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Chapter-11 India During the Ages (4Th Century to 7Th Century)

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Chapter-11 India During the Ages (4Th Century to 7Th Century) History Class VI Chapter-11 India During The Ages (4th Century to 7th Century) I. Chandragupta I (320-335 AD):- Chandragupta I founded the Gupta Empire around 320 AD. He was the first ruler of the Gupta Dynasty. II. Samudragupta (335-375 AD):- After Chandragupta I, the great Gupta Ruler who ruled India was his son Samudragupta. The Allahabad Inscription, which is engraved on a pillar at Allahabad, is the main source of information about the reign of Samudragupta. III. Chandragupta II (375-415AD) : Chandragupta II, the son of Samudragupta, was also called Vikramaditya or Chandragupta Vikramaditya. IV. The Later Guptas : After Chandragupta II, Kumargupta and Skandagupta were powerful gupta rulers. V. The Post Gupta Period In north, the kingdom of Harshvardhana was the most powerful and in south it was the Pallavas. Deccan was dominated by the Chalukyas. VI. Harshavardhana(606-647 AD): As we know more about Harshavardhana from two literary works, the first being his biography Harshacharita, written by his court poet Banabhatta. Military Campaigns: Harsha ascended the throne at the age of 16. The capital of his empire was Kanauj. 1 |Page History Class VI The Pallavas And The Chalukyas : Pallava Dynasty: Between the early third century and late ninth century AD, the Pallava Dynasty ruled the northern part of Tamil nadu and the southern parts of Andhra Pradesh. Chalukya Dynasty: The kingdom of the Chalukyas centered around the Raichur Doab, between the River Krishna and River Tungabhadra. Their Capital was Vatapi (or Badami). Revenue: The main occupation of the people was agriculture. Most of the revenue came from the land. There were numerous revenue officers to collect the revenue. Army: A well- organised army was maintained by these kings. These armies consisted of cavalry and foot soldiers, elephants and chariots with good horses. Whenever the king required troops, military leaders provided them in return, these military leaders were given lands grants. Local Assemblies: 1. Sabha – it was an assembly of Brahmins and landowners. The function of the assembly was to look after different sections of local administration through subcommittees. 2. Ur- it was also a village assembly but found in the areas where landowners were not brahmins. 3. Nagaram –this was Powerful organisation of merchants. 2 |Page History Class VI Chapter-12 Literature, Art and Architecture Of The Ancient Period During the ancient period, remarkable developments took place in the field of literature, art and architecture. Many famous works were composed lie meghaduta by Kalidasa and Silappadikaram by Ilango. Religious Stories:- During this period a number of religious stories were written. These included the Puranas, the Upanishads and the Mahapuranas. 1. The Puranas : Puranas are old world stories. They deal with the origin of the universe and contain a detailed description of the solar system, the Earth its, continents, mountain ranges, family tree of gods and rishis and royal families. The Great Epics : The Mahabharata and the Ramayana an epic is a long story written in poetry. The ‘Mahabharat’ and the Ramayana. An epic is a long story written in poetry. The Mahabharata is about a war fought between the cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandavas to gain control of the throne of Hastinapur. The Ramayana was originally written in Sanskrit by Valmiki.it was also been written in almost all Indian languages with their own special flavour. Bank of science Aryabhatta was the most famous astronomer and scientist of the ancient period. He is the author of the book Aryabhattiyam. Varahamihira wrote Panchasiddhantika and developed several subdivisions of astronomy like astrology and horoscope. Metallurgy: The iron pillar of Mehrauli, Delhi is the best example of ironwork skill of ancient Indian Craftsmen. This pillar is a wonder in itself because it has not rusted till date. 3 |Page History Class VI Temples : The earliest Hindu temples were also built at this time. Idols of Durga, Shiva, and Vishnu were worshipped in these temples. Paintings: The history of paintings in India goes back to the Old Stone Age. At Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh, many Prehistoric paintings have been found in caves. The complex at Ajanta and Ellora which lies 300 km north-east of Mumbai. 4 |Page .
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