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UniT-ii : HisTory
Chapter 9 new kings and kingdoms
Origin Of The new KingdOms
In the early Medieval Period, there were a large number of regional kingdoms in India. They include:
Palas
The Pala dynasty was founded by Gopala. He was elected king
by the nobles because the previous ruler had died issueless. His
capital was at Pataliputra. Dharamapala and Devepala were the
most famous rulers of this dynasty. They extended and consolidated Gold coins of Dharampala
the Pala empire. They ruled over Bihar, Bengal and parts of Orissa
and Assam with many ups and downs for over four centuries.
At the middle of 12th century A.D., Vijayasena, founder of the
Sena dynasty defeated the Palas. The Senas lost their kingdom to
Bakhtiyar Khalji at the end of the 12th century. Vikramshila University
The Palas were great patrons of learning and religions. Dharmapala founded the famous
Buddhist monastery at Vikramshila. Vikramshila University became second only to Nalanda
University in fame as a centre for higher learning. In addition, during the Palas reign, the
fame of Nalanda University spread all over the world.
gurjara-PraTihara (725-1018 ad)
In 725 A.D., Gurjara-Pratiharas rose to power in the area
of Avanti or Rajasthan and Gujarat under Nagabhatta-I. He
ruled from 725 A.D. to 750 A.D. In 738 A.D., he defeated
the Arab Muslims of Sindh and pushed them back. Bhoja-I
was the most famous ruler of this dynasty. He ruled from
836 A.D. to 885 A.D. His empire stretched from Kashmir
to Narmada and from Gujarat to Bengal. He captured
Kannauj and made it his capital. He was a devotee of
Vishnu and adopted the title of Adivaraha. King Bhoj was
succeeded by his son, Mahendrapala-I, who ruled from
885 A.D. to 908 A.D. He extended his empire over Magadha
and north Bengal. The last Pratihara ruler was Rajyapala.
He was attacked and defeated by Mahmud of Ghazni in Map of early Medieval India
1018. In this way, the dynasty came to an end.
The Pratihara rulers were great patrons of arts, crafts, learning and literature. They built
magnificent temples and buildings in Kannauj.
50 Social Studies-7
