Chapter 2 — New Kings and Kingdoms

The Rashtrakutas were initially subordinate to the Chalukyas of Karnataka. In the mid-eighth century, the Rashtrakuta chief Dantidurga overthrew his Chalukya overlord and performed the hiranyagarbha (golden womb) ritual with the help of Brahmanas to establish his new royal status.

Hiranyagarbha literally means 'the golden womb.' When this ritual was performed with the help of Brahmanas, it was thought to lead to the rebirth of the performer as a Kshatriya — that is, as someone who belonged to the warrior caste by ritual, even if not by birth.

Prashastis were written compositions praising rulers, composed by learned Brahmanas. They portray rulers as valiant and victorious warriors. One prashasti written in Sanskrit and found in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, describes the exploits of Nagabhata, a Pratihara king, including his victories over the rulers of Andhra, Kalinga, Vanga, Malava, and Kanauj.

The Gurjara-Pratihara, Rashtrakuta, and Pala dynasties fought for centuries over control of Kanauj in the Ganga valley. Because three parties were involved, historians refer to this contest as the tripartite struggle.

Mahmud of Ghazni came from Afghanistan. He raided the subcontinent 17 times between 1000 and 1025 with a religious motive, targeting wealthy temples. His targets included the temple of Somnath in Gujarat. Much of the wealth he carried away was used to create a splendid capital city at Ghazni.

Prithviraja III (1168–1192) was the Chahamana (Chauhan) ruler who controlled the region around Delhi and Ajmer. He defeated the Turk ruler Sultan Muhammad Ghori in 1191 but lost to him the very next year, in 1192.

A minor chiefly family called the Muttaraiyar held power in the Kaveri delta and were subordinate to the Pallava kings of Kanchipuram. Vijayalaya, from Uraiyur, captured the delta from the Muttaraiyar in the middle of the ninth century. He built the town of Thanjavur and a temple for goddess Nishumbhasudini there, founding the Chola kingdom.

Rajaraja I is considered the most powerful Chola ruler. He expanded Chola control over neighbouring regions and reorganised the administration of the empire. His son Rajendra I continued these expeditions and expansions.

According to the Uttaramerur inscriptions in Chingleput district, Tamil Nadu, names of eligible members were written on small tickets of palm leaf and placed into an earthenware pot. A young boy then drew out the tickets one by one, each ticket determining the member for one committee.

Members had to own land from which land revenue was collected, have their own homes, be between 35 and 70 years of age, have knowledge of the Vedas, and be well-versed in administrative matters and honest. Anyone who had been on a committee in the last three years, or whose accounts had not been submitted, was ineligible.

Chola inscriptions mention vellanvagai (land of non-Brahmana peasant proprietors), brahmadeya (land gifted to Brahmanas), shalabhoga (land for maintaining a school), devadana and tirunamattukkani (land gifted to temples), and pallichchhandam (land donated to Jaina institutions).

Chola inscriptions refer to more than 400 terms for different kinds of taxes. The most frequently mentioned are vetti — taken not in cash but in the form of forced labour — and kadamai, or land revenue. Other taxes included those on thatching the house, on using a ladder to climb palm trees, and a cess on succession to family property.

Kalhana was the author of a poem containing the history of kings who ruled over Kashmir. He used a variety of sources including inscriptions, documents, eyewitness accounts, and earlier histories. Unlike the writers of prashastis, he was often critical about rulers and their policies.

Chola temples became the nuclei of settlements and were centres of craft production. They were endowed with land by rulers and others, and the income maintained all the specialists who lived near them — priests, garland makers, cooks, sweepers, musicians, and dancers. The most distinctive craft associated with temples was the making of bronze images.

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