The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v1.c16.157

v1.c16.157

From the records cited above it appears that Gopāla II probably ruled for at least 57 years. This is in harmony with the statement found in the Bangad grant of Mahīpāla and all subsequent grants that Gopāla II ruled this earth 'for a long time' (*cirataram avaner ekapatnyā*, etc.). The reappearance of Pāla inscriptions in Gaya district appears to indicate a revival of Pāla power during this period (*c.* 935-92 A.D.) and synchronises with the rapid decline of their western rivals, the Gurjara-Pratīhāras. In the Deoli inscription of the Rāṣṭrakūta Kṛṣṇa III, Kṛṣṇa II is said to have defeated an unnamed Gurjara sovereign, possibly Bhoja II.⁴ This Rāṣṭrakūṭa victory was followed by another crushing defeat of the Gurjaras. The Cambay plates of Govinda IV inform us that Indra III's cavalry crossed the unfathomable Yamunā and devastated the city of Mahodaya (916-17 A.D).¹ The Kanarese poet Pampa tells us that Narasiṁha, a Cālukya feudatory of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas, put to flight the army of the *Ghūrjjara-rāja* and terrified Mahīpāla so much that the latter fled in consternation ' not stopping to eat or sleep or rest.' The Rāṣṭrakūṭa general, who was a contemporary of Indra III, claims to have 'bathed his horse at the junction of the Ganges and the sea.'² It thus appears that the Gurjaras were for a time completely overwhelmed by their southern rivals, and though there is evidence that Mahīpāla succeeded in recovering some amount of his power, there can be no doubt that these defeats shook the empire of Bhoja and Mahendrapāla to its very foundations so that in the period that followed, its vassal states gradually broke away under dynasties owning little or no allegiance to the central government. It is therefore not surprising that the Pālas should have striven at this time to regain some of their lost territories, and succeeded. But the decline of the Gurjaras did not afford any permanent protection to the Pālas on their western frontier. The Khajuraho inscription of the Candella Yaśovarman informs us that sometime before 953-54 A. D. he defeated the king of Gauḍa along with other princes of northern India.³