NCERT Book Class 6 History New Empires And Kingdoms

Arvind plays a king

Arvind had been chosen to act as a king in the school play. He had expected to march solemnly in splendid robes, to twirl his moustaches and wield the silver-paper wrapped sword with gusto. Imagine his surprise when he was told he would also have to sit and play a veena, and recite poetry! A musician-king? Who was that? he wondered.

Prashastis and what they tell us

Arvind was supposed to be acting as Samudragupta, a famous ruler of a dynasty known as the Guptas. We know about Samudragupta from a long inscription, actually a poem in Sanskrit, composed by his court poet, Harishena nearly1700 years ago. This was inscribed on the Ashokan pillar at Allahabad.

This inscription is of a special kind known as a prashasti, a Sanskrit word, meaning ‘in praise of’. While prashastis were composed for some of the rulers you read about in Chapter 10, such as Gautamiputra Shri Satakarni, they became far more important from the time of the Guptas.

Samudragupta’s prashasti

Let us see what Samudragupta’s prashasti tells us. The poet praised the king in glowing terms — as a warrior, as a king who won victories in battle, who was learned and the best of poets. He is also described as equal to the gods. The prashasti was composed in very long sentences. Here is part of one such sentence:

Samudragupta the warrior

Whose body was most charming, being covered with the plenteous beauty of the marks of hundreds of scars caused by battle-axes, arrows, spikes, spears, barbed darts, swords, iron clubs, javelins, barbed arrows, long arrows and many other weapons. What does this description tell you about the king? And also about how kings fought wars? If you look at Map 7 (page113), you will notice an area shaded in green. You will also find a series of red dots along the east coast. And you will find areas marked in purple and blue as well.

This map is based on the information provided in the prashasti. Harishena describes four different kinds of rulers, and tells us about Samudragupta’s policies towards them.

1. The rulers of Aryavarta, the area shaded in green on the map. Here there were nine rulers who were uprooted, and their kingdoms were made a part of Samudragupta’s empire.

2. The rulers of Dakshinapatha. Here there were twelve rulers, some of whose capitals are marked with red dots on the map. They surrendered to Samudragupta after being defeated and he then allowed them to rule again.

3. The inner circle of neighbouring states, including Assam, coastal Bengal, Nepal, and a number of gana sanghas (remember Chapter 6) in the northwest, marked in purple on the map. They brought tribute, followed his orders, and attended his court.

4. The rulers of the outlying areas, marked in blue on the map, perhaps the descendants of the Kushanas and Shakas, and the ruler of Sri Lanka, who submitted to him and offered daughters in marriage. The king who played the

Let’s recall

 1. State whether true or false:

(a) Harishena composed a prashasti in praise of Gautamiputra Shri Satakarni.

(b) The rulers of Aryavarta brought tribute for Samudragupta.

(c) There were twelve rulers in Dakshinapatha

(d) Taxila and Madurai were important centres under the control of the Gupta rulers.

(e) Aihole was the capital of the Pallavas.

(f) Local assemblies functioned for several centuries in south India.

2. Mention three authors who wrote about Harshavardhana.

3. What changes do you find in the army at this time?

4. What were the new administrative arrangementsduring this period?

Let’s discuss

5. What do you think Arvind would have to do if he was acting as Samudragupta?

6. Do you think ordinary people would have read and understood the prashastis? Give reasons for your answer.

Please refer to attached file for NCERT Class 6 History New Empires And Kingdoms