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The following dynasties ruled Southern India during the last 2000
years.
Andhra Satavahana Kings
ruled North coastal Andhra from 230
B.C. to 220 A.D. for a period of 450 years. Their capital was
Dhanyakatakam (Amaravathi in Guntur District). Their contribution
to Buddhist Art and Architecture was remarkable. Nagarjuna
Konda (known as Southern gateway of Sanchi) was built by the
great king Gautamiputra Satakarni. The great Buddhist University
flourished at Nagarjunakonda on the banks of river Krishna where
Acharya Nagarjuna taught. There is a historic saying that the king
Chandra Gupta took the military help of Satavahanas and
established Gupta empire (Golden period in Indian History) with
Pataliputra (Patna) as the capital. Then he became Chandra Gupta
Vikramaditya.
Chera Empire
was the earliest which ruled the areas of present
Kerala and parts of Tamilnadu, Karur as the capital. The second
empire that ruled Southern India was Cholas as its capital
Gangaikonda Cholapuram from 850 A.D. to 1044 A.D. Rajendra
Chola was popular king. He was honoured with the title “Gangai
Konda Chola.” Cholas local self government was the basis of
modern local governments.
Chalukyas of Badami
(543 757 A.D.) defeated the Army of
emperor Harshavardhana on the banks of river Narmada when he
tried to conquer South India in 1634 A.D. Virupaksha temple at
Badami in Karnataka was the best specimen of Chalukya
Architecture. Their empire extended from Northern Costal Andhra,
to Tamilnadu and Karnataka.
Rashtrakutas
ruled from (745 756 A.D.) Ellora as their capital.
They built great rock temples of Vishnu and Shiva at Ellora
(Aurangabad) including Kailash temple. Kannada language and
literature flourished during this period.
Pandyas
ruled the entire Tamilnadu from pre-historic times till the end of
15th century with their capital Madurai. The world famous Meenakshi
Sundareswarar Temple was built by Kulasekhara Pandya. They
established extensive trade links with South East Asian Maritime
empires.
Pallavas
ruled Southern India with their capital Kanchipuram from 290
893 A.D. Pallavas Empire extended from Krishna river in the North and
Cape Comarin in the South. Mahendra Varman and his son Narasimha
Varman were the greatest kings among the Pallava rulers. Sanskrit
became official language of Pallavas. The rock shore temple and 7
Pagodas built by Pallavas at Mahabalipuram near Chennai are the world
famous monuments today.
Kakateeya
kingdom played an important role in the history of Deccan.
They ruled from 1000 1320 A.D. Orugollu (Warangal) was their capital.
They patronized Sanskrit and Telugu literature. The famous Telugu poet
POTANA was contemporary to Pallava King Pratapa Rudra. Kakateeya
Empire was defeated in the hands of KingAurangzeb'sArmy. Vidyaranya
Swamy, Harihara Raya and Bukka Raya, the Commander-in-Chiefs of
Kakateeya kings laid the foundation for Vijayanagara Empire in 1336 at
Hampi (Karnataka) on the banks of river Tungabhadra and they are the
first rulers of Vijayanagara Kingdom.
Vijayanagara Empire
ruled the entire Southern India from 1336 to 1572.
King Krishnadeva Raya was one of the ablest and greatest of all the
rulers. He patronized Telugu and Kannada literatures and constructed
the present outer wall of Sri Venkateswara (Balaji) Temple at Tirumala.
Rayala Mandapam within Tirumala temple is a shining example of
architectural beauty of Vijayanagara kings today. Virupaksha temple and
Lotus Mahal of Vijayanagara Kings were the embodiment of Indo- Islamic
style at Hampi.
Bahamani Sultans
ruled a part of Southern India after the fall of
Vijayanagar Empire in 1565A.D. till the advent of British to India in 1639.
2000 Years Glorious History of Southern India
in 1206 A.D. and ruled parts of Northern India till 1526 A.D. Slave,
Khilji, Tughlak, Sayyads, Lodis ruled Northern India, Delhi as Capital
for a period of 320 years. Among all the kings, Babar of Slave dynasty,
Allauddin Khilji of Khilji dynasty were great kings. A new language
called Urdu was born out of mixture of Hindi, Arabic, Persian and
Turkish languages.
13) Mughal Empire(1526-1857 A.D.)
:
Babar was the founder of this
empire. Akbar, Shahjahan and Aurangazeb were the greatest
emperors of Mughal period.
Shahjahan constructed the world famous Monument Tajmahal at
Agra in memory of his wife Mumtaj and became more popular among
the Mughal Kings. Akbar raised monuments in Agra, Fatehpur Sikri,
Lahore andAllahabad.
14) The Birth of Sikh religion and the role played by them in
Indian politics:
The Sikhs played a prominent role in the history of
modern India. Gurunanak Dev preached Sikhism in the year 1499.
His teachings constitute the basic doctrines of Sikh religion known as
Guru Granth Sahib. Every Gurudwara (Temple of Sikhs) keeps the
“Guru Granth Sahib”. Guru Ramdas, GuruArjun, Guru Govind Singh,
Maharaja Ranjit Singh were the other prominent among Guru
Nanak's disciples.
Golden Temple at Amritsar:
The construction of the Golden Temple
was started by Guru Ramdas and completed by Guru Arjun Dev in
1604 A.D. It became a sacred place for Sikhs. The city of Amritsar is
the gateway to CentralAsia and Europe.
15) Arrival of Europeans to India:
At first the Portuguese came to
India followed by the Dutch, The English and the French in 1498A.D.
16) East India Company:
The British took permission from Mughal
Emperor Jahangir to enter into trade with India. They established their
factories at Surat, Agra, Madras, Hugli (Calcutta) , Machilipatnam and
Bombay. They built St. George forts at Madras and Calcutta for the
protection of their factories.
17) British East India Company:
Robert Clive
was the founder of
the British empire in India. Lord
Dalhousie,
one of the Governor
Generals of the British introduced railways, telegraph, postal system
and improved road-transport facilities to encourage trade and internal
movement of goods fromone place to another.
The first railway line from Bombay to Thane was constructed in 1853.
The British shifted their capital fromCalcutta to Delhi in the year 1911.
Lutyens, the chief Architect of British Empire, executed designs for
number of important buildings including Connaught place, Parliament
House and Rashtrapati Bhawan.
18) Indian National Movement
:
Many people in India revolted
against the British Government in 1857. The Sepoy Mutiny was a
great revolt known as the first war of Independence.
The Indian
National Congress convened a conference in 1885. The important
delegates attended the conference were Feroj Shah Mehta,
Dadabhai Naoroji, K.T.Telang and others. Thus the Indian National
Congress was born.
19) World war -I (1914-1918):
India contributed massively to the
British war effort by providing men and resources. About 1.3 million
Indian soldiers and labourers served in Europe, Africa and the Middle
East.
In August 1917, Edwin Samuel Montagu, Secretary of State for India,
made the historic announcement in British Parliament that the British
policy towards India was “Increasing association of Indians" in every
branch of administration.
20) World war-II (1939-1945):
Delayed independence for India. The
war put a stop to India's Independence plans.
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose of the
Indian National Army
(INA)
wanted to take the help of Germany and Japan to fight against the
British in India. Unfortunately Netaji died in a plane crash in 1945.
th
21) India attained independence on 15 August 1947:
Under the
leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, the first Prime Minister of
independent India was Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru. Sardar Vallabh
Bhai Patel as Home Minister was responsible for unification of India
and is known as IronMan of India.
