NCERT 6 HISTORY CHAPTER 10

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 10. NEW EMPIRES AND KINGDOMS


  • Inscription on Ashoka pillar at Allahabad - composed by Harishena, court poet and minister of Samudragupta
  • Prashasti - special kind of inscription (Sanskrit word - 'in praise of')
      SAMUDRAGUPTA'S PRASHASTI
  • praised the king as a warrior, also described as equal to the gods, composed in very long sentences
  • coins - Samudragupta is shown playing the veena
  • Harishena described four kinds of rulers and Samudragupta's policies towards them 
  • Rulers of Aryavarta - nine rulers, their kingdoms were made a part of Samudragupta's empire
  • Rulers of Dakshinapatha - twelve rulers defeated and were allowed to rule again
  • states in Assam, Coastal Bengal, Nepal and gana sanghas in north-west - brought tributes and follow his orders
  • outlying areas - descendants of Kushanas and Shakas, ruler of Sri Lanka, submitted to him and offered daughters in marriage
   GENEALOGIES

  • Samudragupta's mother - Kumara devi, belonged to Lichchhavi gana
  • His father - Chandragupta, the first ruler of Gupta dynasty (title : maharaja-adhiraja)
  • His son - Chandragupta II, led an expedition to Western India, had his court full of learned people (Kalidasa - Poet, Aryabhata - Astronomer) 
   HARSHAVARDHANA AND THE HARSHACHARITA
  • Harshavardana, ruled nearly 1400 years ago
  • Banabhatta, his court poet, wrote his biography, the Harshacharita in Sanskrit
  • Harsha became the king of Thanesar, conquered both Magadha and Bengal
  • he tried to reach Deccan but stopped by Chalukya ruler Pulakeshin II 
   THE PALLAVAS, CHALUKYAS AND PULAKESHIN'S PRASHASTI
  • Pallavas and Chalukyas ruled in South India during this period
  • Pallavas :from capital - Kanchipuram spread to the Kaveri delta
  • Chalukyas : capital - Aihole, centred around the Raichur doab, between the Krishna and Tungabhadra
  • Best known Chalukya ruler - Pulakeshin II, he led expeditions along both the west and the east
  • Pulakeshin checked the advance of Harsha, his courtpoet Ravikirti wrote that Harsha (meaning happiness) was no longer Harsha! after this defeat 
  • Rashtrakuta and Chola dynasties succeeded the Pallavas and Chalukyas
   HOW WERE THESE KINGDOMS ADMINISTERED?

    1.some administrative posts were hereditary
  • Poet Harishena maha-danda-nayaka (chief judicial officer) like his father
    2.one person held many offices
  • Harishena also occupies as a kumar-amatya (important minister) and as a sandhi-vigrahika (minister of war and peace)
    3.important men had a say in local administration
  • nagara-shreshthi (chief banker/ merchant of the city)
  • sarthavaha (leader of the merchant caravans)
  • prathama-kulika (the chief craftsman)
  • the head of Kayasthas (scribes)
    A NEW KIND OF ARMY
  • some kings maintained a well-organised army, with elephants, chariots, cavalry and foot soldiers
  • military leaders called as samantas, were not paid regular salaries, instead received grants of lands
    ASSEMBLIES IN THE SOUTHERN KINGDOMS
  • Inscriptions of Pallavas - mention of local assemblies
  • sabha - assembly of brahmin land owners to look after irrigation, agricultural operations, making roads, local temples, etc
  • ur - village assembly where the land owners were not brahmins
  • nagaram - an organisation of merchants
    ORDINARY PEOPLE IN THE KINGDOMS
  • Kalidasa wrote Abhijnana Shakuntalam, love story between a king named Dushyanta and a young woman Shakuntala 
  • Kings and most brahmins shown as speaking Sanskrit, while common women and men use Prakrit
  • Fa Xian the Chinese pilgrim, noticed some people were treated as untouchables and expected to live on the outskirts of the city

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