Chapter 3: Empires and Kingdoms: 6th to 10th Centuries (History)

Kānyakubja (Kannauj)

Dear Arulmozhi,

I hope you are well in beautiful Kānchī. Here in Kannauj, life has become very uncertain. You may have heard that three great powers — the Pālas from Bengal, the Gurjara-Pratīhāras from the west and the Rāṣhṭrakūṭas from the Deccan — all want to control our city, because Kannauj is rich, stands on the Ganga and was once Harṣha's capital. Whoever holds it is seen as the greatest king in north India.

Every few years an army marches towards us. When soldiers come, shops close, fields are trampled and traders stop travelling on the roads. Prices of grain go up and we store food at home. My father, who sells cloth, says that sometimes he has to pay taxes to one king and then again to another. Many young men have joined the armies.

At first I admired these kings for their courage and grand titles, but now I feel that their wars bring hardship to ordinary people. A good king, I think, should protect his people and help trade and learning, not only fight for glory. Still, I must say that each ruler, once he takes the city, builds temples and gives gifts to scholars, so our city remains beautiful.

Do write to me about life in Kānchī under the Pallavas. I hope peace comes to Kannauj soon.

Your friend, Devadatta

Describe constant armies, closed markets, unsafe roads, high prices and double taxes, and how, despite their grandeur, the rulers' wars for prestige brought hardship to ordinary people.

Advantages:

• The emperor did not need to govern every place directly; local rulers knew their regions and people well.
• It saved costs: vassals collected taxes, kept order and sent tribute and soldiers to the emperor.
• Defeated kings could keep their thrones as vassals, which reduced resistance and allowed a large area to be held together.

Challenges:

• Vassals could become powerful and rebel, or switch loyalty to a rival emperor.
• The emperor had to keep a strong army and reward or punish vassals to keep them loyal.
• Rules and taxes could vary from region to region, and people might suffer from both local and imperial demands.
• When the emperor was weak, the empire could break up quickly.

Advantages: local rulers who knew their regions, lower costs, tribute and soldiers, less resistance and wider control. Challenges: vassals could rebel or switch sides, loyalty had to be maintained, rules varied, and empires broke up easily under weak emperors.

The Hūṇas were Central Asian nomads who raided by swift cavalry, weakened the Guptas, were defeated and then merged into Indian society; the Arabs sought to expand the caliphate, raided ports and conquered Sindh (712) but were stopped there by the Pratīhāras and Chalukyas, and became a channel for Indian knowledge to reach the Arab world.

I would be amazed and moved. Seeing a mighty emperor, after performing sacred rites at the meeting of the Ganga and Yamuna, give away his treasures, even his own fine clothes and jewels, to Buddhist monks, Brahmins and the poor, would make me feel that he truly cared for his people and for all religions. I would respect him not just for his power but for his generosity, humility and sense of dharma. It would remind me that wealth should be shared and that a ruler's duty is the welfare of all. I might also wonder how the kingdom manages after such gifts, but I would leave the assembly inspired to be generous myself.

I would be amazed and moved, admiring his generosity, humility and respect for all faiths, and seeing him as a ruler who cared for the welfare of all.

Ālvār: Āṇḍāl (8th century, Tamil Nadu)

• The only woman among the twelve Ālvārs (devotees of Viṣhṇu). She was found as a baby under a tulasi plant by Periyāḷvār and raised by him in Srivilliputhur.
• She was devoted to Viṣhṇu (as Ranganatha) from childhood and composed the Tiruppāvai (30 verses) and Nācchiyār Tirumoḻi.
• Sample (Tiruppāvai, in translation): "In the month of Mārgaḻi, on this day of the full moon, come, let us bathe, O girls adorned with jewels…"

Nāyanār: Appar (Tirunāvukkarasar) (7th century)

• One of the sixty-three Nāyanārs (devotees of Śhiva). He first became a Jain monk but later returned to devotion to Śhiva after his sister's prayers healed him.
• He travelled from temple to temple singing hymns and served by clearing weeds from temple courtyards; his hymns form part of the Tēvāram.
• Sample (in translation): "We are slaves to none, nor do we fear death; we are the servants of Śhiva…"

(Make a poster with pictures, a timeline and the poems.)

E.g. Āṇḍāl (woman Ālvār, author of the Tiruppāvai) and Appar (Nāyanār who returned from Jainism to Śhiva and wrote Tēvāram hymns), with life stories and short translated verses.

E.g. Kānyakubja – Kannauj, Kānchī – Kanchipuram, Tanjāvūr – Thanjavur, Mānyakheṭa – Malkhed, Ujjayinī – Ujjain, Vātāpi – Badami, Pāṭaliputra – Patna, Daśhapura – Mandsaur.

(a) Rāṣhṭrakūṭas – (iii) Mānyakheṭa

(b) Gurjara-Pratīhāras – (iv) Ujjayinī (their early capital; later they ruled from Kannauj)

(c) Cholas – (ii) Tanjāvūr

(d) Harṣhavardhana – (v) Kānyakubja

(e) Pallavas – (i) Kānchī

(a)–(iii), (b)–(iv), (c)–(ii), (d)–(v), (e)–(i)