| Mahendrapala I | |
|---|---|
| Parameshvara Parama-bhattaraka Maharajadhiraja King of Kanyakubja Raghukula-Chudamani | |
| King of Kings of Āryāvarta King of Kannauj | |
| Reign | c. 885 – c. 910 |
| Predecessor | Mihira Bhoja |
| Successor | Bhoja II |
| Consorts | Dehanaga-Devi Mahidevi |
| Issue | Bhoja II |
| Father | Mihira Bhoja |
| Mother | Candra-Bhattarika-Devi |
Mahendrapala I (IAST: Mahendrapāla; r. 885 – 910) was the Emperor of Aryavarta (ancient name for India, lit. 'Land of the (Indo-)Aryans') and King of Kannauj from 885 until his death in 910 and member of the Pratihara dynasty. He reigned over a vast empire in northern India. He is also mentioned on various inscriptions found in present-day Kathiawar, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh by the names Mahindrapala, Mahendrayudha, Mahisapaladeva, and also Nirbhayaraja, Nirbhayanarendra and Raghukula-tilaka in the plays of his guru Rajasekhara.[1][2][3]
Reign[edit | edit source]
Rajasekhara called Mahendrapala as "Maharajadhiraja of Aryavarta" (lit. 'King Emperor of Northern India') indicating his imperial status in northern India.[4]
Bhoja is thought to have died around A.D. 885, and his son Mahendrapala I succeeded him. The earliest record of Mahendrapala dates to A.D. 893. There is an unclear verse in a work called Rdjatarangvn, that hints he may have lost some land in the Punjab—a territory his father had gained—to a Kashmiri king named Sahkaravarman. Other than that uncertain detail, Mahendrapala kept the large empire he inherited and even pushed its borders further east.[5]
According to historian R.C. Majumdar, the empire of Mahendrapala I stretched from the Himalayan region in the north to the Vindhya range in the south, and from the eastern coast to the western sea.[5] Earlier it was thought that the greater part of Magadha and even the parts of North Bengal had come under the suzerainty of the emperor Mahendrapal I.[6]Template:Reference page However, that theory has been debunked due to the discovery of a Pala king named Mahendrapala , whose inscriptions were mistakenly attributed to his Gurjara namesake.[7]
Mahendrapala’s name appears in several forms, including Mahindrapala and Mahendrayudha, and he was also known by titles such as Nirbhaya-narendra or Nirbhayaraja. His spiritual teacher, Rajaiekhara, was a well-known figure in Indian literature. Although Rajaiekhara's writings do not provide many details about Mahendrapala’s life or character, they clearly celebrate the magnificence of the imperial city of Kanauj.[5]
| Preceded by Mihira Bhoja (835–890) |
Pratihara Emperor 890–910 |
Succeeded by Bhoja II (910–913) |
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Baji Nath Puri (1986). The History of the Gurjara-Pratihāras. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers.
- ↑ Rama Shankar Tripathi (1989). History of Kanauj: To the Moslem Conquest. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 248. ISBN 978-81-208-0404-3.
- ↑ Radhey Shyam Chaurasia (2002). History of Ancient India: Earliest Times to 1000 A. D. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors. p. 208. ISBN 978-81-269-0027-5.
- ↑ V.D. Mahajan. Ancient India. S. Chand. p. 489. ISBN 978-93-5253-132-5.
Rajasekhara called Mahendrapala as Maharajadhiraja of Aryavarta or King Emperor of Northern India.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Majumdar, R. C. (2009). The History and Culture of the Indian People: The Age of Imperial Kanauj. Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p. 33.
- ↑ Sen, S.N., 2013, A Textbook of Medieval Indian History, Delhi: Primus Books, ISBN 9789380607344
- ↑ Debala Mitra; Gouriswar Bhattacharya (1991). Akṣayanīvī: Essays Presented to Dr. Debala Mitra in Admiration of Her Scholarly Contributions. Sri Satguru Publications. ISBN 978-81-7030-275-9.
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