History Quiz: Kingdoms of Deccan and Pallava and Chola dynasty |7 May, 2021

The Aihole inscription of Pulikesin II composed by his court poet Ravikirti in Sanskrit is among the most important of Chalukyan inscriptions.

Kavirajamarga, a work on poetics in Kannada, Vikramarjuna-vijayam, also called Pampa-bharata, by Pampa in Kannada, which was all of a later period, and Nannaya’s Mahabharatam in Telugu also provide useful historical data.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board.

The wild boar was the royal insignia of the Chalukyas.

• It was claimed that it represented the varaha avatar of Vishnu in which he is said to have rescued the Goddess of the Earth.
• The bull, Siva’s mount, was the symbol of the Pallavas.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board.

All powers were vested in the king. Inscriptions do not specifically speak of a council of ministers, but they do refer to an official called maha-sandhi-vigrahika.

• Four other categories of ministers are also referred to in the epigraphs: Pradhana (head minister), Mahasandhi-vigrahika (minister of foreign affairs), Amatya (revenue minister), and Samaharta (minister of exchequer).
• Chalukyas divided the state into political divisions for the sake of administration: Vishayam, Rastram, Nadu and Grama.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board.

Chalukyas used Sanskrit in pillar inscriptions such as in Aihole and Mahakudam.

• A seventh-century inscription of a Chalukya king at Badami mentions Kannada as the local prakrit, meaning the people’s language, and Sanskrit as the language of culture.
• A chieftain of Pulikesin II authored a grammar work Saptavataram in Sanskrit.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board.

Kanchipuram was an important trading centre in the Pallava period. The merchants had to obtain license to market their goods.

• Traders founded guilds and called themselves as sudesi, nanadesi, ainurruvar and others. Their main guild functioned at Aihole.
• Foreign merchants were known as Nanadesi. It had a separate flag with the figure of bull at the centre, and they enjoyed the right of issuing vira-sasanas.
• The jurisdiction of this guild stretched over entire south-east Asia.
• The chief of this guild is registered in the inscriptions as pattanswamy, pattnakilar, and dandanayaka. Its members were known as ayyavole-parameswariyar.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board.

Mahendravarman I composed Mathavilasa Prahasanam in Sanskrit.

• Two extraordinary works in Sanskrit set the standard for Sanskrit literature in the south: Bharavi’s Kiratarjuniya and Dandin’s Dashakumaracharita.
• Dandin of Kanchipuram, author of the great treatise on rhetoric Kavyadarsa, seems to have stayed in Pallava court for some time.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board.

The rock-cut cave temples in Ellora are in 34 caves, carved in Charanadri hills. Without knowledge of trigonometry, structural engineering, and metallurgy, the Indian architects could not have created such exquisite edifices.

• The patrons of these caves range from the dynasties of Chalukyas to Rashtrakutas. The heterodox sects first set the trend of creating this model of temples.
• Later, orthodox sects adopted it as a medium of disseminating religious ideologies. These temples were linked to Ajivikas, Jainism, Buddhism, and Brahmanism.
• The Ellora caves were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board.

The iconic Shore Temple of Pallavas at Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram) was constructed during the reign of Rajasimha (700-728).

• The temple comprises three shrines, where the prominent ones are dedicated to Siva and Vishnu.
• The exterior wall of the shrine, dedicated to Vishnu, and the interior of the boundary wall are elaborately carved and sculpted.
• In southern India, this is one amongst the earliest and most important structural temples. Unlike other structures of the region, the Shore Temple is a five-storeyed rock-cut monolith.
• The monolithic vimanas are peculiar to Mamallapuram. The Rathas there are known as the Panchapandava Rathas.
• The Arjuna Ratha contains artistically carved sculptures of Siva, Vishnu, mithuna and dwarapala.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board.

Fundamentally, Sankara’s Advaita or non-dualism had its roots in Vedanta or Upanishadic philosophy.

• His attempts to root out Buddhism and to establish smarta (traditionalist) mathas resulted in the establishment of monasteries in different places viz., Sringeri, Dvaraka, Badrinath, and Puri, which were headed by Brahmin pontiffs.
• Sankara looked upon Saiva and Vaishnava worship as two equally important aspects of the Vedic religion.
• Monastic organization and preservation of Sanskrit scriptures were the two major thrusts of Sankara School.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board.

The poems of the Vaishnavite Azhwars were later compiled as the Nalayira Divya Prabhandam.

• The Saiva literature was canonized as the Panniru Tirumurai. The Thevaram, composed by Appar (Thirunavukkarasar), Sambandar (Thirugnanasambandar) and Sundarar.
• And Thiruvavasagam by Manickavasagar are prominent texts which are read as sacred literature to this day.
• Periyapuranam written by Sekizhar, in a later period, also provides much historical information.
• The Mathavilasa Prahasanam written by Mahendravarman I in Sanskrit is an important source for the Pallava period.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board.