Tripartite Struggle

Tripartite Struggle

Pala, Pratihara & Rashtrakuta

After the demise of Pushyabhuti dynasty and defeat of Pulakeshin II, a vacuum was created in the North and Central India. By 750 AD, three dynasties emerged to fill the void. They are -

1. Pala dynasty (in the East - Bihar, Bengal)
2. Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty (in the West - Rajasthan and some parts of Pakistan also)
3. Rashtrakuta dynasty (in the Central India)

Pala dynasty 

• Founder - Gopal by 750 AD
• Most important ruler - Dharma Pala
• Dharma Pala granted 200 villages to Nalanda University for its maintenance.
• He was also the founder of Vikramshila University, Odantapuri University and Somapura Mahavira.
• Palas were the followers of Buddhism.
• During their tenure miniature painting started in India.

Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty 

• The initial ruler of this dynasty was Nagabhatta. 
• It is said about him that he repealed one Arab invader from Western side.
• The most important ruler of this dynasty was Mihir Bhoja.
• He was the devotee of Lord Vishnu and took the title of 'Adivarah'.
• He also initiated the construction of Gurjara style of temple in the West (it is some type of Nagara style of temple architecture).
• During this time, Gurjara created the strongest cavalry. They procured very good quality of horses from Central Asia.
• Gurjaras were the devotee of Lakshman (Lakshman is known as Pratihara).

Rashtrakuta dynasty 

• Founder - Danti Durga
• The second ruler of this dynasty was Krishna I.
• He created Kailash Nath Temple of Ellora. It is a monolith temple (created from a single stone). It is considered as one of the architectural wonder of India for the following reason -

1. Top-down approach was followed in the construction of Kailash Nath Temple, i.e., first top is constructed then the bottom was created as per the dream that Krishna I's wife saw who was the devotee of Lord Shiva and Parvati.
2. It can not be constructed in such a short span of time even in this modern world by using modern machines.
3. Rocks removed while construction have not been found anywhere.

• Most important ruler - Amoghvarsha
• He patronise Kannad language and he himself wrote the first poetic in Kannad, Kaviraj Marg.
• Perhaps, he was the second monarch from ancient India who performed Sallekhana/Santhara (1st monarch who performed Sallekhana was Chandragupta Maurya).

Tripartite struggle- There was a tripartite struggle between these three dynasties to control Kannauj in which finally Pratiharas emerged victorious.

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Note - This is my Vision IAS Notes (Vision IAS Class Notes) and Ashutosh Pandey Sir's Public Administration Class notes. I've also added some of the information on my own. 

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