The Chola rulers like Rajaraja and Rajendra built two great temples of Thanjavur and Ganaikonda-cholapuram respectively. Temples were the nuclei of settlements during this period. They were the centres of craft production and also controlled the financial aspects related to them. Hence they were not only the religious centres but also the hub of economic, …
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Prithviraja III (1168-1192) was a Chahamanas, later known as Chauhan ruler. He ruled over the regions around Delhi and Ajmer. He defeated Sultan Muhammad Ghori, an Afghan conqueror in 1191. But only one year after it in 1192 he was defeated by Ghori. It was the end of his rule and life both.
It was the trend to demonstrate power and resources by building large temples. The rulers often invested a lot in the decoration and maintenance of the temples. So the foreign conquerors made them target first. The most prominent example of it was the temple 6f Somnath in Gujarat looted several times by Sultan Mahmud of …
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Kalhana was a great Sanskrit poet who wrote a long Sanskrit poem depicting the ruler of Kashmir. He used a variety of sources, including inscriptions, documents, eyewitness accounts. He was different from the writers of Prashastis for he was often critical about rulers and their policies.
Prashastis, often written by learned Brahmanas, were details of the functioning of a king. They may not be literally true. They tell us how rulers wanted to depict themselves—as valiant, victorious warriors etc. Brahmanas were rewarded by grants of land which were recorded on copper plates.
These states were closely associated with peasants, traders, and Brahmanas. The resources were obtained from peasants, cattle-keepers, and artisans who were the producers. They were compelled to surrender part of what they produced. The traders had to pay revenue. The functionaries for collecting revenue were generally from influential families or from the close relatives of …
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Dantidurga was a Rashtrakuta chief in Deccan. Initially, Rashtrakutas were subordinate to the Chalukyas of Karnataka. Dantidurga, in the mid-eighth century, overthrew his Chalukya overlord and performed a ritual known as ‘hiranya-garbha’. It was thought to lead to the rebirth of the sacrificer as a kshatriya, even if he was not one by birth.
During the seventh century a new class of rulers emerged. They were the subordinates or samantas under the influence of big landlords or warriors. Later they themselves gained power and wealth and declared themselves to be maha- samantas, maha-mandaleshvara (the great lord of a circle or region)
‘Nagarams’ were the associationa of traders.
The land gifted to Brahmanas was called as ‘brahmadeya’.
