Cultural Tradition

Answer : The standards established during the period (750-1200) were regarded as classical and came to dominate the pattern of living in this south. This was also the period which saw the growth of temple architecture to its maximum level, and the active intervention, both political and economic, of South India in the commerce of this region to a far greater degree than ever before.

Organized religion under the aegis of the Brahmans was well-fortified with finance and patronage, both of which came either from royalty or from the wealthy merchants. The local temple was the nucleus of religious life and here the two levels of religion, the Brahmanical and the devotional, met. The temple was maintained from endowments which consisted either of village and agricultural lands-if the donors were of the royal family-or else came from the investment of capital, if the donors were merchants or guilds. The smaller accessories of the temple, such as subsidiary images, lamps, oil, etc., were generally obtained through the individual donations of lesser members of the community. Gradually the temples emerged as great centres of economic and administrative activities.

One of the most important features of this period was the rise of small kingdoms and petty states. The Rastrakutas, the Chalukyas, the Cholas, the Yadavas, the Hoysalas and others fought against each other and tried to justify their supremacy. The form and content of temple architecture in South India were greatly influenced by these political activities. All the temples were made on Dravidian styles, yet each of them has son specific features. The Rastrakutas were famous for their rock-cut temples, while the temples of the Pallavas were made of bricks and stone and their lofty towers rise in tiers like pyramids. The lingams are cylindrical and the capital is more ornamental and conspicuous. An example of this style is represented by a shrine at Bahur near Pondichery.

The rulers of South India made large temples to expose their greatness. The great Kailash temple of Lord Siva at Ellora is t he supreme achievement of the Rastrakutas. The temple is the largest and most splendid rock-monument and has been described as the world’s greatest rock-poem. It stands as the most outstanding example of the Dravida conception. The temple complex composed of the Dravida conception. The temple complex composed of four principal components-the Vamaha with a height of 29 metre, the mandapa, the Nandi pavilion, and the double storeyed gopuram, all in the same axial length, repeating the fundamental pattern of a Dravida temple. It consisted in excavating out of the hill-side three huge trenches at right angles, cut down vertically to the level of the base of the hill thus forming a rectangle 300 ft by 175 ft. The great mass of rock between the trenches was carved into the temple top downward in the form of a structural temple. One more feature was the building of temples in the name of kings and queens. Rajraja I built the Rajrajeshwar temple of Tanjore which is the finest example of this trend. Chola architects abandoned the temple cut from the rock and concentrated on free-standing stone structures. These Chola temples laid stress on the central chamber of the shrine, which was approached through one or more halls, depending on the size of the temple, and which was surmounted on the outside by a tall shikhara or corbelled tower broadly pyramidal in shape, proportionate in size to the temple itself. The temple was surrounded by an enclosed courtyard, the actual enclosing wall often having a colonnade of pillars on the inside, as at Tanjore and Gangai-konda-Chola-puram. The entrances had elaborate gateway reflecting the style of the shikhara, and these were gradually given more and more emphasis until they rivaled the shikhara, as in the case of the Minakshi temple at Madurai and Shringam near Trichinopoly.

The temples of the Deccan preserved the ear­lier tradition of the Chalukya style, although they gradually became more ornate, a tendency which was accentuated by the extensive use of soap-stone-a softer stone than the sandstone in earlier use. The temples built by the later Chalukyas and Hoysalas broke away in ground plan and elevation from both the Northern and Dravidian styles. The finest examples of these are the Hoysala temples at Halebid-the old Dwarasamudra-Belur, and Somnathapur. Thus the form and content of temple architecture in South India between c. A.D. 750 and 1200 were definitely products of a specific economic and political milieu.

Answer : Alberuni was the first prominent Muslim indologist who accompanied the invading hordes of Mahmud of Ghazni to the Indo-Gangetic valley. His book, Tarikh-ul-Hind, is an authentic primary source of information about India of Ghazni’s times. It gives a scholarly analysis of the social and religious institutions of the Hindu and throws light on their rich cultural heritage, including science and literature. It gives a dispassionate analysis of the weaknesses of the Indian Character and the shortcoming of their socio-political order which led to their defeat and humiliation at the hands of the invaders. Alberuni made extensive use of the Sanskrit literature from which he quotes chapter and verses in support of his contentions.

India had a rich tradition of science and technology, advance in these fields and slowed down after the eight century but not come to a standstill, as the works of Sripati and Bhaskaracharya II in the field of Mathematics show. Alberuni ascribed the decline of Indian science to the arrogance and growing insularity of the Brahmans. After the coming of the Turks, there was a greater interaction of Islamic or what was called Arab science with India. In the field of science, interaction was mainly in the field of astronomy, mathematics and medicine, though agricultural and animal sciences were not completely neglected.

Answer : India has had a rich tradition of architecture spanning almost four millennia. The basic foundation for development of Indian architecture was laid during the ancient period. The earliest remains of the builder’s art is furnished by remarkable specimens of the architecture in the age of Indus valley civilization. Here ruins of elaborate structures have come to light during excavations. Towns and buildings of the Indus valley civilization were well planned.

The most outstanding monuments of the architecture in this phase include the Great Bath and granary, the multi-pillared Assembly hall and the temple-like structure at Mohenjodaro. From Harappa comes the evidence of six granaries in the citadel, and from Lothal comes the evidence of the dockyard.

The Great bath at Mohenjodaro measured 11.88 X 7.01 X 2.43 metres. The floor of the bath was made of burnt bricks set in gypsum. A remarkable feature of the Indian architecture was the extensive use of burnt bricks for construction.

A long stretch of time separates the proto-historic phase of architecture from the early historical. The Vedic Aryans who appeared next on the scene lived in houses built of wood, bamboo and reeds. Since their religion was simple, such houses were adequate for their daily ritualistic needs and hence they contributed little to the development of architecture.

But it was with the second urbanization in the sixth century B.C. and with the expansion of economic activity, architecture further evolved in India. Jatakas and other contemporary works talk about beautiful buildings in the cites.

In Ancient India, high watermark in architectural achievements was reached during the Mauryan period. The architecture of the Mauryan period can be seen in stupas, caves, and residential buildings.

The stupas were the solid domes of brick or stone masonry. They were erected to commemorate a sacred spot, or to deposit some relics of Buddha. Ashoka was a great builder of huge stupas, and tradition ascribes to him eighty four thousand of them. The Great Stupa at Sanchi is generally believed to have been built by Ashoka. Huen Tsang found many hundreds of Ashokan stupas.

Ashoka and his grandson, moreover, excavated cave dwellings for residence of monks. A series of interesting caves are situated in the Barabar hills. The Sudama Cave was dedicated by Ashoka to the merchants of the Ajivika sect. The Karna-Chaupar Cave excavated in the 19^th regal year is simply a rectangular hall with an arched roof. These chambers hewer out of the hard and refractory gneiss had their interior walls burnished like mirror.

Unfortunately, there are no extant specimens of the residential buildings of the Mauryan age. But that they were magnificent appears from Megasthenes’ description of the magnificent places in the capital city of Pataliputra. Recent excavations on the site have laid bare their ruins, the most remarkable being those of a hundred pillared hall.

The next phase in the evolution of Indian architecture opens up in the post-Maurya period. During the reign of the Shungas, a big stupa was constructed at Bharhut. Now only a portion of its railings and one of the gateways survive. The railing is made of red sandstone and consists of uprights, crossbars and coping stone.

Another specimen of architecture of this age comes from Bodh-Gaya, where the railing around the Stupa belongs to post-Maurya period.

Sanchi contains three big stupas, all well preserved. The big stupa, originally constructed by Ashoka was enlarged during this period and four gateways of elaborate construction were added to the railing, one in each cardinal direction.

Besides, many of the large caves were excavated such as those at Bedsa, Bhaja, Kondane, Junnar, Nasik, Ajanta and Ellora. These caves served the purpose of either chaitya or the viharas.

The next important landmark in the development of Indian architecture in ancient times took place during the Gupta period. The Gupta period marks the beginning of Indian temple architecture. This was a formative age in which there was experimentation in a number of forms and designs, out of which two important temple styles emerged- the Nagara style and the Dravida style.

The Gupta temples are simple and unpretentious structure. The following well-defined types of temples may be recognized:

Flat roofed square temple with a shallow pillared porch in the front.

Flat roofed square temple with a covered ambulatory around the sanctum and preceded by a pillared porch, sometimes with a second storey above.

Square temple with a low and squat shikhara above.

Rectangular temple with an apsidal back and a barrel vaulted roof above.

Circular temple with shallow rectangular projections at the four cardinal faces.

The first three types of temples may be regarded as the fore runners of the medieval Indian temple styles. Especially, the second type crystallized into Nagara style and the third type into the Dravida style.

The post-Gupta period constituted another significant land mark in the evaluation of ancient Indian architecture. The period saw the emergence of three main styles – the Nagara, the Dravida and the Vesara, in the North India, in the South India and in the Deccan respectively. The Nagara style temple is a square with a number of graduated projections (rathakas) in the middle of each face which gives it a cruciform ground shape in the exterior.

In elevation, it exhibits a tower (Shikhara), gradually including inwards and capped by a spheroid slab with ribs round the edge (amalaka).

The temple of Dravida style has the sanctum cella situated invariably within an ambulatory of storey after storey in receding dimensions.

The Vesara style was the admixture of the Nagara and the Dravida styles. The typical example of Nagara style temples in ancient India are Dasavatara temple at Deogarh and the brick temple at Bhitargaon. Notable examples of Dravida style include the Parvati temple at Nachnakuthar, the Siva temples at Bhumara and Aihole.

The Dravida style also included the Pallava temples like Kailashnath temple at Kanchi and the richly ornamented Vaikunta-perumal temple.

The Vesara style includes the temples at Aihole and Vatapi. Notable temples are the Ladhkhan temple, the Hucintaligudi temple, the Papanath temple and the like.

The architecture of the post-Gupta phase also includes the seven ratha temples found at Mahabalipuram, and the cave style temples of the Pallavas.

The architecture of ancient India thus evolved in distinctive phases and laid strong foundation of Indian culture. This rich Indian tradition of architecture received further rich infusions in the succeeding ages.

Answer : Alberuni (C 972-1048), the first prominent muslim ideologist was one of the greatest intellectuals of the eleventh century. He was born of Irania stock in the territory of Khiva, then called Khwarizm. He was a man of ‘encyclopeadic learning’ who distinguished himself in the multifarious disciplines of science and literature of his days. He was a theologian, philosopher, logician, mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer and physician, all rolled into one. In 1018-19 he accompanied the invading hordes of Mahmud to the Indo-Gangetic valley as a free-lance observer. Mahmud’s army returned to Ghazni but he stayed behind for a number of years. He travelled extensively in the various parts of the country, studied the language, religion and philosophy of the Hindus and wrote the classical account of the country and its people in Arabia, entitled Tarikh-al-Hind. It is an authentic primary source of information about the socio-religious condition of India and Indian science of Mahmud Ghazni’s times. It gives a scholarly analysis of the social and religious institutions of the Hindus and throws light on their rich cultural heritage including science and literature. The book presents a deep sociological study, characterised by a rare spirit of inquiry, modern scientific attitude and sympathetic insight. It also gives a dispassionate account of the weaknesses of the Indian character, and the shortcoming of their socio-political order which led to their defeat and humiliation at the hands of invaders. He stayed in India from 1018 to 1030 and observed minutely the Indian science and civilization and wrote his book.

Alberuni praised highly the Indian Mathematician Aryabhatta and his formulae, symbols of numbers, the decimal system and the discovery of zero. In India these numbers were in practice since centuries but in Arab countries these came into use after a long period. Alberuni has also mentioned the theories of Aryabhatta. Arab got the knowledge of algebra from India. The practical geometry was used in India from ancient times for the construction of “vedis” of Yagya. Alberuni has mentioned about square root, cube root and mathematical equations given by great mathematicians Bhaskar and Brahamagupta. According to Alberuni out of the different branches of mathematics, astronomy was given the highest place by the Hindu.

In the applied field Indian craftsmen contributed much to the progress of chemistry. The Indian dyers invented lasting colours and they also discovered the blue colour. In India from the ancient times, bronze, iron, copper, brass, steel and other alloys were produced. In the seventh century the chemists produced important acids, bases and salts. The Harappans had developed the process of purifying copper and bronze.

Alberuni informs us that the ancient Indian physicians studied anatomy. They devised methods to diagnose disease and prescribed medicines for their cure. The earliest mention of medicines is in Atharva veda. But as in other ancient societies, the remedies recommended were replete with magical charms and spells, and medicines could not develop along scientific lines.

Alberuni has described the various aspects of the social life. According to that, animal slaughter was prohibited in the society. But to eat meat, some animals were slaughtered. Marriage at younger age was common. The women, whose husbands died, had to go through the hardships of the widow life whole though their lives. The parents fixed the marriage of their children. Gifts were not fixed although the gift which the husband gave to the wife was called ‘Stree dhan’. Among upper class, child marriage and polygamy was prevalent. The condition of women had deteriorated badly and they were considered as entertainment and sexual object for men. Widow remarriage was not allowed. According to Alberuni, a man could have married any number of times, it all depended on his caste. Every man was allowed to marry the women of his own caste or lower than his own caste (amulum). But be was not allowed to marry the woman of the caste higher than his own. Brahmins usually married among their own caste. Alberuni has described various rituals relating to death. His descriptions reveal that in Hindus, It was customary to observe various kinds of festivals.

According to Alberuni, in southern India people used palm leaves and in northern India people used ‘bhojpatra’ for writing purposes. 1/6 of the total production was collected as land revenue. All the labourers and businessmen were paying taxes from their income. It is clear from the description of existing social system as depicted by Alberuni, that happiness peace and prosperity lacked totally. But the information of Alberuni is based on the description given in the ‘Shastras’, which does not reflect the real condition of the period. These are not always followed in practical life. Alberuni came to western part of India. Whatever he saw, heard and read, he wrote according to that. He only critically observed the Indian social system, the Indians never respected the foreigner but his observation of this does not seem to be correct as Indian people have always been known for their hospitality. Throughout Alberuni looked at the Indian society negatively and never took into account the positive aspects. While in any period of history whether it is inturmoil or prosperous, it has its own positive and negative aspects, and Alberuni mostly overlooked the positive aspects of that period.

Answer : Kalhan as a historian : Kalhan is an important historian in Indian history. The 12th century A.D.Kashmiri poet, Kalhan, wrote ‘Rajtarangini’- the river of kings ‘which has been of great value for the study of the history of Kashmir. This history of his native land is in verse and the language is Sanskrit. Out of the Sanskrit writings, Rajtarangini’ is one of the foremost historical writing. Kalhan had sketched a detailed description of the history of Kashmir from geological age upto his own age His writing was much more important than that of the others during the same period because it was of much more historical importance. Not only had he described the deeds of a brave person but he had also tried to understand and explain the conditions of that time.

Kalhan was the son of a minister and later became the consultant of King Harsha of Lahore Dynasty. As he was into the political system directly, he was able to understand the political activities very minutely. Though he was under several kings, he didn’t get any patronage from them. That is the reason that Kalhan was able to write an unbiased and clear historical writing without any pressure from the kings upon him. So, his writing was devoid of rhetorical and clear of praises, evident in other writers under the patronage of the kings.

He chose the medium of verse for his writings . Although his writing seems to be inclined towards ornate style, he has mingled the historical truth in it. In his historical writing, he laid emphasis on the transience of the worldly life and physical materials. He wished that people should learn lesson from the mistakes of their past. For this, he had to analyze the conditions and events very minutely. This very analysis makes his writing much more special than that of others. Kalhan had also given the sources of his writing. He had used information about temples and other records. His use of records as reason based sources of history was indeed an important contribution to history. But he was not clear about the dates. Besides this regionalism was apparent in his writing. He had included all the famous kings (i.e. Maurya kings) as the rulers of Kashmir. Despite these minor aberrations, his writing is really unique in every sense and no other contemporary historian can be compared with him as far as his importance and minute observation is concerned.

Answer : Bhaktism emerged as a pan-Indian movement during medieval period. Many scholars had a view that it was a intellectual reaction against Sufism. Many others called it as a religious movement evolved due to the influence of Islamic mysticism introduced in India by Sufis. But these views are not commendable as Bhaktism has it roots in South India which had not received impact of Islam before 14th or 15th century while the Bhakti cult of Alvar and Naynar were already very popular in this area. It is also believed that Bhaktism was a reaction against non-dualastic monism of Sankara­charya and his pedantic intellectualism called Jyan marg.

Origin of Bhaktism has been traced in Bhagvat Geeta also and there is no doubt about it that the idea of Prapatimarg (complete surrenderence to God) has been elucidated in this holy text. Nalariyam and Tiruvachakam written in Tamil language also mentions abut theism as the best way to get salvation.

Medieval Bhaktism was expounded by Ramanujacharya who propounded the philosophy known as Visisthadvaitvad. Later on Nimbark and Madhvacharya also propagated Bhaktism. Vallabhacharya promulgated the Pustimarg and Ramanand introduced it into northern India where two shcools of Bhakti called Nirgum (formless God) andSagun (personified God) became very popular. Kabir was the greatest exponent of Nirgan and Tulsi and Surdas were the best known poets of Sagun school of Bhakti. Chaitanya made Bhakti cult popular in Bengal while Dadu made it a religion of the common people in Rajasthan.

Answer : Sankracharya was an orthodox Brahman for whom all the Vedic literature was sacred and unquestionably true. To harmonise its many paradoxes he had recourse to an expedient already known in Buddhism, that of a double standard of truth. On the every day level of truth the world was produced by Brahama, and went through an evolutionary process similar to that taught by the Sankhya school from which Sankracharya took over the doctrine of the three gunas. But on the highest level of truth the whole phenomenal universe, including the God themselves, was unreal-the world was maya, an illusion, a dream, a mirage, a figment of imagination. Ultimately the only reality was Brahman, the impersonal world soul of the Upanishads, with which the individual soul was identical.

As in the Upanishads, salvation was to be obtained by recognition of this identity through meditations. Sankra’s Brahman is not really different from the “Void” or the Nirvana of Mahayana Buddhism. An important achievement of Sankracharya was the defeat of the Buddhist scholars in arguments. Endowed with the powerful intellect, and incisive mind, and passion for the ancient traditions of India or Sanatan Dharma, Sankracharya was able to show clearly that Buddhist metaphysics was only a poor imitator of the metaphysics of Sanatan Dharma. His debate, discussion and agreements spelt the intellectual death of Buddhism.

Sankracharya wrote Commentaries on the upanishads, the Bhagwatagita and the Brahma Sutra. These commentaries are still regarded as the masterpieces of Indian religion and philosophical speculations. The comparison of Sankracharya in Hinduism with st. Thomas Aquinas in the Roman Catholic Church is very fair one. The doctrine of Sankracharya is known as ‘advaita’ (“allowing no second”, i.e. monism) or kevaradvaita (strict monism).

Answer : Alberuni was born at Khiva in 973 A.D. and he was two years younger than Mahmud of Ghazni. His original name was Abu Rehan Muhammad bin-Ahmed. He came to India in the war-train of Mahmud and lived here fo many years. He was a great philosopher, mathematician and historian. Attracted by Indian culture, he learnt Sanskrit and studied several books concerning Hindu philosphy and culture. His curious mind and master eyes did not spare even the Puranas and the Bhagwat-Gita. He travelled far and wide and wrote a masterly account of India in his book Tahqiq-i-Hind. This also known as Kitabul Hind (1017-31 A.D). In addition to it, Alberuni is also credited to have translated many Sanskrit works into persian and Arabic. Talking of Hindu in general, Alberuni complains of their complecancy and ignorance of the outside world. He even finds faults with them for their want of smypathy and communication with other peoples whom they call mlechchas. Observing the consuming arrogance of Hindus he notes, 'The Hindus believe that there is no country but theirs, no nation like theirs, no kings like theirs, no religion like theirs, no science like theirs. If they travelled and mixed with other nations, they would soon change their mind, 'he adds, 'for their ancestors were not so narrow-minded as the presentgenerations.'

According to him, India was divided into a number of kingdoms such as Kashmir, Sindh, Malwa and Kannauj. He talks of various kinds of castes and distinctions in the society. Another point of society is that early marriage was common and women who lost their husbands were condemned to perpetual widowhood. Parents arranged marriages for their children and no gifts were settled, though the husband made a gift to his wife which became her stridhana. A further comment of Alberuni is also worth-noting. He observes that the Hindus did 'not desire that a thing which has once been polluted should be purified and thus recovered'. Thus, the above portrayal clearly shows that all was not well with India. Society as the least compact. Caste tensions were prevalent. There was no sense of cause. the disintegrating tendencies were already serious. The disorganised people of the country finally surrendered themselves to foreign invaders. Alberuni was able to observe the condition of India very minutely. He wrote what he saw here.

Answer : The tendency from the seventh century on­wards of granting land in lieu of cash salaries in­tensified the feudal process. The Rashtrakutas made more grants of villages to temples and Brahmins than the Palas or the Pratiharas. Reli­gious grants were also made by the governors and the feudatories of the Rashtrakutas. Administra­tive rights were clearly made over to the beneficia­ries, both by the Palas and the Rashtrakutas. The Rashtrakutas gave the religious domes more coer­cive and administrative powers than even what the Palas did. Many state officers were given rent-free land. Even military service was paid for by land grants. Sometimes the Pallava kings com­memorated the victories of a general by re-naming villages after him and granting them to Brahmins.

The feudatories could hire out their assigned land to cultivators, from whom they collected the revenue agreed upon. Part of the revenue from the land they sent to the king. Some of the more pow­erful feudatories were permitted to grant land in their turn, without first obtaining permission from the king. Such feudatories often had their own sub-feudatories, thus building up a hierarchy. Theo­retically only the revenue from the land was granted to the feudatory and not the land itself, and if he failed to fulfill the terms of the grant his land could be confiscated by the king. The grant was only for the life of the tenant and was subject to re-assignment on his death. In practice, how­ever, the land held by a feudatory tended to be­come hereditary, particularly in periods when the control of the king weakened.