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History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c19: Chapter XIII. Gāhaḍavālas (Continued)

History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c19

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Chapter XIII. Gāhaḍavālas (Continued)

Vijayacandra

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Govindacandra must have ceased to reign shortly after 1154 A. D., which is his last known date.¹ He was succeeded by his son Vijayacandra, also sometimes called Vijayapāla² or Malladeva.³ The *Pṛthvīrāja-Rāso*⁴ credits him with victories against the Somavaṁśī king Mukundadeva of Kaṭak, Anangapāla of Delhi, Bholābhīm of Paṭṭanapura (Aṇhilvāḍ), and with having carried his arms to the regions of Tailanga, Karṇāṭa, and Konkan etc. These bardic accounts may be summarily rejected, for none of the monarchs named can be regarded to have been a contemporary of Vijayacandra. Orissa was perhaps then ruled by the Gaṅgā Rāghava (*circa* 1156-1170 A. D.), and besides sober history does not know of any Somavaṁśī Mukundadeva. Again, as we shall presently see, it was the Cāhamāna Vigraharāja Vīsaladeva, to whom Vijayacandra lost Delhi, and there can therefore be no question of the latter’s fight with Anangapāla. Similarly, if Bholābhīm is identical with Bhīmadeva II Cālukya (*circa* 1179-1240), he came to the throne several years after the time of the Gāhaḍavāla.

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¹ *Ep. Ind.*, IV, p. 16.

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² *Pṛthvīrāja-Rāso*, p. 123f, verses 617f. (Shyamsundar Das’ edition).

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³ *Rambhāmañjarī*, (Bom. ed., 1899), p. 4.

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⁴ See canto XLV, pp. 1255-58; *J. B. B. R. A. S.*, 1928, p. 166.

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ruler. How could they then ever have come into conflict with each other? On the other hand, the *Kumārapālacarita-Prakrit-Dvyāśraya-Mahākāvya* of Hemacandra represents Kumārapāla as having devastated Kānyakubja and terrified its sovereign in the course of his glorious career.¹ Now, Kumārapāla is known to have ruled from *circa* 1144 to 1172 A. D., and so if there be any truth in the above statement, which is, of course, doubtful, surely he must have triumphed against Vijayacandra, for it appears rather improbable that Kumārapāla’s earlier Gāhaḍavāla contemporary, Govindacandra—a powerful potentate—could have ever suffered a reverse at his hands. Thus though we cannot rely upon Cand-Bardāi, one thing appears certain that Vijayacandra maintained his authority over a portion of Magadha. This is evident from an inscription of Vikrama *saṃvat* 1225 = 1169 A. D., discovered at Tārācaṇḍi in the vicinity of Sahasram in South Bihar,² in which the local ruler of Japila,³ Pratāpadhavala of the Khayaravala *vaṃśa* according to the Phulawariya (Rohtasgaḍh) inscription,⁴ makes a curious proclamation. He announces that a certain copperplate grant of the villages of Kalahandi and Badapila has been fraudulently procured by several Brahmans, on giving a bribe of goodly staves and ploughs, from one Deu, “a slave of the lord of Kānyakubja, the fortunate king Vijayacandra.” He concludes by exhorting his successors not to place dependence on it, but to continue the collection of the “proprietor’s share of produce and the like” as usual. Thus whatever resentment Pratāpadhavala might have felt,¹ the fact that in the year 1169 A. D. Vijayacandra was in a position to grant villages situated in the former's territory, proves beyond doubt that he was under the suzerainty of Kanauj.

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¹ Canto VI, v. 79, p. 209, ed: S. P. Pandit (Bombay, 1900).

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² *Jour. Am. Or. Soc.*, VI, pp. 547-49.

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³ According to Colebrooke, Japila is a portion of Ramgarh in South Bihar (Ibid., p. 549, Note).

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⁴ *Ep. Ind.*, IV, p. 311.

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¹ This was probably because he had retained semi-independence.

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Like his father, Vijayacandra also stood as a bulwark against the Moslems. It is recorded in a copper plate that he "swept away the affliction of the globe by streams (of water flowing as) from clouds from the eyes of the wives of Hammīra, the abode of wanton destruction to the earth."² Unfortunately we have no information regarding any Moslem incursion in the Doab at this time, but it would appear probable that Vijayacandra came into conflict with the forces of Amir Khusrau or his son Khusrau Malik who were in occupation of Lahore after having been driven out of Ghazni by Ala-ud-Din Ghorī. The defeat of the Moslem marauders was probably due to the waxing strength of the Ghoris, which must have arrested the Amir's attention more towards the west. Khusrau, however, died in 555 Hijri or 1160 A. D. without recovering Ghazni, and during the reign of his son Malik, Sihab-ud-Din Ghorī threatened the Panjab itself and "overran the provinces of Peshawar, Mooltan and the Indus."³

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² *Ind. Ant.*, XV, pp. 7, 9, verse 9. Cf. "Bhuvana-dalana-helā-harmya-Hammīra-nārī-nayana jaladadhārā-dhauta-bhūlokatāpaḥ."

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³ Briggs, Frishta, Vol. I, p. 157.

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Lastly, there are indications that the ambitions of the Cāhamāna king Vigraharāja Visaladeve of Sākambharī brought him into conflict with Vijayacandra. An inscription dated in Vikrama samvat 1220 or A. D. 1164, which is engraved on the Delhi-Siwalik pillar or Firoz-Kotla's Lāt, boastfully records that Vigraharāja "made tributary the land between the Himālaya and Vindhya,”¹ while another found at Bijolia (Mewar) specifically credits him with the conquest of Delhi.² Similarly, the Delhi Museum inscription mentions that Delhi was for some time “the residence of the Cāhamānas until it was conquered by the Mleccha Sahābādīn” (Sihab-ud-Din).³ If, therefore, the Gāhadavāla suzerainty had extended upto Delhi in the time of Candradeva, as we have surmised above, we may be sure that during the course of these expeditions Vijayacandra must have suffered defeat at the hands of Vigraharāja.

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¹ *Ind. Ant.*, XIX, p. 219.

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² Faulty edition in *J. A. S. B.*, LV, pt. I, (1886), p. 42, verse 22. Cf. “Pratolyām Valabhyām ca yena viśrāmitam yaśaḥ, Dhillikāgrahana śrāntamāśikā lābha lambhitaḥ.”

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³ *Ep. Ind.*, I, pp. 93, 94, verse 4.

Jayacandra

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Vijayacandra was succeeded by his son Jayacandra,⁴ whose mother was Queen Candra-lekhā according to the *Rambhāmañjarī* of Nayacandra.⁵ It is alleged that he was given this name on account of his grandfather having achieved a victory against the Daśārna country on the very day of his birth.⁶ We learn the actual date of his installation as crown-prince from an inscription which informs us that Jayacandra was “installed in the dignity of *yuvarāja* and endowed with all royal prerogatives” on the 10th *tithi* of the bright half of the month of Āṣāḍha of the Vikrama year 1224, corresponding exactly to Sunday, 16th June, 1168 A. D. It was on the same occasion that he was initiated as a worshipper of the god Kṛṣṇa after bathing in the Ganges at Benares, and he granted the village of Haripura in the Jiavai *pattalā* to the preceptor of the performance of the Vaiṣṇava worship, the Mahāpurohita Praharāja Śarman.¹ We are further told definitely in another epigraph, recording the grant of the village of Osia in the Bṛhadgṛhakamīśvara *pattalā* to the Mahāpurohita Prahlāda Śarman, that Jayacandra came to the throne on the 6th *tithi* of the bright half of the month of Āṣāḍha of the Vikrama year 1226, corresponding to Sunday, 21st June, 1170 A. D.²

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⁴ The name occurs as Jayacandra in copperplates. But Rājaśekhara (the author of the *Prabandhakoṣa*) and Nayacandra call him respectively Jayantacandra (See Śivadatta’s *Introd.* to the *Naiṣadhīya*, p. 3, etc.) and Jaitracandra (*Rambhāmañjarī*, Bom. ed. 1889, p. 4). Merutunga on the other hand uses the normal form Jayacandra (*Prabandhacintāmaṇi*, v. 210, ed. Jinavijaya Muni, p. 113).

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⁵ See *Rambhāmañjarī*, *Introd.*, p. 4; see also Act I, p. 6. Cf. “…… Candralekhāyās tanujanmā Jaitracandro.” According to Cand Bardāi, however, Jayacandra was born of Anangapāla’s eldest daughter Sundarī Devī (*Rāso*, verses 681-82, p. 134; S. S. Das’s edition).

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⁶ See Act I, p. 23. Cf. “Pitāmahena tajjanmadine Daśārnadeśeṣu prāptaṁ prabalaṁ yavanasainyaṁ jitaṁ ata eva tannāma Jaitra-Candraḥ.”

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¹ *Ep. Ind.*, IV, pp. 118, 119.

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² *Ibid.*, IV, pp. 120-21.

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Not many details of Jayacandra’s career are known, for the copper plates contain little historical information beyond recording the usual gifts to the Brahmans, while Hindu works like the *Pṛthvīrāja-Rāso*³ stultify themselves by their bardic character, exaggerations and anachronisms. They tell us that Jayacandra bore the epithet of “Pangu” or “Dal Pangula” from the circumstance that he maintained a stupendous force,⁴ of which Cand- Bardāi observes that in the march “the van had reached their ground ere the rear had moved off.”¹ According to the *Sūraj-Prakāś* it consisted of 80,000 men in armour 30,000 horse covered with Pakhar or quilted mail; 300,000 Paiks or infantry; 200,000 bowmen and battle-axes; besides a host of elephants bearing warriors.² We are asked to believe that with the help of these incredibly huge numbers Jayacandra embarked upon a career of conquest and subjugated the earth as far as 700 *yojanas*,³ one *yojana* being roughly equal to eight English miles. Cand-Bardāi further informs us that Jayacandra attacked the Yādavarāja of Devagiri, but had to withdraw when Prithvīrāja sent his feudatory Cāmuṇḍarāya to the help of the besieged capital. Besides this, Jayacandra is credited with having overcome the king of Ghor before his final engagement with him.⁴

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³ Commenting on the *Rāso*, Bühler was even of opinion that it “had better be left unprinted.” (*Proc. As. Soc. Beng.*, 1893, p. 95). See also J. B. B. R. A. S., May, 1928, pp. 203-11 for “Some Reflections on the *Rāso*” J. A. S. B., LV, pt. I (1886), pp. 5-27, for Kavirāj Syāmal Das’ views on the authenticity of the same.

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⁴ Cf. “Sainyātiśayāt Pangubirud dhārakaḥ.” Introduction to the *Rambhāmañjarī*, p. 4; also Act I, p. 6; *Prabandhacintāmaṇi*, v, 210 (ed. Jinavijava Muni, p. 113).

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¹ Tod’s *Annals and Antiquities of Rājasthan* (Crooke), Vol. II, p. 936. ² Ibid., Vol. II, p. 936. ³ Cf. “yojanaśatamānāṁ prithvīm asādhayat.” ⁴ *Rāso-Sāra*, pp. 95-98. ⁵ Vidyāpati’s *Puruṣaparīkṣā*, Eng. Trans., Nerurkar’s ed., (Bombay, 1914), ch., IV, 11th tale (Ghasmara-Kathā), pp. 146-47. Cf. “Vāraṁ vāraṁ ca Yavaneśvaraḥ (Sahāvadīnaḥ) parājayī palāyate.” ⁶ *Rambhāmañjarī*, Act I, p. 5.

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The *Puruṣaparīkṣā* of Vidyāpati and the *Rambhā-mañjarī* lend support to this claim, for in the former “Yavaneśvara Sahāvadīn” (Sihābuddin) is said to have fled several times after sustaining defeat,⁵ and the latter calls Jayacandra “Nikhila-yavana-kṣayakaraḥ” i.e., “the destroyer of all the Yavanas.”⁶ The Cauhan chronicles also testify to his greatness, affirming that Jayacandra “overcame the king of the North, making eight tributary kings prisoners; twice defeated Siddharāja, king of Anhilwāḍ, and extended his dominions south of the Nerbudda.”¹ Whatever little grains of truth these statements may contain, it is certain that Jayacandra was the last great monarch of Kanauj, whose power and extensive jurisdiction struck even the Moslem historians. Referring to him Ibn Asir says in the *Kāmil ut-Tawārīkh* that “the king of Benares was the greatest king in India, and possessed the largest territory, extending lengthwise from the borders of China to the province of Malwa, and in breadth from the sea to within ten days’ journey to Lahore.”² We have unfortunately no means of ascertaining the exact bounds of his kingdom, but that it must have been comparatively limited in extent is evident from the contemporaneous existence of several strong principalities. In the first place, there were the Cauhans, who, starting from their territories in Ajmer, had annexed Delhi and were at this time bidding for supremacy in the north under the vigorous rule of Prithvīrāja III or Rai Pithaura of the Moslem historians. Towards the south, there were the Candellas, whose power was at its height during the reign of Madanavarman (*circa* 1125-1165 A. D.). He defeated Siddhārāja Jayasiṁha of Gujarat,³ and in the Mau inscription he even claims to have forced “the king of Kasi,” who is probably identical with Vijayacandra, to pass his time “in friendly behaviour.”⁴ The *Rambhāmañjarī*, on the other hand, affirms that Jayacandra’s “arms were like pillars to tie down the elephant-like goddess of Madanavarman’s royal fortune,”⁵ which proves that he must have defeated the Candella king sometime as a prince. Such conflicting claims—by no means rare in ancient Indian History—show how necessary it is to exercise the utmost caution and critical judgment before accepting any statement. Whichever version may be true, this much is certain from the Madanapur inscription that during the time of Madanavarman’s successor Paramardi or Parmāl (1165-1203), Prithvīrāja, and not Jayacandra, occupied Mahoba and other fortresses in Bundelkhand.¹ As to the north, the phrase “borders of China” may be presumed to denote that the kingdom extended upto the foot of the Himalayas; while in the east it must have comprised the Gaya region, where an inscription presumably belonging to Jayacandra’s reign records that a hermit named Śrīmitra served as spiritual guide to the king of Benares (Kāśīśa), who was attended by a hundred chieftains (nripa-śata-krita-sevaḥ).² It is also definitely known from inscriptions that Allahabad, Benares, and the surrounding tracts were included within Jayacandra’s kingdom. The Gāhaḍavāla connection with Benares was more intimate, and perhaps because of the habitual residence of the kings there, or owing to its religious importance and advantageous situation “in the centre of the country of Hind,”³ it became a sort of second capital almost from the beginning of their rule. Indeed, the Moslem historians significantly style Jayacandra “Rai

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¹ Tod’s *Annals and Antiquities of Rājasthan* (Crooke), Vol. II, p. 936.

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² Elliot, *History of India*, Vol. II, p. 251.

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³ J. A. S. B., XVII, pt. I, pp. 317-20.

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⁴ *Ep. Ind.*, I, pp. 198, 204, verse 15. Cf. “Kālaṁ sauhārddavṛttyā gamayati satataṁ trāsataḥ Kāśirājaḥ.”

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⁵ *Rambhāmañjarī*, Introd. p. 4; Act I, pp. 5-6.

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¹ Prog. Rep. Arch. Surv. Ind., 1903-04, p. 55.

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² Proc. As. Soc. Beng., 1880, pp. 76-80; Ind. Hist. Quart., V (1929), pp. 14-30. The date is not quite clear as the fourth digit has been erased. The first three are of course 124, and taking the fourth to be any number from 1 to 9, it is obvious that the record must belong to the “last decade of the 12th century A. D.”

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³ Elliot, History of India, II, p. 223.

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Cf. “Abhinavarāmāvatāra — Śrīman — Madanavarma-medinī dayita — sāmrajya-lakṣmī — kareṇuk—ālāna-stambhāya-māna-bāhu-daṇḍasya...”

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of Benares,”¹ and so also do several other authorities cited above, and Merutunga in his *Prabandhacintāmaṇi*.² The Bakerganj inscription of Keśavasena³ and the Madhianagar grant,⁴ on the other hand, claim that Lakṣamaṇasena, who has been identified with the Rai Lakhmaniyā of the Moslem writers, and who was thus the Sena contemporary of Jayacandra, erected many “pillars of victories” in Benares and Allahabad. But in view of the position of Benares in the Gāhaḍavāla realm, and Lakṣamaṇasena’s craven flight without offering any resistance to the small force led by Bakhtyar Khilji, we may unhesitatingly say that “the monuments of his greatness never existed elsewhere than in the poet’s imagination.”

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¹ *Ibid.*, pp. 222, 223, 300, etc. Firishta calls Jayacandra “the prince of Kanauj and Benares” (Briggs, I, p. 178).

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² *Prabandhacintāmaṇi*, v, 210, (ed. Jinavijaya Muni, p. 113); also see III, 121, p. 74. Cf. “Atha Kāśī nagaryāṃ Jayacandra iti nṛpaḥ.”

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³ J. A. S. B. VII, pt. I, (1838), pp. 42, 48. Re-edited by R. D. Banerji, *Ibid.*, N. S. X, (1914), pp. 97-104.

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⁴ *Ibid.*, N. S. V, (1909), pp. 473, 476, verse 11.

Celebration of an Imperial ceremony

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The *Rāso* alleges that after the conclusion of his conquests Jayacandra prepared to celebrate the *rājasūya-yajña* as a mark of universal supremacy, which was to culminate in the *svayaṃvara* (self-selection of the bridegroom) of his daughter Saṃyogitā.⁵ Invitations were sent to all the princes to attend the ceremony, but Pṛthvīrāja Cauhan and Samarasiṃha of Mewar refused to come. Jayacandra caused effigies of them to be made of gold, and in order to humiliate them placed these representations in a position that indicated low rank. Pṛthvīrāja took the insult to heart; he suddenly attacked Kanauj and carried away the not-unwilling princess, who appears to have cherished love for him. Cand holds that this friction between Jayacandra and Prithvīrāja was the cause that led to Sihābuddin Ghori's invasion resulting in the fall of both. It is, however, difficult to accept this romantic story as a historical fact, for at this time *svayamvaras* and *rājasūyayajñas* had become obsolete, and if they had been performed they must have found mention in inscriptions. Moreover, even the *Rambhāmañjarī*, of which Jayacandra is the hero, is silent about these ceremonies. Lastly, the available evidence does not indicate that his conquests were so extensive as to justify him in holding a celebration indicative of paramount rank.

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⁵ *Rāso-sāra*, p. 167f.

Moslem conquest of Kanauj

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The kingdom of Kanauj was swept away by the whirlwind of Moslem invasion, and so in order to understand the full circumstances of its destruction we now proceed to trace how step by step the arms of Islam penetrated into the heart of Hindustan. The Ghori chieftains, having established themselves in Ghazni, gradually turned their attention towards the alluring Moslem territories in the Panjab. Multan was wrested from the sway of the Ismailian sect of heretics in 1175 A. D., and a stratagem soon led to the capture of Uccha also.¹ Peshawar followed in 1179 A. D., and during the course of a series of expeditions conducted in the years 1180, 1184 and 1186 A. D., Sihābuddin eventually took Khusrau Malik prisoner. He also annexed Lahore, where he stationed Ali Kirmani, Governor of Multan, to manage the affairs of government.² Thus getting hold of the last remnants of the Ghaznavide empire, Sihābuddin Ghori, who aimed at founding a permanent dominion, began to devote himself systematically to the conquest of Hindustan. In the year 1190-91 A. D. he advanced against the strategic fortress of Bhatinda, which was probably within the territories of Prithvīrāja, and after its reduction he left there a garrison of over a thousand chosen horse and some foot under Malik Ziauddin Toozuky¹.

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¹ Briggs (Firishta), Vol. I, pp. 169-70.

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² Ibid., pp. 170-71.

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¹ Ibid., p. 172.

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When Sihābuddin was about to return to Ghazni, the Cauhan king, assisted by other Rajput princes, marched against him with a mighty army consisting of 200,000 horse and 3,000 elephants.² Sihābuddin turned to meet him on the historic field of Narain or Tarain (Taroari) near Thanesvar, where a deadly encounter took place. The Moslems were completely overwhelmed by the huge Hindu hosts, and the Sultan himself would have met death on the battle-field, but for the courage and alacrity of a Khilji retainer who rescued him from the furious charges of the Cauhans. This great debacle constantly troubled the Ghori, and the very next year, in 1192 A. D., he again proceeded towards Hindustan with a reorganised force of 12,000 horse to avenge it. War was the very element of Prithvīrāja, and he "wrote for succours to all the neighbouring princes" to repeat, as it were, the anniversary of his victory. The Rajput chiefs to the number of one hundred and fifty enthusiastically responded to his appeal "having sworn by the water of the Ganges that they would conquer their enemies, or die martyrs to their faith."³ Thus a formidable army of 300,000 horse, besides above 3,000 elephants and a body of infantry, encamped on the former field of battle with the breadth of the river Sarsuti (Sarasvati) dividing the opposing hosts. But Jayacandra, the king of Kanauj, kept himself in proud isolation thinking probably that the defeat of Prithvīrāja, who was his rival for supremacy in the north, would clear the way for him and enable him to attain that distinction. Indeed, Major Raverty, following Cand-Bardāi, asserts that Jayacandra was even in secret communication with Sihābuddin to ensure the humiliation of Prithvīrāja.¹ This does not, however, appear to be true, as the contemporary Moslem historians are totally silent about any such invitation having been made by the Gahaḍavāla monarch. In the battle that ensued fortune frowned on the Hindus, and the Moslems "carried death and destruction" so desperately that by sunset there was complete confusion in the Hindu ranks. Prithvīrāja fled from the field for dear life, but was captured near the Sarsuti (Sarasvati) and "sent to hell."² The forts of Sarsuti, Samana, Kahram, Hansi, and Ajmer surrendered soon after, and Sihābuddin became master of northern India almost to the gates of Delhi. On his return homewards the command was entrusted to Qutbuddin, who conquered Meerut the same year, thus establishing a Moslem outpost to the east of the Jumna. Delhi fell in Hijri 589 or 1193 A.D., as also did the fortress of Kol in the Aligarh district. These victories of the Moslems prepared the way for their attack on Kanauj, the overthrow of which city had now become necessary, if they were to obtain a firm control over Hindustan.³ In 590 Hijri or 1194

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² Briggs (Firishta), Vol. I, p. 172.

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³ Ibid., p. 175.

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¹ Raverty, Tabaqāt-i-Nāsirī (Eng. Trans.), Vol. I, p. 466, Note 1; and p. 467. See also Tod's Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan (Crooke), Vol. I, p. 300.

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² Elliot, History of India, II, p. 297; Briggs (Firishta), Vol. I, p. 177.

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³ The Prabandhakoṣa and the Prabandhacintāmaṇi, V, 210-12, (ed. Jinavijaya Muni, pp. 113-14), however, depose that feeling

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A. D., therefore, Sihābuddin marched against Jayacandra with a huge force of "50,000 mounted men clad in armour and coats of mail" according to the *Tāj-ul-Maāsir*.¹ He was met on the way by his trusted general Qutbuddin, whom he ordered to proceed with the vanguard of 1,000 cavalry. The latter made an incursion into the territories of the "enemies of religion," but withdrew after having taken many prisoners and immense booty.² When Jayacandra, "the chief of idolatry and perdition," was informed of this inroad, he advanced to oppose the alien aggressors with an army "countless as the particles of sand," his force consisting of 700 elephants, besides about one million men.³ The contending parties met on the plain between Candawar and Etawah, and in the contest that followed Jayacandra sustained a signal defeat at the hands of the Moslems.⁴ The slaughter was appalling, for "none were spared except women and children; and the carnage of men went on until the earth was weary." The "Rai of Benares," who "prided himself on the number of his forces and war elephants," seated on a lofty *howdah* received a deadly wound from an arrow discharged by Qutbuddin,⁵ and "fell from his exalted seat to the earth." His head was carried on the point of a spear to the commander, and "his body was thrown to the dust of contempt."⁶ We are further told in the

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¹ Elliot, *History of India*, Vol. II, p. 222.

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² *Ibid.*, p. 223; also see p. 250.

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³ *Ibid.*, p. 251 (*Kāmil-ut-Tawārīkh*).

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⁴ *Ibid.*, p. 251; Briggs (Firishta), I, p. 178.

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⁵ Briggs (Firishta), I, p. 192.

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⁶ The *Rāso* testifies that the battle continued for seven days, when Jayacandra lost his life fighting (*Rāsosāra*, p. 455). According

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mortified at the non-recognition of her son's claims for the throne, Suhavādevī, whom Jayacandra had kept as a concubine, invited the Moslems to attack Kanauj.

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Kāmil-ut-Tawārīkh that no one would have recognised Jayacandra’s dead body “but for the fact of his teeth, which were weak at their roots, being fastened in with golden wire.”¹ As a result of this victory, the Moslem historians naively assure us that “the impurities of idolatry were purged by the water of the sword from that land, and the country of Hind was freed from vice and superstition.”² Immense booty was obtained “such as the eye of the beholder would be weary to look at,” including one (according to Firishta) three hundred elephants.

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¹ Elliot, History of India, II, p. 251; Briggs (Firishta), Vol. I, p. 192. Another version says that Jayacandra was not killed in battle, but in order to avoid the disgrace and dishonour of defeat he met a “death congenial to the Hindu by drowning himself in the sacred Ganges” (See Forbes, Rāsamālā, I, p. 223).

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² Tāj-ul-Maāṣir : Elliot, History of India, II, p. 223.

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Next, Sihābuddin marched to the fort of Asni, where Jayacandra had deposited his treasure; there much precious spoil of all kinds fell into the hands of the victors.³ He then proceeded to the other important town of the kingdom, viz., Benares, “which is the centre of the country of Hind;” here the invaders destroyed over one thousand temples, and “raised mosques on their foundations.”⁴ Sihābuddin bestowed the government of the conquered territories upon Qutbuddin, “the most celebrated and exalted servant of the State,” in

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³ Both Firishta and Hasan Nizami depose to the march on Asni (Briggs, I, pp. 178-79; Elliot, History of India, II, p. 223). Asni seems to have been an important stronghold of the kingdom of Kanauj from the time of the Pratīhāras. It was here that an inscription of Mahipāla was discovered.

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⁴ Briggs (Firishta), I, p. 179; Elliot, History of India, II, p. 223.

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to Vidyāpati’s Puruṣaparīkṣā, Jayacandra was killed in war with Sihābuddin by the treachery of his queen Śubhadevī (See Nerurkar’s Eng. Trans., Bom. 1914), ch. IV, 11th tale (Ghasmarakathā), pp. 146-153; Darbhanga ed., 41st tale, pp. 225-233). No stress, however, need be laid on such tales.

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order that he “might do justice and repress idolatry; and having thus settled affairs the former returned towards Ghazni with the captured elephants and 1400 camels bearing booty.¹ With a view to securing the full allegiance of the nobles of the Kanauj kingdom, Qutbuddin also planted his standards for some days on the fort of Asni. This halt soon had the desired effect; “the chiefs and elders all around hastened to his service with various kinds of rarities and presents, and his noble court became the scene where the princes and generals of the world came to bow their heads in reverence.”²

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¹ *Ibid.*, p. 224; Briggs (Firishta), I, p. 179.

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² *Tāj-ul-Maāṣir* : Elliot, *History of India*, II, p. 224; *Kāmil-ut-Tawārīkh* : Elliot, II, p. 251.

Śrīharṣa

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Jayacandra’s name has been made memorable in the history of Sanskrit literature for the patronage that he extended to the poet Śrīharṣa, son of Hira by Māmaladevī. Śrīharṣa’s connection with the royal court is not only attested by the Jain Rājaśekhara in his *Prabandhakoṣa*,³ but he himself states in the colophon to his chief work, the *Naiṣadhacarita*, that he was honoured by the king of Kānyakubja with a pair of betel-leaves,⁴ it being customary with the Hindu Rājās to welcome men of eminence thus. A curious story is associated with this poet, and we therefore apologise for alluding to it in brief. He is believed to have been the nephew of Mammaṭa, to whom he showed the *Naiṣadhīya* after having composed it in one hundred cantos. The latter turning over its pages remarked : "What a pity! you did not show this to me before I wrote the seventh chapter of my *Kāvyaprakāśa*, where I have dealt with the defects of poetry. It would have saved me the trouble of hunting for examples of several defects."¹ Dejected by this severe criticism, the young poet threw away his manuscript into a river, whence his disciples rescued the portion that has come down to us in the shape of the twenty-two cantos. Historically Śrīharṣa's works are valueless, but he was doubtless a man of parts, and earned the praises of Govinda Ṭhakkura in his *Kāvyapradīpa* as "one who was superior to him in all good qualities and inferior only in age."

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³ Cf. Rājaśekharasya kathanaṃ “Śrīharṣaḥ Kānyakubjādhipati Jayacandrasya sabhāsanmahākavirāsīt ……….”

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⁴ Cf. “Tāmbūladvayaṃ-āsanaṃ ca labhate yaḥ Kānyakubjeśvarāt.” *Naiṣadhīyacarita*, ed. Śivadatta (Bombay, 1919), XXII, p. 528.

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¹ *Indian Thought*, Vol. VII, No. I (1914), p. 75.

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Among Śrīharṣa's other known works are :

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(a) *Khaṇḍana-khaṇḍa-khādya*, "The most famous and important of those Vedānta treatises which emphasise the negative or sceptical side of the system."

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(b) *Sthairya-vicāraṇa*, mentioned in the fourth canto of the *Naiṣadhacarita*.

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(c) *Vijayapraśasti*, mentioned in the concluding stanza of the fifth canto.

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(d) *Gauḍor-visa-kula-praśasti*, mentioned in the seventh canto.

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(e) *Arṇava-varṇana*, mentioned in the ninth canto.

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(f) *Chinda praśasti*, mentioned in the seventeenth canto.

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(g) *Śiva-śakti-siddhi*, mentioned in the eighteenth canto.

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(h) *Navasāhasāṅka-carita*, mentioned in the twenty-second canto, verse 151.

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We may also add here that tradition affirms that Śrīharṣa was one of the five Brahmans of Kānyakubja, who were invited by king Ādiśūra of Bengal to reorganise the caste-system and intoduce Kulinism there. The story is no doubt persistent, but it does not deserve much credence, as it is not confirmed by any inscriptions or authentic work.

Final disappearance of the kingdom of Kanauj

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With the defeat and death of Jayacandra in 1194 A. D., the kingdom of Kanauj lay prostrate at the feet of the Moslems. They do not, however, appear to have resorted to immediate annexation or the destruction of the royal family. For a charter found at Machlisahr in the Jaunpur district of the United Provinces records that on the 15th *tithi* of the bright half of the month of Pauṣa in the Vikrama *saṃvat* 1253 or Sunday, the 6th January 1197 A. D., his successor, king Hariścandra, who is therein given the full sovereign titles of *Paramabhaṭṭāraka, Mahārājādhirāja, Parameśvara, Parama-māheśvara-Aśvapati, Gajapati, Narapati, Rajatrayādhipati, Vividha vidyā-vicāra-vācaspati*, after having bathed in the Ganges at the bathing-ghat named Cyavaneśvara, granted the village of Pamahi together with its outlying hamlets to one Rahīhiyaka.¹ The name of Hariścandra as son of Jayacandra is also known from two other copper plates. One of them, found at Kamauli, informs us that he was born on the 8th *tithi* of the dark half of Bhādrapada of the year 1232, equivalent to Sunday, the 10th of August, 1175 A. D., when his father gave the village of Vadesara in the Kangali *pattalā* to the Purohita Praharājaśatman in honour of his "*Jātakarma*" ceremony.² Another, which is now preserved in the Benares Sanskrit College library, records that on the 13th *tithi* of the dark half of the same month and year, corresponding to Sunday, the 31st of August, 1175 A. D., Hariś- canara’s “Nāmakaraṇa” (the ceremony of giving a name) was performed, on which occasion Jayacandra granted two villages to the Mahāpaṇḍita Hṛṣīkeśa-Śarman.¹

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¹ *Ep. Ind.*, X, pp. 94, 98-99.

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² *Ibid.*, IV, pp. 126, 127.

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¹ Ind. Ant., XVIII, pp. 129-34.

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Thus we learn from the combined testimony of these inscriptions that Hariścandra was nineteen years old, when his father was killed in battle, and that he ruled for at least three years after that event. But what was the nature of his authority? It is unthinkable that this boy-king could have maintained his independence, even within a circumscribed area, when many a war-worn veteran had fallen, and the Moslem army had reduced the kingdom as far east as Benares. It would, therefore, appear reasonable to hold that as “on a promise of punctual payment of a large tribute he (Sihābuddin) had delivered over the country of Ajmer to Gola or Kola, a natural son of Prithvīrāja,”² similarly Hariścandra was allowed to reign in a portion of his ancestral dominions after he had acknowledged himself a tributary of the newly-established Moslem power at Delhi.³ This hypothesis probably finds support from an inscription of Vikrama saṃvat 1253 or 1197 A. D., discovered at Belkhara (ancient Veḷasarā), a few miles to the south-east of Chunargarh (Chunar) in the Mirzapur district of United Provinces, which records the erection of a pillar when Rānaka Vijayakarṇa was the ruler of that region. The chief point to be noted, however, is that it does not mention the name of the king of Kanauj, but simply uses the phrase “Śrīmat Kānyakubja-vijayarā- jye.”¹ This indicates that although Vijayakarṇa had not made himself independent of Kanauj, the Moslem supremacy over the kingdom was perplexing or abhorrent to him, and so he discreetly omitted any specific reference to Hariścandra or his Moslem overlord.

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² Briggs (Firishta), Vol. I, pp. 177-78; see also Tāj-ul-Maāsir : Elliot, History of India, II, pp. 214, 215, 219.

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³ It has been stated that Zafarabad, four miles to the south-east of Jaunpur, was the site of a palace of the later rulers of Kanauj (Cunningham, Arch. Surv. Ind. Rep., XI, p. 104; Smith, J. R. A. S., 1908, p. 792; Führer, Sharqi Architecture of Jaunpur, p. 64.

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¹ *Arch. Surv. Ind. Rep.*, XI, pp. 128-30; see also *J. A. S. B.*, 1911, N. S., pp. 757-70.

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The royal family was probably spared from extermination owing to the political foresight of Siḥābuddin, who must have thought that concentration of all power in the hands of his Viceroy at Delhi might tempt the latter to hatch the egg of independence; and moreover, the loyalty of these distant conquests would best remain assured under such feudatories as owed their position to the Sultan’s protection and generosity. But the sudden assassination of Siḥābuddin by a fanatic of the Mulhidah sect in 602 *Hijri* or 1205-06 A. D. gave Qutbuddin the opportunity of becoming king of Hindustan, which he was duly proclaimed by the Moslem generals and nobles at Delhi, and was also accepted by the unambitious brother of Siḥābuddin. Henceforth Qutbuddin and his able lieutenant Altamash were free to reduce the whole of Northern India and to place Moslem rule on permanent foundations. We have no evidence as to how and when the last vestiges of Hindu authority in Kanauj were destroyed, but from a coin it is certain that during the reign of Altamash the land-revenue of Kanauj went to the Imperial coffers at Delhi.² Besides, the *Tabaqāt-i-Nāsirī* testifies that in *Hijri* 623 or 1226 A. D. the territory of Oudh was placed in charge of Malik Nāsir-uddin Mahmud, who overcame the “refractory infidels,” and brought a “considerable number under obedience.”³ This shows that by this date the Moslems were absolute masters of the Ganges-Jumna Doab, and their governors were ruling over the different provinces of the kingdom. Thus Kanauj, which had held pre-eminence in northern India for nearly six centuries and had been the centre of many a proud dynasty, ceased to exist as an independent Hindu state and soon sank into insignificance. Well may the hectic career of Kanauj remind one of the following stanza of Bhartrihari, the epitaph of its glories :

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² *J. A. S. B.*, 1881, Pt. I, p. 66.

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³ Raverty. Eng. Trans. Vol. I, pp. 628-29.

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Bhrātaḥ kaṣṭamaho mahān sa nṛpatiḥ sāmanta-cakraṃ ca
Tat-pārśve tasya ca sā api rāja-pariṣattāś candra-bimbānanāḥ,
Udriktaḥ sa ca rājaputra nivahas te vandinas tāḥ kathāḥ,
Sarvaṃ yasya vasādagāt smṛtipadaṃ Kālāya tasmai namaḥ,”¹

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¹ *Vairāgyaśataka*, v. 36.

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i.e., “Alas, brother, the mighty king, the train of barons, the witty court at his side, the damsels with faces like the moon’s orb, the haughty troop of princes, the minstrels, the tales-homage to Time, by whose will all this hath passed into mere memories.”

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