Class 7 Social Science Part 2 Chapter 3: Empires and Kingdoms, 6th to 10th Centuries Notes

What is this chapter about?

By about 600 CE the Gupta Empire had lost its hold. For the next centuries no single empire ruled most of India; instead, strong regional kingdoms rose, fought and allied with one another. The chapter asks whether this was an age of disorder or the dawn of something new, and shows a land full of new ideas, art and learning, different in each region yet part of one India.

Harsha and Xuanzang

Harshavardhana of the Pushyabhuti dynasty, earlier based at Thanesar, began ruling from Kannauj on the Ganga in 606. He was a poet and playwright, supported the writer Bana, author of the novel Kadambari and of Harsha’s biography, and patronised Nalanda. Inscriptions call him a devotee of Shiva, and he also cared deeply for Buddhism. The Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang, who travelled in India from 630 to 644, describes Harsha as just and energetic and Kannauj as rich; every five years Harsha gave away his wealth at Prayaga. His push south was stopped at the Narmada by Pulakeshin II of the Chalukyas. Read more in Harsha and the struggle for Kannauj.

The struggle for Kannauj

After Harsha died in 647, three powers fought over Kannauj, the prize of north India, during the 8th and 9th centuries: the Palas of the east, the Gurjara-Pratiharas of the west and the Rashtrakutas of the Deccan. No one won for good.

The Pala king Dharmapala founded the university of Vikramashila; the Gurjara-Pratihara kings Nagabhata I and Bhoja held back Arab armies and ruled much of the north; and the Rashtrakutas, with their capital at Manyakheta, carved the Kailasha temple at Ellora. Far north, Kalhana’s Rajatarangini records Kashmir’s rulers, such as Lalitaditya and Queen Didda, and Kashmir shone with Sanskrit learning.

The Deccan and the south

The Chalukyas of Vatapi (Badami) built cave temples at Badami and over a hundred temples at Aihole; the Rashtrakutas replaced them in the mid-8th century, while the Eastern Chalukyas ruled from Vengi. The Pallavas of Kanchi carved rock temples at Mamallapuram and traded with Southeast Asia. Further south, the Pandyas ruled from Madurai, the Cheras held the Kerala coast, and the Cholas rose in the 9th century at Thanjavur. See kingdoms of the Deccan and the south.

Society, economy and culture

Kings ruled their core regions directly and the rest through samantas (vassals). Land grants, irrigation tanks and trade by land and sea grew, and merchant guilds were strong. New jatis formed, and some women became queens. Rulers supported Hindu, Buddhist and Jain institutions, and the Bhakti tradition spread from the Tamil Alvars and Nayanars across India. Brahmagupta and other mathematicians made lasting advances. Read society and culture, 6th to 10th centuries.

Foreign invasions

The Hunas pushed into the Ganga plains in the early 6th century but were defeated by the Aulikara kings of Dashapura (Mandsaur) and soon merged into Indian society. The Arabs raided the west coast from 637 and conquered Sindh in 712 under Muhammad bin Qasim, but Indian kings such as Nagabhata I and Lalitaditya held them back; for three centuries their rule stayed limited to two small states. Meanwhile trade, ideas and the Indian numerals crossed the Arabian Sea. Answers to every question are in the NCERT solutions for Part 2 Chapter 3.