Rashtrakutas, Chandellas, Chahamanas & Kashmir | History for UPSC CSE

Rashtrakutas

• Dantidurga of the Rashtrakuta family, who was a Mahasamanta under the Chalukya Vikramaditya II, defeated the later’s son and successor Kirtivarman II before 753 A.D. and wrested from him the greater portion of Deccan. 
• Dhruva led successful campaigns in North India against the Palas and the Pratiharas. 
• Amoghavarsha I, grandson of Dhruva who came intpower in 814 A.D. fought long-drawn battles with the Eastern Chalukyas and the Gangas. Amoghavarsha was a poet and he patonised men of letters, such as, Jinasena and Sakatayana. 
• He built the city of Manayakheta where old capital was shifted, possibly from Mayurakhindi. 
• His son Krishna II fought successfully against the Pratihara Bhoja but could not resist Gunaga Vijayaditya III of Vengi, overran the Rashtrakuta kingdom.
• After his death in 915 A.D., his grandson Indra III, came to the throne. Indra III defeated the Pratihara Mahipala I, plundered Kanauj, and challenged the Eastern Chalukyas. 
• Krishna III wrested Tondaimandalam from the Chola Parantaka who continued the struggle for the recapture of the lost territory. 
• He was succeeded in 967 A.D. by his younger brother Khottiga who was a weak ruler. Khottiga was succeeded by Karka II in  

 972-73 A.D. who was overthrown by Chalukya Taila II.

The Chandellas

• They rose into prominence in the 9th century A.D., and established a kingdom, later known as Jejakabhukti, in the Bundelkhand region. 
• The dynasty had been founded by Nannuka. The capital of this kingdom was Kharjura-Vahaka. The first king of note was Harsha who ruled from  

900 t925 A.D. 

• Like his predecessors, Harsha was a vassal of the Pratiharas. His son and successor, Yasovarman who reigned in the third quarter of the 10th century, conquered Kalanjara and extended his kingdom uptthe Yamuna in the north. 
• He came into conflict with the Gurjaras and successfully invaded Ganda and Mithila, then under the Pala rule.
• Yasovarman was succeeded by his son Dhanga who acknowledged the supremacy of the Pratihara king Vinayakapala II at least upt954 A.D. 
• In the later part of the 10th century, he declared independence and wrested from the Pratiharas the eastern portion of their kingdom, including Varanasi. 
• He also raided Anga, Radha, Kosala, Andra, Kanchi and Kuntala.
• During the reign of Ganda’s son, Vidyadhara, Mahmud of Ghazni invaded Kalanjara, once in 1019 A.D. and again in 1022 A.D. 
• In 1202 A.D. Qutb-ud-din invested the fort of Kalanjara and the Chandela king Paramardi sued for peace after a brief resistance. 
• The king’s minister, Ajayadeva, disapproving of his master’s conduct, killed him and resumed resistance the Muslims, but ultimately he had to surrender them.
• Chahamanas
• There are several branches of the Chahamanas, known in later time as the Chauhan Rajputs, and the most important of them ruled in Sakamabharidesa, the capital of which was Sakambhari, modern Sambhar in Rajasthan. 
• They had been feudatories of the Pratiharas till Simharaja declared independence in the middle of 10th century. 
• His successor, Vigraharaja II, defeated Mularaja I and overran Gujarat. Vigraharaja II was succeeded by a large number of kings, and in the first quarter of the 12th century, Ajayaraja was on the throne of Sakambhari. Ajayaraja founded a city which was called after his name Ajayameru, modern Ajmer.
• The next important king was Prithviraja III who put down the revolt of Nagarjuna, defeated the Chandella Paramardi, and invaded the kingdom of the Chalukya Bhima II of Gujarat. 
• On receipt of the news that Muhammad Ghori had forcibly occupied the fort of Tabarhindah in his kingdom, he marched alongwith Govindaraja of Delhi and his general Skanda tthe Punjab, and defeated Ghori on the battle of Tarain (A.D. 1191). 
• In the following year, Mahammud Ghori defeated Prithviraj in the second battle of Tarain. 
• Prithviraja was captured and executed. After Ghori’s departure, Hariraja, brother of Prithviraja, regained Ajmer before 1194 A.D. but had to surrender to Qutab-ud-din Aibak.
• Gahadvalas
• Chandradeva, the first great ruler of the dynasty,  

 established himself in Kanauj and made it his capital. He was succeeded by his son Madanachandra, who was defeated and taken prisoner by Ala-ud-Daulah Masud III, who invaded Kannauj. 

• Govindachandra, son of Mahendrachandra, defeated Muslims and secured the release of his father. He was succeeded by his son Vijayachandra, whose son and successor Jayachandra suffered a defeat at the hand of the king Lakshmanasena of Bengal. 
• In A.D. 1193, Muhammad Ghori invaded the kingdom of the Gahadavalas and defeated and killed Jayachandra.

Kashmir

• The Karkota dynasty was founded by Durlabhavardhana. Durlabhavardhana’s grandson Chandrapida, who ascended the throne in 713 A.D. had friendly relations with the Chinese emperor and earned renown by repulsing an invasion of the Arabs. 
• He was succeeded by his younger brothers—first Tarapida, then Lalitaditya Muktapida, the greatest king of the dynasty. 
• He repulsed an attack of the Arabs and victories over the Kambojas, Dards, and the Turks and overran the whole of North India. He sent a mission tChina, probably seeking assistance against the Tibetans. He died in 760 A.D.
• Avantivarman was the founder of the Utpala dynasty. His reign closed in 883 A.D. and he was succeeded by his son Sankaravarman. He died before 902 A.D. under tragic circumstances and was succeeded by several kings. 
• At last, a Brahmana named Yasaskara was selected as king by an assembly of the Brahmanas in 939 A.D. His son was killed by his minister Parva gupta who ruled for about a year and was succeeded by his son Kshema gupta in 950 A.D. 
• Kshemagupts queen Didda, daughter of the king of Lohara, dominated Kashmir politics in the second half of the 10th century. After the death of her husband, she became the de factruler and in 980 A.D. she ascended the throne.
• Samgramaraja was the founder of the Lohara dynasty in Kashmir. He repulsed several attacks of Mahmud of Ghazni.   

• A number of other kings followed; the last of them Harsha introduced the custom of putting on head-dress and ear-rings in Kashmir. 
• Ucchala and Sussala had overthrown Harsha and founded the second Lohara dynasty. The last king of this dynasty was Vantideva.