A Study on Political Situation of India at the time of Arab Invasion

At the time of the Arab invasion, the political situation in India had a lot of ups and downs. A great era of Indian history came to an end with the fall of the Gupta Empire in the last phase of the sixth century. The fall of the Gupta Empire had far-reaching political consequences. Most importantly, Magadha remained the focal point of India's political gravity for more than a thousand years, but with the decline of the Gupta Empire, Magadha lost that importance and is now the political power of North India. Kannauj became the focal point of. The importance of Kanauj also rose the most in the beginning of the 7th century with the accession of Harsha to the throne of Kanauj, leading to a struggle between the three powers of India for almost a century to establish its suzerainty.


Introduction
The immediate result of the fall of a great empire is that after its fall, various centers of independent power arise and the same result was followed by the fall of the Gupta Empire, in which many independent centers of political power emerged in different parts of the whole of India. Happened. As a result, the multi-state system was born in India. Many demerits were present in this multi-state system, yet this multi-state system was the foundation of the political, social and economic life of this era. Along with political changes, extensive social and economic changes also took place in this era. The caste system became overly complex and the society became orthodox. The signs of the decline of the economy began to appear and the roots of socialism began to strengthen everywhere.
The political unity of North-India remained intact to some extent till the reign of Harshavardhana. But after the death of Harshavardhana (647 AD), both his dynasty and the kingdom were destroyed and a state of political anarchy prevailed in the whole of India. In this background, new dynasties and states got the opportunity to rise. Most of the states that existed in India at the time of the invasion of Muhammad-bin-Qasim emerged in this period. As a result, in this dark era of political instability, new political forces were emerging like meteors.
During the Arab invasion of Sindh in 711 AD under the leadership of Muhammad-bin-Qasim, the political situation in India was very serious and thought-provoking. India was divided into many small states. The last Hindu emperor Harshavardhana (606 AD -647 AD) was successful in establishing his rule in the whole of North India. But after his death, political chaos again arose in North India. In North India, Kashmir, Nepal, Assam, Kandahar, Sindh, Malwa, Gujarat, Ujjain, Ajmer, Kannauj, Mahoba, Chedi and Bengal were under independent rulers. There was also a lack of sovereign power in South India, there were also many small independent states which were under the Hoysalas, Yadavas, Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Kadambas, Gangas, Kakatiyas, Pallavas, Pandyas, Cholas, Chedi dynasties. These states were imperialistic and were expanding their respective borders. As a result, mutual animosity and bitterness were natural among them and they always struggled to establish their influence and dominance over each other. In the absence of political unity, they were completely unable to face any foreign invader. On the geographical basis, the political powers of the then India can be divided into four parts -(a) the states of the Himalayan region (b) the states of Sindh and the Gangetic plain (c) the states of South India and (d) the states of the far south. There was an era of monarchy, in which the king was the head. The position of the king was hereditary. Often he used to choose his successor during his lifetime. which was acceptable to the general public. Often his successor was his son. In the event of anarchy, the king was elected by the ministers or the dignitaries of the public. For example, after the death of Rajyashree's husband, the ministers and senior officials of Kannauj elected Harshavardhana as the king. Similarly, when King Bhaskarvarman of Assam attacked Bengal, there was anarchy there, for the redress of which the people of Bengal elected Gopal as their king. Often the king was autocratic. His command or wish was the law. But according to the traditional Rajdharma, the king could not do any work against the public interest. To displease the subjects was dangerous to the interest of the king. Therefore the king tried to be friendly to the people.
In addition to monarchy, examples of democracy were also available during this period. In South India, Nandivarman, the ruler of the Pallava dynasty, was elected and made king by the subjects. Thus Gopal, the founder of the Pala dynasty in Bengal, was elected by the subjects. Harshvardhan, the famous ruler of Kannauj, was also elected the king by a committee of prominent people.
There was a system of cabinet to aid and advise the king in the governance. It was up to the king's wish to follow the advice of the ministers. He usually did everything according to his will. Often the posts of ministers were ancestral. The number of ministers in the cabinet was not fixed. There were many types of ministers, such as Amatya (Finance Minister), Sumant (Parashtra Minister), Mahasandhivigraha (Minister of War and Peace), Maha Senapati, Akshapat-Lekhadhikrit (State Accounts Minister) etc. To protect the religion, there were Rajpurohits, who were like ministers. Mahabaladhikrit and Mahadandanayak