Page 51 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - India

The his T o r y o f i ndia  49

Southern Dynasties (AD 600–1200) as far as Cambodia, Annam, Java, Sumatra,
In the Deccan and South India too several Malaysia and China.
dynasties existed between 600 and 1200 In religion, this was a period of
AD. A new Pallava dynasty had risen to questioning and ferment. From
power in the 6th century, at Kanchipuram. the 7th century, itinerant
In 642, the Pallava ruler Narasimha Varman I Tamil poet-saints known as
defeated and killed the Chalukya king Alvaras and Nayannars,
Pulakeshin II, after which the great Chalukya devotees of Vishnu and
kingdom declined. Shiva respectively, preached
In the late 9th century, the Cholas against caste divisions and
(see pp50–51), who had gone into decline in orthodox Brahmanical practices,
the 4th century, reasserted their power. and emphasized a personal
They defeated the Pallavas, the Western union with god through love
Ganga dynasty which ruled near Mysore, and devotion (bhakti). Their
and the Pandyas of Madurai, and teachings had great
established their supremacy in the south. popular appeal. Other
They would later be challenged by the influ ential sages were
Hoysalas of Karnataka (see p527) who came Adi Shankaracharya (see Bronze image of a
to power in the 12th century. p652) who travelled across Nayannar saint,
13th century
As in northern India in this period, trade the country, elaborating on
flourished in the south, despite constant the ideas contained in the Upanishads (see
wars. The Pallavas’ maritime trade extended p45) and challenging Buddhism, Jainism
and the bhakti cult; and the 11th-century
philosopher Ramanuja, who expanded on
Shankaracharya’s teachings. By the 12th
century, with the reforms and revival that
had taken place in Hinduism, Buddhism
went into decline, except in Eastern India.
Great monuments were built in the
Deccan and South India in this period,
among them the magnificent temples of
the Pallavas at Mamallapuram (see pp582–5)
and Kanchipuram (see p586), and the
monolithic image of the Jain saint Bahubali
at Shravana Belagola (see p526) erected
by the Western Ganga kings. In the
southwest, the superb rock-cut Kailasanatha
Temple (see pp480–81) was built at Ellora
Impressive exterior of the Shore Temple of the Pallavas
in Mamallapuram by the Rashtrakutas.

Image of Surya from Konark 1192
Prithviraj
974–1233 998–1030 1110–1342 Chauhan
Rule of Invasions of 1032 Adinatha Hoysala rule defeated by
Paramaras Mahmud Temple, Mount Abu, Muhammad
of Malwa of Ghazni built under Solankis of Ghur
900 950 AD 1000 1050 1100 1150 1200
974–1238 1050
973–1192 Rule of Ramanuja 1076–1438 Eastern Prithviraj
Rule of Solankis of preaches his Gangas of Odisha build Chauhan
Chauhans Gujarat Vaishnava Konark and Puri
of Ajmer philosophy

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