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English · हिन्दी · తెలుగు · தமிழ் · മലയാളം · मराठी · ಕನ್ನಡ

After the Guptas: Harsha and the north

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ವಿವರಣೆ

The Guptas and after · Part 3 / 4 · Fact-checked on · how we check

Written with AI from the sources listed at the bottom of this page, then fact-checked by a separate AI.

The successor states of the north; the Pushyabhutis of Thanesar and Harsha's rise; his wars, Pulakeshin II and the Narmada; feudatories, land grants and the Banskhera and Madhuban plates; Hiuen Tsang and the Kannauj and Prayag assemblies; Harsha's plays, Banabhatta and Nalanda; Yashovarman and Lalitaditya; the tripartite struggle for Kannauj, the Palas and the Pratiharas; the Arab conquest of Sindh.

Each idea is explained first in Kannada (ಕನ್ನಡ), ending with the English and Hindi exam terms, followed by the same point in exam English. UPSC Prelims is in English or Hindi, so understand it in Kannada and revise it in English.

ಗುಪ್ತ ಸಾಮ್ರಾಜ್ಯ ಒಡೆದ ನಂತರದ ಸುಮಾರು ಮುನ್ನೂರು ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಉತ್ತರ ಭಾರತ ಈ ಭಾಗ. ಏಳನೇ ಶತಮಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಸುಮಾರು ನಲವತ್ತು ವರ್ಷ ಪುಷ್ಯಭೂತಿ ವಂಶದ ಹರ್ಷ ಗಂಗಾ ಬಯಲನ್ನು ಮತ್ತೆ ಒಂದುಗೂಡಿಸಿದ. ಅವನ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ತಿಳಿದಿದೆ — ಆಸ್ಥಾನ ಕವಿ ಬರೆದ ಹರ್ಷಚರಿತೆ, ಚೀನೀ ಭಿಕ್ಷು ಹ್ಯೂಯೆನ್ ತ್ಸಾಂಗ್ ಬರೆದ ಪ್ರವಾಸ ಟಿಪ್ಪಣಿ. ಊರ ಗೌಡ ತೀರಿಕೊಂಡಾಗ ಆ ಸ್ಥಾನಕ್ಕೆ ಮೂರು ಮನೆತನಗಳು ಜಗಳವಾಡಿದಂತೆ — ಹರ್ಷನ ನಂತರ ಕನೌಜ್‌ಗಾಗಿ ಪೂರ್ವ, ಪಶ್ಚಿಮ, ದಖ್ಖನ್ ರಾಜರ ತ್ರಿಪಕ್ಷೀಯ ಹೋರಾಟ ನಡೆಯಿತು. ಪಶ್ಚಿಮದಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿಂಧ್ ಅರಬರ ಕೈಗೆ ಹೋಯಿತು. (→ English: Pushyabhuti dynasty · Harshacharita · Hiuen Tsang · tripartite struggle · हिन्दी: पुष्यभूति वंश · हर्षचरित · ह्वेनसांग · त्रिपक्षीय संघर्ष)

In exam EnglishPart 2 closed with the Gupta empire breaking apart in the sixth century. This part follows north India through roughly the next three hundred years. For about four decades in the first half of the seventh century, Harsha of the Pushyabhuti dynasty family brought much of the Ganga valley back under one ruler, and his reign is unusually well documented because a court poet wrote his life in the Harshacharita and a Chinese monk, Hiuen Tsang, wrote down what he saw. After Harsha, the city of Kannauj on the Ganga became the prize that the strongest kings of the east, the west and the Deccan fought over, a contest called the tripartite struggle, while in the far west an Arab army took Sindh.

ಗುಪ್ತರ ಬಲ ಕುಗ್ಗಿದಾಗ ಅವರ ಹಳೆಯ ಅಧಿಕಾರಿಗಳು, ಮಿತ್ರರು ತಮ್ಮದೇ ರಾಜ್ಯ ಕಟ್ಟಿಕೊಂಡರು. ಸೇನಾಪತಿ ಭಟಾರ್ಕ ಸ್ಥಾಪಿಸಿದ ಮೈತ್ರಕರು ಸೌರಾಷ್ಟ್ರದ ವಲಭಿಯಿಂದ — ಬಂದರು ಪಟ್ಟಣ, ವಿದ್ಯಾಕೇಂದ್ರವೂ ಹೌದು. ಮೌಖರಿಗಳು ಕನೌಜ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ; ಉತ್ತರ ಗುಪ್ತರು ಮಗಧ, ಮಾಳವದಲ್ಲಿ. ಬಂಗಾಳದಲ್ಲಿ ಶಶಾಂಕ ಗೌಡದ ರಾಜ, ರಾಜಧಾನಿ ಕರ್ಣಸುವರ್ಣ. ಅವನು ಬೋಧಿ ವೃಕ್ಷ ಕಡಿಸಿದ ಎಂದು ಬೌದ್ಧರು ಹೇಳಿದರು — ಆದರೆ ಅದು ಶತ್ರುಗಳ ಮಾತು, ಹಾಗಾಗಿ ಎಚ್ಚರದಿಂದ ನೋಡುತ್ತಾರೆ. ನೆರೆಮನೆಯವರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಅವರ ವೈರಿ ಹೇಳುವ ಕಥೆಯಂತೆ. (→ English: Maitrakas · Maukharis · Shashanka · हिन्दी: मैत्रक · मौखरि · शशांक)

In exam EnglishAs Gupta power faded, its former governors and allies set up kingdoms of their own. The Maitrakas, founded by a general named Bhatarka, ruled from Valabhi in Saurashtra, a port town that was also a centre of learning. The Maukharis held Kannauj and the country around it, while a line known as the Later Guptas, whose link with the imperial family is unclear, ruled in Magadha and Malwa. In Bengal, Shashanka made himself king of Gauda, with his capital at Karnasuvarna. Buddhist writers, Hiuen Tsang among them, remembered Shashanka as a persecutor who had the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya cut down; since the charge comes from his enemies' side, historians treat it with caution.

ಪುಷ್ಯಭೂತಿ ವಂಶದ ರಾಜಧಾನಿ ಥಾನೇಸರ್ (ಇಂದಿನ ಹರಿಯಾಣ). ಪ್ರಭಾಕರವರ್ಧನ ಮೊದಲ 'ಮಹಾರಾಜಾಧಿರಾಜ', ಹೂಣರ ವಿರುದ್ಧ ಹೋರಾಡಿದ; ಮಗಳು ರಾಜ್ಯಶ್ರೀಯನ್ನು ಕನೌಜ್‌ನ ಮೌಖರಿ ರಾಜ ಗ್ರಹವರ್ಮನಿಗೆ ಮದುವೆ ಮಾಡಿದ. ಅವನು ತೀರಿದ ಮೇಲೆ ಮಾಳವದ ದೇವಗುಪ್ತ ಗ್ರಹವರ್ಮನನ್ನು ಕೊಂದು ರಾಜ್ಯಶ್ರೀಯನ್ನು ಸೆರೆಹಿಡಿದ. ಅಣ್ಣ ರಾಜ್ಯವರ್ಧನ ದೇವಗುಪ್ತನನ್ನು ಸೋಲಿಸಿದ, ಆದರೆ ಶಶಾಂಕ ಅವನನ್ನು ಕೊಂದ. ತಮ್ಮ ಹರ್ಷವರ್ಧನ 606ರಲ್ಲಿ ರಾಜನಾದ — ಹರ್ಷ ಶಕೆ ಅಲ್ಲಿಂದ. ಕಾಡಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಬೆಂಕಿಗೆ ಹಾರಲಿದ್ದ ತಂಗಿಯನ್ನು ಕಾಪಾಡಿದ ಎಂದು ಬಾಣ ಬರೆದ. ಗಂಡನ ಮನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ವಾರಸುದಾರರಿಲ್ಲದಾಗ ಅಣ್ಣನೇ ಆ ಮನೆಯ ಹೊಣೆ ಹೊತ್ತಂತೆ — ಕನೌಜ್ ರಾಜಧಾನಿಯಾಯಿತು. (→ English: Pushyabhuti dynasty · Harsha era · Kannauj · हिन्दी: पुष्यभूति वंश · हर्ष संवत · कन्नौज)

In exam EnglishThe Pushyabhuti dynasty kings ruled from Thanesar (Sthanvishvara) in present-day Haryana. Prabhakaravardhana, the first of the family to take the title maharajadhiraja, fought the Hunas and gave his daughter Rajyashri in marriage to the Maukhari king Grahavarman of Kannauj. Soon after Prabhakaravardhana died, Devagupta of Malwa killed Grahavarman and threw Rajyashri into prison. Her elder brother Rajyavardhana marched out and defeated Devagupta, but was then killed by Shashanka, Devagupta's ally. The younger brother, Harshavardhana, came to the throne in 606 CE, the year from which the Harsha era is counted. According to Banabhatta, Harsha found his sister in the Vindhya forest just as she was about to throw herself into a fire. With no Maukhari heir left at Kannauj, Harsha took charge of that kingdom too and made Kannauj, rather than Thanesar, his capital.

ಹರ್ಷನ ಆಳ್ವಿಕೆಯ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಭಾಗ ಯುದ್ಧಗಳಲ್ಲೇ. ಶಶಾಂಕನನ್ನು ಎರಡೂ ಕಡೆಯಿಂದ ಹಿಸುಕಲು ಕಾಮರೂಪದ (ಅಸ್ಸಾಂ) ರಾಜ ಭಾಸ್ಕರವರ್ಮನ ಜೊತೆ ಸ್ನೇಹ. ದಕ್ಷಿಣಕ್ಕೆ ಹೊರಟಾಗ ಚಾಲುಕ್ಯ ರಾಜ ಇಮ್ಮಡಿ ಪುಲಕೇಶಿ ನರ್ಮದೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ತಡೆದ. ರವಿಕೀರ್ತಿ ಬರೆದ ಐಹೊಳೆ ಶಾಸನ — ಆನೆಗಳು ಬಿದ್ದಾಗ ಹರ್ಷನ 'ಹರ್ಷ' (ಸಂತೋಷ) ಕರಗಿಹೋಯಿತು ಎಂದು ಹೆಸರಿನಲ್ಲೇ ಶ್ಲೇಷೆ. ನರ್ಮದೆಯೇ ಅವನ ದಕ್ಷಿಣ ಗಡಿ. ಚೀನಾದ ತಾಂಗ್ ಚಕ್ರವರ್ತಿಯ ಜೊತೆ ದೂತರ ವಿನಿಮಯ. (→ English: Pulakeshin II · Aihole inscription · हिन्दी: पुलकेशिन द्वितीय · ऐहोल अभिलेख)

In exam EnglishHarsha spent much of his reign at war. To squeeze Shashanka from two sides he made an alliance with Bhaskaravarman, king of Kamarupa in Assam, though Gauda seems to have come fully under his control only after Shashanka's death. His attempt to expand south failed. The Chalukya king Pulakeshin II stopped him on the Narmada, and the Aihole inscription that the poet Ravikirti composed for Pulakeshin boasts that Harsha's joy (harsha) melted away when his war elephants fell. The Narmada remained the southern edge of his power. Harsha also exchanged envoys with the Tang emperor Taizong of China, a sign that distant courts now took Kannauj seriously as a capital.

ಹರ್ಷನ ಆಡಳಿತ ಗುಪ್ತರಂತೆಯೇ, ಆದರೆ ಸಾಮಂತರು ಇನ್ನೂ ಹೆಚ್ಚು. ಅನೇಕ ರಾಜರು ಸಾಮಂತ, ಮಹಾಸಾಮಂತರಾಗಿ ತಮ್ಮ ನೆಲ ಉಳಿಸಿಕೊಂಡು ಕಪ್ಪ, ಸೈನ್ಯ ಕಳಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು. ಹ್ಯೂಯೆನ್ ತ್ಸಾಂಗ್ ಪ್ರಕಾರ ತೆರಿಗೆ ಕಡಿಮೆ — ಬೆಳೆಯ ಆರನೇ ಒಂದು ಭಾಗ; ಅಧಿಕಾರಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಸಂಬಳದ ಬದಲು ಭೂಮಿ; ರಾಜಭೂಮಿಯ ಆದಾಯ ನಾಲ್ಕು ಭಾಗ — ಆಡಳಿತ-ಪೂಜೆ, ಹಿರಿಯ ಅಧಿಕಾರಿಗಳು, ವಿದ್ವಾಂಸರು, ಧಾರ್ಮಿಕ ದಾನ. ಮನೆಯ ಆದಾಯವನ್ನು ನಾಲ್ಕು ಡಬ್ಬಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಬೇರೆ ಬೇರೆ ಇಟ್ಟಂತೆ. ಬಾನ್ಸ್‌ಖೇಡಾ (628), ಮಧುಬನ್ (631) ತಾಮ್ರಪಟಗಳು ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣರಿಗೆ ಗ್ರಾಮದಾನ — ಬಾನ್ಸ್‌ಖೇಡಾದಲ್ಲಿ ರಾಜನ ಸಹಿ. ದಾರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕಳ್ಳರು, ಶಿಕ್ಷೆಗಳು ಫಾಹಿಯಾನ್ ಕಾಲಕ್ಕಿಂತ ಕಠಿಣ. (→ English: samanta (feudatory) · Banskhera copper plate · हिन्दी: सामंत · बाँसखेड़ा ताम्रपत्र)

In exam EnglishHarsha governed much as the Guptas had, but feudatories were even more prominent. Many rulers inside his empire kept their own lands as samanta (feudatory)s and mahasamantas, sending him tribute and soldiers. Hiuen Tsang reports that taxes were light, the main one being a sixth of the crop, that officials were rewarded with grants of land rather than cash, and that the income of the crown lands was split four ways: for government business and worship, for paying high officers, for rewarding learned men and for gifts to religious bodies. Two copper plates of Harsha survive, from Banskhera (628 CE) and Madhuban (631 CE) in present-day Uttar Pradesh. Both record grants of villages to Brahmanas, and the Banskhera plate carries what is taken to be the king's own signature. The same pilgrim notes that the roads were not fully safe, since he was robbed more than once, and that punishments were harsher than the ones Fa-Hien had described two centuries earlier.

ಹ್ಯೂಯೆನ್ ತ್ಸಾಂಗ್ ಚೀನೀ ಬೌದ್ಧ ಭಿಕ್ಷು — 629ರಲ್ಲಿ ಹೊರಟು ಮಧ್ಯ ಏಷ್ಯಾದ ಮೂಲಕ ನೆಲದಾರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಬಂದ, ಹತ್ತು ವರ್ಷಕ್ಕೂ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಭಾರತದಲ್ಲಿದ್ದು 645ರಲ್ಲಿ ಗ್ರಂಥಗಳೊಂದಿಗೆ ಮರಳಿದ. ಫಾಹಿಯಾನ್‌ನಂತೆ ಬೌದ್ಧ ಗ್ರಂಥ, ಪುಣ್ಯಕ್ಷೇತ್ರಗಳಿಗಾಗಿ ಬಂದ; ದಕ್ಷಿಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಂಚಿಯವರೆಗೂ ಹೋದ. ಅವನ ಪುಸ್ತಕ 'ಸಿ-ಯು-ಕಿ' — ಪ್ರತಿ ರಾಜ್ಯದ ಗಾತ್ರ, ಹವಾಮಾನ, ಜನ, ಆಚಾರ, ವಿಹಾರಗಳು. ಶಿಷ್ಯ ಹ್ವುಯಿ ಲೀ ಬರೆದ ಜೀವನಚರಿತ್ರೆ ಹರ್ಷನ ವಿಷಯ ಹೇಳುತ್ತದೆ. ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನದ ಅರ್ಚಕ ಊರನ್ನು ವರ್ಣಿಸಿದರೆ ಗುಡಿಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆಯೇ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಹೇಳುವಂತೆ — ಬೌದ್ಧಧರ್ಮದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ರಾಜನ ನಡೆ ನೋಡಿಯೇ ಹೊಗಳಿಕೆ, ತೆಗಳಿಕೆ. (→ English: Hiuen Tsang · Si-yu-ki · हिन्दी: ह्वेनसांग · सि-यू-की)

In exam EnglishHiuen Tsang (also written Xuanzang) was a Chinese Buddhist monk who left China in 629 CE, crossed Central Asia by land and spent more than ten years in India before returning home in 645 CE with a large load of manuscripts and relics. Like Fa-Hien before him, he came to collect Buddhist texts and visit the holy places, and his travels took him as far south as Kanchi. His account of the journey, the Si-yu-ki (Records of the Western Regions), describes one kingdom after another: its size, climate, people, customs and monasteries. A biography written by his pupil Hwui Li adds details of his time with Harsha. A devout monk naturally paid most attention to Buddhist matters, and he sometimes judged kings by how they treated Buddhism, so his praise and blame need to be read with that in mind.

ಪ್ರವಾಸದ ಕೊನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಹರ್ಷ ಹ್ಯೂಯೆನ್ ತ್ಸಾಂಗ್‌ನನ್ನು ಭೇಟಿಯಾಗಿ ಆಶ್ರಯ ಕೊಟ್ಟ. 643ರಲ್ಲಿ ಕನೌಜ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಸಭೆ — ರಾಜರು, ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣರು, ಜೈನರು, ಬೇರೆ ಬೌದ್ಧ ಪಂಥಗಳ ಮುಂದೆ ಭಿಕ್ಷು ಮಹಾಯಾನ ವಿವರಿಸಿದ. ನಂತರ ಪ್ರಯಾಗ — ಐದು ವರ್ಷಕ್ಕೊಮ್ಮೆ ರಾಜ ಖಜಾನೆಯನ್ನೆಲ್ಲ ಭಿಕ್ಷುಗಳು, ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣರು, ಬಡವರಿಗೆ ಹಂಚುತ್ತಿದ್ದ; ಆರನೆಯದನ್ನು ಯಾತ್ರಿಕ ಕಂಡ. ಹಬ್ಬಕ್ಕೆ ಮನೆಯನ್ನೇ ಖಾಲಿ ಮಾಡಿ ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ಹಂಚಿದಂತೆ. ಹರ್ಷನ ಮನೆತನ ಶಿವ-ಸೂರ್ಯ ಆರಾಧಕರು; ಕೊನೆಗೆ ಮಹಾಯಾನದತ್ತ ವಾಲಿದರೂ ಇತರ ದೇವರನ್ನೂ ಪೂಜಿಸಿದ. (→ English: Mahayana · Prayag assembly · हिन्दी: महायान · प्रयाग सभा)

In exam EnglishHarsha met Hiuen Tsang near the end of the pilgrim's stay and became his patron. In 643 CE he called a great assembly at Kannauj, at which the monk explained the Mahayana teaching before kings, Brahmanas, Jains and Buddhists of rival schools. Harsha then took his guest to Prayag, where, once every five years, the king gave away the wealth piled up in his treasury to monks, Brahmanas, the poor and the helpless. Hiuen Tsang watched the sixth such gathering. Harsha's family worshipped Shiva and the Sun, and he went on honouring them alongside the Buddha, though in his later years he leaned towards Mahayana Buddhism.

ಹರ್ಷ ಸ್ವತಃ ಲೇಖಕ. ಮೂರು ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತ ನಾಟಕಗಳು — ರತ್ನಾವಳಿ, ಪ್ರಿಯದರ್ಶಿಕಾ (ರಾಜರ ಪ್ರೇಮದ ಹಾಸ್ಯ), ನಾಗಾನಂದ (ನಾಗರಿಗಾಗಿ ಪ್ರಾಣ ಕೊಟ್ಟ ವಿದ್ಯಾಧರ ರಾಜಕುಮಾರ — ಬೌದ್ಧ ಕರುಣೆ). ಆಸ್ಥಾನ ಕವಿ ಬಾಣಭಟ್ಟ ಹರ್ಷಚರಿತೆ (ರಾಜನ ಜೀವನ, ಅಲಂಕಾರ ಗದ್ಯ), ಕಾದಂಬರಿ ಬರೆದ. ಕುಮಾರಗುಪ್ತ ಸ್ಥಾಪಿಸಿದ ನಳಂದಾ ಮಹಾವಿಹಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಹರ್ಷ ದೊಡ್ಡ ದಾನ. ಹ್ಯೂಯೆನ್ ತ್ಸಾಂಗ್ ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಶೀಲಭದ್ರರ ಬಳಿ ಓದಿದ — ಸಾವಿರಾರು ಭಿಕ್ಷುಗಳು, ವಾದಗಳು, ದೊಡ್ಡ ಗ್ರಂಥಾಲಯ; ಖರ್ಚೆಲ್ಲ ದಾನಕೊಟ್ಟ ಹಳ್ಳಿಗಳ ಆದಾಯದಿಂದ. ಊರ ಗುಡಿಗೆ ಹೊಲ ಬರೆದುಕೊಟ್ಟರೆ ಆ ಬೆಳೆಯಿಂದ ನಡೆಯುವಂತೆ. ಇತ್ಸಿಂಗ್ 670ರ ದಶಕದಲ್ಲಿ ಸಮುದ್ರದಾರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಬಂದ. (→ English: Harshacharita · Nalanda mahavihara · हिन्दी: हर्षचरित · नालंदा महाविहार)

In exam EnglishHarsha was an author in his own right. Three Sanskrit plays are credited to him: Ratnavali and Priyadarshika, light court comedies about royal love affairs, and Nagananda, in which a Vidyadhara prince gives up his life to save the serpents, a story shaped by Buddhist ideals of compassion. His court poet Banabhatta wrote the Harshacharita, an ornate prose life of the king that is the main Indian source for his early years, and the prose romance Kadambari. Harsha also gave generously to the Nalanda mahavihara in Bihar, the monastery and centre of learning that Kumaragupta I had founded. Hiuen Tsang studied there for years under its head, Shilabhadra, and describes thousands of monks, constant debate and a great library, all supported by the revenue of villages granted to the institution. I-tsing, another Chinese monk, came by sea in the 670s and also studied there.

647ರಲ್ಲಿ ವಾರಸುದಾರನಿಲ್ಲದೆ ಹರ್ಷ ತೀರಿದ, ಸಾಮ್ರಾಜ್ಯ ಕೂಡಲೇ ಒಡೆಯಿತು. ಎಂಟನೇ ಶತಮಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಕನೌಜ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ಯಶೋವರ್ಮ — ಆಸ್ಥಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಭವಭೂತಿ, ವಾಕ್ಪತಿ (ಪ್ರಾಕೃತ ಕಾವ್ಯ 'ಗೌಡವಹೋ'). ಅವನನ್ನು ಕಾಶ್ಮೀರದ ಕಾರ್ಕೋಟ ರಾಜ ಲಲಿತಾದಿತ್ಯ ಸೋಲಿಸಿದ — ಮಾರ್ತಾಂಡ ಸೂರ್ಯ ದೇವಾಲಯ ಅವನದು. ನಂತರ ಸುಮಾರು ಇನ್ನೂರು ವರ್ಷ ಕನೌಜ್‌ಗಾಗಿ ಪಾಲ ವಂಶ (ಬಂಗಾಳ-ಬಿಹಾರ), ಗುರ್ಜರ-ಪ್ರತೀಹಾರರು (ಪಶ್ಚಿಮ), ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಕೂಟರು (ದಖ್ಖನ್) ನಡುವೆ ತ್ರಿಪಕ್ಷೀಯ ಹೋರಾಟ. ಫಲವತ್ತಾದ ಗಂಗಾ ಬಯಲು, ವ್ಯಾಪಾರ ದಾರಿ, ಹರ್ಷನ ರಾಜಧಾನಿ ಎಂಬ ಹೆಸರು — ಊರಲ್ಲಿ ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ಬಯಸುವ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಗದ್ದೆಯಂತೆ. (→ English: Pala dynasty · Gurjara-Pratiharas · Rashtrakutas · tripartite struggle · हिन्दी: पाल वंश · गुर्जर-प्रतिहार · राष्ट्रकूट · त्रिपक्षीय संघर्ष)

In exam EnglishHarsha died in 647 CE without an heir, and his empire fell apart almost at once. In the early eighth century Yashovarman ruled from Kannauj; his court included the Sanskrit dramatist Bhavabhuti and the poet Vakpati, whose Prakrit poem Gaudavaho celebrates his patron's campaign against the king of Gauda. Yashovarman was in turn defeated by Lalitaditya Muktapida of the Karkota dynasty of Kashmir, a conqueror remembered for the Sun temple at Martand. From the late eighth century three powers fought over Kannauj for close to two hundred years: the Pala dynasty of Bengal and Bihar, the Gurjara-Pratiharas kings of western India and the Rashtrakutas kings of the Deccan. Historians call this the tripartite struggle. Kannauj mattered because whoever held it commanded the middle Ganga valley, with its fertile land and its trade routes, and could claim the prestige of Harsha's old capital.

ಪಾಲ ವಂಶ ಎಂಟನೇ ಶತಮಾನದ ಮಧ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಆರಂಭವಾಯಿತು. ಧರ್ಮಪಾಲನ ತಾಮ್ರಪಟ ಹೇಳುತ್ತದೆ: ದೊಡ್ಡ ಮೀನು ಸಣ್ಣ ಮೀನನ್ನು ನುಂಗುವ 'ಮಾತ್ಸ್ಯನ್ಯಾಯ'ದಂಥ ಗೊಂದಲದ ನಂತರ ಗೋಪಾಲನನ್ನು ರಾಜನಾಗಿ ಆರಿಸಲಾಯಿತು. ಧರ್ಮಪಾಲ ಕನೌಜ್ ಸಿಂಹಾಸನದಲ್ಲಿ ತನ್ನ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿ ಚಕ್ರಾಯುಧನನ್ನು ಕೂರಿಸಿದ; ವಿಕ್ರಮಶಿಲಾ ಮಹಾವಿಹಾರ, ಸೋಮಪುರ (ಪಹಾರ್‌ಪುರ, ಬಾಂಗ್ಲಾದೇಶ) ವಿಹಾರ ಸ್ಥಾಪಿಸಿದ, ನಳಂದಾಗೆ ನೆರವು. ದೇವಪಾಲ ಸುವರ್ಣದ್ವೀಪದ (ಇಂಡೋನೇಷ್ಯಾ) ಶೈಲೇಂದ್ರ ರಾಜ ಬಾಲಪುತ್ರದೇವನ ಕೋರಿಕೆಯಂತೆ ನಳಂದಾದಲ್ಲಿ ಅವನು ಕಟ್ಟಿಸಿದ ವಿಹಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಹಳ್ಳಿಗಳನ್ನು ಕೊಟ್ಟ. ಪಾಲರು ಮಹಾಯಾನ-ವಜ್ರಯಾನ ಪೋಷಕರು; ಅತೀಶ ದೀಪಂಕರ ಟಿಬೆಟ್‌ಗೆ ಬೌದ್ಧಧರ್ಮ ಕೊಂಡೊಯ್ದ. (→ English: Pala dynasty · Vikramashila mahavihara · हिन्दी: पाल वंश · विक्रमशिला महाविहार)

In exam EnglishThe Pala dynasty began around the middle of the eighth century. A copper plate of his son Dharmapala says that after a long spell of disorder, likened to matsyanyaya (the law of the fish, where the big swallow the small), Gopala was chosen as king. Dharmapala turned the kingdom into a major power: he put his own nominee, Chakrayudha, on the throne of Kannauj, founded the Vikramashila mahavihara in Bihar and the great monastery at Somapura (Paharpur, now in Bangladesh), and supported Nalanda. A copper plate of Devapala found at Nalanda records that, at the request of the Shailendra king Balaputradeva of Suvarnadvipa (in present-day Indonesia), he granted villages for the upkeep of a monastery that the Shailendra king had built there. The Palas were Buddhist patrons of Mahayana and Vajrayana teaching, and scholars from their monasteries, among them Atisha Dipankara of Vikramashila, later carried Buddhism to Tibet.

712ರಲ್ಲಿ ಇರಾಕಿನ ಉಮಯ್ಯದ್ ರಾಜ್ಯಪಾಲ ಅಲ್-ಹಜ್ಜಾಜ್ ಕಳಿಸಿದ ಅರಬ್ ಸೇನೆ, ಮುಹಮ್ಮದ್ ಬಿನ್ ಖಾಸಿಂ ನೇತೃತ್ವದಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿಂಧ್ ಗೆದ್ದು ರಾಜ ದಾಹಿರ್‌ನನ್ನು ಕೊಂದಿತು. ಇನ್ನೂ ಪೂರ್ವಕ್ಕೆ ಬರದಂತೆ ಗುರ್ಜರ-ಪ್ರತೀಹಾರರ ರಾಜ ಒಂದನೇ ನಾಗಭಟನಂಥವರು ತಡೆದರು — ಊರ ಗಡಿಯ ಕಾವಲುಗಾರನಂತೆ. ಎರಡನೇ ನಾಗಭಟ ಚಕ್ರಾಯುಧನಿಂದ ಕನೌಜ್ ಕಿತ್ತು ಧರ್ಮಪಾಲನನ್ನು ಸೋಲಿಸಿದ, ಆದರೆ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಕೂಟರ ರಾಜ ಮೂರನೇ ಗೋವಿಂದನಿಗೆ ಸೋತ. ಒಂಬತ್ತನೇ ಶತಮಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಮಿಹಿರ ಭೋಜ ('ಆದಿವರಾಹ'). 851ರಲ್ಲಿ ಅರಬ್ ವ್ಯಾಪಾರಿ ಸುಲೈಮಾನ್: ಗುರ್ಜರ ರಾಜನಿಗೆ ಭಾರತದಲ್ಲೇ ಉತ್ತಮ ಅಶ್ವದಳ, ಅರಬರ ಕಡು ವೈರಿ. (→ English: Gurjara-Pratiharas · Rashtrakutas · Muhammad bin Qasim · हिन्दी: गुर्जर-प्रतिहार · राष्ट्रकूट · मुहम्मद बिन कासिम)

In exam EnglishIn 712 CE an Arab force sent by the Umayyad governor of Iraq, al-Hajjaj, and led by Muhammad bin Qasim conquered Sindh and killed its king, Dahir. Arab attempts to push further east in the eighth century were beaten back by the rulers of western India, of whom Nagabhata I, an early Gurjara-Pratiharas king, became the most celebrated. The Pratiharas went on to become the largest power in the north. Nagabhata II took Kannauj from Chakrayudha and defeated Dharmapala, but was himself beaten by the Rashtrakutas king Govinda III, who raided the north and then withdrew to the Deccan. In the ninth century Mihira Bhoja, who took the title Adivaraha, ruled a wide kingdom from Kannauj. The Arab merchant Sulaiman, writing in 851 CE, described the king of the Juzr (the Gurjaras) as having the finest cavalry in India and as the fiercest enemy of the Arabs.
The three powers of the tripartite struggle for Kannauj
DynastyBaseKey rulersRemember
PalasBengal and BiharGopala, Dharmapala, DevapalaGopala chosen after matsyanyaya; Vikramashila and Somapura founded by Dharmapala; Devapala's Nalanda grant for the Shailendra monastery
Gurjara-PratiharasWestern India (Rajasthan, Malwa), later KannaujNagabhata I, Nagabhata II, Mihira BhojaHeld back the Arabs; Nagabhata II took Kannauj; Mihira Bhoja (Adivaraha) praised by Sulaiman for his cavalry
RashtrakutasThe DeccanDhruva, Govinda IIIRaided the north and withdrew; Govinda III defeated Nagabhata II (more in Part 4)

ಒಟ್ಟಾಗಿ ನೋಡಿದರೆ ಒಂದೇ ರೀತಿ: ಪಕ್ಷ ಬದಲಿಸಬಲ್ಲ ಸಾಮಂತರ ಮೇಲೆ ಬಲ ನಿಂತಿದ್ದರಿಂದ ರಾಜ್ಯಗಳು ಬೇಗ ಎದ್ದು ಬೇಗ ಬಿದ್ದವು; ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣರು, ದೇವಾಲಯ, ವಿಹಾರಗಳಿಗೆ ಭೂದಾನ ಹೆಚ್ಚಿತು. ಬಾಣ, ಹ್ಯೂಯೆನ್ ತ್ಸಾಂಗ್ ಬರೆದಿದ್ದರಿಂದಲೇ ಹರ್ಷನ ಆಳ್ವಿಕೆ ಹೊಳೆಯುತ್ತದೆ — ನಿಜಕ್ಕೂ ಅದು ಸಾಮಂತರ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಒಕ್ಕೂಟ, ಅವನೊಂದಿಗೇ ಮುಗಿಯಿತು. ಹಲವರು ಬಾಡಿಗೆಗಿದ್ದ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಮನೆ ಯಜಮಾನ ಇಲ್ಲದಾಗ ಖಾಲಿಯಾದಂತೆ. ನಂತರ ಕನೌಜ್ ಪ್ರಾಬಲ್ಯದ ಸಂಕೇತ; ತ್ರಿಪಕ್ಷೀಯ ಹೋರಾಟ ಮೂವರನ್ನೂ ದಣಿಸಿತು. ಮುಂದಿನ ಭಾಗ ದಕ್ಷಿಣ. (→ English: Hiuen Tsang · tripartite struggle · हिन्दी: ह्वेनसांग · त्रिपक्षीय संघर्ष)

In exam EnglishSeen as a whole, the centuries after the Guptas follow one pattern. Kingdoms rose fast and fell fast because power rested on feudatories who could switch sides, and grants of land to Brahmanas, temples and monasteries kept spreading. Harsha's reign looks bright mainly because Banabhatta and Hiuen Tsang wrote about it, but his empire was a large federation of vassals rather than a centralised state, and it did not outlive him. After Harsha, Kannauj became the symbol of supremacy in the north, and the long tripartite struggle among the Palas, Pratiharas and Rashtrakutas exhausted all three without giving any of them lasting control. Part 4 turns south, to the home of the Rashtrakutas and to the Pallavas, the Chalukyas and the Cholas, who built kingdoms and temples of their own.

Exam traps

Recap

Practice questions

Q1. The era counted from the accession of Harshavardhana begins in which year?

  1. 78 CE
  2. 319 CE
  3. 606 CE
  4. 647 CE
Show answer

Answer: C. 606 CE

Answer (c). Harsha came to the throne in 606 CE, the starting year of the Harsha era. 78 CE begins the Shaka era; 319–320 CE begins the Gupta era; 647 CE is the year of Harsha's death, not the start of any era.

Q2. Consider the following statements:
1. The Harshacharita was written by Harsha himself.
2. The play Nagananda, with its Buddhist theme of self-sacrifice, is credited to Harsha.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer

Answer: B. 2 only

Answer (b). Statement 1 is wrong: the Harshacharita is the work of Harsha's court poet Banabhatta, who also wrote Kadambari. Statement 2 is right: Nagananda, along with Ratnavali and Priyadarshika, is credited to Harsha. So (a), (c) and (d) are wrong.

Q3. Match List I with List II:
List I (Ruler) — List II (Associated with)
A. Kumaragupta I — 1. Vikramashila mahavihara
B. Dharmapala — 2. Sun temple at Martand
C. Lalitaditya Muktapida — 3. Founding of Nalanda
D. Devapala — 4. Grant for a monastery built by the Shailendra king Balaputradeva
Select the correct answer using the code given below:

  1. A-3, B-1, C-2, D-4
  2. A-1, B-3, C-2, D-4
  3. A-3, B-1, C-4, D-2
  4. A-4, B-1, C-2, D-3
Show answer

Answer: A. A-3, B-1, C-2, D-4

Answer (a). Kumaragupta I founded Nalanda; the Pala king Dharmapala founded Vikramashila; Lalitaditya of Kashmir is remembered for the Martand Sun temple; Devapala granted villages for Balaputradeva's monastery at Nalanda. Option (b) swaps the founders of Nalanda and Vikramashila; (c) swaps Lalitaditya and Devapala; (d) gives Kumaragupta the Shailendra grant and Devapala the founding of Nalanda.

Q4. The southward expansion of Harsha was checked on the banks of the Narmada by

  1. Narasimhavarman I
  2. Pulakeshin II
  3. Shashanka
  4. Bhaskaravarman
Show answer

Answer: B. Pulakeshin II

Answer (b). The Chalukya king Pulakeshin II of Badami defeated Harsha on the Narmada, as his Aihole inscription records. Narasimhavarman I was the Pallava king who later defeated Pulakeshin II; Shashanka of Gauda was Harsha's enemy in the east, not the south; Bhaskaravarman of Kamarupa was Harsha's ally.

Q5. Which one of the following dynasties was NOT a party to the tripartite struggle for Kannauj?

  1. Palas
  2. Gurjara-Pratiharas
  3. Rashtrakutas
  4. Cholas
Show answer

Answer: D. Cholas

Answer (d). The struggle for Kannauj from the late eighth century was fought among the Palas of Bengal and Bihar, the Gurjara-Pratiharas of western India and the Rashtrakutas of the Deccan, so (a), (b) and (c) were all parties. The Cholas of the far south took no part in it.

Q6. With reference to Hiuen Tsang, consider the following statements:
1. He travelled to India overland through Central Asia.
2. He witnessed one of Harsha's five-yearly distributions of wealth at Prayag.
3. He visited India during the reign of Chandragupta II.
Which of the statements given above are correct?

  1. 1 and 2 only
  2. 2 and 3 only
  3. 1 and 3 only
  4. 1, 2 and 3
Show answer

Answer: A. 1 and 2 only

Answer (a). Statements 1 and 2 are correct: Hiuen Tsang crossed Central Asia by land and attended the sixth Prayag gathering with Harsha. Statement 3 is wrong: it was Fa-Hien who came under Chandragupta II; Hiuen Tsang came in the seventh century under Harsha. So (b), (c) and (d), which include statement 3, are wrong.

Q7. The ruler of Sindh who was defeated and killed by Muhammad bin Qasim in 712 CE was

  1. Dahir
  2. Devagupta
  3. Yashovarman
  4. Grahavarman
Show answer

Answer: A. Dahir

Answer (a). Dahir, king of Sindh, was killed when the Arabs took Sindh in 712 CE. Devagupta was the king of Malwa who killed Grahavarman; Yashovarman ruled Kannauj in the eighth century; Grahavarman was the Maukhari husband of Rajyashri.

Q8. Consider the following statements about Harsha's administration as described by Hiuen Tsang:
1. Officials were mostly rewarded with grants of land rather than cash.
2. The main tax was one-sixth of the produce.
3. The roads were so safe that travellers were never robbed.
Which of the statements given above are correct?

  1. 1 and 2 only
  2. 2 and 3 only
  3. 1 and 3 only
  4. 1, 2 and 3
Show answer

Answer: A. 1 and 2 only

Answer (a). Statements 1 and 2 match Hiuen Tsang's account. Statement 3 is wrong: the pilgrim himself was robbed more than once, so the roads were not fully safe. Options (b), (c) and (d) all include the wrong statement 3.

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