Q1.
We have so far placed more emphasis on the rise and decline of the leading political powers of this period. What happened to the society in the meantime?
Answer
Society did not simply wait while the kings fought — it reorganised itself, and the chapter answers the question under four heads.
| Area | What changed |
|---|---|
| Polity and administration | Large unified empires gave way to smaller decentralised kingdoms. Core regions were ruled directly; the rest through sāmantas. Direct territory was divided into provinces (bhuktis or rāṣhṭras), districts (maṇḍalas) and villages. Villages stayed largely self-governed under headmen, accountants and local committees, and from the 9th century south India saw assemblies at several levels — the Chola inscriptions at Uttaramerur record how members of the village sabhā were chosen. |
| Trade, economy and urbanisation | The land grant system expanded greatly, creating a new class of landholders — and, since many did not till the land themselves, powerful intermediaries who often exploited peasants. Grants brought waste land under cultivation; tanks, wells and ponds were sponsored (the Pallava tanks in Tamil Nadu still work). Trade flourished: small traders locally, ship-owning merchants over long distances, the west coast trading with Iran, Iraq and East Africa and the east coast with Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia and China. |
| Social life | Society “grew more complex and hence cannot be reduced to a simple description”. Jātis multiplied, many based on occupation or region; tribes, migrants and occupational groups were absorbed, while some — foreign traders, for instance — stayed outside. The system was flexible, not rigid: the Pālas and Kākatīyas are said to have been originally Śhūdras and later regarded as Kṣhatriyas. But terms like aspṛiśhya also appear, pointing to real discrimination. |
| Cultural life | Rulers patronised Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions alike; these shared concepts (dharma, karma), sacred spaces and motifs and “coexisted peacefully most of the time”. Tantric schools appeared around the 6th century; Buddhism thrived in the east under the Pālas but declined elsewhere as temple-based Hinduism and bhakti rose; Jainism stayed strong in western India and Karnataka; and the Bhakti tradition spread from the Tamil Ālvārs and Nāyanmārs across the whole society. |
Why this is the right question to ask: dynasties are the easiest history to write, because kings put up inscriptions about themselves. But most people in this period were farmers, weavers, potters and traders who never appear in a royal record. To reach them, historians read land grants, temple accounts, hero stones and merchant-guild inscriptions — which is exactly why the chapter shows you the hero stone at Eduthanur, where the inscription gives the names of a village chief and of his dog.
Tip: notice the chapter also corrects a common claim. Some historians have suggested that towns declined in this period; the chapter says “the evidence paints a different and more complex picture” — Xuanzang saw Kauśhāmbī and Śhrāvastī declining but Sthāneśhvara, Kānyakubja and Kāśhī thriving, and southern cities flourished as political, economic and religious hubs.