Pallava Dynasty

   

Pallava Empire

 

Pallava Empire                275 CE–897 CE

Status                                  Dynasty

Capital                                Kanchipuram

Common languages       Sanskrit, Tamil, Prakrit

Religion                             Hinduism, Buddhism

Government                     Monarchy

 

• 275–300                   Simhavarman I

• 885–903                   Aparajitavarman

 

Preceded by

Kalabhra dynasty

Satavahana dynasty

 

Succeeded by

Chola dynasty

Kadamba dynasty      

Western Ganga dynasty        

 

Today, it is a part of India and Sri Lanka.

 

Pallava Kings                          (200s–800s)

Virakurcha     

Vishnugopa II 

Simhavarman III         

Simhavishnu  

Mahendravarman I                 (600-630)

Narasimhavarman I                (630–668)

Mahendravarman II                (668–670)

Paramesvaravarman I             (670–695)

Narasimhavarman II               (700-728)

Paramesvaravarman II           (728–731)

Nandivarman II                       (731–795)

Dantivarman                            (795–846)

Nandivarman III                      (846-869)

Nrpatungavarman                    (869-880)

Aparajitavarman                      (880-897)

Introduction:

• After the fall of Satavahanas, the Pallavas gradually established their supremacy in the far south.
• They ruled from three centres, Vatapi in the west, Vengi in the east and Kanjeevaram in south.
• The Kanjeevaram branch of the Pallavas was the most powerful.
• It ruled for 450 years.
• There were many great warriors as well as patrons of art, learning and architecture.
• Towards the end of the 9th century, the Pallavas were defeated by the Cholas.
• The Pallavas played an important role in the history and culture of South India for nearly 6 centuries, from the 3rd century A.D. to the end of the 9th century A.D.

 

Origin of the Pallavas:

• There is no one opinion about the origin of the Pallavas.
• Some of historians held the view that the Pallavas belonged to Tondaimandalam, the area corresponding to modern Jaffna district of Ceylon.
• Dr. Smith observes that they were partly native and partly foreign.

 

Political history of Pallavas:

• The rule of the Pallavas commenced from the closing years of the 3rd century A.D.
• Basically, the Pallavas rulers are divided into four groups;

1.Pallavas of Prakrit Charters

2.Pallavas of Sanskrit Charters

3.Great Pallavas

4.Nandi Varman and his successors

 

Pallavas of Prakrit Charter:

• Virakurcha Varma and Bappa Deva were the earliest known members of this group.
• Their kingdom comprised of Tondaimandalam, Andhrapatha and Kuntala.
• The next ruler was Sivaskandavarman.
• He performed Aswamedha and assumed the title “Dharmamaharaja".
• It was during his rule that Kanchi came under the Pallavas.

 

Pallavas of Sanskrit Charter:

• The first ruler of this branch was Vishnugopa.
• He was defeated by the Gupta ruler, Samudra Gupta, during his South Indian campaign.
• He was succeeded by the rulers Kumaravishnu, Buddhavarma and Simhavarma.
• Nandivarman was the last ruler of this line of the Pallavas.

 

Great Pallavas:

• The glorious period of this dynasty begins with this line of the Pallavas.
• Simhavishnu was the founder of this Pallava line.
• Simhavishnu was called Avanisimha, because of his great conquests.
• The great poet Bharavi is said to have visited his Kingdom.

 

Mahendravarman - I (600 – 630 A.D.):

• Mahendra Varma I was the son and successor of Simhavishnu.
• He was great in war and peace.
• His rule witnessed the Pallava-Chalukya and Pallava-Pandya conflict.
• In 610 A.D., Pulakesin II deprived Mahendravarman of the province of Vengi.
• Mahendravarman was a great poet, musician and lover of architecture.
• He wrote "Mattavilasa Prahasana" in Sanskrit language.
• Mahendravarman was at first a Jain and later became a Saivite.
• He built stone temples at Trichinopoly, Vallam, Mahendravadi and Dalavanur.

 

Narasimhavarman -1 (630 - 660 A.D.):

• He was the son and successor of Mahendravarman.
• Early in his reign, he defeated and killed Pulakesin II in the battle of Manimangalam.
• Badami, the capital of the Chalukyas was destroyed.
• Narasimhavarman assumed the title of "Vatapikonda".
• The Pallava king sent two naval expeditions to Ceylon, which is present day Sri Lanka, to restore him on the throne of Ceylon.
• He also fought with the Cholas and Pandyas and defeated them.
• The city of Mahabalipuram (a.k.a Mamallapuram) was founded by him.
• Narasimhavarman had the title of 'Mahamall' or 'Mamalla'.

 

Nandivarman and his successors (731 — 893 A.D.):

• Nandivarman II, first of the new line of rulers, belonged to the line of Bhimavarman, the brother of Simhavishnu.
• In 740 A.D., the Chalukyan king, Vikramaditya II, defeated Nandivarman and captured the city of Kanchi.
• Dantidurga of Rashtrakuta dynasty also attacked Pallava territory.
• The successors of Nandivarman II failed to recover their position.
• The last Pallava ruler Aparajitavarman was killed by the Chola ruler Aditya.
• Aditya occupied the Pallava territory in 893 A.D., and thus ended the Pallava supremacy in the South.

 

Administration and Cultural Importance of the Pallavas:

• The Pallavas established an extensive empire in the far south.
• Their rule was one of the most formative periods in the cultural history of India.
• The cultural unity of India was completed under them.

                                                                                                                                                                            

Socio-Economic Conditions:

• Society was organized on the basis of caste system.
• Women enjoyed a respectable position in the society.
• Agriculture was the main occupation of the people.
• The kings had the welfare of their people at heart.
• Trade, in-land and overseas was encouraged.
• Mamallapuram and Nagapattinam were the famous ports.
• The navy was of great help in their trade with South East Asia.
• They carried on trade with South Asian countries and China.

 

Administration:

• The Pallavas followed the monarchical form of government.
• King was the pivot of administration.
• Thus, all the powers were concentrated in his hands.
• But the king was not a despot and protected the law of the land.
• The empire was divided into Rastras, Kottams and Villages.
• Land revenue was the main source of income.
• Besides land tax, the king had other sources of income like monopolies, custom duties and tax on various articles.
• The king was assisted by a number of officers in his day-to-day administration.

 

Religion:

• The period of Pallavas was one of great religious activity.
• Both Vaishnavism and Saivism flourished during this period.
• Kanchi became the seat of learning.
• Saints like Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar popularized Saivism.
• Thirumangai Alwar and Nammalvar were some of the famous Vaishnavite saints.
• With the spread of Saivism and Vaishnavism, there was a decline of Buddhism and Jainism to some extent.
• The kings, in general, followed a policy of tolerance towards other religions.
• Mahendravarman-I built stone temple at Vallam, Trichinopoly, Mahendravadi and Dalavanur.

 

Literary Development:

• The Pallavas period was a period of great literary activity.
• The early kings patronized Sanskrit literature.
• Poets like Dandin and Bharavi lived in the court of the Pallavas.
• Mahendravarman himself was a great writer, he wrote "Mattavilasa Prahasana" in the Sanskrit language.
• Kanchi was a famous centre of Sanskrit learning.
• There was also a rich development of Tamil Literature.
• The most important compositions in Tamil were Thevaram, Nalayira Divya Prabandham and Thiruvasagam.
• The Kural of Thiruvalluvar also belonged to this period.

 

Art and Architecture:

• The Pallava school of architecture and sculpture is one of the most important and interesting of the Indian Schools.
• In a sense, the Indian architecture in the south begins under the Pallavas.
• The Pallavas were the first to make full and free use of stones in buildings.
• Mahabalipuram and Kanchi are the two important places of Pallava architecture and sculpture.
• Mahendravarman excavated temples out of solid rock.
• The example of this group of architecture are the Varaha and Durga Caves at Mahabalipuram.
• Narasimhavarman built 7 pagodas at Mahabalipuram.
• These are also known as 7 rathas.
• The Kailasnath temple at Kanchi and Shore temple at Mahabalipuram belonged to structural form of architecture.
• Rajasimha was the author of this style.
• Among the Pallava sculptures, the most remarkable is the "Descent of Ganges".
• The painting in the cave at Sithanavasal reveals the development of the art of dancing.
• Thus, the Pallavas period was an age of multifaceted activities.
• It is certainly one of the brightest periods of ancient Indian history.
• The style of Pallavas art set up the standard in South India.
• It also greatly influenced the Far East countries such as Thailand, Indonesia and Cambodia.

 

Conclusion:

• After the fall of the Satavahanas, the Pallavas established their supremacy in the far south.
• Their rule was one of the most formative periods in the cultural history of India.
• Under the Pallava kingdom, literature, art and architecture also developed to large extent.

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