Empires and Kingdoms: 6th to 10th Centuries

Chapter Overview

Between the sixth and tenth centuries CE, many regional kingdoms competed and cooperated across the subcontinent. Their inscriptions, temples, grants and literature reveal changing political authority, agriculture, trade and devotional movements.

Learning Objectives

• locate major regional powers of the period;
• explain relations among rulers, samantas and local communities;
• assess temples and inscriptions as historical sources;
• describe the Alvar and Nayanar devotional traditions.

Key Concepts

| Term | Explanation | |---|---| | Samanta | A subordinate ruler or powerful landholder whose relationship with an overlord could change. | | Tripartite struggle | Long competition among the Gurjara-Pratiharas, Palas and Rashtrakutas for influence over Kannauj. | | Bhakti | Devotional relationship with a chosen deity, expressed through worship, poetry and service. | | Temple economy | Resources, labour and exchange connected with a temple institution; forms varied widely. |

Detailed Explanation

Regional powers

After the age of Harshavardhana, political power was distributed among several dynasties. The Chalukyas and Pallavas competed in the Deccan and south; the Palas, Gurjara-Pratiharas and Rashtrakutas became major powers from the eighth century; and numerous smaller kingdoms shaped regional politics. Boundaries expanded and contracted with alliances and campaigns.

Rulers and local power

Kings claimed impressive titles and recorded victories, but depended on officials, landed elites, assemblies and samantas. A subordinate chief could provide tribute and troops, then later seek independence. Land grants to Brahmanas and religious institutions helped extend cultivation and authority, but their effects differed by locality.

Architecture and sources

Rulers and communities supported structural temples and rock-cut monuments. The shore temples at Mamallapuram and the Kailasanatha temple at Ellora demonstrate different building methods and patronage. Inscriptions name donors and claims, while temples reveal technology, iconography and social activity. Neither records the whole population.

Alvars and Nayanars

From about the sixth to ninth centuries, Tamil poet-saints known as Alvars, devoted mainly to Vishnu, and Nayanars, devoted mainly to Shiva, composed hymns in Tamil. Their traditions emphasised intense devotion and journeys to sacred places. They included figures of differing social backgrounds, though later collections and biographies shaped how their lives are remembered.

Timeline

| Period | Examples | |---|---| | Sixth–eighth centuries | Chalukya–Pallava rivalry; early Alvar and Nayanar traditions | | Eighth–tenth centuries | Palas, Gurjara-Pratiharas and Rashtrakutas compete for Kannauj | | Across the period | Land grants, regional languages and temple traditions expand |

Common Mistakes

• Assuming a king's title equals direct control.
• Calling all temples only places of worship or only economic institutions.
• Treating Bhakti as one uniform movement across India.

Quick Revision

• Multiple regional kingdoms shared the political landscape.
• Rulers depended on changing networks of subordinate power.
• Monuments and inscriptions require critical reading.
• Tamil devotional poetry shaped influential sacred traditions.

Practice Questions

1. Which three powers participated in the tripartite struggle?
2. How could a samanta both support and challenge a king?
3. Distinguish Alvars and Nayanars.
4. Give one limit of inscriptional evidence.

Answers and Explanations

1. Gurjara-Pratiharas, Palas and Rashtrakutas.
2. A samanta could supply tribute or soldiers but might assert independence when the overlord weakened.
3. Alvars were primarily devotees of Vishnu; Nayanars were primarily devotees of Shiva, and both composed Tamil devotional traditions.
4. Inscriptions often promote donors and rulers and may omit ordinary or opposing voices.