44-612: The Kingdom of Kannauj was a medieval kingdom in northern India from 510, when it was established as a vassal state of the Magadhan Empire , and as an independent sovereign state after 550, until 1036, when it collapsed after Ghaznavid invasions . During the reign of Harsha , and later under the Pratiharas , the Kingdom of Kannauj stood as the most powerful state in India , flourishing in
88-540: A divided South Asia onto the global intellectual stage. Another accomplishment was the invention of the Chaturanga game which later was exported to Europe and became Chess . In Southern India, the Tamil Hindu Kingdom of Chola gained prominence with an overseas empire that controlled parts of modern-day Sri Lanka , Malaysia , and Indonesia as overseas territories, and helped spread Hinduism and Buddhism into
132-472: A modern "British" period. He argues that there is no clear sharp distinction between when the ancient period ended and when the medieval period began, noting dates ranging from the 7th century to the 13th century. Grahavarman Grahavarman was the king of Kannauj around the early seventh-century CE. He came from the Maukhari dynasty and succeeded his father, Avantivarman. Grahavarman married Rajyashri,
176-823: A substantial amount of plunder. Ultimately, Rajyapala, after fleeing to Bari, decided to surrender to Mahmud, acknowledging the nominal suzerainty of the Ghaznavids. The seven forts of Kannauj fell in one day to the Ghaznavids. Following this development, Mahmud engaged in other campaigns within India after successfully asserting control over Kannauj. Rajyapala's surrender to the Ghaznavids had consequences, leading to some turn of events. The Bundelkhand king Vidyadhara , along with his allies, took matters into their own hands and killed Rajyapala. After Rajyapala's demise, his successors persisted in maintaining control over certain territories by relocating their capital to Bari, near Kannauj, until
220-488: A vast realm, even larger than that of Harshavardhana. The empire including its vassals extended from Gujarat to Magadha during its initial rule. Later, it was reduced to a small dominion around the capital city. Medieval India Medieval India refers to a long period of post-classical history of the Indian subcontinent between the "ancient period" and "modern period". It is usually regarded as running approximately from
264-519: The Ghaznavid Empire in the early eleventh century, the kingdom came to an end and the prestige of Kannauj slowly dwindled, and Delhi became the most important city of Hindustan ( North India ). The kingdom was also referred to as Middle Country or Middle India during diplomatic exchanges with Tang China , as well as Madhyadesha in Sanskrit within India. Magadhan emperor Budhagupta met
308-706: The Ghurid Empire and founded the Delhi Sultanate which ruled until the 16th century. As a consequence, Buddhism declined in South Asia , but Hinduism survived and reinforced itself in areas conquered by Muslim empires. In the far South, the Vijayanagara Empire resisted Muslim conquests, sparking a long rivalry with the Bahmani Sultanate . The turn of the 16th century would see introduction of gunpowder and
352-500: The Kingdom of Lata around 840 but failed to conquer it. He led campaigns in other neighbouring regions and was successful in conquering included Travani, Valla, Mada, Arya, Gujarat, and Bundelkhand who acknowledged his suzerainty. He also managed to conquer Lata by the 870s. The territories of Bhoja extended up till Kashmir in the north after Bhoja conquered Punjab by defeating ruling Thakkiyaka dynasty. After Devapala's death, Bhoja defeated
396-664: The Muslim conquests of the Indian subcontinent and the decline of Buddhism, the eventual founding of the Delhi Sultanate and the creation of Indo-Islamic architecture , followed by the world's major trading nation, the Bengal Sultanate . The start of the Mughal Empire in 1526 marked the beginning of the early modern period of Indian history, often referred to as the Mughal era. Sometimes,
440-664: The Tomaras of Delhi and the Kingdom of Dahala declared their independence during the tenth century as well. This reduced the Kingdom of Kannauj to the Ganga Yamuna Doab region. In January 1019, Mahmud of Ghazni reached Kannauj. Surprisingly, Rajyapala, the then king of Kannauj, offered no resistance and fled his capital by crossing the Ganga River , ultimately seeking refuge in Bari . In his absence, Ghaznavid forces ransacked Kannauj, seizing
484-450: The 16th century to the 18th century, is often referred to as the early modern period , but is sometimes also included in the 'late medieval' period. An alternative definition, often seen in those more recent authors who still use the term at all, brings the start of the medieval times forward, either to about 1000 CE, or to the 12th century. The end may be pushed back to the 18th century, Hence, this period can be effectively considered as
SECTION 10
#1732884204510528-577: The Bengal emperor Narayanapala and expanded his boundaries eastward into Bengal-held territories near Gorakhpur. Bhoja also defeated the Arab invasions from Sindh into Kutch in 838 in the Battle of Sindhan, and conquered a portion of Sindh. His reign was followed by that of his son Mahendrapala I (r. 890–910) who further expanded into the territories of the empire of Bengal. During the reign of Mahipala I (r. 913–944),
572-736: The Gurjara Emperor invaded Kannauj, made Indrayudha his vassal. Indrayudha continued rule over Kannauj under the suzerainty of the Gurjara emperor. In response to this, Dharmapala , the Emperor of Bengal invaded Kannauj and deposed Indrayudha and replaced him with Indrayudha's brother, Chakrayudha whom he made his vassal at an imperial court at Kannauj attended by the rulers of Bhoja (possibly Vidarbha ), Matsya (Jaipur and north-east Rajasthan), Madra (East Punjab), Kuru (Haryana-Delhi-Western UP region), Yadu (possibly Mathura , Dwarka or Siṁhapura in
616-534: The Gurjara armies, and Nagabhatta retreated back to his empire. Dharmapala and Chakrayudha acknowledged Govinda III as their overlords to earn his friendship after which Govinda went back and Kannauj came back under Bengal rule in 800. Kannauj remained a vassal of the Bengal Empire until 816 when the Gurjara Emperor Nagabhata II invaded the Kingdom of Kannauj and conquered it and proclaimed himself as
660-640: The Indian subcontinent, which hosted a variety of cultures, languages, writing systems, and religions . At the beginning of the time period, Buddhism was predominant throughout the area , with the Pala Empire on the Indo Gangetic Plain sponsoring the Buddhist faith's institutions. One such institution was the Buddhist Nalanda mahavihara in modern-day Bihar , India , a centre of scholarship and brought
704-679: The Manyakheta Rashtrakutas sacked Kannauj in 916, causing a weakening of the imperial power. This was also the period during which they used the title King of Kings of Aryavarta (ancient name for northern India / Hindustan ). Mahipala was followed his son, Devapala I (r. 944–954), during whose decade-long reign the empire began to crumble away. Simharaja , the King of Sambhar , also declared his independence in 944 (in modern-day Rajasthan ). The Kingdom of Bundelkhand under Dhanga declared its independence in 950. Other kingdoms such as that of
748-492: The Mughal era is also referred as the 'late medieval' period. Modern historical works written on medieval India have received some criticism from scholars studying the historiography of the period. E. Sreedharan argues that, from the turn of the century until the 1960s, Indian historians were often motivated by Indian nationalism . Peter Hardy notes that the majority of modern historical works on medieval India up until then were written by British and Hindu historians, whereas
792-637: The Punjab ( Katas Raj Temples ), Yavana , Avanti , Gandhara and Kira ( Kangra Valley ). This obviously led to war and the Gurjara Empire defeated Bengal and the Gurjara Emperor Vatsaraja occupied Kannauj. Rashtrakuta Emperor Dhruva defeated the Gurjara Empire and Vatsaraja fled his empire, while Dhruva returned to his empire. Bengal re-installed Chakrayudha as the King of Kannauj and its vassal. After
836-651: The Rajput Pratihara dynasty , the Bengal Empire under the House of Pala , and the Manyakheta empire under a Rashtrakuta branch. The Kingdom of Kannauj constituted a vast prosperous region to the centre of northern India and seeing the instability of the kingdom due to the recent coup, the three powers were hoping to succeed to the throne of Kannauj. Indrayudha succeeded to the throne of Kannauj in 770. In 785, Vatsaraja ,
880-408: The beginning of Muslim domination to British India . Or the "early medieval" period as beginning in the 8th century, and ending with the 11th century. The use of "medieval" at all as a term for periods in Indian history has often been objected to, and is probably becoming more rare (there is a similar discussion in terms of the history of China ). It is argued that neither the start nor the end of
924-455: The break-up of the Gupta Empire in the 6th century CE to the start of the early modern period in 1526 with the start of the Mughal Empire , although some historians regard it as both starting and finishing later than these points. The medieval period is itself subdivided into the early medieval and late medieval eras. In the early medieval period, there were more than 40 different states on
SECTION 20
#1732884204510968-451: The daughter of Prabhakarvardhana , the King of Thanesar as a part of an alliance. Mahasenagupta's son Devagupta invaded the Kannauj and killed Grahavarman . Rajyavardhan the then king of Kannauj and brother of Rajyashri, defeated Devagupta but was himself killed by the king of Gauda . Following these events, Harshavardhana , the younger brother of the dead king of Thanesar, vowed to avenge
1012-614: The daughter of the ruler of Thanesar , Prabhakar Vardhana . The marriage appears to have been an alliance of the two dynasties against the king of the Malavas . The tripartite struggle for power in the region became four-sided when Shashanka , ruler of the Gauda kingdom in Bengal , took an interest. There had been rivalry between the Maukharis and rulers in Bengal for around fifty years, and Shashanka
1056-475: The death of Dhruva in 793, the Rashtrakuta Empire fell into a war of succession. In the Gurjara Empire, the son of Vatsaraja, Nagabhata II , seeking revenge and taking advantage of the succession crisis in the Rashtrakuta Empire, invaded Kannauj and defeated Dharmapala and made Chakrayudha his vassal. Before he could invade Bengal however, the new Rashtrakuta Emperor Govinda III invaded Kannauj and defeated
1100-537: The death of his brother and rescue his sister. He repelled the invasion by the king of Gauda and rescued his widowed sister. He was then crowned the Emperor of Kannauj by the nobles of Kannauj in a grand ceremony at Kannauj attended by representatives of multiple principalities and kingdoms of North India. He carried out campaigns in Northern India to bring under his suzerainty the various kingdoms of northern India. He reigned until 647. As per Hsüan Tsang, Harsha divided
1144-462: The demise of the last ruler Yasahpala in 1036. The Kingdom of Kannauj dominated the upper Gangetic basin and parts of middle Gangetic basin during its early stages. Following the coronation of Harshavardhan , the Kingdom of Thanesar, i.e., eastern Punjab and the Trans-Gangetic Plain was merged into the Kingdom of Kannauj. Harshavardhan's campaigns expanded the empire of Kannauj to include
1188-406: The doab opposed his rule, but he eventually subdued them with military prowess and diplomacy, and soon assumed full control of his assigned provinces. His rule emphasised moral rightness and benevolence and he allied with other prominent families such as the later Guptas . His great-grandson, Ishanavarman , (550–560) was the first prominent king of Kannauj. He pursued a policy of aggression against
1232-533: The emperors of Magadha and thus declared his independence, proclaiming himself Maharajadhiraja of Kannauj. He invaded the Andhra country and defeated the king of Andhra , Madhava Varma IV who had conquered and held suzerainty over a large region including modern day western Maharashtra and Karnataka. The Emperor of Magadha, Kumargupta III defeated Ishanavarman in 554 AD, but shortly died thereafter in Prayag. Harivarman's reign
1276-639: The entirety of the Gangetic plain and eastern Punjab , as well as the Bundelkhand and Malwa . Under the Varmans , the Kingdom of Kannauj lost control over Malwa and later Bengal . Other territories were lost during the Kannauj Wars , and significant power and territory was lost as the kingdom transitioned into a vassal state under Bengal . Under the Pratiharas , the Kingdom of Kannauj transformed once again into
1320-606: The historic cultural area of Southeast Asia . In this time period, neighbouring regions such as Afghanistan , Tibet , and Southeast Asia were under South Asian influence . During the late medieval period, a series of Islamic invasions by the Arabs , the Ghaznavids and the Ghurids conquered large portions of Northern India. Turkic general Qutb ud-Din Aibak declared his independence from
1364-498: The income of his kingdom into four — a quarter for government expenses, another for salaries of public servants, a third quarter for the reward of intellectual attainments, and the last quarter for gifts. Although it seems to be very idealistic, but historians argue that there was a decay in urbant centres at that time. Harsha's rule was succeeded by that of Arunasva who had previously been the governor of Tirabhukti (modern-day north Bihar ). Since Harsha had no heir, Arunasva usurped
Kingdom of Kannauj - Misplaced Pages Continue
1408-533: The king of Kannauj after deposing the Ayudhas. Following the deposition of the Ayudhas, and proclamation of Nagabhata II as king of Kannauj, the Pratiharas became the rulers of the Kingdom of Kannauj to which they added their dominions of Gurjaradesa as well. Nagabhata II was succeeded by Ramabhadra (r. 833–836). Rambhadra was followed by his son, Bhoja I (r. 836–885), one of the greatest rulers of Kannauj. He invaded
1452-517: The king of the Gurjaras, Nagabhata II declared himself the king of Kannauj. For nearly half a century, between 890 and 944, the kings of Kannauj also bore the imperial title of 'Emperor of Aryavarta '. However, after this period, the empire began to fragment as its vassals gradually declared their independence, eventually reducing the kingdom to the Doab region by the late tenth century. Following invasions of
1496-487: The period from the 6th century, the first half of the 7th century, or the 8th century up to the 16th century, essentially coinciding with the Middle Ages of Europe. It may be divided into two periods: The 'early medieval period' which lasted from the 6th to the 13th century and the 'late medieval period' which lasted from the 13th to the 16th century, ending with the start of the Mughal Empire in 1526. The Mughal era, from
1540-558: The period really mark fundamental changes in Indian history, comparable to the European equivalents. Burton Stein still used the concept in his A History of India (1998), referring to the period from the Guptas to the Mughals, but most recent authors using it are Indian. Understandably, they often specify the period they cover within their titles. The start of the period is typically taken to be
1584-595: The rise of a new Muslim empire—the Mughals , as well as the establishment of European trade posts by the Portuguese colonists . Mughal Empire was one of the three Islamic gunpowder empires , along with the Ottoman Empire and Safavid Persia . The subsequent cultural and technological developments transformed Indian society, concluding the late medieval period and beginning the early modern period . One definition includes
1628-605: The seventh century, and again in the ninth and tenth centuries. Kannauj became the most important city in North India during this period, and hence was contested by the three great powers of the subcontinent of the period — the Gurjara kingdom under the Pratihara dynasty , the Bengal kingdom under the Pala dynasty , and the Rashtrakutas of Manyakheta . Following his victory in 816 ,
1672-477: The slow collapse of the Gupta Empire from about 480 to 550, ending the "classical" period , as well as "ancient India", although both these terms may be used for periods with widely different dates, especially in specialised fields such as the history of art or religion. Another alternative for the preceding period is "Early Historical" stretching "from the sixth century BC to the sixth century AD", according to Romila Thapar . At least in northern India, there
1716-660: The throne. Arunavasa repelled an invasion by the Arab Rashidun Caliphate . He had attacked the envoy of the Chinese emperor who had came earlier during the reign of Harsha . Arunasva was succeeded by Yashovarman who established the Varman dynasty . Yashovarman led military campaigns in Bengal , Indus Valley , the Deccan and Kashmir . Conflicting records exist regarding his war with Kashmir . Though Kannauj records claim that he
1760-427: The work of modern Muslim historians was under-represented. He argues that some of the modern Muslim historiography on medieval India at the time was motivated by Islamic apologetics , attempting to justify "the life of medieval Muslims to the modern world." Ram Sharan Sharma has criticised the simplistic manner in which Indian history is often divided into an ancient "Hindu" period, a medieval "Muslim" period, and
1804-469: The young Harivarman in 487 AD, when he was choosing men for his public service. Harivarman, a warrior from Baghelkhand , had a well-built physique, excellent archery skill, and a fierce face but a great calmness inside, a strict moral code and sensitivity to public sufferings. Impressed by him, the emperor gave him the title Maharaja and granted him rule over the regions around Ayodhya , Kannauj and Antarvedi ( Ganga-Yamuna Doab . The nobles and elites of
Kingdom of Kannauj - Misplaced Pages Continue
1848-449: Was followed by that of Adityavarman and Ishvavarman. Ishvavarman's son, Sharvavarman (560–575) invaded and conquered eastern portion of the Magadhan Empire , i.e., Magadha and Bundelkhand from Mahasenagupta who fled to Malwa (the remaining western portion of the empire) and established a rump state. His reign was followed by that of Avantivarman. Avantivarman's reign was followed by Grahavarman (r. 600–605) who married Rajyashri,
1892-487: Was no larger state until the Delhi Sultanate , or certainly the Mughal Empire, but there were several different dynasties ruling large areas for long periods, as well as many other dynasties ruling smaller areas, often paying some form of tribute to larger states. John Keay puts the typical number of dynasties within the subcontinent at any one time at between 20 and 40, not including local rajas . This period follows
1936-573: Was victorious over Kashmir, Kashimri records claim that Yashovarman was defeated by the Kashmir king. He was succeeded by Ama , Dunduka and Bhoja who were weak rulers. In 770, Bhoja was deposed by Vajrayudha founding the Ayudha dynasty . This destabilised the political climate of eighth century northern India. Much of India at that time was under the rule of three great powers — the Gurjara Empire under
#509490