Title: A History of South India – From Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar
Author: K A Nilakanta Sastri
Publisher: Oxford University Press 1997 (First published 1955)
ISBN: 0-19-560686-8
Pages: 493
A voluminous work from the master historian of South India! Sastri has been the source of reference for many historians and hardly a book on the history of this part of India gets published without a quote from one of Sastri’s works. This book too is an illustration of the commendable scholarship that has gone behind the edifying treasure trove of knowledge. The South is often neglected in general histories of India and this book seeks to rectify this malady. The South definitely had pre-Aryan people who merged with the Aryan stream trickling in from the North. It begins with a survey of the sources from which glimpses of early southern history can be gleaned. These include writings of courtiers working under royal patronage, Buddhist and Jain monks, Arabs, Chinese, Italian, Portuguese and English traders and itinerant businessmen. The authenticity of each class of writers is given briefly.
South India had human populations from very early times. Sastri suggests an ancestry of 300,000 years which is, however, unlikely from the modern scientific viewpoint. The migration of ancient men out of Africa is dated later than 100,000 years before, but that piece of information might not have been available to Sastri who wrote this book in 1947. Traces of different races like Alpine/Armanoid, proto-Australoids and proto-Mediterraneans can be observed. Highlands of Iran and Armenia might have been the early home of present-day Dravidians. The date of migration can’t be clearly made out from the mists of prehistory. This fact is corroborated by the similarities in temple worship between the ancient Sumerians and modern Tamils. Aryanisation began around 1000 BCE, continued till the Mauryan dynasty by which time it took roots firmly on the South. The sage Agastya, who finds mention in the epics of a later era might have been a historic person who led or aided the Aryanisation process. His legends were embellished during the Pandyan rule of 9th century CE as the first grammarian of Tamil. The transformation was peaceful, gradual and touched all aspects of social life including religion, customs, politics and language. The Mauryan empire of Pataliputra enveloped large tracts of Deccan as attested by the presence of Ashoka’s rock edicts (Numbers 2 and 13) from Mysore and Andhra. Several dynasties ruled this vast area including Satavahanas, Pallavas, Cholas and Pandyas. Sastri gives detailed geneologies and family trees of the soverigns.
As can be expected from a Tamil historian, Sastri too asserts Vanji of the Cheras to be near Karur in Tamil Nadu, in contrast to locating it near Kodungallur in Kerala. The author says, “The recent archaeological excavations at this site, especially the find of Roman amphorae pieces conclusively prove the identity of modern Karur with the Vanji of the Sangam age. The attempts to locate it in at Tiruvanjaikkalam in Kerala may now be discarded” (p.124)! In that same location in Kerala too has been found Roman historical remains! A college of poets called Sangam developed in Madurai during the first two centuries CE and produced genuine pieces of local literature. Political, social and administrative life of the Tamil country is evidenced in these works. At the end of the Sangam age, around 300 CE, a night descends on the scene with the disruption of social order by the Kalabhras. Buddhism and Jainism took deep roots in South India during this period. When light dawns again in 600 CE, we find three dynasties ruling the Tamil country, the Pallavas, Pandyas and Chalukyas of Badami. They vied with each other for supremacy and internecine warfare made the situation fluent. Chola power was in the ascendant for 250 years beginning from the 9th century. Rajaraja and his worthy son, Rajendra I made the Cholas the greatest Hindu kingdom in that era. Four kingdoms arose from the ashes of the Cholas, the Pandya, Hoysala, Kakatiya and Yadava. Women also became rulers occasionally, as indicated by the ascension of Rudramba (reigned 1262-96) on the Kakatiya throne under the masculine name of Rudradeva Maharaja. Muslim invasion from the North started during this period with Malik Kafur reaching and destroying Hindu temples in Madurai and the South. Bahmani sultanate was established at Bidar. Vijayanagar’s rise didn’t stem this alien tide.
Vijayanagar arose as a war-kingdom upholding and retaining Hindu tradition. After three centuries - none of which convincingly assertive – it too went under the combined might of the Islamic forces bent upon establishing Muslim primacy in the South. Trade flourished during this period with foreign lands, including China. The scene dramatically changed with the arrival of the Portuguese in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Sastri also comes out with an extensive survey of South Indian literature. All four languages are included and is a veritable repository of reference material to students in that branch of knowledge. Even though the religion was borrowed from the North, the South more than compensated it by rich contribution to religious literature and philosophy. Bhakti movement originated in the South. Vedic exegesis by Kumarilabhatta and Prabhakara found acceptance in all parts of India. All the founders of the modern system of vedanta, Sankara, Ramanuja and Madhva were from the South. On the architectural front, Buddhist Chaityas and Viharas gradually gave way to Hindu temples. Rock-cut architecture metamorphosed into working in stone and wood. The book ends with a survey of the growth of architecture during the period of study.
The book is really worth the effort in being the prominent reference work for many generations of historians. Sastri exudes authenticity and historical accuracy. The royal lineages displayed at the end of each section is unique and adds to the value. There are no negative points to be displayed regarding the veracity of the scholarship.
The book describes many episodes during the Islamic conquests of the South which portrays the cruel and inhumane faces of bigotry. We see during Malik Kafur’s invasion of Devagiri that, “he regulated administrative affairs with commendable wisdom, though in one respect he was inexorable; he insisted on pulling down temples and erecting mosques in their place” (p.230). This is nothing, when compared to the feats of Ghiyas-ud-din Damghani against Ballala, the Hoysala monarch, as “Treating him (Ballala in 1341) at first with apparent consideration, Ghiyas-ud-din persuaded him to part with all his riches, horses and elephants; and then had him killed and flayed. His skin was stuffed with straw and hung upon the wall of Madura, where, says Ibn Batuta, ‘I saw it in the same position’ (1342)” (p.240). The Muslim monarchs treated their subjects in a cruelly partisan manner, as we see in the Bahmani kingdom that, “A less amiable side of Muhammad II’s (1378-97) character, however, is to be seen during the years of famine between 1387 and 1395, when the relief measures he organised were confined to his Muslim subjects” (p.246). Another ruler in the same line, Muhammad III Lashkari (1463-82) was even more diabolic, “he destroyed the great temple at Kondavidu, built a mosque at its site, and earned for himself the title of ghazi, by killing with his own hands the Brahmin priests of the temple” (p.256).
The book includes a prudent remark from Duarte Barbosa on Kerala; “albeit the country is but small, yet it is so full of people, that it may well be called one town from Mount Dely to Coulam (Quilon)”. He also estimates that there are about 20% Muslims on the malabar coast!
The book is a fountain-head of reference material, which is also its disadvantage. Most parts are not easy to read, with the huge load of data on literature and architecture testing the patience of the lay reader. Kerala history is rarely mentioned and is a glaring omission in a book of this calibre. A lot of personal and literary names are included with phonetic symbols thrown in, but a legend also should have been included to avoid confusion. Glorification of brahmins was one corollary of the work as he says, “In civil life, the Brahmins occupied a highly respected position. With the exception of the few who entered the state service in the army and elsewhere, they generally devoted themselves to religious and literary pursuits and stood outside the race for wealth and power” (p.318)!! The maps included in various chapters are cluttered with place names and are not properly legible. There is another flaw in the organisation of the chapters, in which the first pages of chapters 14 (literature) and 16 (architecture) are interchanged erroneously, however, this is not a printer’s error.
Even with all these positive and negative aspects, the book is recommended for any serious student of history, though not for the general and casual reader.
Rating: 2 Star
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