History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c15.s2.t14.11

c15.s2.t14.11

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.