After the Guptas: Harsha, the Pallavas, the Chalukyas of Badami and the Kingdoms of the Peninsula (c. 550–750 CE)

Start Here — Two Worlds After the Guptas

🎯 Exam priority: Steady Prelims, strong Mains (T2). Prelims has repeatedly picked this stretch: the sequence Mahendravarman I → Gopala → Bhoja → Parantaka I (2020), 'Hundi' as a bill of exchange of the post-Harsha period (2020), places such as Bhilsa and Girinagar (2020), the Pallava king with the titles Mattavilasa, Vichitrachitta and Gunabhara (2025), and temples with Nagara-style shikharas (2026). In Mains, the Pallava contribution to art and literature was asked in 2024.

Two stories run in parallel. In the north, the empire dissolves into feudal states and Harsha briefly reunites most of it. In the peninsula, new regional states — the Pallavas, Chalukyas of Badami, Kadambas and Gangas — emerge, rural expansion powered by land grants takes off, and the great era of south Indian temples begins. A third thread connects them: the Chalukya–Harsha clash on the Narmada and the Pallava–Chalukya wars.

Harshavardhana — Last Great Emperor of Early India

Sources

• Banabhatta's Harshacharita (a biography in ornate prose; his Kadambari is a prose romance, not a drama), Hiuen Tsang's Si-yu-ki, Harsha's own copper plates (Madhuban, Banskhera) and his three Sanskrit plays Ratnavali, Priyadarshika and Nagananda.

Rise

• The Hunas ruled the north-west from about 500 CE and several feudatories split the Gupta empire. The Pushyabhutis of Thanesar grew under Prabhakaravardhana. When his elder son Rajyavardhana was killed by Shashanka of Gauda and the Maukhari ruler Grahavarman (husband of Harsha's sister Rajyashri) was killed by the Malwa king, the 16-year-old Harsha took over in 606 CE.

• He shifted to Kanauj, which became the new nerve-centre. A widely taught insight: Pataliputra stood for an economy of trade and money; as trade shrank and officers were paid by land grants, power moved to military camps (skandhavaras) and strategic forts like Kanauj on the elevated, well-fortified Doab. Kanauj thus marks the feudal age just as Pataliputra marks the earlier order.

Empire

• He held Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa and Rajasthan directly and had the homage of peripheral rulers, but not Kashmir. In alliance with Bhaskaravarman of Kamarupa he subdued Shashanka. His son-in-law was Dhruvasena II of Valabhi.

• The Narmada defeat. His southward march was checked on the Narmada by the Chalukya king Pulakeshin II (Aihole inscription).

• He died in 647 CE without an heir; his empire collapsed within a generation.

Administration

• Run on Gupta lines but more feudal. A huge army was mobilised through feudatories (the figure of 1,00,000 horses and 60,000 elephants is attributed to him). Hiuen Tsang says revenue was divided in four parts — for the king, for scholars, for ministers and officials, and for religion. Officers were endowed with land, the first clear trace of that practice. Territorial units: bhukti, vishaya, pathaka, grama.

• Law and order was weak: Hiuen Tsang himself was robbed, though punishments were severe (mutilation, banishment) and Buddhism softened them to life imprisonment.

Religion and culture

• A Shaiva by birth, Harsha became a patron of Mahayana Buddhism. He held a grand assembly at Kanauj (c. 643) in honour of Hiuen Tsang, and a Mahamokshaparishad at Prayag, a quinquennial festival where he gave away all but his clothing.

• Nalanda was supported by the revenue of 200 villages; Hiuen Tsang studied under Shilabhadra for five years. Hiuen Tsang's Si-yu-ki is richer than Fa-hien's: he saw Pataliputra and Vaishali in decline, Kanauj and Prayag rising, noticed untouchables living outside villages, and called shudras 'agriculturists'. A later pilgrim, I-tsing, came in 671 CE.

The Peninsula, 300–750 CE — A New Phase

• New states. Between 300 and 600 CE about two dozen states appeared in the Deccan and south — known mostly from copper-plate land charters — and by the seventh century three big powers remained: the Pallavas, the Chalukyas of Badami and the Pandyas of Madurai.

• Trade and towns declined; agriculture expanded. This was the age of tax-free land grants to brahmanas, the spread of Sanskrit as the language of charters (from about 400 CE), and the triumph of Brahmanism: Vedic sacrifices (ashvamedha and vajapeya) were performed by Pallava, Kadamba and Chalukya kings.

• The 18 immunities. A fourth-century Pallava grant lists 18 exemptions for grantees — from land tax, forced labour, supplying provisions to officers and entry of royal police. The beneficiaries thus collected the dues themselves.

• Three kinds of village: ur (peasant village), sabha (brahmadeya / agrahara villages of brahmanas), nagaram (settled by merchants). In Chalukya areas elders were called mahajana.

• Burden on the peasant: land tax, extra grain and gold, forced labour (vishti), obligations to feed officials and armies — which required, and was funded by, rural expansion.

• The Kalabhra revolt. In the sixth century the Kalabhras overthrew many kings and ended the brahmadeya rights, apparently with Buddhist leanings; it took a coalition of the Pandyas, Pallavas and Chalukyas to defeat them. The revolt shows resentment against the social order created by land grants.

The Chalukyas of Badami

• They claimed Ayodhya origins but were likely a local Kanarese family raised to the ruling varna. Pulakeshin I fortified Badami (Vatapi) about 543 CE; the line lasted until Dantidurga (the Rashtrakuta) overthrew Kirtivarman II about 753–757 CE. It was a centralised polity, unlike the decentralised Pallava–Chola model.

• Pulakeshin II (609–642 CE): his court poet and Jain, Ravikirti, wrote the Sanskrit Aihole inscription (634–35 CE, in the Meguti temple), listing his victories: over the Kadambas of Banavasi, Western Gangas, Latas, Malavas and Gurjaras; over Harsha on the Narmada; and over the Pallavas, from whom he wrested the Vengi region (the seat of the Eastern Chalukyas, established under his brother Kubja Vishnuvardhana). He received the Persian embassy of Khusrau II, an event traditionally read in a mural in Ajanta Cave 1. Hiuen Tsang visited his kingdom.

• He was defeated and probably killed by the Pallava Narasimhavarman I, who captured Vatapi in 642 CE and took the title Vatapikonda.

• Vikramaditya II (733–745) overran Kanchi three times and defeated the Pallavas in 740; his queens built Pattadakal temples.

Chalukyan art (Vesara / Deccan style)

The Chalukyas mixed northern (Nagara) and southern (Dravida) elements; the 2026 PYQ asked which of four Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh temples had a Nagara-style shikhara — the Huchimalli Gudi at Aihole and the Dashavatara temple at Deogarh did, while the Malegitti Shivalaya at Badami and the Virupaksha at Pattadakal are Dravida in style.

The Pallavas of Kanchi

Politics

• Origins are debated; they were probably a local Tondaimandalam tribe (the Tamil word tondai and Sanskrit pallava both mean creeper). Early line in the 3rd–4th centuries (Sivaskandavarman, Simhavarman), the main line from Simhavishnu (c. 575–600), who ended the Kalabhra interregnum. Capital: Kanchipuram, a town of temples, ghatikas and Vedic learning (Dharmapala and Dignaga of Buddhism were associated with it).

• Mahendravarman I (600–630): titles Mattavilasa, Vichitrachitta, Gunabhara, Chitrakarapuli — which the 2025 PYQ asked; author of the Sanskrit farce Mattavilasa Prahasana and Bhagavadajjukiyam; initially a Jain, converted to Shaivism by Appar (Tirunavukkarasar); he lost to Pulakeshin II. The Mandagapattu inscription boasts a temple 'without brick, timber, metal or mortar'.

• Narasimhavarman I Mamalla (630–668): Vatapikonda (conqueror of Vatapi, 642 CE; earlier victory at Manimangalam), naval expeditions to Sri Lanka, founded the port of Mamallapuram; Hiuen Tsang visited Kanchi.

• Narasimhavarman II Rajasimha (c. 680–728): the Shore Temple and the Kailasanatha temple at Kanchi; Dandin was in his court. Nandivarman II Pallavamalla (730–795): Vaikuntha Perumal temple; Perundevanar's Tamil Bharatavenba. The last, Aparajita, was defeated by the Chola Aditya I in the late 9th century.

Administration

Mandalam (province) → Kottam (district) → Nadu (cluster of villages) → Ur (village). Village assemblies (sabha, ur) enjoyed autonomy with their own courts. Devadana (temple), brahmadeya and agrahara grants were tax-free. Kanchipuram was famous for silk; Mamallapuram was a port and naval base trading with China and South-East Asia.

Pallava temple architecture — the four phases

• The Mahabalipuram group is a UNESCO World Heritage site (1984). Arjuna's Penance (Descent of the Ganga) is among the largest open-air rock reliefs in the world. Five Rathas are monolithic and mimic wooden buildings.

• The Pallava monuments were the seedbed of the Dravida style — pyramidal vimana, pillared mandapas and gopurams — which the Cholas perfected; cross-link to the Chola article and the Part C temple articles.

Religion and literature

• The bhakti movement began: 63 Nayanars (Shaiva; Appar, Sambandar, Sundarar — Tevaram, later compiled into the Tirumurai) and 12 Alvars (Vaishnava; Nammalvar, Andal — the Nalayira Divya Prabandham compiled by Nathamuni). Rulers moved from Jainism to Shaivism.

• Sanskrit: Bharavi's Kiratarjuniya (Simhavishnu's court tradition), Dandin's Kavyadarsha, Dashakumaracharita and Avantisundarikatha; Tamil: Bharatavenba. The Pallava script gave rise to the Grantha script and Pallava-style inscriptions across South-East Asia.

• The Jain cave of Sittanavasal (Pudukkottai) has paintings from this era.

Karnataka's Own Dynasties — Kadambas and Gangas

• Kadambas of Banavasi (4th–6th c.): founded by Mayurasharma, a brahmana who, insulted at Kanchi, turned warrior; the Pallavas then formally recognised him. Ashvamedha sacrifices, many grants to brahmanas and some to Jains. The Halmidi inscription (c. 450 CE) is the earliest known Kannada inscription; the Kadambas were the first native dynasty to use Kannada in administration.

• Western Gangas of Talakad (4th–10th c.): in southern Karnataka (Gangavadi), first capital possibly Kolar with its gold mines; mostly feudatories of the Pallavas, then of the Rashtrakutas; patrons of Jainism. Under them (c. 981 CE) the minister Chamundaraya had the colossal 57-foot monolithic statue of Gommateshvara (Bahubali) carved at Shravanabelagola.

• Contrast: the Eastern Gangas of Kalinga (from the 5th century) are a separate line, remembered for the Jagannath temple at Puri and, later, Konark.

Society, Economy and the Feudal Debate

• Economy: fewer coins and towns; the 2020 PYQ's hundi was a bill of exchange used by merchants in the post-Harsha period; Harsha's inscriptions list many taxes; the Chinese report light taxation (about one-sixth) and many Brahmanical villages.

• Society: chiefs and priests at the top; tribal chiefs promoted to kshatriya by invented genealogies (solar and lunar dynasties); peasantry mostly shudra by the brahmanical system; untouchability visible (Hiuen Tsang). The title dharma-maharaja shows kings as restorers of dharma in the Kali age.

• The feudalism debate. One school of historians sees land grants, declining trade and a ladder of sub-kings as the rise of an Indian feudalism from the Gupta–Harsha period. Critics argue that the concept borrows too much from Europe and that trade and urban life did not vanish. In your answer, take a position and cite the evidence on both sides: land grants with immunities, officers paid by land, the shift to Kanauj, skandhavaras; against it, long-distance trade with South-East Asia, temple economies.

Timelines, Pilgrims and an Assessment of Harsha

The Pallava–Chalukya struggle in sequence

Chinese pilgrims compared

Harsha: how to assess him in a Mains answer

• Achievements: reunited most of the north after a century of fragmentation; patronised Nalanda and the arts; a competent writer-king; a tolerant religious policy (Shaiva, Buddhist, sun-worshipper by turns); reported by a foreign eyewitness.

• Limits: 'last great Hindu emperor' is only partly true — he did not rule all India, was beaten on the Narmada, depended on vassals, and his empire died with him. His administration was more feudal than the Guptas', with officials paid in land; roads were unsafe; no strong centralised bureaucracy.

• Place in history: he is the bridge between the Gupta order and the regional kingdoms of early medieval India. After him Kanauj became the prize in the Tripartite Struggle (see the Early Medieval article).

Pallava influence abroad

Pallava contacts with South-East Asia are visible in the Grantha-derived scripts of Cambodia, Java and Champa, Pallava-style temples, and the port of Mamallapuram; this theme returns in the Chola maritime story.

How UPSC Has Asked It — And What Could Come Next

• Seen: chronology across dynasties (2020), economic terms (hundi, 2020), place-state pairs including Bhilsa (Vidisha) and Girinagar (Junagadh) (2020), ruler by titles (2025), Nagara versus Dravida temples (2026), and Mains on the Pallavas (2024).

• Likely next: Aihole inscription (Ravikirti, Meguti), Mandagapattu inscription, Pallava titles of other kings (Narasimhavarman I 'Mamalla', 'Vatapikonda'), Hiuen Tsang's route and his education at Nalanda, Harsha's plays and Bana's works, the Harsha–Pulakeshin clash, the Prayag assembly, Pallava rathas, the UNESCO sites at Mahabalipuram and Pattadakal, Kailasa at Ellora versus Kailasanatha at Kanchi.

• Traps: Kadambari is a novel not a play; Pulakeshin II's capital is Badami, not Aihole; Mamallapuram's rathas are monolithic and unfinished; Harsha's southern limit is the Narmada; the Kailasa temple at Ellora is Rashtrakuta, not Pallava.

Further Reading

• Standard NCERT-level texts and reference books on ancient, medieval and cultural Indian history (any UPSC reading list).

Test Yourself: Practice Questions & PYQs

Keep a timeline in mind: Harsha (606–647) — Pulakeshin II (609–642) — Narasimhavarman I (630–668) — Rajasimha (680–728).

Practice Questions

Q1. Harsha's southward advance was stopped on the Narmada by:

• (a) Narasimhavarman I

• (b) Pulakeshin II

• (c) Dantidurga

• (d) Dhruvasena II

Q2. Who composed the Aihole inscription?

• (a) Ravikirti

• (b) Banabhatta

• (c) Dandin

• (d) Harisena

Q3. Which Pallava king founded Mamallapuram and was called Vatapikonda?

• (a) Nandivarman II

• (b) Narasimhavarman I

• (c) Rajasimha

• (d) Mahendravarman I

Q4. Hiuen Tsang studied at Nalanda under:

• (a) Shilabhadra

• (b) Dharmapala

• (c) Vasubandhu

• (d) Dignaga

Q5. The Shore Temple at Mahabalipuram belongs to which Pallava style?

• (a) Rajasimha

• (b) Mahendra

• (c) Nandivarman

• (d) Mamalla

Q6. Which of the following is NOT a Pallava monument?

• (a) Virupaksha temple at Pattadakal

• (b) Vaikuntha Perumal temple

• (c) Shore Temple

• (d) Five Rathas

Q7. The Halmidi inscription is the earliest known inscription in:

• (a) Kannada

• (b) Telugu

• (c) Tamil

• (d) Malayalam

Q8. The founder of the Kadamba dynasty was:

• (a) Simhavishnu

• (b) Mayurasharma

• (c) Kirtivarman

• (d) Pulakeshin I

Q9. Which of the following is a work of Harsha himself?

• (a) Nagananda

• (b) Harshacharita

• (c) Kadambari

• (d) Dashakumaracharita

Q10. The 18 immunities that exempted grantees from taxes and royal interference are associated with:

• (a) Chola temples

• (b) Fourth-century Pallava grants

• (c) Mughal jagirs

• (d) Mauryan edicts

UPSC Previous Year Questions (PYQs)

Real UPSC Prelims questions on this period (2020–2026), answers matched to UPSC's official key. Explanations in our own words.

Q11. (UPSC Prelims 2020) Consider the following events in the history of India: 1. Rise of Pratiharas under King Bhoja 2. Establishment of Pallava power under Mahendravarman I 3. Establishment of Chola power by Parantaka I 4. Pala dynasty founded by Gopala What is the correct chronological order of the above events, starting from the earliest time?

• (a) 2-1-4-3

• (b) 2-4-1-3

• (c) 3-4-1-2

• (d) 3-1-4-2

Q12. (UPSC Prelims 2020) Which of the following phrases defines the nature of the 'Hundi' generally referred to in the sources of the post-Harsha period?

• (a) An order from the feudal lord to his subordinates

• (b) A bill of exchange

• (c) A diary to be maintained for daily accounts

• (d) An advisory issued by the king to his subordinates

Q13. (UPSC Prelims 2020) With reference to the history of India, consider the following pairs: Famous Place : Present State 1. Bhilsa : Madhya Pradesh 2. Dwarasamudra : Maharashtra 3. Girinagar : Gujarat 4. Sthanesvara : Uttar Pradesh Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched?

• (a) 2 and 4 only

• (b) 1 and 4 only

• (c) 2 and 3 only

• (d) 1 and 3 only

Q14. (UPSC Prelims 2025) Who among the following rulers in ancient India had assumed the titles 'Mattavilasa', 'Vichitrachitta' and 'Gunabhara'?

• (a) Simhavarman

• (b) Narasimhavarman I

• (c) Mahendravarman I

• (d) Simhavishnu

Q15. (UPSC Prelims 2026, provisional key) Which of the following temples has/have a Nagara-style shikhara? 1. Malegitti Shivalaya, Badami 2. Huchimalligudi Temple, Aihole 3. Dashavatara Temple, Deogarh 4. Virupaksha Temple, Pattadakal Select the answer using the code given below:

• (a) 2 and 3

• (b) 1 and 2

• (c) 3 only

• (d) 3 and 4

Mains Practice Questions

Use these to frame full-length answers. You don't have to answer one exactly — they show the angles UPSC tests, so let them guide which points you cover.

• Assess Harsha's achievements and the nature of his empire.

• Why did power shift from Pataliputra to Kanauj? What does it tell us about the period?

• Trace the Pallava–Chalukya struggle for supremacy in the peninsula.

• Discuss the development of temple architecture under the Pallavas and the Chalukyas of Badami.

• Examine how land grants shaped the polity and economy of the peninsula between 300 and 750 CE.

Mains PYQs — Last 10 Years (UPSC GS-I)

The exact questions UPSC has actually asked on this topic over the last decade. Practise writing full-length answers to these.

• Estimate the contribution of Pallavas of Kanchi for the development of art and literature of South India. (UPSC GS-I, 2024)