History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c34.s3.31

v3.c34.s3.31

It remains to consider who Jayantasinha was whose inscription dated 1260 St. or 1202 A. D. has been found (I. A. VI No. 4 p. 197). In this inscription he is described as a Chaulukya, but what relation he bore to Bhīma is not stated; it, however, makes it clear that this king ruled in place of Bhīma while he was away, (tadnantaram sthāne). It further praises Jayantasinha as the extricator, like Varāha, of the Gurjara land sunk in the waters of the ocean of evil times and the nourisher, like rain, of the seed of Gurjara land burnt in the forest fire of calamities. He also takes to himself all the epithets taken by Gujarat kings and describes himself as established in Anhilwad. This contains, most probably, a reference to the invasion of Gujarat by Kutubuddin Aibak in 1197 A.D. (B. Gazetteer p. 195-7). It seems probable that like his former namesake Bhīma I when invaded by Mahmud of Ghazni, Bhīma II at the time of the invasion by Kutubuddin forsook Anhilwad and retired to some distant fortress. Kutubuddin who had come to Ajmer advanced on Anhilwad and defeated the force which opposed him at the frontier under the mount of Abu, Dhārāvarsha Parmāra and other generals of Gujarat being defeated (Gaurishankar), Gujarat lay prostrate and was plundered. Perhaps this valiant Chaulukya prince Jayantasinha remained in the city and eventually cleared the country of any forces that may have been left in the country by Kutubuddin. The eloquent description of these services given in the inscription* are not a mere hyperbole and Jayantasinha appears he have ruled vigorously in Anhilwad for at least three years, his inscription being dated 1202 A. D. Bhīma's grant dated 1199 A. D. (Bhādrapada or September) was issued from Anhilwad (Ind. Aut. XI p. 71) and discovers the fact that he was still there though the Mahomedan forces were in the country troubling the people. He must have left the capital of sheer necessity hereafter. Bhīma must have returned when the country was clear and ruled again in Patan for a long time till 1242, his last inscription found being dated 1239 A. D. The titles which Bhīma II takes are indeed grandiloquent as he calls himself not only Abhinava Siddharāja but also Saptama Chakravartin. Why he calls himself the seventh Gujarat emperor of India cannot be explained unless we confine the enumeration to the Chaulukya kings of Anhilwad and begin it with Bhīma I. Unquestionably the kings of this line were almost all able and valorous kings with the exception of this last king who was indeed properly called Bholā or guileless as he did not sufficiently realise the absurdity of the praise bestowed upon him by inscription-writers. We give the genealogy of the Chaulukya kingly family of Anahilwad below with probable dates of accession and definite dates of their inscriptions. Jayantasinha may be omitted as he clearly ruled in place of Bhīma II during his absence (though Kielhorn gives his name in the genealogy of the Chaulukyas), following Gaurishankar Ojha in his note in Tod and the Bombay Gazetteer Vol. I. part I.