Medieval and Late Puranic Period

Medieval and Late Puranic Period - Late-Classical Age (500–1500 CE)

Main articles: Middle Kingdoms of India, Badami Chalukyas, Rashtrakuta, Eastern Ganga dynasty, Western Chalukyas, Rajput kingdoms, and Vijayanagara Empire

Pala Empire under Dharmapala

Pala Empire under Devapala

Chola Empire under Rajendra Cholac. 1030 C.E.

The Kanauj Triangle was the focal point of empires - the Rashtrakutas ofDeccan, the Gurjara Pratiharas ofMalwa, and the Palas of Bengal.

The "Late-Classical Age"^[26] in India began after the end of the Gupta Empire^[26] and the collapse Harsha Empire in the 7th century CE,^[26] and ended with the fall of the Vijayanagara Empire in the south in the 16th century, due to pressure from Islamic invaders^[27] to the north.

This period produced some of India's finest art, considered the epitome of classical development, and the development of the main spiritual and philosophical systems which continued to be in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. King Harsha of Kannauj succeeded in reuniting northern India during his reign in the 7th century, after the collapse of the Gupta dynasty. His kingdom collapsed after his death.

North Western Indian Buddhism weakened in the 6th century after the White Hun invasion, who followed their own religions such as Tengri, and Manichaeism. Muhammad bin Qasim's invasion of Sindh in 711 CE witnessed further decline of Buddhism. The Chach Nama records many instances of conversion of stupas to mosques such as atNerun^[106]

In 7th century CE, Kumārila Bhaṭṭa formulated his school of Mimamsa philosophy and defended the position on Vedic rituals against Buddhist attacks. Scholars note Bhaṭṭa's contribution to the decline of Buddhism.^[107] His dialectical success against the Buddhists is confirmed by Buddhist historian Tathagata, who reports that Kumārila defeated disciples of Buddhapalkita, Bhavya, Dharmadasa, Dignaga and others.^[108]

Ronald Inden writes that by 8th century BCE symbols of Hindu gods "replaced the Buddha at the imperial centre and pinnacle of the cosmo-political system, the image or symbol of the Hindu god comes to be housed in a monumental temple and given increasingly elaborate imperial-style puja worship".^[109] Although Buddhism did not disappear from India for several centuries after the eighth, royal proclivities for the cults of Vishnu and Shiva weakened Buddhism's position within the sociopolitical context and helped make possible its decline.^[110]

Northern India[edit]

From the 7th to the 9th century, three dynasties contested for control of northern India: the Gurjara Pratiharas of Malwa, the Palas of Bengal, and theRashtrakutas of the Deccan. During this period, Indian rulers in spite for internal struggle, were able to avert the Islamic conquest of India, for example: InBattle of Rajasthan, alliance of Gurjar Emperor Nagabhata I of the Pratihara Dynasty with the south Indian Emperor Vikramaditya II of the Chalukya dynasty and many small kingdoms defeated armies of Umayyad Caliphate, thus maintaining kingdom of Hindu rulers till the end of millennium in India

The Sena dynasty would later assume control of the Pala Empire, and the Gurjara Pratiharas fragmented into various states. These were the first of theRajput states, a series of kingdoms which managed to survive in some form for almost a millennium, until Indian independence from the British. The first recorded Rajput kingdoms emerged in Rajasthan in the 6th century, and small Rajput dynasties later ruled much of northern India. One Gurjar^[111][112]Rajput of the Chauhan clan, Prithvi Raj Chauhan, was known for bloody conflicts against the advancing Islamic sultanates. The Shahi dynasty ruled portions of eastern Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, and Kashmir from the mid-7th century to the early 11th century.

The Chalukya dynasty ruled parts of southern and central India from Badami in Karnataka between 550 and 750, and then again from Kalyani between 970 and 1190. The Pallavas of Kanchipuram were their contemporaries further to the south. With the decline of the Chalukya empire, their feudatories, theHoysalas of Halebidu, Kakatiyas of Warangal, Seuna Yadavas of Devagiri, and a southern branch of the Kalachuri, divided the vast Chalukya empire amongst themselves around the middle of 12th century.

The Chola Empire at its peak covered much of the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Rajaraja Chola I conquered all of peninsular south India and parts of Sri Lanka in the 11th century. Rajendra Chola I's navies went even further, occupying coasts from Burma to Vietnam,^[113] the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Lakshadweep (Laccadive) islands, Sumatra, and the Malay Peninsula in Southeast Asia and the Pegu islands. Later during the middle period, the Pandyan Empire emerged in Tamil Nadu, as well as the Chera Kingdom in parts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. By 1343, last of these dynasties had ceased to exist, giving rise to the Vijayanagar empire.

The ports of south India were engaged in the Indian Ocean trade, chiefly involving spices, with the Roman Empire to the west and Southeast Asia to the east.^[114][115] Literature in local vernaculars and spectacular architecture flourished until about the beginning of the 14th century, when southern expeditions of the sultan of Delhi took their toll on these kingdoms. The Hindu Vijayanagar Empire came into conflict with the Islamic Bahmani Sultanate, and the clashing of the two systems caused a mingling of the indigenous and foreign cultures that left lasting cultural influences on each other.