The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v2.c29.2

Language: English

v2.c29.2.1

The Haihayas¹ according to Epic and Purāṇic tradition, were descendants of Sahasrajit, a son of Yadu and grandson of Yayāti. The name of the family is derived from Haihaya, the grandson of Sahasrajit. Their capital was situated in Māhiṣmatī (mod. Mandhata on the Narbada, Nimar District, C. P.), named after Mahiṣmant, a descendant of Haihaya. The greatest king of this line was Arjuna Kārtavīrya, who is called both a *Samrāj* and a *Cakravartin*. The next important king of this race was Tālajaṅgha, who had many sons, called the Tālajaṅghas. The *Purāṇas* mention five different groups of Haihayas, *viz.*, the Vītihotras, Śāryātas, Bhojas, Avantis, and Tundikeras, who were all Tālajaṅghas.² The Indian inscriptions reveal the existence of some other branches of this line. Thus the Ārjunāyanas, who did homage to the Gupta king Samudragupta, may have claimed descent from the Haihaya Arjuna.³ But the most important line that claimed such descent was certainly the Kalacuris,⁴ whose name appear in records from at least the 6th century A.D. down to the 15th century. We have seen that Epic and Purāṇic tradition connects the Haihayas with the middle Narbada valley. Their capital was at Mandhata while one of their subdivisions is actually named Avanti.

v2.c29.2.2

This tradition about Mandhata was recently confirmed by the discovery of an inscription at Yewur which introduces us to the *Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara* Revarasa of the Ahihaya race with the title *Māhiṣmatī-puravareśvara*.¹ It is again interesting to note that the earliest inscriptions of the Kalacuris so far discovered reveal the Avanti-Mandhata region as the stronghold of the tribe. Thus the Abhona plates of the Kalacuri Śaṅkaragaṇa, the son of Kṛṣṇarāja, dated in (K.) S. 347 (A. D. 595), were issued from Ujjayinī.² As the power of the Kalacuris extended as far south as Nasik district, they soon came into conflict with the rising Cālukya power. The Cālukya king Maṅgaleśa claims to have defeated in the course of an expedition to the north the Kalacuri king Buddha. This Buddha has been rightly identified as the son of Śaṅkaragaṇa; and it has been calculated that these conflicts took place some time between 597-98 and 602 A. D.³ In their records the Kalacuris use an era which was founded in 248-49 A. D,⁴ probably by the Ābhīras⁵ and first used in the grants of the Traikūṭaka *Mahārāja* Dahrasena. But this does not prove that the Ābhīras and the Traikūṭakas were identical with the Kalacuris. As the Abhona and the Sarsavni grants⁶ show that the Kalacuris' territory was contiguous to the area where this era had its origin, it is not unlikely that they may have adopted it to date their official records.

v2.c29.2.3

An interesting point in the Kalacuri history is raised by their title *Kālañjara-puravarādhīśvara*.⁷ As the title occurs in the inscription of the Kalacuris of Kalyani (*c.* 1145-1183 A.D.) it is possible that the Kalacuris assumed this title after the victories of the Kalacuri king Lakṣmī-Karṇa (*c.* 1041-1098) over the Candellas. But the Kalha grant of the Kalacuri Soḍhadeva, dated in (V.) *Saṁ.* 1134 (A. D. 1077),¹ seems to suggest that the Kalacuris were in possession of the hill-fort some time before the rise of the Candellas. In this grant Soḍhadeva traces his descent to one Rājaputra, who has been placed by Kielhorn in the beginning of the 9th century. Rājaputra, we are told, was born in the family of Lakṣmaṇarāja, whose elder brother is said to have possessed himself of Kālañjara by conquering Ayomukha and subduing the Krathas.² I have already shown that Kālañjara was in the possession of the Gurjara Pratīhāras, Rāṣṭrakūṭas, and Candellas from *c.* 836 A.D. down to the time of the Muhammadan conquest of Northern India.³ Therefore the brother of Lakṣmaṇarāja must have conquered Kālañjara some time before 836 A.D.⁴ In this connection it is interesting to notice the Karitalai and Khoh grants of the feudatory *Mahārājas* of Uccakalpa dated in the same era that was used by the Kalacuri kings of Malwa.⁵ Their dates range from the (K.) year 174 to 214, *i.e.*, A.D. 423 to 462.

v2.c29.2.4

Some of these plates were found in the Nagod state, which is not very far from Kalinjar, while one grant was found in the Jubbulpore district. We have already seen that the Kalacuris' dominions extended in the south at least as far as Nasik. On the west they reached at least up to Anand in the Kaira district of Gujrat; and on the east they may have extended along the whole upper course of the Narbada including a large portion of Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand.