Vatsaraja (780–800) or Vatsraja was an Emperor of the Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty in Northern India. He was grand-nephew of

Nagabhata I Nagabhata I (r. c. 730 – 760 CE) was a king who founded the imperial Gurjara Pratihara dynasty of northern India. He ruled the Avanti (or Malava) region in present-day Madhya Pradesh, from his capital at Ujjain. He may have extended his ...

and his mother was queen Bhuyikadevi. He was the first ruler of Rajasthan to win victories over the distant regions of Kanauj and Bengal. His extensive conquests mark the rise of the Imperial Gurjara-Pratiharas.

Reign

After

, he was succeeded by his nephews, there have been two rulers namely Kakkuka and Devaraja before Vatsraja came to the throne. Kakustha or Kakkuka was the nephew of

and nothing much is known about him. The younger brother of Kakkuka, king Devasakti or Devaraja is described as having curbed the freedom of a multitude of rulers. After bringing much of

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern ...

under his control, Vatsaraja then embarked to become "master of all the land lying between the two seas." Contemporary Jijasena's Harivamsha purana describes him as "master of western quarter" According to Radhanpur Plate Inscription and Prithviraja Vijaya, Vatsaraja led an expedition against the distant eastern kingdom of Bengal, ruled by the

Palas A ''palas'' () is a German term for the imposing or prestigious building of a medieval '' Pfalz'' or castle that contained the great hall. Such buildings appeared during the Romanesque period (11th to 13th century) and, according to Thompson ...

under

Dharmapala A ''dharmapāla'' (, , ja, 達磨波羅, 護法善神, 護法神, 諸天善神, 諸天鬼神, 諸天善神諸大眷屬) is a type of wrathful god in Buddhism. The name means "'' dharma'' protector" in Sanskrit, and the ''dharmapālas'' are a ...

. as such palas came into conflict from time to time with the Imperial Pratiharas. According to above inscription Dharamapala, was deprived of his two white Royal Umbrellas, and fled, pursued by the Pratihara forces under Vatsaraja's General Durlabhraj Chauhan of

Shakambhari Shakambhari (Sanskrit: शाकम्भरी, IAST: Śākambharī), also referred to as Shatakshi, is a goddess of nourishment. She is regarded to be an incarnation of Mahadevi, and identified with both Lakshmi and Durga in Hinduism. After ...

. The Prithviraja Vijaya describes Durlabhraj Chauhan as having “washed his sword at the confluence of the river

Ganga The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

and the

ocean The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wor ...

, and savouring the land of the Gaudas”, The

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capital ...

Inscription (AD 812) also refers to

Nagabhata II Nagabhata II (reign 795–833) was an Indian Emperor from Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty. He ascended the throne of Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty after his father Vatsraja. His mother was queen Sundari-Devi. He was designated with imperial titles - ''Par ...

's victory over the Gauda king

. Through vigorous campaigning, Vatsraja had extended his dominions to include a large part of northern India, from the

Thar Desert The Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert, is an arid region in the north-western part of the Subcontinent that covers an area of and forms a natural boundary between India and Pakistan. It is the world's 20th-largest desert, ...

in the west up to the frontiers of

bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

in the east. Vatsaraja took the title of

Ranahastin Ranahastin or Ratnahastin (''also transliterated as Ratnabastin and Rahnahastin'') (Sanskrit: रत्नहस्तिन् and रणहस्तिन्) was one of the titles of Pratihara emperor Vatsaraja along with Maharajadhiraja, and ...

after his Kannauj campaign, and minted coins with legends "Shri Rana Hasti". These coins were found in Rajputana, Saurashtra. The statement of Jaina preceptor Uddyotana Suri, that the narrative ''Kuvalayamala'' was composed by him at Jalor in AD 778 when the ruling king was Vatsaraja, reveals that Vatsaraja ruled in Rajasthan. The evidence of the 795 CE inscription of his subordinate, brought to light by Shanta Rani Sharma, presents a detailed record of his victories over the Arabs, Indrāyudha and Bengal. It also presents evidence that contests the claim of the defeat of Vatsaraja by Dhruva. According to the Gwalior inscription of his later descendant Bhoja, Vatsaraja had ‘subdued the entire world’, and was the ‘foremost among the most distinguished Kshatriyas’. It also mentions the defeat of the famous Bhandi clan by Vatsaraja. The Chahamana king Durlabharaja, described in the '' Prithviraja Vijaya'' as having bathed his sword at the confluence of the Ganga and the ocean, was a subordinate of Vatsaraja.

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* * * * 8th-century Indian monarchs Pratihara empire {{India-royal-stub

Reign

See also

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