History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c16.s1.t4: Rāmabhadra
History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c16.s1.t4
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Rāmabhadra
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Nāgabhaṭa ceased to rule in the Vikrama year 890 or 833 A. D. according to the Jain *Prabhāvakacarita*² and was succeeded by Rāmabhadra, sometimes also called Rāma or Rāmadeva, his son by queen Iṣṭādevī. Rāmabhadra’s reign seems to have been marked by some crisis, for we are told in the Gwalior inscription that he had “the haughty and cruel commanders of armies forcibly bound down by (his subordinate) kings who had the best cavalry under their charge”³ It is difficult to detect precisely who these enemies were. Dr. R. C. Majumdar identifies them with the Pālas of Bengal,⁴ who, as we shall see below, claim to have made some depredations in Northern India about this time, and he may be right considering that the Rāṣṭrakūṭa monarch, Amoghavarṣa I, was then far too occupied with domestic troubles to think of emulating the exploits of Dhruva and Govinda III. Although the record, as usual, speaks of the destruction of “evil-doers,” the disturbances caused by them must have been sufficiently serious, since Rāmabhadra, being unable to cope with the danger single-handed, is here recorded to have invoked the good offices of his feudatory chiefs.
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² Verses 720-22, p. 177 (ed. H. M. Śarmā, Bombay, 1909); *Ep. Ind.*, XIV, p. 179, note 3.
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³ *Ibid.*, XVIII, pp. 108, 112, verse 12. Cf. “... pravara-hari-vala nyasta bhūbhṛt-pravandhair-āvadhnan vāhinīnāṁ prasabhaṁ adhipatin uddhata-krūra-satvān ...”
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⁴ *Jour. Dept. Lett.*, X, p. 46.
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The fact that two grants—one in the Kālañjaramaṇḍala first made by his predecessor,¹ and the other in the Gurjaratrā-bhūmi originally made by Vatsarāja and confirmed by Nāgabhaṭa²—fell into abeyance during Rāmabhadra’s reign doubtless points to the same conclusion that he occupied the throne during a period of stress and storm. We have no definite evidence how far he maintained the kingdom intact, but it is certain that his authority continued to be recognised as far distant as Gwalior, where Vaillabhaṭṭa, son of Nāgarabhaṭṭa of the Varjara family, was acting for him in the capacity of the chief of the boundaries.³
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¹ Barah copper plate, *Ep. Ind.*, XIX, pp. 18, 19.
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² Daulatpura inscription, *Ibid.*, V, p. 213. The charter and consent remained in abeyance during the earlier years of Bhoja’s reign until he renewed it in 843 A. D. (see Infra).
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³ *Ibid.*, I, pp. 156, 157, verse 7.
Linked texts (1)
- Prabhāvakacarita — Prabhācandra (Prabhāvakacarita), Sanskrit