Post-Gupta Era & South Indian Kingdoms Quiz — 7 Free Questions

Question 1

What two major temple styles did the Chalukyas blend together at Pattadakal?

Question 2

What eventually followed the Chola Empire as South India's own dominant power?

Question 3

What city became the Rashtrakuta dynasty's own capital?

Question 4

What common feature linked temple building across the Pallavas, Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, and Cholas?

Question 5

What poet composed the Aihole inscription praising Pulakeshin II?

Question 6

What overall change linked northern and southern India across this entire era?

Question 7

What group of Shaivite Bhakti saints composed devotional hymns collected in the Tevaram?

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About Post-Gupta Era & South Indian Kingdoms

Once the Gupta Empire faded, no single power ruled all of India again for a very long time. This quiz covers what came next, in the north and across the whole of the south, from roughly 500 to 1300 CE.

It starts with the Huna invasions and Yashodharman's victory over them, then covers Harshavardhana, who briefly reunited much of the north from his capital at Kannauj. It covers his empire, his defeat at the Narmada against the Chalukya king Pulakeshin II, his own Sanskrit plays, and the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang, whose travels remain a key record of Harsha's own age.

The quiz then turns south, to the Pallavas of Kanchipuram, famous for the rock-cut monuments of Mahabalipuram, and their long rivalry with the Chalukyas of Badami, whose own temples at Aihole and Pattadakal helped shape Indian temple architecture itself. It covers the Rashtrakutas, who took the Deccan from the Chalukyas and carved the stunning Kailasa temple at Ellora out of solid rock.

Finally, it covers the Cholas in real depth, from Vijayalaya's small beginning at Thanjavur through Rajaraja I's great Brihadeeswara temple and Rajendra I's own famous naval expedition all the way to Southeast Asia. It closes with the Pandyas of Madurai and the Cheras of the Malabar coast, whose ports once welcomed traders from distant Rome.