Eternal India Encyclopedia

LURE - THRU THE AGES

Eternal India

encyclopedia

The Gupta period is famous for the Hindu

revival; kings extended royal patronage to

Hinduism but religious toleration was prac-

tised, Buddhism was respected; the Gupta

period is rightly called the golden age of

Sanskrit literature; the towering genius of

the period is Kalidasa- one of the greatest

poets of the world - patronised by Chandra-

gupta II. His most important works were

Abhijnana Shakuntala, Ritusamhara

(cycle

of seasons),

Malavikagnimitra, Meghaduta

(cloud messenger),

Kumara Sambhava

(Birth of the war god),

Raghuvamsha

(story

of the race of Raghu) and

Vikramor-

vashiyam,

the

Smritis

of Yajnavalkya,

Narada, Katyayana and Brihaspati were

written during this period.

Aryabhata (

Surya Siddhanta

), Varahimihira

(.Brihat Samhita)

and Brahmagupta were

the foremost astronomers and mathemati-

cians of the world; Aryabhata declared that

the earth revolves round its axis. Among

the Guptan sculptures, seated Buddha at

Samath, the standing Buddha at Mathura

museum and copper statue of Buddha at

Sultanganj are noteworthy; they also cre-

ated Ardhanarishwara form of Siva; the

image of Vishnu (Mathura).

The chief temples are Vishnu temple at

Tigawa (Jabbalpur district), Siva temple at

Bhumara, Parvati temple at Nachna-

Kuthava, Buddhist shrines at Sanchi and

Bodh Gaya; the main cave structures are in

Ajanta and Andhra; the most important

paintings of the period are to be found on

the wall-murals of the Ajanta caves, Bagh

caves (Gwalior) and rock-cut chambers in

Ceylon.

Weakness

Unable to face Pushyamitra and Huna

attacks; weak successors, absence of

strong leadership.

Decline

Gupta empire began to decline after the

death of Skanda Gupta; he was succeeded

by Puragupta and probably the Gupta

empire

was finally destroyed by the Gaudas; petty

Gupta princes continued to rule but they are

of no significance. In fact the death blow to

the Gupta empire was given by its own

overambitious chiefs and invasion of

Hunas.

THE KADAMBAS 325 - 560 A.D.

Overview

Ruled Banavasi between the 4th and 6th

centuries; Royal emblem was lion.

Inscriptions are the main source of infor-

mation.

Mayura Sharma was the founder and the

great ruler.

Mainly Vedic (Brahmin) religion was

followed.

Contributed the

Kadamba vimana

to the

style of temple architecture.

Krishnavarma the second son of Kakus-

tavarma, founded the Triparvatha Branch

of Kadambas in c. 460 A.D. who ruled till

516 A.D.

They belonged to

Manavya gotra

and

were Haritiputras.

Banavasi was their capital.

Advent

Mayura Sharma, a Brahmin by birth,

founded the Kadamba dynasty; his quarrel

with Pallavas at Kanchi forced him to give up

Brahminhood and to take up kshatriyahood,

later he “revolted against Pallavas and

founded the dynasty. A Kadamba tree had

grown near his house and hence the family got

its name as

Kadambas.

Chronology

* Mayura Sharma

(c.350-365 A.D.)

Kangavarma

(c.365)

Raghu

Kakutsavarma

Shantivarma

(c.455-460 A.D.)

* Mrigesha

(460 A.D.)

* Ravivarma

* Harivarma

(519)

Triparvata Branch

Krishnavarma

(c.460)

Vishnuvarma

(c.475)

Simhavarma

(c.485)

Krishnavarma II (516)

Mayura Sharma

He was the son of Bandhusena; well

versed in Vedas; being humiliated by the

Pallava horsemen at horse sacrifice (at

Kanchi, the capital of Pallavas) he set out to

establish the Kadamba dynasty; his Chan-

dravalli inscription is the chief source of

information and it says that he conquered

the Trikutas, Abhiras, Pallavas, Pari-

yathrakas, Shakasthana, etc. He was suc-

ceeded by Kangavarma in c.365 A.D. Kakus-

tavarma was another important king of Ka-

dambas; the Tajagunda inscription and the

Halasi copper plate are the two important

records of his period.

Administration

The Kadamban administration was car-

ried on with the help of 5 ministers;

Pradhana

(or Prime Minister)

Manev-

ergade

(Steward of the household),

Kra-

mukapala

(betel carrier),

Tantrapala,

and

Sabhakarya Sachiva

(Secretary of

the council); Chief Justice was called as

Dharmadhyaksha

the kingdom was di-

vided into

mandalas

or provinces and

vishayas.

One-sixth of the total produce of the

land was collected as land revenue; taxes

perjunka

(levy on loads),

vaddara-

vula

(tax for royal maintenance),

bilkode

(sales tax),

kirukula

(levy on retail

goods) and

pannaga

were collected.

They followed Vedic religion, performed

Horse Sacrifice (

Ashwamedha

); Jainism

was also patronised, temples and Agra-

haras were centres of higher learning;

Mainly Prakrit language was used fol-

lowed by Sanskrit and Kannada.

The Kadambas were the founders of Kar-

nataka architecture; their structures had

few things in common with Pallavas; early

structure Basti is at Halasi.

They contributed their

vimanas

and

shikharas

to the style of architecture, the

best example is the Kadamba vimana at

Kadayoli (Belgaum district of Karnataka)

and Kadamba Shikhara of Lakshmi Devi

temple at Doddagaddavalli (of Hoysala

period).

Decline

The Kadambas of Banavasi were over-

thrown in c. 540 by Pulakesin I of Badami

Chalukyan dynasty. The last ruler of the

dynasty was Krishnavarma II of Tripar-

vata branch (founded by Krishnavarma,

the second son of Kakutsavarma); later

they ruled as subordinates of the Badami

Chalukyas.