SSC EXAM PREP: Cultural Trends 750-1000

THE CULTURAL TRENDS: 750-1000

Large scale land grants & related economic changes led to the evolution of social structure broadly characterized by a sizeable no. of intermediaries & a large body of impoverished peasantry
Brahamana land lords constituted a section of those who gave up their priestly functions & diverted their attention to management of land & people
In later times, titles such as Thakurs, raut, nayaka etc. were conferred on them
Social rank came to connected with his possession as a landholder, among different categories of land holders

Shudras were getting transformed into cultivators as a result of expansion of agricultural settlements, thereby coming closer to Vaishyas
The gap between Vaishyas & Shudras was getting bridged as differences in their occupation lost their identity as peasant caste
By 11th century, Biruni, says that both Vaishyas & Shudras were punished with amputation of tongue for reciting the Vedic texts
One of the most distinctive features of social change in post Gupta centers was phenomenal increase in the rise of new castes in each Varna, most pronouncedly among brahmanas

Mitakshara, famous commentary on the Smriti of Yagyavalkya speaks of tenfold gradation of brahmans

Devotee was considered as being bound to supreme God-head by devotion & God-head was worshipped in the form of images
Vaisnavism & Shaivism attracted many devotees
Buddhists also worshipped images of not only Buddha but also a host of other deities
Jains too worshipped images of Tirthankars, various minor deities, stone ayagapatas & other objects

Brahmanas built up a pantheon of deities, by assimilating Gods & Goddess from diverse source to meet challenge of ‘heretical sects’ which were opposed to Brahmanism

These deities were recognized as manifestation of either Shiva or Vishnu
Orthodox brahmanical order was challenged by sects from within Shaivism such as Pasupats, the Kaula-Kapalikas & kala-mukhas who were opposed to dominance of brahmans
They had their religious orders centered around matthas & they received support from many royal families
In 12th century, Shaiva lingayats of Deccan questioned the authority of Vedas & the rebirth & actively attacked religious hypocrisy
Tiru Muruga Arruppadai is a famous devotional work on Muruga, the local tribal god who was syncretize with Skanda in this work, the earliest manifestation of exchange of religious ideas

Hymns dedicated to Shiva & Vishnu, written in Tamil have been preserved in two separate collections, the Tirumuras & the Nalayirapra-bandhan, respectively
Singing of hymns accompanied by music & also dancing became regular features of temple rituals

Bharatnatyam – dance according to choreographically rules set by Bharata, in his text, the Natya-Shastra

POLITY IN NORTHERN INIDA

Three powerful kingdoms arose between 750-1000 AD
The Rashtrakutas (northern Deccan), the Pratiharas (Avanti & parts of southern Rajasthan) & the Palas (Bengal) were engaged in a continual tripartite struggle for occupation of Kanauj & the domination of northern India
Rashtrakutas were replaced by Later Chalukyas, Palas by Senas & Pratihara kingdom broke up into no. of small kingdoms

Rajputs believe their ancestry to either the sun family (Suryavansham) or moon family (Chandravansham) mentioned in Mahabharata

But there were four clans which claimed that they had descended from Agni Kula (Fire family)
They were Pratiharas (or Pariharas) – not to be confused with main Pratiharas, Chauhans, Solankis & Pawars (Paramars)
They established their power in western India & over parts of central India & Rajasthan

Chandellas (in Bundelkhand), Guhilas (in Mewar)
Tomaras were ruling around Delhi; they built the city of Dhilika (Delhi) in 736. Their kingdom was later annexed by Chauhanas
Mahmud of Ghazni raided the country in AD 1000 for her wealth. In short period of 25 years he raided 17 times

Temples like Somnath in Gujarat became his natural targets. (for vast quantities of wealth

Second attack from North West was led by Mohammad Ghori at the end of 12th century. He came through the Gomal pass in 1182 & conquered Sindh & Lahore

Prithviraj Chauhan led the Rajputs against Mohammad Ghori successfully in 1191 but was defeated in 1192 at the same place Tarain

Before his assassination in 1206, Ghori had conquered the Ganga-Yamuna Doab its neighboring areas & the Bihar & Bengal

Gujaratis & Marathi evolved from local Prakrit while Tamil, Telugu & Kannada had a Dravidian root, but had a vocabulary which owed to Sanskrit

Two outstanding works in Sanskrit were Bhairavi’s Kirtarjuniya & Dandin’s Dashkumara-charita (the Tale of Ten Princes)

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