UGC NET History Unit 3 Notes: The Emergence of Regional Kingdoms

Unit 3 of 10 · Ancient India (early medieval). The age of regional kingdoms, land grants and temples (roughly 6th–12th century). This unit rewards clear dynasty ↔ region ↔ capital tables and an understanding of the state-formation debates.

• How to use: build one table per region (dynasty, capital, best-known ruler, one monument), then read the debates.
• Official topics covered: all 14, in the official order.

1. Deccan: Gangas, Kadambas, Chalukyas (W & E), Rashtrakutas, Kalyani Chalukyas, Kakatiyas, Hoysalas, Yadavas

• Chalukyas of Badami (Pulakeshin II; Aihole and Pattadakal temples); Eastern Chalukyas at Vengi; Kalyani Chalukyas (later).
• Rashtrakutas (Manyakheta): Dantidurga, Krishna I (Kailasa temple at Ellora), Amoghavarsha; Tripartite struggle for Kanauj.
• Gangas (Karnataka; Shravanabelagola’s Gomateshvara is associated with their period), Kadambas (Banavasi).
• Later dynasties: Hoysalas (Halebidu, Belur), Kakatiyas (Warangal; Rudrama Devi), Yadavas of Devagiri.

Exam angle: dynasty ↔ capital ↔ temple; Kailasa temple’s patron.

2. South India: Pallavas, Ceras, Colas, Pandyas

• Pallavas (Kanchipuram): Mahendravarman I, Narasimhavarman I (Mamallapuram); rock-cut then structural temples (Shore Temple; Kailasanatha at Kanchi).
• Cholas (medieval): Vijayalaya, Rajaraja I (Brihadisvara temple, Thanjavur), Rajendra I (Gangaikondacholapuram; naval expeditions); village assemblies (sabha, ur, nagaram) known from Uttaramerur inscriptions.
• Pandyas (Madurai) and Cheras (Mahodayapuram) also revive in this age.

Exam angle: ruler ↔ monument; Chola local government evidence.

3. East India: Palas, Senas of Bengal; Varmans of Kamarupa; Bhaumakaras, Somavamsis of Odisha

• Palas: Gopala (elected, according to tradition), Dharmapala, Devapala; Buddhist patrons of Nalanda and Vikramashila (founded by Dharmapala), Somapura mahavihara.
• Senas: Vijayasena, Ballalasena, Lakshmanasena (Sanskrit patronage; Jayadeva’s Gitagovinda).
• Kamarupa (Assam): Varmans (Bhaskaravarman, Harsha’s contemporary). Odisha: Bhaumakaras and Somavamsis (Lingaraja temple, Bhubaneswar, associated with the Somavamsis).

Exam angle: Pala patronage of Buddhism and universities; Senas and Sanskrit.

4. West India: Maitrakas of Vallabhi; Chalukyas of Gujarat

• Maitrakas (Vallabhi, Saurashtra, 5th–8th centuries): many land grants; Vallabhi was a centre of learning.
• Chalukyas (Solankis) of Gujarat (Anahilapataka): Mularaja, Bhima I; the Modhera Sun temple and the Dilwara Jain temples (Mount Abu) belong to this period.

Exam angle: Vallabhi as a learning centre; Solanki temples.

5. North India: Gurjara-Pratiharas, Kalacuri-Chedis, Gahadavalas, Paramaras

• Gurjara-Pratiharas (Kanauj): Nagabhata I, Mihira Bhoja; resisted Arab advances from Sind.
• Kalacuri-Chedis (Tripuri), Gahadavalas (Kanauj; Jayachandra, defeated by Muhammad Ghori at Chandawar, 1194), Paramaras (Malwa; King Bhoja of Dhara, patron of learning).

Exam angle: dynasty ↔ capital; Bhoja’s patronage; Kanauj as the prize of the tripartite struggle.

6. Early medieval traits: administration, political structure, legitimation of kingship

• Power shared with samantas (subordinate chiefs); revenue rights delegated through grants.
• Kings claimed legitimacy through grand titles (maharajadhiraja), genealogies linking them to solar/lunar lines, Puranic myths, temple patronage and gifts to Brahmins.
• Royal prashastis and copper-plate charters were tools of legitimation.

Exam angle: how kings legitimised rule; samanta system.

7. Agrarian economy: land grants, graded land rights, peasantry, water resources, taxation, currency

• Land grants (to Brahmins, temples, officials) spread agriculture into new regions and created graded rights over land.
• Irrigation: tanks and wells (e.g. Tamil eri tanks), managed by local bodies.
• Taxation: share of produce plus many cesses and forced labour.
• Currency: fewer coins in circulation in many regions (a point used in the feudal debate), though coins never vanished.

Exam angle: effect of land grants; irrigation systems by region.

8. Trade & urbanization: routes, ports, merchandise, guilds; trade with Southeast Asia

• Ports such as Bharuch, Sopara, Kaveripattinam, Mamallapuram, Tamralipti linked India with West Asia and Southeast Asia.
• Powerful merchant guilds: Manigramam, Ayyavole (Aihole) 500, Nanadesis.
• Chola naval expeditions to Srivijaya (Rajendra I) reflect the link with Southeast Asia.
• Debate: some historians see urban decline in the early medieval period, others see new kinds of towns (temple towns, markets).

Exam angle: guild names; Southeast Asia contacts; the urban decline vs growth debate.

9. Brahminical religions: Vaishnavism, Shaivism; temples, patronage, regional styles

• Devotion to Vishnu and Shiva grew under royal patronage; temples became religious, economic and social centres.
• Styles: Nagara (north; curved tower), Dravida (south; pyramidal tower), Vesara (Deccan; a mix).
• Examples: Khajuraho (Chandelas), Konark (Eastern Gangas), Brihadisvara (Cholas), Kailasa at Ellora (Rashtrakutas).

Exam angle: style ↔ region; temple ↔ dynasty.

10. Dana, Tirtha, Bhakti; Tamil Bhakti — Shankara, Madhava, Ramanujacharya

• Dana (gift) and tirtha (pilgrimage) were central to religious life.
• Tamil Bhakti: Nayanars (Shaiva) and Alvars (Vaishnava) composed hymns in Tamil.
• Philosophers: Shankara (Advaita, non-dualism), Ramanuja (Vishishtadvaita, qualified non-dualism), Madhva (Dvaita, dualism).

Exam angle: philosopher ↔ school ↔ doctrine; Nayanar vs Alvar.

11. Society: Varna-Jati proliferation; women’s position, marriage, property; tribes & untouchability

• Many new jatis formed as tribes and occupational groups were absorbed into the caste order; new mixed-caste lists appear in Smriti texts.
• Women: early marriage promoted in texts; property rights limited (stridhana); exceptions among some ruling families.
• Tribes were integrated as new castes; untouchable groups became more clearly defined.

Exam angle: reasons for jati proliferation; stridhana.

12. Education: agraharas, mathas, mahaviharas; growth of regional languages

• Agraharas and mathas were centres of Brahmanical learning; mahaviharas (Nalanda, Vikramashila, Odantapuri, Somapura) of Buddhist learning.
• Regional languages develop: Old Marathi, Old Bengali, Tamil and Kannada literature; Apabhramsha bridges Prakrit and modern languages.

Exam angle: vihara ↔ dynasty; rise of regional languages.

13. State-formation debates: feudal / segmentary / integrative models

• Feudal model (R.S. Sharma; also D.N. Jha): land grants → fragmented sovereignty, decline of trade and towns, tied peasantry.
• Segmentary state (Burton Stein, for the Cholas): a core of direct rule and a ring of ritual sovereignty over local chiefdoms.
• Integrative model (B.D. Chattopadhyaya): state formation through the integration of local societies and cults into wider structures, not decline.

Exam angle: historian ↔ model (the most reliable question in this unit).

14. Arab contacts: Suleiman, Ghaznavid conquests, Alberuni

• Arab conquest of Sind (Muhammad bin Qasim, 711–712 CE) had limited wider political effect but opened cultural exchange.
• Sulaiman (9th century) wrote of Pala, Pratihara and Rashtrakuta kingdoms and trade.
• Mahmud of Ghazni raided north India repeatedly (early 11th century), including Somnath (1025–26).
• Al-Biruni came with Mahmud and wrote Kitab-ul-Hind, a study of Indian science, religion and society.

Exam angle: Sind conquest (711–12); Somnath raid; Al-Biruni’s book.

Revision checklist

• I can match 3 dynasties per region to capital and monument.
• I can give one point each for the feudal, segmentary and integrative models, with the historian.
• I can name the three temple styles and one example each.
• I can name the Bhakti philosophers with their doctrines.

Next: the official Unit 3 topics · free unit test · full notes.