The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v1.c19.s1.1

v1.c19.s1.1

The Rāṭhoṛs of Jodhpur claim to be descended from the Rāṣṭrakūṭas of Kanauj. As their bardic chronicles trace their descent from ‘Jayacandra,’⁴ the last Gāhaḍavāla king of Kanauj, and as there is no evidence to show that the Gāhaḍavālas were Rāṣṭrakūṭas, the Rāṣṭrakūṭas of Kanauj have been regarded by many scholars as a myth.¹ Recent investigations have however conclusively demonstrated the existence of a Rāṣṭrakūṭa family at Kanauj. It is not unlikely that the Rāṭhors of Jodhpur are really descended from this family. In their usual attempt to glorify their patrons the *praśastikāras* may have wrongly connected the Rāṭhors with ‘Jayacandra.’ It is however not absolutely impossible that the mistake was unconscious. It may have been caused by the fact that ‘Jayacandra’ was at the time of Muslim attack actually the sovereign ruler of Kanauj and the overlord of the feudatory Rāṣṭrakūṭa family of that place.