History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c34.s1.74

v3.c34.s1.74

Ajayavarman, the lineal representative of the kings of Malwa and ruling in the country round Dhār, the capital of Malwa since the time of Bhoja, is known only from the records left by his successors. We know nothing about him, but we may be certain that these records establish his identity as a different king from Jayavarman which is sometimes doubted. In Sanskrit especially where sandhis declare correctly the words employed, while in Lakshmivarman's documents we distinctly read the name Jayavarman, in Vindhyavarman's record we distinctly read the name Ajayavarman. Why the former does not mention Ajayavarman is to be explained by the fact that Lakshmivarman seems to have set up his principality in the days of Jayavarman and perhaps by his acquiescence. Ajayavarman continued the main line for some time and he was followed by his son Vindhyavarman who seems to have recovered much of the ancestral territory. From an inscription in the famous Udepur Śiva temple we know that part of the country was in the possession of Kumārapāla of Gujarat on 12th December 1163 on which day on the occasion of a lunar eclipse he made a grant (Ind. Ant. XVIII p. 343). His representative or viceroy was Mahā Rājaputra Śrī Vasantapāla. There is another grant recorded by Chāhada, probably his successor in office, in 1166 A. D. and a third grant still by Ajayapāladeva of Gujarat in 1173 A. D. of a village in Bhaillaswami (Bhelsa) district. Vindhyavarman appears to have regained possession after Ajayapāla of Gujarat whose reign ended in 1176, as Ajayapāla's inscription at Udepur dated 1173 (Ind. Ant. XVIII) shows that he still had power in Eastern Malwa. Ajayapāla's successor was a minor and in his reign Malwa probably fully reverted to the Paramāras. Vindhyavarman is described as a great warrior in a grant of Arjunavarman, his grandson, dated 1215. He certainly had possession of Mandugadh the fortress of Dhar (Mandapadurga), where an unpublished inscription shows that he had a minister named Bilhaṇa (Luard and Lele p. 37) who was a poet.* This shows that this king was a patron of poets. This hereditary tendency of this king is also referred to by the Jain writer Āśādhara of whom we shall presently give further particulars. Vindhyavarman ruled from about 1160 to about 1180 (Luard and Lele p. 58) and he was succeeded by his son Subhatavarman. He also was a powerful king and further restored the power of Malwa. He seems to have not only recovered his possessions but even led an expedition against Gujarat.† A Yādava king of Devagiri is said to have conquered Malwa but probably this was an unimportant victory. Subhatavarman's reign is given by Col. Luard and Mr. Lele as extending from 1180 to 1210 A. D. He was succeeded by Arjunavarmadeva whose grants issued from Mandapadurga (Mandu), Bhṛigukachchha (Broach) and Amareśvara (Māndhātā) on the Nerbudda have been found, dated respectively 1211, 1213 and 1215 A. D. He is said to have defeated Jayasinha II king of Gujarat and a drama composed by a court-poet on this victory and in-