The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v1.c20.79.2

v1.c20.79.2

The Mau stone inscription of Madanavarman informs us that the *Narendra* Dhaṅga, "having defeated on the battlefield the king of Kānyakubja, (who had subdued) all princes obtained exalted sovereignty (*sāmrājya*)."² This defeat of the Kanauj monarch must have happened some time after 954 A.D., and it is significant that the name of the Gurjara-Pratīhāra sovereigns does not occur in Candella inscriptions after this date. In the Sāsbahū inscription of Mahīpāla, the Kacchapaghāta Vajradāman is said to have "by honest means put down the rising valour of the ruler of Gādhinagara, his proclamation drum……resounded in the fort of Gopadri, conquered in battle by his irresistible strong arm."¹ The date of Vajradāman is supplied by his fragmentary Gwalior image inscription dated in V.S. 1034 (A.D. 977).² It seems likely that the Kacchapaghātas during this period acted as the subordinates of the Candellas, who were gradually growing powerful in Bundelkhand. The Baroda plates of Mūlarāja dated in V.S. 1030 (A.D. 974) show that the Caulukyas had established themselves in Gujarat and Kathiawar.³ As the recently discovered Ahmedabad grant of Paramāra Sīyaka II is dated in V.S. 1026 (A.D. 970),⁴ it seems probable that the Caulukyas ousted the Rāṣṭrakūṭa feudatories from that area between 970 and 974 A.D. Pushed from the west by the Caulukyas, the Paramāras were gradually driven into Malwa, which must have passed into their possession some time before V.S. 1031 (A.D. 973-74).