New Kings and Kingdom
Samantas
They declared themselves as maha-samanta, maha-mandaleshvara (the great lord of a “circle” or region) and so on. At times, they even asserted their independance from their overlords.
In the 7th century different regions of the subcontinent had big landlords and warrior chiefs, who were acknowledged as the subordinates(samantas) by the existing kings.
Rashtrakutas in the Deccan, who were subordinates to the Chalukyas of Karnataka. In the mid-8th century, Dantidurga, a Rashtrakuta chief, overthrew his Chalukya overlord and performed a ritual called Hiranya-garbha (literally, the golden womb) with the help of Brahmanas. This ritual was thought to lead to the “rebirth” of the sacrificer as a Kshatriya, even if he was not one by birth.
In other cases, men from enterprising families used their military skills to carve out kingdoms like the Kadamba
Mayurasharman and the Gurjara Pratihara Harichandra. They were Brahmanas who gave up their traditional professions and took to arms, successfully establishing kingdoms in Karnataka and Rajasthan respectively.
Administration in the Kingdoms
Resources were obtained from the producers like peasants, cattle-keepers, artisans and traders many a times, claimed as “rent”.
Resources were used to finance the king’s establishment and for the construction of temples, forts. They were also used in wars.
Shared power with their samantas as well as with associations of peasants, traders and Brahmanas
The functionaries for collecting revenue were generally recruited from influential families, and positions were often hereditary.
High-sounding titles such as maharaja-adhiraja, tribhuvana-chakravartin etc.
The Cholas
Closer look at the Cholas
A small chiefly family known as the Muttaraiyarwere subordinate to
the Pallava kings of Kanchipuram who held power in the Kaveri delta.
In the 9th century, Vijayalaya, captured the delta from the
Muttaraiyar and built the town of Thanjavur, a temple for goddess Nishumbhasudini.
The successors of Vijayalaya conquered neighbouring regions and the kingdom grew in size, power going on to include the Pandyan and the Pallava territories.
*Rajaraja I was one of the most powerful Chola ruler, his son Rajendra I continued his policies and raided the Ganga valey, Sri Lanka, countries of Southeast Asia, developing a navy for these expeditions.
Temples and Bronze Sculptures
Big temples of Thanjavur and Gangaikondacholapuram- built by Rajaraja and Rajendra architectural and sculptural marvels.
Temples were also endowed with land by rulers as well as by others.
Chola temples often became the nuclei of settlements, which grew around them and were centres of craft production.
Temples-not only places of worship; but also, the hub of economic, social and cultural life.
Chola bronze images are considered amongst the finest in the world.
Agriculture and Irrigation
Forests were cleared in some regions and the land levelled in many areas.
In the delta, region embankments had to be built to prevent flooding
Canals had to be constructed to carry water to the fields. In
many areas, two crops were grown in a year.
A variety of methods were used for irrigation like wells were dug, huge tanks were constructed to collect rainwater.
Warfare for Wealth
The city of Kanuj in the Ganga valley is a prized area, to get control over it rulers belonging to the Gurjara-Pratihara, Rashtrakuta and Pala dynasties fought for centuries. Since there were three “parties” involved in this long-drawn conflict, it is named as the “tripartite struggle”.
Rulers also tried to demonstrate their power and resources by building large temples. Hence, when they attacked one another’s kingdoms, they often chose to target temples, which were sometimes very rich.
Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, ruled from 997 to 1030 and extended his control over parts of Central Asia, Iran and the north-western part of the subcontinent. He raided the subcontinent almost every year – his targets were wealthy temples, including that of Somnath, Gujarat. The wealth he carried away was used to creating a splendid capital city at Ghazni.
Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni wanted to find out more about the people he conquered and entrusted a scholar named Al-Biruni to write an account of the subcontinent in his Arabic work, known as the Kitab ul-Hind