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Early Medieval

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Ritabrata Karmakar
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53 views4 pages

Early Medieval

Uploaded by

Ritabrata Karmakar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Early Medieval Southern India:

During the period of 800-1200 A.D., south India became the centre
of political activity. In the beginning of the ninth century, the
Pallavas who were a great force were on the decline.

The Chalukyas of Badami were by now overthrown by the


Rashtrakutas. The latter were engaged in several wars and alliances
with northern and southern kingdoms.

The Cholas who were the feudatories of the Pallavas began to assert
their power and were able to replace the Pallavas. The emergence of
the imperial Cholas marked the beginning of a new stage in south
Indian history. Under their domination, art and culture reached
new heights whose influence was felt even in the countries of South-
East Asia.

The Rashtrakutas:
Dantidurga (753-756 A.D.), the founder of the Rashtrakuta kingdom
was at first, a feudatory of the Chalukyas of Badami. But taking the
advantage of the weak rule of his overlord Kirtivarman II, soon rose
to power. The victorious career of Dantidurga is known from the
two records of his reign – the Dasavatara Cave inscription of Ellora
and the Samangad Plates.

He invaded Malwa under the Gurjara Pratiharas and brought it


within his sphere of influence. After his death in 756 A.D, he was
succeeded by his uncle Krishna I who gave the final blow to the
Chalukyas of Badami, attacked the Gangas of Mysore and forced the
Chalukyas of Vengi to acknowledge his supremacy Krishna I
constructed the magnificent rock-cut temple at Ellora known as
Kailasha temple. He was succeeded by his son Govinda II, but was
dethroned by his ambitious younger brother, Dhruva.

Dhruva (779-793 A.D.) was the first Rashtrakuta ruler to decisively


intervene in the tripartite struggle being waged for the supremacy of
north India. He defeated both the Pratihara ruler Vatsaraja after
occupying Malwa and Dharmapala the Pala ruler. He was succeeded
by Govinda III (793-814 A.D.).
After a successful expedition against Nagabhatta II of Kannauj and
the annexation of Malwa, followed by unconditional surrender of
Chakrayudha and Dharmapala, Govinda III turned to the south. He
completely shattered the confederacy of Cheras. Pandyas and the
Cholas formed in his absence against him.

Govinda III was succeeded by his son Sarva, better known as


Amoghavarsha (814-880 A.D.). Amoghavarsha ruled for 64 years
but by temperament he preferred the pursuit of religion and
literature to war. He patronised men of letters, such as Jinasena-
author of Adipuram, Mahaviracharya-the author of Ganitasara –
Samgraha and Saktayana – the author of Amoghavritti.

Amoghavarsha was himself an author and is credited with writing


the first Kannada book on poetics, Kavirajamarga. He was a great
builder and is said to have built the capital city of Manyakhet so as
to excel the city of Indra.

In his later life he developed definite leanings towards Jainism


under his chief preceptor Jinasena. His grandson Indra III
succeeded him and re-established the empire. Indra III (915-27
A.D.) defeated Mahipala the Pratihara king and sacked Kanauj in
915 A.D. According to Al-Masudi, the Arab traveller, who visited
India at that time, the Rastrakuta kings were the greatest king of
India.

Krishna III (934-963 A.D.) was the last in a line of brilliant rulers.
He defeated the Chola king, Parantaka I (949 A.D.), at the battle of
Takkolam and annexed the northern part of the Chola Empire He
then pressed down to Rameshwaram and set up a pillar of victory
there and built a temple. After his death, all his opponents united
against his successor.

The Rashtrakuta capital, Malkhed was sacked and burnt in 972 A.D.
This marked the end of the Rashtrakuta Empire. In 974-75 A.D.,
Taila II of the Chalukya family, the feudatory of Rashtrakutas
founded the Chalukyas kingdom of Kalyani.
The Rashtrakuta rule in the Deccan lasted for almost two hundred
years till the end of the tenth century. The Rashtrakuta rulers were
tolerant in their religious views and patronised not only Shaivism
and Vaishnavism but Jainism as well.

They allowed Muslim traders to settle and permitted Islam to be


preached in their dominions. This tolerant policy helped to promote
foreign trade which enriched the Rashtrakutas. The Rashtrakuta
kings were great patrons of arts and letters. They equally patronised
Sanskrit, Prakrit, Apabhramsha, a forerunner of many modern
Indian languages and Kannada.

Chalukyas of Kalyani:
The Rashtrakutas were overthrown in 974-975 A.D. by Taila II who
belonged to the Chalukya dynasty. The dynasty founded by him
with its capital at Kalyani, is known as later Chalukya or Chalukyas
of Kalyani (the earlier being the Chalukyas of Badami). With the
Parmaras of Malwa, Taila II waged a protracted war and eventually
after defeating the Paramara king, Munja, put him to death. The
Chalukya-Chola struggle became a regular feature from his period
onward.

This accession of Somesvara I, ushered in a brilliant period in the


history of the Chalukyas of Kalyani. At the battle of Koppam, in
which Rajadhiraja, the Chola king fell, Somesvara I was defeated by
his son Rajendra I.

He not only conquered north Konkan but also invaded Gujarat and
Malavaand received the submission of Parmara Bhoja. The last
great Chalukya ruler was Vikramaditya VI (1076- 1126 A.D.) who
killed his elder brother Somesvara II and ascended the throne in
1076 A.D. On his coronatioh, he withdrew the Shaka era and
introduced the Chalukya-Vikram era.

He fought numerous wars against the Hoysalas of Dwarsamudra,


the Kakatiyas of Warangal, the Yadavas of Devagiri and the
Kadambas of Goa. His reign was also a period of the development of
art and literature Bilhana, the author of Vikramankacharita and
Vijnanesvara, the author of Mitaksara, enjoyed his patronage.
With the defeat of Somesvara IV at the hands of the Yadava king
Bhillana, the Chalukya dynasty pametoan end by the middle of the
twelfth century. In its place the Yadavas of Devagiri, the Hoysalas of
Dwarsamudra and the Kakatiyas of Warangal gained prominence.

Chalukyas of Vengi:
Pulakesin II of Badami after defeating the Vishnukundin king of
Godavari district in Andhra country appointed his younger brother
Vishnuvardhana, viceroy of the newly conquered territories. This
viceroyalty soon developed into an independent kingdom under
Vishnuvardhana and he became the founder of a dynasty known as
the Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi (615-633 A.D.).

The next important ruler was Vijayaditya I (746-764 A.D.) in whose


time the western Chalukyas of Badami was overthrown by the
Rashtrakutas. The greatest monarch of the Eastern Chalukyas dy-
nasty was Vijayaditya III (855-888 A.D.), during whose reign the
kingdom extended from the Mahendragiri in the north to the
Pulicat luke in the south. He followed a policy of aggressive
imperialism. He defeated Krishna II, the Rashtrakuta king and
received the submission of the kings of Kalinga and Kosala.

A series of weak successors preceded the accession of Saktivarman I


to the throne of Vengi. With his accession, Vengi ceased to be an
independent kingdom and became an appendix of the Chola
Empire. He was succeeded by Vimaladitya who was married to
Kundavai, the daughter of Rajaraja Chola I.

Thus began the process of Chola-Chalukya matrimonial alliances


which ultimately ended in the merger of the two dynasties under
Kulottunga, son of Rajendra Narendra of Vengi and princess
Amangadevi (daughter of Rajendra Chola I). With his death in 1075
A. D., the Eastern Chalukya dynasty came to an end.

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