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Pratihara dynasty

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The Pratiharas (Pariharas in Hindi), were an Indian dynasty who ruled kingdoms in Gurjar region of Rajasthan and northern India from the 6th to the 11th centuries. They are called Gurjara-Pratiharas in one late inscription that indicates the region of their origin. The Arab chronicles mention they were the rulers of the Jurz (i.e. Gurajara) region.

A widely held belief among the historians was that they were connected with the Khazars and descendants of the Gurjara tribe that arrived with the Hunas at the end of the 5th century. Most historians now believe that they were of indigenous origin.

The Pratiharas were one of the Agnikula clans of Rajputs, according to a legend given in later manuscripts of Prithviraj Raso. The legend is not mentioned in the 1585 CE Udaipur manuscript.

Harichandra, a Brahmin, is said to have laid the foundation of this dynasty in the 6th century. Harichandra had two wives, one of whom was a Brahmin and the other was a Kshatriya. The Harichandra line of Pratiharas established the state of Marwar, based at Mandore near modern Jodhpur, which grew to dominate Rajasthan. The Pratihara kings of Marwar also built the temple-city of Osian.

Nagabhata I (730-756) 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 Ujjain in Malwa, and checked the expansion of the Arabs, who had established themselves in Sind.

Nagabhata I was followed by two weak successors, who were in turn succeeded by Vatsaraja (775-805). Vatsaraja sought to capture Kannauj, which had been the capital of the seventh-century empire of Harsha. 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. Vatsaraja 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. Vatsaraja was defeated by Dhruva around 800, and died in 805.

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 Pratihara state, which covered much of northern India during the peak of their power, c. 836-910.

Rambhadra (833-c. 836) briefly succeeded Nagabhata II. Bhoja I or Mihirbhoj (c. 836-886) suffered some initial defeats by the Pala king Devapala (810-850), but recovered to expand the Pratihara dominions west to the border of Sind, east to Magadha, and south to the Narmada. His son Mahendrapala I (885-910) expanded further eastwards in Magadha, Bengal, and Assam.

Bhoja II (910-912) was overthrown by Mahipala (912-914). Several feudatories of the empire took advantage of the temporary weakness of the Pratiharas to declare their independence, notably the Paramaras of Malwa, the Chandelas of Bundelkhand, and the Kalachuris of Mahakoshal. 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 Pratiharas lost control of Rajasthan to other Rajput clans, and the Chandelas captured the strategic fortress of Gwalior in central India, c. 950. By the end of the tenth century the Pratihara domains had dwindled to a small kingdom centered on Kannauj. Mahmud of Ghazni sacked Kannauj in 1018, and the Pratihara king Rajapala fled. The Chandela ruler Gauda captured and killed Rajapala, placing Rajapala's son Trilochanpala on the throne as a proxy. Jasapala, the last Pratihara king of Kanauj, died in 1036.

The Pariharas of Marwar lost control of the region in the 13th century to the Rathor clan of Rajputs. In 1395, Shri Chundaji Rathore married a Parihar princess named Mohil. The Parihar raja Dhara Singh established the state of Nagod in 1344, and his descendants ruled there until 1950.

Hon'ble Mr. Justice Kan Singh ji Parihar, Enlightened Eminence The Marvellous Man of Marwar http://www.justicekansingh.org/


Pratihara rulers

  • Dadda I (c. 650-?) established at Nandipur (Nandol).
  • Dadda II
  • Dadda III (?-750) wrestled Broach from the Maitrakas of Gujarat.
  • Nag Bhatta I (750?-780)
  • Vatsraj (780-800)
  • ParamBhattarak Parmeshwar Nag Bhatta II (800-833)
  • Rambhadra (833-835)
  • Samrat Mihir Bhoj Mahan or The Great Bhoja (835-890)
  • Mahenderpal I (890-910)
  • Bhoj II (910-913)
  • Samrat Mahipal (913-944)
  • Mahenderpal II (944-948)
  • Devpal (948-954)
  • Vinaykpal (954-955)
  • Mahipal II (955-956)
  • Vijaypal II (956-960)
  • Rajapala (960-1018)
  • Trilochanpala (1018-1027)
  • Jasapala (Yashpal) (1024-1036)
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