Pandyan Dynasty of Sangam Age

Pandyas were one of the three major ruling dynasties of the Tamil Country during the Sangam period (between the 3rd century B.C. and 3rd century A.D.) It was in their court at Madurai that the great literary assemblies (Sangams) of the Tamil poets were held. Pandyas find mention in the edicts of the Mauyran Emperor Asoka and have been referred to in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.  

The early history of the Pandyas is shrouded in obscurity. Palyagasalai Mudukudumi was the earliest known Pandyan ruler who has been described in the Sangam epics as a great conqueror, a performer of many sacrifices and a patron of poets. Aryappadaikadanda Nedunjhelian who, himself, was a poet of great merit, was the next important ruler of the dynasty. 

The greatest Tamil epic Silappadigaram (the Jewelled Anklet) says that Nedunjelian had ordered, without trial, the execution of Kovalan (the hero of  Silappadigaram), who was accused by a court jeweler of theft of the anklets of the queen of  Nedunjelian. Later when the king came to realize Kovalam’s innocence, he was filled with remorse and died of shock on the throne itself. Kannagi, wife of Kovalam, unleashed a curse of destruction upon the city of Madurai. The city became engulfed in fire.

After Nedunjhelian, many later Pandayan rulers are mentioned by the Sangam literature. However, nothing substantial about them can be said with certainty. 

The kings of the Pandyas had sent several embassies to the Roman emperors Augustus and Trajan.  According to Greek geographer Strabo, an embassy sent by a Pandyan king  was met by Augustus at Athens about 20 B.C. 

Kumara Gupta I

Chandragupta II was succeeded by his son Kumara Gupta I (c. 415-455 AD), who like his grandfather Samudragupta, performed the Vedic horse sacrifice (Ashvamedha). 

In his last years, the Gupta empire suffered a severe blow in the form of attack by the Hunas, the barbaric tribes from Central Asia. The Hunas were finally defeated by his son Skanda Gupta. 

Chandragupta-II (Chandragupta Vikramaditya) (c 376-415)

Chandragupta II succeeded to the Gupta throne after his father Samudra Gupta from whom he inherited a large empire. It is believed that before Chandragupta II his elder brother Ram Gupta ruled the Gupta empire and was forced to conclude dishonourable peace treaty with the Sakas who had ruled in the parts of western India for over 200 years.  

According to the drama Devichandraguptam of Vishakhadatta, Ram Gupta was badly defeated by a Saka chieftain and forced him to agree  to surrender his queen Druvadevi to the Sakas. This angered Chandragupta II who killed his brother and married his widow.  

However, Ram Gupta’s historicity is in the realm of doubt. 

Vikramaditya (“Sun of Valour”) was one of the titles of Chandragupta II. He is probably the king eulogized in the inscription on the iron pillar in the Qūwat al-Islām mosque of Meharauli in Delhi.

It was Chandra Gupta II who soon after AD 388 finally subjugated the Shakas. This made him the lord of all Northern India. His control over much of the Northern Deccan was due to the  marriage of his daughter Prabhavati with Rudrasena II, king of the Vakatakas, who ruled an area comprising modern Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and north-western Telangana. When Rudrasena died young, his widow acted as regent for her sons. Prabhavati’s charters suggest that during her regency Gupta influence in the Vakataka court had increased.

Ancient India culture reached its climax during the reign of Chandragupta II. Kalidasa, the greatest of India’s poets and dramatists, and the famed astronomer Varahamihira were patronized by him. Faxian (Fa-hsien), a Chinese Buddhist monk who spent six years (405–411) in India during his reign, attest the prosperity and happiness of the Gupta empire.

 

Samudragupta

Samudra Gupta was the second ruler of the famed Gupta Empire and one of Indian history’s greatest military minds. 

 Allahabad Pillar | Wikimedia Commons

Samudra Gupta (reigned c.330 – c.380) was the second ruler of the Gupta dynasty, the golden period of Hinduism. He was appointed by his father Chandra Gupta I to succeed him. The coins of an obscure prince, Kacha, suggest that his accession to the throne did not go unchallenged.  

A detailed record of Samudragupta’s reign is preserved in the Allahabad pillar inscription composed by his court poet and minister Harisena. The inscription is engraved on a pillar erected by Asoka six centuries before him. In the inscription he is mentioned to have "violently uprooted" no less than nine kings of Northern India, and to have annexed their kingdoms to his own. 

Samudra Gupta possessed domains from Assam to the borders of Punjab. He performed Ashvamedha Yajna. This was the first Ashvamedha after Pushyamitra Sunga, the founder of the Sunga dynasty, performed this sacrifice after usurping the Mauryan throne.

Samudra Gupta is known to have granted permission to the Sri Lankan king Meghavarna to build a Buddhist monastery at Bodhgaya. He was a patron of poetic arts and a poet himself. This earned him the title of Kaviraja from Harisena.

  

The Later Mauryas

The disintegration of the mighty Mauryan empire began upon Ashoka’s death around 233–232 BC. After him, the empire continued to last for another half-century before giving way to the Śungas whose founder Pushyamitra overthrew Brihadratha, the last Mauryan emperor, by way of a palace revolution in about 183 BC.

After the death of Asoka, the territory of Mauryan empire was divided into the eastern and western parts. Sampriti and Dasaratha succeeded Asoka in the western and eastern parts respectively.

Samprati had embraced Jainism. He was converted to the religion by Jain monk Suhastin.

His contribution to Jainism is similar to that of Asoka to Buddhism. After a rule of nine years Samprati was followed by his son Salisuka who ruled for 13 years. 

The other eastern half of the Mauryan empire with Pataliputra as the capital came under the control of Dasaratha who is known to have dedicated three caves in the Nagarjuni Hills (in Bihar) to the Ajivikas. 

According to Kalhana's 12th century Kashmiri chronicle, Rajatarangini, Jalauka, also spelled Jaluka, was Asoka's successor.  

The last two Mauryan rulers were Satadhanvan and Brihadratha who was assassinated by Pushyamitra Sunga.

 Puranas, Hinduism’s sacred texts, attribute 137 years to the entire Mauryan dynasty. 

Kanishka: Facts about the most famous Kushana emperor

Sculpture of Kanishka at Mathura Government Museum / Image Source

• Kanishka was the founder of the Shaka Era (A.D. 78), one of the most widely spread Indian systems of dating.

• It was during the time of Kanishka that Buddhism began to spread to Central Asia and the Far East.

• According to a tradition preserved in China, the Fourth Buddhist Council was held under the patronage of Kanishka in Srinagar. In this fourth council the Sarvastivadin doctrines were codified in a summary, the Mahavibhasa.

• The convening of the Fourth Council led to the division into two broad sects, namely the Mahayana (great Vehicle ) and the Hinayana (lesser Vehicle). 

• Kanishka’s greatest contribution to Buddhist architecture was the Kanishka Stupa at Peshawar (now in Pakistan). He was a patron of Buddhist art of Gandhara.

Quiz - Delhi Sultanate Period 12 April 2020

1. The famous Atala Mosque in Jaunpur was built by the rulers of which dynasty?
(a) Sharqi dynasty
(b) Tughlaq dynasty
(c) Khilji  dynasty
(d) None of the above. 

Answer-(a) Sharqi dynasty

• Atala Mosque in Jaunpur was built by Ibrahim Shah Sharqi (1401-1408)
• Atala Mosque was built on the site of a temple at Atala Devi, demolished by Firuz Shah Tughlaq in 1376. 
• Khalis Mukhlis Masjid, The Jhanjhari Masjid ,  Lal Darwaza mosque are other famous mosques in Jaunpur. 
• Jama Mosque, built by Hussain Shah Sharqi, is the largest mosque in Jaunpur.

2. The correct chronological order in which the following monuments belonging to the Delhi sultanate period were built:

(a) Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, Alai Darwaza, Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam, Tomb of Sikander Lodi
(b) Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam, Tomb of Sikander Lodi, Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, Alai Darwaza,
(c) Tomb of Sikander Lodi, Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam, Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, Alai Darwaza
(d) Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam, Alai Darwaza, Tomb of Sikander Lodi

Answer-(a) Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, Alai Darwaza, Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam, Tomb of Sikander Lodi

• Tomb of the Sufi saint Sheikh Rukn-ud-Din Abul Fateh, commonly known by the title (Shah) Rukn-e-Alam, is considered to be the earliest specimen of Tughluq architecture. 
• Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque was commissioned by Qutb-ud-din Aibak, founder of the Mamluk or Slave dynasty.
• The Alai Darwaza was built by Sultan Alauddin Khalji of the Khalji dynasty in 1311.

3. The Tughlaq Sultan who twice made unsuccessful efforts to recover Bengal during the reign of Ilyas Shah and his son Sikander Shah was

(a) Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq

(b) Muhammad bin Tughlaq

(c) Firuz Shah Tughlaq 

(d) Ghiyassuddin Tughlaq Shah II

Answer-(c) Firuz Shah Tughlaq 

• Soon after his accession, the Ilyas Shahi ruler Sikandar Shah has to face a military campaign of the Tughlaq Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq who had earlier made an expedition to Bengal in 1353 during the rule of Shamsuddin Iliyas Shah. However like the first expedition, the second one also proved to be a failure for the Tughlaq ruler. 
• Sikandar Shah ascended the throne after the death of his father in 1357 and ruled Bengal for thirty-three years.

3. Ilyas Shahi Sultan who exchanged embassies with the Chinese emperor of the Ming dynasty was 

(a) Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah

(b) Sikander Shah

(c) Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah

(d) Saifuddin Hamza Shah

Answer-(c) Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah

• Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah established diplomatic and cultural relations with China, and the growth of Chittagong port led to the increase in trade with the Far East. 

4. During the reign of which of the following rulers of Hussain Shahi dynasty did Sikander Lodi attack Bengal?
(a) Alauddin Husain Shah
(b) Nasiruddin Nusrat Shah 
(c) Alauddin Firuz Shah
(d) Ghiyasuddin Mahmud Shah


Answer-(a) Alauddin Husain Shah

• Ala-ud-din Husain Shah was founder of the Hussain Shahi dynasty.