Introduction

The period between the post-Gupta era and the Islamic invasions is generally regarded as a sort of ‘quasi Dark Age’ in India, as the country, in the view of some scholars, came in the grip of the samanta system (Indian version of feudalism). Some historians claim that trade and commerce along with towns declined. And this decay was also reflected in the military organization of the period. In fact, military historian U. P. Thapliyal asserts that after ad 500, there were no innovations in the theory and practice of warfare.

Here I argue that feudal warfare (and I use this anachronistic term loosely) at least in South Asia was not characterized by stasis. Feudal warfare in this chapter is defined as the domination of mounted men in combat and the acquisition of quasi-hereditary landholdings by the horse warriors. The post-Gupta period witnessed a shift of the imperial centre from Pataliputra to Kanauj. The important characteristics of this period were the failure of any of the supra-regional powers to establish a unitary continental polity and the danger of pursuing a maritime policy by a state in south India bounded by big land powers. Another feature of this period was the gradual weakening of state power and shrinking of the territorial limits of the states. In fact, one feature of this period was the emergence of large landed proprietors and their private armies. This process culminated in the rise of the Rajputs and subsequent entry of Islam in Hind.