History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v2.c29.s1.35

v2.c29.s1.35

The third clan of Rajputs which came to the fore at about the same time and by about the same causes as the Chauhāns and the Guhilots was that of the Pratihāras and they soon became the most powerful clan in Northern India, having conquered the imperial city of Kanauj from Chakrāyudha the last Varmā emperor of Kanauj (See Vol. I. p. 341). Tod, the historian of the Rajputs, describes the Pratihāras as the least important of all the Rajput clans, probably owing to the fact that they were insignificant during the Mahomedan times and have left no kingdom of their own at the present day. But inscriptions discovered since the days of Tod and well interpreted by scholars especially Smith and Bhandarkar have established beyond doubt the fact that the imperial power of Northern India was wielded by the Pratihāras in the 9th and 10th centuries A. D. in succession to the Varmās described in our first volume. The history of the Imperial Pratihāras of Kanauj has been well told by Sir Vincent Smith from the inscriptions found up to date in J. R. A. S. 1909 and we rely chiefly on his paper therein in the following account of the kings of Kanauj. Of course Smith's view that the Pratihāras were Gujars and therefore foreigners has already been refuted on both grounds; for firstly the Pratihāras were not Gujars and secondly even if they were, they could not be foreigners as Gujars were not foreigners. With this one exception the account given by Sir Vincent Smith may safely be followed and we add certain further observations which appear on a perusal of the original inscriptions referred to by him.