The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v1.c20.2

v1.c20.2

The Kānyakubja empire of the Puṣpabhūtis did not long survive the death of Harṣavardhana in about 647 A.D. His death introduces us to one of those periods of turmoil which inevitably follow the disruption of a strong empire and precede the foundation of a new one in Indian history. It is very difficult to give any connected account of political happenings in Northern India for about two hundred years after this event. The Tibetan invasion and control of the Ganges valley, the attempted revival of the Gupta empire by Ādityasena and of the Kanauj empire by Yaśovarman are some of the more important incidents of the first half of this period. The hope of an early revival of the hegemony of Kanauj however was shattered by the ambition of the Kārkoṭa kings of Kashmir. Then followed what may be described as a triangular contest between the Pālas of Bengal and Bihar, the Gurjara-Pratīhāras of Malwa and Western India, and the Rāṣṭrakūṭas of the Deccan for the possession of the Ganges-Jumna valley and the city of Kanauj. After a struggle of about half a century, in which fortune showed her fickleness by alternately favouring each of the combatants, she at last became the bride of the Gurjara-Pratīhāras. Some time before the year 836 A.D. they captured Kanauj, and, thanks to the achievements of two of their ablest chiefs, Bhoja and Mahendrapāla, at last succeeded in re-establishing an empire in India that in extent rivalled, if it did not exceed, that of the Guptas and the Puṣpabhūtis. There is unquestioned epigraphic evidence to show that the last of these two princes ruled over an area which extended from the Karnal district in the Punjab to Bihar and from the Kathiawar peninsula to Northern Bengal.¹ The strength and power of the Gurjara-Pratīhāras are amply attested by the account of the contemporary Arab writers.¹ The Arab satraps of Sind soon found their way blocked by the mighty arm of these rulers, and came to regard them as the greatest foe of the Muḥammadan faith. Though there is at present little evidence, it may be surmised that but for the powerful aid of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa rulers of the Deccan, the Arab power in the last half of the 9th century would probably have been crushed in Sind.