The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v1.c20.31.2

v1.c20.31.2

The army of the south fights against the Balharī, king of Mānkīr. The other two armies march to meet enemies in every direction.”⁴ It is clear from the passages quoted above that the territories of the king of Kanauj included some portions of the Punjab and Sind, and bordered on the dominions of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas of the Deccan. As the date of Mas‘ūdī’s stay in India makes it almost certain that the king of Kanauj was Mahīpāla, his account gives us some idea of the power and prestige of the Gurjara-Pratīhāras during the period 912-16 A. D.¹ In waging a two-fold struggle with the Arabs of Sind and the Rāṣṭrakūṭas of the Deccan, Mahīpāla was only carrying on the traditional policy of his family.² The evidence of Rājaśekhara and Mas‘ūdī is also corroborated by archaeological testimony. The find-spots of the Asni (in Fatehpur dist., U. P.), Haddala (in Eastern Kathiawar), Rakhetra (near Chanderi in Gwalior) and the Asiatic Society’s plate (which grants land in Vārāṇasī-*Viṣaya*) show that the dominions of Mahīpāla at least extended from Kathiawar to the borders of Bihar. Thus it is clear that Mahīpāla during the first part of his reign could with some exaggeration be called the *Āryāvarta-mahārājādhirāja*. By successive stages the Gurjara-Pratīhāras had succeeded in occupying an almost supreme position amongst the rulers of Northern India. But the position was no bed of roses.