Gahadavala

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The Gahadavala (also: Gaharwar ) were a north Indian dynasty that played an important role in the 11th and 12th centuries. Their center was Benares or the region between Benares and Ayodhya . But they are also associated with Kanauj .

history

It is very likely that they were descended from the jungle nomads (and not from the aristocracy of the Gupta period ) and, like their neighbors, entered the power vacuum created by the fall of the Pratihara (around 1030). The word Gahadavala is interpreted as corruption by Grahavara (or Gaharwar ), that is, " conquerors of the world", but also simply as "cowherd". Some scholars see the Gahadavala as a branch of the Rashtrakuta , among other things because their alleged descendants from the 13th century took this name (Rathor).

The adventurer Chandradeva (ruled approx. 1089–1103) was the first of the Gahadavala to be given royal titles after a victory on the Yamuna over an unnamed king (probably Gopala of Gadhipura). Around 1100 extensive land donations by the kings to the Brahmins are recorded, which were apparently intended to strengthen the royal power in the short term.

The Gahadavala had under Madanapala (ruled approx. 1104–1113) and Govindachandra (ruled approx. 1114–1155) the predominance of the north Indian kingdoms. At the time they were the overlords of the Tomara Rajputs (in the Indraprastha area ) and the northern Rashtrakuta (in Kanauj , 11th – 13th centuries) and sat all over Uttar Pradesh and also in Bihar (at the expense of the Pala ). They defended the Ganges region against repeated raids by the Muslims , with King Madanapala apparently temporarily in captivity by Masud III. ( Ghaznawide , r. 1099–1115) got.

Govindachandra had extensive diplomatic relations within India (including to Kashmir ). He (an Orthodox Hindu) was married to the Buddhist princess Kumaradevi. His minister, Laksmidhara, is known for promoting literature.

In the second half of the 12th century, the power of the Gahadavala was particularly challenged by the Chauhan Rajputs , who took over Delhi from the Tomara and organized the defense against the invading Muslims. The love story of Chauhan Prithviraj III is immortalized here as a knight epic . with the Gahadavala princess Sanyogita, daughter of King Jaichand, whom he kidnapped at the bridal show, which led to war between the two powers around 1189 (i.e. on the eve of the Muslim invasion of 1192) and considerably weakened the position of the Hindus . However, the Muslim sources are silent about the cooperation between Jaichand and Muhammad von Ghur (r. 1173–1206), which is claimed in the epic .

Jaichand was defeated by Muhammad von Ghur at Chandwar near Agra in 1194 and died of an arrow wound or drowned shortly after while crossing the Ganges . His son, about nineteen, seems to have maintained rule in Kanauj and Jaunpur for another three years, then northern India fell to the Muslims. The further fate of the dynasty is unclear. In the first half of the 13th century the last Gahadavala (a son, grandson or great-nephew of Jaichand named Sihaji) fled to Rajasthan, where he is said to have become the ancestor of a new clan (the Rathor of Marwar ).

Ruler list

  • Yashovigraha (11th century, no royal title)
  • Mahichandra (11th century, no royal title)
  • Chandradeva (ruled approx. 1089–1100 / 3)
  • Madanapala (ruled approx. 1100 / 4-1113)
  • Govindachandra (ruled approx. 1114–1155)
  • Vijayachandra (ruled approx. 1155–1169)
  • Jaichandra (ruled approx. 1170–1194)
  • Harishchandra (r. Approx. 1194–97)

literature

  • Rama Shankar Tripathi: History of Kanauj: To the Moslem Conquest. Delhi 1989.
  • Dale Hoiberg, Indu Ramchandani: Students' Britannica India. Volume II., Popular Prakashan, New Delhi 2000.
  • Hermann Goetz: History of India. Stuttgart 1962.