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A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c13: Chapter VIII. Conflict of Three Empires

A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c13

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English

Contents

Chapter VIII. Conflict of Three Empires

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General outline—Chālukyas: Pulakeśin I, Kirtivarman I, Mangaleśa, Pulakeśin II and his conquests—Pallavas: Simhavishnu, Mahendravarman I—Chālukya-Pallava wars—Narasimhavarman I Pallava, Mahāmalla—death of Pulakeśin II followed by confusion—Mahāmalla's achievements—Mahendravarman II and Parameśvaravarman—Pāndyas: Kadungōn, Māravarman Avaniśūlāmani, Śendan, Arikēsari Māravarman—Chālukya Vikramāditya II—Arab inroads checked—Pallava wars renewed—Narasimhavarman II Rājasimha, Parameśvaravarman II, Nandivarman II—Pāndya Kōccadaiyan; Māravarman Rājasimha I and his wars against Nandivarman II—Vikramāditya II invaded Kānchi—Kirtivarman II defeated by Pāndya Rājasimha I—fall of Chālukya power and rise of Rāshtrakūta Dantidurga—Nandivarman II fails in his attempt to check Pāndyan power—Varaguna I, Śrīmāra Śrivallabha—Dantivarman—Rāshtrakūta Krishna I, Govinda II, Dhruva, Govinda III—Nandivarman III and his wars with Pāndyas—Nripatunga—end of Pāndya Śrīmāra's reign—Rāshtrakūta Amoghavarsha I—Chera history—Gangas of Kalinga.

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Polity—general Features—village community: sabhā, nagaram—larger administrative units—provinces and officials—justice—king—succession—insignia—queens—checks on royalty.

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For a period of 300 years from the middle of the sixth century A.D., the history of South India is virtually the story of mutual conflict among three powers each seeking constantly to extend its empire at the expense of its neighbours. The three powers were the Chālukyas of Bādāmi, the Pallavas of Kānchi and the Pāndyas of Madura. All of them rose into prominence in the sixth century; but the Chālukyas quit the stage about a century earlier than the two other powers, their place on the political map being more or less exactly filled from the middle of the eighth century by their successors, the Rāshtrakūtas of Mānyakheta (Malkhed). Besides the main house of Bādāmi, the Chālukyas established themselves in two other branches, more or less independent of the main line: the Chālukyas of Lāta, and the Eastern Chālukyas of Vengi. Together with the Gangas of Mysore, the Eastern Chālukyas took sides in the conflicts of the three kingdoms, sometimes with decisive results. The Cholas of the Tamil country had practically disappeared except that a line of Telugu rulers bearing their name and claiming a traditional connexion with their capital at Uraiyūr ruled in the area now known as Rayalaseema.

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Political conflict was, however, no obstacle to cultural growth. A vast and many-sided religious revival checked the spread of Jainism and Buddhism, created a great volume of soul-stirring devotional literature and advanced philosophic speculation. Under the stimulus of this religious impulse, remarkable advances were registered in architecture, sculpture, painting and music. All these influences overflowed into the numerous Hindu colonies across the sea.

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SOUTH INDIA: A.D. 500-850

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The founder of the Chālukya line was Pulakeśin I. The name probably means ‘the great lion’. He fortified the hill near Bādāmi into a strong fortress in 543-4, and declared his independence by performing a horse sacrifice. The new fortress stood on a defensible eminence within three miles of the Malaprabhā river. Among the hills to the east is Mahākūṭa; five miles farther in the same direction and on the river is Pattadakal, and another eight miles down the river is Aihōle—all witnessing to the age of Chālukyan ascendancy by their temples and inscriptions. Pulakeśin's son Kirtivarman I (566-7) expanded the kingdom by wars against the Kadambas of Banavāsi, the Mauryas of Konkan, and the Nalas who probably ruled over a fair-sized kingdom in the region of Bastar and the Jeypore Agency. The conquest of Konkan brought the important port of Goa, then known as Revatidvipa, into the growing empire. At Kirtivarman's death (597-8), his son Pulakeśin II was too young to rule, so his uncle Mangaleśa, Kirtivarman's brother, held sway as regent. Mangaleśa continued the policy of expansion and invaded the territory of Kalachuri Buddharāja whose dominion extended over Gujarat, Khandesh and Malwa. This campaign was more of the nature of a raid, so that, while it brought in much booty, it made but little addition of territory. He suppressed a rebellion on the part of the Governor of Revatidvipa (Goa) and re-established Chālukyan power in the Konkan. Instead of surrendering the throne when Pulakeśin II came of age, Mangaleśa sought to prolong his rule with a view to handing over the kingdom to his own son in due course. Pulakeśin therefore left the court and by his own martial prowess waged war on Mangaleśa with the support of loyal friends, killed him in battle and proclaimed himself king (609-10). This civil war shook the young kingdom of the Chālukyas and enemies began to appear on all sides. Pulakeśin II soon proved himself one of the ablest monarchs of the line. He defeated the rebel Āppāyika in a battle north of the Bhimarathi river and received his confederate Govinda into favour when he offered submission. He attacked and overthrew the Kadamba capital Banavāsi, while the Ālupas of South Canara and the Gangas of Mysore were compelled to acknowledge his suzerainty. The Ganga ruler Durvinita gave one of his daughters in marriage to Pulakeśin, and she became the mother of Vikramāditya I. The Mauryas of northern Konkan were once more reduced to submission by a successful attack on their capital Puri (on the island of Elephanta), the Lakshmi of the western ocean. The fame of Pulakeśin's arms and fear of the growing power of Śri Harsha in Northern India induced the Lātas, Mālavas and Gurjaras to offer their submission one after another to Pulakeśin. The northern frontier of the Chālukyan empire was thus extended at one bound to the river Mahi. When Harsha sought to invade the Deccan, Pulakeśin met and heavily defeated him on the banks of the Narmada, capturing many elephants—the only check in Harsha's otherwise victorious career. All these achievements were in the first three or four years of Pulakeśin's reign.

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Pulakeśin then made his younger brother Vishnuvardhana yuvarāja and, leaving him in charge of the capital, he started on an extensive campaign of conquest in the eastern Deccan. Southern Kosala and Kalinga made their submission first. Pishtapura was then attacked and reduced. In a hard-fought battle on the shores of the Kunāla (Colair) lake, the power of the Vishnukundins was broken and subdued. Then came the turn of the Pallavas whose rise we must now trace before proceeding further.

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The political confusion that reigned in the Tamil country after the incursion of the Kalabhras was ended in the last quarter of the sixth century by the activities of two monarchs, the Pallava Simhavishnu and the Pāndya Kadungōn with their capitals at Kānchi and Madura respectively. Simhavishnu not only suppressed the Kalabhras but conquered the whole country up to the Kaveri and even came into conflict with the Pāndyas and the ruler of Ceylon. He was a worshipper of Vishnu and had the title Avanisimha (lion of the earth). His portrait and that of his son Mahendravarman I are found sculptured in relief in the Varāha cave at Māmallapuram (Mahābalipuram). He may be taken to have ruled between 575-600. He was followed by Mahendravarman I, a many-sided genius, great alike in war and in peace. He had many titles such as Mattavilāsa, Vicitra-citta and Guna-bhara. He was a great builder, a poet and a musician. He professed Jainism for a time but discarded it in favour of Śaivism under the influence of Appar. At the beginning of his reign (600-30), as in that of his father, Pallava rule extended in the north up to and perhaps a little beyond the river Krishna and bordered on the kingdom of the Vishnukundins.

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After their overthrow, Pulakeśin II sought to measure his strength against Mahendravarman I whose growing power rivalled his own. His forces penetrated far into the Pallava territory and were not stopped until they reached Pullalūr, only fifteen miles north of the Pallava capital. There a pitched battle was fought, and although Mahendravarman was able to save his capital he lost the northern provinces to his enemy. This was the beginning of the long-drawn-out conflict between the Chālukyas and the Pallavas.

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After his return (c. 621) Pulakeśin sent Vishnuvardhana to rule over the Andhra country as viceroy and complete the process of conquest, which he did by about 631. Then, with his brother's approval, he founded a dynasty of rulers who held sway in the Telugu country for over five centuries thereafter.

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Pulakeśin sent an embassy to the Persian court of Khusru II in 625-6 and perhaps this courtesy was returned.

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Pulakeśin's ambition prompted him to undertake another expedition against the Pallavas in the hope of achieving more decisive results. Mahendravarman had quitted the stage and his son Narasimhavarman I Mahāmalla (630-68) had begun his rule. Pulakeśin began his campaign by an attack on the Bānas who were ruling in Rayalaseema as feudatories of the Pallavas. After overrunning their kingdom he invaded the Pallava territory proper and once more threatened the capital. But Narasimhavarman defeated the Chālukyas in several battles including one at Manimangala about 20 miles to the east of Kānchipuram. In these battles Narasimha was ably assisted by a Ceylonese prince, Mānavarma, whom he afterwards helped to gain the throne of Ceylon. Pulakeśin's expedition was thus a failure and was soon followed by terrible retribution. Narasimhavarman, encouraged by his successes, invaded the Chālukya country in force and, rapidly advancing to the capital, Bādāmi, made himself master of the city and its fortress. Pulakeśin II must have fallen fighting, and following upon his death his kingdom was threatened with disruption. Narasimha's occupation of the Chālukya capital is attested to by his title Vātāpikonda and by an inscription engraved on a rock behind the temple of Mallikārjunadeva in Bādāmi during the thirteenth year of his reign.

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This was indeed a crisis in the history of the Chālukyan kingdom. The feudatories of the empire declared their independence and even two of Pulakeśin's sons who were ruling as viceroys sought to follow the same course. Another son, however, Vikramāditya—aided by his maternal grandfather, the Ganga Durvinita, set himself the task of repelling the Pallava invasion and restoring the unity of his father's empire. He compelled Narasimhavarman to retire from Bādāmi and defeated his brothers and those other feudatories who wanted to divide the empire among themselves. He then proclaimed himself king of the restored kingdom in 654-5 and rewarded his younger brother, Jayasimhavarman, who had stood by him all along, with the viceroyalty of Lāṭa or southern Gujarat.

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The Pallava monarch must have returned to his capital soon after 642. Thereafter he sent two naval expeditions to Ceylon to aid Mānavarma. Though the second expedition was successful and Mānavarma put the rival king to death and captured Anurādhapura, he was later once more driven into exile and he sought refuge in the Pallava court—probably after the death of Narasimhavarman.

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Narasimhavarman is said to have vanquished the Cholas, Cheras and Kalabhras as well as the Pāṇdyas, but no details of these battles are known. There can be no doubt, however, that under him the Pallava power attained a strength and prestige which it had not known since its revival under Simhavishnu (575-600). He was a great builder, and Māmallapuram, the chief port of the kingdom, was greatly embellished in his day. Yuan Chwang travelled in his kingdom as well as in that of Pulakeśin II a little before his expedition against Bādāmi and has left us an interesting account of what he saw. Narasimhavarman died about 668, and was succeeded by his son Mahendravarman II, who in his short reign came into conflict with Vikramāditya I. Mahendravarman was followed in his turn by his son, Parameśvaravarman I, in whose reign Chālukya Vikramāditya renewed his conflict, having secured the alliance of the contemporary Pāṇdya ruler Arikēsari Parāṅkuśa Māravarman I (670-700).

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A word must now be said about the rise of the Pāṇdya kingdom. It started on its career about the same time as the Pallava, but we know little of the history of its first two monarchs, Kaḍungōn (590-620) and his son Māravarman Avaniśūḷāmaṇi (620-45). There is no doubt, however, that they put an end to Kalabhra rule in their part of the country and revived the Pāṇdya power. The third, Śēndan or Jayantavarman, imposed his rule on the Chera country and took to himself the title Vānavan. His son Arikēsari Māravarman (670-700) was a great soldier who fought many battles for the extension of Pāṇdya power, some of them against his Pallava contemporary. It is very probable that he entered into an alliance with the Pallavas' enemy on the other side, namely Chālukya Vikramāditya I.

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That ruler, after rescuing his country from the invasion of Narasimhavarman I and consolidating his power, turned to the task of avenging the fate of his father. Hostilities began even in the reign of Mahendravarman II, who sustained defeat somewhere in the Mysore country; and early in the reign of Parameśvaravarman, Vikramāditya advanced to the neighbourhood of Kāñchipuram, so that Parameśvaravarman had to seek refuge in flight. Vikramāditya marched to the banks of the Kaveri and encamped at Uraiyūr where he probably effected a junction with his ally, the Pāndya king. From his exile Parameśvaravarman gathered a large army and offered battle at Vilande to Bhūvikrama, the Ganga ally of Vikramāditya. The battle went against him and he lost to his enemy a valued crown jewel, the necklace which contained the gem ‘Ugrodaya’. Nothing daunted, he managed to send a counter-expedition into the Chālukya kingdom in order to divert the attention of his enemy. He then met the invading forces in battle at Peruvalanallūr, two miles north-west of Uraiyūr, and inflicted a decisive defeat on them. The expeditionary force returned with much booty after encounters with Vinayāditya and Vijayāditya, the son and grandson of Vikramāditya who had to leave the Pallava territory and retire to his own kingdom.

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There was a lull in the conflict between the Chālukyas and Pallavas during the generally peaceful and prosperous reign of Vikramāditya's son, Vinayāditya (681-96). Vinayāditya led an expedition into Northern India, in which his son Vijayāditya greatly distinguished himself, but that is all. Vijayāditya's was the longest reign (696-733) of the Bādāmi period and perhaps also the most prosperous and peaceful. It was marked by great activity in temple-building. He was followed by his son Vikramāditya II (733-44) in the first years of whose reign the Arabs who had established themselves in Sind and conquered the neighbouring lands made a push into the Deccan, but were stopped effectively by Pulakeśin, a son of that Jayasimhavarman who had stood by his brother, Vikramāditya I. Vikramāditya II so appreciated the service of Pulakeśin that he conferred on him the titles, among others, of Avanijanāśraya, meaning ‘refuge of the people of the earth’. The Rāshtrakūta Dantivarman, another feudatory of the Cālukya emperor, also co-operated in the war against the Arabs and earned the appreciation of his suzerain.

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The chief interest of the reign of Vikramāditya II lies in his wars with the Pallavas. He is said to have overrun Kāñchi three times—which brings us back to the Pallavas.

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After his victory against Vikramāditya I, Parameśvaravarman I continued to rule in Kāñchi until his death which occurred about 680, and was succeeded by his son Narasimhavarman II Rājasimha (680-720). His long reign, like the reigns of his Cālukya contemporaries, was marked by peace and prosperity and by the construction of large and beautiful temples like the Kailāsanātha at Kāñchipuram and the Shore temple at Māmallapuram. It was also marked by literary activity, the great rhetorician Dandin probably spending many years at his court. Rājasimha sent embassies to China and maritime trade flourished greatly in his time. He was followed by his son Parameśvaravarman II (720-31), who perhaps built the Śiva temple at Tiruvadi which bears an inscription of his reign but has been repaired many times over.

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Towards the end of his reign Parameśvaravarman’s capital was attacked by the Cālukya crown prince Vikramāditya II assisted by the Ganga prince Ereyappa, son of Śrīpurusha. The Pallava ruler had to purchase peace at a heavy price. His attempt at retaliation against Śrīpurusha ended in disaster; he was killed in battle at Vilande by the Ganga ruler, who seized the royal Pallava umbrella together with the title Permānaḍi.

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The death of Parameśvaravarman led to a crisis in the kingdom. There was no one to succeed him in the direct line and the officials of the capital acting with the ghaṭikā (college of learned brahmins) and the people chose a prince from a collateral branch, Nandivarman II, the son of Hiraṇyavarman. This becomes clear from the labels beneath the sculptured panels in the Vaikuntha Perumāl temple which narrate the history of the Pallavas from their legendary origin to the accession of Nandivarman. They base the choice of Nandivarman on the fact of his being of pure descent both on the father’s and mother’s side. There were apparently other princes of sorts ready to contest Nandivarman’s accession. One of them apparently lost his life opposing Nandivarman’s entry into Kāñchi, while another Chitramāya, as seen from other inscriptions, gained some support not only within the kingdom, but of the Pāndya ruler as well.

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In the Pāṇdya kingdom, Arikēsari Parāṅkuśa was succeeded by his son Kōccaḍaiyan, also called Raṇadhīra (c. 700-30). This monarch waged aggressive wars against his neighbours and extended the Pāṇdya power into the Kongu country. He also suppressed a revolt of the mountain chieftain Āy who occupied the hilly country between Tirunelvēli and Travancore. His reign ended about 730, and his son Māṛavarman Rājasimha I succeeded him. Early in his reign Rājasimha espoused the cause of Chitramāya, and after inflicting a number of defeats on Nandivarman Pallavamalla besieged him in a place called Nandigrāma, i.e., Nandipuram, near Kumbakonam. The able Pallava general Udayacandra, who encountered the Pāṇdya forces in many battles, raised the siege of Nandigrāma, beheaded Chitramāya, and thus made the Pallava throne secure for his monarch. He also dealt with other enemies of Pallavamalla like the Śabara king Udayana and the Niṣāda chieftain Prithivīvyāghra who were probably acting in collusion with the Chālukya, Vikramāditya II. The invasion of Vikramāditya (c. 740), in which his Ganga feudatory Śrīpuruṣa co-operated, was indeed the greatest danger that threatened the kingdom of Pallavamalla in the early years of his long reign. But Vikramāditya behaved on the whole very considerately; though he defeated Nandivarman and occupied his capital for a time, he did no damage to the city, pleased the people by his liberal gifts and returned to the Kailāsanātha and all other temples the heaps of gold that belonged to them. After recording these transactions in a Kannada inscription engraved on a pillar in Kailāsanātha and thus wiping out the disgrace that had befallen the Chālukyas by the occupation of Bādāmi by Narasimhavarman I, Vikramāditya withdrew to his own country leaving the Pallava ruler to resume charge of his kingdom. Towards the end of his reign Vikramāditya sent out another expedition against the Pallava under his son Kirtivarman, who carried out a successful raid and returned with many elephants and much gold and jewellery captured from the enemy.

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Vikramāditya’s reign was also marked by the construction of new temples, an activity which was continued by his son Kirtivarman II who succeeded him in 744-5. Kirtivarman II and his Ganga feudatory Śrīpuruṣa came into conflict with the Pāṇdya ruler Māṛavarman Rājasimha I who was extending the Pāṇdya power over the Kongu country and beyond. Rājasimha crossed the Kaveri and subjugated Maḷakongam on the borderland between the Tiruchirāpalli and Tanjore districts, defeated the Chālukya ruler and his feudatory in a big battle at Veṇbai and made peace with them, accepting the hand of a Ganga princess for his son.

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Kirtivarman II was the last ruler of the Chālukya line of Bādāmi. His power was steadily undermined by the activity of the Rāshṭrakūṭa prince Dantidurga who was in occupation of Ellora in 742. But the main scene of Dantidurga's early activities lay on the banks of the Mahi, Narmada and Mahanadi. He subdued the Gurjaras of Malwa, the rulers of Kosala and Kalinga and the Telugu-Chodas of the Śrīśailam country. Above all, he went down to Kāñchi and, after a demonstration of force, struck up an alliance with Nandivarman Pallavamalla to whom he gave his daughter Rēvā in marriage. Having thus deprived Kirtivarman of his outlying provinces and strengthened his political position, Dantidurga delivered the final assault on Kirtivarman sometime in 752 or 753 and proclaimed himself the sovereign power in Deccan. Kirtivarman continued to rule in an obscure way for two or three years more but, as the later inscriptions say, 'In his reign the rājyaśrī of the Chālukyas disappeared from the face of the earth'.

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To return to the reign of Nandivarman II: he led an expedition against the Ganga kingdom, defeated Śrīpurusha and forced him to surrender much wealth and restore the necklace which contained the precious gem called 'Ugrodaya'. Some territory was also taken from the Ganga and handed over to Jayanandivarman, the Bāṇa feudatory of Nandivarman. This was perhaps about 775. Nandivarman also came into conflict with Jaṭila Parāntaka Neḍunjaḍaiyan, alias Varaguṇamahārāja I (765-815), the son and successor of Pāṇdya Rājasimha I. The Pallava forces sustained a defeat at Peṇṇāgaḍam on the south bank of the Kaveri river (c. 775).

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Pallavamalla sought to restrain the growing power of the Pāṇdya king by organizing a confederacy against him. He entered into an alliance with the rulers of Kongu and Kerala as well as the Adigaimān of Tagaḍūr (Dharmapuri). But the Pāṇdya king was equal to the occasion, won victories in several battles, put the Adigaimān to flight, and captured the king of western Kongu, with many elephants, and sent him into confinement at Madura, annexing the whole of the Kongu country to the Pāṇdya empire. In the course of the war, he also penetrated far into the Pallava country and fixed his camp at Araśūr on the banks of the Pennar in Tondainād.

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The coalition against him thus failed utterly, and Nandivarman did not succeed in his attempts to check the Pāndya.

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Varaguna I had still other successes to his credit. He led an expedition into Vēnād, South Travancore, attacked the strongly fortified port of Vilinam and brought the country under his rule. He also waged successful war against the Āy chieftain of the intervening mountainous country who had perhaps been friendly to the ruler of Vēnād. As a result of these wars, Pāndya sway extended well beyond Tiruchirāpalli into the Tanjore, Salem and Coimbatore districts, and all that lay south was under him. The expansion continued under his son and successor Śrīmāra Śrīvallabha (815-62) who invaded Ceylon in the reign of Sena I (831-51), ravaged the northern province and sacked the capital. Eventually Sena made terms with the conqueror and the Pāndya forces quitted the island. Śrīmāra had next to deal with a formidable combination formed against him again under the leadership of the Pallavas. We must now turn for a while to Pallava history.

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After the failure of his plans against Varaguna, Nandivarman Pallavamalla continued to rule till about 795. Pallavamalla was a worshipper of Vishnu and a great patron of learning. He renovated old temples and built several new ones. Among the latter was the Vaikuntha-Perumāl temple at Kānchipuram which contains inscribed panels of sculpture portraying the events leading up to the accession of Pallavamalla to the throne. The great Vaishnava saint Tirumangai Ālvār was his contemporary.

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Nandivarman was succeeded by his son Dantivarman (c. 795-845). The northern expansion of the Pāndya power under Varaguna I and Śrīmāra deprived Dantivarman of a considerable part of his territory in the south; and in addition, he had to face the hostility of the rising power of the Rāshtrakūtas. It is now necessary to trace the history of that power.

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Dantidurga died childless and was succeeded about 756 by his uncle Krishna I. He completed the overthrow of the Chālukya power and expanded the new kingdom in all directions. He conquered southern Konkan and established the Śilāra family there as a feudatory power. He invaded the Ganga territory, defeated Śripurusha (768) and compelled him to acknowledge his suzerainty. Against the Eastern Chālukya kingdom of Vengi he dispatched an expedition under the crown prince Govinda II to whom Vijayāditya I (755-72), ruler of Vengi, made his submission without a fight.

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(769-70). Krishna who built the celebrated Kailāsa temple at Ellora, was succeeded by Govinda II some time between 772 and 775. In 777-8, Govinda co-operated with Nandivarman Pallavamalla in assisting Śivamāra II to gain the Ganga throne against the opposition of his brother, Duggamāra Ereyappa. Govinda was an easygoing monarch and his ambitious brother Dhruva planned to seize the throne for himself. Govinda sought the aid of the Pallava and the Ganga, and the rulers of Vengi and Malwa; but Dhruva defeated them and thus became king. How exactly Govinda ended his life is not known. Dhruva's accession took place about 780 and his first task was to punish Govinda's allies. He caught and imprisoned Śivamāra II, and levied a tribute of elephants from Pallavamalla. He crossed the Vindhyas and drove the Gurjara king of Malwa, Vatsarāja by name, into the desert. He proceeded against Vengi, and Vishnuvardhana IV had to purchase peace by parting with some territory besides offering the hand of his daughter Śilamahādevi to Dhruva. Dhruva followed up his success in Malwa by a raid into the Ganges-Jumna doab where he met and defeated Dharmapāla of Bengal. Towards the close of his reign, Dhruva abdicated and made Govinda III, the ablest of his sons, emperor. This led to trouble soon after Dhruva's death in 793-4, when Govinda III had to face the hostility of his disinherited brothers, particularly that of Kambha, the eldest. To gain support, Govinda released Śivamāra II from prison, but contrary to expectations that monarch threw in his lot with Kambha. Single-handed, Govinda defeated the confederacy of twelve rulers but used his victory with moderation, even reinstating Kambha as viceroy over Gangavādi; while Indra, a younger brother of Govinda who had stood by him, was rewarded with the viceroyalty of Lāta. Śivamāra II, however, was again put in prison. After putting down opposition at home Govinda III carried his arms into Northern India. He inflicted a decisive defeat on the Gurjara ruler of Malwa, Nāgabhaṭa II, and on his ally Chandragupta, of unknown identity. Malwa was annexed for a time to Lāta. Govinda proceeded farther north and received the submission of Chakrāyudha of Kanauj and his protector Dharmapāla. On his return (802) he fixed his camp at Śribhavana on the banks of the Narmada where a son was born to him, the future Amoghavarsha I. From Śribhavana, he dashed across the Deccan into the Pallava country (803-4). He defeated Dantivarman, entered his capital Kāñchī and there received the submission offered by an embassy from Ceylon before he retired to the banks of the Tungabhadra and fixed his camp at Rameśvara-tīrtha. The rulers of Vengi, Vishnuvardhana IV, and his successor Vijayāditya II (808), felt the impact of Govinda's power. Vijayāditya was a great fighter who earned for himself the title Narendramṛgarāja (Lion among Kings). Govinda III created trouble for him by supporting his half-brother Bhīma Saluki's rival claims to the throne of Vengi. One of the greatest monarchs of the line, Govinda's achievements go far to justify the claim of his court-poets that after his birth the Rāshṭrakūṭas became as unassailable as the Yādavas after the birth of Śrī Krishna.

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To return to affairs farther south; during his fairly long reign, the Pallava Dantivarman found himself unable to resist the aggression of the Pāṇḍyas from the south or even hold his own against the Rāshṭrakūṭas in the north. He was followed by his son Nandivarman III (844-66), a much abler monarch than his father, who organized a strong confederacy against his aggressive Pāṇḍya contemporary Śrīmāra Śrīvallabha, and early in his reign inflicted a severe defeat on the Pāṇḍya at Tellaru in the Wandiwash taluk of the North Arcot district. His allies were the Gangas, the Cholas, and even the Rāshṭrakūṭas. The location of the field of battle shows the extent to which Pāṇḍya aggression had developed, and this doubtless made it easy for Nandivarman to find support. The victory of Tellaru was a turning point. It gave Nandi the permanent title ‘Tellāṟeṟinda’ and was followed up by further successes as a result of which the Pāṇḍya forces were rolled back into their home country, and the Pallava army advanced as far as the banks of the Vaigai, in the heart of the Pāṇḍya kingdom.

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Later, however, Śrīmāra recovered his strength and about 859 was able to defeat Nandivarman and his confederates in a battle near Kumbakonam.

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Nandivarman III was undoubtedly too great a monarch to suffer by this defeat. Not only did he restore the Pallava power to its former glory, but he was also a liberal patron of literature and the arts in general. He is also said to have maintained a powerful fleet: a Tamil inscription at Takua-pa in Siam, on the opposite coast of the Bay, attests to his overseas connexions by mentioning a Vishnu temple and a tank called Avanināraṇam after one of his titles. Nandivarman was succeeded by his son Nripatunga who had become yuvarāja about 860, and whose mother was a Rāṣṭrakūṭa princess. Soon after his accession, the young Pallava ruler avenged the defeat of his father at Kumbakonam by a decisive victory against the Pāṇdyas in a battle on the banks of the river Ariśil, a branch of the Kaveri which enters the sea at Kāraikkāl.

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Śrimārā’s defeat at Ariśil was not an isolated event. His aggressive campaigns which had earned for him the title Paracakrakolāhala (Confounder of the Circle of his Enemies) naturally roused the hostility of his neighbours. Sena II (851-85) of Ceylon, nephew and successor of Sena I, had allied himself with the Pallavas and with a pretender to the Pāṇdya throne. He sent an expedition into the Madura kingdom at about the same time as the battle of Ariśil and the invasion was a complete success. The capital was sacked, Śrimārā died of his wounds, and his son Varaguṇavarman II was enthroned in his place by the Sinhalese commander-in-chief (862).

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In the Rāṣṭrakūṭa kingdom Govinda III was succeeded (814), by his young son Amoghavarsha, also called Nripatunga. The early years of the boy-king’s reign were full of trouble. There was a widespread rebellion of the officials supported by the Eastern Chālukya Vijayāditya II and the Ganga Rācamalla I. Amoghavarsha, however, found a loyal ally and strong protector in his cousin Karka of Lāṭa; the rebellion was suppressed and Amoghavarsha was secure on his throne before 821. At no time during his long reign of 64 years can peace be said to have prevailed all over his extensive dominions. With the Eastern Chālukyas war broke out again about 850 when Guṇaga Vijayāditya III, the grandson of Vijayāditya II and one of the ablest monarchs of his line, made a strenuous effort to free the Vengi kingdom from the Rāṣṭrakūṭas. Amoghavarsha won a decisive victory in the sanguinary battle of Viṅgāvalli near Stambhapuri (Kambham) in the Kurnool district, whereafter Guṇaga Vijayāditya submitted and remained loyal for the rest of Amoghavarsha’s reign. The Ganga Eraya, known as also Nitimārga and Raṇavikrama (837-70), son of Rācamalla I, revolted soon after and was joined by other feudatories. Amoghavarsha’s general Bankeśa dealt with them successfully; but before he could complete his task Amoghavarsha recalled him to the capital where other disturbances had arisen, in which the crown prince Krishna himself was involved, as well as the ruler of Lāṭa, Dhruva I, son of that Karka who had so ably protected Amoghavarsha earlier. Bankeśa killed Dhruva I in battle and continued the war with his son Akālavarsha and his grandson Dhruva II. Dhruva II was, however, threatened in his rear by the Gurjara ruler Mihira Bhoja, and some of his own kinsmen had turned hostile to him at home. He thus thought it wise to compose his quarrel with Amoghavarsha in 860, and was thereby enabled to thwart the designs of the Gurjara and his hostile kinsmen, so that we find him secure on his throne again in 867.

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After the recall of Bankeśa, the war against the rebels in the Ganga kingdom was entrusted to Guṇaga Vijayāditya who led an expedition into the Nolamba kingdom as its ruler Nolambādhirāja I, also called Mangi, had joined the rebellion. Mangi was slain in battle and the road to Gangavāḍi opened up. Then the Ganga army was beaten in its turn and Nitimārga obliged to make peace.

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By temperament Amoghavarsha was a religious man who loved literature more than fighting. He is said to have retired from his court more than once to spend time in the company of Jaina monks. It is doubtful, however, whether he formally renounced Hinduism, though a small Jaina catechism entitled *Praśnottara-ratna-mālikā* is attributed to him. He was himself an author and a liberal patron of authors. He is also celebrated as the maker of the city of Mānyakheta, the city built to excel that of Indra. His palace was full of fine workmanship and included an extensive apartment for the royal princesses and a tank. Amoghavarsha was succeeded by Krishna II (880).

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The history of the Chera country during this period is still obscure. Apparently the land continued under the Perumāls, though several rulers of different dynasties claim to have overrun Kerala, generally a vague assertion not supported by tangible evidence. We have seen that Pallava Narasimhavarman I claimed victory over the Cheras as also the Pāndya Śendan. Nandivarman II Pallavamalla allied himself with the ruler of Kerala against his Pāndyan contemporary, Varaguna I. Other Pallava rulers like Simhavishnu and Nandivarman III also claim suzerainty over Kerala. Cultural contact between the Chera country and the Pallava court is rather well attested. The *Mattavilāsa* of Mahendravarman became one of the favourite theatricals of the Chākkiyār, the hereditary play-actors of Malabar. In his *Avantisundarī Kathāsāra* Dandin reveals a vivid knowledge of Kerala and refers to several learned brahmins of Kerala who visited Kāñchi while he was in the Pallava Court. Among the Pāṇḍyas, besides Śēndan, almost every other ruler claims success against the Chera, as do also Pulakeśin II, Vikramāditya I, Vikramāditya II and Kirtivarman II among the Bādāmi Chālukyas, and Dantidurga, Govinda III and Krishna III among the Rāshṭrakūṭas.

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One of the latest Perumāḷs of the period was the celebrated Cheramān Perumāḷ, end of the eighth and early ninth century, whose history is much overlaid by legend. We may doubt the authenticity of the story of his conversion to Islām and his pilgrimage to Mecca. He must have been a devoutly religious man as the Jains, Christians, and Śaivites, besides Muslims, claim him as one of their fold. His relation to Sundaramūrti, according to Śaiva legend, will be noticed later. He may have renounced the world, and effected a partition of his realm among his relatives or vassals before doing so. He seems to have vanished somehow about A.D. 825, the epoch of the Kollam era. But whether that era commemorates Cheramān’s partition of Kerala or Śankarāchārya’s imposition of his religious prescriptions on that country, or the establishment of the Jewish merchant community in Kollam (Quilon)—other possibilities have also been suggested—cannot be determined yet. There are epigraphical references which connect the era both with the appearance and the destruction of Kollam.

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In concluding the political history of the period we may note that Kalinga was throughout under the rule of the line of Eastern Gangas, who in spite of their name have no apparent connexion in this period with the Gangas of Mysore. They dated their inscriptions in an era of their own, beginning with the equivalent of A.D. 498. Their external contacts were few, though sometimes the politics of the Telugu country to the south under the Vishnukundins and their successors, the Eastern Chālukyas, occasionally forced itself on their attention. They made their submission to Pulakeśin II (c. 620) when he invaded the eastern Deccan and later perhaps also to the Rāshṭrakūṭa Dantidurga (c. 750). But to judge from their grants they generally led a peaceful existence without disturbing their neighbours or being troubled by them.

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In proceeding to sketch the polity of the period, emphasis should be laid, at the outset, on certain fundamental characteristics in the Indian attitude to political organization in ancient times. First, they looked to the state for very little. The ruler was expected to uphold the existing social order and protect it from internal trouble and foreign invasion, and receive as his wage the taxes paid by the people, particularly a sixth part of the produce of the land. The social order itself had its roots elsewhere—in revelation (*śruti*), tradition (*smṛti*), and the practice of the élite (*ācāra*). The ruler had ordinarily little control over the numerous social, economic and religious concerns of the people, except by way of dispensing justice when disputes were brought before him or his courts. The details of the daily life of the people were looked after by numberless autonomous groups and associations bound by ties of locality, caste, occupation, or religious persuasion. These groups generally followed custom and ancient practice though they were by no means unwilling to try new methods should occasion demand it. Each group had its own constitution, generally well-understood by its members, and flexible enough for meeting new situations. There was usually a general assembly which met rarely, except perhaps once a year on some definite festive or ceremonial occasion, and an executive body in charge of the daily routine. The executive was often chosen by lot from among persons possessing certain prescribed qualifications. Decision by majority of votes was not unknown, but usually the aim was to reach unanimous and integrated decisions by reconciling the different interests and points of view. Guilds of merchants like the Nānā-deśis, the Maṇigrāmam and the Five Hundred of Ayyavole, associations of craftsmen, artisans and manufacturers like the braziers, oil-mongers and weavers, and of students, ascetics, temple servants, priests, and so on, besides the territorial assemblies of the village and higher divisions—all functioned more or less independently of the government of the ruler.

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Secondly, the duty of protecting society was cast by theory on a special class, the Kshatriyas, and by a natural and easy transition anyone who felt equal to the task of undertaking the rule of a particular area and did not hesitate to do so was more or less readily accepted as the ruler. Each successful adventurer became a king and gained respectability by maintaining a liberal court, patronizing learning and the arts, and causing *praśastis* (praises) to be composed in honour of himself and his family. Moreover, aggrandizement was the recognized duty of the ruler; he had to be a *vijigīshu* (one who wishes to conquer) and the general acceptance of this ideal led to frequent wars and skirmishes resulting in changes in the relative precedence of the different powers involved. Lastly, and as a consequence of these two factors, political changes did not have in India such profound effects on the structure of society and civilization as elsewhere, although the establishment and the continued prosperity of an empire often, indeed, meant an era of high endeavour and achievement in literature and the arts.

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The organization which made for the continuity of life and tradition, held society together, and carried it safe through the storms and turmoils of political revolution was the autonomous, self-sufficient village. It was the primary cell of the body politic, and the vitality of its institutions is well-attested by hundreds of inscriptions from all parts of the country. Usually, it comprised a number of families, each occupying a house of its own in the residential quarter of the village, owning its own share of the arable land, and enjoying privileges like the right to graze cattle and gather firewood in the waste land and forest lying round about and held in common by the villagers as a body. A Pallava grant mentions some land in a village as the property of the king, which goes directly against the view sometimes expressed that all land belonged to the king in the ancient Indian State. A careful record of the boundaries of a village and of the individual estates in it was maintained. The villagers met periodically to consider matters of common concern and for the settlement of disputes and the administration of justice. Everywhere rural administration grew from timid and tentative improvisations to the more elaborate and complicated machinery of committees and officials that we find described in the Chola inscriptions of the tenth and eleventh centuries, and in this evolution the Tamil country appears to have been more progressive than the rest of South India. The village had a headman, variously called mutuḍa, kiḷān, grāmabhōjaka and so on, who was its leader and mediator with the royal government. How he was appointed and whether the office was hereditary cannot be determined. The village elders are also particularly mentioned besides the headmen and the assembly.

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From the eighth and ninth centuries A.D. three types of village assemblies are traceable in Tamil inscriptions, namely, the ūr, the sabhā, and the nagaram. The ūr was the common type which included all classes of people who held the land in the village. The sabhā was an exclusively brahmin assembly of villages given as gifts to brahmins where all the land belonged to them. The *nagaram* was quite another type pertaining to localities where traders and merchants were in a dominant position. In many instances the different types existed side by side in the same locality. Whenever necessary, there was mutual consultation among these different assemblies and other local associations, and the general rule was to consult all the interests concerned in a matter before a decision was taken on it. The village assembly regulated irrigation rights, administered charitable endowments, maintained tanks and roads and managed the affairs of temples, either directly or by means of executive officers and committees working under it. It also made rules for regulating its own procedure.

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In the Deccan we come across many references to the *mahājanas* of villages who were in charge of the local administration under the leadership of *gāmuṇḍas* (headmen). The royal officials stood in closer relation to the working of the village assemblies here than in the more autonomous townships of the Tamil country.

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Unless specially exempted, the villages were liable to visits from royal officers for digging for salt, the manufacture of sugar and the arrest of culprits. They also had to supply draught bulls to help the progress of touring officers, besides other amenities such as accommodation, beds, boiled rice, milk, curds, grass, fuel, and green vegetables, besides free labour on specified public works. In addition to the land tax and these occasional demands from officials, the people were subjected to a variety of imposts, direct and indirect. Houses and professions were taxed, market dues and tolls on merchandise moved from place to place were collected, besides judicial dues and fines. Arab writers who knew western India well thought that the people of India were heavily taxed, so that their monarchs might have their treasuries full. To complete the picture, we must note that besides these compulsory levies, central and local, a number of voluntary imposts for particular purposes such as the maintenance of a tank, temple, feeding house, college or hospital were undertaken by particular corporations, mostly of merchants.

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Above the *grāma* was the administrative division called *āhara*, *rāṣṭra*, *nāḍu*, *kōṭṭam*, or *vishaya* at different times and places. *Rāṣṭra* and *vishaya* often figure as two categories, one larger than the other. In the Tamil country the larger division was often called *vaḷanāḍu* or *maṇḍalam*. The size of these units often depended on accidents of history, e.g., Bānarāja-vishaya of the Bādāmi period. In this division also there was an assembly of elders and a chief executive official known as *deśabhōjaka*, *nāṭṭukkōn* and so on.

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Provincial offices were often held by princes of the royal family. This was an advantage when there was unity in the family but when differences arose it easily led to civil war and disruption, as for instance in the Chālukya empire of Bādāmi during the interval between the death of Pulakeśin II and the accession of Vikramāditya I. There were groups of officers charged with the maintenance of the peace and securing the safety of life and property who went by different names in different kingdoms. Local policing was to some extent done by village officials. There were also bailiffs (*śāsana sañcārin*) who went about the country enforcing the execution of the orders of government and the decrees of law-courts, and they were aided in the discharge of their duties by a constabulary (*bhaṭas*). We hear also of a superintendent of the treasury (*kośādhyaksha*) and officers engaged in the survey and assessment of cultivated lands (*nilakkaḷattār* and *adhikāri*). Lastly there were the *vāyil kēṭpār*, i.e., hearers of oral orders issued by the king, also called *rahasyādhikrita*. They were the secretaries who attended on the king, listened to his orders, and subsequently wrote them out in proper form and had them communicated to the officials concerned for proper action. Such orders were called *rājaśrāvitam* under the Chālukyas and the Rāshṭrakūṭas. Besides village courts and caste and guild *panchāyats* for the settlement of disputes, there were law-courts called *adhikaraṇas* or *dharmāsanas* maintained by the central government for the administration of justice. They were presided over by state officials assisted by advisers learned in the law (*dharmāsanabhaṭṭas*). A scene in the farce *Mattavilāsa* by King Mahendravarman suggests that the courts were not altogether free from corruption. In the absence of other evidence ordeals (*divya*) were resorted to for proof.

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There is no clear proof of the existence of a regularly constituted council of ministers although the *mantrimaṇḍala* (group of ministers) took part in the events preceding the coronation of Nandivarman II Pallavamalla.

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The king was the head of the state, the fountain of honour, judge, and leader of the armed forces. The early kings in this period called themselves *dharmamahārājādhirājas*, in token of their active promotion of Vedic dharma as against Buddhism and Jainism.

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which had made much headway in the country in the earlier period, but there were Jaina monarchs also, particularly among the Gangas. The kings specially favoured the particular religious creed they professed but never sought to impose it on all their subjects; rather they patronized as a matter of policy all the other creeds. After a political revolution, social and economic stability was ensured by express proclamations that all pre-existing rights of property and the charitable foundations would be respected by the new rulers.

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Succession to the throne was usually hereditary in the eldest male line. Princes were educated according to the best standards of the time in literature, law, philosophy and the martial arts, and trained in administrative positions suited to their capacities and tastes. The attempt of Mangaleśa to shut Pulakeśin II, for whom he acted as regent, permanently out of his rights met with a deserved failure as public opinion supported Pulakeśin. The success of Vikramāditya in checking the disruption of the Chālukya empire after the death of Pulakeśin II has also been noticed above, and Vikramāditya was not the eldest son of Pulakeśin. The choice of Nandivarman II as king from a collateral branch when succession failed in the main line may also be recalled. The history of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas and of the Eastern Chālukyas was marred by a number of disputed successions and civil wars. Among the latter this was accentuated by the interference of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas. The choice of Govinda III for succession by Dhruva led inevitably to a civil war started by his eldest son Kambha whose claims had been passed over, but the event justified the choice of Govinda for rule.

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Each royal family had its own banner (dhvaja) and seal (lāñchana) mentioned prominently in their inscriptions. The royal palace was maintained in great state, and elephants and horses captured in war were exhibited at the palace gate. Queens occupied a position of equal importance with the king. Śīlabhaṭṭārikā, Dhruva's wife, bore the imperial titles Parameśvarī and Paramabhaṭṭārikā, made grants of land at her own will, and issued her own orders to the executive officers of government. Rangapatākā, the wife of Pallava Rājasimha, interested herself in the construction of the Kailāsanātha temple.

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Though the king was in theory an autocrat, there were several modifying factors in practice. All the members of the royal family shared in the administration as far as possible and had opportunities of influencing the king's policy. Then there were the high officials of the state, some of whose offices were hereditary and who commanded the respect of the monarch by their descent, ability, and character. The presence of numerous feudatory monarchs and the domination of social life by the numerous corporate organizations spoken of above went far to mitigate the bad consequences of the rule of incapable or misguided sovereigns.

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