The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v2.c28.29.4

v2.c28.29.4

Who never tired, at the sacrifice of battle, where the terribly wielded sword was the ladle, where the oblation of clarified butter was made with streaming blood, where the twanging of the bow-string was the exclamation of *vaṣaṭ*, (and) at which exasperated warriors marching in order were the priests, successful with his counsels (as with sacred hymns) sacrificed, like beasts, the adversaries in the fire of enmity, made to blaze up high by the wind of his unappeased anger."² In another Khajraho epigraph of the same king Rāhila is given credit for favouring his friends and punishing his enemies.³ It was not till the reigns of his son Harṣa and his grandson Yaśovarman that circumstances favoured the growth of a strong Candella state. The continuous struggle between the Gurjaras and the Rāṣṭrakūṭas which had been raging since the days of Vatsa and Dhruva suddenly took a bad turn for the Gurjara-Pratīhāras sometime between 915-18 A.D.⁴ The Rāṣṭrakūṭas under Indra III captured Ujjayinī and overran Northern India. The imperial city of Kanauj itself was completely devastated. There is some evidence to show that the Deccani kings held some portion of the Gaṅgā-Yamunā *Doāb* even as late as 930 A.D. This severe blow and the strangle-hold on the very heart of the imperial power must have greatly weakened the control of the central government on its provinces. It is true that the Pratīhāra emperor was assisted by a number of his feudatories to recover some of his dominions.