Medieval India: Tripartite Struggle and Cholas
New Kings and Kingdoms
● Many dynasties emerged during 7th century.
● By the 7th century there were big landlords or warrior chiefs in different regions of
the subcontinent.
● Existing kings often acknowledged them as their subordinates or samantas. As
these samantas gained power and wealth, they declared themselves to be
maha-samanta, maha- mandaleshvara (the great lord of a “circle” or region) and so
on.
● Sometimes they asserted their independence from their overlords.
● Rashtrakutas in the Deccan is one such instance. Initially they were subordinate to
the Chalukyas of Karnataka. In the mid-eighth century, Dantidurga, a Rashtrakuta
chief, overthrew his Chalukya overlord.
New Kings and Kingdoms
● Many dynasties emerged during 7th century.
● By the 7th century there were big landlords or warrior chiefs in different regions of
the subcontinent.
● Existing kings often acknowledged them as their subordinates or samantas. As
these samantas gained power and wealth, they declared themselves to be
maha-samanta, maha- mandaleshvara (the great lord of a “circle” or region) and so
on.
● Sometimes they asserted their independence from their overlords.
● Rashtrakutas in the Deccan is one such instance. Initially they were subordinate to
the Chalukyas of Karnataka. In the mid-eighth century, Dantidurga, a Rashtrakuta
chief, overthrew his Chalukya overlord.
