The Huns
In spite of the heroic efforts of Skanda Gupta, the Gupta empire in its entirety did not long survive the shock it received from the uprising of the Pushyamitras and the incursions of the Huns. So far as our present knowledge goes Budha Gupta was the last emperor of the main line of the Guptas who preserved some semblance of unity in the major part of the empire. When he passed away the Huns were safely entrenched in the Sialkot region and Eastern Malwa.
The expansion of the Hun rule in Central India seems to have been checked by the loyal feudatroies of the Guptas, and their imperial power was finally shattered by Yasodharman of Mandasor.
Yasodharman
Yasodharman probably belonged to an old family whose members ruled in Malwa since the 4th century A.D., first as independent rulers and then as feudatories of the Guptas.
Portions of Malwa were governed by the Maitrakas, Kalachuris and Guptas shortly after Yasodharman.
Harsha
At this juncture the statesmen of Kannauj, seem to have offered the crown to Harsha. Both Bana and Hiuen Tsang refer to Harsha’s reluctance to mount the throne. This is taken by some to be due to the fact that he was not the rightful heir to the throne of Kannauj. It is, however, certain that Harsha found himself at the head of the kingdom of his brother as well as that of his brother-in-law.
One of his earliest acts was a treaty of alliance with Bhaskaravarman, the ambitious king of Kamarpua in modern Assam, who was in a position to attack his arch-enemy, the king of Gauda, in the rear. Another prince befriended by Harsha was Madhava Gupta, belonging to the line of the later Guptas of Malwa and Magadha. His power seems to have continued undiminished till A.D. 619. Harsha, however, succeeded in strengthening his position in the home territories.
Much controversy had raged round the question of the extent of Harsha’s empire. It certainly embraced the old kingdoms of Thanesar (in the eastern Punjab) and Kannauj (in the Gangetic Doab) and the provinces of Ahichchhatra (Rohilkhand), Sravasti (Oudh) and Prayag (Allahabad).
Kannauj is described by Hiuen Tsang as a very strongly defended city with lofty structures everywhere. There were beautiful gardens and tanks of clear water. The inhabitants were well off and there were families with great wealth. The people had a refined appearance and dressed in glossy silk attire.
In his later days Harsha received emissaries from China court. At this period he came into contact with Hiuen Tsang, the Chinese Master of the Law, who was visiting the sacred spots of Buddhism. It appears from the records of the Chinese pilgrim that the emperor of Kannauj showed a strong predilection for Buddhism. He erected rest-houses and monasteries and practised charity on an extensive scale.
Harsha died in A.D. 646 or 647. He was undoubtedly one of the greatest kings of ancient India. A great general and a just administrator, he was even greater as a patron of religion and learning.
Pala dynasty
With Gopala began the famous Pala dynasty which, in the last days of its rule, claimed descent from the solar race and also from the sea. Under Pala rule Bengal was to enjoy a period of prosperity undreamt of in her early annals.
Dharamapala, son of Gopala, was one of the greatest kings that ever ruled in Bengal. His accession to the throne probably took place about 780 A.D. In the course of a long reign of at least thirty two years he raised Bengal to the position of the premier state in Northern India, and did much to restore the greatness of the old imperial city of Pataliputra.
The death of Dharmapala probably took place sometime about A.D. 815. His son and successor Devapala was equally ambitious.
The Pala period saw the foundation of the Universities of Uddandapura and Vikaramasila.
The Pratiharas
The Palas were one of the most long-lived dynasties of Indian history, but their supremacy in the Gangetic Doab was of short duration. By A.D. 836 the Pratihara dynasty was firmly established in the city of Kannauj. Before the end of the ninth century the power of this new imperial line had extended in all directions and the command of the great Pratihara king was obeyed all over the wide expanse of territory.
In 1018 Kannauj, then ruled by Rajyapala Pratihara, was taken by Mahmud of Ghazni. The Pratihara dynasty probably continued to rule over a small territory till the second quarter of the eleventh century A.D. But their empire was gone and they sank to the position of local chieftains.
The Pallavas
The epoch of the Pallavas of Kanchi is memorable in the political and cultural history of India. They built up the first great empire south of the Penner and the Tungabhadra, and carried their arms as far as Ceylon. Many of the Vaishnava and Saiva saints flourished during their rule. Under them Kanchi became a great centre of Brahmanical as well as Buddhist learning. The Pallava paintings discovered in a cave shrine in the Pudukottai district. Another Pallava king built the famous temples cut out of rock boulders known as Rahas. A later king constructed the Kailasanatha temple of Kanchi.
The Chalukyas
The Chalukyas, sworn enemies of the Pallavas of Kanchi, rose to power in the sixth century A.D., and had their first capital at Vatapi. Badami in the Bijapur.
The real founder of the dynasty of Vatapi was Pulakesin I. His sons, Kirtivarman-I and Mangalesa, extended the empire in all directions and vanquished the neighbouring rulers, including the Mauryas of the Konkan, the Kadambas of Vaijayanti and the Kalachuris of northern Maharashtra and Malwa. The Kadamba capital was finally reduced by Pulkesin-II, son of Kirtivarman, the most famous king of the line. In the course of a long reign extending from about A.D. 609 to 642, Pulakesin-II not only consolidated his authority in Maharashtra but overran nearly the whole of the Deccan. The last days of the king were not happy. The Pallava king, Narasimhavarman-I, son and successor of Mahendravarman-I, retrieved the disasters of his father’s reign, inflicting crushing defeats on Pulakesin and destroying his capital, Vatapi.
The Chalukya power was revived by Vikramaditya-I, son of Pulakesin- II, who renewed the struggle against his southern enemies.
The Rashtrakutas
The Rashtrakutas in their later records claim descent from Satyaki, a Yadava chief of the north, a close associate of Krishna famed in epic tradition.
The Rashtrakutas established an empire which in the days of its greatness extended from South Gujarat, Malwa and Baghelkhand in the north to Tanjore in the south.
Shopping Cart
