Arjunavarman (reigned c. 1210-1215 CE) was an Indian king from the

Paramara dynasty The Paramara dynasty ( IAST: Paramāra) was an Indian dynasty that ruled Malwa and surrounding areas in west-central India between 9th and 14th centuries. They belonged to the Parmara clan of the Rajputs. The dynasty was established in either t ...

, who ruled in the

Malwa Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, it is also syno ...

region of central India.

Military career

Arjuna succeeded his father

Subhatavarman Subhatavarman (reigned c. 1194–1209 CE), also known as Sohada, was an Indian king from the Paramara dynasty, who ruled in the Malwa region of central India. Early life Subhatavarman succeeded his father Vindhyavarman as the Paramara king. H ...

, and invaded the kingdom of the

Chaulukya The Chaulukya dynasty (), also Solanki dynasty, was a dynasty that ruled parts of what are now Gujarat and Rajasthan in north-western India, between and . Their capital was located at Anahilavada (modern Patan). At times, their rule extended ...

s of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

. The 14th century writer

Merutunga Merutuṅga was a medieval scholar from present-day Gujarat in India and was a Śvētāmbara Jain monk of the Añcala Gaccha. He is presently most well-known for his Sanskrit text, the '' Prabandhacintāmaṇi'', composed in 1306 CE. He also w ...

calls him the "destroyer of

". Arjuna defeated Jayanta-simha (or Jaya-simha), who had usurped the Solanki throne for a brief period. The 1211 CE Piplianagar grant of Arjuna refers to his victory over Jayanta, so Arjuna's Gujarat invasion must have happened before this time. An inscription from

Bhopal Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...

indicates that he had reached

Bharuch Bharuch (), formerly known as Broach, is a city at the mouth of the river Narmada in Gujarat in western India. Bharuch is the administrative headquarters of Bharuch District. The city of Bharuch and surroundings have been settled since tim ...

by 1213 CE. The Dhar ''

prashasti ''Prashasti'' (IAST: Praśasti, Sanskrit for "praise") is an Indian genre of inscriptions composed by poets in praise of their rulers. Most date from the 6th century CE onwards. Written in the form of poetry or ornate prose, the ''prashastis'' s ...

'' inscription states that he defeated Jayasimha in the Parva mountain valley (possibly

Pavagadh Pavagadh is an ancient Triassic Period location with Enriched History from periods of Treta Yuga and Dvapara Yuga. In present day, Pavagadh is a municipal operated region in Panchmahal district about away from Vadodara in Gujarat state in wes ...

). It also states that Arjuna captured Jayanta's daughter Jayashri, and fell in love with her. According to Asoke Majumdar, this suggests that Jayanta made peace with the Paramaras through a marriage alliance. When the

Yadava The Yadava (literally, descended from Yadu) were an ancient Indian people who believed to be descended from Yadu, a legendary king of Chandravamsha lineage. The community was formed of various clans, being the Abhira, Andhaka, Vrishni, and Sat ...

ruler

Simhana Simhana ( IAST: Siṃhaṇa, also transliterated as Singhana; r. c. 1210-1246 was the most powerful ruler of the Seuna (Yadava) dynasty of Deccan region in India. He expanded his kingdom southwards at the expense of the Hoysalas, and fought the C ...

invaded

Lata Lata (Hindi: लता) is a Hindu/Sanskrit Indian female given name, which means "creeper" and "vine". Lata may refer to: Notable people named Lata *Lata Bhatt (born 1954), Indian singer. *Lata (born 1975), Musician. *Lata Mangeshkar (1929–20 ...

(southern Gujarat), Arjuna's

Chahamana Chauhan, historically ''Chahamana'', is a clan name historically associated with the various ruling Rajput families during the Medieval India in Rajasthan. Subclans Khichi, Hada, Songara, Bhadauria, Devda etc. are the branches or subclan ...

general Salakhanasimha defeated him. Later, the Yadava king sent another force led by his general Kholeshvara to Lata. This second invasion resulted in the Paramara feudatory's defeat. Arjunavarman married the Hoysala princess Sarvakala, who was probably a daughter of grand-daughter of the Hoysala king Ballala. Simhana's invasion of the Hoysala territory appears to have led a fresh conflict between the Paramaras and the Yadavas. Simhana invaded the Paramara kingdom in 1215, and according to the later Yadava court poet

Hemadri Hemādri Paṇḍit, popularly known as Hemāḍapanta, was a polymath and a prime minister from 1259 to 1274 C.E. in the regimes of King Mahādev (1259–1271) and King Ramachandra (1271–1309) of Seuna Yādav Dynasty of Devagiri, which ruled i ...

, this invasion resulted in the defeat and death of Arjunavarman. The veracity of Hemadri's claim is doubtful, as the 1222 Bahal inscription mentions Arjunavarman's defeat, but not his death. The Tiluvalli inscription also states that Simhana humbled the lord of Malwa.

Other activities

Arjuna assumed the title ''Trividhivīracūḍāmaṇi''. In his inscriptions, Arjunavarman claimed to be an reincarnation of his illustrious ancestor king

Bhoja Bhoja (reigned c. 1010–1055 CE) was an Indian king from the Paramara dynasty. His kingdom was centered around the Malwa region in central India, where his capital Dhara-nagara (modern Dhar) was located. Bhoja fought wars with nearly all h ...

. He was a patron of scholars, and himself an accomplished poet. He is best known from a eulogistic inscription of his reign which takes the form of play called the ''Vijayaśrīnāṭikā'', composed by Madana, the king's preceptor. In this work, which is not known from manuscript sources, Madana makes Arjunavarman the chief protagonist.S. K. Dikshit, ed., ''Pārijātamañjarī alias Vijayaśrī by Rāja-Guru Madana alias Bāla-Sarasvatī'' (Bhopal, 1968). Available online in Zenodo. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.375588. Arjunavarman's 1211 CE inscription, found at Piplianagar near

Shajapur Shajapur is a town in Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh state in west-central India. It is the headquarters of Shajapur district. Geography Shajapur is located at . It has an average elevation of . The highest peak is known as Bhairo Dungri. ...

, records the donation of a village. A 1213 inscription, discovered at

Sehore Sehore is a city and a municipality in Sehore district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the district headquarters of Sehore District and is located on the Bhopal-Indore highway, 38 km from Bhopal. History Sehore stands at the f ...

(and possibly originally found at Piplianagar) also records a village grant. Another inscription from Sehore, dated 1215 CE, records a land grant to a

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{Paramara dynasty Paramara dynasty 13th-century Indian monarchs