Dunduka was a king of the state of

Kannauj Kannauj (Hindustani language, Hindustani pronunciation: ) is an ancient city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar palika, Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Ut ...

North India North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...

during the early 8th century CE.

Early life

Dunduka was the son and successor of

Āma Āma was a medieval Indian king who ruled the Kingdom of Kannauj and surrounding areas during the 8th and the 9th centuries. According to the Jain chronicles, he was the son and successor of Yashovarman. Jain account The Jain chronicle ''Bap ...

, the king of

and surrounding areas during the late 8th century CE. Āma, his father, had lost control of

, and moved to Gopagiri (modern

Gwalior Gwalior (Hindi: , ) is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; It is known as the Music City of India having oldest Gwalior gharana, musical gharana in existence. It is a major sports, cultural, industrial, and political c ...

).Shyam Manohar Mishra (1977). Yaśovarman of Kanauj. Abhinav. pp. 120–121 OCLC 5782454 Being under Jain influence,

abdicated the throne in favour of Dunduka.

Reign

Dunduka was an immoral and cruel person, who was the ruler of a small and reduced territory. He did not take any interest in his royal duties and neglected his queen Padma. He indulged in debauchery and was pleasure-loving. He is described as "immoral" in the '' Gaudavaho'' as well. He even made several futile attempts to kill his own son,

Bhoja Bhoja was the Paramara dynasty, Paramara king of Malwa from 1010 until his death in 1055. He ruled from Dhara (city), Dhara (modern Dhar), and Military career of Bhoja, fought wars with nearly all his neighbours in attempts to extend his king ...

, who was born to Padma. Later, Dunduka was killed by his son

(not to be confused with

Mihira Bhoja Mihira Bhoja () or Bhoja I was the Pratiharan Emperor from 836 to 885 CE. He inherited a weakened realm in an adverse situation from his father, Ramabhadra. However, his capable reign transformed it into a large and prosperous empire. Bhoj ...

), for the throne. He is considered as an unsuccessful ruler.Rama Shankar Tripathi (1964). History of Kanauj: To the Moslem Conquest. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 211

, his father, he himself, and his son Bhoja are considered as insignificant rulers, who achieved nothing important and reigned for a brief period of 15-20 years. There is no information about Bhoja's successors.

Religion

Dunduka was a follower of

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion whose three main pillars are nonviolence (), asceticism (), and a rejection of all simplistic and one-sided views of truth and reality (). Jainism traces its s ...

and followed the monk ''Trivarga''.

References

Kings of Kannauj Year of birth missing Year of death missing {{India-royal-stub