The high-sounding titles adopted by the new kings were maharaja-adhiraja (great king, overlord of kings), tribhuvana-chakravartin (lord of the three worlds) and so on.
Answers
Explanation:
The Emergence of New Dynasties:
By the seventh century there were big landlords or warrior chiefs in different regions of the
subcontinent. Existing kings often acknowledged them as their subordinates or samantas.
They were expected to bring gifts for their kings or overlords, be present at their courts and
provide them with military support. As samantas gained power and wealth, they declared
themselves to be maha-samanta, maha-mandaleshvara (the great lord of a “circle” or region) and
so on. Sometimes they asserted their independence from their overlords.
One such instance was that of the Rashtrakutas in the Deccan. Initially they were subordinate to
the Chalukyas of Karnataka. In the mid-eighth century, Dantidurga, a Rashtrakuta chief, overthrew
his Chalukya overlord and performed a ritual called Hiranyagarbha (literally, the golden womb).
When this ritual was performed with the help of Brahmanas, it was thought to lead to the “rebirth”
of the sacrificer as a Kshatriya, even if he was not one by birth.
In other cases, men from enterprising families used their military skills to carve out kingdoms. For
instance, the Kadamba Mayurasharman and the GurjaraPratihara Hari Chandra were Brahmanas
who gave up their traditional professions and took to arms, successfully establishing kingdoms in
Karnataka and Rajasthan respectively.
Administration in the Kingdoms
Many of these new kings adopted high-sounding titles such as maharaja-adhiraja (great king,
overlord of kings), tribhuvana-chakravartin (lord of the three worlds) and so on. However, in spite
of such claims, they often shared power with their samantas as well as with associations of
peasants, traders and Brahmanas. In each of these states, resources were obtained from the
producers – that is, peasants, cattle-keepers, artisans – who were often persuaded or compelled
to surrender part of what they produced. Sometimes these were claimed as “rent” due to a lord
who asserted that he owned the land. Revenue was also collected from traders.
These resources were used to finance the king’s establishment, as well as for the construction of
temples and forts. They were also used to fight wars, which were in turn expected to lead to the
acquisition of wealth in the form of plunder, and access to land as well as trade routes. The
functionaries for collecting revenue were generally recruited from influential families, and positions
were often hereditary. This was true about the army as well. In many cases, close relatives of the
king held these positions.
Prashastis and Land Grants
Prashastis contain details that may not be literally true. But they tell us how rulers wanted to depict
themselves – as valiant, victorious warriors, for example. These were composed by learned
Brahmanas, who occasionally helped in the administration
Kings often rewarded Brahmanas by grants of land. These were recorded on copper plates, which
were given to those who received the land.
Unusual for the twelfth century was a long Sanskrit poem containing the history of kings who ruled
over Kashmir. It was composed by an author named Kalhana. He used a variety of sources,
including inscriptions, documents, eyewitness accounts and earlier histories, to write his account.
Unlike the writers of prashastis, he was often critical about rulers and their policies.