Dridhaprahara
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Dridhaprahara (
IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Brahmic family, Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that ...
: Dṛḍhaprahāra, r. c. 860-880) is the earliest historically attested ruler of the
Seuna (Yadava) dynasty The Seuna, Sevuna, or Yadava, Yadavas of Devagiri (IAST: Seuṇa, –1317) was a medieval Indian dynasty, which at its peak ruled a realm stretching from the Narmada River, Narmada river in the north to the Tungabhadra river in the south, in th ...
that ruled the western
Deccan The Deccan is a plateau extending over an area of and occupies the majority of the Indian peninsula. It stretches from the Satpura and Vindhya Ranges in the north to the northern fringes of Tamil Nadu in the south. It is bound by the mount ...
region in present-day India.


Early life

According to Jain tradition, Dridhaprahara was a son of king Vajrakumara of Dvaraka. When his mother was pregnant with him, a great fire destroyed the city. Jain saint Jainaprabhasuri saved his mother, he was born sometime after the destruction of Dvaraka. Dridhaprahara was a devotee of the eighth Jain
tirthankara In Jainism, a ''Tirthankara'' (; ) is a saviour and supreme preacher of the ''Dharma (Jainism), dharma'' (righteous path). The word ''tirthankara'' signifies the founder of a ''Tirtha (Jainism), tirtha'', a fordable passage across ''Saṃsā ...
Chandraprabha Chandraprabha () or Chandranatha is the eighth Tirthankara of of Jainism in the present age (). According to traditional accounts, he was born to King Mahasena and Queen Lakshmana Devi at Chandrapuri to the Ikshvaku dynasty. According to Jain ...
. Dridhaprahara is one of the earliest historically attested ruler of the
Seuna (Yadava) dynasty The Seuna, Sevuna, or Yadava, Yadavas of Devagiri (IAST: Seuṇa, –1317) was a medieval Indian dynasty, which at its peak ruled a realm stretching from the Narmada River, Narmada river in the north to the Tungabhadra river in the south, in th ...
grew under the care of 8th Tirthankara Chadraprabhu Swami also named his capital ''Chandraditypura'' after him''.'' No historical evidence connects Dridhaprahara or his dynasty to Dvaraka: after rising to prominence, the dynasty started claiming descent from the legendary hero
Yadu This is a list of ancient Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes that are mentioned in the literature of Indian religions. From the second or first millennium BCE, ancient Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes turned into most of the population in the north ...
, whose descendants (called the
Yadava The Yadava (), not to be confused with Yadav, were an ancient Indian people who believed to have descended from Yadu (legendary king), Yadu, a legendary king of Chandravamsha lineage. The community was formed of various clans, being the #T ...
s) are associated with Dvaraka. The dynasty's claim of connection with that city may simply be a result of their claim of descent from Yadu rather than their actual geographic origin.


Rise to power

The ''Nasikkya-pura-kalpa'' section of Jinaprabha-suri's '' Vividha-tirtha-kalpa'' provides following account of Dridhaprahara's rise to power: Once, cattle thieves raided his town, and stole the people's cows. Dridhaprahara single-handedly fought the thieves and retrieved the cows. The local
Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...
s and other honoured him with the title ''Talarapaya'' ("the protector of the village"). Historian
A. S. Altekar Anant Sadashiv Altekar (24 September 1898 – 25 November 1960; ) was a historian, archaeologist, and numismatist from Maharashtra, India. He was the Manindra Chandra Nandy's Professor and Head of the Department of Ancient Indian History and C ...
theorizes that Dridhaprahara was a warrior living around 860, when Gurjara-Rashtrakuta wars would have brought instability to the
Khandesh Khandesh is a geographic region in Maharashtra, India. It was made up of present Jalgaon, Dhule and Nandurbar districts. It also said that Burhanpur District of Madhya Pradesh was also its part. The region have seen many geographical ch ...
region. He probably protected the region against enemy raids, because of which people started paying him taxes, and his family rose to prominence.


Legacy

Dridhaprahara is the earliest historically attested ruler of his dynasty, and finds a mention in the
Vasai Vasai (Konkani and Marathi pronunciation: əsəi British English: Bassein; formerly and alternatively Marathi; ''Bajipur'') is a historical place and city located in Palghar district; it was partitioned out of the Thane district in 2014. It ...
(Bassein) and Asvi inscriptions. He is said to have established the city of Chandradityapura (modern
Chandor Chandor is a village in Salcete sub-district of South Goa, in the Indian state of Goa. It lies on the southern bank of the Zuari River and western bank of the Kushavati River. History The ancient city of Chandrapura, where Chandor now stands, ...
). His son and successor was Seunachandra, who was probably a
Rashtrakuta The Rashtrakuta Empire was a royal Indian polity ruling large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the 6th and 10th centuries. The earliest known Rashtrakuta inscription is a 7th-century copper plate grant detailing their rule from Manapu ...
feudatory, and after whom the dynasty came to be known as Seuṇa-vaṃśa.


References


Citations


Sources

* * * * * * * {{Seuna (Yadava) dynasty Seuna (Yadava) dynasty