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Smith Gurjaras of Rajputana and Kanauj

This document discusses the Gurjaras, a group that played an important role in northern India from around 550-1018 AD. It establishes that the Gurjaras governed Rajputana for centuries and that their early capital was at Bhilmal. In the 9th century, the Gurjara king of Bhilmal conquered Kanauj and established a kingdom that stretched from Bihar to the Arabian Sea at its peak, under kings Mihira Bhoja and his son Mahendrapala. It is also argued that the Pratiharas, an important Rajput clan, were actually a subdivision of the Gurjaras. The document examines early references to the Gurjaras in Bana's Harsha
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
230 views24 pages

Smith Gurjaras of Rajputana and Kanauj

This document discusses the Gurjaras, a group that played an important role in northern India from around 550-1018 AD. It establishes that the Gurjaras governed Rajputana for centuries and that their early capital was at Bhilmal. In the 9th century, the Gurjara king of Bhilmal conquered Kanauj and established a kingdom that stretched from Bihar to the Arabian Sea at its peak, under kings Mihira Bhoja and his son Mahendrapala. It is also argued that the Pratiharas, an important Rajput clan, were actually a subdivision of the Gurjaras. The document examines early references to the Gurjaras in Bana's Harsha
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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The Gurjaras of Rajputana and Kanauj

Author(s): Vincent A. Smith


Source: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, (Jan., 1909), pp.
53-75
Published by: Cambridge University Press
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Ill
THE GURJARAS OF RAJPUTANA AND KANAUJ
Bv VINCENT A. SMITH

TI1HE most important advance in the reconstitution of


the early history of India made for many years past
has been effected through the demonstration, mainly due
to Messrs. A. M. T. Jackson and D. It. Bhandarkar, of the

great part played by the Gurjaras in Northern India

during a of nearly five hundred years, extending


period
from about 550 to 1018 A.D. We now know not only
that llojputtina was governed for centuries by Gurjaras,
whose early capital was Bhilmal (Bhinmal, Srimal),
situated some fifty miles to the north-west of Mount
Abu, but also that Kanauj on the Ganges
conquered was
at the beginning of the ninth century by the Gurjara king
of Bhilmal, who transferred the seat of his government
to the imperial city, and so founded a kingdom or empire
which during the reigns of Mihira Bhoja and his son

Mahendrapala was bounded on the east by Bihar, on the


west hy the "lost river", the Hakra, and the Arabian Sea,
on the north by the Himalaya and the Sutlaj, and on
the south by the Jumna and Narmada. Nor is this all;
because incontrovertible proof has been adduced which
establishes as an ascertained fact that the famous Pari har

(Pratihara, Pratihara) "royal" clan of Rajputs really is

only a subdivision or section of the Gurjaras, and

consequently related by blood to the plebeian Gujars,


a and agricultural caste numerous in Upper
pastoral
India. While the Gurjara origin of the Parihars has
been proved conclusively, a has been
strong presumption
"
"
raised that the three other fire-born (agnikula) clans,
namely, the Solanki or Calukya, the Pawar or Paramara,
and the Cauhan or Cahumana, must be of like origin.

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54 THE GURJARAS OF RAJPUTANA AND KANAUJ

even if not absolutely conclusive, proof can


Convincing,
also be given that the Gurjaras originally were an Asiatic
horde of nomads, who forced their way into India along
with or soon after the White Huns in either the fifth or
the sixth century. Incidentally, the accepted belief in
a Tomara has of Kanauj be been shown to
dynasty
unfounded, and, speaking a flood of light has
generally,
been thrown upon the dark places in the mediaeval history
of Northern India. The numismatist shares in the benefit
of the light, and is now able to assign definitely to the
Gurjara kingdoms the peculiar Gadhiya or Gadhaiya

coinage and certain other coin forms of Indo-Sassanian

type.1
The earliest record mentioning the Gurjaras is the
passage in the chapter fourth of Bana's Har$a-Carita
which eulogizes Prabhakara-vardhana or Pratapasila, Raja
of Thanesar and father of Harsa, the Lord Paramount of
Northern India in the first half of the seventh century, as
"
having been a lion to the Huna deer, a burning fever
to the king of the Indus land, a troubler of the sleep of
a bilious to that
Gujarat [or 'of the Gurjaras'], plague
scent - the lord of Gandhara, a looter to the
elephant
lawlessness of the Latas [' Lats' in text], an axe to the
means in plain
creeper glory ".2 This rhetoric
of Malwa's
that
the Thanesar chieftain claimed successes in
English
war his neighbours on the north, south, and west,
against
the years of the sixth century. When
during closing
Messrs. Cowell and Thomas published their admirable
1 1-5 : A. M. T. Jackson,
Bomb. Gaz., 1890, vol. i, pt. i, pp. "Bhinmal,"
ibid., App. iii, pp. 449-88, esp. pp. 403-9; 1). R. Bhandarkar,
Epigraphic
Notes and Questions, iii, Dighwa-Dubauli plate of Mahendrapala and
As. Soc. of in J. Bo. Br. R.A.S., vol. xx ;
Bengal plate Vinayakapala,
" Indian
Uilrjaras," ibid., vol. xxi ; Hoernle, Problems of Ancient Ilistory,
JRAS., 1904, p. 639; 1905, p. 1 ; Hoernle & Stark, History of India,
1904, pp. 02, 64 ; V. A. Smith, Early Ilistory of India, 1908, 2nd ed.,
373-81. The is preferable to Gurjara
pp. 303, 347-53, spelling Gurjara
or (lUrjjara.
2 Cowell k 101.
Thomas, transl., p.

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THE GURJARAS OF RAJPUTANA AND KANAUJ 55

translation in 1897, the full significance of the reference


to the Gurjaras was not understood, and the translators
believed the writer to speak of a conquest of Gujarat,
meaning presumably the province of that name now in the

Bombay Presidency. But there can be little doubt that


Bana referred to the Gurjaras of Rajputana, as understood

by Messrs. Jackson and Bhandarkar.


The next
documentary mention of the Gurjaras is found
in the inscription, dated in 556 Saka = 634-5 A.D.,
from the Meguti temple at Aihole in the Kaladgi District,
of Bombay, which enumerates the glorious deeds
of the
"
Calukya king, Pulake&n II, and states that being
subdued by his prowess, the Latas and the Malavas and
the Gurjaras became, as it were, worthy people, behaving
like chieftains brought under subjection by punishment".1
Here, too, present knowledge indicates that the Gurjaras
of Rajputana are meant.
A few years later, in either 641 or 642 a.d., the Chinese
pilgrim, Hiuen Tsang, describes
large kingdom the of
Ku-che-lo, more
than 5,000 li in circuit, which lay to the
north of the Valabhi territory, and was governed by
a young Kshatriya prince. Ku-che-lo is a transliteration
of Gfijara, the spoken form of Gurjara.2 The capital of
this kingdom was Pi-lo-mo-lo, the modern Bhilmal
(Bhinmal, or Srimal), situated fifty miles
about to the
north-west of Mount Abu.3 After Hiuen Tsang's time
numerous inscriptions of several dynasties record incidents
in the unceasing wars which the Gurjaras waged with the
Rashtrakutas and other powers.
1
Ind. Ant., viii, 244.
2 "
Watters, On Yuan Chwang's Travels, ii, 249 ; a name like Guclmla
or Guchara."
3
The identity of Bhilmal (Bhinmal, Bhinamfda, Bhillamfda, also culled
Hrimal) with the Pi-lo-mo-lo of Hiuen Tsang seems to me fully to be
proved, and I agree with Mr. .Jackson that the objections raised by
Mr. Bhandarkar are of little weight. Bhilmal lies to the north-west, and
not to tho west of Mount Abu, as erroneously stated in Bomb. Gaz.,
1896, vol. i, pt. i, p. 449.

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56 THE GURJARAS OF RAJPUTANA AND KANAUJ

The connexion betweenthe Gurjara realm of Bhilmal


and the Kanauj or empire ruled by Mihira
kingdom Bhoja,
his predecessors and successors, having been indicated by
Mr. Jackson, was demonstrated for tho first time by
Mr. D. It. Bhandarkar, who proved that the dates of
three misread as
copper-plate inscriptions, previously
100, 155, and 188, and referred to the era of Harsa,
should be read as 900, 955, and 988, and referred to
the Vikrama era. Mr. Bhandarkars arguments, clearly
being sound, have been accepted by both Professor
Kielhorn and Dr. Hoernle. It is unnecessary, therefore,
to rake up the ashes of a dead controversy, and it will
suflice to quote Professor Kielhorn's remarks on the
" "
subject. Scholars," he writes, who take an interest
in Indian are aware that there has been
epigraphy
a difference of opinion regarding the dates of three

copper-plate inscriptions (Nos. 542, 544, and 710 of mjr


Northern List), which were issued from Mahodaya
(Kanauj). According to Dr. Fleet and myself those

plates were dated in the years 100, 155, and 188 [of the
Harsa era, corresponding roughly to A.D. 705, 760, and

793]; according to Mr. Devadatta Itamkrishna Bhandarkar

they would [should] be dated in the years 900, 955, and


988 [of the Vikrama era, corresponding approximately
to A.D. 843, 898, and 931]. When a short time ago I had
occasion to refer to this controversy, I ventured to sajr
that the whole question would probably be definitely
settled by one or the other of the numerous unedited
which were
known to exist India, in Northern
inscriptions
and the publication of which could not be recommended
too earnestly. What I then only hoped has come true
much sooner than I could have expected. For the question
is really settled now?in favour of Mr. Bhandarkars views
an inscription of which a pencil-rubbing and a small
?by
have been made over to me for disposal,
photograph lately
with other valuable records, by my friend Dr. Hoernle."

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THE GURJARAS OF RAJPUTANA AND KANAUJ 57

Professor Kielhorn then proceeds to discuss the Sagar


Tai inscription from Gwalior (No. 8 of my List, jyost),
which will be noticed presently.
The correct interpretation of the copper-plate inscriptions
alluded to brings them into line with a series of stone

inscriptions knownin part for many years, which had long

puzzled archaeologists, but are now made fully intelligible.


The inscriptions of the Gurjaras of Rajputana, viewed in
the light of Mr. Bhandarkar's discovery, are perceived to
be in harmony with those of the Ra?trakutas, the kings of

Kanauj, the Palas of Bengal, and the Candellas of Mahoba ;


and a new chapter of Indian history capable of treatment
in considerable detail has been revealed.

Comparison of more than a score of inscriptions obtained


from Rajputana, Gwalior, Karual, Allahabad, and other

places in Northern India supplies a complete genealogy


and unbroken succession list of fourteen kings of
a Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty, the capital of which at
first was Bhilmal in Rajputana and
subsequently Kanauj
on the Ganges. The conquest of Kanauj was effected
by Nagabhata II at the beginning of the ninth
century,
from which time up to 1018 A.D., that is to say for more
than two centuries, that city was the seat of government.
At the beginning of 1019 A.D. the capture of Kanauj by
Mahmud of Ghazni constrained the reigning king to
remove his headquarters to Bari on tho other side of
the Ganges. Tho last certain glimpse of the Parihar royal

family is afforded by an inscription dated in 1027 a.d.,


found near Allahabad. The power and glory of the

dynasty attained their highest point during the reigns of


Mihira Bhoja and his son Mahendrapaia between 840 and
910 A.D. After the latter date the Parihar kings of Kanauj

gradually diminished in importance, and ultimately became


merely local Rajas with very restricted authority. The
course of events will appear more fully from the detailed

history as narrated in a subsequent section of this paper.

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58 THE GURJARAS OF RAJPUTANA AND KANAUJ

Two inscriptions and the testimony of Hiuen Tsang


when read in combination afford conclusive proof that
the fourteen kings of this dynasty were considered to
be Ksatriyas or to the Parihar or
Rajputs, belonging
Pratihara clan of the Gurjara or Gujar tribe. One of
the two inscriptions is incised on a stone slab found in
the ruins of an ancient town to the south
Paranagar,
of Rajor or Rajorgarh in the Alwar State, Rajputana.
This document (No. 21 in my List, post] No. 39 of
Kielhorn's Northern List) records the grant of a village
in which the cultivators were Gurjaras a chieftain
by
named Mathanadeva, who was a feudatory ofVijayapala
deva, the twelfth king of the Bhilmal-Kanauj dynasty,
as a Gurjara
and is explicitly described being "by race
Pratihfira", that is to say, a member of the Parihar clan
of the Gujar tribe (Sri Mathanadevo malmrdjddhirdja
. . . This proves the Gujar
Gurjarapratilulrdnvayah).
origin of the Parihars.
The second document, an undated inscription of Mihira
A.D.), found at the Tai to the
Bhoja (circa 840-90 Sfigar
west of Gwalior (No. 8 of my List, post), states that
s ancestor Nagabhata 1, the conqueror of the
Bhoja
Mleccha armies, meaning probably the Muhammadans of
Sind, to the race which bore the Pratihara
belonged
banner (Pratihdral-ketana-bhriti). The passage, as trans
lated by Hirananda, is as follows:?"In that family,
which extended shelter to the triple world and bore the
emblem of Pratihara, the king Nagabhata as an
appeared
incarnation of the Old Sage in a strange way. Wherefore
he seemed to break up the complete armies of the kings
"
of Mlecchas, etc." Professor Kielhorn observes that the
we are concerned here is
family of the kings with whom
stated to be the Pratihara vamsa. For other
distinctly
of the same Pratihara or Padihara (Parihara)
inscriptions

1 The has the spelling Pratihara.


Pfminngnr inscription

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THE GURJARAS OF RAJPUTANA AND KANAUJ 59

vaviitia, in which also wc find the names


Nagabhata
Kakkuka(Kakkua), Bhoja, and see Nos. 13
(Nahada),
and 330 of my Northern List".1
When read together the Paranagar and the Sagar Tai

inscriptions prove that the kings of the Bhilnml-Kanauj


dynasty belonged to the Parihar clan, which was a sub
division of the Gurjara tribe. Hiuen Tsang's statement
that the of Bhilmal in 641-2 was a Ksatriya
king
proves that as early as the seventh century the Gurjaras
hod been admitted into the scheme of Hindu polity as

Ksatriyos or Rajputs. The young Ksatriya king who

occupied the Bhilmal throne at the time of Hiuen

Tsang's visit must have been the immediate successor of


who was alive in 628 a.d., as recorded
Vyaghramukha,
by Brahmagupta the astronomer.2
The Gurjara lineage of the Bhilmal-Kanauj kings and
the Gurjara origin of the Parihar Rajputs have been
thus demonstrated easily and concisely by the aid of
inscriptions and
Hiuen Tsang. The proof that the

Gurjaras were originally a horde of pastoral nomads from


the steppes of Central Asia who entered India along
with or soon after the White Huns, although sufficiently
satisfactory, cannot be presented in an equally clear

shape. One important clement in the argument is that


the Gurjaras are never heard of until near the end of
the sixth century. The presumption thus arises that
they must have been foreign immigrants who had then

lately entered India. They soon became a conspicuous


factor in the population, and from the seventh century
onwards arc constantly mentioned. The way in which

1
The Sagar Tai inscription has been edited by Hlrananda in Archn-of.

Survey Annual Jirport for 1903-4, pp. 277 seqq., and discussed by
Professor Kielhorn in "Epigraphic Notes, No. 17, Gwalior Inscription
of Mihira Bhoja", Naehr. dw k. (tc*efl*chaft thr Wissf.mrhaften zu
tiottingen, Phil ol.-hint. Klassa, 1905.
2 Hun
See my papers, "White (Ephthalite.) Coins from the l'aujtib"
" '
and ?White Hun Coin of Vyaghramukha ", JRAS., 1907, pp. 91, 92.1.

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60 THE GURJARAS OF RAJPUTANA AND KANAUJ

records frequently bracket them with the Hunas suggests


that the two races were closely connected. The Hunas
are mentioned first in Skandagupta's Bhitari inscription
of 455 or 456 A.D.,1 and it would seem as if the Gurjara

immigration did not begin until about a century later,


probably subsequent to the great defeat which the Hunas
suffered at the hands of the combined Hindu princes
about 528 A.D.2
These inferences are
by numismatic evidence.
supported
The barbaric who led the greedy hordes known
chieftains

by the generic name of Huna or Hfma (Wliite Hun,


Ephthalite, etc.) to the plunder of the rich Indian plains
did not trouble to invent artistic coin dies, and were
content to issue rude imitations of the coinage of the
various countries subdued. After the defeat of the
Persian king Firoz in 484
a.d., the Huns chiefly used
degraded copies of
Sassanian the
coinage, and in India
emitted extensive series of coins obviously modelled on
the Sassanian type, and consequently classified by numis
matists as Indo-Sassanian. Many varieties of this Indo
Sassanian coinage, especially those bearing the names
of Toramana and Mihiragula or Mihirakula, can be
with certainty as Hun issues.
recognized
The long series of Gadhiya or Gadhaiya coins in base
silver and copper or bronze, although usually without
or dates, may be now with equal
legends assigned
confidence to the Gurjaras. These coins, which present the
are found most
Sassanian type in its utmost degradation,
abundantly in the countries occupied by the Gurjara clans,
which quickly developed into Hindu castes, and they

evidently formed the ordinary currency of the Gurjara


kingdoms in Western India and Rajputana for centuries.3

1
Early History of India, 2nd ed., p. 290.
2
Ibid., p. :mo.
3 seo Cat at. Coins in Indian
For the Indo-Sassanian Coinage, Museum,
vol. i, sec. xiii, and the authorities there cited.

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THE UU1UAKAS OF RAJPUTANA AND KANAUJ 61

A Jain writer relates a which connects


legend expressly
the origin of the Gadhiya coinage with Bhilmal, the
Gurjara capital.1 One coin, not of the Gadhiya type,
bearing the name has
been published.
of Vyaghramukha
That name rare of the
being occurrence, piece, which is
of rude fabric and comes from a locality where it was
associated with WThite Hun coins, is almost certainly a coin
of Vyaghramukha, the Chapa Raja of Bhilmal in 528 a.d.
The Chapas were a branch of the Gurjaras. The coin

closely resembles in fabric the undoubted Hun issues, and


when I published it I believed it to have been struck by
a White Hun chief, but now that it is Gurjara.
perceive
The Gurjara lineage of King Mihira Bhoja being an
established fact, his Adi-vardlia coins, which imitate the
Sassanian coinage in another fashion, must also be classed
among the Gurjara issues. We can thus see that the
numismatic connexion between the Huns and the
Gurjaras is extremely close. The fact
strongly supports
the inference derived from inscriptions and literature
that the two tribes were associated. The numismatic
evidence also indicates that the Gurjaras were immigrants
of later date than the Huns.
Nobody could think of doubting the of the
identity
modern caste name Gujar with Gujara (Kti-che-lo of
Hiuen Tsang), the spoken form of Gurjara. The Gujars
are a well-known and caste, numerous in
powerful

Rajputana, parts the Panjab, the northern


of districts of
the United Provinces, and Central India. They are
a a
primarily pastoral people, with strong tendency to
a life of ; but, of course, in modern times have
rapine
been obliged to devote their attention largely to
agriculture. are closely allied to the Jats or Jats,
They
from whom they are almost in
indistinguishable physique,
and are also connected with the Ahirs and Golas.

1
Bomb. (>'az., 189(1, vol. i, pt. i, p. .'1n.

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62 THE GURJARAS OF RAJPUTANA AND KANAUJ

"
A proverb is current to the effect that the Jat, the
Gujar, Ahir, and Gola are all four hail-fellows well met".
All observers (except Sir II. Rislcy) arc agreed that the

Gujars and Jats seem to be the descendants of foreign


immigrants, and the peculiarities of the Gujars indicate
that their ancestors were members of a pastoral horde.

Ample justification, therefore, exists for the belief that


the Gurjaras were pastoral nomads from the
originally
steppes of Central Asia, who entered India during the
sixth century, probably subsequent to the defeat of the
Hunas or Huns.1

I abstain from more minutely into the history


going
of the Gujar caste and its congeners, and conclude this

part of the discussion by quoting the opinion of Bhagwan


"
Lal Indraji concerning the Gurjara immigration. The
he observes, "are a tribe, who, passing
Gurjaras," foreign
into India from the north-west, gradually spread as far
south as Khandesh and Bombay Gujarat. The present

Gujars of the Panjab and North-West [now 'United']


Provinces preserve more of their foreign traits than the

Gujar settlers further to the south and east. Though


the Panjab Gujars in language, dress, and
better-looking,
1 In addition seo the Census Bcjtorts
to works already cited, (1901) for
the Punjab, UnitedProvinces, and India; Sir Denzil Ihhctson's Panjab
Ethnography; and Crookc's works on the castes of Northern India. Most

Hajpiits, Jats, and (Uljars are, I believe, "long-headed." Sir Herbert

rashly assuming that the so-called "Scythian" invaders of India


Risley,
must have been "broad-headed" comes to the conclusion that
people,
the reasons for believing in the "Scythian" origin of the Jats and
"
Hajpiits aro "of the flimsiest description (Indian Empire, 1007, vol. i,
the evidence which is summarized in this
p. .SOU). Hut he did not know
essay, and the assumption that tho invaders must necessarily have been
<4broad-headed'* would be diflicult to justify. While it is true that some
" "
of the arguments used by the older writers in favour of tho Scythian
do not bear criticism, the foreign or origin of
hypothesis "Scythian"
of tho long-headed tribes and castes of Upper India is now, in
many
my definitely proved. I do not believe in Sir H. Rise's
opinion,
of the Marathas. I think, was
theory of the "Scythian" ancestry Tod,
tho first author to suggest tho "Scythian", or nomad, of tho
origin
Haj puts.

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THE GURJARAS OF RAJPUTANA AND KANAUJ 63

so closely resemble their associates the Jats or


calling
Jats as to suggest that the two tribes entered India about
the same time. Their present distribution shows that the

Gujars spread further cast and south than the Jats. Tho
seem to have in tho Panjab
Gujar settlements
earliest been
and North-West Provinces from the Indus to Mathura.
where they still differ greatly in dress and language from
most other inhabitants. From Mathura the Gujars scorn
to have passed to East Rajputana, and then from there

by way of Kotah and Mandasor to Malwa, where, though


their original character is considerably altered, tho Gujars
of Malwa still remember that their ancestors came from
the Doab between the
Ganges and the Jumna. In
Malwa as far east as Bhilsa and Saharanpur
they spread
[? Sarangpur]. From Malwa they passed south to
Khandesh, and west, probably by the Ratlam-Dohad
l
route, to the province of Gujarat."
There is reason for believing that the Jats entered
"
India later than the Gurjaras, rather than about the
same time ".

The scanty history of the subordinate local Gurjara


dynasty, which ruled in the Bharoc (Broach) District and
some other parts of Southern Gujarat between 580 and
734 A.D., has been sufficiently elucidated by Bhagwan Lai
Indraji and Dr. Fleet, and need not be discussed in this

place. The power of that dynasty extended ordinarily


as far as the Narmada, and at times even as far as
tho Tapti.2
The outline of
the newly discovered story of the Gujar
Parihar dynasty which reigned first at Bhilmal from
about 725 to 810 A.D., and subsequently at Kanauj until
1018 A.D., has been published in the second edition (1908)
of the Early History of India,; but it is desirable to
in the hands of students a statement
place compendious
1 Bomb.
Gaz., 181)0, vol. i, pt. i, p. 2.
8 312 1G.
ibid., pp. 107, 113-17; pt. ii, pp.

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64 THE GURJARAS OF RAJPUTANA AND KANAUJ

of the and other evidence on which the


epigraphic
condensed narrative rests, and to set forth the details of
events more fully than would be proper in a general

history. The rest of this paper, therefore, will be devoted


to the critical examination of the authorities for the
of the Bhilmal-Kanauj and a full state
history dynasty
ment of the results obtainable from study of those
authorities. But I shall not
attempt to trace out the
endless ramifications of
the original Gurjara stock, which
forms the basis of many Rajput clans and other less
aristocratic castes.

Before the discussion of the authorities it


beginning
will be convenient to give the dynastic list of the Bhilmal
with a and abstract of the in
Kanauj kings, catalogue
directly relating to it. The relevant inscriptions
scriptions
of other will be noticed as occasion requires.
dynasties
The Table which follows will help the
Synchronistic
reader to understand the complex relations between
various powers for three centuries.

(To be continued.)

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' at jCapital
{>erhaps
j (ijat
Jaunpur.
Ci
then
Ir. ij known.
j ! .i iBftri. not
1018,

x':;Accession-a.d.
* *

'iApproximate
TTv-rtWv
c,p,a
=-
;I?XIV
XII
Rfijvapala
Ditto,
XIII
1009,
;1019
990
to
>end
of XIII
THlocanaiKila
I 11)10,
--1027
1019
Duration
of
reijrn
*

j ?jIBhilmal.
725
?Xagabhata
Not
Capital
'ut
known
W

Slrial
Knonv>
;KlV0
gov
Qciaar!
,*Date
Rkmarks.
qf
0F

?Sundaridevi
783-4
III
Ditto.
Vatsaraja
IV
770
\Vijayapaia
X
Ditto.
XII
955
IMJO
j?:p
(Prabhasa,
Bhoja
ICandrabhattarika-
Mihira,
5VI
Ditto.
VII
S40
843.8*52,875,
.or (Mahendra-
MahendrapaLa
Dehana<radevi
Ditto.
VII
VIII
S90
1.^
893,898,899,
(GURJARA-PRATIHARA)
PARIHAR
THE
KANAUJ.
RAJPUTAXA
Di'XASTY
OF
AXD ?
V
VI
825
Capital
Ramadeva
Appadevi
Kanauj.
at
or
? Adivaraha)
devi
S76.
882
c
Raniabhadra,
Xiigabhatta)
(or
Xagabhata
IV
II
Isatadevi
815
V800
Conquered
Kanauj.
s~
j Mahindrapala.
Makidcvidevi
2.
903.
907
yudha,
~

IX
fBhoja
if VIII
? 90S
Ditto.
g XI
f'Devapaia
jX?94S
940
Ditto.
w
I bv^queen
Xo.
1

?III
\Devaraja
or
Devasakti
?Ditto
Kakustha
IBrother
Ditto.
II
fiof
740 ->.Bhuyikadcvi
(Kakkuka)
5s '?755
Ditto.
C
VIII
Ditto.
(K.sitipala,
X
Vina-
914,917,931
>
910
-Mahipala
;:
"?;
[?XV
jYasalqiala
Not
known
j I?1030
1030]
j ?*

I yakapala,
Herariibapala,
queen
;by
\Xo.
2>

Xirbhaya-
Xirhhayaraja,
j>. .
Xibbhara.
narendra,
"~
Xibbhava,
Bhaka)
G

V
Harsa)
: ; 55

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()(j THE GURJARAS OF RAJPUTANA AND KANAUJ

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PARIHAR (GURJARA-PRATIHARA)


?-,?.-_ l.- ... _.-.

(1) I (2) (3) (4)


(5)
j
I No. ix Itf I

l','Am
vol, v, Ait.

?1 S. 32 miles Pratihara.
I IOsia (Ukesa), Vatsaraja
north of Jodhpur.

? 2 S. Huckala in Hilar District son of


j Nagabhatta (Ii),
I of Jodhpur Slate. Vatsaraja.

710 3 CP. Daulatpura, in Jodhpur Maharaja Hhojadeva (1)


State; now at Jodhpur. Prabhasa.

414 ^- I Pillar of .lain temple at Same and Visnu


king;
Deogaih(Luaechagiia) rama, governor,
iu lialitpur subdivision
ofJhaiisiDisliict,U.P.;
E. long. 78* IS', N. lat.
24? 32'!

15 5 S. monolithic under name


Caturbhuja Same_ king,
at Gwalior. of Adi varaha.
temple

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THE GURJARAS OF RAJPUTANA AND KANAUJ 07

DYNASTY OF RAJPUTANA, KANAUJ, AND NORTHERN INDIA.

ok Inscription. *' *' '


Datk

(0)
(7) Prui'OKT of Insckii'Tion. Rkkkrks< j;s and Rkmakks.

a.d. Indian Era.

950 1013 v.k. Construction of a Jain temple Marshall, J RAS.,1907, P RHO.


origiimlh in the of Prog. It*p. ASM'I. f??r
reign
Vatsmaja. The record is 1900 7, p. 1.1, para. 3S ;
greatly mutilated. p. 30, para. 30.
815 872 v.k. Apparently the
construction of Unpublished ; mentioned in
a Vaisiiava The in- Ep. Ind.. i\,4. note; JRAS.,
temple.
seription is on a pilaster of 1907, p. Kill; Prog. lit p.
the temple. ASM* I. for 1900-7, p. lo,
para. 38 ; p. 38, pani. 39.

843 900 v. K. I*rant, of village named Siva, Ep. Ind., v, 208; datecoireeted
near Didwaua in Marwar, in by Bhaiidttrkttr(''<tiirjarav'
the dur jurat roi hhiimi'; gives p. 10, J. Bo. Br. R.A.S.,
genealogy of kings from vol..xxi); correction accepted
Dovasakti, and names of hy Kielhorn (Ep. Ind., viii,
queens; mentions the yum- App., p. I) and Hoernle
raja Nagabhata (apparently (JRAS., 1904, p. 041).
son of Bhojadeva) as diifaka.
Issued from Mahodaya
(Kanauj).

Sept. 10, 919 v.k. Erection of pillar hy Deva, a Ep. Ind., iv, 309; AV/?.,
802 784 Saka. subject of the mahasamonta vol. x, p. 101, pi. xxxiii, 2.
Yisiittrama, who was a fcuda- (To this period belong tho
tory of Bhojadeva. inscriptions of the Pratihara
feudatory princes of Central
Marwar, viz.: (I) tJhatiyala
inscrs. of Kakkuka iu Pra
krit and Sanskrit, dated
918 v.i-:.f JRAS., I$95,
p. 510; Prog. It'p. A SMI.
for 19O0-7, p. 30, para. 17;
p. 34, para. 29, 30. (2)
Jodhpur Fort, inset, of
Bfiuka, brother of Kakkuka,
dated apparent Iyin 894 v.k.,
JRAS., 1894, p. 1 ; Prog.
Bip. AS IVI. for 1900 7,
p. 30, para. 17. (3) Mandor
iuscr. of a sou of Kakka,
same lltp., p. 32, para. 24.)
875 932 v.k. Erection of of Visnu
temple by Ep. Ind., i, 154.
an oiliecr namedAlia, of the
Varjara family, from Auaud
pura in Latamaiulala, iu ser
vice of K. Srimad Adi varaha
?
( Bhojadeva). Alla?s father
had been iu service of K.
Ramadeva =
( Ramabhadra).

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68 THE GURJARAS OF RAJPUTANA AND KANAUJ

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PARIHAR ((1UR.JARAPRATIHARA)

(3)(1)
C2) (4) (5)
N?* ,N .
v Stonk ou
Co" - Locality. Kin.i.
bl2IAI'
No. &'*"#"
List, hi.,
vol. v, Arr.

10 () S. Caturbhuja monolithic Same under namo


king,
temple at (Gwalior. of Rhojadova.

540 7 S. (inrlbnath temple at Same king, Bhojadeva,


Pehcwa (Pehoa, Pithu- successor of Rfuna
daka) in the Karnal bhadra.
District, Panjab.

8 -?
S. Sagar Tai, west of (Jwa- Same king, under name
lior. of Mihira, surnamed
Bhoja, and genealogy
from Nagabhata I.

? II Una iu Jiinagaih
CP. State, Alahcndrayudha (=Ma
Kathiawai*. hendrapftla); aud Bala
v arm an
Calukya,
feudatory.

10 512 CP. Dighwa-Dubauli, in the Mahcndiapaladeva, with


Sai an District, Bihar ; genealogy and queens'
N. lat. 20* 14', E. long. names as in No. 3
84? 49'. above.

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THE GURJARAS Ob' RAJPUTANA AND KANAUJ GO

DYNASTY OF RAJPUTANA, KANAUJ, AND NORTHERN INDIA (.-on/.).

*'' ^'
Date of Inscription.

(7)
(6) Purport of Inscription. Rkfkrkncks and Rkmarks.

a.i>. Indian Era.

870 933 v.k. Eiidowincut by tho town of Ep. Ind., i, 154.


Gwalior of tho Vaisnava
temple moiitioncd iu No. 5,
and also of a second temple
c*
dedicated to the Nine
Durgas". Interesting details
of municipal authorities.

882 270 Harsa. Endowment hy self-imposed Ep. Ind., \, 184. For other
tax {dharma) of live temples, references to
cpigraimical
three at or near Kanauj and Bhojadeva see Karnadeva
two at PrthCidaka, and also Kalacdri's Benares plates,
of a priest at the latter place ; dated 1042 a. d. , describing
such dues to be paid by more Bhoja as been con
having
than 30 horse-dealers from temporary with Kokknllu 1,
various parts ; curious details Kalacuri, Krsna II, Rastra
of thearrangementsaregiven, kCita, aud Harsa Caudella
aud tho personal names are (Ep. Ind., ii, 304); Bilhari
noteworthy. (Balihri) inscr. No. 429 of
Yu vara jade va Kalacuri [Ep.
1ml., i, 253) ; and Siyudoni
(Siron) inscr. with ten dates,
903-4 to 908-9 a.d. [Ep.
lml., i, 170).
? ? a
Dedication of Imilding to Arch. S. Ann. ld-p., 1903-4,
Visnu. p. 277, edited with facsimile
I and translation :commented
on lry Kielhorn inXachr. dnv
k. Genel! whuff d. Wi**fin*i'h.
zu Got fill gen, 1905.

893 574 Val. < Jrant of land to a temple of the Ep. Imi., ix, 1, 130.
Sun inSattrastra (KiUhiawai)
by tho mahdmmanta Bala
varniau, son of Avauivarman
(I) Calukya, and feudatory
of Mahciidrayudhadcva.
Earliest instance of Valabhi
(= Gupta) era under that
name.

898 955 v.K. Grunt made at Mahodaya, the I.A., xv, 105, with wrong
capital, of a village named reading of date and other
Pauiyikagrama, situated in consequent errors; cor
i the Valayika rimya (par- rectly interpreted by D. R.
gana)of the Sravasti mamfaht Bhandarkar in "Epigraphic
|
! (District) and bhukti (pro- NotcsandQuestionsM,No.Ill
! vinco). (J. Bo. Br. R.A.S., vol. xx).

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70 THE C1UIUARAS OF HAJl'l'TANA AND KANAUJ

INSCRIPTIONS OF TUB PARIHAR (CUKJARA-PKATIIIAKA)

(-?)(i) C?) H)
<r>)

Bkkiai. K.Kui.mss
*",^1BplOR
to"'"- W'Auty. Kin,,.
No. List,/;./., r,'ATE
vo.,.y,Ait.

- II
CP. Una in Junagarh State, Same king; and Avani
Kathiawar; found with vai man (II) Cfdukya,
No. 9. feudatory.

1~ IS t S. (Sit on), in the Same


Siyadoni king.
tJwulior State, 10miles
W.N.W. of Lalitpur,
V.V.

S.13 20 Ditto. Same king; and Unda


bhata, a feudatory
chief; also Kings Bhoja
deva and Ksitipala
(= Mahipala).

331 14 S. as No. ; Same


Pehewa, 7 above king; with.I ajjuka,
now in Lahore M useum. Raja J aula, and others
of the Tomara family.

? 15 CP. British Museum. Same king.

? 10 CP. Ditto. Ditto.

17 3f>3 CP. lladdala in Eastern Muhipaladcva; and Dha


Kathiftwur. ranivarfiha Capa, feu
datory, mentioned in
No. 11 above.

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THE UURJARAS OF RAJPUTANA AND KANAUJ 71

DYNASTY OF RAJPUTANA, KANAUJ, ANI) NORTHERN INDIA (./on/.).

' ' t (?) (9)


l)ATB OF iNSfJHII'TION.

(0) (7) Piiu'oKT ok I.N.scHirnoN. Rkkkkkncks and Rkmakks.

a.d. Indian Eka.

899 950 v.K. Urunl of land to the temple of Ep Ind., ix, 2, 130 (with tac
tile Sun, mentioned in No. 9, similes),
made by A vani vai man (II),
son of Balavarman, donor of
No. 9. Mentions K.Dharma
I [ jNila of Bengal J; Dharani
i varaha [the Capa chief of
inscr. No. 17j; Jajjapa,allium
chief; and other persons. I

903 900 v.k. A collective public; copy of a Ep. lnd.,\, 173. See below,
series of deeds executed by Nos. 13 and 20, for other |>arts
many persons, chiefly traders of the inscription with inl
and artisans, conveying 27 jara dates. The ten dates
donations for the service of in the record extend from
various Brahmnnieal deities. 903-4 to 968-9 a.d.
The second pa rt, almost wholly
in verse, records the erection
of a temple of Murari (Visnu).

907 904 v.k. Undabhata, one of the donors, Ep. Ind., i, 109, 173. See
was a mahatamantadhi)mii, No. 12 above and No. 20
and is mentioned also in below,
inscriptions at Terahi, 27
miles north-west of Siron
(I.A., xvii, 201).
? of a triple The name
Erection temple of Ep. Ind., i, 242.
Visnu ;pmstirfi, or panegyric, Junta recalls the title or
of K. Mahendrapfda, etc. epithet Jdnrla, given to
lv. Toramana Sahi in the
Kura (Salt Range) inscrip
tion, Ep. Ind., i, 238.

-?
? ; dated in [reg
INot stated. Unpublished
i nai | year 2 ; mentioned in
! Kielhorn's hut, p. 47, note.
? Ditto.
Unpublished ; dated in [reg
nal] year (?) 0 ; reference
as for No. 15 above.

Dec. 22, 830 Saka. <taint of a named I. A., xii, 190; xviii, 90 (for
village
914 Viiiikala to a learned man, date); Bomb.Gaz., 1890,vol.i,
made by the f>dmanfddhi)HJti pt. i, p. 406 ; Bhandarkar,
Dharanivarfiha Capa, fcuda- "(lurjaras," p. 7 (J. Bo. Br.
tory of the K. Mahipala, and R.A.S., vol. xxi).
ruler of Vardhamana (Vadh
'
van) in Kathiawftr.

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72 THE GURJARAS OF RAJPUTANA AND KANAUJ

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PARIHAR (GURJARA-PRATIHARA)

(2)
(1) (3) (4)
(5)

Serial **
K]";" Co^r* Locality. Kin,..
No. List, A./., ?IATV
ILATh*
vol. v, App.

25 18 S. Asni in Fathpiir District, Same king, successor of


U.P. Mahindrapaladeva.

19 544 CP. A.S.B. copper- V i uiiy akapaladov a.


Library
of uncertain =
plate, ( Mahipala),suecessor
origin, to of Bhojadeva (II), and
supposed
come from Udaipur in as in No. 10
genealogy
Rajputana; sometimes above. (The names
called "the Benares Viiia-3'akapala ami
plate ". Heraihbapala aro both
titles of the doity
Ganapati.)

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THE GURJARAS OF RAJPUTANA AND KANAUJ 73

DYNASTY OF RAJPUTANA, KANAUJ, AND NORTHERN INDIA (?>?/.).

of Inscription. v ' t (8) (9)


Datk

((() (7) Purport of Inscription. Rkflrkncks and Rk.marks.


a.d. Indian Era.

917 974 v.k. Endowment with fimdramma*, I. A., xvi, 173, 177 (with
etc.,of of Yogasvamhi. erroneous Ma/uyi
temple reading
pata, and inferences sub.se
(juciitly
corrected by Bhan
(tarkar) ; Ep. Ind., i, 171,
244, note2 (Mahimlrapdla):
Konow and Lanman, ed. of
-
Raja Qjckliitra's Knrpfim
Maiijari, p. 179, in Harvard
Or. Ser., 1901 (some cor
rections required in histori
cal inferences).

931 988 v.k. Grant, issued from Mahodaya I.A., xv, 138(with erroneous
(Kanauj), to a Bhatta, of a dateand era); date corrected
village named Tikkaiiku- by Bhandarkar in "Gur
grama (Tikart to south of jaras", p. 10; "Epigraphic '
Benares), situated in the Notes and Questions, iii
Pratislhaua hhukti (province (J. Bo. Br. R.A.S., vol. xx);
of Allahabad; correction -
Pratisthana- accepted by Kiel
= 3 miles east of horn
pura Jhilsi, {Ep. Ind., viii, App.,
Ailahahad), aud attached to p. 1) and Hoernle (JRAS.,
the Kasipuru pathaka (? = 1904, p. 041). Other refer
tappa) of tho Varaiiasi euces to Mahipala are tho
ri.saya
(pargana). Khajuraho inscr. No. 332,
under name of Ksitipfdn.
(Ep. Imi., i, 121), aseontem
poraiy of Harsadeva Can
della; but Hoernle interprets
the text as referring to
YuHOvarmait Candella;
Siyadoni inscr.,No.20below,
under name of Ksitipfda ;
inscription of Yasovarmaii
Candella, under name of
Hcraihbapfda (Ep. 1ml., i,
p. 134, v. 43); Rajasekhara's
Jli'da-ramdyami and lidln..
bharata or Pracam/a Pan
dam, under nameof Mahi
pfila, sovereign of Aryavarta
(cited hy Konow iu ed. of
Kar)mra-Maiijarl, p. 179) ;
the Kanarese poet, Pampa
(041 a.d.), under name of
Mahiprda, k. of thcGurjaras,
vanquished bj' Narasiiiiha,
father of the[loot's patron,
Arikesari(J. Bo. Br. R.A.S.,
xiv, 19; (pioted xullomh. Gaz.,
1800, vol. i, pt. i, pp. 400,400).

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74 THE (JUIUARAS OF RAJPUTANA AND KANAUJ

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PARIHAR (OURJARA PRATIHARA)

(I)
(3)(->) (4) (5)
No. in ? * .

S,j?iA,i ^mm" Lo,autv. K.nc.


No. n?n"S
List, /i.i., ,f"m"
vm,.vf Aw.
|

31 SO S. Siyrtdnni, as Nos. 12 and Uevapiiladeva, successor


13 above. of Ksitipidadeva ;with
Niskalanka, governor.

21 39 j S. I
Temple situated iu the Vi jaya paladcva,successor
ruins of Paranagar, ad- of Ksitipfdadcva; with
j
joining Rjijor or Rajaur Mathanndeva, Prati
; Ra jya- hura-Ourjara, a feuda
(Rujorgarh,
pura), in Alwar State, tory.
Rajputana.

22 00 CP. Jhusi(Pratisthdna),oppo- Tr i locanapilladeva,


si te A1 la ha bfid ; now in successor of Ra jyapala,
A.S. B. Library. who was successor of
Vijayapala.

02 |23 S. Kara, in Allfthabiid YasnhpFdu.


1 )istrict; now in A.S. B.
Library, or perhaps
in Indian Museum,
Calcutta.

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TIIE (JUKJARAS OF RAJPUTANA AND KANAUJ 7o

DYNASTY OF RAJPUTANA, KANAUJ, ANI) NORTHERN INDIA (,onf.).

*'' * '
Datk of Inscription.

(0) (7) Pijkimmt ok iNsriurrios. Rkfkhkncks and Rkmauks.

a.d. Indian Eiia.

948 lMKiv.K. Sec No. 12 above. Ep. Ind., i, 170, 172, 177.

Jan. 14, 1010 v.k. (bant of a village named Ep. Ind., iii, 203. Incorrectly
900 Vyiighrapataka (Baghor), ed. ami transl. in Proe. ASB.,
cultivated by the (Jurjaras, 1879, p. 157. The significant
along with otiier endowments, epithet Cur jura- Pratihara
to a temple of Lace)mkcsvara deserves special notice. For
(so named after the donor's Vijayapfdadeva see No. 22
mother, Lacchukd), and also below,
toa shrine or image of Oancsa,
by Mutlmnadcva, a Uurjara
Pratihara, and feudatory of
Vijayapiiladeva.

Jan. 20, 1084 v.k. (bant, issued from residence I.A., xviii, 34.
1027 near Prayaga (Allahabad), of
a village situated in Ihe
AsiirFihhaka risaya (pargaua),
to Brahmans of Pratisthana
(Jhusi).

1030 1093 v.k. (bant of a village in the Colebrooke, E**ay*, ii, 240.
Kausambl (Kausumlm) man
data, or district.

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