History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c3.3

c3.3

The next rulers of note were the Pratīhāras, whose power reached its zenith during the time of Bhoja I and Mahendrapāla I. As a result of their protracted campaigns the empire of Kanauj grew to enormous dimensions comprising territories as widely apart as Saurāṣṭra and North Bengal, Magadha and Rajputana, Gorakhpur district and Ujjain, Karnal and Bundelkhand. The most interesting feature of this epoch is the tripartite struggle that continued intermittently between the Pratīhāras, the Pālas, and the Rāṣṭrakūṭas. Later on, the prosperity of Kanauj received a rude shock from the ever-victorious arms of Mahmūd, but it partially revived its glories under the Gāhaḍavālas, who after Govindacandra’s conquest of Magadha once more regained control of the lower course of the Ganges, which was so vital to its trade and political ascendancy. Eventually Sihābuddin Ghori involved the contemporary Hindu states in one common ruin, and thus Kanauj fell from its high position. Such in short is the fascinating story of this ancient realm, full of political vicissitudes and ephemeral grandeur. Today Kanauj is an insignificant town, but from the downfall of the Guptas until the avalanche of the Moslem invasions it was the centre of culture and crafts, religion and riches, power and politics, and was the *ultima thule* of each aspirant to supreme dignity in Northern India.