The chapter picks none
Six centuries, several names
It surveys India from about 600 CE, when the Gupta era ends, to about 1200 CE.
📚 Chapter Learning Kit
Empires and Kingdoms: 6th to 10th Centuries · Class 7 Social Science · Exploring Society
English 6 topics 210 leveled MCQs 102 flashcards 5 games Free
Shared by a Veda teacher · Generated with Veda AI · Oct 2026
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North India, 1,500 years ago
Imagine you are travelling
Your first stop is Kannauj, a city on the Ganga where a powerful king keeps poets and scholars.
Rock, and a university
And further on
In the far south, whole temples are being carved out of rock by the Pallavas at Mamallapuram.
Tripartite means three
Three powers, one city
Turmoil followed Harsha death, and Kannauj became the centre of a long-drawn struggle that settled nothing.
A fact, not a failure
Two centuries, no victor
War between the three went on repeatedly through the eighth century and the ninth, with fluctuating outcomes.
The people chose him
How the Palas began
Disorder had fallen on Bengal after Harsha died, and an inscription has Gopala picked out in 750 CE.
📖 Smart notes
What you'll study, topic by topic
1
The age after the Guptas, and Harsha of Kannauj
From about 600 to 1200 CE India held no large empire but many strong kingdoms. Harsha ruled from Kannauj from 606, wrote plays, kept Banabhatta at court and gave away wealth every five years at Prayaga. Pulakeshin II sto…
- The chapter surveys India from about 600 CE, the end of the Gupta era, to about 1200 CE, a period given several names.
- There were no large empires in this age but a great many strong kingdoms, each region with its own ideas and art.
- Harshavardhana ruled from Kannauj, anciently Kanyakubja, from 606, across much of eastern and northern India.
~45 min · full explanation, examples & memory tricks in the app
2
The Tripartite Struggle, and the three powers in it
Kannauj was fought over through the eighth and ninth centuries. Three powers wanted it: the Rashtrakutas, the Gurjara-Pratiharas and the Palas, and none of them won lastingly. In the same decades Dharmapala founded Vikra…
- After Harsha died, Kannauj became the centre of a long-drawn struggle that settled nothing, called Tripartite because three distinct parties…
- The three were the Rashtrakutas out of the Deccan, the Gurjara-Pratiharas out of the west, and the Palas out of the east.
- They warred repeatedly through the eighth and ninth centuries, with fluctuating outcomes and no lasting victor.
~45 min · full explanation, examples & memory tricks in the app
3
Kashmir, and the Deccan kingdoms
Kalhana Rajatarangini is why Kashmir dynasties are known, and he sets out his method and his moral purpose. Kashmir was a centre of Sanskrit learning and a bridge to Tibet. In the Deccan the Chalukyas held the south whil…
- Kalhana wrote the Rajatarangini, meaning the River of Kings, in Sanskrit in the twelfth century, narrating Kashmir dynasties.
- He examined eleven earlier works and consulted inscriptions on temple consecrations, royal grants and laudatory records.
- His purpose was also moral: to bring out the ethical values of rulers, or their absence, so lessons could be drawn.
~45 min · full explanation, examples & memory tricks in the app
4
The far south, from the Pallavas to the Cholas
The Pallavas peaked at Kanchi in the seventh century and carved temples from rock at Mamallapuram. Pandya, Chola and Chera, named in an edict of Ashoka, vanished and then reappeared. The Cholas, reborn under Vijayalaya,…
- Kanchi, now Kanchipuram, was the Pallava capital, and the dynasty peaked in the seventh century under Mahendravarman I and Narasimhavarman I…
- Narasimhavarman I, called Mamalla meaning wrestler, defeated Pulakeshin II and captured Badami, then retreated to the Tungabhadra.
- Kanchipuram traded in silk and other textiles, in spices, in ivory and further luxury goods, through seaports such as Mamallapuram.
~45 min · full explanation, examples & memory tricks in the app
5
Other developments: polity, trade and society
Samantas held the provinces for the great kings, while bhuktis, mandalas and self-governing villages had officials at every level. Land grants made new landholders, ships reached Iraq and China, jatis multiplied, and Tri…
- Samantas were subordinate rulers, equal to tributaries or vassals, who led armies and ran local administration for kings such as the Chaluky…
- Their loyalty could be fragile, and the Rashtrakutas, once samantas, overthrew the Chalukyas.
- Directly held territory went into provinces called bhuktis or rashtras, districts called mandalas, and villages, with officials at every lev…
~45 min · full explanation, examples & memory tricks in the app
6
Faith, science and invasions
Rulers patronised Jain, Buddhist and Hindu schools alike, and bhakti spread through every layer of society. Brahmagupta set out the rules for zero. The Hunas were defeated and absorbed, while the Arabs took Sindh and got…
- Rulers patronised Hindu, Buddhist and Jain schools regardless of their own inclinations, and the traditions shared concepts such as dharma a…
- Tantric schools emerged around the sixth century, emphasising mantras, meditation, rituals and the worship of Shakti.
- Buddhism thrived in the east under the Palas but declined elsewhere as temple-based Hinduism and bhakti rose.
~50 min · full explanation, examples & memory tricks in the app
❓ Leveled MCQ practice
Try the smart MCQs from this kit
210 questions laddered from warm-up to topper-level, each with an explanation. A taste:
Surveyed by this chapter and the next, from the end of the Gupta era to about 1200 CE, are roughly six
Intermediate
A decades
B centuries
C dynasties
D kingdoms
Show answer & explanation
centuries
Several names have been given to them.
Shown by three different labels being offered for one period, and none of them adopted, is that the naming of it is not yet
Advanced
A settled
B attempted
C useful
D written down
Show answer & explanation
settled
Early medieval is one of the three.
Seen by a traveller across this age, instead of one large empire, were a great many strong
Intermediate
A armies
B cities
C temples
D kingdoms
Show answer & explanation
kingdoms
Each region with its own art.
Described by the chapter as buzzing with culture, art and new ideas, each region differing and all of it one, is the
Advanced
A land
B court
C city
D army
Show answer & explanation
land
Not disorder, on that view.
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