History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c15.s2.t14: Vajrāyudha

History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c15.s2.t14

Language: English

Vajrāyudha

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Another shadowy figure occurring in this obscure period of our history is Vajrāyudha, whose actual existence is borne out solely by an incidental reference made by Rājaśekhara, the dramatist, who flourished at the Pratihāra court in the first half of the tenth century A. D. Thus he writes in the *Karpūramañjarī*² : "to the capital of Vajrāyudha, the king of Pāñcāla, to Kanauj," in connection with the itinerary of a merchant named Sāgaradatta, who had gone to the royal city on business. It is significant that Rājaśekhara uses the name Pāñcāla for the country of which Kanauj was the capital, although from its omission by the Chinese pilgrim we may infer that it was not the popular designation of this kingdom at that time.³ Vajrāyudha must have ascended the throne sometime about A. D. 770, since, as we shall see below, the Jain *Harivaṃśa* informs us that a king named Indrāyudha was ruling in Kanauj in the year 783-84 A. D., while we also know from other sources that he was succeeded by Cakrāyudha. The form of these names suggests that all the three monarchs belonged to the same line. If so, they must have ruled over Kanauj one after the other, for it is difficult to find a vacant place for Vajrāyudha elsewhere except before Indrāyudha. We further learn on the authority of Kalhaṇa that Jayāpīḍa Vinayāditya (779-810 A. D.), who tried to emulate the exploits of his grandfather Lalitāditya in distant lands, “after defeating the king of Kanyakubja in battle, carried off his throne the ensign of royal power.”¹ Evidently we have here an allusion to the defeat and dethronement of a king of Kanauj, and he is perhaps to be identified with Vajrāyudha, assuming that the attack on Kanauj took place soon after Jayāpīḍa became king of Kashmir. But if it occurred later in his career, the vanquished Kanauj monarch must have been Indrāyudha.

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² III, 5², pp. 74, 266 (Konow and Lanman's edition).

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³ The term Pāñcāla at first denoted the whole stretch of country

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¹ *Rājat.*, Vol. I, Bk. IV, verse 471, (Stein, p. 163).

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*Indrāyndha*

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Vajrāyudha appears to have been succeeded by Indrāyudha or Indrarāja, but it is not clear what relationship they bore to each other. According to the passage from the Chambal to the Himalayas, which was afterwards divided into North and South Pāñcāla. The Ganges formed the boundary between the two, and they had their capitals at Ahicchatra and Kāmpilya respectively. Varāhamihira (6th century A. D.) includes the Pāñcālas among the peoples of the *Madhyadeśa*, and reckons their country as one of the nine great kingdoms (*Bṛihatsaṃhitā*, XIV, 32; *Ind. Ant.*, XXII, p. 186). Presumably this list refers to much earlier times. Alberuni, who wrote in 1030 A. D., also mentions these nine divisions, but adds that the names were not then commonly used (Sachau, Trans., Vol. I, p. 298).

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them, we may with S. P. Pandit say for the present that "all the credit that the Jaina stories have a right to claim is that king Ama was perhaps the son of Yaśovarman, that Dunduka was Ama's son, and that Bhoja was the son of Dunduka."¹ None of them achieved anything of note, and one was even prematurely murdered. We may, therefore, well believe that, if they really had historical existence, the length of their combined reigns must have been of extremely short duration—say between 15 and 20 years.

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¹ *Gauḍavaho*, Introduction, p. clix. See however, J. B. B. R. A. S., Vol. III, N. S. 1927, pp. 101-33, where Dr. Kṛṣṇasvāmī Aiyangar stoutly maintains the credibility of the *Bappabhaṭṭacarita* and equates Amarāja with Nāgāvaloka.

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THE ĀYUDHAS

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Another shadowy figure occurring in this obscure period of our history is Vajrāyudha, whose actual existence is borne out solely by an incidental reference made by Rājaśekhara, the dramatist, who flourished at the Pratihāra court in the first half of the tenth century A. D. Thus he writes in the *Karpūramañjarī*² : "to the capital of Vajrāyudha, the king of Pāñcāla, to Kanauj," in connection with the itinerary of a merchant named Sāgaradatta, who had gone to the royal city on business. It is significant that Rājaśekhara uses the name Pāñcāla for the country of which Kanauj was the capital, although from its omission by the Chinese pilgrim we may infer that it was not the popular designation of this kingdom at that time.³ Vajrāyudha must have ascended the throne sometime about A. D. 770, since, as we shall see below, the Jain *Harivaṃśa* informs us that a king named Indrāyudha was ruling in Kanauj in the year 783-84 A. D., while we also know from other sources that he was succeeded by Cakrāyudha. The form of these names suggests that all the three monarchs belonged to the same line. If so, they must have ruled over Kanauj one after the other, for it is difficult to find a vacant place for Vajrāyudha elsewhere except before Indrāyudha. We further learn on the authority of Kalhaṇa that Jayāpīḍa Vinayāditya (779-810 A. D.), who tried to emulate the exploits of his grandfather Lalitāditya in distant lands, "after defeating the king of Kanyakubja in battle, carried off his throne the ensign of royal power."¹ Evidently we have here an allusion to the defeat and dethronement of a king of Kanauj, and he is perhaps to be identified with Vajrāyudha, assuming that the attack on Kanauj took place soon after Jayāpīḍa became king of Kashmir. But if it occurred later in his career, the vanquished Kanauj monarch must have been Indrāyudha.

Linked texts (6)

Rājataraṅgiṇī — Kalhaṇa, Sanskrit
Bṛhatsaṃhitā — Varāhamihira, Sanskrit
Gauḍavaho — Vākpatirāja, Māhārāṣṭrī Prakrit
Harivaṃśa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
Ahicchatra
Karpūramañjarī — Rājaśekhara, Śaurasenī Prakrit