The polity of Gurjar ran from c. 730 to 1030 CE with its territory spanning approximately 1 million square kilometres; roughly corresponding to a slightly smaller area than the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar combined.
[1]
There has been no information could be found in the sources consulted regarding the polity’s overall population, but the imperial capital of Kanauj is thought to have had a population of 80,000 people at its peak in 810 - 950 CE.
[1]: (Keay 2000: 198) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HSHAKZ3X.
| 80,000 people | 810 CE 950 CE |
| 72,000 people | 951 CE 1030 CE |
| 1,000,000 km2 |
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| Year Range | Gurjar-Pratihara Dynasty (in_gurjara_pratihara_dyn) was in: |
|---|---|
| (810 CE 1030 CE) | Middle Ganga |
km2. Roughly corresponding to a slightly smaller area than the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar combined. Based on a map in Keay (2000). [1]
[1]: (Keay 2000: 198) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HSHAKZ3X.
The Arthaśāstra, which "probably arose in the first half of the first millennium AD" but probably largely "derive[s] from older handbooks" includes instructions for the proper layout of cities, including "public edifices such as treasuries, storehouses for material and food, arsenals, and prisons". [1]
[1]: (Schlingloff 2013: 15) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DAMFF2NV.
The Arthaśāstra, which "probably arose in the first half of the first millennium AD" but probably largely "derive[s] from older handbooks" includes instructions for the proper layout of cities, including "public edifices such as treasuries, storehouses for material and food, arsenals, and prisons". [1]
[1]: (Schlingloff 2013: 15) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DAMFF2NV.
Buddhist, Jain and Hindu texts, including commentaries.
The Arthaśāstra, which "probably arose in the first half of the first millennium AD" but probably largely "derive[s] from older handbooks" includes instructions for the proper layout of cities, including "public edifices such as treasuries, storehouses for material and food, arsenals, and prisons". [1]
[1]: (Schlingloff 2013: 15) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DAMFF2NV.
Kautilya’s Arthasastra contains a chapter title "Measurement of Space and Time." [1] The Arthaśāstra "probably arose in the first half of the first millennium AD" but probably largely "derive[s] from older handbooks". [2] Moreover, in the preceding Gupta period, "The length of the solar year was calculated with a precision which even the Greeks had not yet achieved". [3]
[1]: (Subramaniam 2001, 79) Subramaniam, V. in Farazmand, Ali. ed. 2001. Handbook of Comparative and Development Public Administration. CRC Press.
[2]: (Schlingloff 2013: 15) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DAMFF2NV.
[3]: (Keay 2010, 153) Keay, John. 2010. India: A History. New Updated Edition. London: HarperPress. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HSHAKZ3X.
Reference for Kanauj in the 7th century CE: The city of Kanauj under Harsha was "a magnificent, well-fortified city". [1] Were there any stone walls?
[1]: (Sen 1999, 259) Sailendra Nath Sen. 1999. Ancient Indian History and Civilization. Second Edition. New Age International (P) Limited, Publishers. New Delhi.
Commenting on Jean Deloche’s ’Studies on Fortification in India’ a book reviewer says that fort construction "with long-term building and modification programs ... became the focal point for local populations as well as for their leaders" and often were "placed at points on the landscape that already were natural strongholds and places of ritual devolution". [1]
[1]: (Smith 2010, 273) Monica L Smith. January 2010. Journal of the American Oriental Society. 130.2. Studies on Fortification in India. Collection Indologie, vol. 104. Four Forts of the Deccan vol. 111. Senji (Gingee): A Fortified City in the Tamil Country. vol. 101 by Jean Deloche.
"Deloche notes that between the third and fourteenth centuries, the Hindu rulers constructed complex gateways, towers and thicker walls with earthen embankments in order to make their durgas (forts) impregnable." [1] Deloche’s studies on Indian fortifications are in French.
[1]: (Roy 2011, 123) Kaushik Roy. Historiographical Survey of the Writings on Indian Military History. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya. ed. 2011. Approaches to History: Essays in Indian Historiography. Primus Books. Delhi.
Referring to a period of time that appears to begin with the Mauryan era and include the first millennium CE:"The royal residence is designated with an old name the “interior city” (antaḥpura) and is described as being just as fortified as the city itself. There are even expressions where the palace wall is confused with the city wall and the castle gate with the city gate. Nonetheless, it would be a false conclusion were one to consider the royal residence, on the strength of this description, to be a citadel. We know from the narrative literature that it was easy to negotiate the moat and wall of the king’s palace by means of a pole or rope. The palace wall formed a police and not a military protection. Once besiegers had breached the city wall, the city lay at their feet. There was no last stand for the palace."". [1]
[1]: (Schlingloff 2013: 47) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DAMFF2NV.
Ancient Indian armies had siege engines that could "fling stones and lead balls wrapped up in burning materials. The Mahabharata mentions an Asma-yantra (a stone-throwing machine) in the battle with Jarasandha and we have further records that such engines were used in later periods to set enemy fortifications alight and that ’liquid fires’ containing naphtha were in use in ancient India." [1]
[1]: (Forbes 1959, 88-89) Robert James Forbes. 1959. More studies in early petroleum history. Brill Archive.
Reference for northern India in the 7th century CE: According to Hiuen Tsang (quoted here) the Harsha infantry had ’slings’ and had been ’drilled in them for generations.’ [1] "The period between the post-Gupta era and the Islamic invasions is generally regarded as a sort of ’quasi Dark Age’ in India ... military historian U. P. Thapliyal asserts that after AD 500, there were no innovations in the theory and practice of warfare." [2] Kaushik Roy disagrees with this evaluation but I presume with respect to the idea of a lack of new innovation.
[1]: (Sen 1999, 257) Sailendra Nath Sen. 1999. Ancient Indian History and Civilization. Second Edition. New Age International (P) Limited, Publishers. New Delhi.
[2]: (Roy 2013, 27) Kaushik Roy. 2013 Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. London.
"The Hindus used bows made of cane or bamboos which were inferior in range, accuracy and penetrative power when compared to the composite bows." [1]
[1]: (Roy 2011, 122) Kaushik Roy. Historiographical Survey of the Writings on Indian Military History. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya. ed. 2011. Approaches to History: Essays in Indian Historiography. Primus Books. Delhi.
Reference for northern India in the 7th century CE: According to Hiuen Tsang (quoted here) the Harsha infantry had ’long javelins’ and had been ’drilled in them for generations.’ [1] "The period between the post-Gupta era and the Islamic invasions is generally regarded as a sort of ’quasi Dark Age’ in India ... military historian U. P. Thapliyal asserts that after AD 500, there were no innovations in the theory and practice of warfare." [2] Kaushik Roy disagrees with this evaluation but I presume with respect to the idea of a lack of new innovation.
[1]: (Sen 1999, 257) Sailendra Nath Sen. 1999. Ancient Indian History and Civilization. Second Edition. New Age International (P) Limited, Publishers. New Delhi.
[2]: (Roy 2013, 27) Kaushik Roy. 2013 Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. London.
"The hand crossbow was used on Indian battlefields probably from the third century A.D. It was mainly used as an infantry weapon and occasionally as a cavalry weapon. A Sanskrit inscription at Avanthipuram, in South India, reads: ’... Of him who has the name of Ananta impelled with speed and skillfully discharged from the machines of his bow fitted with the well stretched string....’ Obviously, the machine referred to was a hand crossbow." [1] Reads like a general reference that also applies to northern India.
[1]: (Phillips 2016) Henry Pratap Phillips. 2016. The History and Chronology of Gunpowder and Gunpowder Weapons (c.1000 to 1850). Notion Press.
The composite bow came to India with the Kushanas but "after the collapse of the Gupta Empire, the use of composite bows died out in India." [1]
[1]: (Roy 2011, 122) Kaushik Roy. Historiographical Survey of the Writings on Indian Military History. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya. ed. 2011. Approaches to History: Essays in Indian Historiography. Primus Books. Delhi.
"The period between the post-Gupta era and the Islamic invasions is generally regarded as a sort of ’quasi Dark Age’ in India ... military historian U. P. Thapliyal asserts that after CE 500, there were no innovations in the theory and practice of warfare." [1] This is a post-Gupta era polity so if the Guptas used the war club and there was no major shift in weaponry until the Islamic invasion then the war club was probably still in use at this time.
[1]: (Roy 2013, 27) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/X24V7ZAD.
Reference for northern India in the 7th century CE: According to Hiuen Tsang (quoted here) some of the Harsha infantry ’carry sabres and swords’. [1] The foot soldiers of the Pala Empire after 750 CE - the core of which was located in the southern reaches of the Ganges Basin to the east of this polity and at its height possessed territory all the way to Afghanistan - used spears, swords, and shields. [2]
[1]: (Sen 1999, 257) Sailendra Nath Sen. 1999. Ancient Indian History and Civilization. Second Edition. New Age International (P) Limited, Publishers. New Delhi.
[2]: (Lomazoff and Ralby 2013) Amanda Lomazoff. Aaron Ralby. 2013. The Atlas of Military History. Simon and Schuster. San Diego.
Reference for northern India in the 7th century CE: According to Hiuen Tsang (quoted here) the Harsha infantry had a ’long spear’. [1] The foot soldiers of the Pala Empire after 750 CE - the core of which was located in the southern reaches of the Ganges Basin to the east of this polity and at its height possessed territory all the way to Afghanistan - used spears, swords, and shields. [2]
[1]: (Sen 1999, 257) Sailendra Nath Sen. 1999. Ancient Indian History and Civilization. Second Edition. New Age International (P) Limited, Publishers. New Delhi.
[2]: (Lomazoff and Ralby 2013) Amanda Lomazoff. Aaron Ralby. 2013. The Atlas of Military History. Simon and Schuster. San Diego.
Reference for northern India in the 7th century CE: According to Hiuen Tsang (quoted here) some of the Harsha infantry had ’lances, halberds’ and had been ’drilled in them for generations.’ [1] "The period between the post-Gupta era and the Islamic invasions is generally regarded as a sort of ’quasi Dark Age’ in India ... military historian U. P. Thapliyal asserts that after AD 500, there were no innovations in the theory and practice of warfare." [2] Kaushik Roy disagrees with this evaluation but I presume with respect to the idea of a lack of new innovation.
[1]: (Sen 1999, 257) Sailendra Nath Sen. 1999. Ancient Indian History and Civilization. Second Edition. New Age International (P) Limited, Publishers. New Delhi.
[2]: (Roy 2013, 27) Kaushik Roy. 2013 Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. London.
"The period between the post-Gupta era and the Islamic invasions is generally regarded as a sort of ’quasi Dark Age’ in India ... military historian U. P. Thapliyal asserts that after CE 500, there were no innovations in the theory and practice of warfare." [1] This is a post-Gupta era polity so if the Guptas used daggers and there was no major shift in weaponry until the Islamic invasion then daggers were probably still in use at this time.
[1]: (Roy 2013, 27) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/X24V7ZAD.
Reference for northern India in the 7th century CE: According to Hiuen Tsang (quoted here) some of the Harsha infantry had ’Battle axes’ and had been ’drilled in them for generations.’ [1] "The period between the post-Gupta era and the Islamic invasions is generally regarded as a sort of ’quasi Dark Age’ in India ... military historian U. P. Thapliyal asserts that after AD 500, there were no innovations in the theory and practice of warfare." [2] Kaushik Roy disagrees with this evaluation but I presume with respect to the idea of a lack of new innovation.
[1]: (Sen 1999, 257) Sailendra Nath Sen. 1999. Ancient Indian History and Civilization. Second Edition. New Age International (P) Limited, Publishers. New Delhi.
[2]: (Roy 2013, 27) Kaushik Roy. 2013 Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. London.
Elephants most common in Bengal, Kamrupa and Orissa and were very effective on the forested river plain. [1] "But there can be little doubt that war-elephants were not used in the same numbers under the Islamic dynasties of India as they were in the early medieval period and before. We have seen that the Arabic sources described the most important ninth- and tenth-century Hindu dynasties as equipped with tens of thousands or more elephants of various kinds. Although it is unlikely that these numbers indicated war-elephants in a state of readiness - they probably included the guessed number of untamed and half-tamed ones -, and although some of the figures are contradictory, they are larger than those of later times." [2]
[1]: (Roy 2013, 30) Kaushik Roy. 2013 Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Wink 1997, 102-103) Andre Wink. 1997. Al-Hind. The Making of the Indo-Islamic World. Volume II. The Slave Kings and the Islamic Conquest 11th-13th Centuries. BRILL. Leiden.
In ancient India the buffalo, bullock, yak, goat, camel, elephant, horse, ass and the mule were all used for transport [1] [2] in different regions according to local conditions. [2]
[1]: (Mishra 1987, 83) Kamal Kishore Mishra. 1987. Police Administration in Ancient India. Mittal Publications. Delhi.
[2]: Prakash Charan Prasad. 1977. Foreign Trade and Commerce in Ancient India. Abhinav Publications. New Delhi.
In ancient India the buffalo, bullock, yak, goat, camel, elephant, horse, ass and the mule were all used for transport [1] [2] in different regions according to local conditions. [2]
[1]: (Mishra 1987, 83) Kamal Kishore Mishra. 1987. Police Administration in Ancient India. Mittal Publications. Delhi.
[2]: Prakash Charan Prasad. 1977. Foreign Trade and Commerce in Ancient India. Abhinav Publications. New Delhi.
Reference for northern India in the 7th century CE: According to Hiuen Tsang (quoted here) the Harsha infantry had a ’big shield’. [1] The foot soldiers of the Pala Empire after 750 CE - the core of which was located in the southern reaches of the Ganges Basin to the east of this polity and at its height possessed territory all the way to Afghanistan - used spears, swords, and shields. [2]
[1]: (Sen 1999, 257) Sailendra Nath Sen. 1999. Ancient Indian History and Civilization. Second Edition. New Age International (P) Limited, Publishers. New Delhi.
[2]: (Lomazoff and Ralby 2013) Amanda Lomazoff. Aaron Ralby. 2013. The Atlas of Military History. Simon and Schuster. San Diego.
Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written after 200 BCE, mentions metal fabric, metal plate, cuirass, corselet, and breast plate. [1] According to Kamandaka’s Nitisara c650 CE elephants were equipped with iron plates. [2] There is no scholarly agreement on the date of Kamandaka’s Nitisara (an advice for rulers genre text) which is "the principal source for understanding the norms and techniques of warfare in north India". It is dated by different scholars to between 400-550 CE, 500-700 CE, or as late as 800 CE. Kaushik Roy suggests the post-Harsha period. [3] Soldiers of the Pala Empire after 750 CE - the core of which was located in the southern reaches of the Ganges Basin to the east of this polity and at its height possessed territory all the way to Afghanistan - wore plate armour and conical-shaped helmets. [4]
[1]: (Olivelle 2016, 142-143) Patrick Olivelle trans. 2016. King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya’s Arthasastra. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Roy 2013, 29) Kaushik Roy. 2013 Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. London.
[3]: (Roy 2012, 137) Kaushik Roy. 2012. Hinduism and the Ethics of Warfare in South Asia: From Antiquity to the Present. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[4]: (Lomazoff and Ralby 2013) Amanda Lomazoff. Aaron Ralby. 2013. The Atlas of Military History. Simon and Schuster. San Diego.
"The period between the post-Gupta era and the Islamic invasions is generally regarded as a sort of ’quasi Dark Age’ in India ... military historian U. P. Thapliyal asserts that after CE 500, there were no innovations in the theory and practice of warfare." [1] This is a post-Gupta era polity so if the Guptas used limb protection and there was no major shift in weaponry until the Islamic invasion then limb protection was probably still in use at this time.
[1]: (Roy 2013, 27) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/X24V7ZAD.
According to a military historian, thick turbans could be used to protect heads [1] - do ancient Indian specialists agree and does it apply to this polity? According to Kamandaka’s Nitisara c650 CE elephants were equipped with leather armour. [2] There is no scholarly agreement on the date of Kamandaka’s Nitisara (an advice for rulers genre text) which is "the principal source for understanding the norms and techniques of warfare in north India". It is dated by different scholars to between 400-550 CE, 500-700 CE, or as late as 800 CE. Kaushik Roy suggests the post-Harsha period. [3] Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written after 200 BCE, mentions "dense structures made of the skin, hooves, and horns/tusks of the river dolphin, rhinocerous, Dhenuka, and cattle" used as armor. [4] Harsha’s army 7th century CE: "Bana describes the cavaliers as dressed in tunics, waistband and trousers. At that time, the Indians knew how to make garments from flax, linen, cotton and silk." [5]
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 220) Gabriel, Richard A. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Greenwood Publishing Group.
[2]: (Roy 2013, 29) Kaushik Roy. 2013 Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. London.
[3]: (Roy 2012, 137) Kaushik Roy. 2012. Hinduism and the Ethics of Warfare in South Asia: From Antiquity to the Present. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[4]: (Olivelle 2016, 142-143) Patrick Olivelle trans. 2016. King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya’s Arthasastra. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[5]: (Roy 2012, 134) Kaushik Roy. 2012. Hinduism and the Ethics of Warfare in South Asia: From Antiquity to the Present. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
According to a military historian, thick turbans could be used to protect heads [1] - do ancient Indian specialists agree and does it apply to this polity? Soldiers of the Pala Empire after 750 CE - the core of which was located in the southern reaches of the Ganges Basin to the east of this polity and at its height possessed territory all the way to Afghanistan - wore plate armour and conical-shaped helmets. [2]
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 220) Gabriel, Richard A. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Greenwood Publishing Group.
[2]: (Lomazoff and Ralby 2013) Amanda Lomazoff. Aaron Ralby. 2013. The Atlas of Military History. Simon and Schuster. San Diego.
Gupta period soldiers who could afford to do so and were willing to bear the heat (or for night operations?) wore chain mail. [1] Does this data apply to this period? "military historian U. P. Thapliyal asserts that after AD 500, there were no innovations in the theory and practice of warfare." [2] Kaushik Roy disagreed but I don’t think he meant they stopped using previous innovations like chain mail.
[1]: (Rowell 2015 89) Rebecca Rowell. 2015. Ancient India. Abdo Publishing. Minneapolis.
[2]: (Roy 2013, 27) Kaushik Roy. 2013 Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. London.
Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written after 200 BCE, mentions a breastplate. [1] "The period between the post-Gupta era and the Islamic invasions is generally regarded as a sort of ’quasi Dark Age’ in India ... military historian U. P. Thapliyal asserts that after AD 500, there were no innovations in the theory and practice of warfare." [2] Kaushik Roy disagrees with this evaluation but I presume with respect to the idea of a lack of new innovation.
[1]: (Olivelle 2016, 142-143) Patrick Olivelle trans. 2016. King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya’s Arthasastra. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Roy 2013, 27) Kaushik Roy. 2013 Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. London.