Kumarapala (Solanki King)

Kumarapala () was a ruler from the Chaulukya (Solanki) dynasty of present-day western India. He ruled present-day Gujarat and surrounding areas, from his capital Anahilapataka (modern Patan).

Kumarapala was a descendant of the Chaulukya king Bhima I. The information about him largely come from two sources – the numerous Sanskrit and Apabhramasa-Prakrit language inscriptions and the Jain texts. These provide a highly inconsistent historical profile in some respects, and corroborate each other in some. Both portray Kumarapala as a keen and generous patron of arts and architecture, one who supported the divergent religious Indian traditions in Western India, particularly Gujarat and Rajasthan region.

Kumarapala inscriptions predominantly invoke Shiva – a Hindu god, and they do not mention any Jain Tirthankara or Jaina deity. The major Veraval inscription calls him ''Mahesvara-nripa-agrani'' (worshipper of Shiva), and even Jain texts state that he worshipped Somanatha (Somesvara, Shiva). He rebuilt a spectacular Somanatha-Patan ''tirtha'' site with many Hindu temples, bathing ghats and pilgrim facilities, according to one inscription, thereby expanding the Somnath temple his father rebuilt after the plunder and destruction by Mahmud of Ghazni. The inscriptions suggest that he was a Hindu and participated in Brahmanic rituals, at least till the last known inscriptions that mention him.

According to Jain texts such as those written by Hemachandra and Prabhachandra, Kumarapala spent his early life in exile to avoid persecution by his relative and predecessor Jayasimha Siddharaja. He ascended the throne after Jayasimha's death, with help of his brother-in-law. He ruled for nearly three decades, during which he subdued a number of neighbouring kings, including the Chahamana king Arnoraja and the Shilahara king Mallikarjuna. He also annexed the Paramara territory of Malwa to his kingdom by defeating Ballala. Kumarapala, state the Jain text, became a disciple of the Jain scholar Hemachandra and adopted Jainism towards the end of his reign. The Jain texts composed after his death, additionally state that after his conversion, Kumarapala banned all killing of animals in his kingdom – a law that would be consistent with the Ahimsa principle. Multiple legendary biographies by medieval Jain chroniclers present him as the last great royal patron of Jainism. However, the inscriptions and the evidence from rulers who succeeded Kumarapala do not corroborate the Jain texts. Furthermore, the Jaina chronicles differ substantially in important details about his life.

Sources of information

The information about him largely come from two sources – the numerous Sanskrit and Apabhramasa-Prakrit language inscriptions and the Jain texts. These provide a highly inconsistent historical profile in some respects, and corroborate each other in some. Both portray Kumarapala as a patron of all arts and architecture, leaving behind a legacy of major Hindu and Jain temples and ''tirtha'' sites. These different sources of information also present him as a king who supported the divergent religious Indian traditions in Western India, particularly Gujarat and Rajasthan region.

Kumarapala is the subject of several major chronicles by medieval Jain scholars. These scholars include Hemachandra (''Dvyashraya'' and ''Mahaviracharita''), Prabhachandra, Somaprabha (''Kumarapala-Pratibodha''), Merutunga (''Prabandha-Chintamani''), Jayasimha Suri, Rajashekhara and Jina-Mandana Suri, among others. Of all the Indian kings, the largest number of chronicles have been written about Kumarapala. However, these chronicles differ substantially in important details about his life.

Background

Ancestry

All sources state that Kumarapala was the successor of Jayasimha Siddharaja, who was his relative and hated him.

According to Hemachandra, Kumarapala was a descendant of the earlier Chaulukya king Bhima I through Kshemaraja, Devaprasada and Tribhuvanapala. Kshemaraja, who was the elder son of Bhima, renounced his rights to the throne, and retired to Dadhisthali as an ascetic. His younger brother Karna succeeded their father on the throne. Karna sent Keshmaraja's son Devaprasada to look after him at Dadhisthali. After Karna's death, his own son Jayasimha ascended the throne. When Devaprasada learned about Karna's death, he sent his son Tribhuvanapala to Jayasimha's court, and committed suicide. Kumarapala was Tribhuvanapala's son, and succeeded Jayasimha.

Jayasimha Suri also provides a similar genealogy. He mentions some additional details: Kshemaraja and Karna were Bhima's sons by different women; and Kumarapala was the eldest son of Tribhuvanapala and Kashmiradevi. The genealogy given by Somaprabha and Prabhachandra is similar to the one provided by Hemachandra, but Prabhachandra omits the name of Kshemaraja.

According to Merutugna, Kumarapala was a descendant of Bhima I through Haripala and Tribhuvanapala. Haripala was a son of Bhima and a concubine named Bakuladevi. Merutunga's genealogy seems to be historically inaccurate, as the fragmentary Chittorgarh inscription corroborates Hemachandra's genealogy. However, historian A. K. Majumdar notes that the voluntary rejections of thrones are very rare, and therefore, Hemachandra's claim of Kshemaraja having voluntary give up his throne is doubtful. Hemachandra, who was a royal courtier, probably invented a fictional narrative to avoid mentioning the illegitimate son Haripala. This also explains why Karna's son Jayasimha Siddharaja hated Kumarapala.

Jina-Mandana Suri attempted to reconcile Merutunga's account with Jayasimha Suri's account. According to him, Kshemaraja's mother was Bakuladevi and Karna's mother was Udayamati. Bhima gave his kingdom to his younger son Karna, to please his younger wife Udayamati.

Multiple chroniclers state that Kumarapala's brother-in-law Krishna-deva served as Jayasimha's general. According to Prabhachandra, Kumarapala's brother Kirtipala also served as Jayasimha's general, in an expedition against Navaghana.

Early life and ascension

Kumarapala's contemporary chronicler Hemachandra does not mention anything about the king's life before his ascension to the throne. This is unusual, because Hemachandra's narratives about other kings of the dynasty describe their early lives. Historian Ashoke Majumdar theorizes that this might be because Hemachandra played a significant role in Kumarapala's early life, as mentioned by later chroniclers. Yashahpala, another contemporary writer, provides a hint about the king's early life in his drama ''Maharaja-Parajaya''. In this play, a character states that Kumarapala "wandered alone through the whole world", suggesting that the king spent his early life wandering away from the royal court.

Prabhachandra provides the following account of Kumarapala's early life: One day, Jayasimha Siddharaja learned through divination that Kumarapala would be his successor. This made Jayasimha very angry, because he hated Kumarapala. Fearing for his life, Kumarapala fled the kingdom in form of a mendicant. Sometime later, Jayasimha's spies told him that Kumarapala had returned to the capital disguised as an ascetic. Jayasimha then invited 300 ascetics to a feast, and washed their feet in order to identify Kumarapala (who had royal marks on his feet). Kumarapala was recognized, but fled to Hemachandra's house before he could be arrested. Jayasimha's men followed him, but Hemachandra hid him under palm leaves. After leaving Hemachandra's house, Kumarapala was similarly saved by a farmer named Āli. He then went to Khambhat, accompanied by a Brahmin named Bosari. There, he sought shelter with a rich man named Udayana, who turned him away to avoid enmity with the king Jayasimha. Fortunately for Kumarapala, Hemachandra had also arrived at a Jain monastery in Khambhat. Hemachandra gave him food and shelter, and predicted that he would become the king after 7 years. The Jain scholar also took 3,200 ''dramma''s (gold coins) from a Jain layman, and gave them to Kumarapala. Subsequently, Kumarapala spent years traveling as a Kapalika ascetic, before being joined by his wife Bhopaladevi and their children. When Jayasimha died, Kumarapala returned to the capital and met Hemachandra. The next day, he arrived at the royal palace, accompanied by his brother-in-law Krishna-deva, who commanded 10,000 horses. There, he was proclaimed as the new king after two other claimants were rejected.

Merutunga mentions a similar legend: Some astrologers told Jayasimha that Kumarapala would succeed him. To escape Jayasimha's anger, Kumarapala spent many years in foreign lands, disguised as an ascetic. Subsequently, he returned to the capital Anahilapataka, and lived in a monastery. One day, Jayasimha invited several monks and washed their feet on the occasion of his father's shraddha (a ceremony for the deceased ancestors). Kumarapala was recognized, but managed to escape. He was saved by a potter named Āliga, took 20 silver coins from a mouse, and was given food by an unnamed rich lady. Later, Kumarapala reached Khambhat, planning to seek resources from the royal minister Udayana. He learned that Udayana had gone to a Jain monastery, and followed him there. At the monastery, he met Hemachandra, who prophesied that Kumarapala will become a monarch in 1199 VS. Kumarapala was astonished at this prophecy, and promised to become a Jain if it came true. Udayana then arranged for Kumarapala to travel to Malava. In Malava, Kumarapala saw an inscription at the Kudangeshvara temple, predicting his ascension to the throne in 1199 VS. After Jayasimha's death, Kumarapala returned to Anahilapataka, and visited his sister's husband Kanhada-deva. The next morning, he arrived at the royal palace, accompanied by Kanhada's army. After rejecting two princes, Kanhada appointed Kumarapala as the new king.

Jayasimha Suri provides a slightly different account: Kumarapala lived at Dadhisthali, where his great-grandfather had retired. Once, he came to Anahilapataka, where he received a sermon from Hemachandra, before returning to Dadhisthali. Jayasimha Siddharaja, who was childless, was devastated when Hemachandra predicted that Kumarapala would succeed him as the king. He had Kumarapala's father Tribhuvanapala murdered. Kumarapala sought advice from his brother-in-law Krishna-deva, who told him to leave Dadisthali in a mendicant's disguise. Kumarapala followed the advice, but returned to the capital sometime later. When Jayasimha learned about this, he invited all the mendicants to his father's shraddha ceremony, and recognized Kumarapala while washing his feet. Kumarapala managed to escape. He was saved by a farmer named Bhimasimha, took money from a mouse, was given food by a woman named Devashri, and was again saved by a potter named Sajjana. Next, he met his friend Bosari and the two went to the monastery at Khambhat. At the monastery, Hemachandra told Udayana that Kumarapala would become the king one day. He also saved Kumarapala from Jayasimha's spies. With help from Udayana, Kumarapala then traveled to Bharuch. From there, he proceeded to Ujjain, Kollapura, Kanchi, and finally Kolambapattana. There, the deity Somanatha appeared in the dream of the local king Pratapasimha, and ordered him to help Kumarapala. After spending some days in Kollambapattana, Kumarapala returned to Ujjain, where he read the prophecy about his future kingship at the Kundageshvara temple. Next, he visited Chittor with his family. As the date of his prophesied kingship (1199 VS) came closer, he returned to Anahilapataka. Shortly after, Jayasimha died, and Kumarapala reached the palace with Krishna-deva. There, he was made the king after two other claimants were found unsuitable. His sister Premaladevi performed the ''mangalika'' ceremony, and Udayana's son Vagabhata was made an ''amatya'' (minister).

Jina-Mandana Suri's account of Kumarapala's early life is largely borrowed from the earlier chroniclers. But it does contain some original elements: for example, Kumarapala does not go to Hemachandra; rather, Hemachandra realizes that he is nearby, by sensing some signs indicating presence of a prince, such as "a lizard dancing on a serpent's head". Abul Fazl also states that Kumarapala lived in exile fearing for his life, and returned to the capital only after the death of Jai Singh (that is, Jayasimha).

The contemporary Muslim historian Muhammad Aufi mentioned a king called Rai Gurpal (of Nahrawala), who surpassed all other kings of Hindustan in good qualities. According to Aufi, Gurpal spent many years as a mendicant and suffered "all the miseries of travel", before he became a king. Historian Ashoke Majumdar identifies Gurpal with Kumarapala.

The historicity of these legendary narratives is debatable, but it is known that Kumarapala seized the throne after sudden death of Jayasimha. This is known from two inscriptions dated to Kumarapala's reign: the 1145 CE Mangrol inscription issued by his Guhila feudatory, and the 1169 CE Veraval ''prashasti'' inscription issued by the Shaivite priest Bhava Brihaspati. Jayasimha's only known male descendant was his daughter's son, the Chahamana prince Someshvara. Someshvara was too young to become a king at that time, and Kumarapala may have seized the throne with the support of powerful persons, including his brother-in-law Krishna-deva (Kanhada-deva) and rich Jains such as Udayana. There might be some truth to Kumarapala's wanderings during his early years as well. But the greater part of the legendary narratives appears to be fanciful.

The Jain chronicles mention that Kumarapala ascended the throne in 1199 VS (1042 CE). However, this is known to be inaccurate: a 1200 VS (1043 CE) inscription of Jayasimha has been found at Bali in Pali district of Rajasthan. The inaccuracy appears to have resulted from the later chroniclers' misinterpretation of Hemachandra's ''Mahaviracharita''. In this text, Mahavira tells Hemachandra that Kumarapala will become a king when 1669 years have ''passed'' after his death. This implies that Kumarapala became the king after the ''end'' of the year 1199 VS, that is in 1200 VS.

Reign and military career

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