The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c6.s5: The Eastern Rajputs
The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c6.s5
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The Eastern Rajputs
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These consisted of the Gahdvalas of Kanouj, the Chandellas of Kalinjar and the Kalachuris of Chedi. The Gahdvala principality was founded towards the end of the eleventh century by Chandra Deva⁴. The Chandellas established their power at the expense of the declining Gurjara-Pratiharas, earlier in the century¹. They held a brief suzerainty over the Ganges-Jumna Doab but were supplanted by Lakshmikarna of the Kalachuri dynasty, founded still earlier at Tripuri, in the Jubbulpur district of the Central provinces². The latter, however, had to succumb to the rising Gahdvalas who, under Govindachandra (1114-1154) extended their territory at the cost of the Pala and Sena rulers of Bengal on one side and probably of the Tomaras of Delhi, on the other. The Chandella dominion comprised western Bundelkhand, probably with the Jumna as the northern boundary; the south-eastern frontier must have been co-terminous with that of the Kalachuris. They also appear to have exercised suzerainty over the Kachwaha ruler of Gwalior³. The Gahdvala kingdom originally consisted of Kasi (Benares), Kosala (Awadh), Kausik (Allahabad region), and Indrasthana (Indraprastha—Delhi?)⁴. The expansionist policy followed by the kings of this dynasty soon affected the neighbouring states. Judging from the regnal titles of Chandra Deva, which include those borne earlier by Jasahkarna of Tripuri, the Kalachuris were the first to suffer⁵.
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⁴ His earliest known inscription is dated V. S. 1148/1090; *EI*, IX. p. 304. His rise to power and conquests are described in the inscription of Govindachandra; *IA*, 1885, p. 102-3.
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¹ Smith: op. cit. p. 405.
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² Ray: Dynastic History, I. P. 504; II, p. 779.
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³ For a traditional account of the Gwalior fort see Gwalior Namah of Hiraman Munshi; also Cunningham: Reports, II, pp. 312-316. According to Ojha: Tod's Annals, Hindi edition, p. 373, the Kachwahas ruled there upto 1155; see also Ray: Dynastic History, II, p. 825-6.
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⁴ EI, IX, p. 304; IA, XVII.
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⁵ EI, XVIII, p. 193.
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Chandradeva's grandson, Govindachandra, was the greatest ruler of his dynasty. His contemporary in Kalinjar, Madanavarma was another equally aggressive prince who is said to have defeated the Paramaras of Malwa, and to have successfully crossed swords with Siddharaja of Gujrat¹. The ambition of these two rulers could find permanent satisfaction only at the cost of the weak Kalachuris. A part of the latter kingdom, comprising parts of Sagar, Damoh and Jubbulpur districts, was annexed to the Chandella kingdom². On the northwest, Govindachandra appropriated a goodly portion³. Towards the south, also, the Kalachuris suffered attacks from the Ganga kings of Orissa who attained the height of their power under Chodaganga (1076-1147). Hostilities with the latter are referred to in two inscriptions of a line of collateral Kalachuri princes of Tummana⁴, which led to prolonged warfare. The Gangas ultimately succeeded in reducing to vassalage the Kalachuri king Paramardi who is mentioned as fighting under the banners of Narasinha II (1278-1302)⁵. The dissolution of their kingdom even by the end of the 12th century is indicated by a grant, dated in 1214, wherein the Maharanaka of Kakkaredi, (modern Rewah), formerly a Kalachuri vassal, is found acknowledging Chandella paramountcy⁶. The last Kalachuri record so far discovered belongs to the year 1195 A.D.⁷.
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¹ EI, I, pp. 195-207; JASB, XVII, pp. 317-20.
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² IA, 1908, p. 143-4.
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³ In an inscription he is found confirming a grant originally made by Jashahkarna; JASB, XXXI, p. 123-4.
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⁴ EI, Z, pp. 45-52.
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⁵ Ibid, XIII, p. 151-2.
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⁶ Cunningham: Reports, XXI, p. 104, 146-48. Cf. Smith, IA, 1908, p. 124, note 35 who does not think that Trailokyavarma of the inscription belonged to the Chandella dynasty.
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⁷ IA, XVII, p. 228; see IHQ, 1927, p. 175, for some coins of a Kalachuri prince, said to have been ruling at Ratnapur in the Central provinces, from 1250 to 1293.
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Rise of the Gahdvala and Chandella powers.
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Inspite of this initial success the Chandellas appear to have been finally beaten by the Gahdvalas in the race for power in North India. The long reign of Madanavarma (1125-1165) was followed by that of his grand son Paramardideva. His power was shaken by the defeat inflicted by Prithviraja II, resulting in the probable loss of his western possessions to the Chauhanas. His immediate control could not have extended far beyond Mahoba, Khajuraho, Kalinjar and Ajaigarh. An inscription dated in 1176, recording a gift of some villages, would however extend his suzerainty upto Jhansi¹.
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¹ IA, 1909/10, p. 44.
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Gahdvala- Chandella rivalry.
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Left alone in the field, the Gahdvalas steadily widened their dominion. Grants found in Gorakhpur, Allahabad, and Patna outline the eastward expansion of Govindachandra’s kingdom². These conquests were mostly at the cost of the Pala possessions. The expansionist policy was continued by Vijayachandra (c. 1155-1170) in whose reign the district of Shahabad appears under Gahdvala sway³. His son and successor, Jaichand of the Muslim writers, was the last of the imperial Gahdvalas. Among his grants, which range in date from 1170 to 1189, those issued from Benares and Gaya testify to his continued hold on Bihar⁴. We shall have occasion to describe the hostilities that must have been occasioned by these conquests with the Pala and Sena rulers. Towards the northeast corner of the Gahdvala kingdom a line of Rashtrakuta princes held sway over Budaon from the time of Chandradeva⁵, presumably as feudatories.
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² EI, V, pp. 113-15; VII, p. 98; 1922, p. 81.
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³ JAOS, VI, p. 547. The grant, dated in 1169 mentions a feudatory ruler, named Maharanaka Pratapadhavala of Japila. See also EI, V. no. 153 (Kielhorn’s list).
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⁴ IA, XVIII, pp. 129-134; IHQ, 1929, pp. 14-30.
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⁵ IA, XVII, p. 61. Kielhorn read the date on Madanapala’s inscription as V. S. 1276/1219-20, but the mistake was later rectified and the correct reading was found to be 1176/1119-20; IA, XXIV, p. 176; see also JASB, 1892, extra number, p. 58. Lakhanapala of the Budaon inscription belongs to the same line of princes as Madanapala who is herein mentioned; *EI*, I, p. 61-2. On paleographic grounds the second inscription is ascribed to the end of the 12th century. See also Reu: *History of the Rathors*, p. 16, for the relation of this Rashtrakuta family to the Gahdvalas of Kanouj.