Prehistory & Early Dynasties of Chhattisgarh — CGPSC GS Paper I, Part 3

Weightage: Part 3 of GS Paper I is a full third of a 200-mark paper, and Prelims Paper I carries a separate Chhattisgarh section that draws on the same facts. This chapter covers the pre-Maratha half of the unit. The next chapter covers the Marathas, the British, 1857, the freedom movement and state formation.

1. Why this history needs its own frame

Chhattisgarh has no ancient name of its own. Early texts and inscriptions call the region Dakshina Kosala (South Kosala), and the epic tradition links it to Kausalya, the mother of Rama, whose name is said to derive from Kosala.

The name "Chhattisgarh" is a later one. The popular explanation is chhattis garh, "thirty-six forts", and a second derivation links it to the Chedi country. Treat both as traditions, because neither is settled. The name became the administrative label under the Marathas and the British.

The exam asks one thing again and again: which dynasty ruled from which capital, and what did it leave behind. Keep a four-part card for each line: capital, key ruler, date and monument.

2. Prehistory and early historic traces

The richest evidence is in rock art, and most of it is in Raigarh district.

• Singhanpur, Kabra Pahar, Ongna, Basnajhar and Karmagarh hold painted shelters with hunting, dancing and animal scenes. The paintings are attributed to periods from the Mesolithic onward. Kabra Pahar was documented in 1939 by D. H. Gordon.
• Sitabenga and Jogimara caves (Ramgarh hill, Sarguja) carry early Brahmi inscriptions. Sitabenga is usually described as a very early theatre-like cave, and both are dated to about the Mauryan period.
• Sirpur yielded Buddhist material, and the Chinese traveller Xuanzang, who visited Kosala around the seventh century, records Ashokan stupas in the region.

Give the district with every site. Raigarh for rock shelters and Sarguja for the Ramgarh caves cover most questions.

3. Ancient dynasties: a comparison table

Rajarshitulya. The Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudragupta names Mahendra of Kosala among the southern kings he defeated and then reinstated, a contact often linked to this period. The Arang plate of Bhimasena II shows the family ruling under Gupta influence.

Nalas. They ruled the Bastar and Koraput area from Pushkari. Bhavadattavarman issued the Rithapur plates and raided the Vakataka king Narendrasena. Skandavarman revived the kingdom and, by the Podagarh record, built a Vishnu temple. Vilasatunga's inscription at Rajim, dated to about the eighth century, records the Rajivalochana temple and is usually linked to a later Nala king.

Sharabhapuriyas. They issued copper-plate grants and, in Prasannamatra's case, gold coins bearing a garuda. They style themselves Parama-Bhagavata, marking them as Vaishnava.

Panduvamshis of Kosala. Mahashivagupta Balarjuna was the greatest king, a Shaiva who presided over Sirpur's golden age, and Harshagupta's queen Vasata built the Lakshmana temple at Sirpur. That brick temple is the standard exam answer for early Chhattisgarh architecture.

Sirpur is the heritage centre of the period. It has Shaiva and Vaishnava temples and Buddhist viharas, and it shows the tolerance that the Panduvamshi kings are credited with.

4. The Kalachuris of Ratanpur and Raipur

The Kalachuris ruled most of the region from the eleventh century. A branch of the Kalachuris of Tripuri moved into Kosala and, under Kalingaraja (about 1000), set up an independent line with its early seat at Tummana, near Bilaspur.

Ratnadeva I founded Ratnapura (Ratanpur) about the middle of the eleventh century, and it became the capital. Jajalladeva I is remembered as the first strongly independent ruler, and Janjgir is linked with his name. Inscriptions in the Kalachuri era, which begins in 248 CE, record the dynasty's grants.

The kingdom was divided into garhs, or fort-districts. Traditional accounts describe thirty-six of them, eighteen under Ratanpur and eighteen under the Raipur branch, and the number is often used to explain the state's name. Each garh grouped villages under an official.

The Raipur branch emerged around the fourteenth century and shifted its seat to Raipur. The senior line ended with Mohan Singh, remembered as the last independent ruler, around 1758. The Maratha takeover is dated between the first raids of 1740-41 and 1758.

The Kalachuris were Shaiva but patronised Vaishnava and other shrines. Ratanpur's Mahamaya temple and the temples around Janjgir and Rajim are the associated monuments.

5. The other regional lines

Nagas and Kakatiyas of Bastar. The Chindaka Nagas ruled Bastar from about 1023 to the early fourteenth century, when Kakatiya princes from Warangal, led by Annamadeva in the traditional account, established a line that ruled Bastar until independence. Their clan goddess is Danteshwari at Dantewada.

Kawardha and the Phanivanshis. The Phani-Nagavanshi line built the Bhoramdeo temple in the eleventh century, often called the "Khajuraho of Chhattisgarh" for its sculpture.

The feudatory states. By the British period fourteen states existed (Bastar, Kanker, Nandgaon, Khairagarh, Chhuikhadan, Kawardha, Raigarh, Sarangarh, Sakti, Jashpur, Udaipur, Surguja, Korea and Changbhakar). Their integration is in the next chapter.

Worked example 5.1 (a 15-mark answer, ~175 words). "Discuss the Kalachuris of Ratanpur and their contribution to Chhattisgarh."

Model answer. The Kalachuris of Ratanpur were an offshoot of the Kalachuris of Tripuri who took over Dakshina Kosala around 1000 under Kalingaraja, first ruling from Tummana.

Ratnadeva I founded Ratnapura in the eleventh century, and Jajalladeva I made the line strongly independent. Their records use the Kalachuri era of 248 CE. The Raipur branch emerged in the fourteenth century.

Administratively, the kingdom was organised into garhs, traditionally thirty-six, which is the popular basis of the name Chhattisgarh. Culturally, the dynasty patronised Shaiva and Vaishnava shrines, including Ratanpur's Mahamaya temple.

Politically, the senior line ended with Mohan Singh in the mid-eighteenth century when Bhonsle rule replaced it. The dynasty thus gave the region its political shape and its name for seven centuries.

Common traps CGPSC sets here

• Placing all dynasties at Sirpur. Sharabhapuriya and Panduvamshi are the Sirpur lines. Rajarshitulya was at Arang, and the Nalas were at Pushkari in Bastar.
• Mixing up the Nalas' area. They were a Bastar dynasty, not a Sirpur dynasty.
• Calling Sharabhapuriyas Shaiva. They were Vaishnava, and Mahashivagupta's Panduvamshis were Shaiva.
• Treating the 36 garhs as an etymology proved. It is the popular explanation.
• Confusing the two Kalachuri lines. Tripuri (near Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh) is the parent, and Ratanpur is the Chhattisgarh branch.

Memory aids

• "Raja-Nala-Sharabha-Pandu-Kalachuri": the dynasty order.
• "Arang, Pushkari, Sirpur, Sirpur, Ratanpur": their capitals in the same order.
• "Vasata built Lakshmana": the Sirpur brick temple.

Summary

Chhattisgarh was Dakshina Kosala in ancient records. Its rock art is concentrated in Raigarh, and its early dynasties were the Rajarshitulyas at Arang, the Nalas at Pushkari, the Sharabhapuriyas and Panduvamshis at Sirpur, and the Somavamshis in Kosala.

The Kalachuris of Ratanpur, followed by their Raipur branch, ruled through garhs until the Maratha takeover of 1741 to 1758. In Bastar, the Nagas gave way to the Kakatiyas.

Exam protocol

• Give every dynasty as capital, ruler, date and monument.
• Separate Sirpur's two dynasties by religion: Vaishnava Sharabhapuriya, Shaiva Panduvamshi.
• Label the 36 garhs and other name explanations as traditions.