Krishna (

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 ...

: Kṛṣṇa, r. c. 1246–1261 CE), also known as Kanha or Kannara, was a 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 ...

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 India. He successfully invaded the Paramara kingdom of

Malwa Malwa () is a historical region, historical list of regions in India, region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic plateau, volcanic upland north of the ...

, and fought inconclusive wars against the Vaghelas and the

Hoysala The Hoysala Kingdom was a kingdom originating from the Indian subcontinent that ruled most of what is now Karnataka, India, Karnataka, parts of Tamilnadu and South-Western Telangana between the 11th and the 14th centuries Common Era, CE. The c ...

s. The Yadava inscriptions also credit him or his generals with several other victories, but veracity of these claims is doubtful.

Early life

Krishna was a grandson of the Yadava king Simhana, and succeeded Simhana presumably because his father Jaitugi II died before Simhana. An inscription dated 2 November 1248 was issued during the second year of Simhana's reign, and an inscription dated 25 December 1248 was issued during the third year of his reign. This suggests that Simhana ascended the throne in November or December 1246.

Wars

Krishna maintained the territory that he had inherited from his grandfather. The Yadava inscriptions credit him with several conquests. For example, the Munoli inscription describes him thus:

Paramaras

The Paramara dynasty ruled the

kingdom located to the north of the Yadava kingdom. By the time of Krishna's ascension, the Paramara power and prestige had declined because of invasions from the

Iltutmish Shams ud-Din Iltutmish (1192 – 30 April 1236) was the third of the Mamluk kings who ruled the former Ghurid territories in northern India. He was the first Muslim sovereign to rule from Delhi, and is thus considered the effective founder of ...

-led

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate or the Sultanate of Delhi was a Medieval India, late medieval empire primarily based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for more than three centuries.

. Krishna took advantage of this situation, and invaded Malwa sometime during the reign of the Paramara king Jaitugideva. The invasion must have happened in or before 1250, when the Yadava records first mention it. The Munoli inscription compares Krishna to

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

(''trinetra'') and the Paramara king to the Madana (in

Hindu mythology Hindu mythology refers to the collection of myths associated with Hinduism, derived from various Hindu texts and traditions. These myths are found in sacred texts such as the Vedas, the Itihasas (the ''Mahabharata'' and the ''Ramayan ...

, Shiva incinerates Madana). The Mamadapur inscription also alludes to Krishna's victory over the Paramara king. The invasion does not seem to have resulted in any territorial annexation.

Vaghelas

Krishna also attempted an invasion of the Vaghela-ruled

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, 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 List of states and union territories ...

( Gurjara) region. The Vaghela king Visala-deva had married a

princess: both these kingdoms were traditional rivals of the Yadavas, and the marriage may have provided additional provocation for Krishna's invasion. The conflict was probably limited to a few frontier skirmishes, which variously resulted in advantage for the Yadavas and the Vagehlas, and did not result in any significant territorial changes. Both Yadava and Vaghela records claim victory in this inconclusive conflict. The Yadavas'

Paithan Paithan (), historically Pratiṣṭhāna ɾə'tɪʂʈʰanə is a town with municipal council in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, Maharashtra, Maharashtra, India. Paithan is located south of present-day Aurangabad on the banks of the ...

inscription and a eulogy by their court-poet Hemadri claim that Krishna destroyed the forces of Visala-deva. On the other hand, the Vaghelas' Dabhoi inscription claims that Visala-deva defeated Krishna.

Hoysalas

Krishna's general Chamunda claims to have "humbled the pride" of the

king Someshvara sometime before 1250. According to historian A. S. Altekar, this may be a reference to the Yadava success in a frontier skirmish. Historian T. V. Mahalingam theorizes that the Yadava forces were able to capture a part of the Hoysala territory, as attested by the discovery of Krishna's inscriptions in the present-day

Chitradurga district Chitradurga district is an administrative district of Karnataka state in southern India. The city of Chitradurga is the district headquarters. Chitradurga gets its name from Chitrakaldurga, an umbrella-shaped lofty hill found there. Tradition ...

. The Hoysala records claim victory for Someshvara.

Pandyans

Krishna's general Bichana, who was the viceroy of the southern part of Yadava kingdom, claims to have defeated the

Pandyan The Pandya dynasty (), also referred to as the Pandyas of Madurai, was an ancient Tamil dynasty of South India, and among the four great kingdoms of Tamilakam, the other three being the Pallavas, the Cholas and the Cheras. Existing sinc ...

s sometime before 1253. Historian T. V. Mahalingam believes this to be conventional claim without any historical basis. According to historian A. S. Altekar, there may be some truth to this claim: the Pandyan king Jatavarman Sundara had invaded the

Kakatiya The Kakatiya dynasty (IAST: Kākatīya) was a Telugu dynasty that ruled most of eastern Deccan region in present-day India between 12th and 14th centuries. Their territory comprised much of the present day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and p ...

kingdom, advancing as far as

Nellore Nellore, also spelt as Nelluru, is a city located on the banks of Penna River, in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, India.Kalachuri capital Tripuri. The Kalachuri kingdom had ceased to exist by the mid-13th century, and their former territory had practically turned into a no-man's land. it is possible that Krishna or one of his generals occupied Tripuri for a while.

Last days

Krishna's last inscription is dated May 1261. His son Ramachandra was probably not born or was not old enough to hold the title of ''yuvaraja'' (heir apparent) at the time of his ascension, or to ascend the throne at the time of his death. Krishna's brother Mahadeva, who was designated the heir apparent since at least 1250 and assisted the king in the administration, succeeded him in 1261. Mahadeva was succeeded by his son Ammana, but Ramachandra forcefully dethroned him and became the new king in 1271.

Administration

Simhana's generals and officers, such as Bichana and his elder brother Mallisetti, continued to serve Krishna. Mallisetti, who was a district officer under Simhana, rose to the rank of ''sarva-deshadhikari'' (viceroy) early in Krishna's reign. His son Chamunda-raya held the titles ''maha-pradhana'' and ''maha-matya'' since around 1250. Lakshmideva, a

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 ...

, was another important minister of Krishna, and claims to have helped consolidate the king's rule. His son Jalhana was a counsellor as well as a leader of the elephant force, and claims to have won several battles for Krishna. Jalhana also compiled or commissioned the compilation of the Sanskrit anthology '' Sukti-muktavali''. His sons Ramachandra and Keshava held fiefs in present-day Satara district, and continued to serve the Yadavas after their father's death.

Religion

Krishna followed Vedic Hinduism, and one of his inscriptions describes him as ''Vedoddhara'' ("upholder of the

Vedas FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...

"). 13th century Yadava court scholar Hemadri credits him with performing several ritual sacrifices and rejuvenating the weakened ''

dharma Dharma (; , ) is a key concept in various Indian religions. The term ''dharma'' does not have a single, clear Untranslatability, translation and conveys a multifaceted idea. Etymologically, it comes from the Sanskrit ''dhr-'', meaning ''to hold ...

''. The Mahanubhava text ''Lila-charita'' states that Krishna had high regard for the Mahanubhava saints, he visited the sect's founder Chakradhara at Lonar.

Cultural activities

The literary works composed during Krishna's reign include: * '' Sukti-muktavali'', a Sanskrit anthology containing selections of writings from celebrated poets: it was compiled or commissioned by Krishna's minister Jalhana * ''Vedanta-kalpataru'', Amalananda's commentary on Vachaspati-mishra's '' Bhamati''

References

Bibliography

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