Pallava dynasty

Also called: Pallavas · Topic: Southern Dynasties: Chalukyas, Pallavas, Cholas · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 7 "The Gupta Era: An Age of Tireless Creativity"; Class 7, Ch 3 "Empires and Kingdoms: 6th to 10th Centuries"; Class 9, Ch 5 "State and Society up to 1000 CE"

Meaning

The Pallava dynasty ruled from Kanchi (today's Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu). NCERT dates it to about 275–897 CE. Its kingdom covered much of northern Tamil Nadu and southern Andhra.

The Pallavas matter for the exam for three reasons:

• They built the rock-cut and structural temples at Mamallapuram, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• They fought a long contest with the Chalukyas of Badami.
• Their village committees became the base of Chola local self-government.

Explanation

Rise and the great 7th-century kings

• The Pallavas ruled from Kanchi, which was their capital from the 3rd to the 9th century CE [5].
• The dynasty was at its strongest in the 7th century, under a father and son.
• Mahendravarman I (c. 600–630) [5]
• He was a king and also an artist. He was a fine poet.
• He wrote a satirical Sanskrit play, meaning a play that makes fun of people. This one mocks fake holy men.
• He started a new style of Dravidian architecture (the South Indian temple style). Scholars call it the "Mahendra style" [5].

• Some of the most decorated monuments at Mamallapuram were made in his reign, especially those for Shiva [5].

• Narasimhavarman I 'Mamalla' (c. 630–668) [5]

• Mamalla means "great wrestler" or "great warrior". The port of Mamallapuram carries this title.
• He defeated the Chalukya king Pulakeshin II and captured Badami (Vatapi) [5]. This took revenge for an earlier Pallava defeat [5].
• He did not keep Badami. He pulled back, and the river Tungabhadra became the unwritten border between Pallavas and Chalukyas. Neither side wrote this border down, but both kept to it.
• He sent a naval expedition to Sri Lanka to put a Sinhalese prince back on the throne. This shows the Pallavas had power at sea as well as on land.

Kanchi: trade, faiths and learning

• Trade: spices, textiles (including silk) and ivory passed through Kanchi.
• Port: Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram). Excavations there have found Chinese, Persian and Roman coins, which is proof of long-distance sea trade.
• Many faiths at once:
• The Pallavas supported Jain, Vaishnavite and Shaivite schools.

• Buddhists, Hindus and Jains all lived in Kanchi.

• Languages: the Pallavas supported both Sanskrit and Tamil. The Sanskrit poet Dandin was linked with their court.

Art and architecture: from rock to built temple

• Rock-cut caves (mandapas): halls cut into a rock face [2][3].
• Monolithic temples: temples carved from a single rock that stand free. At Mamallapuram these are the rathas, temples shaped like chariots [2][3].
• The five rathas were built under Narasimhavarman I [5].
• They are named after characters of the Mahabharata: Draupadi, Arjuna, Bhima, Dharmaraja and Nakula–Sahadeva [4].

• Each one is cut from a single slab of rock. They carry bas-reliefs (carvings that stand out a little from a flat surface) of elephants and Nandi the bull [4].

• Relief sculpture: the carvings show gods, goddesses and scenes from the Mahabharata.

• The Durga–Mahishasura panel shows the goddess fighting the buffalo-demon. The figures look as if they are really in battle.

• 'Descent of the Ganges', also called 'Arjuna's Penance', is a giant open-air relief [2][4]. It is described as the second largest ancient monolithic structure in Asia [4].

• Structural temples were built stone by stone instead of being cut from rock. They were made on a big scale under Rajasimha (c. 700–728 CE), and this work led to the Shore Temple [3].

• The Shore Temple is really three shrines [3]:
  • Rajasimhesvara: small and west-facing.
  • Kshatriyasimhesvara: larger and east-facing.
  • Nripatisimha Pallava Vishnugriha: an oblong, flat-roofed shrine with a reclining Vishnu.
• The Kailasanatha temple at Kanchipuram came a little after the Shore Temple. It has a tall superstructure (the tower above the shrine) and small shrines attached to its walls [5].

Village government, irrigation and the end

• The Pallavas built many irrigation tanks in Tamil Nadu, and many of them still work today.
• They gave tax-free land grants to villages. A village like this was called a Brahmadeya, meaning land given to Brahmanas free of tax.
• Village assemblies ran small committees called variyams. Each committee had one job:
• irrigation (tanks and channels),
• gardens,

• temple management.

• End: the Pallavas ruled until the late 9th century. The Chola king Aditya I overthrew them, and Chola power took their place in the Tamil country.

Time, place and evidence

• Period: c. 275–897 CE (NCERT). Britannica calls the Pallavas "an early 4th-century to late 9th-century line of rulers" [5]. The two versions differ only on when the earliest rulers are counted from. Use NCERT's dates in the exam.
• Region: northern Tamil Nadu and southern Andhra. The capital was Kanchi/Kanchipuram and the port was Mamallapuram on the Coromandel coast [2].
• Key people: Mahendravarman I, Narasimhavarman I 'Mamalla', Rajasimha, the poet Dandin. Their rivals were Pulakeshin II (Chalukya) and Aditya I (Chola).
• How we know:
• A traveller's account: the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang visited Kanchi. He counted:
  • 100 Buddhist monasteries with 10,000 priests, a figure that is probably exaggerated;
  • 80 Hindu temples;
  • many Jains.
• Archaeological finds: Chinese, Persian and Roman coins dug up at Mamallapuram.

• The monuments themselves: caves, rathas, reliefs, the Shore Temple and the Kailasanatha temple.

• Heritage status: the Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984 [2][4]. UNESCO dates the sanctuaries to the 7th and 8th centuries [2].

Don't confuse with

• Chalukyas of Badami: the Pallavas' rivals in the Deccan, with their capital at Badami (Vatapi). Pulakeshin II was a Chalukya king. Narasimhavarman I was the Pallava who defeated him.
• Mahendravarman I vs Narasimhavarman I: Mahendravarman (father) was the poet-king of the satirical play and the "Mahendra style". Narasimhavarman (son, 'Mamalla') took Badami and built the five rathas [5].
• Rathas vs Shore Temple: the rathas are monolithic, cut from one rock, and date from Narasimhavarman I's reign. The Shore Temple is structural, built stone by stone under Rajasimha [3].
• Brahmadeya vs variyam: a Brahmadeya is a tax-free village granted to Brahmanas. A variyam is a village committee with one job (irrigation, gardens or temples).

Prelims Hooks

• Pallava capital = Kanchi/Kanchipuram. NCERT dates the dynasty c. 275–897 CE. The port was Mamallapuram, where Chinese, Persian and Roman coins have been found.
• Narasimhavarman I 'Mamalla' defeated Pulakeshin II, captured Badami/Vatapi [5] and sent a naval expedition to Sri Lanka. After this, the Tungabhadra was the unwritten Pallava–Chalukya border.
• Order of architecture: rock-cut mandapas → monolithic rathas (Narasimhavarman I) → Shore Temple (Rajasimha, c. 700–728 CE) → Kailasanatha, Kanchi [3][5].
• The five rathas are named after Draupadi, Arjuna, Bhima, Dharmaraja and Nakula–Sahadeva [4]. 'Descent of the Ganges' = 'Arjuna's Penance' [2][4]. Mahabalipuram was inscribed by UNESCO in 1984 [2][4].
• Xuanzang at Kanchi: 100 Buddhist monasteries, 10,000 priests (probably exaggerated), 80 Hindu temples, many Jains.
• Sanskrit poet at the Pallava court = Dandin. The Pallavas were ended by the Chola Aditya I in the late 9th century. Trap: Aditya I was a Chola, not a Chalukya.

Mains Points

• Victory without taking over the land. Narasimhavarman I captured Badami but went back to the Tungabhadra.
• This shows that early medieval wars in the south often aimed at prestige and plunder, not at taking the rival's home territory.

• So the Deccan settled into a long Pallava–Chalukya balance instead of one large empire.

• A patron of many faiths. The Pallavas funded Jain, Vaishnavite and Shaivite groups and supported Sanskrit and Tamil together. Xuanzang found Buddhists, Hindus and Jains living side by side in Kanchi. Use this as evidence against calling early Indian kingdoms single-religion states.

• Continuity in South Indian administration and art.
• The Chola village assemblies were not invented from nothing. They grew out of the Pallavas' variyam committees, Brahmadeya grants and irrigation tanks (many still in use), which the Cholas inherited and improved.
• Pallava temple building moved from cave to ratha to structural temple [3][5]. This line leads up to the Chola temple style.

Related concepts

• Mahendravarman I
• Mandagapattu inscription
• Narasimhavarman I
• Kanchipuram
• Kailasanatha temple, Kanchipuram
• Mamallapuram
• Pancha Rathas
• Shore Temple

Read more

• The Pallavas of Kanchi