North Indian Kingdoms
- There were three big kingdoms namely
- Rashtrakutas
- Pratiharas
- Palas
All
these kingdoms fought with each other and tried to gain control over
northern India, however, none of them succeeded for any length of time.
The Rashtrakuta Kingdom
- The kingdom was located in the northern Deccan and its capital was at Malkhed.
- Amoghavarsha was a great emperor of the Kingdom
The Pratihara Kingdom
- The
Pratiharis after their success with the Arabs took their armies
eastwards and by the end of the eighth century had captured Kannauj. - The Pratiharis were also called Gurjara.
- The
Pratiharis stood as a fortification of India’s defense against the
the hostility of the Muslims from the days of Junayd of Sind to Mahmud of
Ghaznavid.
Rulers:
- Nagabhata I – Founder of the Pratihara dynasty with Kannauj as its capital.
- Vatsaraja and Nagabhata II – played a vital role in merging the empire.
- Mihira
Bhoja – the most powerful Pratihara king. During his period, the
expanded from Kashmir to the Narmada and from Kathiawar to Bihar. - Mahendrapala I – he was the son of Mihira Bhoja. He extended his control over Magadha and North Bengal.
Decline
- Rajyapala was the last Pratihara king.
- The vast empire was reduced to Kannauj.
- The Pratihara power began to decline after Mahmud of Ghazni attacked the kingdom in 1018 AD.
The Pala Kingdom
- Gopala I (765 AD – 769 AD)
- Founder of the Pala dynasty.
- Ruled over Northern and Eastern India.
- He extended the Pala dynasty and extended his power over Magadha.
- Dharmapala (769 AD – 815 AD)
- He is the son of Gopala.
- He brought Kannauj, Bengal, and Bihar under his control.
- He defeated the Pratiharas and became the ruler of Northern India.
- He was a steadfast Buddhist and founded the famous Vikramasila University and several monasteries.
- He also restored the Nalanda University.
- Devapala (815 AD – 855 AD)
- He kept the Pala territories intact.
- He captured Assam and Orissa.
- He was the most powerful ruler of the Pala Empire of Bengal region.
- Mahipala (998 AD – 1038 AD)
- The Palas become powerful during his reign.
- The Pala dynasty declined after the death of Mahipala.
Struggle for Kannauj
- Kannauj was the capital of Harsha and many campaigns in northern India were fought over the city of Kannauj
- It was geographically located in the northern plain, a strategic point from where it was easy to control the Ganga valley.
- Three
major kingdoms were involved in this struggle to control Kannauj.
Modern historians prefer to call them ‘tripartite’ (the three parties)
struggle for Kannauj. - The Tripartite struggle lasted for 200 years and weakened all of them which enabled the Turks to overthrow them.
