Unit –I:

Studying Early Medieval India: Political Structures

Sources: Literary and Archaeology

INTRODUCTION

The paucity of sources has always been an obstacle in re-constructing early medieval history.
The advent of the Muslim rulers though brought about the culture of writing history as it
prevailed in central and west Asia. The court histories are partisan history but the information’s
are useful. Moreover, during this time travellers and chroniclers from near and far came to India
and left their account that again is a valuable source of history. Thus, the main source of history
of the early medieval period should be the historians and the foreign travellers of this period. The
Malfuzat text and Bardiclores again can add to information but are difficult to be corroborated
with other work. Apart from this the information provided by archaeological (monuments,
epigraphy, and numismatics) and literature is very important as traditional source of history for
the early medieval period.

LITERARY SOURCES

1.2.1 Indigenous Literatures

From c.700 CE onwards a particular type of literary text called the Charita, (Eulogies on the life
of a particular political ruler) started to emerge. This tendency started with the Harshacharita by
Banabhatta (court-poet of Harshavardhana), which speaks of the deeds of Harshavardhana. It is
not free from limitations, due to the use of hyperbolic statements. Such Charitas need to be
constantly checked and verified with information from other contemporary sources, before a
historian can accept its statements. Similarly Sandhyakaranandi’s Ramacharitam speaks of the
gradual waning of the mighty Pala power, or of the last flicker of its existence during the time of
Ramapala, who tried to recapture the lost territory of Varendri (present day northern part of
Bangladesh), which the Pala’s had lost. The recovery of Varendri constitutes the major focus of
the Ramacharitam. The text revolves around the career of Ramapala, and points to many
interesting political aspects of the last phase of the Pala rule in northern Bengal.

The Vikramankadevacharita of Bilhana, a poet of the eleventh century, describes the career and
achievements of his patron, a powerful south Indian ruler Vikramaditya VI, in a similar fashion.
A fascinating textual account of a particular region was Kalhana’s Rajatarangini (River of
Kings), which possibly outclassed the other historical chronicles written in ancient times. This
text gives a connected account of the history of Kashmir from very remote times (according to
some it goes back to the nineteenth century BCE). Kalhana’s account about the pre-seventh
century CE was mostly based on hearsay, legends and tales, but from the seventh century CE
onwards, it was based on evidence available to him, and was more factual and dependable.
Kalhana, a Kashmiri Brahmin, belonged to the twelfth century CE. He states that he checked,
read, and studied earlier evidence in the form of coins, accounts, and dynastic chronicles, in

3
order to compose his text. His approach to these sources, itself surprises us, as he went about his
work with remarkable balance and critical judgment. Romila Thapar sees the culmination of the
Itihasa Purana type of textual narrative in Kalhana’s Rajatarangini.It is noteworthy that this work
was fundamentally different from the Charitas, as the latter were composed in a spirit of hero
worship, or patron pleasing, while the Rajatarangini was the outcome of a detached and impartial
mind, viewing the past and the present with great historical insight.

Foreign Accounts

Besides indigenous texts, foreign accounts (Chinese and Arab) are also useful sources for early
medieval India. Yijing or Itsing (635–713 CE), visited India in 7thcentury CE and his accounts
contain the socio-religious condition of those days. One of Yijing’s works gives an account of
Buddhist doctrines and practices in India. The important Arab works include the 9th –10th
century writings of travellers and geographers such as Sulaiman, Al-Masudi, Abu Zaid, Al-
Biduri, and Ibn Haukal. Later Arab writers include Al-Biruni, Al-Idrisi, Muhammad Ufi, and Ibn
Batuta. Such accounts are especially useful for information on trade. AI-Biruni gave important
information about India. He was Arab scholar and contemporary of Mahmud of Ghazni. AI-
Biruni studied Sanskrit and acquired knowledge of Indian society and culture through literature.
Therefore, his observations are based on his knowledge about Indian society and culture, but he
did not give any political information of his times. Works of Al Masudi (early tenth century), Al
Idrisi (twelfth century) etc., are helpful for understanding overseas trade both in the west and east
of India.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOURCES

Art and Architecture

The study of architecture and sculpture helps in forming an impression of the cultural life
of early medieval India. The emergence of structural temples usually monumental in size, in the
period from 600-1300 CE is marked by the expression of very strong regionalism in Indian
culture, which is also reflected in the beginnings of regional vernaculars. Three distinct temple
styles emerged in three distinct zones of the sub-continent. The north Indian temple styles with
its tapering shikhara, in which the super structure of the main temple is labelled the nagara style
of temple. In contrast to this was the Dravida type of temples in south India where we observe a
very tall super structure constructed in a pyramidal shape over the main shrine. In the areas of
present day Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh there emerged another distinct style called Vesara
which in a way represented an admixture or meeting point of the north Indian and the far south
Indian styles. The sculpture of this period also displays distinct regional features in both stone as
well as metal sculptures. The excellence of metal sculpting comes from the Chola areas in south
India, celebrated for the fascinating images of Nataraja Shiva.

The wonderful images of Buddha belonging to the period of Pala rule, over present day
Bangladesh, West Bengal, and partly Bihar deserve special mention. In spite of the fact that the

4
iconography in the subcontinent was derived from the common source of Puranic stories, myths
and legends pertaining to different divinities, the styles employed were distinctly regional and
had their own regional appeal, thus nurturing the growth and development of multifaceted
sculptural traditions.

Inscriptions

Tamil copper-plate inscriptions are copper-plate records of grants of villages, plots of

cultivable lands or other privileges to private individuals or public institutions by the members of
the various South Indian royal dynasties. The study of these inscriptions, has been especially
important in reconstructing the history of Tamil Nadu. These records were an essential
component of a highly-structured system of taxation that kept the royal treasuries full by
ensuring that all tax obligations were met. The grants range in date from the tenth century CE. to
the mid nineteenth century CE. A large number of them pertain to the Chalukyas, the Cholas and
the Vijayanagar kings. These plates are valuable epigraphically because they provides an insight
into the social conditions of medieval South India; they also help fill chronological gaps in the
connected history of the ruling dynasties. Unlike in neighboring Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh
where early inscriptions were written in Sanskrit, the early inscriptions in Tamil Nadu used
Tamil exclusively. Tamil has the oldest extant literature amongst the Dravidian languages, but
dating the language and the literature precisely is difficult. Literary works in India were
preserved either in palm leaf manuscripts (implying repeated copying and recopying) or through
oral transmission, making direct dating impossible. External chronological records and internal
linguistic evidence, however, indicate that the oldest extant works were probably compiled
sometime between the second century BCE and the tenth century CE.

Epigraphic attestation of Tamil begins with rock inscriptions from the second century
BCE, written in Tamil-Brahmi, an adapted form of the Brahmi script. Beginning in the sixth
century both stone and copper-plate inscriptions were also written in Sanskrit, and some were
bilingual. Indian archaeologists have discovered hundreds of inscriptions during the last 120
years. Professor E. Hultzsch began collecting South Indian inscriptions systematically from the
latter part of 1886, when he was appointed Epigraphist to the Government of Madras. The
earliest of the extant copperplate inscriptions date from the tenth century CE. Of these, the
Leyden plates, the Tiruvalangadu grant of Rajendra Chola-I, the Anbil plates of Sundara Chola
and the Kanyakumari inscription of Virarajendra Chola are the only epigraphical records
discovered and published so far, that give genealogical lists of Chola kings. The Thiruvalangadu
copperplates discovered in 1905 CE is one of the largest so far recovered and contains 31 copper
sheets. They contain both Sanskrit and Tamil texts, which seems to have been written at least a
decade apart. These plates record a grant made to the shrine of the goddess at Tiruvalangadu by
Rajendra Chola-I. The list of the legendary Chola kings forms the preamble to the Sanskrit
portion of these plates.

5
 A typical Chola copperplate inscription currently displayed at the Government Museum,
Chennai, India, is dated c. tenth century C.E. Five copper plates are strung in a copper ring, the
ends of which are secured with a Chola seal bearing, in relief, a seated tiger facing the right, with
two fish to its right. These three figures have a bow below them, a parasol and two fly-whisks
(Chamaras) above them, and a lamp on each side. Around the margin is engraved in Grantha
characters, "This is the matchless edict of King Parakesarivarman, who teaches justice to the
kings of his realm". A portion of this inscription is in Sanskrit and the rest is in Tamil. The plates
contain an edict issued at Kachhippedu (Kanchipuram) by the Chola king Ko-ara Kesarivarman
(Uththama Chola, an uncle and predecessor of Rajaraja Chola-I), at the request of his minister, to
confirm the contents of a number of stone nscriptions, which referred to certain dues to be paid
to the temple of Vishnu at Kachhippedu. Arrangements made for several services in the temple
are also described. Uththama Chola was an uncle and predecessor of Rajaraja Chola-I.

Coins

Though numerous coins have been found on the surface, many have been found while
digging the mounds. Coins are a good source of administrative as well as constitutional history.
Coins portray kings and gods, and contain religious symbols and legends, by which one can get
an idea of the art and religion of the time. There is a whole category of Indian coins, in the
"Indo-Sassanian style", also sometimes called Gadhaiya paisa, that were derived from the
Sasanian coinage in a rather geometric fashion, among the Gurjaras, Pratiharas, Chaulukya
Paramara and Palas from circa 530 CE to 1202 CE. Typically, the bust of the king on the obverse
is highly simplified and geometric, and the design of the fire altar, with or without the two
attendants, appears as a geometrical motif on the reverse of this type of coinage.

The coins of the Chola Empire bear similarities with other South Indian dynastic issue
coins. Chola coins invariable display a tiger crest. The appearance of the fish and bow on Chola
issue coins that were emblems associated with the Pandyas and Cheras respectively suggests
successful political conquest of these powers as well as co-option of existing coin issuing
practices.

The coins of various Rajput princes's ruling in Hindustan and Central India were usually
of gold, copper or billon, very rarely silver. These coins had the familiar goddess of wealth,
Lakshmi on the obverse. In these coins, the Goddess was shown with four arms than the usual
two arms of the Gupta coins; the reverse carried the Nagari legend. The seated bull and
horseman were almost invariable devices on Rajput copper and bullion coins.

Conclusion

By now it has become clear that these literary and archaeological sources are important
enough to provide welcome light to the economic activities of the early Indians. It has also
become clear that any single source cannot explain all aspects of the economic history of the
early Indians. Different sources together can help us to explain the economic history of a people

6
of a particular region during a particular period. The historian writes it by using the sources
relevant to the enquiry. But the use of sources depends on what question the historian raises.
Accordingly, s/he finds out new sources, if necessary, or evaluates the known sources in order to
find out the answer to his or her question. Thus the historian makes sources work for solving the
problem s/he deals with.