranking officials of the empire like counselors heads of
departament the word mantrin was also used for the Amatya It was a word that ws
specifically used for the kings advisor and councellores (the special amatya)
2. The Mauryan administration was divided into two bodies. Megasthenese used the
word indica he called the smaller group of amatyas sunedroi the larger group was
sumboloi. Patanjali who wrote the book mahabhashya mentioned that a large group
of Amatya used to comprise the Sabha Ashoka called the matri Parishad as ‘parishad
smaller groups were more important as the major decisions were taken by them only

The other officials comprised of Akshay patla, samhaartri, samnidhatri, devarika,

antaravamashika
Samhartins- He was the chief collector of revenue Since the Magadha empire was
agri centric so the one third of the produce was given to the king as a revenue
Samnidharti- He was the treasurer whatever the revenue came he kept its account
he kept it safely and took care of the royal stores
Dauarika - He used to be the chief of the servants
Antaravamashika - He was the chief of the palace guards different department
heads were caled adyakshanas like navy adhyakshana or army adhyakshana etc.

3. Chanakya mentions the purohit and says that the purohit must be someone of high
character and be from a respected family he must have the knowledge of the Vedas
and should be able to interpret divine knowledge and the omens he should have the
 knowledge of science and politics. He should be capable of dealing withe natural and
the man made disasters
He further mentions that the king should follow the path suggested by the purohit as a
teacher or should consider him as father or master

Ashoka created a new post which was called Mahamatta, Mahamattas were of three
types
1. Anta-mahamatta- was the incharge of border areas
2. Itti-jhakka mahamatta- was the incharge of women welfare
3. Dhamma mahamatta- his job comprised of spreading dhamma all over the
Mauryan empire
JANAPADA
The Mauryan empire was divided into provisions evidences of the four provisions are present
1. The south - suvarnagire
2. In north - Taxila
3. In west - Vijayini
4. In east - Tosali
The princes were given charge of the provisions and was called viceroy/governor. These
governors were called Kumars before becoming the king he was Kumar Ashoka of Ujjain.
They were also called aryaputra or Rashtriya

District-level administration :
There were three officers at the district level administration
1. Pradeshika- was the head of the district
2. Rajuka- worked under the pradeshika
3. Yukta- Worked under the rajuka he measured land using ropes and through
land, management tax was decided the rope was called rajju In Ashoka’s time
he Rajuka has to function as the spreader of dhamma
Village-level administration
Kautilya writes that the king should establish a headquarters called the Sthaniya.
1. Sthaniya should administrate around 800 villages.
2. Drona Mukha was another important headquarters it was established for every
400 villages
3. For every 200 village, Karwatika was established
 4. Samagrahana- it was at the lowest level of village administration and was a
center for 10 villages
The person in charge of sthaniya was called sthayika under him he had subordinate officers
called the Gopas. All gopas had a responsibility of 5-10 villages. Arthashastra prescribes cash
salary for them. Each village had-

Gramika - head/sarpanch of the village, the elders were given the importance of gramika
they made the decision on the administrative level at the village, they were called grama
vriddhas

Ashoka in his time established more officers one was the Pati vedaka and another was Puli
Saini. They were responsible for keeping the king aware of the public opinion what does the
public thinks about him and his policies etc. They were kind of spies who would change their
get-up. There were some other reporters as well who went to the people asked questions and
reported to the king.

Kautaliya writes about the need of intelligence i.e the spies who can bring the news and
information and keep an eye on enemy spy. The Mauryan spy network was very efficient and
famous. Kautaliya says that we must have two kinds of spies

The first is the Sanstha who remained at one place (like the enemy’s home or as his officer)
The second was Sankara who used to roam in different disguises and report to the Samrat

Megasthenese tells that there were 6 committees in Patliputra which used to run it and in each
committee 5 members were present who run the city
● The first committee runs the industries (artwork etc.)
● The second committee was for entertainment and surveillance of foreigners a major
source of entertainment was Madhushala where alcohol was consumed this is the
reason why surveillance was done in the entertainment centers as when the people got
intoxicated they spoke the truth.
● The third committee maintained birth and the death record
● The fourth committee was present for trade and commerce
● The fifth committee supervised the sale of goods in the public
● The sixth committee was present to look after taxes from the sale of goods
KOSHA
● The main source of income was agriculture whatever the farmers cultivated they gave
it to the king as tax, animal husbandry was practiced like cows buffaloes sheep, etc.
● Trade was an important part, they shared earrings to the king they paid in cash so
agriculture animal husbandry and trade were the most important for trade
● There were two kinds of land one was farmers land this is the land where farmers
cultivated their products the other kind of land was state-owned land this was under
the control of the state
● The in-charge of the state-owned land was called sitaadyakhsha the tax share of kings
produce was one-sixth this tax was called Bhaga, the king was allowed to ask for
additional taxes
● The other tax was shulka. Shulka was duties on imports and exports and also the
excise on various commodities who could not pay the taxes did the vishti system, one
officer was appointed called the pan adyaksha he was then in charge of trade the in
charge of markets was Sanstha-adyaksha, one officer issued all the coins, this person
was called rupadarshaka
● pautavaadyaksha balance and scale
● Sutraadyaksha was the in-charge of state-run textile workshops
● Rathaadyaksha chariot in charge

DURGHA
● Fortified capital of the Magadha empire
● There were fortifications walls around the Patliputra
● All the durgas had a standing army the standing was always present inside the group
otherwise it always remained inside the Durga
● There were four divisions : Chivalry, chariots, infantry, elephants
● The commandments were known as atyadhyaksha
● Cavalry was the ashwaddhyaksha
● The elephant division hastiyaadhyaksha
● Patyaadyaksha was the chariot division
● Rathadyaksha was the commander of the chariots
 DANDA
● The sixth anga of the Mauryan administration the danda means the police force,
justice
● In the Mauryan period, the judges were known as the dharma asthas
● The police officers were called Pradesh tris whose duty was to then catch the
criminals
● The dharmastas were the judges
● Type of punishments
1. Fines were charged
2. Mutilation of limbs
3. Death
● Nature of punishment depended on character, gravity, varna, and, circumstances
● If we talk about Ashoka he did not mention dharmastas in the law in the place
ofdharmastas he created the post by mahamattas
● According to the pillar edicts in mehroli in one of the Ashoka gave judicial duties to
the rajukas the larger issues can be referred to as the mahamattas
● Ashoka has established samta
● Ashoka did away with all the discrimination and varna punishment had to be done
away with
● Governors were called rahstris, aryaputra and kumaras

MITRA
● The Raja mandala was the circle of kings. According to Kautaliya this circle included
four kinds of kings
1. Vijijishu- who is the to be conquerer, the Arthashastra is for him,
2. Ari- the enemy king
3. Madhyama - The middle king
4. Udaseen - the king who was indifferent

Kautaliya said that if you went to form alliances Mitra you have to follow policies they
were called Sadgunya
1. If you are weaker than the enemy then do not fight to try to file treaties known as
Sandhis
 2. If you are stronger than the enemy then follow the policy of vigraha it means hostility
and enmity
3. If the enemy is as strong as you then follow the policy of asaha i.e keep quiet.
4. If you are absolutely strong in front of the enemy then the policy of yane has to be
followed which means launching a military expedition
5. If you are absolutely weak in front of the enemy then the policy of sandhi has to be
followed along with the policy of Samashraya this involves taking shelter with other
king too or hide in the fort
6. If you can fight with the enemy only with an ally then follow the policy of dwaidi
bhava meaning using two policies together i.e sandhi with the ally and vigraha with
the enemy
Types of war consequences by Kautaliya
1. Asurvijaya- a demon who captures the land money and kills the people and destroys
everything, Kautaliya says that Alexander is like this.
2. Lobha-Vijayan - they are the kind of conquerors who attack and take away land and
goods
3. Dharmavijaya - this is the best type of conqueror he does not want land he does
conquer for glory and is satisfied merely by defeating his enemy. He would never kill
innocent and will not abduct women wives and children Kautaliya gives this title to
Lord Rama

Ashoka did some changes to this name foreign policy he changed this title from dharma
Vijayan to dhamma Vijayan It was the policy of renouncing military conquest he says that the
king should send dhamma missions like the Buddhist monks to other kingdoms and not
armies this was Ashoka’s policy of making allies the Kautilya

GUPTA EMPIRE
● Gupta Empire was after the Mauryan empire
● The emperor was most powerful
● The capital was Ujjain
● In the Vedic times the king was called Rajan in the Mauryan he became swami in
Gupta period he was called Maharajadhiraja the other title was the paramabhatarka
the meaning of param is supreme, bhatarka means the warrior in the Gupta empire
there were a lot of warriors or knights, the emperor was the supreme warrior, another
 title that the king took was Parameswaran, apart from these the other titles that they
took were parama-daivata, the last title that the Gupta king took was parmabhagavata,
Bhagavata are most important worshippers of Lord Krishna,
● In the Gupta period, the amtya is given another term called Kumar amatya their status
is equal to the royal prince their office was called adhikarana
● At the center, the maharajadhirajawas assisted by a council of mantrins this council of
the mantrins was called the sabha, the most important officer
1. Sandhi vigrahika, and maha sandhi vigrahika: the ministers of war and peace
2. Dand nayaka and maha dandanayaka The mahadandanayaka was like the Chief
justice. The important cases were dealt by him first and other cases were dealt by
danda nayaka
3. Baladhikrita and mahabaladhikrita, commander and supreme commander
4. Pratihara and mahapratihara were guards, apart from these there were several
positions of Kumar Amatyas who were responsible for different departments like
finance, defense, etc.
5. Sachivas this was a new departmental post created by the Gupta empire they were
executive officers who executed the orders of the Amatyas
6. Ayuktakas were high ranking officers important in the sabhas, they assisted the king in
the sabha and together they assisted the ministers
PROVINCIAL-LEVEL ADMINISTRATION
● The provinces were called Deshas and Dhuktis
● They were administered by the governors called uparikas or the lokapala who were
directly appointed by the king, they were responsible for making appointments at the
village level
● From the Gupta period, we see the hereditary system started the posts were allotted on
lineage basis now
● Gupta empire had deshas/bhuktis, administered by governors
● The district in charge was called vishayapati
● Guptas lasted for 300 years from 300 BCE to 600 CE

PROVINCIAL DIVISION
● The districts were called vishyayas and the district in-charge was called vishayapati
● The hierarchy of district went like vithi→patha→bhumi→pathaka→petha.
● The vithi was administered by vithi mahattra,the patha, bhumi patakha and peetha
were governed by gramika or the rural officer
● Gramika was a junior level officer he was to be headed by gram adyakshat. They both
together took care of the village administration it needs to be mentioned that vithi was
an urban place while the rest were rural areas, they were also helped by village elders
they were given posts called gramahatra, they usually sat together this committee was
called panchamandali, the panchamandali is called the first panchayat system
COLLAPSE
● The Gupta empire was based upon gold coins the trade and salaries were all
dependent on this.
● The possible reasons for the collapse of the Gupta empire are
1. The collapse of the Roman empire
2. Rise of the Arabs
3. Shortage of gold in the empire- when the empire started having gold shortage the
economy collapsed this resulted in shortage for salaries and hence land grants were
given as salaries to the officials this granting of land resulted in feudalism with time
the land owners became very strong and they themselves started declaring selves as
kings this divided kingdom into many parts and the subsequent economic crisis.
These small kingdoms emerged as the Rajputs India was divided into multiple small
kingdoms
● After the fall of the Gupta empire only king Harshavardhana emerged as an emperor
in ancient India, and the rest of the history is of small Rajput kings

TOPIC 04- Rise of Rajput’s and the nature of the state

AND
TOPIC 05- Evolution of political structures: Rashtrakutas, Palas,
Pratiharas, Rajputs
● The agnikula theory myth
● The 36 families
● DD Chattopadhyay highlighted that five factors were leading to the rise of Rajputs
1. Expansion of agriculture - during the Gupta period there was a shortage of gold and
salaries were given in land that is why clearing of forests took place and started
making it suitable for agriculture the officer had hereditary rights over their lands they
declared themselves independent and called themselves Rajputs they told that you
produce crops and give the king asked for tax. Rajput system led to the growth of
feudalism the land grant system
2. Formation of political alliances The Gujjars allied with Pratiharas this also led to
rising of Rajputs
3. Matrimonial alliance- this also led to tomars and chauhans Anand pal tomar Chauhan
ajmer
4. Construction of forts on a huge scale but late all Rajput kings started building forts
● None of them thought of conquering the Indian subcontinent rise of Rajput arnikula
theory

RAJPUT
● GURJARA pratihara - first most important Rajput dynasties pratihara said they were
from fire Gujjars were nomads Founder of the Gujjar pratihara dynasty was
harishchandra was the king of Jodhpur the real meaning of pratiharas is guard they
said we are the descendants of Lakshman they were powerful and they fought against
the Huns they captured parts of western Rajasthan, Uttar-Pradesh there was a
powerful Gujjar Pratihara king called Nagabhata 02 he even captured Kannauj the
most popular king of Gujjar pratihara dynasty is raja bhoja he ruled the kingdom for
50 years he defeated others palas rashtrakutas he also defeated Arabs in the ninth
century after bhoja Gujjar pratihara became weak Chauhans of Ajmer Chalukyas
became powerful and finally they were defeated by the Mahmud of Ghazni
● CHANDELLA DYNASTY - Founder of Chandel dynasty was Nanuka was the
founder of Chandel dynasty and his capital was Khajuraho the ancient temples were
built in caves, they started capturing other kingdoms also they captured a lot of
territories they became so powerful that they took the title of Maharajadhiraja
ultimately chandelas were defeated by the Chalukyas
● PARMARAS- The first king of parmaras was upindra and his capital was dhar his
son’s name was munja there was a movie on king munja he was a very powerful king
 who captured Rajasthan and defeated the Huns he also fought Chauhans and in the
end he was defeated by Chaulukyas
● Chalukyas and chaulukyas chalukyas were from Gujarat
● The first branch of chaulukya central Gujrat and the second one from north Gujrat the
third branch ruled from south Gujrat amongst these three dynasties the second one is
most important there the first king was Mula raja the capital was anihaawala
(Ahmedabad) but later on, he was defeated by teh Chauhans
● MEWAR’S- Mewar dynasty is known for heroism the dynasty was also known as the
Guhila dynasty the founder of this dynasty was Bappa Rawal the capital of the Mewar
dynasty is Chittor
● CHAUHANS With the end of this the Rajput dynasty came to an end and after this,
the dynasty came to an end, chauhans belonged to Shakhambari, Ajmer Vigraharaja
Chauhan captured Delhi he was the most popular king and the last king of Chauhan,
he fought many battles with Turks he defeated him in the first battle of terrain 1191
AD who was the and second happened 1192 AD and Muhammed Gauri won Delhi,
shakambari and Ajmer
● This began the new sultanate the Delhi sultanate

NATURE OF THE RAJPUT STATE

1. Lineage ties_ family relations were very important to the Rajputs, most Rajputs said
we are Descendents of ancient kings like Rama, Lakshma, Krishna
2. Military build-up - there was continuous warfare amongst the Rajputs
3. Displacement or Integration of tribals they started getting Hinduized
4. Feudalism- it continued in the practice this became a practice and these officers who
got the vassal or feudatory
5. Woman rulers
6. Royal land grants made to brahmins and royal land grants were given to the Brahmins
these land grants were called Brahmadeyas to build temples and ashrams this is called
braminization of courts
They started writing genealogies of dynasties brahmins started writing genealogies