dynasties
Of the many dynasties in South
India, three are mentioned in the literature
of those times. These are the Cher,
Pandya and Chola dynasties. These dynasties were in power around the
fourth century BCE or even before that.
They find mention in the Ramayana and
Mahabharata epics. They have also been
mentioned in the ‘Sangham Literature’ in
Tamil and in the inscriptions of the
Maurya Emperor Ashoka. In the ‘Periplus
of the Erythrean Sea’, ‘Muziris’ is
mentioned as an important port on the
coast of Kerala. This port was in the
Cher kingdom and was a major centre
for the export of spices, pearls, precious
stones etc. to Rome in Italy and to other
countries of the west. The Pandya
kingdom was a part of today’s Tamil
Nadu. There was a great demand for
their high quality pearls. The capital of
this kingdom was Madurai. The ancient
kingdom of the Cholas occupied the
region of Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu.
9.2 The Satvahana Dynasty
As in the north, after the decline of
the Maurya Empire, the local kings in
Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka
also became independent. They
established small kingdoms of their own.
One of these was the Satvahana dynasty.
Pratishthan or the present day Paithan in
Maharashtra was their capital. King
Simuk was the founder of the Satavahana
dynasty. The inscriptions in the Naneghat
caves near Junnar in Pune district bear
the names of the important persons of
this dynasty. Some of the Satavahana
kings were known to write their mother’s
name before their own. For example,
Gautamiputra Satakarni.
Of the Satavahana kings,
Gautamiputra Satakarni is particularly
well known. A stone inscription in a
cave at Nashik describes his deeds of
valour. He had defeated the Shaka king
Nahpana. He is described as
‘Tri-samudra-toya-peet-vahan’. ‘Toya’ means ‘water’. The title means, ‘One
whose horses have drunk the water of
three seas’. The three seas are the
Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal and the
Indian Occean. During his reign, the
empire of the Satavahanas extended from
the river Narmada in the north to the
Tungabhadra river in the south.
The famous poetic work ‘GathaSaptashati’ in Maharashtri, a Prakrit
language, was composed by the
Satavahana king Hala. This work
provides information about the life of the
people during the Satavahana period.
Indian trade increased greatly during
the Satavahana period. Paithan, Ter,
Bhokardan, Kolhapur were recognised as
important centres of trade. During this
period, many artistic objects were
produced at these places. Indian goods
were exported as far away as Rome.
Some of the Satavahana coins carryimages of ships. The cave sculptures at
Ajanta, Nashik, Karla, Bhaje, Kanheri,
Junnar in Maharashtra were carvedduring the Satavahana period.
9.3 The Vakataka Dynasty
The power of the Satavahanas began
to weaken by the third century CE.
Among the dynasties that emerged after
that, the Vakataka was a powerful
dynasty. It was founded by the king
‘Vindhyashakti’. He was succeeded by
Pravarsen I. After his death, the kingdom
of the Vakatakas got divided. There were
two main branches. The capital of the
first was at Nandivardhan (near Nagpur)
and the capital of the other branch was
at Vatsagulm which is today’s Washim.
Pravarsen I, son of Vindhyashakti,
extended the Vakataka kingdom in the
north up to Malwa and Gujarat and in
the south up to Kolhapur. At that time,
Kolhapur was known as ‘Kuntal’. We have read that the Gupta Emperor
Chandragupta II had married his daughter
Prabhavati to Rudrasen II, the Vakataka
king. Varahdev, a minister of the
Vakataka king Harishen, was a follower
of Buddhism. Cave number 16 at Ajanta
was dug at his instance. Some other caves at Ajanta were dug and beautified
with paintings during Harishena’s reign.
The Vakataka king, Pravarsen II,
composed ‘Setubandh’ in Maharashtri, a
Prakrit language. Similarly, Kalidasa’s
‘Meghadoot’ also belongs to this period.9.4 The Chalukya Dynasty
The Chalukya dynasty in Karnataka
was a powerful one. The kingdoms of
Kadamba, Kalachuri had become
powerful after the decline of the
Vakatakas. But the Chalukya kings
established their dominance over all of
them. Pulakeshi I established the rule ofthe Chalukya dynasty in the sixth century
CE. His capital was Badami which was
earlier called ‘Vatapi’. The Chalukya
King Pulakeshi II had successfully
repulsed Emperor Harshavardhan’s
invasion. The famous temples at Badami,
Aihole and Pattadakal were built during
the Chalukya period.Tamil Nadu was their capital. Mahendra
Varman was an able Pallava ruler. He
expanded the Pallava kingdom. He was
also a playwright. His son
Narasimhavarman repulsed the attack on
his kingdom by the Chalukya king,
Pulakeshi II. The famous ‘ratha’ temples
of Mahabalipuram were sculpted during
his reign. These temples have been
sculpted in single rock.
The Pallavas had a powerful and
well-equipped navy. During this period,
India came in close contact with the
countries of Southeast Asia. Internal and
foreign trade flourished. Yuan Chwang
had visited Kanchi and recorded that
people of all religions received tolerant
The Kailas Temple at Ellora (Verul)
and just treatment under the rule of the
Pallava kings.
9.6 The Rashtrakuta Dynasty
At the height of their power, the
dominion of the Rashtrakuta dynasty
extended from the Vindhya mountains up
to Kanniyakumari in the south. Their
power was first established in
Maharashtra by king Dantidurg. Krishna
Raja I had the famous Kailas temple
carved at Ellora.
Up to now, we have learnt about the
different dynasties that ruled ancient
India. In the next lesson, we will review
the social and cultural life in ancient
India.
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