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Middle kingdoms of India
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Middle kingdoms of India refers to the political entities in India from the 2nd century BC since the decline of the Maurya Empire, and the corresponding rise of the Satavahana dynasty, beginning with Simuka, from 230 BC. The "Middle" period lasts for some 1,500 years, and ends in the 13th century, with the rise of the Islamic Sultanates (the Delhi Sultanate was established in 1206) and the end of the Chalukya Cholas (Rajendra Chola III died 1279).
This period was marked by waves of invasions from Persia and Central Asia, to the spread of Buddhism from India, through to the Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent.
he wake of the disintegration of the Mauryan Empire during the 2nd century BC, South Asia became a collage of regional powers with overlapping boundaries.
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Middle kingdoms of India refers to the political entities in India from the 2nd century BC since the decline of the Maurya Empire, and the corresponding rise of the Satavahana dynasty, beginning with Simuka, from 230 BC. The "Middle" period lasts for some 1,500 years, and ends in the 13th century, with the rise of the Islamic Sultanates (the Delhi Sultanate was established in 1206) and the end of the Chalukya Cholas (Rajendra Chola III died 1279).
This period was marked by waves of invasions from Persia and Central Asia, to the spread of Buddhism from India, through to the Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent.
North-Western Conquerors
In the wake of the disintegration of the Mauryan Empire during the 2nd century BC, South Asia became a collage of regional powers with overlapping boundaries. The Indus Valley and Gangetic plains of the northwest attracted a series of invaders between 200 BC and 300 AD. The Puranas speak of many of these tribes as foreigners and impure barbarians (Mlechhas) First the Satavahanas and later the Gupta Empire, both successor states to the Mauryan Empire, attempt to contain the expansions of the successive before eventually crumbling internally due pressure exerted by these wars.
The invading tribes are influenced by and adopt Buddhism which continues to flourish under the patronage of both the invaders and the Satavahanas and Guptas and provides a cultural bridge between the two cultures. Overtime the invaders became "Indianized" as they influence society and philosophy across the gangetic plains and are conversely influenced by it. This period is marked by both intellectual and artistic achievements inspired by cultural diffusion and syncretism as the new kingdoms straddle the Silk route.
The Indo-Greek Yavanas
From 180 BC, the Indo-Greeks, from neighbouring Bactria, set up the Indo-Greek Kingdom and were known to the Indic cultures as Yavanas. They contributed to the development of visual arts, religion and numismatics.
The Indo-Scythian Sakas
The Sakas (or Indo-Scythians), came from the steppes of Central Asia to the Indus river.
The Indo-Parthian Pahlavas
With the rise of the Parthians, the Indus Valley was once again brought under the influence of Persia as they conquered the Indo-Scythians.They had Gandhara as their Capital city. The Indo-Parthian Kingdom was founded by Gondophernes around 20 AD when he declared his Independence from the Parthians. This Kingdom last only briefly until its conquest by the Kushanas in 75 AD.
The Western Kshatrapas
The Western Kshatrapas or Satrapies dynasties retained control under the Parthians and eventually ruled sizeable regions on their own competing with the Kushans and Satavahana.
The Kushanas
The Yuezhi were yet another nomadic people forced from their homes in the Inner Asian steppes of Mongolia, slowly took over the Scythian lands and founded their own kingdom based from Afghanistan before considerably expanding into the gangetic plains. The Kushan Empire was the crucible of trade among the Indians, Persians, Chinese, and Roman and controlled a critical part of the legendary Silk Road. Kanishka, who reigned for two decades starting around 78 AD, was the most noteworthy Kushan ruler. He converted to Buddhism and convened a great Buddhist council in Kashmir. The Kushanas were patrons of Gandharan art, a synthesis between Greek and Indian styles, as well as Sanskrit literature. They initiated a new era called Shaka in 78 AD, and their calendar was formally recognized by India for civil purposes starting on March 22, 1957.
They lost considerable amount of lands in central Asia in conflict with the Sassanid Empire who set up the Kushanshahs, and then in the gangetic plain to the rising Gupta Empire. The remnant was then usurped by a vassal establishing the Kidarite Kingdom.
The Indo-Sassanid Kushanshahs
The rise of a new Persian dynasty, the Sassanids saw them re-exert their influence into the Indus region and conquer lands from the Kushans setting up the Kushanshahs around 240 AD. They were to maintain their influence in the region until they were overthrown by the rising Caliphate. They lost control of the region briefly during the White Hun invasion before recapturing it.
The Kidarite Kingdom
The Kidarite Kingdom was established by Kidara who considered himself a Kushan replacing the old dynasty. Thereby the Kushan standard continued to fly and resist both the Gupta Empire and the Sassanid Empire until the White Hun invasion.
The Hephthalite Huna
The Hephthalite were another Central Asian nomadic tribe to invade. They are also linked to the Yuezhi who founded the Kushan Empire. From their capital in Bamiyan, Afghanistan they extended their rule across the Indus and Northern India thereby pressuring the collapse of the Gupta Empire. They were eventually defeated by the Sassanid Empire in alliance with other Turkic tribes.
The Gandharan Kambojas
After the collapse of the Sassanid Empire to the Caliphate the Gandharan Satrapy became an independent Kingdom based from Afghanistan and vied with the Tang dynasty, Tibet, the Caliphate and other Turkic tribes for domination in the region.
Gandhara was ruled by the Turk-Shahi dynasty for two centuries until 843 when the dynasty changed to the Hindu-Shahis, who ruled form almost another two centuries before being conquered by the Ghaznavid Empire.
The Gangetic Plains and The Deccan
Following the demise of the Mauryan Empires the Satavahanas rose as the successor state to check and contend with the influx of the Central Asian tribes from the Northwest. The Satavahanas straddling the Deccan plateau also provided a link for transmission of Buddhism and contact between the Northern Gangetic plains and the Southern regions even as the Upanishads were gaining ground. Eventually weakened both by contention with the northwestern invaders and internal strife they broke up and gave rise to many smalled nations around Deccan and central India regions even as the Gupta Empire arose in the gangetic plains and ushered in a "Golden Age" and rebirth of Empire as decentralized local administrative model and the spread of Indian culture until collapse under the Huna invasions. After the fall of Gupta Empire the gangetic region broke up into smaller states temporarily reunited under Harsha then giving rise to the Rajput dynasties.
In the Deccan, the Chalukyas arose forming a formidable nation marking the migration of the centers of cultural and military power long held in the gangetic plains to the new nations forming in the southern regions of India.
The Satavahana
The Satavahanas started out as feudatories to the Mauryan Empire but declared independence soon after the death of Ashoka (232 BC). They were the first Indic rulers to issue coins struck with their rulers embossed and are known for their patronage of Buddhism resulting in buddhist monuments from Ellora to Amaravati. They formed a cultural bridge and played a vital role in trade and the transfer of ideas and culture to and from the gangetic plains to the southern tip of India.
The Satavahanas had to compete with the Sunga and the Kanva dynasty of the Mauryan Empire to establish first their independence then to expand their rule. Later they had to contend in protecting their domain from the incursions of Sakas (Western Kshatrapas), Yavanas (Indo-Greeks) and Pahlavas (Indo-Parthians). In particular their struggles with the Western Kshatrapas weakened them and the kingdom split into smaller states.
The Gupta Empire
The Classical Age refers to the period when most of North India was reunited after the Mauryans under the Gupta Empire (ca. 320 AD–550 AD). This period is called the "Golden Age" and was marked by extensive cultural achievements that crystallized the elements of what is generally known as Hindu culture. These classical patterns began to spread south only much later after the end of the empire. The high points of this cultural creativity are magnificent and creative architecture, sculpture, and painting. The poet Kalidasa was the greatest writer of the time. Strong trade ties also made the region an important cultural center and set the region up as a base that would influence nearby kingdoms and regions in Bengal, Burma, Sri Lanka and Cambodia.
The Gupta period marked a watershed of Indian culture: the Guptas performed Vedic sacrifices to legitimize their rule, but they also patronized Buddhism, which continued to provide an alternative to Brahmanical orthodoxy. The military exploits of the first three rulers—Chandragupta I (ca. 319–335), Samudragupta (ca. 335–376), and Chandragupta II (ca. 376–415) —brought all of North India under their leadership from capital at Pataliputra. They successfully resisted the North-Western Kingdoms until the arrival of the Hunas.
The Vakatakas
Contemporaries of the Gupta Empire and the successor state of the Satavahanas they formed the southern boundaries of the north and ruled over today's modern day states of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra during the 3rd and 5th centuries. They were eventually overrun by the Chalukyas.
this empir is 415 - 420 samudra gupta coins
Harsha Vardhana
After the collapse of the Gupta Empire, the gangetic plains fractured into numerous small nations. Harsha of Kannauj was able to briefly bind them together under his rulership. Only a defeat at the hands of the Chalukyas prevented him from expanding his reign south of the Narmada river. This unity did not last long beyond his reign and his empire fractured soon after his death in 647 AD.
The Vishnukundinas
The Vishnukundina ruled over the Eastern Deccan and the state of Kalinga in today's Orissa during the 5th and 6th centuries carving land out from the Vakataka realm until being absorbed themselves by the Chalukyas.
The Gurjars
The Pratihara dynasty, which ruled a large kingdom in northern India from the 6th to the 11th centuries, and has been mentioned as "Gurjara-Pratiharas" in an inscription, was certainly of Gurjara origin.
Pratihara clan of Rajputs descended from the Gujjars, and this "raises a strong presumption that the other Rajput clans also are the descendants from the Gurjaras or the allied foreign immigrants".[14]
The Gurjara clan appeared in northern India about the time of the Huna invasions of northern India. Several places in Central Asia, such as "Gurjistan", are named after the Gujars and that the reminiscences of Gujar migration is preserved in these names.[3] General Cunningham identified the Gujjars with Yuezhi or Tocharians.[4]At the time of Gurjar Pratihars the capital of India Delhi was called as Meharauli (India including Pakistan, Afghanistan etc. at that time) . This is named after the most powerful king of Gurjar Pratihar Dynasty, Mihirbhoj Pratihar. It is made by two words Mihir and Avli means the home for Mihirbhoj.
Bhoja – Mihir Bhoja (836-885 AD) was most celebrated and capable king, who extended his empire by defeating the contemporary Pala rulers. He is the hero of many folktales in Gujarat.
The Rajputs
The Rajput were a Hindu clan who rose to power across a region stretching from the gangaetic plains to the Afghan mountains, and refer to the various dynasties of the many kingdoms in the region in the wake of the collapse of the Sassanid Empire and Gupta Empire and marks the transition of Buddhist ruling dynasties to Hindu ruling dynasties.
The Gurjara-Pratihara (Gurjara Parihar)
A Gujjar clan that ruled the Mandore,Marwar region of Rajasthan and Kannauj.
The Solankis
A Rajput clan that ruled the Gujrat region.
The Paramaras
A Rajput that clan ruled the Malwa region.
The Revers
A Rajput that clan ruled the Tarangagadh region.
The Rever Dynasty- (STATE OF TARANGAGADH) is the biggest dynasty in Rajasthan history and state is Tarangagadh and Mandu- division of province.
The Chauhans
A Rajput that clan ruled the Rajasthan region.
The Pala Empire
The Pala Empire were a Buddhist dynasty whose ruled centered over Bengal, Bihar and other regions of Eastern India and played an important part in the spread of Buddhism to Tibet, Bhutan and Myanmar. They word Pala means protector and under their patronage a resurgence was seen in Buddhism. They eventually gave way to the Sena dynasty.
The Sena Dynasty
The Hindu Sena dynasty replaced the Pala dynasty and its founder was part of the Pala Empire before he seized power when the empire weakened.
The South
In the first half of the millennium the South saw various smalled kingdoms rise and fall mostly independent to the turmoil in the gangetic plains and the spread of the Buddhism and Jainism to the southern tip of India. During the second half of the millennium after the fall of the Gupta Empire we see a gradual shift of the balance of power both military and cultural from the northern states to the rise of large southern kingdoms.
In fact, from the mid-seventh to the mid-thirteenth centuries, regionalism was the dominant theme of political or dynastic history of South Asia. Three features commonly characterize the sociopolitical realities of this period.
- First, the spread of Brahmanical religions was a two-way process of Sanskritization of local cults and localization of Brahmanical social order.
- Second was the ascendancy of the Brahman priestly and landowning groups that later dominated regional institutions and political developments.
- Third, because of the seesawing of numerous dynasties that had a remarkable ability to survive perennial military attacks, regional kingdoms faced frequent defeats but seldom total annihilation.
Peninsular India was involved in an eighth-century tripartite power struggle among the Chalukyas (556–757), the Pallavas (300–888) of Kanchipuram, and the Pandyas. The Chalukya rulers were overthrown by their subordinates, the Rashtrakutas (753-973). Although both the Pallava and Pandya kingdoms were enemies, the real struggle for political domination was between the Pallava and Chalukya realms.
The emergence of the Rashtrakutas heralded a new era in the history of South India. The idiom of a Pan-Indian empire had moved to south. South Indian kingdoms had hitherto ruled areas only up to and south of the Narmada River. It was the Rashtrakutas who first forged north to the Gangetic plains and successfully contested their might against the Palas of Bengal and the Rajput Prathiharas of Gujarat.
Despite interregional conflicts, local autonomy was preserved to a far greater degree in the south where it had prevailed for centuries. The absence of a highly centralized government was associated with a corresponding local autonomy in the administration of villages and districts. Extensive and well-documented overland and maritime trade flourished with the Arabs on the west coast and with Southeast Asia. Trade facilitated cultural diffusion in Southeast Asia, where local elites selectively but willingly adopted Indian art, architecture, literature, and social customs.
The interdynastic rivalry and seasonal raids into each other's territory notwithstanding, the rulers in the Deccan and South India patronized all three religions—Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism. The religions vied with each other for royal favor, expressed in land grants but more importantly in the creation of monumental temples, which remain architectural wonders. The cave temples of Elephanta Island (near Mumbai or Bombay, as it was known formerly), Ajanta, and Ellora (in Maharashtra), and structural temples of Pattadakal, Aihole, Badami in Karnataka and Mahaballipuram and Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu are enduring legacies of otherwise warring regional rulers.
By the mid-seventh century, Buddhism and Jainism began to decline as sectarian Hindu devotional cults of Shiva and Vishnu vigorously competed for popular support.
Although Sanskrit was the language of learning and theology in South India, as it was in the north, the growth of the bhakti (devotional) movements enhanced the crystallization of vernacular literature in all four major Dravidian languages: Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada; they often borrowed themes and vocabulary from Sanskrit but preserved much local cultural lore. Examples of Tamil literature include two major poems, Cilappatikaram (The Jewelled Anklet) and Manimekalai (The Jewelled Belt); the body of devotional literature of Shaivism and Vaishnavism—Hindu devotional movements; and the reworking of the Ramayana by Kamban in the twelfth century. A nationwide cultural synthesis had taken place with a minimum of common characteristics in the various regions of South Asia, but the process of cultural infusion and assimilation would continue to shape and influence India's history through the centuries.
The Sangam Era Kingdoms
Farther south were three ancient Tamil kingdoms—Chera (on the west), Chola (on the east), and Pandya (in the south) —. They were involved in internecine warfare seeking regional supremacy. They are mentioned in Greek and Ashokan sources as important Indian kingdoms beyond the Mauryan Empire. A corpus of ancient Tamil literature, known as Sangam (academy) works, provides much useful information about life in these kingdoms in the era 300 BC to 200 AD. There is clear evidence of encroachment by Aryan traditions from the north into a predominantly indigenous Dravidian culture in transition.
Dravidian social order was based on different ecoregions rather than on the Aryan varna paradigm, although the Brahmans had a high status at a very early stage. Segments of society were characterized by matriarchy and matrilineal succession—which survived well into the nineteenth century—cross-cousin marriage, and strong regional identity. Tribal chieftains emerged as "kings" just as people moved from pastoralism toward agriculture sustained by irrigation based on rivers by small-scale tanks (as man-made ponds are called in India) and wells, as well as maritime trade with Rome and Southeast Asia.
Discoveries of Roman gold coins in various sites attest to extensive South Indian links with the outside world. As with Patliputra in the northeast and Taxila in the northwest (in modern Pakistan), the city of Madurai, the capital of the Pandyan Kingdom (in modern Tamil Nadu), was the center of intellectual and literary activity. Poets and bards assembled there under royal patronage at successive concourses to composed anthologies of poems and expositions on Tamil grammar. By the end of the first century BC, South Asia was crisscrossed by overland trade routes, which facilitated the movements of Buddhist and Jain missionaries and other travelers and opened the area to a synthesis of many cultures.
The Kalabhras
Little of their origins or the time during which they ruled is known beyond that they ruled over the entirety of the southern tip of India during the 3rd to the 6th century, overcoming the Sangam era kingdoms. The appear to be patrons of Jainism and Buddhism as the only source of information on them is the scattered mentions in the manyBuddhist and Jain literature of the time. They were contemporaries of the Kadambas and the Western Ganga Dynasty. They were overcome by the rise of the Pallavas and the resurgence of the Pandyan Kingdom.
The Kadambas
The Kadambas were an ancient royal dynasty of Karnataka, who ruled from their capital at Banavasi in present day Uttara Kannada district. Their sovereignty lasted between (345-525AD) after which they continued to rule as feudatories of the Chalukyas and the Rashtrakuta for over 500 years. They were contemporaries of the Western Ganga Dynasty and the Kalabhras.
The Western Ganga Dynasty
The Western Ganga Dynasty of Talkad ruled a large part of ancient Karnataka alongside the Kadambas in India, during 350-550. They continued to rule until the 10th century as feudatories of the Rashtrakutas and Chalukyas.
The Badami Chalukyas
The Pandyan Kingdom
The Pallavas
The Pallavas, feudatories of Andhra Satavahanas, became independent after the decline of that dynasty in Amaravati. Initially they ruled southern Andhra Pradesh, also known as Palnadu, situated in the Guntur district. Later they extended their rule to Tamil regions and established their capital at Kanchipuram around the 4th century CE. They rose in power during the reign of Mahendravarman I (571 – 630 CE) and Narasimhavarman I (630 – 668 CE) and dominated the southern Telugu and northern parts of Tamil region for about six hundred years until the end of the 9th century.
Pallavas are most noted for their patronage of Dravidian architecture, still seen today in Mahabalipuram.
The Rashtrakuta
The Western Chalukyas
Also know as Kalyani Chalukyas or Later Chalukyas
The Yadavas
Also know as Seuna Yadavas of Devagiri.The foundations of Marathi culture was laid by the Yadavas and the peculiarities of Maharashtra's social life developed during their rule.
The Kakatiyas
The Kakatiya dynasty was a South Indian dynasty that ruled parts of what is now Andhra Pradesh, India from 1083 to 1323. They were one of the great Telugu kingdoms that lasted for centuries.
The Hoysalas
The Hoysala Empire was a prominent South Indian Kannadiga empire that ruled most of the modern day state of Karnataka between the 10th and the 14th centuries. In the 12th century, taking advantage of the internecine warfare between the then ruling Western Chalukyas and Kalachuri kingdoms, they annexed areas of present day Karnataka and the fertile areas north of the Kaveri River delta in present day Tamil Nadu. By the 13th century, they governed most of present-day Karnataka, parts of Tamil Nadu and parts of western Andhra Pradesh in Deccan India.
The Hoysala era was an important period in the development of art, architecture, and religion in South India. The empire is remembered today primarily for its temple architecture. Over a hundred surviving temples are scattered across Karnataka, including the well known Chennakesava Temple at Belur, the Hoysaleswara Temple at Halebidu, and the Kesava Temple at Somanathapura. The Hoysala rulers also patronised the fine arts, encouraging literature to flourish in Kannada and Sanskrit.
The Chola Empire
The Chola Dynasty was a Tamil dynasty that ruled primarily in southern India until the 13th century. The dynasty originated in the fertile valley of the Kaveri River. Karikala Chola was the most famous among the early Chola kings, while Rajaraja Chola, Rajendra Chola I and Kulothunga Chola I were notable emperors of the medieval Cholas. The Cholas were at the height of their power continuously from the later half of the 9th century till the beginning of the 13th centuries. Under Rajaraja Chola I and his son Rajendra Chola I, the dynasty became a military, economic and cultural power in Asia.
The power of the Cholas declined around the 12th century with the rise of the Pandyas and the Hoysalas, eventually coming to an end towards the end of the 13th century.
The Cholas left a lasting legacy. Their patronage of Tamil literature and their zeal in building temples have resulted in some great works of Tamil literature and architecture.
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