Chapter 15 — Empires and Kingdoms: 6th to 10th Centuries

Harṣhavardhana ascended the throne at Kannauj in 606 CE. He belonged to the Puṣhyabhūti (or Vardhana) dynasty, whose earlier capital was Sthāneśhvara (present-day Thanesar in Haryana). He expanded his empire over large parts of northern and eastern India. The Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang described him as a just and energetic ruler who held a generous assembly at Prayāga every five years, giving away much wealth to Buddhists, Brahmins, and the poor.

After Harsha's death in 647 CE, north India saw much political turmoil and Kannauj became the centre of a long, indecisive contest called the Tripartite Struggle. The three warring parties were the Pālas from the east, the Gurjara-Pratīhāras from the west, and the Rāṣhṭrakūṭas from the Deccan. During the 8th and 9th centuries, these three powers repeatedly fought each other with fluctuating outcomes and no lasting victor.

Xuanzang was a Chinese pilgrim who travelled across India between 630 and 644 CE. His purpose was to visit sacred Buddhist sites and learn doctrines from Indian teachers. He brought back more than 600 manuscripts of Buddhist texts in Sanskrit (carried by 20 horses) and translated them into Chinese. He also left a meticulous travelogue recording details about politics, culture, and religion in the kingdoms he visited, making it a major source for historians.

Vikramaśhilā was a great centre of learning founded by the Pāla king Dharmapāla on the banks of the Ganga in the late 8th century. It had six colleges, monasteries, temples, lecture halls, and a vast library where nearly 3,000 scholars studied subjects such as grammar, logic, Hindu and Buddhist philosophy. Each college had a dvārapaṇḍita or 'scholar gatekeeper' who tested students before allowing entry. It remained a great university for more than four centuries before being destroyed by Bakhtiyār Khiljī in the 12th century.

The Bhakti tradition is a form of personal devotion addressed to a deity that spread widely from the 6th century onward across all layers of society. The initial spark came from south India, where two groups of devotees composed devotional literature in Tamil: the 12 Ālvārs, who were devotees of Viṣhṇu (including a woman, Āṇḍāḷ), and the 63 Nāyanārs, who were devotees of Śhiva (including three women). Their poetry was open to everyone, cutting across gender and social divisions, and its impact continues to this day.

Brahmagupta was born in 598 CE in Bhillamāla. In his major work Brahmasphutasiddhānta, he introduced the rules of arithmetic operations with zero, negative numbers, and fractions — the same rules students learn at school today. He also pioneered new techniques for solving certain equations, making him one of the founders of modern algebra. His works were translated into Persian and later Latin, contributing to the growth of mathematics in the Arab world and, later, in Europe.

The Pallavas were a dynasty with their capital at Kānchī (present-day Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu). They reached their peak in the 7th century under Mahendravarman I and Narasimhavarman I, also called 'Mamalla' meaning 'wrestler' or 'warrior.' At Māmallapuram (also known as Mahabalipuram), they created elaborate rock-cut caves and monolithic temples in a distinctive style. They were patrons of Jain, Vaishnavite and Shaivite schools, promoted both Sanskrit and Tamil literature, and developed maritime trade with Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. They ruled until the late 9th century, when Chola king Aditya I overthrew them.

Arab forces first raided India's western coast in 637 CE at Thānā, Bharuch, and Debal without gaining lasting control. Later, Muhammad bin Qasim led an army into Sindh and defeated King Dāhar. However, the Arab political and religious impact remained limited compared to their conquests elsewhere. The Arabs allowed Hindus and Buddhists to rebuild temples, continue their worship, and temple priests were allowed to keep their share of revenue. After bin Qasim's death, Indian chiefs rebelled and regained most of the conquered territory.

The Cholas re-emerged as a dominant power in the 9th century under Vijayālaya, who established a new capital at Tanjāvūr (now Thanjavur). His son Aditya I defeated the Pallavas and brought most of present-day Tamil Nadu and parts of southern Andhra Pradesh under Chola control. The Cholas went on to build one of the largest empires in south Indian history, known for their efficient administration, powerful navy, and grand temples. They also patronised sculpture and promoted both Tamil and Sanskrit literatures.

Sāmantas were subordinate rulers — similar to tributaries or vassals — whom powerful kings appointed to govern regions they did not directly control. They led armies and managed local administration. However, their loyalty could be fragile when the central authority weakened. The Rāṣhṭrakūṭas, for example, were originally sāmantas under the Chālukyas but eventually grew powerful enough to overthrow their overlords.

Kalhaṇa was a Kashmiri scholar and poet who composed Rājatarangiṇī — meaning 'the River of Kings' — in Sanskrit in the 12th century. It narrated the history of Kashmir's ruling dynasties from its beginnings to Kalhaṇa's own time. He stated his goal was to give a connected account of past events, consulting inscriptions, earlier works, and other records. He also aimed to highlight rulers' ethical values so as to draw moral lessons from history.

The Kailaśhanātha temple (also known as Kailash temple) at Ellora in present-day Maharashtra was commissioned by the Rāṣhṭrakūṭa king Krishna I. The chapter describes it as the largest rock-cut temple in India — it is not a construction but a gigantic sculpture carved entirely out of a hillside. The Rāṣhṭrakūṭas who built it also patronised Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain schools of thought.

India and Arabia were connected through trade long before the rise of Islam, with ships sailing back and forth on the monsoon winds. In the 9th century, Sanskrit texts of mathematics, astronomy, and medicine were translated into Arabic, notably in Baghdad. The Arabs adopted India's decimal numeral system with the zero; Arab mathematicians acknowledged the Indian origin of this numeral system. When these numerals reached Europe through the Arabs, they became known as 'Arabic numerals' — and nowadays several dictionaries add the term 'Hindu-Arabic numerals.'

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