Ancient and Medieval Historical rivalry in India

Rivalry in India

War is nearly synonymous to rivalry. India taught both War and Peace to the world. Here we have the history of Rivaling states in Ancient and Medieval India. Rivalry here means serious Envy, hunger, anger, and competition. 

 I can't really tell you all these are true. I've just listed down all those that came to my mind. 

1. Sudas-Anu: Sudas was a kingdom in North Western India. It guarded Bharatvarsh (the subcontinent) during an ancient crisis. It fought against 9 other kingdoms led by its rival, the Anu. This is mentioned in the Rig Veda. 

2. Avanti - Magadha:  Avanti in Madhya Desa and Magadha in Eastern India were two of the most powerful kingdoms in 6th Century BCE India. They were warring states. King Sishunaga of Magadha defeated Avanti. 

3. Post Mauryan struggles: After the fall of the Mauryan Empire, several kingdoms rose in their place but none of them could get as powerful as the Mauryan Empire. So, there was definitely some amount of Vacuum, so to fill this many nomadic tribes entered India including the Parthians, and Bactrians from Persia; and Sakas, and Kushanas from China. They kept warring in India for control over the subcontinent. This continued till the rise of the Gupta empire.

 

4. Gupta - Huna : After the Guptas rose to power, there was opposition from the west in the form of Hunas who controlled many cities of the Guptas. Toramana became the leader of the Hunas after the Second Gupta ruler. The Guptas pinched into the heart of India and the Guptas became weaker. Interestingly, the Chinese Han rule also weakened. Finally, under the ruler of Skanda Gupta, the Hunas were permanently driven away.

5. Pushyabhuti - Gauda: The Pushyabhuti dynasty of Sthanisvara(Tanesar) originated from the Gupta line through complicated systems. The King of Pushyabhuti was Prabhakaravardhana who had two sons, Harsha Vardhana and Rajyavardhana. This dynasty was related to both the second Gupta line and the Maukharis of Kanyakubja (Kanauj). Rajyavardhana's wife Rajyasri belonged to the Maukharis so the Pushyabhutis and Maukharis allied. The envious kings of the Guptas kidnapped Rajyasri and became foes of this alliance. The Guptas allied with Shashanka of Gauda(Bengal). So the alliances went into constant rivalries and war. After long tension, Harsha became Emperor of North India. 

6. Pallava - Chalukya - Rashtrakuta: Pallavas dominated the Peninsula soon after the demise of the Satavahanas. This continued till the rise of Chalukyas who started competing with Pallavas from 6th Century AD. This rivalry was unrivaled for about 300 years. Rashtrakutas, another dynasty broke away from the Chalukyas and started supporting the Pallavas. This went on till about early 9th Century after which only the Rashtrakutas survived with extinct Empires being reborn from the Tamil Region and the Rashtrakutas extended their control to Northern and Central India. 

  

Mahabalipuram, temple complex of Pallavas

Badami, Chalukya

7. Pala - Gurjara-Pratihara - Rashtrakuta: After the death of Harsha, Kanauj was the most important city in the Subcontinent. Many empires tried to assert their dominance over Kanauj. In Bengal, the Pala Empire rose after Shashanka's death. In the west, the Gurjara Pratiharas rose to power and in the South, Rashtrakutas were powerful. The struggle between the three parties were called the Tripartite Struggle of Kanauj and in 8th Century, Dhruva Dharavarsha of Rashtrakuta dynasty defeated the other two kings, but the frontiers still remained dynamic. 

8. Chola - Pandya - Chera: The struggle was called the Muventar in Tamil. While the Cholas were centred around Uraiyur and Tanjavur; the Pandyas were centred around Madurai. The Cheras were almost entirely within the Malabar Coast. These were ancient group of Kingdoms which in 3rd-5th Century contributed to the Sangam Literature. They rose back in around 9th Century. Around 10th Century, the Cholas were in their peak under the rule of Raja Raja and Rajendra. In 13th Century, the Cholas lost their empire to the Pandyas amd within a century all three empires fell. 

 

9. Ghori - Chauhan : This struggle involved majorly two people and two parties. The brave warrior Prithviraj Chauhan, the Chauhan King and Mohammed Ghori of Ghurid Empire. The First battle of Tarain ended with defeat of Ghori while the second with the execution of Prithviraj. This event changed Indian history causing Muslim invaders to settle permanently in Hindustan.

10. Yadava - Kakatiya : These two kingdoms in the Deccan were in constant conflict with one another, and the conflict ended when Warangal and Devagiri were annexed by the Delhi Sultans.

11. Mughal - Rajput : Being ardent Hindus, the Rajputs defended India from Arab, Afghan, and Turk rule several times. Even when Muslims held Empires here, they frequently went to war. Rajput clans include Solanki, Chahman (Chauhan), Parmar, and Pratihar. They fought with Ghoris, Mamluk, Khilji, Tuqlaq, Sayyids, and Lodis. When the Mughals established their rule, the Rajputs fought with Babur, Humayun, as well as Akbar. We know very well about the wars between Maharana Pratap and Akbar.

Maharana Pratap

Akbar

12. Suri - Mughal : During reigns of Humayun, and Akbar, the Suris, Adil Shah and Sher Shah fought wars with them. Sher Shah Suri also disturbed the rule of Humayun, and Akbar re-established the Mughal supremacy.

13. Vijayanagara - Portuguese : In 1498, Vasco Da Gama landed in India in Calicut of Malabar Coast. The Malabar and Konkan coasts were controlled by the Saluva Kings of Vijayanagara Dynasty. While the Portuguese plundered towns and converted captives into Christians, the Canarese Kings along with Keralite Kings quelled these attacks.

Aurangzeb

14. Mughal - Maratha : Shivaji established the Maratha Empire to protect Hindustan from the Mughals and this caused weaking of the Mughal Empire during the regime of Aurangzeb, one of the most despotic conservative Mohammedan ruler. This rivalry was very crucial in Indian history.

Shivaji

15. Sikh - Mughal : Another rival of Aurangzeb was Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Guru of the Sikhs. He worked with similar motives as Shivaji.

Guru Gobind Singh

After a lot of wars, under Aurangzeb, the British lost large territories. After his death in 1707, the British gained power and the modern era started.