Kingship in early Medieval India
by Sudip Narayan Maitra | 2015 | 67,940 words
This thesis is called: Kingship in early Medieval India: A comparative study of the Cholas and the Eastern Gangas. It represents a detailed empirical study of “kingship and polity� of two broad deltaic alluvial stretch of land on the “eastern coast�, namely ‘Mahanadi� and ‘Kaveri� delta. These were among the main centers of political and cultural a...
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Part 4 - The Genealogies (of the Kaveri Delta and the Cholas)
The genealogies with the gotra name or vamsa name like Suryavamsa or Candravamsa, or connections to worthy ancestors, as Romila Thapar suggests, often constitute an important tool for claiming the authority and effective use of the past.[1] In accordance with the Sastra practice, later grants of land charters, the donor name came always with his ancestor’s name and achievements. This establishes the strength, deep rootedness and continuity of that dynasty by mentioning the past mythical heroes and their deeds. These in turn provide ideological and political validation of that rule on a particular landscape.
The Chola genealogy similarly represents their early heroes and their great deeds. They accepted and appreciated the use of genealogy as done by the other dynasties of the Deep South. They were also keen to not to highlight the unsuccessful episodes of their rule. The period between the end of Parantaka’s reign 955 A.D. and the beginning of Rajaraja I’s rule in 985 A.D., was not mentioned clearly.