Lords of the Deccan Chapter 1 - Harsha's laughter - an analysis

    Though this chapter is about the war between Harsha and Pulikeshin 2 along the banks of the river Narmada, it dwells more on the origins of Chalukyas as this book is about the medieval south Indian history. The author Anirudh Kanisetti compares Harsha and Pulikeshin 2 in all their capacities from their age to physical appearances. The two main themes in this chapter are "how a king gets legitimacy" and "why wars are fought" 


Comparison of the two kings: 
    The author portrays Harsha to be an established war lord in all in his glory hailing from a prosperous kingdom while Pulikeshin 2's Deccan is portrayed as dry and less populated. Pulikeshin 2 is mentioned to be more duskier and shorter than his counterpart. The author almost makes him look like an underdog in this battle. 

Rituals and ceremonies:
   Anirudh highlights the need for rituals to proclaim the legitimacy of the king. The ashvamedha sacrifice is depicted in detail with several references. The humble beginnings of the Chalukyas who were pastoralists and cultivators in the beginning need such expensive sacrifices for gaining their legitimacy and royal status. 

Hamlet'esque story of Pulikeshin 2:
  The author compares Pulikeshin 2's story to Shakespeare's hamlet as there is a struggle for the throne after the demise of his father. It has to be noted that for a king to gain power over the kingdom the loyalty of the vassal chiefs is needed. The vassal chiefs had their mini armies and it was important for the kings to keep them in check and prevent any rebellions from them. Pulikeshin 2 had to stage a coup against his own uncle Mangalesha to seize the throne, the author claims this hard journey to attain the throne made Pulikeshin 2 stronger.

Women's status:
  The vassal chiefs were mostly men and women were captured after battles and enslaved. The women from the families of aristocrats were taken into marriage after they were defeated. Women performed in rituals, the performances included activities which were considered taboo otherwise.

Why are the wars fought:
  One of the main reason for the war between Harsha and Pulikeshin 2 is for the control of territory called Lata (place in modern Gujarat) which is in the West coast. This is in turn to control the trade through the West coast. The author also mentions wars fought in order to establish the power of the king. Power and wealth seems to be the primary reason for wars in the medieval period, which in many cases true in the modern history as well. 

 To sum up, the kings had to gain the religious approval badge in order to get the populist support, the women's condition wasn't any better, the wars were fought mainly due to greed and many lost lives in the process.

 This chapter sets the stage for this book which discusses the history of South India in detail, from Chalukyas, Pallavas to the Cholas.
It is a good read and history lovers should definitely read this book. 

Signing off - the daily prinz

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Aavesham - a Roller coaster

Image
    Fahadh Faasil has created absolute magic with his performance in his recent movie Aavesham. We've all heard his fanboys calling him the south Indian Marlon Brando or Al Pacino. But with this performance he showed what it would be like if Jim Carey acted in a gangster movie. The grace, the speed and the flamboyance, if a fan who've watched only his dramas like Maheshinte prathiharam or Njan prakashan watched aavesham, they wouldn't believe it's the same person.
Read more

Ramachandra Guha - Makers of modern India Chapter 1 The first liberal - Rammohan Roy an analysis

     This is a book about modern Indian history told by summing up the contributions of great personalities in a chronological order. The first chapter talks about Rammohan Roy, who we commonly identify with the title "Raja". Ramachandra Guha refuses to call him Raja as it is irrelevant in the post independence, Indian republic. (Article 18 of the Indian Constitution abolishes such titles)    The title of this chapter intrigued me. Rammohan Roy was called the Harbinger of modern India and the morning sun. Gopal Krishna Gokhale called him the father of modern India. But refering him as the first liberal is pretty exciting.       Ramachandra Guha addresses the three main contribution of Rammohan Roy. Which are: Relations between Men and Women, The Freedom of the Press and The Need for Modern Education. The author gives a vivid picture about the knowledge and ideology of Rammohan Roy by giving us several excerpts from his letters addressed to the British monarchy and Governor ge
Read more

Killers of the flower moon - a study

  Martin Scorsese has made a visually stunning adaptation of the book killers of the flower moon which is so compelling to watch and feels too long at the same time.  Let's talk about the director's approach first and keep the spoilers to a minimum. Marty juggles the genre of the movie between a western, a drama and a courtroom procedural with ease. The ability of the director in visual story telling is seen throughout the movie. In his interviews Marty clearly told us that this movie is not going to be in the perspective of the Osage and he did not want to portray the FBI as the Messiah. The time the director has spent in universe building in the first 30 minutes of the movie is an example of artistic excellence. There is no unnecessary exposition or voice overs or texts on the screen which Marty probably felt too old for the modern audience. Usually his movies are characterised by continuous play of nostalgic songs in the background (then he kissed me in Goodfellas, In the st
Read more