The Mediaeval Hindu Kingdoms
from the death of Harsha in A.D. 647
to the Muhammadan Conquest

 p172  Chapter 1

The transitional period; Rājpūts; the Himalayan kingdoms and their relations with Tibet and China.

A period of transition. The disorder following upon Harsha's death, in which the attack on the Chinese envoy with the consequent subjugation of Tirhūt by the Tibetans was an episode, lasted for a considerable number of years concerning which little is known. That time of confusion may be regarded conveniently for purposes of systematic study as forming the transition from Early to Mediaeval India, during which the hordes of foreign invaders were absorbed into the hardy body politic and a new grouping of states was gradually evolved. The transitional period was marked by the development of the Rājpūt clans, never heard of in earlier times, which begin from the eighth century to play a conspicuous part in the history of northern and western India. They become so prominent that the centuries from the death of Harsha to the Muhammadan conquest of Hindostan, extending in round numbers from the middle of the seventh to the close of the twelfth century, might be called with propriety the Rājpūt Period. Nearly all the kingdoms were governed by families or clans which for ages past have been called collectively Rājpūts. The term, the most generally used, is sometimes replaced by Chhattrī, the vernacular equivalent of the Sanskrit Kshatriya, or by Thākur.

Origin of the Rājpūts. The term Rājpūt, as applied to a social group, has no concern with race, meaning descent or relation­ship by blood. It merely denotes a tribe, clan, sept, or caste of warlike habits, the members of which claimed aristocratic rank, and were treated by the Brahmans as representing the Kshatriyas of the old books. The huge group of Rājpūt clan-castes are descended from the foreigners who entered India during the fifth and sixth centuries, while many others are descended from indigenous tribes now represented, so far as the majority of their members is concerned, either by semi-Hinduized peoples or by inferior castes.

Probably it would be safe to affirm that all the most distinguished clan-castes of Rājputanā or Rājasthān are descended mainly from foreigners, the 'Scythians' of Tod. The upper ranks of the invading  p173 hordes of Hūnas, Gurjaras, Maitrakas, and the rest became Rājpūt clans, while the lower developed into Hindu castes of less honourable social status, such as Gūjars, Āhīrs, Jāts, and others.

Such clan-castes of foreign descent are the proud and chivalrous Sīsōdias or Guhilōts of Mewār, the Parihārs (Pratihāras), the Chauhāns (Chāhumānas), the Pawārs (Pramāras), and the Solankis, otherwise called Chaulukyas or Chalukyas.1

The Rāshtrakūtas of the Deccan; the Rāthors of Rājputanā, whose name is only a vernacular form of the same designation; the Chandēls and the Bundēlas of Bundēlkhand, are examples of ennobled indigenous peoples. The Chandēls evidently originated from among the Gonds, who again were closely associated with the Bhars. It is impossible to pursue further the subject, which admits of endless illustration.

Brahmans and Kshatriyas. In ancient times the line of demarcation between the Brahmans and the Kshatriyas, that is to say, between the learned and the warrior groups of castes, was not sharply defined. It was often crossed, sometimes by change of occupation, and at other times by intermarriage. Ordinarily, the position of the leading Brahman at court was that of minister, but sometimes the Brahman preferred to rule directly, and himself seized the throne. Thus in early times the Sunga and Kānva royal families were Brahman. Similar cases of Brahman dynasties occur later In the seventh century Hiuen Tsang noted the existence of several Brahman Rājās, as at Ujjain and in Jijhoti or Bundelkhand. Usurpations by Brahman ministers also continued to happen. When a Brahman succeeded in founding a dynasty, and so definitely taking up Kshatriya work, his descendants were recognized as Kshatriyas, and allowed to intermarry freely with established Kshatriya families. It must be remembered that the Brahmans themselves are of very diverse origin, and that many of them, as for instance the Nāgar Brahmans, are descended from the learned or priestly class of the foreign hordes. The maga Brahmans were originally Iranian Magi. During the transitional stage, while a Brahman family was passing into the Kshatriya group of castes, it was often known by the composite designation of Brahma-kshatri. Several cases of the application of that term to royal families are recorded, the most prominent being those of the Sīsōdias of Mewār and the Sēnas of Bengal.

Rājpūts not a race. The Rājpūts, as already stated, are not to be regarded as a people originally of one race, bound together by ties of blood descent from a common ancestor. Even within  p174 the limits of Rājputanā the clans were originally descended from many distinct racial stocks. Such common features as they presented depended on the similarity of their warlike occupation and social habits. Now, of course, the operation of complicated caste rules concerning intermarriage during many centuries has produced an extensive network of blood-relationship between the clans, which have become castes.

Those condensed observations may help the student to understand in some measure why the Rājpūt clans begin to play so prominent a part in Indian history from the eighth century. The Hun invasions and their consequences, as observed in the chapter preceding, broke the chain of historical tradition. Living clan traditions rarely, if ever, go back beyond the eighth century, and few go back as far. The existing clan-castes only began to be formed in the sixth century. The Brahmans found their advantage in treating the ancient Kshatriya class of the scriptures, and the novel term Rājā-putra or Rājpūt, meaning 'king's son', or member of a ruling family or clan, came into use as an equivalent of Kshatriya.

Before entering upon a summary review of outstanding features in the history of the leading Rājpūt kingdoms of the plains, we must bestow a passing glance on the Himalayan States — Nepāl, Kashmīr, and Assam — and on their relations with Tibet and China.

China and the Indian border. The short-lived Hun empire was broken up by the Western Turks, who in their turn succumbed to the Chinese. For a few years, from 661 to 665, China enjoyed unparalleled prestige. Kāfiristān (Kapisa or Ki‑pin) was a province of the empire, and the ambassadors in attendance at the imperial court included envoys from the Suwāt valley and from all the countries extending from Persia to Korea. Such glory did not last long. In 670 the Tibetans occupied Kashgaria, and a little later the Turks regained power. In the first half of the eighth century an ambitious emperor, Hiuen-tsung, succeeded in once more establishing Chinese rule over the western countries. Even kings of Kashmīr then received investiture from China. The advance of the Arabs in the middle of the eighth century put an end to Chinese claims to sovereignty over the mountains of Kashmīr, and since that time no state of the Indian borderland, except Nepāl, has had political relations with China.

Tibet; Srong‑tsan Gampo. In the seventh and eighth centuries Tibet was a powerful state, in close touch with India as well as with China. The routes from China through Lhāsa and Nepāl into India now closed were then open and frequently used by pilgrims and other travellers. Srong‑tsan Gampo, the most renowned of Tibetan kings, whose great reign is placed by the best authorities between A.D. 629 and 650, annexed Nepāl, defeated the usurper who had dared to occupy the throne vacated by Harsha, occupied Tirhūt, and strengthened his position by marrying a Chinese princess as well as a Nepalese one.​2 Acting under the  p175 influence of his Buddhist consorts he introduced their religion into his kingdom, and gave his people the means of acquiring knowledge by importing from India the alphabet now use used in Tibet. He founded Lhāsa, for which, according to tradition, he prepared the site by filling up a lake with sense.

In the first half of the eleventh century Atīsa and other eminent monks from the seats of learning in Magadha came to Tibet on the invitation of the reigning king and effected extensive reforms or changes in the Buddhist church, which became the foundation of modern Lamaism.

Nepāl. The kingdom of Nepāl as at present constituted is an extensive territory lying along the northern frontier of British India for •about five hundred miles from Kumaon on the west to Sikkim on the east. The Nepāl of ancient Indian history means the restricted valley •about twenty miles long and fifteen broad, in which the capital, Kāthmandu, and other towns are situated. Some of the adjoining country may have been included at times in the kingdom, but the bulk of the territory now comprised in the Nepāl state, whether in the hills or the strip of plain at their base, used to be occupied by independent tribes and principalities.

The valley certainly formed part of Asoka's empire, but the Kushāns do not seem to have meddled with it. In the fourth century A.C. Nepāl acknowledged in some degree the sovereignty of Samudragupta. In the seventh century the influence of Tibet was paramount, and after Harsha's death the country became actually subject to Tibet for half a century.​4 The theory that  p176 Harsha conquered Nepāl and introduced his era seems to be erroneous. The Gūrkhas who now rule Nepāl conquered the country in 1768. The foreign policy of the state is controlled by the government of India, although China from time to time has asserted claims to tribute. The long and blood-stained story of the mediaeval dynasties is not of general interest, and may be left to students specially concerned with the local history.

Modern students of Nepalese affairs have been chiefly interested in the silent conflict of religions which has gone on for centuries and still may be watched in progress. A corrupt form of Buddhism, which allows even the strange institution of married monks, may be seen slowly decaying yielding to the constant pressure of Brahmanical Hinduism, which is the religion of the government. The Nepalese libraries contain a rich store of Buddhist manuscripts, first made known by the labours of Brian Hodgson between 1820 and 1858, which have supplied much material for the study of the various forms of Buddhist religion and philosophy.

The general current of Indian history has not been affected by the transactions in Nepāl, which usually has remained isolated. The existing government discourages foreign visitors, and guards the passes so strictly that very little is known about the greater part of the area of the state.

Art. The art of Nepāl is closely related to that of Tibet. The craftsmen of both countries excel in metal-work, and the Tibetan artists have been eminently successful in producing realistic portrait statuettes of Buddhist saints and similar images of deities belonging to the populous pantheon of later Buddhism. Some of the Tibetan painting has considerable merit. The architecture of Nepāl in modern times is usually copied from Chinese models.

Kashmīr. The history of Hindu Kashmīr, from the seventh century after Christ, when the trustworthy annals begin, is recorded in ample detail in the metrical chronicle called the Rājataranginī, written in the twelfth century by a learned Brahman named Kalhana or Kalyāna, which has been admirably edited and translated by Sir M. A. Stein. The story, although of much interest in itself, has little concern with the general history of India; the reason being that the mountain barriers which enclose the vale of Kashmīr have usually sufficed to protect the country against foreign invasion and to preserve its isolated independence. Nevertheless, both the Mauryas and the Kushāns exercised effective authority over the valley. The Guptas did not concern themselves with it, and Harsha, while in a position to bring pressure to bear upon the Rājā, did not attempt to annex the country.

The narrative of the doings of the mediaeval Hindu rulers teems with horrors. Harsha, a half-insane tyrant who reigned in the latter part of the eleventh century, has been justly described as the 'Nero of Kashmīr'. Few regions in the world can have had worse luck than Kashmīr in the matter of government, a fate due partly to the cowardly character of the population, which invited oppression. the avowed policy of the Hindu rulers  p177 throughout the ages was to fleece the peasantry to the utmost and to leave them at best a bare subsistence. The majority of the people was forced to accept Islām in the fourteenth century, and dynasty of Muhammadan Sultans ruled until Akbar annexed the kingdom in 1587 with little difficulty. The lot of the common people continued to be hard, whether the government was in the hands of Hindus or Musalmans. In modern times the Kashmīrīs were oppressed successively by the Afghans and the Sikhs, and never enjoyed the advantages of decently good administration until late in the nineteenth century.

But, although Kashmīr has ordinarily occupied a position politically  p178 isolated from India, the influence of the country on the religion and civilization of its neighbours has been considerable. The valley has been the abode of Sanskrit learning at least from the time of Asoka, and has played an important part as being the intermediate stage through which Indian civilization and art reached Khotan and the adjoining territories of Chinese Turkistan, and so passed into the Far East. The valley includes many sacred sites both Buddhist and Brahmanical. Jainism does not seem to have entered it. An interesting local style of architecture was developed in the eighth and ninth centuries. The Mārtand temple dedicated to the Sun‑god in the reign of Lalitāditya (A.D. 724‑60) is the best-known example, but many others exist.

Assam. Assam, roughly equivalent to the ancient Kāmarūpa, resembled Kashmīr in being protected by natural fortifications, and thus enabled, as a rule, to preserve its independence. The country does not seem to have been included in either the Maurya or the Kushān empire, but in the fourth century, its ruler, who belonged to an ancient Hindu dynasty, acknowledged in some degree the overlord­ship of Samudragupta. Buddhism never succeeded in establishing itself. Nevertheless, the ruling king in the seventh century insisted on receiving a visit from Hiuen  p179 Tsang, the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, who was hospitably entertained. The king, although not directly subject to Harsha, was constrained to obey his imperious commands and to attend humbly in his train when summoned. Certain Muhammadan leaders who invaded the country on several occasions between 1205 and 1662 always met with disaster more or less complete. The Muslim historian who describes the latest venture, that made by Aurangzēb's general Mīr Jumla in the seventeenth century, expresses the horror with which the country and people were regarded by outsiders in striking phrases which deserve quotation.

Early in the thirteenth century Assam was invaded by the Āhōms, a Shan tribe from Upper Burma, who gradually acquired the sovereignty of the country, which they retained until it was occupied by the Burmese in 1816 and by the British in 1825. The Āhōms brought with them a tribal religion of their own, which they abandoned in favour of Hinduism about the beginning of the eighteenth century. Their language, too, is almost, if not completely, extinct. The Āhōms have become merged in the Hindu population, and speak Assamese, an Aryan language akin to Sanskrit and Bengali. When in power they had an efficient, although severe or even cruel, system of administration. They produced a considerable historical literature, and carried the art of carving wood to a high degree of excellence. The Muslim writer quoted expresses unbounded admiration of the decorations of the palace at Garhgāon. No trace of them remains.

 p180  Assam is a province of much interest to the student of Indian religion as being the meeting ground of Mongolian and Indian ideas. The contact has resulted in the evolution of a peculiar Tantric form of Hinduism, which offers special honour to females forms of the deity called Saktis. The temple of Kamakhya near Gauhātī is recognized as one of the most important shrines of the cult. All the processes by means of which the members of rude animistic tribes become fanatical Hindus, and strange tribal gods are converted into respectable Brahmanical deities, may be illustrated in Assam.

Chronology

---

The Author's Notes:

1 Pandit Mohanlāl Vishnulāl Pandia admits that Bāpart, the Guhilōt ancestor, was brought up as a concealed or reputed Brahman (J. & Proc. A. S. B., 1912, pp62‑99), and has not succeeded in refuting the reasoning of D. R. Bhandarkar concerning the origin of the Rānās of Mewār. If the frank statement of facts as revealed by modern research should give offence in any quarter that result is to be regretted. But, as Asoka observed long ago, 'truth must be spoken'.

2 Berthold Laufer (J. A. O. S., vol. 38 (1918), pp31‑46).

3 A. H. Francke, Antiquities of Indian Tibet (Calcutta, 1914), p52. For the Kāla-chakra and other late corrupt forms of Buddhism see the excellent little book by Nagendra Nath Vasu and M. M. H. P. Sastri, entitled Modern Buddhism and its Followers in Orissa (Calcutta, 1911).

4 In A.D. 703 both Nepāl and India [scil. Tirhūt] threw off the Tibetan sovereignty. The king of Tibet was killed while attempting to reassert his authority (Parker, 'China, Nepaul, &c.' in J. Manchester Oriental Soc., 1911, pp129‑52). That date, recorded in the histories of the T'ang dynasty, was not known to earlier European writers.

5 Talish, as transl. by Prof. Jadunath Sarkār in J. B. & O. Res. Soc., vol. I, pp179‑95.

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