The Regional Kingdoms–1 Many dynasties ruled India during the The Tomars, Chauhans, Solankis, Early Medieval Period. In the north, the Paramaras, Gahadavalas and the Chandellas Rajputs, the Ghaznavids, the Ghorids, the were some of the important Rajput clans that Palas, and the Gurjara–Pratiharas were ruled during this period. powerful. In the Deccan, there were the Rashtrakutas and a few smaller kingdoms. Tomars of Delhi The Tomar rulers founded the The Pallavas, the Pandyas and the Cholas city of Dhillika (Delhi) in the eighth century. were the dominant powers in the south. Later, the Chauhans annexed their territories. NORTH INDIA Chauhans of Rajasthan The Chauhans, also The Rajputs known as Chahamanas, ruled the region The word ‘Rajput’ comes from the Sanskrit around Delhi and Ajmer. The most powerful word ‘rajaputra’ which means son of a king. Chauhan ruler was Prithviraj Chauhan. Historians have different opinions He defeated Muhammad Ghori in 1191. regarding their origin. Some believe that However, a year later, Ghori defeated and they were descendants of the Central Asian killed Prithviraj. tribes settled in India after the Hun invasion. Find out A long poem on Prithviraj was The Rajputs, however, claimed to be composed by his court poet. You have read descendants of the kshatriyas or warrior about it in Lesson 1. Name the work. class of Vedic times. They claimed that they were ‘surya-vanshi’, that is, belonging to the Solankis of Gujarat The Solankis were also sun family or ‘chandra-vanshi’, that is, known as the Chalukyas of Gujarat. Siddharaja belonging to the moon family. Some Rajput was the most powerful ruler. The Dilwara clans also considered themselves to be part Temples at Mount Abu and the Sun Temple at of the fire family (agni-kula). They believed Modhera (Gujarat) were built by the Solanki that they rulers. Paramaras of Malwa Bhoja Paramara was a powerful ruler. His capital was Dhar. The Nilakantheshwara Temple at Udaipur was built by the Paramaras. Gahadavalas of Kanauj The Gahadavalas ruled the region around Kanauj. The Gahadavala king Jaichandra was defeated by Muhammad Prithviraj Chauhan Ghori in 1194. were born out of a sacrificial fire. Chandellas of Bundelkhand The Chandellas were Ghazni had defeated the ruler of Ghor and the rulers of the land between the Yamuna and had made him his vassal. After Mahmud’s Narmada rivers. Khajuraho was the capital of death, however, the Ghaznavids became the Chandella rulers. It has many beautiful weak. Taking advantage of this, Muizzudin temples built by the Chandellas. Kirtivarman Muhammad made Ghor independent once was the most powerful ruler of the dynasty. again. He also annexed all Ghaznavid territories. Muizzudin Muhammad is The Ghaznavids popularly known in history as Muhammad From 1000 onwards, many invaders entered Ghori. India across the mountain passes in the northwest. Mahmud, the ruler of Ghazni, led Muhammad Ghori Muhammad was an the first series of invasions. ambitious ruler. He wanted to expand his empire. He decided to invade India not just Mahmud of Ghazni Mahmud was the ruler of for its wealth but also to build an empire. Ghazni, now in Afghanistan. He needed a large In 1175, Muhammad Ghori attacked and army to make Ghazni the most powerful conquered Multan. In 1178, he received a kingdom in the region. He had heard about the temporary setback as he was defeated by the wealth of the kingdoms of northern India. So he ruler of Gujarat. Soon he realized that Punjab decided to raid India to collect money to raise a could be a good base for further conquests. large army. So, in 1190 he conquered Punjab. The Rajput In a span of 26 years (1000–1026), Mahmud ruler of the neighbouring kingdom of Delhi invaded India 17 times. His early raids were and Ajmer, Prithviraj Chauhan, prepared to against the Hindushahi rulers of Punjab. He face him. defeated Jaipal and Anandpal and got a large tribute from them. He also attacked the rich The battles of Tarain In 1191, the armies of temple-towns of India. He raided Mathura and Muhammad Ghori and Prithviraj Chauhan Kanauj in 1018, and Somnath in 1026. The clashed at Tarain, about 80 miles from Delhi. Somnath Temple in Gujarat was stripped of Muhammad Ghori was defeated in the First all its wealth. Even Battle of Tarain. the precious stones Prithviraj, however, embedded in the made no attempt to temple walls were chase the Ghorids taken out. Mahmud out of Punjab. This carried away all the proved to be a grave booty to Ghazni, blunder. where he built a beautiful mosque, library and museum. Mahmud died in 1030. Mahmud of Ghazni S o o n a f t e r , The Ghorids Muhammad Ghori began to regroup his forces. The two armies met once again in Like Ghazni, Ghor was a small kingdom in present-day Afghanistan. Mahmud of A popular legend of that period After defeating Prithviraj Chauhan, Muhammad Ghori took him prisoner and blinded him. Chandbardai, a former courtier of Prithviraj Chauhan, earned the goodwill of Ghori. He began to secretly support Prithviraj and encouraged Prithviraj to avenge his defeat. One day, Ghori announced an archery competition. Chandbardai told Ghori that Prithviraj was so skilled an archer that he could take aim and hit a target based only on sound. Ghori refused to believe it. Prithviraj was brought before Ghori. Before Ghori could give the order to shoot, Chandbardai recited a couplet which could be understood only by Prithviraj. He said: Char bans, chaubis gaj, angul ashta praman, Ta upar sultan hai, Chuke mat Chauhan. (Four measures ahead of you and 24 yards away, as measured with eight finger measurement, is seated the sultan. Do not miss him, Chauhan) Ghori ordered Prithviraj to shoot. No sooner had he done so that Prithviraj turned in the direction from where the sound came and shot the arrow. It slit Ghori’s throat. To prevent themselves from falling into the hands of Ghori’s soldiers, Prithviraj and Chandbardai then stabbed each other. 1192. This time, Muhammad Ghori two centuries and weakened all three Muhammad’s army dynasties. was better prepared. Prithviraj appealed to The Palas the neighbouring kings for help. Some The Palas ruled the region covered by the Rajput rulers came to his help. The most present-day states of Bihar, Jharkhand and powerful Rajput ruler—Raja Jaichandra of West Bengal. Gopala was the first ruler. He and Kanauj, however, stayed away. Prithviraj his son, Dharmapala, expanded and was defeated and captured. His territories strengthened the kingdom. Dharmapala also were occupied. encouraged trade with South-east Asia. Discuss Would Indian history been any Devapala was another powerful ruler of the different had Prithviraj expelled the Ghorids dynasty. from Punjab after the First Battle of Tarain? There was great prosperity during the reign Muhammad Ghori did not stop at this. In of the Pala kings. They were followers of 1194, he defeated Raja Jaichandra in the Buddhism, built stupas and gave money to Battle of Chandwar. Thereafter, he overran monasteries. In the twelfth century, the Palas the entire Ganga-Yamuna doab. He left his were succeeded by rulers of the Sena Dynasty, trusted generals in charge of the lands he who ruled until the Muslims defeated them. had conquered and returned to his homeland. The Gurjara–Pratiharas The Gurjara–Pratiharas ruled over parts of Struggle for Kanauj Rajasthan and Gujarat. The most powerful ruler Kanauj was the most important city in North was Bhoja (836–882). He conquered Kanauj and India. Its location was such that whoever made it his capital. He was succeeded by his held Kanauj could control the resources son, Mahendrapala. He expanded the empire (minerals, agriculture, trade) of the entire further. His successors, however, were weak Ganga valley. Since the eighth century, the and could not defend the kingdom from Palas, Gurjara– Pratiharas and Rashtrakutas invasions. In 1018, Mahmud of Ghazni defeated were engaged in a tripartite struggle to the Pratihara ruler. Soon, the dynasty came to control Kanauj. This struggle lasted for over an end. THE DECCAN powers and privileges. These guilds also had The area between the Narmada and Krishna their own group of armed men to protect goods in transit. rivers is known as the Deccan. The Chalukyas of Kalyani The Chalukyas of Rashtrakutas were very powerful here. Kalyani were also known as the Later The Rashtrakutas Chalukyas or the Western Chalukyas. The greatest ruler was Vikramanka. He and his The Rashtrakutas rose to power in the eighth successors built many temples at Aihole, century under Dantidurga. He and his Badami and Pattadakal. successor, Krishna I, consolidated the Rashtrakuta rule in the region of present-day Kakatiyas of Warangal The Kakatiyas ruled in Maharashtra. Malkhed, near modern Sholapur the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Their in Maharashtra, was the capital city. kingdom lay between the Godavari and The Rashtrakutas fought against the Palas Krishna rivers. Marco Polo tells us that the and the Gurjara–Pratiharas in the north. Kakatiya rulers were followers of Shaivism, Towards the south, they clashed with the though Jainism and Vaishnavism also Pallavas, the Pandyas and the Cholas. flourished. The rulers patronized Sanskrit Continuous wars weakened the Rashtrakutas and Telugu. In the early fourteenth century, considerably. They were finally overthrown in the kingdom was conquered by the sultans the tenth century. of Delhi. The Rashtrakuta kings were patrons of art, architecture and literature. The famous Kailasa Hoysalas of Dvarasamudra The Hoysalas Temple at Ellora and the rock-cut caves at ruled the region covered by present-day Elephanta were carved during the reign of the Karnataka. The most powerful king was Rashtrakutas.