ABSTRACT
The early medieval period witnessed several changes in the theory and practice of warfare. The Gupta horse archers vanished in the post-Gupta period. Harshavardhana of Thaneshwar, a Buddhist convert started his rule in around AD 606 and captured Kanauj. After Harsha's death, a tripartite struggle between the Rashtrakutas of Deccan, Gurjara-Pratiharas of Rajasthan and Palas of Bengal characterized the political landscape of South Asia. The Cholas/Colas were caught between the contradictory strategies of constructing a maritime empire and at the same time trying to extend their land border in an attempt to ward off land based threat from the interior of the subcontinent. The Rajputs are the landholding martial castes of west India. They emerged in Rajputana around eighth century and spread into north India during the tenth and eleventh centuries. This chapter shows that battles were not ritualistic melees between disorderly mobs but were bloody and involved organized formations on both sides.
