Foreign and Indian

BAH SEM III

 Terms
• Parasika, Garjana/Garjanka
• Saka, mlechha, yavana
• In the Raghuvansam of Kalidasa, king Raghu
encountered the Parasikas, who were westerners
(pascatya) Kalidasa tells us that Raghu 'could not
bear the flush caused by wine in the lotus faces of
the Yavana women; that a fierce battle took place
between him and the westerners who had cavalry
for their army; that he covered the earth with their
bearded heads, severed by his arrows, that the
survivors put off and sought his protection, and
that his soldiers beguiled the fatigue of conquest
with wine in vineyards covered with choicest skins
 Stereotypes
• Yajnaavalkya duly dictating that on 'touching
Bhillas, Parasikas and others and those that were
guilty ofthe mortal sins, one should bathe
together with the clothes worn'.
• by the close of the eleventh century; when
Kulottonga Cola claimed to have 'scattered (his)
enemies (and) whose fame is spontaneously sung
on the further shore ofthe ocean by the young
women of the Persians (Parasi)' ,
 Ideas of victory
• Tajikas and Parasika were mentioned in Pratihara
victory inscriptions, exaggeration of violence by
the two communities
• Probably working for Rashtrakutas
• Same for the Turushkas
• Prithviraja also resolved to vanquish beef-eating
Mleccha Gauri (i.e. Ghuri), and bestowed gifts on
a messenger who brought news from Gujarat of
the routing of Gauci (Ghuri) army,
 Ideas of acculturation
• When Guhalladeva' s pilgrimage to Somnath was
interrupted, he had to make his way to Goa. 'A native
of this city named Madummod, ofTaji origin, the
wealthiest among all sea-faring traders, a person
ofgreat wisdom, rendered a great and public service to
the above-mentioned king Guhaldev. The city of Goa
which was made the capital of his kingdom by
Kadamba Jayakesi I (1050-80) 'owed a substantial part
of its prosperity to the wise administration of Sadano, a
grandson of the merchant Muhammada who ... had
rendered valuable service to Guhalladeva. Jayakesi
appointed him governor of the Konkan. Prudent, just
and liberal, he was well-versed in mathematics and
"the fourteen arts, the four resources, and the seven
solicitudes".
 Stereotypes
• Tajiks considered mlecchha, association with
violence and calamity
• Impact of colonial historiography
• pre-colonial society was too fragmented by
subcaste and local loyalties to have allowed
larger allegiances to emerge
• Coining of the word Hindu
• the political valorization of the ancient
Ramayana epic
 The other
• Rama as a model for royal behavior
• Muslims largely unassimilating
• Ramayana epic was "profoundly and
fundamentally a text of 'othering
• Not true for Andhra, Prataparudra inscription,
, "when the sun who was Prataparudra thus
set, the pitch darkness of the Turks enveloped
the world
 The other
• Brahmins were forced to abandon their
sacrificial rites; Hindu temple images were
overturned and broken; tax-exempt Brahmin
villages confiscated; and cultivators deprived of
their produce
• the vile Muslims were incessant in drinking
wine, eating beef, and slaying Brahmins
• tortured in this way by the demon-like Yavana
soldiers, the land of Tilinga [Andhra] suffered
terribly without hope of relief, as if it were a
forest engulfed by a rampaging fire.
 The other
• Echoes the fears of the Puranas
• Kakatiya inscription also talks of constant
problems to the Brahmins
• Description is formulaic
• failure to uphold the hierarchical order of
caste or Brahmanical privilege
• Hence could be called Yavanas and Shakas
• erased the distinctiveness of Muslims
 The other
• Brahmin consciousness
• Hinduraja suratrana
 Cholas in Southeast Asia
• Why naval expeditions to SE Asia?
• Sastri, “some obstructions to the Chola trade/
expansion of Rajendra’s digvijaya
• Spencer, part of expansionism policy such as in Sri
Lanka
• Tansen Sen, Chinese records, Srivijayan attempts
to block maritime trade links between the Song
and Cholas
• Forced ships to stop at Srivijayan ports otherwise
sunk
 Cholas in Southeast Asia
• War booty? KV Ramesh Rajendra chola at the
Thanjavur temple, elephants, treasures,
vidhyadhara torana
• Indian Ocean trade system lead by Cholas,
Song, Fatimids
• Exapnsionism of the Cholas to Sri Lanka,
Maldives, territories up to Bengal and Srivijaya
• Similar processes of state formation, from
early to imperial kingdom
 Cholas in Southeast Asia
• Kingdom of Angkor extended influence to
Laos, central Thailand and northern parts of
Malay peninsula
• Came in conflict with Dat Viet, Champa and
Srivijaya (southern parts of Malay peninsula)
• Kingdom of Pagan, Burma, direct route to
China through Yunnan, as well as Orissa and
Sri Lanka
Ananda Temple
 Cholas in Southeast Asia
• Thalassocracy of Srivijaya
• Al Masudi speaks of the richness, fastest ship
cannot sail all the islands of the Maharaja even in
two years
• Proverbial infantry and naval prowess, Chinese
account
• Chinese sent gifts to all 4 powers inviting trade
• Srivijaya responded first, most eager, constructed
a temple for the Chinese emperor
 Cholas in Southeast Asia
• Also vied for relations with cholas, Rajaraja’ edict
donated revenue for the upkeep of a temple built
by Sailendra king in Nagapattinam
• Chola state became important after it conquered
major ports and SL
• Rajendra continued the donation, received china
kanakam from Srivijaya
• Angkor entered the competition too, gave war
chariot, Isthmus of Kra
 Cholas in Southeast Asia
• Rajendra sent envoys to China with pearls and
ivory
• Chinese emperor urged Arabs to shift from
Central Asian silk route to the silk route of the
sea, mercantile pressure
• 14 chola raids, silenced mission for 3 years
• Minimal effect, regained power soon
• Cholas did not want political control
 Cholas in Southeast Asia
• Drawidas and Cholikas in the Javanese
inscriptions
• Trade continued to flourish with Srivijaya too
• Influence of art, Prajnaparamita
• Second interference under Cholas, in Chinese
sources termed as a vassal state of Srivijaya
• Problems in Chinese inscriptions of giving
Srivijaya and Cholas the same status
 Cholas in Southeast Asia
• Chola state may have supported one faction of
the Srivijayan court