Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Vol. I, Part I: History of Gujarat c19.s3.t2.12

c19.s3.t2.12

The merchant Sulaimán (A.D. 851) ranks the Balhára, the lord of Mánkír, as the fourth of the great rulers of the world. Every prince in India even in his own land paid him homage. He was the owner of many elephants and of great wealth. He refrained from wine and paid his troops and servants regularly. Their favour to Arabs was famous. Abu Zaid⁵ (A.D. 913) says that though the Indian kings acknowledge the supremacy of no one, yet the Balháras or Ráshtrakútas by virtue of the title Balhára are kings of kings. Ibni Khurdádbah (A.D. 912) describes the Balháras as the greatest of Indian kings being as the name imports the king of kings. Al Masúdi (A.D. 918) described Balbára as a dynastic name which he who followed took. Though he introduces two other potentates the king of Jurz and the Baüra or Parmár king of Kanauj fighting with each other and with the Balhára he makes the Balhára, the lord of the Mánkír or the great centre, the greatest king of India¹ to whom the kings of India bow in their prayers and whose emissaries they honour. He notices that the Balhára favours and honours Musalmáns and allows them to have mosques and assembly mosques. When Al Masúdi was in Cambay the town was ruled by Bánia, the deputy of the Balhára. Al Istakhri (A.D. 951) describes the land from Kambáyah to Saimúr (Chaul) as the land of the Balhára of Máukir. In the Konkan were many Musalmáns over whom the Balhára appointed no one but a Musalmán to rule. Ibni Haukal (A.D. 970) describes the Balhára as holding sway over a land in which are several Indian kings.² Al Idrisi (A.D. 1100 but quoting Al Jauhári A.D. 950) agrees with Ibn Khurdádbah that Balhára is a title meaning King of Kings. He says the title is hereditary in this country, where when a king ascends the throne he takes the name of his predecessor and transmits it to his heirs.³