The Age of the three Great Indian empires - mid 8th to 11th Century AD The historians have neglected to write in detail about the era in Indian history from mid 8th century to mid 11th centuries, We have been obsessed by the Maurya, Gupta and Mughal empires. But the above period saw the emergence of three great empires that arose around 750 AD or earlier and divided the Indian sub continent into three pieces that varied in sizes as the three struggled between themselves. The Gurjara Pratihara empire with Kannauj as its capital was the north Indian element and boasted of great emperors and finest cavalry in India. It kept the Turko Arabic invasions at bay. Early Islamic invasions of India were rebutted by the founder of the empire Nagabhatta Pratihara. The second empire was the South Indian element called the Rashtrakutas that survived into the 11th century. At its peak, it was perhaps the most powerful of the three and was based out of Manyakheda in South and conquered as far up nort
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Arab Invasions of India 636 AD to 715 AD Harshvardhana created an empire in north India in the early seventh century AD. This coincided with two important events in world history - the rise of the Tang Empire in China and the rise of the Islamic empire in Middle East. The Arabs after conquering Arabia and Levant, attacked Persia and in a series of fiercely contested battles conquered Persia by 654 AD. Obviously their next port of call literally was India. Here they met fierce resistance. Their naval expeditions to Surat, Bharuch and Debal were defeated. Their attempts to enter through the Khyber pass were defeated by Zunbil rulers. King Chach of Sindh defeated them in Makran and King Dahir later defeated them in many engagements. As many as four successive Arab commanders were killed in many invasion attempts that all failed to achieve anything significant for close to 80 years between 630 AD and 710 AD. Finally a land expedition was launched under Mohammed bin Qasim that reached D
# battlesfordelhi .... Continuous pressure on the Indian frontier from North West As said in my previous blogs there was constant pressure from late 4th century BC starting with the invasions of Alexander on north West India. Then came Seleucid invasions. After the Maurya imperial rule came Indo Greek and Shaka and Kushana invasions. After the consolidation of a pan Indian empire, the Gupta empire came the Hun invasions which too were repelled. There was a brief period of consolidation again under Harshvardhana in the first half of 7th century AD but his empire fell apart. This also coincided with the rise of an Islamic Arabic empire in the Gulf area which started expanding aggressively conquering Egypt and the Levant in Middle East. This was in the first half the 7th century AD. The Arab armies conquered a Zoroastrian Sassanid Persia between 633 AD and 654AD. They had also conquered Bahrain and Oman by 630 AD. These conquests brought them to the borders of India. There from the Gul
Invasions of India.... #battlesfordelhi India has been invaded since much longer than what people realize. There is a recorded invasion by an Assyrian army in antiquity. Then came invasions by the Persians under Darius. Then came Alexander with his Greeks, Seleucus again with Greeks and then the Indo Greek Kings. This was till the end of 2nd century BC. Later in the 2nd century BC came the Kushans followed by the Shakas. The Shaka menace lasted for 500 years. This was followed by the Huns, a menace that lasted till the 6th century AD. Every time the invaders came through the North West and pushed back Indians either east to Pataliputra or South towards Ujjain. Time and again India came out with brave sons like Porus, Chandragupta Maurya, Pushyamitra, Vikramaditya, Chandragupta Vikramaditya, Skandagupta and Yashodharman who beat back the Greeks, Shakas and Huns and restored glory to Mother India. #BattlesforDelhi stands for the incessant struggle put in by Indians through the ages to de
King Vikramaditya of Ujjain defeated the Shakas Indo Greek kingdoms conquered parts of North West India in the second century BC. They were in turn conquered by Indo Scythian tribes from Central Asia called Shakas. Shakas penetrated as far as Mathura and Ujjain in India. Around 58 BC, the legendary King of Malwa Vikramaditya defeated the Shakas in Ujjain and expelled them from Central India. In celebration of that he started a new era Vikram Samvat from 57 BC
Battles for Delhi - Rishi Dandamis and Alexander the Great - Another great sage Alexander met dueing his entry into India was Rishi Dandamis. Alexander was fascinated by the holy men of India and their philosophies. He sent one of his generals to bring Dandamis over or else the sage would be beheaded. The sage was lying almost naked in his abode and non-chalantly told the general that he had no fear of death as the soul was immortal and would go to God. He told the General if Alexander wanted to meet him, he had to come himself to the sage. On hearing this Alexander came to meet Rishi Dandamis and pent over an hour conversing with him.
Battles for Delhi ---- India has been invaded by many invaders through the ages.. some say Semiramis the Assyrian queen, then Darius the Persian King, Alexander of Macedonia, Huns; Arabs, Turks, Mughals, Persians and the British. The story of India has been one of continuous struggle to fight evil eyes cast on it. Whenever India has been strong and united, it has defeated the invaders. Whenever it has been weak, it has succumbed to foreign rule. A lot of attention has been paid to battles like Panipat, Plassey, Assaye where forces defending India have lost. But there have been long periods in between where a strong India triumphed against invading forces. The book "Battles for Delhi...Dilli kareeb ast" refers to a mix of such wins and losses.