KINGDOMS OF NORTH INDIA

 

In northern India, the post-Gupta age largely comprised of an age of various small kingdoms. However, among these small kingdoms, there were three big kingdoms (between A.D. 750 and 1,000) namely: Rashtrakutas, Pratiharas and Palas.
All these kingdoms recurrently fought with each other and tried to gain control over northern India; however, none of them succeeded for any length of time.

Struggle for Kanauj
Kanauj was the capital of Harsha and was an important city; hence, many of the campaigns in northern India were fought over the city of Kanauj. It was geographically located in the northern plain; a strategic point from where it was easy to control the Ganga valley.
Three major kingdoms were involved in this struggle to control Kanauj: tripartite struggle for Kanauj. The three kingdoms were the Rashtrakutas, the Pratiharas, and the Palas.

Rashtrakuta Kingdom
The Rashtrakutas’ kingdom was located in the northern Deccan i.e., the region around Nasik and its capital was at Malkhed.

Dantidurga (733 – 756 CE)

• He was the founder of the Rashtrakuta dynasty.
• He annexed the Chalukya kingdom by defeating Kirtivarman II. Thus, the Rashtrakuta became the paramount power in the Deccan.
• He defeated the Gurjaras and captured Malwa from them.

Krishna I (756 – 774 CE)

• Expanded the kingdom and brought major portions of Karnataka and Konkan under his rule.
• He built the magnificent rock-cut monolithic Kailasa temple at Ellora.

Govind III (793 – 814 CE)

• In the tripartite struggle, he defeated Dharmapala (the Pala king) and the Pratihara king Nagabhata II.
• The Rashtrakuta empire extended from Cape Comorin to Kannauj and from Banaras to Bharuch during his reign. He was compared with Alexander the Great and Arjuna of Mahabharata.
• He made expeditions to the south – the Cholas, the Pandyas and the Cheras paid tribute to him.

Amoghavarsha (815 – 880 CE)

• He built the Rashtrakuta capital-the city of Malkhed or Manyakheda.
• He made peace with his neighbours – the eastern Chalukyas, the Ganga and the Pallavas.
• He patronised art and literature. He himself wrote the famous Kannada work, Kavirajamarga (Kannada work on poetics).
• He is called ‘Ashoka of the south’ for his peace-loving nature and his immense interest in art and literature.

Krishna III (914 – 929 CE)

• He was famous for his expeditions. He marched against the Cholas and defeated them at Takkolam.
• He went further south and captured Tanjore. He went as far as Ramesvaram and occupied it for some time.
• He built several temples in the conquered territories including the Krishneswara temple at Rameswaram.
• Throughout his reign, he possessed the Tondaimandalam region. After his death, the power of Rashtrakutas declined. In 972 CE, the Rashtrakuta capital – Malkhed was attacked and burnt to ashes.

Pratihara Kingdom
The Pratiharas after their success with the Arabs, took their armies eastwards and by the end of the eighth century had captured Kanauj.

Nagabhata I (730 – 760 CE)

• He successfully resisted the invasion of the Arabs and defeated the Arab army during the Caliphate campaigns in India.
• Ruled over the areas of Gujarat, Rajputana and Malwa.

Vatsaraja (780 – 800 CE)

• He made Kannauj (western Uttar Pradesh) his capital.
• His expansion policy created enemies for him – Dharmapala (the Pala king of Bengal) and Dhruva (the Rashtrakuta king). With this started the tripartite struggle which continued for about 350 years.
• Dharmapala (the Pala king) was defeated by Vatsaraja and in turn, he was defeated by Dhruv (the Rashtrakuta king) in the tripartite struggle.

Bhoja I/Mihir Bhoja (836 – 885 CE)

• He is considered to be the popular ruler of the Pratiharas and ruled for over 46 years.
• With the help of his feudatories – the Chedis and the Guhilas, he won over the Rashtrakutas and the Palas.
• He had his capital at Kannauj, which was also called Mahodaya. The Barrah Copper Plate inscription mentions a military camp at Mahodaya called Skandhavara.
• He was a great follower of Vaishnavism and assumed the title of “Adivaraha”.
• His supremacy was acknowledged by the Chandalas, the Kalachuris and the Arabs of Sindh.
• As per the Arab travellers, the Pratihara rulers had the best cavalry in India. He was titled “King Baura” by an Arab traveller named Al-Masudi.

Mahendrapala (885 – 910 CE)

• Adopted the title “Maharajadhiraja of Aryavarta” (Great king of kings of northern India).
• An eminent Sanskrit poet, Rajashekhar adorned his court. His works include Karrpuramanjari (in Sauraseni Prakrit), Kavya Mimansa, Balabharata, Bhrinjika, Vidhasalabhanjika, Prapanch Pandav, etc.

Mahipala I (913 – 944 CE)

• The downfall of the Pratiharas started during his reign. The Rashtrakuta king, Indra III defeated him and destroyed the city of Kannauj.

Yashpala (1024 – 1036 CE)

• The last ruler of the Pratihara dynasty. By 1090 CE, the Gandhavalas conquered Kannauj.

Pala Kingdom
The Palas, who ruled for about four hundred years and their kingdom consisted of almost the whole of Bengal and much of Bihar, was also interested to control Kanauj.

• The first king of the Pala dynasty was Gopala. He was elected as a king by the nobles after the death of the previous ruler (died without an heir). Therefore, Gopala was the founder of the Pala dynasty.

Dharmapala (770 – 810 CE)

• He was the founder of the Vikramshila monastery near Bhagalpur (Bihar) which had students from all parts of India and also from Tibet.
• He also founded the Somapuri monastery near Paharpur (Bihar).
• The renowned Buddhist scholar Santarakshita belongs to his reign.
• Santarakshita founded the philosophical school known as Yogacara – Svatantrika – Madhyamaka which integrated the Yogacara tradition of Asanga.

Devapala (810 – 850 CE)

• He claimed to have extracted tribute from the whole of north India – from the Himalayas to the Vindhyas and from the eastern to the western oceans.
• Devapala was an ardent follower of Buddhism.
• Sailendra dynasty king, Balaputradeva (ruler of Suvarnadvipa) requested Devapala to grant five villages to the monastery at Nalanda. He accepted the request and appointed Viradeva as the head of the Nalanda monastery.
• Vajradatta – a Buddhist scholar who wrote Lokesvarasataka was his court poet.
• In the middle of the 9th century, an Arab merchant Sulaiman visited India and called the Pala empire Ruhimi or Ruhima Dharma.

The empire became weak by the 11th century. Vijaysena (Sena dynasty) destroyed the Pala Empire in the 12th century. The Pala empire is considered to be the last major Buddhist power in the subcontinent.

Within a hundred years of time, all three important kingdoms had declined. Later Chalukyas kingdom emerged in the same area where the Rashtrakutas had ruled.
The Pala kingdom was threatened by Chola armies and was later ruled by the Sena dynasty. The Pratihara kingdom had broken into a number of states, some of which were associated with the rise of the Rajputs.

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