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Namaste! and welcome to India. My name is Raj
Narayan. Today we're going to learn about
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this great country its people and its
religious developments during the seven
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centuries of 300 to 1000 ce. We will
discover India's regional kingdoms,
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imperial political unification, and great
centers of learning and religious
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development. We will also explore the
life in her cities villages and homes,
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and witness a devotional movement that
profoundly influenced Hinduism.
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During this time, India's Kings built
many magnificent monuments and great
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temples. I visited the Kailasanatha
temple at Ellora in Maharashtra. This
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temple was carved out of a single solid
stone hillside using only hammers and
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chisels and not by stacking stones
together. The work was begun in the
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eighth century and took a hundred years
to complete.
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400,000 tons of stone were removed to
create the many chambers standing 266
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feet high,
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it is the largest monolithic sculpture
in the world. The two stairways leading
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to the main hall of the temple our car
with narrative episode of The Hindu
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epics Mahabharata and Ramayana.
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this is a temple to Siva but it also has
shrines to Vishnu. Many Buddhist and
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Jain cave temples are carved into nearby
cliffs at Ellora. Ajanta, which is about
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75 kilometers away,
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also has many large Buddhist cave
temples. All these were supported by the
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Hindu kings.
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These are just some of the magnificent
monuments built in at time when empires,
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religion, commerce, science, technology
literature, and the arts flourished
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across the subcontinent. Political
History In three hundred ce, an
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estimated 75 million peopl--a third of
the world's populatio--lived in India.
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Hindu tradition, culture, scriptures and
the Sanskrit language linked people across
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this immense and fertile subcontinent.
Historians rely on four major types of
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evidence: archaeological studies, official
inscriptions on stone or metal, coins and
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contemporary texts including stories,
poems, plays and the account of foreign
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visitors. The greatest empire of the time
was founded in the fourth century CE by
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Chandra Gupta the first. His son Samudragupta,
extended the empire across India and
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rivaled the Mauryas in dominance over
the region after a gap of seven hundred
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years. His grandson, Chandra Gupta
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the Second, famously known as
Vikramaditya, is considered the most
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brilliant king in India's entire history.
Through his conquest and well-organized
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government, he forged political unity and
peace across his vast empire.
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Historian A.L. Basham called it, "the happiest
and most civilized region of the world
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at the time." What we regard as Indian
culture today developed largely during
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the time of the Guptas. Ruling from
their capital city of Patliputra, the
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kings granted local and regional
autonomy to the states under their
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control. Those far from the capital, such
as in southern India, paid tribute but
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were nearly independent. The empire was
responsible for security, major roads,
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irrigation projects, common welfare and
gave exceptional support to learning and
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the arts. Gupta culture and economy influenced
much of Eurasia notably China and
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Southeast Asia. The Gupta Empire declined
in the late 5th century because of
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internal conflict and invasions by
Central Asian Hunas--or Hun--who had
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conquered Indian territory east of the
Indus to central India early in the 6th
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century CE. However by the mid-6th
century, Hindu rulers united and drove
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the Hunas out of India. India received
many foreign visitors during this time.
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The most important were the Buddhist
monks, Faxian and Xuanzang, who left us
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fascinating reports. Faxian came to
India by the Silk Road from China in the
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fifth century, stayed in India for
thirteen years, wrote an account of his
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visit and returned by sea. He reported,
"Charitable institutions are numerous and
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rest houses for travelers are provided
on the highway. In the cities and towns
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of this country the people are rich and
prosperous and seemed to emulate each
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other in the practice of virtue. Another
monk and chronicler, Xuanzang left China
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in 629 for India and returned after 16
years. He has left us the most complete
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account of the Indian subcontinent of
his time.
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Xuanzang describes a complex political
environment with more than 70 regional
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powers. Many were part of the empire of
King Harsha while others were under the
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major imperial powers of the South. Xuanzang
was a guest of Harsha's court for about
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a year and praised his patronage of
Buddhism, just rule and generosity. In the
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eighth century the Rashtrakuta dynasty took
control of the entire Deccan region,
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parts of west central India and much of
the south. The Rashtrakuta Dynasty also
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built the Kailasanatha Temple in Ellora.
Between the 8th and 10th centuries they
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competed with the Pratiharas and
Palas for dominance over the
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subcontinent. The Pratiharas at
their peak ruled much of the north.
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They were the first effectively stop the
Arab Muslim invasions into western India
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in the eighth century the exact a
tribute from the Arab rulers of Sindh
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and Multan and blocked any further
advancement for over 200 years. The
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Palas a Buddhist dynasty centered in
eastern India reached their zenith in
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the early 9th century until the Pratisharas
largely displaced them from the
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Ganga Plains. There were several large
Hindu kingdoms in the Deccan and
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southern India in this period. They
included the Chalukyas, Pallavas,
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Pandhyas and Cholas.
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Rajendra Chola the first unified the entire south.
The Cholas boasted a large army and navy and their maritime
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expeditions are unique in Indian history.
To protect vital trade routes, they subdued
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kingdoms as far away as Malaysia and
Indonesia. The Cholas also dominated
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southern India's trade between the
Middle East, Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa
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and China. Indian traders facilitated the
spread of Hinduism and Buddhism
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throughout the kingdoms of Southeast
Asia. For example, this is the great
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Chola temple at Thanjavur in South
India and this is the grand Prambanan
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temple in Central Java, built in the
eighth century where the Hindu king
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Pikatan in Indian style, and this is
Angkor Wat in Cambodia, largest religious
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building in the world.
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India's rulers also welcomed Christians
Jews Muslims and Parsis into their
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kingdoms and encourage them to settle
and practice their faiths. This policy
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maintained religious harmony in society
and not surprisingly aided international
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trade. For over a thousand years, India
was the richest region on earth.
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It produced thirty percent of the
world's total food, goods and services,
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while China produced 25 percent and Europe--
even by 1000 ce--produced just eleven
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percent. City and village life.
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Cities and towns group as centers of
commerce along important trade routes, at
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sea and inland river ports and around major
temples and pilgrimage centers. Cities
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were largely self-governing. A ruling
council consists of a chief records
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clerk and representatives from large
businesses, smaller merchants, and guilds
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of artisans.
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An ancient Tamil epic poem called, "The
Ankle Bracelet," describes life in a city
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of that time:
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Shop selling similar products were
located near each other as they still
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are in many cities of India today. The poet
wrote, "In the street, hawkers were
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selling ointments,
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bath powders, flowers, perfume and incense.
Weavers brought their fine silks and
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all kinds of fabrics made of wool or
cotton. There were special streets for
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merchants of sandalwood, jewelry,
faultless pearls, pure gold and precious
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gems.
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One can see coppersmiths, carpenters,
goldsmiths, tailors, shoemakers and
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clever craftsmen making toys out of
cork or rags, and expert musicians who
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demonstrated their mastery of the seven
tone scale on the flute and the vena.
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Only ten percent of the population lived
in cities like this. The rest lived in
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villages surrounded by agricultural land,
as two-thirds still do in India today.
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Each village had a pond or reservoir,
wells, grazing grounds and at least one
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temple. India's year-round warm climate and
monsoon rains allowed farmers to grow to
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crops a year or more.
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The villagers were self-sufficient.
People bartered and sold their goods in
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local markets and in nearby towns.
Because the village jatis, or castes,
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were hereditary, the families became
expert in their work,
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be they farmers, craftsmen or merchants. Each
family interacted with the other jatis.
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There will be a family barber, washerman,
carpenter, blacksmith, and others,
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providing their services to a family
generation after generation. Each village
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was self governed by an assembly of
five elder men called the panchayat. The
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central unit a society was the joint
family, as it is today among many Hindus.
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Father, mother, sons and their wives,
unmarried daughters and grandchildren
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all lived under one roof.
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Land and finances were held in common
and everyone who worked for the
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advancement of the family.
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Marriages were ideally arranged by the
parents and the boy and girl had little
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say in the matter. But however the union
occurred--such as elopement--the marriage
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itself was recognized. In an arranged
marriage, the boy and girl usually came
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from different villages. Visits to
relatives created a strong
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communications network through which
news, ideas, trade and technological
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innovations flowed freely.
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A Classical Age of Culture and Religion
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During this time India give rise to a
vast wealth of literature, including
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plays, poems, songs and epics in many
languages.
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The world's first universities were
flourishing in India during this time
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including Takshashila,Nalanda, Vikramashila
and Vallabhi. Students studied the
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Vedas and 18 Arts and Sciences which
included medicine, surgery, astronomy,
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mathematics, agriculture, accounting, law
and military strategy. Xuanzang stayed
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a Nalanda University for five years
around 640 ce. He described it as a free
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residential center of advanced studies,
notably Buddhist, with 1,000 teachers and
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10,000 students. Nalanda was supported
by royal endowments from both Hindu and
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Buddhist Kings as well as regular income
from nearly 100 villages. Many Hindu
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saints of this time
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preached the importance of devotion to
God and what is called the Bhakti
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Movement. Bhakti means devotion or worship.
The saints stressed one's personal
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relationship with the divine as a love-
centered path of spiritual advancement.
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All over India great Hindu temples were
built or expanded between 300 and 1000 ce.
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Many are in large cities such as
Somnath in the west, Ujjain in
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central India, Varanasi on the river
Ganga in the north, Puri in the east and
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Kanchi and Madurai in the south. Today
these remain powerful places of worship
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Life in cities and villages centered
around the temples, which were places of
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worship,
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scholarship, education, and the performing
arts. During festivals, thousands of
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people pilgrimage to the most famous
temples as they do to this day. This flow of
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visitors helped local economies and spread
cultural practices and religious belief
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throughout the nation. The period from
300 to 1000 ce was a golden age in
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India. The Sanskrit language with its
many treasures on religion, philosophy,
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law and the epics spread throughout not
only India but most of Asia. Hinduism
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thrived throughout this period with the
Bhakti Movement in particular
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popularizing devotional worship across
the subcontinent through sacred stories
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and songs especially those of the Tamil
Alvars and Nayanmars. India's prosperity,
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stability and religious harmony gave
rise to philosophical, technological
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scientific, literary and artistic
achievements that set high standards for
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succeeding generations. Unfortunately
there were those on her northwestern
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frontier who coveted in India's wealth
and land and were driven by a desire to
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expand their faith and obtain glory. In
part 3 we will tell the sad tale of how
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India suffered first from periodic
raids of royal cities and rich temples
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for plunder followed by the sustained
conquest of large regions in pursuit of
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political power and religious dominance.
Namaste
