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Pratiharas

Extent of Pratihara kingdom, 780 C.E.
Official languages	Sanskrit, Marwari, Malwi[citation needed]
Capital	Kannauj
Government	Monarchy
Preceding state	Harsha[citation needed]
Succeeding states	Rathors, Delhi Sultanate

The Pratiharas (Hindi प्रतिहार pratihāra, also known as Parihars) was an Indian dynasty that ruled a large kingdom in northern India from the 6th to the 11th centuries. They are called Gurjara-Pratiharas in one late inscription. The people claiming descent from this dynasty also describe themselves as "Parihar".

Contents 1 Origin 2 Rulers 3 Pratihara rulers 4 See also 5 Notable Parihars in modern times 6 References

The Pratiharas were one of the Agnikula clans of Rajputs, according to a legend given in later manuscripts of Prithviraj Raso.

Vincent Smith believed that the Pratiharas were certainly of Gurjara (or Gujjar) origin, and stated that there is possibility of other Agnikula Rajput clans being of same origin.^[1] Dr. K. Jamanadas also states that the Pratihara clan of Rajputs descended from the Gujjars, and this "raises a strong presumption that the other Rajput clans also are the descendants from the Gurjaras or the allied foreign immigrants".^[2] D. B. Bhandarkar also believed that Pratiharas were a clan of Gujjars.^[3] In his book The Glory that was Gujardesh (1943), Gurjar writer K. M. Munshi stated that the Pratiharas and some other Rajput clans were of Gujjar (or Gurjar) origin.

However, some other historians believe that although some sections of the Pratiharas (eg. the one to which Mathanadeva belonged) were Gujjars by caste, the imperial Pratiharas of Kannauj were not Gujjars.^[4][5] H. A. Rose and Denzil Ibbetson stated that there is no conclusive proof that the Agnikula Rajput 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.^[1]

Harichandra is said to have laid the foundation of this dynasty in the 6th century. 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 Avanti in Malwa, and checked the expansion of the Arabs, who had established themselves in Sind. In this Battle of Rajasthan (738 CE) Nagabhatta led a confedracy of Rajput clans to defeat the Muslim Arabs who had till then been pressing on victorious through West Asia and Iran.

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 Mandore, Marwar lost control of the region in the 13th century to the Rathor clan of Rajputs. In 1395, 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.

It can be understood from many Arabic sources that the Muslim invaders greatly feared the Prathiharas.

• 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)
• Mihira Bhoja I (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)
• Nahar Rao Parihar of Mandore, Marwar (6th-7th century)

• Battle of Rajasthan
• Dhangar

• [http://www.justicekansingh.org Justice Kan Singh Parihar
• Raj Bahadur Singh Parihar (freedom fighter of Kondar^[6])

DEWAN SHATRUGHAN SINGH RANI RAJENDRA KUMARI Rath is the home tehsil of two great Indian freedom fighters and the father of the freedom movement in the whole of Bundelkhand, Dewan Shatrughan Singh [aka 'Bundelkhand Gandhi' & 'Bundelkhand Kesri'] & his wife Rani Rajendra Kumari. These were the two fountain heads of the freedom movement in all of Bundelkhand. They also were the main patrons of revolutionaries like Chandrashekhar Azad who frequented their Castle in their native village of Maungrauth. The Rani defeated the sitting UP Chief Minister C.B. Gupta as an independent candidate. They were also the main inspiration behind the Bhoodaan movement in Bundelkhand and Maungraut changed the history of the movement by becoming the first complete Gramdaan.

Numerous scholars have done PhD's on the life of these 2 great Indian patriots. There is an annual mela on the birthday of these two stalwarts held annually in Maungrauth in December and is attended by over 40,000 people. They opened numerous colleges and libraries in the Bundelkhand region and none were named after them. The district hospital of Hamirpur is named after Dewan Sahib after his death.

Despite being from one of the most affluent families in Central India this couple sacrificed everything for the nation and donated their lands to the poor even prior to 1947. They were in British jails for the freedom struggle for over 9 years each. They are now the subject of folk tales and songs highlighting their bravery and hailing them as symbols of Bundelkhandi valor.

1. ^ ^{a b} Rose, Horace Arthur (1990). Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North West Frontier Province. Asian Educational Services, 300. ISBN 8120605055. 
2. ^ Jamanadas, K.. "Rajput Period Was Dark Age Of India", Decline And Fall Of Buddhism: A tragedy in Ancient India. New Delhi: Bluemoon Books. Retrieved on 2007-05-31. 
3. ^ Bhandarkar, Devadatta Ramakrishna (1989). Some Aspects of Ancient Indian Culture. Asian Educational Services, 64. ISBN 8120604571. 
4. ^ Majumdar, Ramesh Chandra [1976] (2002). Readings in Political History of India, Ancient, Mediaeval, and Modern. B.R. Pub. Corp (on behalf of Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies), D.K. Publishers' Distributors, 209. “But he refused to believe that the Imperial Pratiharas of Kanauj were also Gujars in this sense.” 
5. ^ Imperial Gazetteer of India, vol. 2. Digital South Asia Library, 320. Retrieved on 2007-05-31. “But whatever our theories regarding the infusion of Gujar blood among the Rajputs, there was certainly no Gurjara (Gujar) empire in Northern India” 
6. ^ List of Freedom Fighters. Official website of Satna District

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