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Politico-Administrative Life

Harappan Culture

Political System

• Some scholars have argued that Harappan cities were autonomous cities or city states. It doesn’t carry much weight though given the essential differences in the concept of planning of the early and later cities.
• It might be more plausible to think of them as being governed by the chiefs of clans in the initial phase to their coming together and ruling by an assembly in the mature phase. Harappan seals may indeed be tokens of their identity. Absence of monumental graves, palace, figures reflecting grandiose self representations, temples etc. rule out the possibility of a monarchial system or priest led system.

Pre-Mauryan Age

Rise of Mahajanpadas

Factors Responsible

• The transformation from pastoral activities to settled agriculture had far reaching impacts. It led to increasing loyalties to the region, ownership rights over land and led to the transformation of tribe into small regional principalities and eventually the mahajanpadas.

Types of Mahajanpadas

• Some mahajanpadas grew organically on their own around their earlier tribal core. Examples are Matsya, Chedi, Kashi, Koshala.
• Some mahajanpadas were formed as a result of merger of many tribes and janpadas. For example Vajji and Panchala.
• Some were conquered by other mahajanpadas and annexed. Example are Kashi.

Rise of Magadhan Imperialism

• Bimbisara began the Magadhan imperialism by annexing Anga to the east and establishing matrimonial relations with princesses of other ruling families. This way he got Kashi in dowry which yielded rich revenue. Afterwards Ajatshatru captured Kashi and Vajji. He had imprisoned / killed his father who had good matrimonial relations with the Kosala ruling family. Naturally Kosala ruler was not pleased and they fought a war. After defeating him, Ajatshatru also defeated the Licchavis via treachery. He was succeeded by Udaibhadra who moved the capital from Rajgriha to PP.
• Udaibhadra was succeeded by a chain of weak rulers until Sishunaga. Sishunaga ended the long war with the Pradyot rulers of Avanti and annexed it after defeating them. He also conquered Vatsa and Kosala. But his successor was weak and he was killed by Mahanandi who established the Nanda dynasty. But he too as killed and Mahapadma Nanda became the new ruler. He conquered many areas and took Magadhan imperialism to new heights.
• He was succeeded by a string of weak rulers. The last among them was Ghana Nanda who was killed by CGM.

Political Legitimacy

• In the vedic age, the divinity provided by the performance of the vedic sacrifices was the source of legitimacy of the king. But now legitimacy came to be more rooted in the control over resources and power. Of course the rituals were still resorted to in order to claim divinity but were not a must. Thus we see kings following alternative sects (like ajivika, buddhism and jainism) increasingly.

Central Administration

• The “kin based” nature of the Vedic polity was diminishing. Now the high officers were recruited mostly from the priestly class and not from king’s own clan.
• The practice of land grants was present in the sense that brahmans were given the right to enjoy the revenue of the village. They had no administrative rights.
• The power of king became absolute now as he maintained standing armies, elaborate bureaucracies and could grant land to brahmans without needing consent of anybody else. Aitraya brahman tells us about 5 types of states- (a) Samrajya like Magadha i.e. where the king (called Samrat) was hereditary and was always eager to spread his kingdom, (b) Bhojya like krishna i.e. where the king (called Bhoja) was not hereditary and held office only for a fixed tenure, (c) Swarajya i.e. where the king (called Swarat) was merely considered the first among the equals and they were mainly oligarchies, (d) Vairajya i.e. there was no king and the public ruled directly, and (e) Rajya like Panchala and Kuru i.e. where the traditional kingship model of vedas was followed.
• The ministerial offices became hereditary as per the Jaina texts.

Local Administration

• The village administration was in the hands of village headman called gramini. They had direct access to the king and hence were quite important. They also assessed and collected taxes from the villagers and passed it on to the king, and maintained law and order.
• The village committees declined because they were no longer suited to the needs of the age. They couldn’t function in large states and also were essentially tribal in nature and hence couldn’t assimilate non-tribals. Their place was taken by parishad, a small committee of elite brahmans.

Judicial System

• Indian judicial system originated in this period. Formerly, people were governed by tribal laws and there were no class based distinctions. But now varna based distinctions emerged as laid out in Dharmasutra.
• Corporal punishment was common and the idea of punishment was revenge.

Republics / Oligarchies

• Whereas the kingdoms were concentrated in the Ganges plain, the gana sanghas were ranged around the periphery of these kingdoms - in the foothills in Himalayas and in central and western India. This suggests that their establishment predated the establishment of the kingdoms since wooded foothills were easier to clear than the marshy jungles of the plains. It could also be possible that the more independent thinking settlers disgruntled of the brahmanical society moved to the hills. Their traditions generally speak that the ruling families were founded by persons of high status who had left or been exiled from the brahmanical society for a variety of reasons or sometimes they claim a high status in a myth tracing their origin in an incestuous union.
• The gana sanghas were generally more egalitarian societies and rejected many brahmanical traditions and were the source of jainism and buddhism reactions against the brahmans. This could indicate a break away section or followers of an older sect or a merger with the hill tribes.
• These gana sanghas could comprise of a single clan or be a confederacy of clans. These were kshatriya clans but didn’t observe the brahmanical societal norms. These gana sanghas only had 2 strata in their society - kshatriya rajkul and the dasa - karmakara who formed the slaves and the labor (thus representing the non kin labor). The land was owned in common by the kshatriya rajkul (the clan) but was cultivated by the dasa karmakara. Any disputes were also resolved by the clan.
• The assembly consisted of leading kshatriya families only the head of which was called raja. He had an upraja, a senapati and a bhandagarika. The assembly elected a head for a fixed tenure only who was more of a chief than a king. The power was concentrated in a few hands. The assembly was sovereign and could administer justice as well. Women and the dasa karmakara were not admitted. No standing army was maintained, each chief had his own army.

Mauryan Age

Central Administration

• The king was autocratic and had a council to aid him. The high officers were chosen from this council. (Megasthenes).
• It was a department based administration with as many as 12 different departments.
• He had an elaborate espionage system.
• The important officers were called tirthas and salaries were paid in cash.

Provincial Administration

• The empire was divided into many provinces, each placed under a prince of the royal dynasty.
• The structure of empire was that of metropolitan area, the core and the periphery. The metropolitan area comprised of the gangetic plains (broadly coincides with the area covered by Asokan pillar edicts). This was the area of maximum centralized control and the economy was completely restructured. The core areas were the areas where we find clusters of the major and the minor rock edicts of Asoka (Gandhara, Raichur doab, S Karnataka, Kalinga, Saurashtra). These had been conquered and their economies were subsequently restructured to suit the needs of the state (Gandhara controlled the trade routes with Greeks, Karnataka had gold mines). They were ruled by provincial governors who held considerable autonomy but were mostly royal princes. The peripheral areas were controlled more by a fiat than a conquest and direct administration. Such territories were often viewed as buffer zones and represented the pre state societies. They were generally forced to provide resources like timber, ivory, semi precious stones and left to live as they liked within their area. There wasn’t much restructuring of their economy but Mauryan culture inevitably spread through these contracts and in a later age we find state formation in such areas.
• Senior officers called pradeshikas were toured every 5 years for an audit and check of the provincial administration. Asoka appointed additional judicial officers rajukas for auditing judicial system.

Local Administration

• PP had 6 committees of 5 members each to look after - registration of births and deaths; registration of foreigners; sanitation; regulation of weights and measures; collection of tolls at the city gates; and collection of excise duties at the production sites.

Theories about Decline of Mauryan Empire

Economic Decline

• DD Kosambi argues that during the reign of later Mauryans, the empire was grappling with a serious economic crisis. He talks about the almost desperate attempts made by the rulers to increase tax revenues, the increased debasement of coins etc. He talks about Kautilya’s advice that virtually every human being should be taxed.
• But Romilla Thapar counters him by saying that Mauryan period was the first time when the role of taxes in augmenting the power of the empire was properly understood for the first time. So it was but natural for the rulers to try and increase revenues. Moreover the chronology of the debased coins is uncertain and it can’t be taken as a conclusive evidence. It could be due to higher silver demand as well as due to weak control of the later Mauryan rulers that their control over the periphery decreased and coins became debased. Moreover some excavations in Sisupalgarh and Hastinapur reveal a prosperous economic state during the Mauryan period.
• The decline followed an interesting pattern. While the peripheries emerged into separate states, the metropolitan area also continued instead of declining. The disintegration of the empire was thus accompanied with economic development in the core and the peripheries and was not a period of economic decline.

Institutional Factors

• The Mauryan bureaucracy was centralized and a change of king meant change of loyalty and worse still a change of personnel. The new king would appoint new provincial governors and senior officers who in turn will appoint new officers. This naturally led to insecurity and resentment. Then there was lack of any institutions to reflect public opinion.

External Contacts (Spread of Mauryan Culture)

• Distinct elements of Mauryan culture were NBPW, punch marked coins (hill and crescent; peacock), extensive use of iron implements, burnt bricks, ring wells, writing and towns. Burnt bricks, ring wells, writing, iron, coins etc. all helped in the spread.
• Sherds of NBPW dating back to 3 cent BC have been found in Bengal, Odisha, AP, Karnataka indicating that Mauryan culture was spreading here.
• The culture spread in Kalinga mainly after the war when Asoka sent settlers to build settlements there.
• Asokan dhamma was also responsible for the spread of Mauryan culture as tribals were integrated.
• The Cheti kingdom in Kalinga, Satvahnas, Cholas, Pandyas, Cheras and Satyaputras all owe to the Mauryas. (A Sangam chief uses the Tamil translation of Asokan title “dear to gods”.)

Historical Sources on Structure of Mauryan Empire

Swami –> The King

• Arthasastra :- It presumes monarchial form of government and argues for the king to be all powerful. The king should have elaborate espionage system and be watchful for his safety. The biggest threat to the king comes from his sons and wives. The king’s duty is to protect the people, work for their welfare and protect social order.
• Asokan Inscriptions :- They leave no doubt that the king was all powerful. They also try to establish divine links with kingship. In welfare of subjects, Asokan inscriptions go one step further and say that the king should try to ensure welfare in next world also.
• Indica :- It underlines the constant vigilance maintained by the king for his security and his having female bodyguards.

Amatya –> The Bureaucracy

• Arthasastra :- There are 2 consultative bodies. The smaller one is mantraparishad containing only high ministers. The larger one is mantriparishad containing heads of departments as well. The king should be accessible to officials at all times. It prescribes a number of officials and also a purohit well versed in vedas and whose instructions the king must follow. But the existence of purohit as described in Arthasastra can be questioned.
• Asokan Inscriptions :- They agree with twin bodies and accessibility of the king to the officials. They introduce new officials for administration of the dhamma.
• Indica :- It agrees with twin bodies and accessibility of the king to the officials.

Janpada –> The Territory

• Arthasastra :- It suggests a unit of 800 villages under sthanika and 5-10 villages under gopaka. At village level, there should be a village headman and village elders. The officials should be paid cash salaries. It talks about an elaborate spy system to keep the king informed of public opinion. For the city administration, it talks about nagarka and gopa.
• Asokan Inscriptions :- they suggest the empire was divided into provinces under governors where royal princes were appointed. Rajukas were important district level officers responsible for general and judicial administration and dhamma propagation. It talks about the spy system to keep the king informed on the public opinion. It talks about the city administration officials.
• Indica :- It gives the administrative details of PP. It also gives details of the spy system.

Kosha –> The Treasury

• Arthasastra :- It recognizes private ownership of land as well as the state owned lands. Even on the state owned lands, there were share croppers. It levies many taxes and cesses on farmers and other economic activities. It advocates tax exemptions for bringing new lands under cultivation and recommends hereditary land grants to brahmans of fallow land. Forests, pastures and mines were state property.
• Asokan Inscriptions :- The Rummindei minor pillar inscription in Lumbini talks about exempting the villagers from bhaga and bali. They contain vague references of land grants.
• Indica :- It incorrectly asserts that all land was owned by state. It doesn’t talk about land grants.

Durg–> The Army

• Arthasastra :- It recommends a series of frontier outposts and gives details of fortifications. It talks about army administration and that army should be recruited from all varnas.
• Asokan Inscriptions :- No great detail of army administration, but talk about Kalinga war and warning to frontier tribes to adopt dhamma.
• Indica :- It gives an account of army administration.

Danda –> The Justice

• Arthasastra :- It advocates varna based justice. It talks about officers for administering justice and also talks about corporal punishment.
• Asokan Inscriptions :- They talk about the judicial system being made lenient. They talk about giving judicial powers to rajukas. Inspections by lenient officials every 5 years to make sure no one is punished unjustly. He introduced uniformity in the judicial system for all varnas.

Mitra –> The Foreign Relations

• Arthasastra :- If you stronger => hostile; weaker => truce; much stronger=> military campaign; much weaker=> seek shelter elsewhere; can beat him with alliances=> form alliances. Military conquest was an important activity of the state and righteous conquest was the most noble form.
• Asokan Inscriptions :- Dhamma-vijay is important.

Post-Mauryan Age (North India)

Was Pushyamitra Sunga a Religious Bigot?

• Buddhist text (Divyavadana) presents an image of him being a persecutor of monks and upasaks, destroyer of monasteries and places of worship. But Kalidasa’s play Malvikagnimitram portrays a different image and shows him doing an ashvamedha yajna. Both could be an exaggeration. Archaeological evidences do show that the Sanchi stupa and Kaushambi monastery were damaged during the Sunga period.

Re-emergence of Republics

• Such republics reappeared in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. This has largely been supported by numismatic evidences of the age from these areas. Many of these clans claimed the kshatriya status like the older gana sanghas. Though some kings adopted the titles like kings but their coins were minted in the name of the gana or the janapada and revealed a structure similar to the gana sanghas.

Kharvela (100 BC)

• Kalinga had been a core area under the Mauryan empire and his emergence is an example of secondary state formation. Kharvela patronized Jainism as against Buddhism of Mauryans. His Hathigumpha inscription (although damaged at many places permitting multiple interpretations) gives an almost year by year biographical sketch of his reign. He belonged to a lineage associated with the Chedis.
• Wars :- Despite his support to Jainism, he fought a lot of wars (including outrightly offensive wars). Thus according to the inscription he carried out expeditions against the Satvahna kings, their maharattas and mahabhojaks many times. He talks of his army ravaging Pihund. He talks about his invasion of Magadha avenging the previous invasions and bringing back a jain idol, he talks about him forcing the indo-greek king to fall back till Mathura.
• Agriculture :- He refers to the irrigation canals built by the Nandas but proudly mentions his own efforts in this direction. He mentions that he extended a canal initially built by the Nandas. He talks about settling hundreds of settlers in the uncultivated lands and encouraging them to bring it under plough by giving fiscal sops.
• Public welfare :- He proudly claims to have spent much of his wealth on public welfare though this could be a rhetoric used by all kings. The inscription tells us that in his first year, he repaired the gates, walls, buildings, gardens of a city, a lake, many tanks etc. damaged by a cyclone. He talks of his rajsuya sacrifice and subsequent donation of much of his wealth to his subjects and also remission of many taxes. He exempted the brahmans from paying any tax.
• Cultural patronage :- He patronized dancers, musicians etc. in his court and organized festivals and assemblies. He also caused the Jaina texts to be compiled.

Central Administration (Indo Greeks, Saka Kshatraps, Kushanas)

• The organization of polity had feudatory elements in it and the centralized character of the Mauryan age was missing. These kings had come as conquerors. So after subduing the local chiefs, they let them continue in exchange of the local chiefs accepting their suzerainty and paying annual tributes. For this reason, the Central Asian kings assumed titles like “king of kings”. The Saka empire, for instance, was divided into provinces each under a mahakshatrapa. Each province was further sub divided into units and was controlled by a kshatrap who could issue his own coins and inscriptions which indicates a more autonomous status.
• To counter the weakening power of the king due to growing feudal relationships, these kings strengthened the idea of divine origin of kingship. Asoka had only called himself “dear of gods”, they called themselves “son of gods”. They even got the idols of the kings established in temples to be worshipped.
• There are hints that administration was less centralized in characters as there was practice of father and son ruling together for sometime.

Provincial Administration (Indo Greeks, Saka Kshatraps, Kushanas)

• The Kushanas introduced the satrap form of government. The empire was divided into numerous satrapies and each satrapy was under a satrap.
• The Greeks introduced the practice of military governorship. The provincial governor was a military commander known as strategos.

Post-Mauryan Age (Satvahanas)

Central Administration

• The rise of the Satvahnas followed the pattern of a transition from chiefdom to kingdom with the newly established king performing vedic rituals to claim divinity and legitimacy. The king was considered the upholder of dharma (destroying the pride of kshatriyas i.e. sakas and gana sanghas, stopping the contamination of the varna order by prohibiting inter varna marriages, protecting the interests of brahmans) and some divine qualities were attributed to him. Now he was increasingly being compared with gods and this was an attempt to check his falling power in the wake of growing feudatory elements.
• The administration was very much on Mauryan patterns. Eg. Officers were called amatyas and mahamatras as in Mauryan times and districts were called aharas as under Asoka.
• The political structure had strong feudatory elements with the hierarchy being King –> Mahabhoja & Maharathis. The centralized character of the Mauryan age was missing. Each of these feudatories maintained their own army for tax collection and maintaining law and order and supplied to the king when called upon. Some had matrimonial relations with the royal family. Some were even allowed to mint their own coins.
• The Satvahnas started the practice of granting tax-free villages to brahmans and buddhist monks. This was done in order to bring the tribals into the main society to make it stable and reduce the pressure on military. Initially the donees were only given a right to claim the revenue from the land but gradually the control of the king from these areas withered away. Such areas became sort of independent island within the kingdom as royal officers couldn’t interfere in their internal matters.
• The Satvahna polity was secular in character. Though the kings themselves were brahmans and performed Vedic sacrifices, they also gave generous grants to the Buddhists.

Satvahana Imperialism

• Earliest king of recognition was Satkarni ~50 BC (against whom Kharvela campaigned). He is said to be the ‘lord of Pratisthana’ which was the capital of Satvahnas. An inscription from Sanchi describes him as Rajan Sri which is a surprisingly simple title for such a king. He next moved south and conquered Godavari valley and assumed the title of ‘Lord of the Southern Realm’. He then performed an ashvamedha yajna to stamp his legitimacy.
• However subsequently the western dominions of Satvahnas were captured by Sakas and we find the coins of Nahapana as far south as Nasik. But under Gautamiputra Satkarni, Satvahnas recaptured the western dominions. The ports of the Konkan coast were obviously a reason for the conflict (economic reasons).
• However the Sakas regrouped under Rudradaman and he defeated Satvahnas twice although didn’t annihilate them due to matrimonial relations. But after his death Satvahnas emerged victorious again.

Provincial Administration

• The head of the province was a military commander thus leading military state character to the Satvahna state. This was necessary given that the Satvahna society was turbulent with brahmanisation being only a recent phenomenon.

Local Administration

• The head of the village was gaulmika who too was a military officer and had a military regiment under him. This was needed to maintain law an order in a turbulent society.

Sangam Age

Polity

• It represented a nascent form of state formation, as such polity was rudimentary and closer to clan hood in character. The head of households were important, but a higher status was given to the velir or the clan chief and a still higher status was accorded to the bigger chiefs called ventar who were the Cholas, the Cheras and the Pandyas.
• There was an institution of hereditary monarchy. Gradually the kings began to grow powerful and also started to assume high sounding titles.
• There were frequent battles and cattle raids => war booty was an important source of income for the state. Also it implies that the kingship drew legitimacy from expansion of influence.

Central Administration

• Nascent bureaucracy with very few officials.
• LR was an important source of income of the state along with war booty.

Local Administration

• The role of manrams.

Gupta Age

Golden Age

1. The Gupta period was selected largely because of the impressive literary Sanskrit works, Gupta empire and the high quality of art (sculpture) which coincided with what was viewed as brahmanical ‘renaissance’. The nationalists thought of Indian culture as ‘hindu culture’ or ‘brahmanical culture’ and thus the spread of brahmanism / hinduism was taken as the golden age.
2. Seeing that the wealthy were better off they also implicitly assumed that the commoners were better off too. But it must be remembered that every society is divided into the rich and the poor and often in such ‘golden ages’ the poor are ignored.
3. While treating this age as an age of ‘brahmanical renaissance’ it is often ignored that Buddhism made much progress as well. Images of Buddha were more impressive then ever, Buddhist sanskrit literature grew in creativity and Buddhist philosophy shows new currents.

Classical Age vs Threshold Age

1. Classical age sets exemplary standards of excellence for assessing past and future work. In a classical age, the innovative forms of the previous age show maturity while the ‘over decoration’ of the future age is yet to creep in. Thus it is clear that a classical age can only be specific to a particular art form and region (given India has such a variety) and no age can be generally labeled as a ‘classical age’. There can be multiple classical ages in each art form as well. Every regional culture will have its own classical age.
2. The classicism of Gupta period is not an innovation emanating from the Gupta rule but the culmination of a process that began earlier. Gupta period is the threshold to a marked mutation of the north Indian society during the late first millennium BC than a revival or a renaissance. It carries some items form earlier times but announces others which take on a more definitive shape in the later times. Oral traditions were converted into texts and interpolations added to these. Upper caste perspective was strengthened. Land grants increased in the Gupta period underlining the growing brahmanical dominance. The marginalization of the non Vedic groups continued and was accelerated due to land grants. DIstinction between the courtly high culture and the popular culture became even more sharply defined. Politically this period marked the triumph of monarchy over the gana sanghas.

Conquests of Samudragupta

There was a core ruled directly, followed by a series of frontier vassal states followed by independent rulers on which he had influence.

1. Directly annexed (Line 14 & 21): The kingdoms of Ganga-Yamuna doab (Aryavrata) + forest regions of Vindhyas. This would have extended the empire up to Mathura and Padmavati in the West.
2. Subordinated states / Vassals (Line 22):They offered tributes, obeyed his orders and performed obeisance before him i.e. had a feudatory relationship with him. They included eastern frontier states like Davak (Dabok, Naogaon) + Nepal + Samtata (SE Bengal) + Assam + Kartipura (Punjab, Kumaon, Garwahl, Rohillakhand) + republics in Punjab + Rajasthan + Malwa.
3. Influence only / S India (Line 19 & 20): He defeated, captured and released these kings. Group of 12 rulers of eastern Deccan and south India.
4. Kushana / Saka tribes: The Kushana and Saka tribes ruling in NW rendered all kinds of services, sought the use of garuda seal and entered into matrimonial alliances of their own accord.

Central Administration

Feudal Character of Polity

1. The polity had strong feudatory elements indicated by the pompous titles assumed by the kings which imply they ruled over smaller kings. These feudatories were either the defeated rulers or the brahmans who had been given land grants by the king. The strong nature of the decentralization tendencies in the period can be seen from the fact that even SG didn’t annex most of the kingdoms he defeated. But the army was maintained by the king centrally (at least initially). This army was occasionally supplemented by the forces sent by feudatories.
2. The brahmana land grants were tax free and could not be entered by royal agents. The beneficiaries could collect tax from the peasants, administer civil and criminal justice and carry out local administration. Land grants meant two things - (a) that the donee will get control of the land and all the factors of production in it which included the peasants, and (b) that the donee will have the responsibility to maintain law and order in the fief. Gradually this led to the growth of the samanta class. The 5th century inscriptions tell us that the king had not given up the right to punish the criminals. But later on even this was handed over to the donees. Also initially the donees / samantas didn’t have the right to make sub grants. But later on they began to do this. Now his responsibility towards the ruler remained merely to observe feudal levies. It is not clear whether state officials were given land grants too initially but later on this became the norm.

Other Elements of Polity

1. The law of primogeniture was not firmly practiced as the throne didn’t always go to the eldest son.
2. The divinity of kingship was emphasized upon and kings were compared to Vishnu or claimed to be his foremost worshipper. Conducting vedic sacrifices was also important. This doesn’t mean that people in general used to consider them like gods, it just reflects the attempts of the poets to please their masters. The role of king as a protector of social order was emphasized upon.
3. Bureaucracy was less because much administration was carried out with the help of feudatories and the local bodies. Offices of high officers could be hereditary and the king could appoint one person to many roles (for example Harisen). The king had a council of ministers called sabha to assist him.

Ramagupta

1. He is introduced in a play Devi-Chandra-gupta 2 centuries later which refer to the famous story. Some coins have been discovered as well of Ramagupta and in some inscriptions Dhruvadevi is mentioned as CG-2’s wife which lends some credence to this story. We also know that CG-2 fought a major campaign against the Sakas. This confirms the presence of Ramagupta but the story could also have been an attempt to justify CG-2 killing his brother and marrying his wife.

Provincial Administration

1. The empire was divided into bhuktis (divisions) and each bhukti was placed under an uparika. The bhuktis were subdivided into vishayas (districts).

Comparison with Mauryan Administration

1. Mauryan administration was much more centralized. Gupta local administration was, for all practical purposes, distant from the center. Decisions (including policy) were taken at the local level unless they had a specific bearing on the center.
2. Also while the Mauryan king insisted on knowing everything which was happening in their kingdom, the Gupta kings had delegated this responsibility to their provincial governors and local officers.
3. Even in local administration while Mauryan city administration committee was appointed by the government, Gupta committees (who would assist the vishyapati) consisted of local representatives from the guilds.
4. Mauryan state collected revenue and extended cultivation via state intervention as settlers would be encouraged to settle in new areas. Guptas restructured the village economy and extended cultivation by making land grants and the local tribal communities would be turned into peasant cultivators. Thus land grants replaced state initiative.

Local Administration

In Gupta Administered Provinces (UP, N Bengal, Bihar, NE MP)

1. In eastern India, each vishaya was divided into vithis which were again subdivided into villages.
2. In the village, the village headman was the most important official. He was assisted in the administration by a committee of village elders. No land transactions could be effected without the consent of this committee. Thus we see elements of local self governance in Gupta administration.
3. The head of district was vishyapati who was appointed by the uparika. At urban level too, representatives of artisans, merchants, scribe guilds etc. were part of the committee which aided the vishyapati in administration. The participation of artisans and guild representatives in the urban administration shows that contrary to what the brahmanical literature says, they were not held in low esteem in reality.

In Areas Under Feudatory Chiefs

1. These vassals could rule as they wish subject to fulfilling three obligations i.e. (a) To pay tribute, (b) To supply daughters, and (c) To give personal attendance. In return, they obtained charters to rule.
2. In the tax free land grants to brahmans (specially in MP), the beneficiaries maintained all administration as per their wish.

Judicial System

1. A far more developed judicial system (compared to previous ages) evolved in this period. Many law books or smritis were written. Criminal and civil laws were clearly separated.
2. Laws continued to be varna based. The guilds were governed by their own laws.
3. The king was the final court of appeal.

Vakatakas

Polity

1. The Vakatakas were great champions of brahmanical religion and made numerous land grants to the brahmans. The officer responsible for recording land grants was rajuka.
2. Their administration was essentially militarized. They had a band of troops whose job was to go in the countryside and collect revenue and also to maintain law and order.
3. The bureaucracy was hereditary.

Place of Origin Debate

1. South India: A fragmentary inscription in Amaravati mentions ‘Vakataka’. Some Pallava kin grants also mention ‘Vakataka’. Vakataka kings used the titles haritiputra and dharmamaharaja which were also used by Pallavas, Kadambas and Chalukyas of Badami. One of the ministers of Harishena - last Vakataka king known- hailed from S India.
2. Vindhya: None of the above arguments are conclusive. Puranas refer to this dynasty as Vindhayikas. They also associate early Vakatakas with Nachna town in Panna, MP.

Provincial Administration

1. Their empire was divided into provinces called rajya / rashtra. Each rajya was under a rajyadhikrit. Rajya –> vishya (district) –> ahar / bhoga / bhukti.

Pallavas

Polity

1. It was based on the dharmashastra model where the king was the preserver of social order.
2. Hereditary monarchy with kings assuming high sounding titles. However, there are references of some kings being elected. Eg. Kalhana mentions Pallava king Nandivarman was elected.
3. Source of legitimacy were external conquests, association with gods and performance of elaborate sacrifices.
4. Pallava sources refer to the subordinate rulers who were the chiefs of the hunter gatherers and the shifting cultivators living in the forest beyond the pale of the caste society.

Additional Theories of Pallava Origin

1. Original Pallava king was the ancestor to Asoka. Buddhist tradition confirms that Asoka built a stupa @ Kanchipuram and he was associated with the concept of Buddhist chakravartin.

Pallava - Chalukya Struggle

1. Pulakesin II first controlled most of the Deccan and then defeated the Kadambas and the Gangas to the south. He conquered AP as well and then defeated Harsha. Finally he defeated Mahendravarman and annexed the northern part of Pallava kingdom as well.
2. But his successor Narsinghvarman formed an alliance with the SL king and marched into the Chalukyan capital and occupied the city. He thus assumed the title of Vatapikonda. A graphic inscription of the battle is found in a Pallava land grant near Kanchi. Upon return he built massive temples in Mahabalipuram. Another impact of wars and battles on the temples was that after the victory the famous icons were sometimes taken from the royal temples as trophies.
3. However, Pulakesin’s successor Vikramaditya rebuilt Chalukyan power and began to prepare for a war. In this battle Pallavas were defeated. Chalukyan king is said to have invaded Kanchi itself but in any case his victory was not decisive and Pallavas soon regained power. Vikramaditya’s successor Vinayaditya too defeated the Pallavas. The successors repeatedly attacked Pallavas and defeated them again in 733 AD and 740 AD.

Central Administration

1. There was a CoM to assist the king.
2. Bureaucratic setup was more evolved compared to previous age and there were more officers looking after diverse set of activities.
3. Taxation system became more elaborate and different taxes were present.

Provincial Administration

1. Kingdom –> rashtras / mandalams (provinces) –> kottam / nadu (districts) –> villages.
2. Usually the provincial governors were royal princes.

Local Administration

1. Local assemblies called sabhas were present in agrahara villages.
2. The role of temples.

Hero Stones

1. Despite the extension of cultivation, pastoralism remained an important activity. This is supported by the large number of hero stones which have been found. These local heroes died defending or raiding the cattle. The frequency of such stones tells us about the necessity for a village to defend itself and thus tells us of a decentralized administration.
2. These hero stones occur in larger numbers in the frontier zones or the peripheral areas of the forested land. Naturally state policing over such areas would be weak. Such stones are less frequent in agricultural fertile areas. In semi arid areas of Maharastra and Karnataka they are again frequent and in the coastal areas they depict sea battles suggesting pirate attacks.
3. Gradually the single panel on the hero stone was replaced by 3 - 4 panels. The topmost panel showed the hero’s sect (like an image of Kartikeya, a linga for Siva, a small image of Mahavira for Jaina etc.) + a sun and a moon. The next panel showed the fulfillment of the promise to the hero - carried to paradise by the apsaras. The lowest panels were representations of the event that caused his death and sometimes a brief inscription was included providing his details. In the later period his wife was supposed to be a sati.

Taxation

1. There were 2 categories of taxes - one was the LR paid by the peasant to the state which was ~ 1/6 of the produce while the other were the local taxes which were utilized for services in the village itself. These could be for the repair of the tank or the temple etc.
2. There were many additional taxes like on marriage, potters, goldsmiths, washermen, cattle, ghee etc.

Post-Gupta Age

S India: Phase II (300-750 AD) vs Sangam Age (200 BC - 300 AD)

1. In the Sangam Age, north TN, S Karnataka, S Maharastra and land between R. Godavari and R. Mahanadi owed allegiance to powers outside their territories. In the second phase, local principalities were setup.
2. The trade in first stage was rising whereas in the second stage it was declining. The number of land grants shot up as agriculture came to prominence.
3. In the Sangam age, brahmanisation was a new phenomenon and it had to face opposition from Buddhism and Jainism. But in the later stage, Buddhism and Jainism had declined and brahmanism flourished.
4. The second phase marked the beginning of stone built temples.

Feudalism School Hypothesis

1. Land grants were associated with tied labor and alienation of all revenue and administrative rights by the king. The donee could administer the land and his rights and obligations with respect to those who settled on the land were listed along with the taxes he could collect. This coincided with fall in urbanization, demonetization and fall in secondary activities. Villages tended to become self sufficient and isolated. In some cases the feudatory was expected to provide feudal levies like army, marriageable daughters, personal attendance etc. to the king. He was also expected to mention the name of the king in his coins, inscriptions and charters. He could also make sub grants on his own. In social sphere too service relationships emerged and took a caste based form.
2. But the hypothesis also argues that the brahmadeyas led to political fragmentation, loss of revenue and weakening central authority. On the contrary, the land grants were most numerous and lavish under strong kings. The areas given as grants were probably the ones where the king couldn’t have extracted the revenue in the first place. Why would a king voluntarily reduce his authority?
3. Indian feudalism also differed from european feudalism in the sense that most of the grants were religious grants which were exempt from the feudal relationship of providing feudal levies. Moreover even though the peasant was tied to the land he was not a serf like in europe. He worked on his own land. It was only when he failed to pay the revenue that he could become a bonded labor which could continue for generations.
4. It argues that there was a decline in long distance trade and hence a decline in urban centers. However, while the old cities were dwindling, new ones were coming up. Long distance trade now got split up into 2 - Arab-India and India-SE.
5. It also argues that there was a demonetization in the Indian society as evident from impurity, lack of aesthetic value and decline in types of coins. But recent studies have shown that while there was a reduction in coin types and aesthetic value, there was no reduction in volume. The debasement was because of shortage of silver and increasing demand of coins.

Integrative Policy Hypothesis

1. This argues that as more areas were brought under cultivation (due to land grants) the caste based peasant societies came in contact with the non caste based tribal societies. The ruling groups tried to bring them closer in structure to the caste based society. In the process political links based on mutual dependency were developed between the kings and the chiefs. Thus this hypothesis views the emergence of local states more as regional centers of authority drawing on local resources than decentralization. These new states were headed by samantas linked to the main lineage via marital alliances. But this appears to be more appropriate for Rajput regions.

Dark Age Debate

1. The colonial historians (and agreed to by nationalist historians) viewed this age as the dark age following the ‘golden age’ of earlier times. The polity was marred by small unimportant kingdoms with much political chaos and there was social and economic decline all around. However when the regional history gained momentum this view was upturned. Focus shifted from Ganges plains to the new states formed in other regions.

Polity - N India

1. There was a spread of state society. Many new states @ regional levels were formed. This had twin effects. (a) This led to increased military buildup and wars. The armies consisted of the regulars, mercenary irregulars and the feudal levies. (b) It led to displacement or integration of tribal communities into mainstream.
2. Feudalism: Feudalistic order. Paramountcy was reflected by the adoption of high sounding titles. Large scale grants were being made and even officers were paid in tax-free land grants in exchange for their services. This practice also indicates lack of monetization. The fact that the lost kings or their kin were restored their kingdoms also indicates local loyalty and lack of penetration of central authority.
3. Brahmanisation of the royal courts.
4. Laws of succession: Law of primogeniture was generally prevalent but the king was free to appoint any of his son as his successor. Even the ministers were hereditary in many cases.
5. Basis of kingship: Despite the basis of royal power being military dominance, kings usually enjoyed loyalty of the people. Moreover the loyalty was intensely local. So we find instances of defeated kings themselves or their kin being restored their kingdoms. Further the kings resorted to performance of sacrifices, grants to brahmans and temples and external conquests to enhance their legitimacy.
6. Literature and theory of kingship: Contemporary smriti literature give unlimited power to the king but yet place him in the bounds of religious and conventional norms. Medhatithi Smriti tells us that the king gets his taxes in return for providing security to the tax payers. Moreover if he doesn’t protect the poor, weak and brahmans he will not achieve heavens. He goes on to say that the king has to protect even those who don’t pay taxes but if he doesn’t fulfill his duties despite getting taxes he is liable to face public discontent. Vishwarup’s smriti goes one step further and says that it is legitimate for public to remove an exploitative king. But at the same time there are other smritis as well which talk of divine rights / origins of king.
7. Local polity: Villages and towns were managed by local committees which had representation of guilds as well as officers. Samanta elements too were strong and used to dominate the village committees. The panchayats or committees used to resolve local matters and mange the commons. Villages were insulated from top level upheavals.

Polity - S India

1. Theory of kingship: The divine element assertion in kingship was to a greater extent than N India. This is evident from various titles used by the Rashtrakutas and also Cholas. But still given the strength of samanta elements it is hard to believe king was all despotic.
2. Laws of succession: Law of primogeniture was generally prevalent but the king was free to appoint any of his son as his successor. Even the ministers were hereditary in many cases.
3. Feudalism: Feudal elements were stronger in S India. The larger lords could make land grants on their own right while the smaller ones had to take permission.
4. Local polity: Local assemblies had a more important role here compared to N India.

Origin of Rajputs - Additional Theories

Foreign Descent - Colonial Version

1. Col. Todd, Smith etc. believe that Rajputs were descendants of Huns, Sakas, Kushanas etc. They point to their war likeness, condition of women, importance of horse and worshipping weapons etc. as evidences. Some Indian historians too are of the view that intermixing of foreigners with Indians gave birth to Rajputs.
2. But a closer scrutiny tells us that the above qualities were not specific to foreign tribes. They were prevalent in Indian kshatriyas as well. It is feasible for both to have evolved such qualities quite independent of each other. Some inscriptions tell us that some Huna rulers got converted into Rajputs but such a sweeping statement can’t be made for all Rajputs.

Indian Descent

1. That period was one of social unrest. There were instances of castes moving up and down the social order and new tribes coming in the caste fold. Rajputs could have been born out of this mobility. Some could have been conquered forest clans whose erstwhile chiefs managed to acquire the kshatriya status. Some others could be descendants of clans that earlier constituted the gana sanghas in Rajasthan. Some could be tribals or could be aided by the tribals in their rise.

Tripartite Struggle

Story

1. Dhruva, the Rashtrakuta king, defeated Pratiharas and Dharmpala. But he had to return South without consolidating his gains. In the vacuum, Dharmpala captured Kanauj and installed a puppet there.
2. Pratihara ruler, Nagabhatta II, defeated Dharmpala @ Mongyr and ended the Pala ambitions over Kanauj.
3. Gopala III again defeated the pratiharas but had to move South.
4. Bhoja, the Pratihara king, recovered Kanauj and made it his capital in 836 AD. He tried to move east but was defeated by Devapala, the Pala ruler. He fought Rashtrakutas @ Narmada but couldn’t progress further. He and his son, Mahendrapala, later defeated Palas and ruled over N Bengal and Magadha as well.
5. But in 915, Rashtrakuta king Indra III sacked Kanauj and devastated it. Gujarat passed into the hands of Rashtrakutas.

Motivations

1. Pratiharas: They shared long border with Rashtrakutas and had suffered reverses from them. So they wanted to move towards Kannauj to secure their base.
2. Rashtrakutas: It was an extension of their rivalry with Pratiharas.

Palas

Story

1. Gopala (750-770 AD) was elected king to end the anarchy prevailing. He was succeeded by his son Dharmpala (770-810 AD).
2. Dharmpala was defeated by Rashtrakuta ruler Dhruva but later he occupied Kanauj and installed a puppet there. He also had vassals in Punjab and Rajasthan. But the Pratihara ruler Nagabhatta II defeated him later @ Mongyr.
3. Devapala (810-850 AD) succeeded him and focused his energy elsewhere. He captured Assam and parts of Odisha and Nepal. He also defeated Bhoja, the Pratihara ruler, when he tried to move east.
4. But later, they suffered defeat at the hands of Rashtrakutas and Pratiharas.

Polity

1. The king’s power of sole authority was declining. The polity was becoming feudalistic. The Puranic view of absolute power of king was not universally accepted as contemporary works of this time talk about right to bear arms and oppose an unjust king.
2. The law of primogeniture was not firmly established and their were instances of wars of succession.
3. The state was essentially a military state. Vassals had to supply army and even the central ministers except purohit were supposed to lead armies in the battles. The army was comprised mostly of irregular mercenaries and feudal levies.
4. The officials were paid in tax-free land grants.
5. The empire consisted of the core of Bengal and Bihar surrounded by dependencies like Kanauj and further out were the peripheries which acknowledged their supremacy.

Central Administration

1. The king was assisted by a hereditary council of ministers who came from leading families.
2. Administration was department based and there was a foreign affairs department, revenue, defence, justice, royal household etc.

Provincial Administration (for directly administered areas only)

1. Kingdom –> Bhuktis (provinces) headed by uparika –> Vishayas or Mandalas (districts) headed by visayapati. They used army to collect LR and maintain law and order.

Local Administration

1. Local chiefs called samantas emerged (probably from village headmen) and later the visayapatis and samantas merged and were together called samanta.
2. Village administration and LR was done by village headman and accountant. The village assemblies were less powerful and functioned under the eyes of the officials. These were hereditary and were given tax-free land grants. Sometimes the headman was assisted by village elder called mahajan

Chalukyas of Badami

Polity

1. Hereditary monarchy with law of primogeniture not firmly established as there is an evidence of Pulakesin II acquiring throne after a war of succession. Practice of appointing a yuvraj while the king was alive existed.
2. External conquests and association with God were the means of deriving royal legitimacy.
3. Feudal system with the king assuming high sounding titles. Officers were paid in tax-free land grants. Army consisted of feudal levies apart from regulars and irregulars.
4. Secular polity.
5. Powerful military based state.

Central Administration

1. The core group comprised of the king and his kin. They didn’t maintain any CoM.

Provincial Administration (for directly administered areas only)

1. The provincial governors were usually the royal princes.

Local Administration

1. The village had a headman called mahattara or mahajan who was hereditary too.

Rashtrakutas

Story

1. The founder was Dantidurga who had his capital @ Manyakhed (Malkhed). He helped the Pallava king Nandi Varman (who was his son in law) regain kanchi and in its memory built the famous Vaikuntha Perumal temple. The Rashtrakutas gained from the decline of the Pallava power and the Cholas hadn’t risen yet. There was no power in N India strong enough to interfere in Deccan. They also had the advantage of controlling the western coast and hence the lucrative sea trade with Arabs (and even employed the Arab settlers as officers).
2. Dantidurga was succeeded by Krishna I who is known for building the Kailash temple @ Ellora.
3. Had the Rashtrakutas restricted their ambition to peninsula they could have built a more powerful kingdom in the deccan. But their ambition was domination over the north and the deccan. By the time they came to power, communication between the two was well established and therefore the political pull on the Rashtrakutas was equally strong in both directions, which to an extent dissipated their control.
4. Dhruva, the Rashtrakuta king, defeated Pratiharas and Dharmpala. But he had to return south without consolidating his gains.
5. Govinda III (793-814 AD) defeated Nagabhatta (Pratiharas) and also defeated whole of south.
6. Amoghavarsha (814-878 AD) preferred religion (patronized both Jainism and Sivaism) and literature to war. He wrote the first Kannada poetic work (Kavirajmarga). But his rule was marred by repeated rebellions.
7. In 915 AD, Indra III (915-27 AD) sacked Kanauj and devastated it. Gujarat passed into the hands of Rashtrakutas.
8. Krishna III (934-63 AD) defeated Parmaras, Eastern Chalukyas, Cholas and built a victory pillar @ Rameswaram. But in 972 AD, Rashtrakutas came to an end when Parmaras sacked Manyakhet.

Polity

1. Monarchial system with hereditary rule. Practice of appointing yuvraj existed though the law of primogeniture was not firmly established as we find evidences of wars of successions.
2. External conquests and divine association were means of claiming royal legitimacy.
3. The state policy was tolerant and they patronized Vaishnavism, Shivaism and Jainism. They even let Muslim traders settle and permitted Islam to be practiced and preached.
4. The king’s power of sole authority was declining. The polity was becoming feudalistic. The Puranic view of absolute power of king was not universally accepted as contemporary works of this time talk about right to bear arms and oppose an unjust king. The officers were paid in tax-free land grants. The army comprised of feudal levies in addition to regulars and mercenaries. The kings adopted high sounding titles.
5. The dharmashastra model was not followed.
6. The kings used to maintain high paraphernalia in court. Officials, vassals, foreign ambassadors, dancing girls and musicians used to participate in the court.
7. The state was essentially a military state. Vassals had to supply army and even the central ministers except purohit were supposed to lead armies in the battles.

Central Administration

1. The king was assisted by a hereditary council of ministers who came from leading families.
2. Administration was department based and there was a foreign affairs department, revenue, defence, justice, royal household etc.

Provincial Administration (for directly administered areas only)

1. Kingdom –> rashtra headed by rashtrapati–> visaya (district) –> bhukti.

Local Administration

1. Village administration and LR was done by village headman and accountant. These were hereditary and were given tax-free land grants. Sometimes the headman was assisted by village elder called mahajan.
2. There were village committees initially to look after general village activities like schools, tanks etc. and also had judicial powers.
3. Towns had similar committees called visaya-mahattara where heads of trade guilds were there and which used to assist the visayapati in town administration.
4. But with time, the power of hereditary revenue officials called deshmukhs grew and the weakened the committees. Probably they grew out of the village headmen. The were like samantas of north.

Imperial Cholas

Story

1. They were Pallava feudatories initially but by end of 9th cent, they ended Pallavas and weakened Pandyas.
2. By end of 10th cent and first half of of 11th, they were firmly established under Rajaraja (985-1014 AD) and Rajendra I (1014-44 AD). Rajaraja conquered Cheras and Pandyas, annexed N Sri Lanka and conquered Maldives - thus firmly controlling the Indian Ocean trade. Rajendra I completely overran Cheras and Pandyas, Sri Lanka, sent a mission to Ganges and sent a naval mission to SE Asia.
3. The Cholas fought with Chalukyas of Kalyani for the overlordship of Vengi, Tungbhadra doab and NW Karnataka but none could score a decisive victory and the war doomed both by the end of 12th cent.

Segmentary State Hypothesis

1. It divides the Chola state into 3 parts - central, intermediate and the peripheral. The king’s political sovereignty gradually faded as we moved away from the central part to be replaced by ritual sovereignty only in the peripheral parts. Thus kings were merely ritual figures devoid of two important powers vis revenue administration and standing army in the peripheral areas. The Chola state was not a centralized state. There is an inconsistency between claiming Chola administration to be an efficient centralized one and glorifying the role of local self government. The effective power of the king to collect LR was confined to the core of his empire outside which he was merely a figurehead. War booties and cattle raids were thus more important sources of state income.
2. The hypothesis denies the existence of Chola bureaucratic machinery for LR collection and also a standing army. It contends that the military power was divided into various peasant, tribal, hill groups. But if this were true, how were Cholas able to carve out such an extensive empire for so long and build so huge temples? War booty was an important consideration while fighting wars, but other economic and imperialistic considerations were important as well. Finally there is evidence that Cholas possessed elaborate bureaucratic setup, standardized taxes, reorganized administrative units territorially and gradually replaced the chiefs with high status officers. The hypothesis also is untenable given considerable development of secondary activities and the trading guilds in the Chola kingdom. The temples in various areas also had a political role.

Polity

1. Attempts were made by the kings to draw legitimacy from divine association. They constructed temples, granted lands to them as well as to brahmans and performed Vedic sacrifices. They even placed the images of kings and queens in the temples. External conquests were another source of drawing legitimacy. The king was a preserver of the social order.
2. Feudalistic order with various subordinated chiefs ruling in the peripheries and the king extending direct control over the core area called Cholamandalam. These chiefs provided military levies, tributes, attended courts and supplied daughters.
3. Officers and kin of the kings were paid by tax-free land grants. This led to the emergence of clan based polity. Among the Rajputs, different warriors used to get together, conquer an area and then distribute the land among themselves. A hierarchy of authorities thus emerged.
4. Hereditary monarchy with law of primogeniture firmly in place.
5. Important role of state in the economy was also an important feature. The state issued large number of coins, promoted economic activities, used to maintain diplomatic relations with external states and even used their armies to protect trade.

Central Administration

1. The king had a council of ministers which was hereditary and comprised mostly of brahmans.
2. Sometimes the king used to appoint yuvraj and both ruled for some time together because the reigns of some Chola kings overlap.
3. Inscriptions tell us that the bureaucratic system was on a rise from Rajaraja’s time and declined in the later half of 12th century. Elaborate and hereditary bureaucracy. The officials were divided into two classes - perudanam (high) and sirutaran (low).
4. LR was the most important source of state income. A land assessment was carried out in the time of Rajaraja. The LR department collected LR with the help of the local assemblies. There were taxes on secondary activities as well and they were collected with the help of the local assemblies.
5. The army comprised of feudal levies, regulars and mercenary irregulars.

Provincial Administration (only for directly administered areas)

1. Empire –> mandalam (provinces) –> valnadu / nadu (districts).

Local Self Government

1. Type of Local Bodies: @ nadu (district level) the assembly was called nadu. Nadu was more important unit of administration than the village. It comprised of both urban and rural settlements. The vellala villages were called ur (also vellanvagai villages)and the assembly had the same name. The towns of merchants and craftsmen were called nagaram and the assembly had same name. Assembly in agraharas were called sabhas.
2. Composition: The nadu consisted of the head of influential families who owned land in the district. They were called nattars and their significance can be gauged from the fact that they were the first ones to be addressed in the royal decrees. The ur consisted of vellala family heads who were basically landowners. The nagaram consisted of influential members of the guilds and were called nagarattas and the sabha consisted of people of the agrahara village satisfying the property, age and educational qualifications.
3. Membership Qualifications: Age: (35,70); Education + Property: (a) knowledge of mantras and brahmans + 0.25 veli (1.5 acres); or (b) knowledge of 1 veda and 1 bhashya + 0.125 veli (0.75 acres); Criminals and their relatives banned. One who has been on any of the committees but has not submitted his accounts was not selected. House built on own land. One who has not been on any of the committees for the last 3 years was to be selected. One who had been out casted for his association with low people too couldn’t be selected until he performed the purification ceremonies.
4. Selection Process: Each village was divided into 30 wards and eligible candidates from each ward could contest. Their names were written on palm leaves, put in a pot and a child drew one of the leaves.
5. Functions: It was divided into various sub-committees (12 for the garden committee, 6 for the tank committee and 12 for the annual committee) which took decision by a majority vote and looked after the distribution of water into fields, the temple management, it could settle new lands, raise loans for the village and levy taxes on village men.

Chola Imperialism

1. It was used as a source of extending the legitimacy, prestige of the king. For this purpose, the Cola kings used to maintain huge military apparatus.
2. In 907 AD, Parantaka I came to power and ruled for almost half a century. He secured the southern frontier of his kingdom by defeating Pandyas and capturing Madurai. This brought him in contact with SL and hostilities started. But later part of his reign saw a defeat at the hands of Rashtrakutas and the Chola power shattered.
3. Rajaraja began by attacking the alliance between the Pandyas, the Cheras and the SL in order to break the monopoly of these kingdoms with the western trade. He thus conquered Cheras first and then Pandyas, and then launched a campaign against and annexed N Sri Lanka (and built a Siva temple there and the new capital Polonnaruva) and finally conquered Maldives - thus firmly controlling the Indian Ocean trade. He formed a marital alliance with Chalukyas of Vengi and helped them in regaining their throne against the western Chalukyas and thus extended his influence in Deccan as well. Rajaraja began the tradition of eulogy in Cholas which his successors followed.
4. Rajendra I completely overran Cheras and Pandyas and Sri Lanka after defeating Chalukyas. He sent a mission to Ganges and sent a naval mission to SE Asia. It is debated that this ASEAN campaign was for territorial control. But had that been the case, Rajendra would have made attempts to colonize the area by sending settlers and also attempted to capture the hinterlands. But this didn’t happen so it can be deduced that the cause may have been an economic one. The Shrivijaya kings wanted to take over as the middlemen in the Indo - Chinese trade and this irked Rajendra. Later he conducted a raid into Chalukyan territory and sacked Kalyani.

Western Chalukya - Chola Struggle

1. By 973 AD Rashtrakuta kingdom had ended and their place was taken by Western Chalukyas (who had to fight Parmaras in the north and Cholas in the south and Eastern Chalukyas in the east). Rajaraja defeated the western Chalukyas and destroyed their power. This is even testified by a Chalukyan inscription of 1007 AD which talks about the excesses committed by the Chola army. But still the Chalukyas managed to hold on to the territory north of Tungbhadra which became a border between the Cholas and the Chalukyas.
2. Next Rajaraja got an opportunity to intervene in the affairs of eastern Chalukyas when two princes came to his court after being ousted by a non Chalukyan. Rajaraja not only restored them to the throne but also married his daughter with the Chalukyan king. This tradition of marital connections between the 2 houses continued throughout 11th century as well and made them allies against western Chalukyas. Naturally the western Chalukyas got alarmed and they sacked Vengi in 1006 AD. Rajaraja came for help and crushed the western Chalukyan forces.
3. Rajendra I began his conquests (as a king) by a campaign against the western Chalukyas. Tirumalai inscription tells us that Rajendra conquered Raichur doab, Manyakhet, Banawasi and areas around Hyderabad in this campaign. Most likely he was also able to raid Kalyani. In 1021-22 he had to campaign against western Chalukyas again as they were regaining power and had managed to free some of the lost territories. They also began to interfere in a succession issue in Vengi. As a result Rajendra sent an army which not only defeated the Chalukyas but also marched up to Ganges via Odisha and Bengal.
4. Later rulers fought with Chalukyas of Kalyani as well for the ownership of the Tungbhadra doab and this fight doomed both.

Hoysalas

1. Key figures in the rural areas were the landholders, the gauda, the hegde which are mentioned in inscriptions. Reference to them go back to Ganga inscriptions where they seem to have been the heads of the families of the original settlers. Their standing and status is indicated by their prefix. Thus praja gauda was of a lower socio-economic status than the prabhu gauda. They were sometimes both the representatives of the village and the appointees of the state. They had some judicial functions as well and had to raise militia when required.

Parmaras

1. Divine origin was used to draw legitimacy. This is evident from the myths about the birth of their clan from the sacred fire while in reality, they were feudatories of Rashtrakutas. In 972 AD, they threw off allegiance to Rashtrakutas, fought them, invaded Manyakhet and eliminated them.
2. The greatest king was Munja who extended the empire in all directions by defeating Huns, Mewar, Kalchuris (and captured their capital Tripuri), Chauhans as well as Chalukyas.

Arab Conquest of Sind

Story

1. Arab conquest of Sind was not any isolated phenomenon but it was an extension of their quest for world domination. Arab invasions began with naval expeditions - first into Thane in 637 AD and later into Sind. But these expeditions were not able to secure territorial gains. Then they tried to invade via Khyber and Bolan passes but failed again. Then they captured Afghanistan and Makran. This gave them a launch pad for further invasions. The governor of Iraq sent an army under his son-in-law Muhammed Kasim. This army conquered eventually captured whole of Sind. It started out with capturing Debal and then with the help of local buddhist monks was able to capture Thatta, Behmanabad, Alore as well before Kasim was called back.
2. Some historians believe that Arab conquest was a result of the high territorial ambitions of the Iraqi governor Al-Hajjal. Some others tell us that some Arab ships were looted by sea pirates near Debal in Sind. When the Caliph asked the local ruler Dahir to pay compensation, Dahir refused saying he had no control over the pirates. This infuriated the Caliph who ordered an invasion of Sind. Even if we believe the incident, it could at best be the immediate cause. The real cause has to be the territorial ambitions of Arabs and the riches of India.
3. One of the reasons why Kasim was able to conquer Sind so easily was that the ruler Dahir was a weak and unpopular ruler and had alienated many powerful sections. He lacked any strategic understanding and foresight and was ill prepared for such a war. Even his army had only been hastily recruited in the face of the invasion. Dahir was also engaged in court intrigues and his claim to the throne itself was not perceived to be a legitimate one.

Impact

(a) Social Impact

1. The Arab rulers largely continued the systems prevailing before them. The grants made to Brahmans were not taken back. The disabilities imposed on Jats by the brahmans were confirmed by the Arab king.
2. They imposed jiziya and kharaj on hindus and agreed to let them co-exist. However, tensions were still there.
3. It is also said that sufism got influenced by Buddhism as a result of the Arab contact with Buddhists in Sind.

(b) Cultural Impact

1. The brahmans came up with a ritual to cleanse the men and women who had come in contact with the muslims.
2. Arabic language became a spoken language in the Gujarat - Sind area and later fused with Indian languages to form the Sindhi language.
3. It began and intensified the grand process of the knowledge exchange. Many Arab scholars came and learnt Indian medicine, philosophy, astrology etc. Many Indian scholars went to Arabia. Many major texts were translated into Arabic and the knowledge spread.

(c) Economic Impact

1. It intensified the Arab-India trade.

(d) Political Impact

1. Arabs had imposed Islam everywhere they went. But when they came to India they realized that a violent propagation of Islam with full state backing was not feasible. So they modified their policy and this began the tradition of separation of religion from state. Such a policy became the precursor to the policy adopted later on by the sultans and the mughals.
2. Many clans like the pratiharas, chalukyas, rashtrakutas etc. rose to prominence after defeating Arabs. But this resistance was not aimed at permanently excluding Arabs from India since many of them benefitted from Arab trade and thus just wanted to check Arab expansion further east.

Senas

Vijay Sen (1095 - 1185 AD)

1. He was able to conquer numerous small principalities in Bengal after the disintegration of Pala empire. He carried out a naval expedition against Gahadwals of Kannauj and also Mithila ruler. Next he conquered Gaud and Magadha. He was able to unite Bengal.
2. Sen empire declined after 1200 AD when numerous samantas claimed their independence and a governor of Turks conquered Bengal as the last ruler fled without offering a fight.

Polity

1. The LRS was based on elaborate revenue and land measurement. This can be gauged from their land grant inscriptions where they mention the revenue of the granted land as well.

Vijayanagar Empire

Polity

1. Secular.
2. It was based on the varnashrama ideals i.e. the king was supposed to be the protector of dharma.
3. Association with gods and imperialism were chief source of royal legitimacy. We find instances where the ministers and nayaks played an important role in the accession of a king. We also find instances where 2 brothers jointly ruled the kingdom like Harihar and Bukka, Vijayrai and Rajrai.
4. The institution of yuvraj was also present where the king could appoint normally his eldest son as his successor but there have been instances when other sons were appointed as well. Sometimes the king would voluntarily abdicate in favor of his yuvraj upon reaching old age.
5. Feudal. Officers called nayaks were granted tax-free lands in outlying areas of the empire for their military services. Here they used to rule pretty much like autonomous rulers.
6. Important role of state in economy and social matters.

Krishna Deva Rai

1. He used to take personal interest in the well being of the army and medicare. He used to reward the soldiers who performed well in the battles.
2. Telugu text Amukta Malyad tells us that he reorganized the provincial administration and kept the nayaks under check. He used to tour his kingdom regularly to keep the local officials under check, address the problems of the peasantry and prevent their exploitation at the hands of the local officials. He remitted the unpopular marriage tax.
3. He not only constructed many embankments, tanks and lakes but also took active steps to extend cultivation and encouraged cultivation of superior crops. He took steps to ensure smooth functioning of the ports.
4. His reign is considered to be ‘classical age’ of the Telugu literature. He had patronized 9 of the greatest Telugu scholars in his court. Apart from Amukta Malyad he wrote 2 other Telugu texts. He also patronized other regional languages of S India.

Central Administration

1. The king was advised by a CoM.

Provincial Administration

1. Kingdom –> mandalams (provinces) –> nadus (districts) –> sthala (sub-districts) –> gram (village).
2. The provincial governors maintained their own courts and officers, taxes, coins etc. They could also decide on tax matters and land grants. The kings would normally not interfere in their matters except in extreme cases.
3. Apart from the governors there were the defeated rajas.
4. Then there were the nayaks who were military commanders given land grants. They too maintained soldiers, collected LR and then paid a part to the centre.

Nayankar System

1. Some scholars believe that in the Vijaynagar kingdom military commanders were called nayaks. Some others believe that these nayaks were actually feudal lords who maintained army for the king + paid a part of LR and in return were given land grants in lieu of salaries. Such land grants were called Amarams.
2. A Nayak couldn’t keep all the revenue from the amaram for himself. He had to maintain an army for the king out of the revenue and also pay the king a portion of the LR. Other responsibilities include maintaining law and order and addressing local issues. He had to take steps for the extension of cultivation by clearing the forests and to defend the amaram.
3. While a provincial governor was an agent of the king and ruled in the king’s name, a nayak ruled in his own right and merely had to perform his feudal duties towards the king. A nayak had a greater degree of autonomy than a provincial governor. A nayak was a hereditary and permanent institution (and couldn’t be transfered from one amaram to the other) while provincial governors could be transfered from one place to the other and was not hereditary. Also while most provincial governors were brahmans, we find only few instances of nayaks being brahmans.

Local Administration

Ayagar System

1. The assemblies of the Chola times were allowed to continue in name but all there powers were taken away. Instead they were superimposed by 12 hereditary functionaries @ village level each looking after different functions. They used to get tax-free land grants. This system was called the Ayagar system.
2. The Ayagars were appointed by the state and were hereditary. in lieu of the salary they were paid a part of the LR and also grated some tax free land. No land transaction could happen without the permission of the Ayagar. One could also sell his office or mortgage it.

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