Gurjara Pratihara Dynasty

Bhinmal Branch

The most important branch of the Pratiharas, whose main rulers are as follows

1. Nagabhatta-1 (730-60 AD) –

• The founder of the Bhinmal branch of the Pratiharas and the first ruler of this branch.
• This has also been called “Nagavalok”.
• Chauhan, Guhil, Parmar, Chandel, Kalchuri etc. were its feudatories.
•  According to the Arab writer Al Biladuri, the commander of the Caliph Hashim was defeated by the Pratiharas and the Sindh ruler Junaid had to lose many territories.
• Rashtrakuta ruler Dantidurga performed Hiranyagarbha Yagya in Ujjain, in which Nagabhatta-1 was made Pratihara (gatekeeper). Probably Nagabhatta-1 would have been defeated by Dantidurga. This incident is mentioned in Sanjan Tamra of Amoghavarsha.
• Nagabhatta-1 captured Bhrigukachha (Bharuch). • Other surnames are Pratihara of Rama, Avatar of Narayan, Destroyer of Indra’s pride, Kshatriya Brahmin etc.

2. Kakkuk–

This was the nephew of Nagabhatta, He was also known as Kakustha. He built “Vishnustambh” at Mandore, which is considered to be the second oldest Vijaystambh in Rajasthan. He established Ghatiyala Shilalekh.

3. Devaraj-

was the brother of Kakkuk. He made Ujjain his center. He was of Vaishnava religion. In the Varaha inscription, it has been called a Pat

4. Vatsaraj (783-795 AD) –

• He was the son of Devraj.
• The first Pratihara ruler to assume the title of “Emperor”.
•  Other titles – Ranhastin (Elephant of War), Jayavarah.
• During this period, Udyotan Suri wrote “Kuvalayamala” and Jinsen had composed “Harivansh Purana”.
• The Valiprabandha inscription gives evidence of the practice of 3 practices during its period.

                   (i) Sati Pratha (ii) Niyoga Pratha (iii) Devadasi Pratha

•  Vatsaraja started the tripartite struggle / tri-state struggle. This struggle took place between the rulers of the Pratihara-Pala Rashtrakuta dynasties for the right over Kannauj.
•  Vatsaraja defeated the Pala ruler Dharmapala, but on his return he was defeated by the Rashtrakuta ruler Dhruva-1 and took refuge in the Thar desert.
•  Vatsaraja is also considered “the real founder of the Pratihara dynasty”.

5. Nagabhatta-2 (795-833 AD) –

•  Was the son of Vatsaraja. Mother – Sundri
• Title – “Param Bhattarak Maharajadhiraja Parmeshwar”
• He conquered Kannauj and made it the capital and defeated Dharma Pal (Pal), but on his return he was defeated by the Rashtrakuta ruler Govind 11 and took refuge in the Thar desert.
• In the Gwalior article it has been called “Karna”.
• According to Gwalior inscription- “As the moths fall in the fire, in the same way the kings of Andhra, Indus, Vidarbha, Kalinga kept on pulling towards Nagabhatta-11.”
• The following areas were forcibly occupied – Kathiawar (Gujarat), Malwa (Madhya Pradesh), Ki (Himachal Pradesh), Turushk (Muslim state of western India), Vatsa-Kaushambi (Uttar Pradesh), Matsya (East Rajasthan)
• Defeat the muslims-

              i. According to “Prabandh Kosh”, its feudal lord Raja Govak- (Govindaraj) defeated Sultan Beg.

               ii. According to “Khumman Raso”, its feudal and Guhil ruler Khumman defeated the Muslims.

• Nagabhatta-1 sacrificed his life through a living water samadhi in the Ganges.
• Abandoned. Contemporary Pala ruler Devapala, Dharmapala.

6. Rambhadra (833-36) – –

• Nagabhatta-I’s son was a weak ruler. It was murdered by his son Mihirbhoj.

7. Mahirbhoja (836-85) –

The meaning of Mihirbhoja is the symbol of the sun.

• It is also called the Pitruhanta ruler in the Pratiharas.
•  It was “the most majestic Pratihara ruler.
• During this period an Arab traveler named Suleiman traveled to India. Suleiman criticized Mihirbhoj, calling him the enemy of the Arabs and the wall of Islam and India the country of the infidels, but said in praise that there was a huge horse army and there was no piracy and dacoity. There were gold and silver mines.

• The analogies of Mihirbhoj in various sources –

      i. Gwalior Inscription Adivarah

      ii. Daulatpur Prabhas Pat

     iii. Bagrama – Conqueror of the whole earth

     iv. On copper coins – Madadivarah

•  After defeating the Pala ruler Narayanpal, he finally took control of Kannauj. and made it the permanent capital.
•  Defeated Rashtrakuta ruler Krishna-1.
• Handing over the kingdom to the son Mahendrapal went on a pilgrimage

8. Mahendrapal-1 (885-910 AD) –

• He was the son of Mihirbhoj. Mata- Chandrabhattika Devi
• Guru and court literateur- Rajasekhar
• Titles- Nirbhay King, Raghukul Chudamani
• The title of Raghukul Chudamani was given by Rajasekhar.
• Joined Bengal, Bihar and Kathiawar in his state.
• The main works of Rajasekhar are- Kapoor Manjari, Kavya Mimamsa, Visal Bhanjika, Harvilas, Bal Ramayana, Bal Bharat (Prachanda Pandava), Bhuvankosh etc.
• Paharpur inscriptions of Bengal and Ramgaya and Gunaria inscriptions in Bihar give information about its authority over this area.
•  Una inscription confirms the authority over Kathiawar.

9. BoJ-2. (910-13) –

Mother Dehnaga Devi, son of Mahendrapal

10. Mahipal-1 (914-43) –

• Son of Mahendrapal and Mahidavi
• Rajasekhar court writer
• Rajashekhar has called it the Maharajadhiraj of Aryavarta.
• Titles- Vinayak Pal, Herambhpala, Raghukul mukutmani (Rajasekhar said)
• The Arab traveler Alamsudi came on a visit to India. it
• Mentioned the war between Mahipala I (Baur) and Rashtrakuta ruler Indra-III (Balhar) and the defeat of Mahipala.
• According to Alamsudi, it had control over Punjab and Sindh. It came to India from Baghdad in 915 AD. It wrote its description of India in 943-44. Alamsudi also mentions Mahipala’s military system.

11. Mahendra Pal-2 (945-48)

• Father Mahipal-1, Mother Sushya Davi
• After this Devpal, Vinayakpal-11, Mahipal respectively. Vijayapala became the ruler.
• At the time of Vijayapala, its feudatories started declaring their independence. E.g. Bhartrubhatta. (Guhil), Chandela, Kalchuri, Chedi etc.

Governor (990-1019 AD) – at the time of Dec. In 1018, Mahmud Ghaznavi attacked Kanauj and looted, massacred and destroyed Kanauj. At this time the governor had fled without fighting. Therefore, Chandela ruler Vidyadhar formed a union of kings and sentenced the governor to death.

Trilochanpal (1019–1027) – According to Alberuni, Kannauj was not the capital at this time. Rather, “Bari was made the capital, which was at the confluence of Ramganga and Saryu. Even at this time, Mahmud Ghaznavi again attacked and plundered.

Yashpal (1036-1093 AD) – the last ruler. Chandradev Gahadwal attacked it and occupied Kannauj and established the Gahadwal state of Kannauj.