Page 92 - SST Class 06

Dharmamaharjadhiraja and Agnistoma-
Pallava Territories
645 AD vajpeya. For their assistance, the ministerial
Indus
council was constituted. All the matters of

Jhelum the villages were looked after by the council
Chenab
Ravi or sabha. Informal gathering in the villages
Rakas Lake
Satluj Tsangpo were known as urar and were used to assist
Indus Panipat Yamuna Ganga
Multan
Brahmaputra
Delhi village courts. Also, minor criminal cases
Jodhpur Hajipur were resolved at village-level courts. Towns
Chambal Gwalior Ganga
Gaur and districts had judicial courts, with the
Son
Saranpur Rchtasagam
Ujjain king as the supreme authority of justice. All
Narmada
Mahanadi land was owned by the king. Villages with
Tapi Nagpur
huge inter-caste population used to pay
Godavari Chilika B A Y
taxes to the king. In the Brahmadeva
O F
ARABIAN village, the entire land was either given to a
Bijapur B E N G A L
SEA
Krishna
Masulipatnam single Brahmin or a group of Brahmins,
who were exempted from paying royal
Sira
Vellore KANCHI taxes. Also, there was one unique category
Pallava Territories
Capital City
Calicut Kaveri
Current Country Boundaries of land known as the sripatti or tank land.
Madurai
The village tank constructed by the villagers
Quilon
used to get maintenance funds from this
I N D I A N O C E A N
land. There were two types of taxes – the
script was developed by them, which was later one paid to the state and the one collected in the
on exported eastwards. It is said that this writing villages and spent for the need in the village.
script has influenced almost all the southern Society
Asian scripts.
The history of the Pallavas is very complex and
Mahendravarman I (AD 600-630) and Narasimha- covers about four centuries. The period of
varman I (AD 630-668) were the greatest rulers Pallavas is significant as it completed the
of the Pallava Dynasty. Mahendravarman was a Aryanisation of southern India. The North Indian
contemporary of both Harsha and Pulakeshin II, Dharma Sastras gained full authority during the
but was defeated. Ultimately, Narasimhavarman I Pallavas’ reign. The University of Kanchi was an
defeated the Chalukyan king, Pulakeshin II and important seat of education in the South. This
captured Vatapi. After this victory, he took the has been mentioned in the writings of Hiuening
title of ‘Vatapikonda’ or the conqueror of Vatapi. Tsang, a Chinese traveler.
He also led successful expeditions to Sri Lanka. Most of the kings of Pallava dynasty were ortho-
Continuous military conflicts weakened the dox Hindus who worshipped Lord Shiva. Some
Pallavas. In the ninth century AD, the Cholas Jain monasteries were destroyed by Mahendra-
defeated the Pallavas and ended their rule. varman as he was fanatical about Jainism. Like

Administration Jainism, Buddhism also lost its appeal during this
Most of the Pallavas kings were great scholars time. But, overall the Pallavas were flexible
who were given titles like Maharajadhiraj, towards other religions and beliefs.

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