The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v2.c34.s1.89

v2.c34.s1.89

As we have the dates V.S. 1034 for Saktikumāra and V.S. 1173 for the fourth from Vairaṭa, we may roughly fix the period V.S. 1050-1125, corresponding to *c.* 993-1068, as that during which the seven princes from Nos. 5-11 may have held sway in Medapāṭa, or in portions of it. This gives each of them a reign of little less than 10½ years. There is reason to suspect that during most of this period a large part of Medapāṭa was conquered by the Paramāras of Mālava. The Chirwa stone-inscription of Samarasiṁha (V.S. 1330) tells us that Madana, who was appointed his *Talāra* in the fort of Citrakūṭa, composed hymns of praise in honour of Śiva in the temple of Tribhuvana-Nārāyaṇa raised by Bhoja-rāja.¹ This Bhoja has rightly been identified with the Paramāra Bhoja who ruled in Mālava from *c.* 1010 to 1055 A.D. I have shown elsewhere that Bhoja was in possession of Vāgaḍa, the area now occupied by the States of Dungarpur and Banswara, and that his armies maintained contact with the Cāhamānas of Naddula.² It may therefore indicate that before they could recover from their defeat at the hands of the Sākambharī Vākpati, Medapāṭa was invaded and practically conquered by the Paramāras. But following their usual practice, the Guhilas perhaps maintained their independence in the more hilly and inaccessible portions of Mewar. Whether the Mewar territories of the Paramāras after the death of Bhoja passed under the control of the Caulukya Bhīma I (*c.* 1022-64 A.D.) is more than we can say at present. But there is sufficient evidence to show that the Caulukyas during the rule of Jayasiṁha (*c.* 1094-1144 A.D.) and his successor Kumārapāla (*c.* 1144-73 A.D.) dominated a large part of Mewar. The Chitor inscriptions of the latter prince show that, like Bhoja, he was in possession of Chitor *c.* 1150 A.D. It is therefore not surprising that the later *praśastikāras* of the Guhilas found it rather difficult to give a satisfactory account of the Guhila princes who ruled in the 11th and early 12th centuries. It is very significant that the Chitor inscription of the Caulukya Kumārapāla dated in V. S. 1207 refers only to his campaign against the rulers of Śakambharī, and does not even hint at the existence of the Guhila kingdom. It is therefore possible that the Guhilas during this period had either become feudatories of the Caulukyas or otherwise occupied so insignificant a position as to deserve omission in a record of royal victories. It should also be noted that not a single inscription of Śaktikumāra's (V. S. 1034) nine successors survives and even later up to the time of Jaitrasiṁha (V. S. 1270-1309) the epigraphic records of the Guhilas are extremely rare. This remarkable scarcity of epigraphic documents, when considered with other facts detailed above, tends to support our conclusion as to the comparative insignificance of the Guhilas of Mewar during the 11th, 12th, and even the 13th centuries A.D.