New Empires and Kingdoms

1.0Prashastis and what they tell us

• Samudragupta was a famous ruler of a dynasty known as the Guptas and we know about Samudragupta from a long inscription, inscribed on the Ashokan pillar at Allahabad. It was composed as a Kavya by Harishena, who was a poet and a minister at the court of Samudragupta.
• This inscription is of a special kind known as a prashasti, a Sanskrit word, meaning 'in praise of'. While prashastis were composed for some of the rulers such as Gautamiputra Shri Satakarni, they became far more important from the time of the Guptas.

2.0Samudragupta's prashasti

Samudragupta's prashasti tells us -

• The poet praised the king in glowing terms - as a warrior, as a king who won victories in battle, who was learned and the best of poets. He is also described as equal to the gods. The prashasti was composed in very long sentences.
• Here is part of one such sentence:

Samudragupta - The warrior

Whose body was most charming, being covered with the plenteous beauty of the marks of hundreds of scars caused by battle-axes, arrows, spikes, spears, barbed darts, swords, iron clubs, javelins, barbed arrows, long arrows and many other weapons.

• If you look at the given map, you will notice an area shaded in green.
• You will also find a series of red dots along the east coast.
• And you will find areas marked in purple and blue as well.
  
• This map is based on the information provided in the prashasti.
• Harishena describes four different kinds of rulers, and tells us about Samudragupta's policies towards them. (i) The rulers of Aryavarta, the area shaded in green on the map. Here there were nine rulers who were uprooted, and their kingdoms were made a part of Samudragupta's empire. (ii) The rulers of Dakshinapatha. Here there were twelve rulers, some of whose capitals are marked with red dots on the map. They surrendered to Samudragupta after being defeated and he then allowed them to rule again. (iii) The inner circle of neighbouring states, including Assam, coastal Bengal, Nepal, and a number of gana sanghas in the northwest, marked in purple on the map. They brought tribute, followed his orders, and attended his court. (iv) The rulers of the outlying areas, marked in blue on the map, perhaps the descendants of the Kushanas and Shakas, and the ruler of Sri Lanka, who submitted to him and offered daughters in marriage.
  
  Gupta age Seals and Sealing

3.0Genealogies

• Most prashastis also mention the ancestors of the ruler.
• This one mentions Samudragupta's great grandfather, grandfather, father and mother.
• His mother, Kumara devi, belonged to the Lichchhavi gana, while his father, Chandragupta, was the first ruler of the Gupta dynasty to adopt the grand title of maharaj-adhiraja, a title that Samudragupta also used.
• His great grandfather and grandfather are mentioned simply as maha-rajas.
• It seems as if the family gradually rose to importance.
  
  Chandragupta I
• Samudragupta in turn figures in the genealogies (lists of ancestors) of later rulers of the dynasty, such as his son, Chandragupta II.
• We know about him from inscriptions and coins.
• He led an expedition to western India, where he overcame the last of the Shakas.
• According to later belief, his court was full of learned people.

4.0Harshavardhana and the Harshacharita

• While we can learn about the Gupta rulers from their inscriptions and coins, we can find out about some kings from biographies.
• Harshavardhana, who ruled nearly 1400 years ago, was one such ruler.
• His court poet, Banabhatta, wrote his biography, the Harshacharita, in Sanskrit.
• This gives us the genealogy of Harsha and ends with his becoming king.
• Xuan Zang also spent a lot of time at Harsha's court and left a detailed account of what he saw.
• Harsha was not the eldest son of his father, but became king of Thanesar after both his father and elder brother died.
• His brother-in-law was the ruler of Kanauj and he was killed by the ruler of Bengal.
• Harsha took over the kingdom of Kanauj, and then led an army against the ruler of Bengal.
• Although he was successful in the east, and conquered Magadha and probably Bengal, he was not as successful elsewhere.
• He tried to cross the Narmada to march into the Deccan but was stopped by a ruler belonging to the Chalukya dynasty, Pulakeshin II.

5.0The Pallavas, Chalukyas and Pulakeshin's prashasti

• The Pallavas and Chalukyas were the most important ruling dynasties in south India during this period.
• The kingdom of the Pallavas spread from the region around their capital, Kanchipuram, to the Kaveri delta, while that of the Chalukyas was centred around the Raichur Doab, between the rivers Krishna and Tungabhadra.
• Aihole, the capital of the Chalukyas, was an important trading centre.
• It developed as a religious centre, with several temples.
• The Pallavas and Chalukyas frequently raided one another's lands, especially attacking the capital cities, which were prosperous towns.
• The best-known Chalukya ruler was Pulakeshin II.
• We know about him from a prashasti, composed by his court poet Ravikirti. This tells us about his ancestors, who are traced back through four generations from father to son.
• Pulakeshin evidently got the kingdom from his uncle.
• According to Ravikirti, he led expeditions along both the west and the east coasts.
• Besides, he checked the advance of Harsha.
• There is an interesting play of words in the poem.
• Harsha means happiness.
• The poet says that after this defeat, Harsha was no longer Harsha! Pulakeshin also attacked the Pallava king, who took shelter behind the walls of Kanchipuram.
• But the Chalukya victory was short-lived.
• Ultimately, both the Pallavas and the Chalukyas gave way to new rulers belonging to the Rashtrakuta and Chola dynasties.

6.0How were these kingdoms administered?

• As in the case of earlier kings, land revenue remained important for these rulers, and the village remained the basic unit of administration.
• There were some new developments as well.
• Kings adopted a number of steps to win the support of men who were powerful, either economically, or socially, or because of their political and military strength. For instance:
• Some important administrative posts were now hereditary. This means that sons succeeded fathers to these posts. For example, the poet Harishena was a maha-danda-nayaka, or chief judicial officer, like his father.
• Sometimes, one person held many offices. For instance, besides being a maha-danda-nayaka, Harishena was a kumar-amatya, meaning an important minister, and a sandhi-vigrahika, meaning a minister of war and peace.
• Besides, important men probably had a say in local administration. These included the nagarashreshthi or chief banker or merchant of the city, the sarthavaha or leader of the merchant caravans, the prathama-kulika or the chief craftsman, and the head of the kayasthas or scribes.
• These policies were reasonably effective, but sooner or later, some of these powerful men grew strong enough to set up independent kingdoms.

7.0A new kind of army

• Like earlier rulers, some of these kings maintained a well-organised army, with elephants, chariots, cavalry and foot soldiers.
• Besides, there were military leaders who provided the king with troops whenever he needed them.
• They were not paid regular salaries. Instead, some of them received grants of land.
• They collected revenue from the land and used this to maintain soldiers and horses, and provide equipment for warfare.
• These men were known as samantas.
• Whenever the ruler was weak, samantas tried to become independent.

8.0Assemblies in the southern kingdoms

• The inscriptions of the Pallavas mention several local assemblies.
• These included the sabha, which was an assembly of brahmin landowners.
• This assembly functioned through subcommittees, which looked after irrigation, agricultural operations, making roads, local temples, etc.
• The ur was a village assembly found in areas where the landowners were not brahmins.
• And the nagaram was an organisation of merchants.
• It is likely that these assemblies were controlled by rich and powerful landowners and merchants.
• Many of these local assemblies continued to function for centuries.

9.0Ordinary people in the kingdoms

• We can catch an occasional glimpse of the lives of ordinary people from plays, and other accounts.
• Let us look at some of these.
• Kalidasa is known for his plays depicting life in the king's court.
• An interesting feature about these plays is that the king and most brahmins are shown as speaking Sanskrit, while women and men other than the king and brahmins use Prakrit.
• His most famous play, 'Abhijnana Shakuntalam', is the story of the love between a king named Dushyanta and a young woman named Shakuntala.
• The Chinese pilgrim Fa Xian noticed the plight of those who were treated as untouchables by the high and mighty.
• They were expected to live on the outskirts of the city.
• He writes: "If such a man enters a town or a marketplace, he strikes a piece of wood, in order to keep himself separate; people, hearing this sound, know what it means and avoid touching him or brushing against him."
• And Banabhatta provides us with a vivid picture of the king's army on the move:

10.0The king's army

The king travelled with an enormous amount of equipment. Apart from weapons, there were things of daily use such as pots, pans, furniture, golden footstools, food, including animals such as goat, deer, rabbits, vegetables, spices, carried on carts or loaded on to pack animals such as camels and elephants. This huge army was accompanied by musicians beating drums, and others playing horns and trumpets. Villagers had to provide hospitality along the way. They came with gifts of curds, gur and flowers, and provided fodder for the animals. They also tried to meet the king, and place their complaints and petitions before him. The army left a trail of destruction behind. Elephants often trampled down the huts of villagers, and the oxen yoked to the caravans of merchants ran away, scared by the tumult. As Banabhatta says: "The whole world was swallowed up in dust."

• It is unique because on one side of the pillar is the Ashokan inscription upholding the principles of peace and on the other side Harisena praises Samudragupta for his aggressive policies and conquests.

11.0Glossary

• Prashasti - It is a kind of inscription. In Sanskrit, it means 'in praise of'.
• Aryavarta - The ruler of Northern part of the sub-continent was known as Aryavarta. There were nine rulers who were uprooted and their kingdoms were made a part of Samudragupta's empire.
• Dakshinapatha - The ruler of the Southern India was called Dakshinapatha. There were twelve rulers, all of them surrendered to Samudragupta after being defeated, and Samudragupta then allowed then allowed them to rule again.
• Samanta - They were military leaders who provided armies to the kings. They were not paid regular salaries. Instead, they received grants of land, they collected revenue from the land and used this to maintain soldiers and horses.
• Assembly - A group of persons gathered for a common reasons, as for a legislative, religious, educational or social purpose.

12.0MIND MAP

New Empires and Kingdoms