THE REGIONAL KINGDOMS OF EARLY MEDIEVAL INDIAin 982, the grandson of Krishna who had tried in vain to recapture the
throne ended his life by fasting himself to death. Taila, who claimed to be
an offspring of the early dynasty of the Chalukyas of Badami, had risen to
prominence in the service of Krishna III, who had entrusted him with the
defence of the north of the empire while he himself was devoting all his
energy to the subjection of the Cholas. The dynasty founded by Taila was
called the Chalukyas of Kalyani.
When the Chalukyas of Kalyani gained control over Central India the
political situation in two of the other major regions had drastically changed.
By the end of the tenth century the mighty Gurjara Pratiharas were almost
forgotten. After fighting against many enemies, among them the Arabs of
Sind, their power had dwindled. Al-Mas’udi, a traveller from Baghdad who
visited Kanauj in the early tenth century, reported that the Pratiharas
maintained four large armies of about 700,000 to 900,000 men each. One
army was specifically assigned the task of fighting against the Muslim ruler
of Multan in the Indus valley and another one had to deal with the
Rashtrakutas whom Al-Mas’udi regarded as the natural enemies of the
Pratiharas. The maintenance of such large armies with their thousands of
horses, camels and elephants must have placed a heavy burden on the
people. When their power dwindled, the Gurjara Pratiharas still managed to
retain their capital, Kanauj, but most of their territory was usurped by
former tributary princes, particularly by the Rajputs. The decline of political
unity in North India was hastened by the annual invasions of Mahmud of
Ghazni in the period from 1001 to 1027. He looted all regions from Gujarat
to Varanasi (Benares) and destabilised the whole political system. North
India did not recover from this onslaught until it was finally conquered by
the Turks from Afghanistan in the late twelfth century.
The political development of South India took an entirely different
course. After Taila had usurped the throne of the Rashtrakutas, the Cholas
could recover their position in the South. In the beginning of the eleventh
century, Chola power was at its zenith under the great kings Rajaraja I and
Rajendra I. For the first time the ‘Far South’ became the main focus of
Indian history. The Cholas pursued a systematic policy of expansion and
extended their sway not only at the expense of the Chalukyas of Kalyani,
they also conquered Sri Lanka and sent their troops and fleets to the
Ganges and to Indonesia and Malaya. The struggle for the control of Vengi
and the Krishna-Godaveri delta region which had continued for nearly
four centuries was finally decided in favour of the Cholas due to a marital
alliance. Kulottunga of Vengi, a member of the dynasty of the eastern
Chalukyas and a relative of the Cholas usurped the Chola throne and thus
united the whole southeast coast under his rule.
Chola power continued until the thirteenth century. Then several local
tributary princes emerged as independent kings, among them the Pandyas
of Madurai, the Hoysalas of the southern mountains and the Kakatiyas of