The Positive Background of Hindu Sociology c7.s8.t4.4

c7.s8.t4.4

It may be observed, in passing, that these researches of Indian scholars in the mediaeval history of Eastern and Southern India from archæological, linguistic, commercial and other standpoints have unearthed important facts of Bengali and Tamil antiquities which prominently demand recognition in the standard works on Indian culture-history. The Pālas, Senas and Cholas of mediæval India can no longer be treated as subordinate or petty princes ruling over the "smaller kingdoms" in one of the alleged periods of disintegration which, according to Smith, Foucher and others, Indian history is said to repeat after every epoch of consolidation. They must be ranked as to a certain extent on a par, in prestige, titles, pretensions, influences, and achievements, with the famous Vardhanas of the 7th cent. A.C., the Guptas of the 4th-5th cent. A.C. and the Mauryas of the 4th-3rd cent. B.C. Dharmapāla (c. 800 A.C.), the Buddhist Emperor of Eastern India, with his immediate predecessors and successors, Vijayasena (1097-1159), the Śaiva ruler of United Bengal, as well as Rājendra Chola, the great Śaiva monarch of the South, with his predecessors and successors, constitute remarkable contemporary Imperial families which must have a place by the side of such renowned Indian Napoleons, Empire-builders, and statesmen as Chandragupta Maurya, Asoka, the benevolent "Caesaro-papist," Chandragupta the Gupta, Samudragupta the Vikramāditya, and Harṣavardhana, who preceded them in solving the same problems in administration, commerce, religion and culture on the stage of Hindustan.