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India- 7th Century -12th Century A.D.
Harsha Vardhana (606 A.D- 647 A.D)
Harsha Vardhana belongs to the
Pushyabhuti family and was the second
son of King Prabhakar Vardhana. He is
also known as Siladitya
Harsha belongs to Thaneshwas near
Kurukshetra but later on he shifted the
capital to Kannauj
After the death of Prabhakarvardhana his
elder son Rajyavardhana became his
successor.
The brother in law of Harsha whose name
was Grahavarman the ruler of Kannauj
was murdered by Deva Gupta the ruler of
Malwa in support of Sashanka who was
the ruler of Bengal
Rajyavardhana defeated and killed Deva
Gupta but he was killed by Sashanka
Harsha became the king at the age of 16
years and ruled for forty one years
Harsha defeated Sashanka moved him
out of the Kannauj
Harsha was able to took control over the
five greatest dynasties which were known
as the 5 indies Punjab, Kannauj, Bengal,
Bihar and Orissa
Harsha was defeated by the Chalukya
king of Badami known as Pulakesin II in
the year 620 A.D on the banks of river
Narmada
Famous Chinese traveler Hieun Tsang
who is known as the prince of travelers
visited the courts of Harsh Vardhana who
wrote the book known as Si-Yu- Ki
Harsha was also very fond of learning and
he also set up the very large monastery
at Nalanda in Bihar
Banabhatta was the famous poet in the
court of Harsha who wrote Harshcharitra,
Kadambari, Parvathi Parinayam etc
Harsha himself also wrote three plays
such as Ratnavali, Nagnanda and
Priyadarshika
Harsha died in the year 647 A.D
Chalukya of Badami
The founder of the Chalukya dynasty was
Pulakesin I who became the king in the
year 550 A.D
They belongs to Badami or Vatapi modern
day Karnataka
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Pulakesin I was succeeded by his son
Kirtivarman who became king in 566 A.D
Kirtivarman was succeeded by his brother
Mangalesha as his son Pulakesin II was
very young. When Pulakesin II grew up
he defeated his uncle Mangalesha and
became the king in the year 609 A.D
PulakesinII apart from defeating
Harshavardhana also captured Vengi the
northernmost territory of the Pallavas
Pulakesin sent a embassy to the Persian
king Khusro II and he also received the
embassy from him
Pulakesin II died in the year 642 A.D as
he was defeated and killed by Pallava
ruler Narshimha Varman
Pulakesin II was succeeded by his son
Vikramaditya I but he was not able to
control the empire. The last ruler of the
Chalukyas was Kirtivarman II who was
defeated by Dantidurga in the year 757
A.D who was the founder of the
Rashtrakutas
Pallavas
The origin of the Pallavas is not clear but
it is believed that Simbhavishnu was the
first important ruler of the Pallavas who
became the king in the year 560 A.D
It is believed that Simbhavishnu captured
the territory of the Chola
Simbhavishnu died in the year 590 A.D
He was succeeded by his son
Mahendravarman I who became the king
in the year 590 A.D
During the rule of Mahendravarman I the
fight between the Chalukya and the
Pallavas started
Mahendravarman I was succeeded by his
son Narshimhavarman I who was
considered as the greatest king of the
Pallavas
He captured the Chalukya kingdom at
Vatapi by defeating Pulakesin II and he
assumed the title of Vatapikonda
He founded the city of Mamallapuram
He was succeeded by his son
Mahendravarman II who was killed by the
Chalukya king Vikramaditya I
He was succeeded by
Parameshwaravarman I who defeated
Vikramditya I
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After Parameshwaravarman I all the
successors were very and the last ruler of
the Pallavas was Aparijita and after his
death in the year 903 A.D the Pallavas
dynasty came to an end
Rashtrakutas
The founder of the Rashtrakutas was
Dantidurga who became the king in the
year 757 A.D
The capital of the Rashtrakutas was Ellora
Dantidurga built the famous Dasavathara
at Ellora
The Rashrakuta king Krishna I built the
famous rock cut Kailash temple or Shiva
temple at Ellora
Amoghavarsha I transferred the capital
from Ellora to Malkhed
Amoghvarsha I wrote the famous
Kannada literature Kavirajmarga and
Ratnamalika
Indra III was one of the greatest rulers of
the Rashtrakutas during his period
famous Arab traveler Al- Masudi came
Rashtrakutas king Krishna III built the
pillar of victory at Rameshwaram
Rashtrakutas also built the famous
Elephanta caves dedicated to lord Shiva
The last ruler of the Rashtrakutas was
Karka who was defeated by Taila in the
year 973 A.D the founder of Chalukya of
Kalyani/ Later Chalukya
Palas
The Pala dynasty was founded by the king
Gopala who became the king in the year
750 A.D
The capital of the Palas dynasty was
Patliputra
The rulers of the Pala dynasty were the
followers of the Buddhism
Gopala was succeeded by his son
Dharmapala who won Kannauj and built
the famous ancient university of
Vikramashila modern day Bhagalpur in
Bihar
Dharmapala was succeeded by his son
Devpala who was able to won some parts
of Assam and Orissa
Dharmapala defeated the Pratihara king
Bhoja and also the Rashtrakutas king
Amoghvarsha
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After the death of Dharmapala the Pala
dynasty was broken. The last ruler of the
Pala dynasty was Govindpala who was
defeated by Vijaysena who was the
founder of the Sena dynasty
Pratiharas/ Gurjar Pratiharas
The founder of the Pratiharas was
Harishchandra who founded the empire
after the fall of the Gupta dynasty
They belongs to Gujarat or Eastern
Rajasthan
The most important ruler of the
Pratiharas was Bhoja who became the
king in the year 835 A.D
Sulaiman a famous Arab merchant visited
his court
Bhoja was succeeded by his son
Mahindrapala I who expanded the empire
upto the Magadha
The teacher of Mahindrapala was the
greatest poet Rajasekhara who wrote
Karpuramanjari, Kavya Mimansa, Bal
Ramayan, Bhuvankosh, Bhrijinka,
Prapanch Pandav, Balabharta etc
The Gurjara Pratiharas were defeated by
the Rashtrakutas king Krishna III
Chola Dynasty
The founder of the Chola dynasty was
Vijaylaya who became the king in the
year 846 A.D.
Vijaylaya was succeeded by his son
Aditya who defeated the Pallavas and
captured the territory completely
Aditya was succeeded by many rulers but
were not competent.
Rajaraja I who became the king in the
year 985 A.D was the most important
ruler of the Chola dynasty. His original
name was Arumolivarman
Rajaraja I defeated the three kingdoms of
the South i.e. the Pandyas, Chola(Ceylon)
and Chera
Rajaraja I captured major part of Ceylon
and established the Chola province in the
North Ceylon. He renamed Ceylon as
Mummadi Cholamandalam
Rajaraja I also captured Maldives
Rajaraja I built the famous
Brihadeshwara temple or the rajeshwari
temple dedicated to Lord Shiva at
Thanjuvur
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Rajaraja I was succeeded by his son
Rajendra I who completely captured
Ceylon
Rajendra I defeated the Pala ruler
Mahipala
He built up the new capital known as the
Gangaikonda Cholapuram
The dancing statue of the Lord Shiva also
known as Nataraj belongs to the Chola
dynasty
The Chola started the Local Self
Government for the first time and concept
of Panchayati Raj has been borrowed
from the Chola dynasty
Chola also built two famous temples
known as
Airavathesvara temple at Darasuram in
Tanjore
Kampaharesvara temple at Tribhuvanam
After the death of Rajendra Chola the
Chola dynasty started to disintegrate.
The last ruler of the Chola dynasty was
Rajaraja II and after his death in the year
1173 A.D the Chola dynasty came to an
end.
Chalukya of Kalyani/ Western
Chalukyas
The founder of Chalukya of Kalyani was
Taila who defeated the Rashtrakutas
The Chalukya king Somvesvara
transferred the capital from Malkhed to
Kalyani
The most important ruler of the
Chalukyas of Kalyani was Vikramaditya VI
under whose rule the empire reached its
glory. Bilhana was his court poet who
wrote the famous literature such as
Vikramankacharitra
The last ruler of the Chalukyas of Kalyani
was Somavesvara III who was the author
of the book Abhilashitartha-chintamani
Somevesvara IV was the last ruler of the
Chalukyas of Kalyani and he was defeated
by Bhillama V in the year 1200 A.D who
was the founder of the Yadava dynasty in
the South India
Chalukyas of Vengi/ Eastern
Chalukyas
The founder of the Eastern Chalukya was
Vishnuvardhana
The Eastern Chalukyas belongs to the
Vengi in Tamil Nadu
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The Eastern Chalukya king Vijayaditya
Gunaga defeated the Rashtrakutas and
declared himself the lord of the entire
South India
The Eastern Chalukya king Vimaladitya
married Kundavai the daughter or
Rajaraja I of the Chola dynasty after
which the friendship between the Chola
and the Eastern Chalukya started
The last ruler of the Eastern Chalukya
was Vishnu Vardhana IX and after his
death in the year 1179 A.D the Eastern
Chalukya dynasty came to an end
Rajputs
It is believed that the Rajputs have
emerged from the mystical figure who
arose out from the sacrificial fire pit near
Mt. Abu in Rajasthan and that is why they
are described as Agnikula or fire family
There were four important Rajput clans in
India
The Parihars who belongs to the Southern
Rajasthan
The Chauhans who belongs to the Eastern
Rajasthan
Solankis who belongs to the Gujarat
Pawars who belongs to the Maharashtra
The other Rajput clans were also there
such as
Chandellas in the Khajuraha
Gahadwals in Kannauj
Tomar in Haryana
Kalachuris in Madhya Pradesh
The Rajputs also contributed in the art,
architecture and literature development
in India
Kendriya Mahadev temple at Khajuraho
was built in the year 1000 A.D
Solanki king Siddharaja built the famous
Dilwara temple at Mt. Abu
Pawar king Bhoja who is also known as
Kaviraj wrote Ayurvedasaravasva and
Samarangasutradhar
Important literature work
Somadeva- Kathasaritasagar
Kalhana- Rajtarangini
Jayadeva- Gita Govind
Bilhana- Vikramadeva Charitra
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Development of Science and He was the famous astronomer

Technology in Ancient India
Ancient India apart from the large
number of dynasties also witnessed the
growth of science and technology
Mathematics
The major contributors of the
mathematics in ancient India was
1. Aryabhatt I
He discovered the algebraic theories
and other mathematical concepts in
the 5th Century A.D. Aryabhatt I was
the resident of Patliputra
2. Brhamagupta
He discovered the rules for operating
with the negative quantities and the
zero in the 7th Century A.D
3. Bhaskaracharya
mathematician in the 12th Century
A.D
Medicine
Dhanvantari the reincarnation of Lord
Vishnu is considered as the god of
Medicine
Famous physicians of the Ancient
History of India includes
Atrrya a famous teacher who teaches
medicine at the Taxila University
Javika in the court of Bindusara
Charak a famous physician who is
also known as the Father of the
Medicine
Susrut a famous surgeon
Patanjali also known as the Father of
Yoga