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Parihar (परिहार)/ Pratihar (प्रतिहार)  Parhar (पड़हार) Padhiyar (पढियार) Parhiyar (पढियार) Padiyar (पडियार) Padiyal (पडियाल) is gotra of Jats found in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat in India and in Pakistan. They are called Padhiyar in Gujarat, Parhiyar in Sindh, Pakistan. Pratihara (प्रतिहार) are Agnivanshi Jats.  They are also found in Gujars and Rajputs. Pari clan is found in Afghanistan. James Tod places it in the list of Thirty Six Royal Races.
The Sanskrit equivalent of Parihar is Pratihar (प्रतिहार). The word "Pratihara" means keeper or protector, and was used by the Gurjara-Pratihara rulers as self-designation. The Pratihara rulers claim descent from the Hindu mythological character Lakshmana, who had performed the duty of a door-keeper (pratihara) for his elder brother Rama.
A 1966 book published by the Directorate of Public Relations Government of Rajasthan mentions that the kings of this dynasty came to be known as the Pratiharas, because they guarded the north-western borders of the Indian subcontinent against foreign invasions.
According to D.R. Bhandarkar Gurjaratra comprised the districts of Didwana and Parbatsar of the princely Jodhpur State, now in Nagaur district in Rajasthan. Gurjaratra can be considered to be a sandhi of Gur + Jarta = Gurjarata = Gurjaratra. Gur means great and Jarta is identified with Jats by many historians. It means 'Great Jats' same as Massagetae of Herodotus.
It is a well known fact that the Arabs had established themselves in Sindh at the beginning of the eighth century A.D. and used to send military expeditions into the interior from time to time. The Nausari plates of the Gujarat Chalukya Pulakesiraja, dated in 738 A.D., refers to an expedition of the Arabs in course of which they are said to have defeated the kings of the Saindhavas 1, the Kachchhellas 2, Saurashtra 3, the Chavotakas 4, the Mauryas 5and the Gurjaras 6. It seems very likely that the Arab invasion referred to in the grant was that undertaken by the officers of Junaid, the general of Kalif Hasham (724-743 AD).
It is interesting to nate that 1. Sindhu (सिंधु), 2. Kachela (काचेला), 3. Sorout (सोरोत), 4. Chapotkat (चपोत्कट)/ Chapu (चापू), 5. Maurya (मौर्य) / Mor (मोर), 6. Gurjara (गूर्जर) mentioned above are all in the list of Jat clans. Thakur Deshraj tells us that a group of Jats around Kandahar was known as Gujar.
These facts in view of the Arab raids indicate that a confederacy of existing clans was formed to fight with Arab invaders. This led to the rise of a new ruling dynasty among the Pratiharas.
In Mahabharata epic we find mention of Dwarapala tribe which is synonymous with Pratihara, who are dwelling in the neighbourhood of Ramathas. Thus the search of Ramatha from various Parvas we can find Pratihara Kshatriyas located on the western borders of India in Mahabharata period.
Sabha Parva, Mahabharata/Book II Chapter 29 mentions deeds and triumphs of Nakula where he defeats Dwarapala tribe which is synonymous with Pratihara.
". ....and the whole of the country called after the five rivers Panchanada, and the mountains called Amara , and the country called Uttarajyoti and the city of Divyakutta and the tribe called Dwarapala. And the son of Pandu, by sheer force, reduced to subjection the Ramathas, the Harahunas, and various kings of the west..."
Karna Parva/Mahabharata Book VIII Chapter 51 describes terrible massacre on seventeenth day of Mahabharata War and gives the list of Kshatriyas, who have been nearly exterminated in the van of battle. This includes Ramathas also. Thismay be reason of absence of this clan in present times.
..."the Tusharas, the Yavanas, the Khasas, the Darvabhisaras, the Daradas, the Sakas, the Kamathas, the Ramathas, the Tanganas the Andhrakas,...."
Hukum Singh Panwar (Pauria) gives us Tribal and Geographical Identifications based on India in Greece by E. Pococke, Indian Reprint, Oriental Publishers, Delhi-6. He gives at S. No. 69. Arcas/Ramatha who migrated from Afghanistan to Babylonia, where they were known as Arkas (Greece).
The conquests of Mahipala Pratihara (912-931 AD) are described in a grandiloquent verse by the poet Rajasekhara in the Introduction to his Play Balabharata or Prachanda Pandava, where Mahipala is said to be very axe to the Kuntalas ; and who by violence has appropriated the fortunes of the Ramathas. (See page-63 below) Thus both Mahabharata and Rajasekhara point out Ramathas in their neighbourhood.
We find very interesting information about Ramtha from Wikipedia at J. Z. Knight. Ramtha (the name is claimed to be derived from Ram and to mean "the God" in Ramtha's language) is an entity whom Knight claims to channel. According to Ramtha, he was a Lemurian warrior who fought the Atlanteans over 35,000 years ago. Ramtha speaks of leading an army over 2.5 million strong (more than twice the estimated world population at about 30,000 BC) for 63 years, and conquering three fourths of the known world (which was going through cataclysmic geological changes). According to Ramtha, he led the army for ten years until he was betrayed and almost killed.
Pratiharas consider them Suryavanshi. First kingdom of Parihara vansha was Karapatha, which was handed over to Angada by Rama. Angada's descendants ruled for thousand years and rulers were: 1. Suchita, 2. Suchita, 3. Bharata, 4. Devajita, 5. Brahma, 6. Indradhruma, 7. Indrabhagna, 8. Parameshthi, 9. Sudhanva etc. In their 64th generation was Raghu. The descends of Ragu were 64. Raghu, 65. Aja, 66. Dasharatha, 67. Rama, 68. Lavakusha, Angada, Chitraketu, Pushkara, Subahu and Surasena 69. Atithi, 70. Nishadha, 71 Nala, 72. Nabha, 73. Pundarika, 74. Kshemadhandha, 75. Devanika, 76. Ahinagu, 77. Rupa, 78. Rura, 79. Paripatra, 80. Dala, 81. Chhala, 82. Ukatha, 83. Suvarga, 84. Kumutrijita, 85. Brahmadaja, 86. Dhami, 87. Kritanjaya, 88. Rananjaya, 89. Sanjaya, 90. Shakya, 91. Suddhodana, 92. Ratula, 93. Prasenajita, 94. Kshudra, 95. Kundaka, 96. Suratha, 97. Sumitra etc.
Starting from Angada to Chandraketu and Harichandra there was a period of thousands of years. Chronological ancestry is not available. After Mahabharata we get history of Parihara Rajavansha of Dhanyadesha.
D R Bhandarkar provides us from Basantgarh Inscription of Varmalata of V.S. 682 (625 AD) - The second name is Pratihara Botaka, the first of which words I think signifies the race. Botaka was thus a Pratihara, i.e. Padiyar, and this is the earliest instance of the denomination Pratihara occurring in an inscription.
Ram Swarup Joon writes about Parihar, Prathihar, and Panwar: According to many writers they belong to the Gujar dynasty and their ancestors are said to have been associated with the Mauryan Jatti clan .
At the time of becoming Rajputs their capitals were in Bhinmal and Tirah.
According to the descriptions provided by Bal Clans, Prathihara and Maha Prathihara were titles only.
They may or may not be Gujars, but they are Chandravanshi and are descendants, of Yayati.
After the Agnikula ceremony they decided to forget their original roots in order to rise in status.
Dhaul-s and Bhakarwa-s belong to the Panwar clans.
The history section is mainly based on Reference - R.C.Majumdar: "The Gurjara Pratiharas", Journal of the Department of Letters Vol.X, Calcutta University Press, 1923 The page numbers given in the text are from this book.
Our knowledge of this dynasty is based upon six inscriptions, viz.
(I) Mandor (Jodhpur) inscription of Bauka of V.894 (837 AD) - It was published in J.R.A.S., 1894, p. 1 ff. The inscription is dated, but the portion containing the date has been variously interpreted. Thus Munsi Deviprasad, Dr. Kielhorn and Professor D. R. Bhandarkar read the date respectively as Samvat 940, 4, and 894.  We have accepted Prof. Bhandarkar's interpretation of the date as the correct one. The topic will be fully discussed in Ep. Ind.
(II- VI) The five Ghantiyala inscriptions of Kakkuka S.V. 918 (861 AD). One of these was published in J.R.A.S., 1895, p. 513 ff. and the remaining four, in Ep. Ind., Vol. IX, p. 277 ff. Three of these five inscriptions bear the date Samvat 918. The other two have no dates.
The inscriptions supply us with the following genealogy of a line of kings belonging to the Pratihara dynasty.
[Page-8] the founder of the dynasty Harichandra may be placed at about 550 A.D.
The verse 9 of inscription No. I tells us that the four sons of Harichandra built a large rampart round the fort of Mandavyapura which was gained by their own prowess (nija-bhujarjjite). Mandavyapura must be the same as Mandor whence the stone bearing the inscription was probably brought to Jodhpur five miles to the south. It is thus proved that the Pratihara clan of had advanced as far south as Mandor in the heart of Rajputana shortly after the middle of the sixth century A.D. This part of Rajputana is referred to in inscriptions of the ninth century A.D. as Gurjaratra, and must therefore be looked upon as a stronghold of the Gurjara power. It is permissible to hold, then, that the historic origin of the name is to be traced to the Pratihara clan of the Gurjaras which strongly established itself in the locality and ruled there for three hundred years up to the middle of the ninth century A.D. It is further legitimate to identify it with the Gurjara power to which various references are made in the records of the seventh century A.D. Let us discuss these one by one.
1) [Page-9] The Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang visited a Gurjara kingdom which was about three hundred miles north of Valabhi. The direction and the distance lead us to the territory round Jodhpur over which Harichandra's dynasty was ruling at the time of the pilgrim's visit. There can be scarcely any doubt, therefore, that the Gurjara kingdom visited by Hiuen Tsang was the principality ruled over by the Pratihara line under consideration. Nay, I believe that we are even able to identify the king whose court was visited by the pilgrim. " The king' says he, " is of the Kshatriya caste. He is just twenty years old. He is distinguished for wisdom and he is courageous. He is a deep believer in the law of Buddha and highly honours men of distinguished ability." (Beal, Vol. II, p, 270) Now, as the pilgrim visited the kingdom about 100 years after the foundation of the dynasty we may reasonably expect four generations of kings to have passed away during that period, and the young king may be looked upon as belonging to the fifth. On referring to the dynastic list we find king Tata occupying this position. The verses 14-15 of the inscription No. I inform us that the king Tata, considering life to be evanescent as lightening, abdicated in favour of his younger brother, and himself retired to a hermitage, practising there the rites of true religion. The curious confirmation about the religious fervour of the king who may be held on other grounds to have been a contemporary of the pilgrim gives rise to a strong presumption about the correctness of our identification.
It has been urged by Buhler and V. A. Smith that the kingdom visited by Hiuen Tsang was that of king Vyaghramukha, who belonged to the Chapa (चाप) dynasty1.
Note - 1. Chapal is a Muslim Jat clan found in Pakistan.
[Page-10] The theory rests upon the fact that Brahmagupta, the astronomer, who wrote his astronomical work Brahma-sphuta-siddhanta under the patronage of king Vyaghramukha of the Chapa dynasty, was known as Bhillamalavakacharya. It has been contended that Bhillamala which is thus proved to be the capital of Vyaghramukha, is identical with Pi-lo-mo-lo, the name given by Hiuen Tsang to the capital of the Gurjara kingdom visited by him and that the latter is therefore the principality ruled over by Vyaghramukha. Professor Bhandarkar has pointed out several drawbacks in this explanation. It will suffice here to point out that the identification of Pi-lo-mo-lo with Bhillamala is far from satisfactory in view of its distance from Valabhi as given by Hiuen Tsang. Besides, the Chavotakas1, who are looked upon as identical with the Chapas 2, are clearly distinguished from the Gurjaras in the Nausari Grant of the Gujarat Chalukya Pulakesiraja, and the Chapa kingdom cannot therefore be identified with the Gurjara kingdom visited by Hiuen Tsang.
[Page-11] of the two may be at once presumed. It has been already suggested, on general grounds, that the Broach line was feudatory to the main line of the Gurjaras further north, and the proposed identification shows that the main Gurjara power in the north was the Pratihara line under consideration. An important piece of evidence in support of this has recently been brought to light by Mr. A. Venkata Subbiah. We learn from the colophon and the opening stanzas of the commentary known as Laghuvritti on Udbhata's Kavyalamkarasamgraha, that it was written by Induraja, who was a Pratihara and an inhabitant of Konkana. This goes a great way towards proving that the Gurjara rulers of Broach belonged to the Pratihara clan.
(3) It is recorded in the Aihole inscription (EI, VI,p.1) that the Latas, Malavas and the Gurjaras submitted to the Chalukya hero Pulakesi II. The Gurjaras must here be taken to refer to the Pratihara dynasty under consideration, for it cannot denote the feudatory line founded by Dadda as it is included under the Latas. The mention of the Gurjaras along with the Malavas and the Latas clearly show that they occupied a territory contiguous to these two provinces, and the kingdom of the Pratihara line under consideration exactly corresponds to this.
[Page-12] justly been expressed how a small state like Broach could withstand the force of the mighty emperor. Everything however appears quite clear if we admit Broach to have been a feudatory state of the dynasty of Harichandra and remember its hereditary enmity with the royal house of Thaneswar. That the Gurjaras were not worsted in their struggles with Thaneswar kings appears quite clearly from the fact that they retained their independence, as Hiuen Tsang informs us, till at least a late period in the reign of Harshavardhana. The struggle between Dadda II and the rulers of Kanauj, incidentally referred to in inscriptions, may thus be looked upon as an episode in the long-drawn battle between the two powers. The various inferences to the Gurjaras in the records of the seventh century A. D. may thus be held to apply to the Pratihara line under consideration. It may of course be argued, in the absence of pompous and high- sounding titles in the inscriptions of this line of rulers, that they were only small feudatory chiefs; but the contention can hardly be maintained in view of the fact that in this respect our inscription No. I bears a close resemblance to the Gwalior inscription of the emperor Bhoja. Inscription No. I applies the term rajni to Bhadra, the queen of Harichandra, and to Jajjikadevi, the queen of Nagabhata, and the term maharajni to Padmini, the queen of Kakka. It refers to the rajadhani of Nagabhata and the rajya of Tata, Jhota and Bhilladitya.
[Page-14] that was probably the origin of the hostility between the two powers. In the south, however, there was no great power to oppose any successful resistance to them, and hence they were able to make rapid advances in this direction. Harichandra must have been the leader or at least one of the principal leaders of this advanced section of the Gurjaras ; in any case his family emerged as the most powerful of the clan and established itself in the territory now roughly represented by the Jodhpur State.
[[Page-16] different stages of this extensive conquest is as yet imperfect, but some main facts may be brought out by a study of the contemporary records. As has already been noted above, these southern territories were ruled in the seventh century A.D. by a feudatory line of Gurjara chiefs who traced their descent from Samanta Dadda. This person I have already identified with Dadda, the son of Harichandra. It is legitimate to infer, that, adopting a practice afterwards followed by both tho Chalukyas and the Rashtrakutas, Rajjila created a feudatory principality in the south under his younger brother Dadda, evidently as a check against the rising power of the Valabhis and the Chalukyas. Altogether six rulers of this line are known to us, viz., Dadda I, Vitaraga- Jayabhata I, Prasan-taraga-Dadda II, Jayabhata II, Bahusahaya-Dadda III, and Jayabhata III, each of these being the son of his predecessor. The earliest records of the family, dated 629 A.D. and 641 A.D., belong to the time of Dadda II, and we possess also several grants of the last king Jayabhata III dated 706 and 736 A.D. The identification of the villages mentioned in these grants enables us to form an estimate of the extent of the feudatory Gurjara principality. As Dr. Fleet remarks, " these records cover the country from the north bank of the river Kim to the south bank of the Mahi, and so show the extent of the Gurjara territory in the neighbourhood of the coast; inland it doubtless extended to the Ghats." Now, it is a noticeable fact that all these territories belonged to the Katachchuris or Kalachuris. The Sankheda (संखेडा) Grant of Shantilla (शांतिल्ल)(EI, II, p.21) shows that the territory round Dabhoi were ruled by Nirihullaka, a feudatory of Sankaragana.
[Page-19] There can be scarcely any doubt that the Gurjaras in Lata were able to hold their own against the royal houses of Thaneswar, Valabhi and Badami simply because they were backed by the main power of the Pratihara ruling family at Medantaka. For, otherwise it is difficult to explain how such a small principality could manage to maintain its independent existence against such powerful foes. We have already referred above to the first four kings of this main dynasty.
These verses which occur in the Ghantiyala inscriptions of Kakkuka seem undoubtedly to imply that Kakkuka ruled over the countries mentioned therein. Prof. D. B. Bhandarkar holds the same view in J. Bo. Br. R. A., S., Vol. XXI, p. 414. For the identification of the countries see Ep. Ind , Vol. IX, p. 278.
(2) The rise of a new ruling dynasty among the Pratiharas.
[Page-22] noted above Junaid sent officers against Ujjain, and against the country of Maliba (evidently meaning the eastern and western Malwa), but Junaid's successor was feeble and in his days the Musulmans retired from several parts of India, and left some of their possessions. (Elliot, History of India, Vol. I, p. 126) If we consider together the information supplied by the Indian inscriptions and the Arab historians, we may safely conclude that the Arab expeditions which began shortly after 724 A. D. lasted for a period of about ten years. During the first part of this period, under the direction of Junaid, the Arabs achieved great successes and overran the neighbouring provinces as far as Ujjain in the east and Lata in the south. But the force of the first onward rush was soon spent up, and under Tamim, the feeble successor of Junaid, they had to retire from their newly conquered territories. In the south they were defeated by the Gujarat Chalukyas under Avanijanashraya Pulakesiraja, while in the east they met with a new power which not only checked their present aggressions but was destined to prove one of the strongest bulwarks against the advance of the Islamic power in future. This was the Pratihara dynasty of Avanti, of which we next proceed to give some detailed account.
[Page-23] shown that there are consistent traditions, current in different parts of Bundelkhand, to the effect, that the Pariharas settled there about the eighth century A. D. Towards the south their occupation of Lata has already been referred to and it is not impossible that they proceeded even further south ; for Mr. A. Venkatasubbiah has traced the existence of Pratihara chiefs even in the Kanara country.
[Page-24] in Saka-Samvat 705 (expired), = A. D. 783-784, when there were reigning, in various directions determined with reference to a town named Vardhamanapura (वर्धमानपुर), which is to be identified with the modern Wadhwan (वढवाण) in the Jhalawar division of Kathiawar, in the north, Indrayudha ; in the south Srivallabha ; in the east, Vatsaraja, king of Avanti (Ujjain); and, in the west, Varaha or Jayavaraha, in the territory of the Sauryas."
This seems to have been the accepted view till 1902 when Prof. D. R. Bhandarkar gave a somewhat different interpretation of the passage. " The second half of the stanza," said he, " beginning with sakeshv-abda-sateshu, etc., does not appear to me to have been properly translated. The word nrpipa in my opinion, shows that Avanti-bhubhriti is to be connected with purvam and Vatsadiraje with aparam. The translation would then be as follows : " in the east, the illustrious king of Avanti ; in the west king Vatsaraja (and) in the territory of the Sauryas, the victorious and brave Varaha."
(1) The contemporaneity of Siluka and Devaraja, both having lived about 750 A. D.
(2) This Devaraja is described in the Gwalior inscription of Bhoja as having laid the foundation of the future greatness of his family by defeating other kings.
(3) Vatsaraja, the successor of Devaraja, is said in the same inscription to have wrested the empire from the famous Bhandi clan. (Cf. verse 7 in the Gwalior inscription of Bhoja) It seems to me very likely that this famous Bhandi clan is no other than the Bhatti clan to which the Jodhpur Pratiharas belonged.
[Page-31] of them may be represented by the table as pictured.
The third king Devaraja is also known as Devasakti, and the seventh king is referred to under four different names such as, Mihira, Adivaraha, Prabhasa and Bhoja. Mahendrapala is called Mahendrayudha and Nirbhaya Narendra by his court poet Rajasekhara. The fifth verse of the Gwalior inscription may be taken to imply that the second king Kakkuka was also known as Kakustha.
I. That the kingdom of Gauda stretched as far at least as Allahabad in those days.
II. That Vatsaraja defeated the King of Gauda.
III. That, probably not long afterwards, Vatsaraja as well as the King of Gauda were defeated by Dhruva.
[Page-36] each other, a common enemy appeared from the south, involved both of them in a common ruin and pushed as far as the Ganges and the Jamuna. Thus began that tripartite struggle between the Gurjaras, the Palas and the Rashtrakutas which may be looked upon as the most important factor in the political history of India during the next century. The key-note of this struggle seems to have been the possession of the Ganges and the Jamuna, or more properly speaking, Kanauj, for which each of these tried and succeeded in his own turn. In order that the account of this struggle might be intelligently followed we arrange below, in a tabular form, the list of kings of the three rival dynasties, so far as we are concerned with them here.
[Page-40] upon as an index of the change that had come over Bengal in the intervening period. The battle probably took place at Monghyr, for the Jodhpur inscription of Bauka informs us that his father Kakka " gained renown by fighting with the Gaudas at Monghyr (Mudgagiri)." As Prof. D.R. Bhandarkar has shown, the inscription of Bauka is dated in 837 A.D.(Cf. verse 24, Jodhpur inscription of Pratihara Bauka). Kakka may be thus looked upon as a contemporary of Nagabhata, and as it does not appear likely that Kakka could lead an expedition up to Monghyr on his own account, it may bo assumed that he accompanied his Gurjara overlord in his Bengal campaign. Another chief that probably accompanied Nagabhata on the same occasion was Vāhukadhavala, the feudatory chief of Surashtra. For we learn from an inscription of his great-grandson Avanivarman II (Ep. Ind., Vol. IX, pp.2 ff.) , a feudatory of Mahendrapaladeva, that he defeated king Dharma in battle, and as Kielhorn observes, this king Dharma may be identified with the Pala emperor of the same name. Kielhorn held that Vahukadhavala lived in the middle of the 9th century A.D., and was a feudatory of Bhoja (ibid p, 3). Dr. V. A. Smith (J.R.A.S., 1909, p. 266) and Mr. B. Chanda (Gauda-raja-mala p, 28) have supported this view. But as his great-grand-son was a feudatory of "Mahendrapala at the end of the ninth century A.D., it is more reasonable to hold, as Mr. R. D. Banerji has done (Banglar itihasa, p. 167) that Vahukadhavala was a feudatory of Nagabhata II at the beginning of the ninth century A.D. We can still trace a third chief who joined Nagabhata in his expedition against Bengal. This is Samkaragana, the Guhilot prince, referred to in the Chatsu inscription of Baladitya. (Ep. Ind., Vol. XV, pp. 10 ff.) It contains the following verse with reference to Samkaragana : Pratijnām prākkritro.dbhata-karighatā-samkata-rane bhatam jitvā Ganda- hshitipam = avanim samgara-hritām, | Balād-dāsim chakre (pra) bhu-charanayor=yah pranayimm tato-bhupah so-bhuj-jita-bahu-ranah Samkaraganah,|| (V.4.) Prof. D. R. Bhaadarkar who edited this inscription concluded from the above that Samkaragana conquered Bhata, the king of the Gauda country, and made a present of this kingdom to bis overlord. He farther suggested that this Bhata might be the same as Surapala. I beg to differ from these views of the learned scholar. The verse seems to me to mean that Samkaragana defeated the king of Gauda, a great warrior (Bhata), and made the whole world, gained by warfare, subservient to his overlord. Secondly, Samkaragana was the great-grand-son of Dhanika one of whose known dates is 725 A.D. (ibid, p. 11). Samkaragana, should, therefore, be taken as a contemporary of Nagabhata II and Dharmapala at the beginning of the ninth century A.D. The verse thus shows that Samkaragana helped his overlord Nagabhata to wrest the empire from Dharmapala by defeating the latter.
[Page-41] These scattered notices are sufficient to indicate the extensive preparations of Nagabhata against his adversary, and the very fact that he could advance as far as Monghyr seems to indicate that the ruler of Bengal was worsted in the fight. The simile by which the poet of the Gwalior inscription describes the triumph of Nagabhata seems to be a significant one. We are told that after defeating the dark dense array of the lord of Vanga, Nagabhata revealed himself, even as the rising Sun reveals himself by dispelling the dense darkness. This means, in plain language, that the rise of Nagabhata was possible only if he could defeat the king of Vanga and that explains why he first turned his attention in this direction. The Sun of Gurjara glory had set in with Vatsaraja, and the fortunes of his family, crushed by the lord of Vanga, lay enveloped in the darkness of night as it were, till a defeat inflicted by Nagabhata upon his enemy ushered in a new dawn for the Gurjaras. Soon the dawn passed away and the Sun reached its noonday height, for the next verse informs us that Nagabhata captured the strongholds of Anartta, Malava, Kirata, Turushka, Vatsa and Matsya countries. (Gwalior inscription of Bhoja I, verse 11. For the identification of the localities see J. R. A. S., 1909, pp. 257-8.) The poet leaves his hero at the height of his glory but it is quite clear from other records that the Sun had reclined tolhe west, and dusk set in, even in the lifetime of Nagabhata.
[Page-44] We learn from these that Govinda III had proceeded up to Himalayas, and Dharmapala and Chakrayudha waited upon, or humbled themselves, of their own accord, to him. If we remember that both of them were defeated by Nagabhata II not long ago, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that they had made up their differences with the Rashtrakuta monarch by acknowledging his suzerainty in order to make a common cause against their more dangerous rival, viz., Nagabhata. This satisfactorily explains the advance of the Rastrakuta army up to the Himalayas although Nagabhata had not yet been worsted in an open battle. The date of this struggle admits of being more or less definitely settled by a comparison of the Want and the Radhanpur grants of Govinda III. The latter practically contains the same verses as the former with only a few additions and alterations ; and as the Gurjara conquest occurs in the additional part it may be assumed to have taken place between the dates of these two grants. Now, the Radhanpur grant is dated on the 27th July, 808 A D and the date of the Wani grant, although irregular, cannot be placed earlier than the 25th of April, 807 A. D. Thus Nagabhata II was defeated by Govinda III some time between 807 and 808 A D. The victory of the Rashtrakutas, although by no means final and "decisive, was no doubt disastrous to the Gurjaras. One of their late conquests, viz., the province of Malwa, passed into the hands of the Rashtrakutas and Andhra, Vidarbha and Kalinga also probably shared the same fate.
[Page-45] Pratiharas, however, did not cease to give trouble to the Rashtrakutas, for we are told in the inscription of the feudatory Karkaraja of Gujarat, that the Rashtrakuta king had " caused his arm to become an excellent door bar of the country of the lord of the Gurjaras. But the political situation changed. The Rashtrakutas themselves were torn asunder by internal dissensions. Karkaraja, the son and successor of Indraraja of Lata, was expelled by his younger brother in 812 A. D., and what was worse still, the revolutionary movement thus set on foot afterwards developed into an attempt to prevent the accession of Amoghavarsha I. This unexpected embroglio in the Rashtrakuta affairs left the Palas and the Gurjaras free to fight among themselves. It is difficult to follow in detail the course of this struggle which continued for more than a century, but a few prominent landmarks may be ascertained by a comparison of the records of the contending powers. The Bhagalpur copper plate of Narayanapala refers to Jayapala, the nephew of Dharmapala, in terms which seem to show that he defeated the enemies of Dharmapala in battles and made Devapala the supreme ruler of earth. Again the Monghyr copper plate of Devapala refers to his warlike expeditions up to the Vindhya mountains. This is fully supported by the Garuda pillar inscription of Badal according to which Devapala made the whole of northern India from Himalaya to Vindhya, and from the eastern to the western ocean tributary to him.
[Page-51] upon " conquering the three worlds," (Ep. Ind., Vol. I, p. 156, v. 22.) apparently some time in the third quarter of the ninth century A. D. It is probable that he first turned his attention towards Bengal, and so far as we can see at present, his renewed attempts towards an aggressive campaign must have been, to a great extent, inspired by the political change that had come over that kingdom. The change was due to the death of his mighty rival Devapala. The sudden change in the royal line of the Palas, and the boast of Amoghavarsha, that the rulers of Anga, Vanga and Magadha worshipped him, seem to point out to an internal dissension in the Pala kingdom followed by the disintegration of the Pala empire, not long after the death of Devapala. But whether this conjecture be true or not, with Devapala was removed a powerful rival leaving the mighty empire to a succession of unworthy monarchs that inherited the throne, but not the blood, of Dharmapala and Devapala. Vigrahapala, the successor of Devapala is expressly said to have adopted the life of an ascetic, a sure sign, as we have noted above, of military inanity. His son and successor Narayanapala too resembled his father rather than his grand-uncle, for the contemporary records do not, even once, refer to his military achievements. These weaklings inflicted their unfortunate rule upon Bengal for more than half a century and the Gurjaras reaped a full harvest at this golden opportunity.
[Page-55] Magadha, Bhojadeva's empire seems to have included the whole of Northern India. With the imperial city of Kanauj as his capital the great emperor seems to have enjoyed the undisturbed possession of these extensive territories at his old age, till he died at about 890 A.D., leaving a consolidated empire, for which Vatsaraja and Nagabhata had fought in vain, to his son and successor Mahendrapaladeva. Under Mahendrapaladeva the Pratihara empire reached its greatest extent.
[Page-56] subordinate to the Kashmir king. This latter argument also precludes the third view if it means any independent sovereign power, and on the whole, the only possible interpretation seems to be that of Fleet, according to which some dominions of the Punjab which were taken by Bhoja were reconquered by Samkaravarman. Whether this took place during the lifetime of Bhoja or after his death, we cannot possibly determine with any degree of certainty, for the verse admits of both the interpretations. (Ep. Ind , Vol. I, p. 186). The probability, however, is, that the event took place in the reign of Mahendrapaladeva. For Samkaravarman ascended the throne in 883 A. D. and had to fight " numerous battles " with the other rival candidates to the throne, before he could consolidate his position at home and set out on foreign expeditions.
[Page-58] be found that the empire founded by Bhoja and Mahendrapala conferred inestimable boon upon the whole of India. At the beginning of the tenth century, then, the Pratihara king Mahendrapala ruled over an empire that, to quote the phraseology of the court poet of Devapala, stretched from the source of the Ganges to that of the Reva, and almost from the Eastern to the Western ocean, the abode of Varuna and Lakshmi. The struggle for empire between the three great rival powers of the ninth century A. D. had thus had its logical end. Dhruva and Govinda III, Dharmapala and Devapala, Bhojadeva and Mahendrapaladeva, each played in turn the imperial role and satisfied to the fullest extent the imperial ambitions of the respective powers. Their empires, however, like waves in sea, rose to the highest point only to break down. So it had proved to be with the Rashtrakutas and the Palas, and so it was destined to be in the case of the Pratiharas.
(1) The king Devapala mentioned in the Khajuraho inscription is called Hayapnti, and as this has never been known to be an appellation of the Pratihara kings of Kanauj, he cannot be identified with the Kanauj king of that name.
" While the illustrious Vinayaka (?) Pala Deva is protecting the earth, the earth is not taken possession of by the enemies who have been annihilated. Adoration to the holy Vasudeva. Adoration to the sun."
[Page-61] be against this supposition, for the Chandella inscription is dated in 954 A. D. while Vinayakapala must have ceased to rule before 916 A. D., the date of the Pratabgarh inscription of his son and successor Mahendrapala II. But Dr. Kielhorn has rightly pointed out that although the inscription really belongs to the reign of Yasovarman it was actually set up after his death, during the reign of his son and successor Dhanga. For the main portion of the inscription refers to Yasovarman as the ruling king, while three verses are added at the end to describe the martial exploits of his son Dhanga1. The date 954 A. D. no doubt denotes the time when the record was actually set up in the reign of Dhanga, and, as extensive conquests of this king are mentioned therein, its actual composition in Yasovarman's reign may not impossibly be placed ten to fifteen years before that date. As Dhanga is known to have ruled till at least 999 A. D. it may appear objectionable to push back his accession still further, but as we are expressly told that he lived for more than hundred years (Verse 55 of the Khajuraho Ins., No, V, Ep.Ind, Vol. I, p. 146.) a reign of sixty years may not be looked upon as improbable. It may be readily imagined in these circumstances that the name of the suzerain king Vinayakapala occurred in the original record and was re- tained in its subsequent modification in the time of Dhangadeva. Now, if we assume that the name of Vinayakapala occurred in the original record of Yashovarman, it is impossible to identify the Hayapati Devapala mentioned therein with the Kanauj king of that name, and there thus remains no ground for the identification proposed by Dr, Kielhorn.
[Page-63] collapse of the Pratlhara empire in less than a decade after the death of Mahendrapala. But there are as yet no positive data in support of this, and although the question cannot be finally decided at present, it is better to accept the identity of Mahipala and Vinayakapala. The identity of Mahipala and Kshitipala we may accept with less hesitation as the two words are synonymous. The emperor Mahendrapala had thus at least two sons, Bhoja II and Mahipala, alias Kshitipala, alias Vinayakapala. Bhoja II succeeded him probably not long after 908 A.D., the last known date of his father. We know practically nothing about this king who ceased to reign sometime before 914 A.D. This date is furnished by the Haddala grant of the Chapa Mahasamantadhipati Dharanivaraha who styles himself a feudatory of the Rajadhiraja Mahipaladeva. It is thus clear that Mahipala ascended the throne in less than six years after the death of his father and that eastern Kathiawar over which Dharanivaraha ruled was still included within the empire.
The conquests of Mahipala are described in a grandiloquent verse by the poet Rajasekhara in the Introduction to his Play Balabharata or Prachanda Pandava.
" And in that (lineage of Raghu) there was born the glorious Mahipaladeva, who has bowed down the locks of hair (Jata ?) on the tops of the heads of the Muralas;'who has caused the Mekalas to suppurate ; who has driven the Kalingas before him in war ; who has spoilt the pastime of (the king who is) the moon of the Keralas ; who has conquered the Kulutas ; who is very axe to the Kuntalas ; and who by violence has appropriated the fortunes of the Ramathas."
[Page-64] placed along with the Panchanadas ia the Western Division in the Brihat Samhita, and with the Kulindas in the Northern Division in Vayu Parana. Kalinga is of course the Orissa coast probably as far south as Vizagapatam, and the Mekalas inhabited the Mekala hills in the north and west of Chhattisgarh district. (J. A. S. B., 1897, pp. 99, 110.). Kuntala was the ancient name of the western part of the Deccan and the Keralas lived to the south of the Kuntalas. I am unable to identify Murala, but in Raghavamsa, IV. 55, reference is made to a river Marala 1, in or near Kerala country. Murala in the above passage might therefore mean a country adjacent to Kerala. Whatever we may think of the victories claimed for Mahipala in the above passage it may not be unreasonably held that the countries mentioned therein bordered on his empire. It would thus cover the greater part of northern India from the upper valley of the Bias in the north-west almost to the northern ranges of the Eastern Ghats in the south- east. The southern boundary was formed by the Kuntala kingdom at first, but was possibly pushed up to the Kerala territory at a later period.
Note - Marral is a Muslim Jat clan found in Pakistan.
[Page-67] probably took place sometime between the years 916 and 917 A. D. The Pratihara empire, however, survived the shock. Their restoration to power must have been greatly facilitated by the confusion that almost immediately set in in the Rashtrakuta kingdom. Govinda IV usurped the throne of his elder brother by directly or indirectly causing his death (Ep. Ind , Vol. VII p. 34) and the vices of the king and their consequences are thus described in the Rashtrakuta records.
[Page-68] Kshitipala was but another name of Mahipala, we can, without much difficulty, interpret the action of Harsha as loyally assisting the imperial ruler to re-establish his authority over the shattered kingdom. Another feudatory chief of the Gurjara empire that must have substantially contributed to the success of the campaign was the Guhilot chief Bhatta. He was the grandson of Harsharaja who, as we have seen above, assisted his suzerain, the great Pratihara king Bhoja, in times of need, and may thus be looked upon as the contemporary of Mahipala. The passage in which his heroic deeds are extolled is unfortunately mutilated, but enough remains to show that in a time of great danger, when the kingdom was invaded by foreign soldiers and everything was in confusion, he defeated in battle the kings of the south at the command of his paramount lord. (ibid, Vol. XII, p. 16, Verse 2 of the Chatsu inscription of Baladitya) There seems to be but little doubt that the kings of the south were no other than the chiefs of the Rashtrakuta army by defeating whom king Mahipala regained his territories. Whether Mahlipala was able to recover all the territories he had lost it is difficult to determine. But there can be no question that the prestige of the Pratiharas suffered a severe blow from which they never completely recovered.
[Page-69] a Khajuraho inscription (Ep. Ind., Vol. I, p. 122) as a scorching fire to the Gurjaras. Whatever truth this poetical description might contain there can be hardly any doubt that he hurled defiance to the imperial power. The Pratihara ruler was indeed still invoked as the suzerain power (See p. 60 above) in official documents, probably very much in the same way as the rulers of Oudh found it convenient to pay a nominal allegiance to the emperors at Delhi, but Yasovarman carved out a principality which was independent for all practical purposes.
Mahipala or Vinayakapala was the last great ruler of the imperial dynasty. His last recorded date is 931 AD. (Ind. Ant., Vol. XV, p. 140) So far as epigraphical evidence goes, the Pratihara kingdom at the time stretched as far as Benares in the east. The Ganges, the Jumna, the Betwa and the Dasan rivers seem to have formed its boundaries on the south-east while to the south it probably reached the Vindhyas. Thus, on the whole, Mahipala must be credited with having restored to a great degree the fallen fortunes of his family.
Vinayakapala was succeeded by his three sons. The eldest was Mahendrapala II whose existence has recently been brought to light by the discovery of the Pratabgarh inscription dated 946 A.D. (Ep. Ind., Vol. XIV, p. 176) After him came Devapala who is referred to in a Siyadoni inscription as ruling in 948-949 A.D. (Ibid, Vol. I, p. 177) He was succeeded by Vijayapala who is mentioned a the suzerain power in the Rajorgarh inscription of Mathanadeva, dated 960 A.D. (Ibid, Vol. III, p. 266) During the reign of these three monarchs the disintegration of the empire was all but complete.
[Page-73] Mathura. In the south the Chandellas were gradually encroaching upon his territory and had conquered as far as the Fathpur District. While Rajyapala was busy defending his southern frontier against the Chandellas Mahmud invaded his dominions in December, 1018 A.D. (Ibid, Vol. II, pp. 47-8) Mahmud first attacked the fort of Baran (Bulandshahar). It was surrendered without a blow by the cowardly Hardat (Haradatta ?) who sought safety by conversion to the faith of Islam with ten thousand followers. Kulchand (Kulachandra ?) defended the next fortified position with great vigour, and finding no hope of success slew himself and his wife with a dagger. Nearly fifty thousand men were killed in course of this campaign. After plundering the city of Mathura Mahmud proceeded towards the capital. He left his main army behind and appeared before Kanauj with a comparatively small army. Rajyapal, unable to defend it with his small following, crossed over to Bari on the other side of the Ganges. Then plunder and massacre were let loose over the imperial city and the centenary of the Rashtrakuta occupation was performed as it were amid awful spectacles. A few years later Mahmud invaded Kanauj a second time, Rajyapal made a brave stand on the Rahib beyond the Ganges, but was defeated, and Bari fell into the hands of the Mahomedan conqueror.
[Page-74] with the intention of crossing over the stream and flying away, but the Sultan's army pursued and when they approached him he killed himself with his dagger." Besides Al Utbi expressly mentions that Pur Jaipal was reigning at the time of the second expedition and opposed Mahnmd on the banks of the Rahib. This name has been construed by V. Smith as Trilochanapala on the strength of a variant reading Taru Jaibal in some manuscripts of Nizamuddin's history. He apparently forgets that Al Utbi gives the same name Pur Jaipal to the king who opposed Mahmud in his first and second expeditions against Kanauj. Besides even Nizamuddin tells us that Pur Jaipal who opposed Mahmud in his second expedition 'had often fled before his troops.' This can hardly apply to the new king Trilochanaptila and V. Smith's view that Trilochanapala might have opposed Mahmud as a crown prince seems to be a gratuitous assumption. That Nizamuddin's information was defective seems also to clearly follow from the fact that he places the scene of battle on the banks of the Jumna whereas Al Utbi places it on the bank of the Rahib. It should be borne in mind that Al Utbi was secretary to Sultan Mahmud and " enjoyed excellent opportunities of becoming fully acquainted with the operations of that conqueror." (Elliot's History of India, Vol. II, p. 14).
There is another circumstance which justifies us in rejecting Nizamuddin's version. According to Dubkund inscription, Rajyapala was killed by the Kachchhapaghata chief Arjuna, an ally or feudatory of the Chandella chief Vidyadhara, son of Ganda. Nizamuddin, however ascribes tho death of the Kanauj king to Nanda, who may be, as V. Smith suggests, a corruption for Ganda. V. Smith explains the discrepancy by supposing that Arjuna joined in a confederacy with Vidyadhara who was then a crown prince and killed Rajyapala. This is another gratuitous assumption which is disproved by the Mahoba inscription. After describing the exploits of Ganda, the inscription tells us with reference to his son and successor Vidyadhara, that "he had caused the destruction of the king of Kanyakubja." The achievement would surely have been credited to Ganda if it was accomplished in his time.
[Page-75] Pratiharas met a heroic death on the battlefield. (Ep, Ind., Vol. II, p. 237) He was succeeded by Trilochanapala who is known from an inscription to have been ruling in 1027 A.D. (Ind. Ant., Vol. XVIII, p. 34) With him ended the line of the Imperial Pratlharas who had fully justified their designation by defending the gates of India for well nigh three hundred years.
N.B. (1) Owing to a different interpretation, proposed by Mr. H. Krishna Sastri, Editor, Epigraphia Indica, about Verse 19 of the Jodhpur Inscription, the following changes are necessary on p. 28 above. Ll. 6-7 omit all the words between ' Siluka' and "defeated Devaraja." L. 11. Substitute 'two' for 'three.' Omit lines 18 to 23 altogether.
(2) [Page-76] The suggested location of Ramathas and Muralas on p. 64 (fn. 2) above is corroborated by the geographical chapter (Chap. XVII) of Kavya Mimamsa, a work of the poet Rajasekhara himself. I am indebted to MM. Hara Prasad Sastri for this reference.
(3) Reader's attention is drawn to a number of obvious misprints in footnotes on pp. 40 and 44.
Vallamada (वल्लमाड) - Vallamada is mentioned in verse-3 of Ghatiyala Inscriptions of Kakkua S.V. 918 (861 AD). Here Valla is sanskritized form of Ball (बल्ल) or Bal (बल) mentioned in both these inscriptions. Mada is given in the inscription in conjunction with Maru (Maru-Mada). Jaisalmer, is still called Mada, and Mara proper can only be the Sheo, Malani and Pachpadra districts of the Jodhpur. Thus this represents the 'Bal Division' (बलमण्डल) mentioned in Jat history.
Bhim Singh Dahiya writes that the Balhara clan finds mention in numerous references. A country of Balhara, adjoining Jurz (Gujar) country, is mentioned as situated on the western sea coast in connection with the location of "A Race of fair women".  The Muslim historian, Abuzaid (916 AD) and Al Masudi (943 AD) speak of two empires, named as Juzr and Balhara.
According to Ram Swarup Joon, a Jat author, the boundaries of Balhara Kingdom extended from China to the Sea and his neighbors were the Takshak and Gujar kings. Their capital was Mankir.
Arya (आर्य) - Arya is perhaps the same as that mentioned in Varahamihira's Brihat-samhita, Cap. V.V. 42.
Gurjaratra (गुर्जरत्र) - Gurjaratra comprised the districts of Didwana and Parbatsar of the princely Jodhpur State, now in Nagaur district in Rajasthan. Gurjaratra can be considered to be a sandhi of Gur + Jarta = Gurjarata = Gurjaratra. Gur means great and Jarta is identified with Jats by many historians. It means 'Great Jats' same as Massagetae of Herodotus.
Latadesha (लाटदेश) embraced about this time the larger portion of the present Gujarat of the Princely Bombay Presidency.
According to the descriptions provided by Bal Clans, Pratihara and 'Maha-Pratihara' were titles only. They may or may not be Gujars, but they are Chandravanshi and are descendants, of Yayati.
According to many writers they belong to the 'Gujar' dynasty and their ancestors are said to have been associated with the Maurya Jatti clan. At the time of acquiring Agnikula Kshatriya status, their capitals were in Bhinmal and Tirah. After the Agnikula ceremony they decided to forget their original roots in order to rise in status.
It is also to be noted that Gujar (गूजर)/ Gurjar (गूर्जर) / Goojar (गूजर) gotra Jats are found in Nagaur and Barmer districts in Rajasthan and Pakistan.
This discussion shows that initially the Pratihara was a title and the federation of Pratiharas comprised of many Jat clans living in Sindh and Rajasthan.
Several scholars including D B Bhandarkar, Baij Nath Puri and A. F. Rudolf Hoernle believe that the Pratiharas were a branch of Gurjars.
The Pratihara dynasty is referred to as Gurjara pratiharanvayah, i.e., Pratihara clan of the Gurjaras, in line 4 of the "Rajor inscription (Alwar)". The historian Rama Shankar Tripathi states that the Rajor inscription confirms the Gurjara origin of the Pratiharas. In line 12 of this inscription, occur words which have been translated as "together with all the neighbouring fields cultivated by the Gurjaras". Here, the cultivators themselves are clearly called Gurjaras and therefore it's reasonable to presume that, in line four too, the term bears a racial signification. The Rashtrakuta records, as well as the Arab writers like Abu Zaid and Al-Masudi (who allude their fights with the Juzr or Gurjara of the north) indicate the Gurjara origin of the Pratiharas. The Kanarese poet Pampa expressly calls Mahipala Ghurjararaja. This ephithet could hardly be applied to him, if the term Ghurjararaja bore a geographical sense denoting what after all was only a small portion of Mahipala's vast territories. Tripathi believes that all these evidences point to the Gurjara ancestry of the Pratiharas.
Vincent Smith believed that the Pratiharas were certainly of Gurjar origin, and stated that there is possibility of other Agnikula clans being of same origin. However, H. A. Rose and Denzil Ibbetson stated that there is no conclusive proof that the Agnikula clans are of Gurjara origin; they believed that there is possibility of the indigenous tribes adopting Gurjara names, when their founders were enfiefed by Gurjara rulers. Dasrath Sharma believed that Gurjara was applied for territory and conceded that although some sections of the Pratiharas (e.g. the one to which 'Mathanadeva belonged) were Gurjars by caste, the imperial Pratiharas of Kannauj were not Gurjars. However, in the earliest ephigraphical records of the Gurjars of Broach, Dadda is described as belonging to the Gurjara-nrpati-vamsa which, as Chalukva-vamsa or Raghuvamsa, refers not to the country, but to the family or the people ; i.e., it stands for the Gurjar family and not the country. Gurjaratra, Gurjara-bhumi or Gurjara-mandala would thus only mean 'land or Mandala of Gurjars.
Ghantiyala Inscription No.II  informs us that the village of Rohinsakupaka (Ghatiyala) had formerly become unsafe on account of the- Abhiras (Ahirs), and had consequently not been a place of residence for good people. Verses 8 and 4 tell us that Kakkuka, the favourite son of Kakka, of the Pratihara race, constructed a market place decorated with variegated streets, went to the houses of Brahmanas, Kshatriyas (prakriti) and Vaishas, and, promising them means of livelihood, established the mahajana, the big folk there.
Rajjila (रज्जिल) - The third son of Harichandra Rajjila ruled in Mandavyapura. Rajjila was a brave and ambitious ruler. When his first prince narabhatta was born, Rajjila was busy in some war.
Narabhata (600-625 AD) (नरभट) - Rajjila was succeeded by his son Narabhata. Narabhata was a brave and ambitious ruler like his father. He was called Pellapelli (पेल्लापेल्ली) due to his bravery. Narabhata with his wife Jajjika got son Nagabhata.
Nagabhata (625-650 AD) (नागभट) - Narabhata was succeeded by his son Nagabhata, who fixed his permanent capital at Madantakapura (मेदन्तकपुर) (Modern Merta). He was called Pellapelli (पेल्लापेल्ली) due to his bravery. He divided his state with his two sons. Mandor was given to elder son Tata and Merta to his younger son Bhoja.
Bhoja (650-675 AD) (भोज) - Nagabhata's sons Tata (तात) and Bhoja ruled up to 675 AD. Tata gave his kingdom to his brother Bhoja and spent rest of life in Mandavya Ashrama. Bhoja protected his kingdom efficiently. After death of Bhoja his son Chanduka became ruler.
Chanduka (चंदुक) - He ruled after Yashovarddhana. It is not known how he got death.
Yashovarddhana (690-740) (यशोवर्द्धन) - He ruled after Bhoja. Yashovarddhana defeated Shalavanshi Prathuvardhana, who had defeated him earlier.
Shiluka (725-730) (शीलुक) - Chanduka was succeeded by his son Shiluka. Arab invader Junaid had come during his reign. Shilaka extended his rule upto Travani and Balladesha. He defeated Bhattika Devaraja of Balladesha.
Jhota (झोट) - Jhota succeeded Shiluka. He got moksha in River Ganga.
Bhilladitya (भिल्लादित्य) - Bhilladitya succeeded Jhota. He left the rule and went to Haridwar for moksha.
Kakka (कक्क) - His son Kakka succeeded Bhilladitya. He was a brave and a scholarly samanta of Raghuvanshi Pratihara Vatsa Raja. Kakka's son Bauka's Jodhpur inscription reveals that he defeated Gaudas of Muddagiri (मुद्दगिरि) Munger Raja Dharamapala. Kakka wrote 10 literary books. We have his Ghantiyala inscription also. Kakka had two wives - 1. Padmini who gave birth to Bauka and 2. Durlabhadevi who gave birth to Kakkuka.
Nagabhata I (730–756) (नागभट I)- Nagabhata I extended his control east and south from Mandor, conquering Malwa as far as Gwalior and the port of Bharuch in Gujarat. He established his capital at Avanti in Malwa, and checked the expansion of the Arabs, who had established themselves in Sind. In this Battle of Rajasthan (738 CE) Nagabhata led a confederacy of Gurjars to defeat the Muslim Arabs who had till then been pressing on victorious through West Asia and Iran.
Vatsraja (775–805) (वत्सराज) - Nagabhata I was followed by two weak successors, who were in turn succeeded by Vatsraja (775–805). Vatsraja sought to capture Kannauj, which had been the capital of the seventh-century empire of Harshavardhana. His ambitions brought the Pratiharas into conflict with the Pala dynasty of Bengal and the Rashtrakutas of the northern Deccan,with whom they would contest for primacy in northern India for the next two centuries. Vatsraja unsuccessfully challenged the Pala ruler Dharmapala (c. 775–810) for control of Kannauj. In about 786 the Rashtrakuta ruler Dhruva (c. 780–793) crossed the Narmada River into Malwa, and from there tried to capture Kannauj. Vatsraja was defeated by Dhruva around 800, and died in 805.
Nagabhata II (805–833) (नागभट II) - Vatsraja was succeeded by Nagabhata II (805–833). Nagabhata II was initially defeated by the Rashtrakuta king Govinda III (793–814), but later recovered Malwa from the Rashtrakutas, conquered Kannauj and the Ganges plain as far as Bihar from the Palas, and again checked the Muslims in the west. He rebuilt the great Shiva temple at Somnath in Gujarat, which had been demolished in an Arab raid from Sind. Kannauj became the center of the Gurjar Pratihara state, which covered much of northern India during the peak of their power, c. 836–910. Nagabhatta II was defeated by Rashtrakuta Govinda III and he was forced to take shelter in Rajasthan. This war took place around 810 AD. An copper grant of Nagabhatta II obtained from Badhal Village reveals that this war took place after few years. Buchkala Inscription of Nagabhatta II of V. 872 (815 AD) reveals that he bore all titles and claims that place of svavishaya so he remained ruler in Rajasthan after above war also. This copper grant is yet unpublished.
Rambhadra (833-c. 836) (रामभद्र) - briefly succeeded Nagabhata II.
Mahendrapala (885-912 AD) (महेन्द्रपाल) - The emperor Mahendrapala had several queens and several sons were born of them. We learn from a copper-plate grant (Ind. Ant., Vol. XV, p. 138) that his queen Dehanaga Devi had a son called Bhojadeva (II) while the son of another queen Mahidevi Devi (Ep. Ind., Vol. XIV, p. 176. ) was named Vinayakapala Deva. Another grant (Ind. Ant., Vol. XVI, p. 174) mentions Mahipala Deva as having meditated on the feet of Mahendrapala Deva, and a careful consideration of some isolated passages in the writings of poet Rajasekhara leaves no doubt that Mahipala was a son of Mahendrapala. (Ep. Ind. Vol. I, pp. 170-71.) It has been usually held by scholars that Mahipala was but another name of Vinayakapala. He expanded further eastwards in Magadha, Bengal, and Assam.
Bhoja II (910–912) (भोज I) was overthrown by Mahipala I (912–931). Several feudatories of the empire took advantage of the temporary weakness of the Gurjar Pratiharas to declare their independence, notably the Paramaras of Malwa, the Chandelas of Bundelkhand, and the Kalachuris of Mahakoshala.
Mahipaladeva (912-931 AD) (महीपालदेव) - Historians consider that the identity of Mahipala and Vinayakapala was same. The identity of Mahipala and Kshitipala we may accept with less hesitation as the two words are synonymous. The emperor Mahendrapala had thus at least two sons, Bhoja II and Mahipala, alias Kshitipala, alias Vinayakapala. Bhoja II succeeded him probably not long after 908 A.D., the last known date of his father. We know practically nothing about this king who ceased to reign sometime before 914 A.D. This date is furnished by the Haddala grant of the Chapa Mahasamantadhipati Dharanivaraha who styles himself a feudatory of the Rajadhiraja Mahipaladeva. It is thus clear that Mahipala ascended the throne in less than six years after the death of his father and that eastern Kathiawar over which Dharanivaraha ruled was still included within the empire.
The Rashtrakuta king Indra III (c.914–928) briefly captured Kannauj in 916, and although the Pratiharas regained the city, their position continued to weaken in the 10th century, partly as a result of the drain of simultaneously fighting off Turkic attacks from the west and the Pala advances in the east. The Gurjar-Pratiharas lost control of Rajasthan to their feudatories, and the Chandelas captured the strategic fortress of Gwalior in central India, c. 950. By the end of the tenth century the Gurjar Pratihara domains had dwindled to a small kingdom centered on Kannauj. But he improved his position very soon and regained many of his lost kingdoms.
" And in that (lineage of Raghu) there was born the glorious Mahipaladeva, who has bowed down the locks of hair on the tops of the heads of the Muralas;'who has caused the Mekalas to suppurate ; who has driven the Kalingas before him in war ; who has spoilt the pastime of (the king who is) the moon of the Keralas ; who has conquered the Kulutas ; who is very axe to the Kuntalas ; and who by violence has appropriated the fortunes of the Ramathas."
Mahipala or Vinayakapala was the last great ruler of the imperial dynasty. His last recorded date is 931 AD. (Ind. Ant., Vol. XV, p. 140) So far as epigraphical evidence goes, the Pratihara kingdom at the time stretched as far as Benares in the east. The Ganges, the Jumna, the Betwa and the Dasan rivers seem to have formed its boundaries on the south-east while to the south it probably reached the Vindhyas. Thus, on the whole, Mahipala must be credited with having restored to a great degree the fallen fortunes of his family. But there can be no question that the prestige of the Pratiharas suffered a severe blow from which they never completely recovered.
Vinayakapala I (931-943) (विनायकपाल I) - Rashtrakutas had attacked again his country, but very soon prince Deva I of Chedi kingdom defeated them. His kingdom spread from Varanasi to Gwalior and Ujjain. An inscription found at Rakhej near Chanderi tells us that he spent 95-96 Karor to improve the water supply from Ur river.  Vinayakapala was succeeded by his three sons. The eldest was Mahendrapala II whose existence has recently been brought to light by the discovery of the Pratabgarh inscription dated 946 A.D. (Ep. Ind., Vol. XIV, p. 176).
Vijayapala (959-984) - Devapala was succeeded by Vijayapala who is mentioned a the suzerain power in the Rajorgarh inscription of Mathanadeva, dated 960 A.D. (Ibid, Vol. III, p. 266) During the reign of these above three monarchs the disintegration of the empire was all but complete.
Rajyapala (राज्यपाल ) - In the meantime a strong Islamic power was established at Ghazni and two of its famous kings Sabuktigin and Mahmud Ghazni seized the favourable opportunity to push forward the outposts of Islam into the heart of India. It will suffice to state that the Pratihara king of Kanauj, shorn of dignity and power as he was, remembered the proud day of his family, and when the call of duty came about 991 A.D., he joined the confederacy that Jaipal formed against the Mahomedan foe. The imperial banner of the Pratiharas was unfurled in the valley of the Kurram river in far distant Afghanistan in defence of their faith and their country, but all in vain. Nothing undaunted, the Indian kings once more offered a united opposition to Mahmud in the neighbourhood of Peshawar, and Rajyapal Pratihara took his due share in the campaign. But fate was against the Indians and even their united efforts failed to stay the onward progress of the Moslems. The kingdom of Rajyapala had now been confined practically to the east of the Jumna although it included Mathura. In the south the Chandellas were gradually encroaching upon his territory and had conquered as far as the Fathpur District. While Rajyapala was busy defending his southern frontier against the Chandellas Mahmud invaded his dominions in December, 1018 A.D. (Ibid, Vol. II, pp. 47-8). The Chandela ruler Ganda (गण्ड) captured and killed Rajapala, placing Rajapala's son Trilochanpala on the throne as a proxy. According to Dubkund inscription, Rajyapala was killed by the Kachchhapaghata chief Arjuna, an ally or feudatory of the Chandella chief Vidyadhara, son of Ganda.
Trilochanpala (1019 AD) (त्रिलोचनपाल) - Rajyapala's son was Trilochanpala. Mahmud returned in 1019 to take avenge of Chandelas. But the situations had now changed. Trilochanpala son of Hindushahi ruler Anandapala and Pratihara Rajyapala's son Trilochanpala were both friends of Raja Vidyadhara Chandela. Both failed to oppose Mahmud.
Yashapala (1036 AD) (यशपाल) - We do not have any historical evidences of the successor of Trilochanpala but we have a Prayaga epigraph of Maharajadhiraja Yashapala dated 1036 AD which shows grants by this king. The last Pratihara king of Kanauj, died in 1036 AD and in place a new Royal dynasty of Gahrwalas rises.
Thakur Deshraj writes that In the Rajakula Jats, Parihars are found in districts of Agra and Mathura. He considers Parihar Gotra in Jats to be based on title and rejects their foreign origin theory propagated by historians like D R Bhandarkar and V A Smith. During Mount Abu mahayagya of of creation of Agnikula Kshatriya some gotras who joined them became Rajput Parihars and those remained out of it were Jat Parihars and Gujar Parihars. Thakur Deshraj considers their origin in The Mahabharata Tribe called Paratangana (परतंगण), rulers near Manasarowar in Himalayas, as these were the people on gate way of India near China border. Their neighbours were Tangana (तंगण) people who are still found amongst Jats in Jaipur and Bharatpur districts in Rajasthan and in Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh in the form of Tangar (तंगड़) Jat clan.
Parihara (पड़िहारा) - town in Ratangarh tahsil in Churu district, Rajasthan was founded by Parihar Jats.
Parihar Jats live in village Kathwari (500) (tah:Kiraoli) of Agra district.
There is a village Parihara founded by Parihar Jats in Churu district in Rajasthan.
Parihar is a Gotra of the Anjana Jats in Gujarat.
Parhiyar are in Sindh, Pakistan District - Thatta.
↑ New Image of Rajasthan. Directorate of Public Relations, Govt. of Rajasthan. 1966. p. 2.
↑ Knight, J.Z. (1999, rev.2004). Ramtha: The White Book. Yelm, Washington: JZK Publishing. p. 28.
↑ J.R.A.S., 1894, p. 3; Prog. Rep. Arch. Surv , W. Circle, 1906-7, p. 30.
↑ Epigraphic India Vol.IX, p. 198-200, Dr D.B.Bhandarkar, M.A.,Poona.
↑ Kishori Lal Faujdar: Rajasthan ke Madhyakalin Jat-vansh, Jat Samaj, Agra, June 2001.
↑ K.M. Munshi (1943). The Glory that was Gurjardesh.
↑ Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (1834). Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland. Cambridge University Press for the Royal Asiatic Society. p. 648.
↑ Jamanadas, K.. "Rajput Period Was Dark Age Of India". Decline And Fall Of Buddhism: A tragedy in Ancient India. New Delhi: Bluemoon Books. http://www.ambedkar.org/books/dob8.htm.
↑ Bhandarkar, Devadatta Ramakrishna (1989). Some Aspects of Ancient Indian Culture. Asian Educational Services. pp. 64. ISBN 8120604571.
↑ Rama Shankar Tripathi (1989). History of Kanauj: To the Moslem Conquest. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 222. ISBN 81-208-0404-X, ISBN 978-81-208-0404-3.
↑ Rose, Horace Arthur; Ibbetson (1990). Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North West Frontier Province. Asian Educational Services. pp. 300. ISBN 8120605055.
↑ Manjulal Ranchholdlal Majmudar (1960). Historical and cultural chronology of Gujarat, Volume 1. Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. p. 147.
This page was last edited on 1 May 2018, at 13:08.

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