After the death of Harsha in CE 647, new regional powers rose in North India. The most prominent were the Pratiharas, the Palas, the Chauhans and the Paramaras. The Rajput states together formed a collective entity called Rajputana, and Chittor became the rallying point for all Rajput clans. To commemorate the victory of the Rana of Chittor over Malwa, the Jaya Stambha (tower of victory) was built in Chittor. This period also saw the military expeditions of the Arabs and the Turks, which paved the way for Islamic rule in India.
1. Rajputana and the Background
- Chittor was small compared to Malwa and Gujarat, yet the Rajputs ruled over these states.
- The Pratiharas established a powerful kingdom in western India, and the Palas in eastern India.
- By the 9th century, the Pratiharas called themselves the sovereigns of Rajasthan and Kanauj.
- The decline of the Pratiharas led to the rise of the Palas in Bengal and the Chauhans in north-western India.
- India's Islamic period might have begun with the Arab conquest of Sind (CE 712) rather than in CE 1200. But the resistance of the kings of Kanauj, especially Yasovarman (CE 736), and later of the Rajput chiefs who held Kanauj and most of northern India until the middle of the 10th century, made it impossible.