The Mori Kingdom, also known as the Later Mauryas, was a kingdom that ruled over southwestern

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

and northern

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 ...

in India. The kingdom was established in the 7th century, and reigned for a period of about 120 years. The Mori Rajputs controlled the

Chittor Fort Chittorgarh (literally Chittor Fort), also known as Chittod Fort, is one of the largest forts in India. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The fort was the capital of Mewar and is located in the present-day city of Chittorgarh. It sprawls ove ...

, and were a powerful military regime in this region before the rise of the

Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty The Pratihara dynasty, also called the Gurjara-Pratiharas, the Pratiharas of Kannauj or the Imperial Pratiharas, was a prominent medieval Indian dynasty which ruled over the Kingdom of Kannauj. It initially ruled the Gurjaradesa until its vic ...

History

The Mori Rajputs are mentioned as one of the thirty-five branches of the

Parmar Parmar may refer to: * Parmar (clan) * Parmar (surname), an Indian surname See also * Panwar (disambiguation) * Parihar (disambiguation) * Pawar (disambiguation) *Paramara dynasty The Paramara Dynasty (IAST: Paramāra) was an Indian dynasty ...

Rajput Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

clan by British scholars. Chitrangada Mori, a Mori Rajput ruler, laid the foundation of the fort of

Chittorgarh Chittorgarh (; also Chitror or Chittor or Chittaurgarh) is a major city in the state of Rajasthan in western India. It lies on the Berach River, a tributary of the Banas, and is the administrative headquarters of Chittorgarh District. It wa ...

(also known as Chittor Fort). The Mori people controlled the

and the surrounding region before the

Guhila dynasty The Guhilas of Medapata colloquially known as Guhilas of Mewar were a Rajput dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of Mewar (Medapata, modern Mewar) region in present-day Rajasthan state of India. The Guhila kings initially ruled as Gurjara-Pratihara ...

took control. The fort of Chittor became a well-established citadel in the 8th century under the Moris. An inscription in the fortress (dated 713 CE) names four Mori Rajput rulers of Chittor.

Bappa Rawal Bappa Rawal (c. 8th century) was a king of the Mewar kingdom in Rajasthan, India. The chronicles consider him to be the founder of the Guhila Rajput dynasty. He is credited with repelling the Arab invasion of India. He is identified as the r ...

probably led the Mori campaign against the Arabs, which, among other factors, contributed to his historical prominence. Later, he either deposed his overlord, Manuraja of the Chittor (also known as Mana Mori), and became king with the help of the nobles, or he became the king after Manuraja died childless. Following Bappa Rawal's rise to power, the Moris were expelled from

Defeat by the Arabs

According to C.K. Majumdar, the Moris were ruling at Chittor when the Arabs (mlechchhas) invaded north-western India, around 725 CE. The Arabs defeated the Moris, and in turn, were defeated by a confederacy that included Bappa Rawal.

Decline of Mori Kingdom

Bappa Rawal defeated King Mana Mori, his maternal grandfather, and captured the kingdom of Chittor. This event is mentioned in the Rajprashasti Abhilekh, in the epic

Mahakavya Mahākāvya (lit. great kāvya, court epic), also known as ''sargabandha'', is a genre of Indian epic poetry in Classical Sanskrit. The genre is characterised by ornate and elaborate descriptions of phenomena such as scenery, love, and battles. T ...

, in Canto 3. Instead of counting Bappa Rawal as the last king of the Mori Dynasty of Chittor, some sources provide a different order of events and count Mana Mori as the final king.

Muhammad bin Qasim Muḥammad ibn al-Qāsim al-Thaqafī (; –) was an Arabs, Arab military commander in service of the Umayyad Caliphate who led the Muslim conquest of Sindh (and Punjab, part of ancient Sindh), inaugurating the Umayyad campaigns in India. His m ...

who was an

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

military commander in service of the

Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a member o ...

, attacked Chittor via

Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the states and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located south-east of Delhi; and about from the town of Vrindavan. In ancient ti ...

in 725 CE.

, of

, was a commander in the Mori army. After defeating Bin Qasim, Bappa Rawal obtained Chittor in dowry from Mana Mori in 734 CE. From then on, Chittor was ruled by the Sisodia Rajputs. Still, descendants of Chitrangada Mori are said to survive in the

region of India.

Inscriptions

The Dabok stone inscription, dating back to Gupta Samvat 407 (725 CE), records events during the reign of Dhavalappadeva. This ruler is likely the same as Dhavala, a prince from the Maurya dynasty mentioned in the Kansuvam inscription of Vikrama Samvat 795 (738 CE). Mana Mori ruled Chittor until at least 736 AD as per the Kansuvam inscription. It is known that Bappa captured the fort from Mana Mori, not from Dhavala Mori. The Kanswa inscription describes Dhavala as follows:

(L.5)- The rulers (born) in this Mauryan race, like the elephants of the quarters, filling the noble with joy by (their) faces bright with generosity (as with rutting-juice) together with their adherents confidently take delight everywhere, undaunted of mind (and) exulting in (their) pride, of known renown on account of (their) good lineage (and) known for (their) virtues, praiseworthy for probity and full of energy.
(L.6)- Among these kings, who were such (and) who ruled the whole earth, there was a prince who, Dhavala as he was, was dazzling by (his) fame. For their own sins, which day by day they always openly brought on themselves by their bodies and so forth, he defeated (his) enemies and reduced the wretches to such a state that, like evil spirits, naked (and) ever famishing (and thus) day by day revealing the punishment (meted out to them, and) again and again wandering at night to strangers' houses, they even now are kings.
—
Kanswa Kanswa, also spelled Kansua, is a village in the Kota district of Rajasthan, India. It is of archaeological importance. It is the site where James Tod Lieutenant-Colonel James Tod (20 March 1782 – 18 November 1835) was an officer ...
Inscription of Dhavala Mori

Manuraja is identified with Māna, mentioned in the Chittorgarh Māna-sarovara inscription of 713 AD. Māna was described as the son of Bhoja. Māna's great - grandfather was named Maheśvara.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * 610s establishments 614 establishments History of Rajasthan 734 disestablishments 7th-century establishments in India 8th-century disestablishments in India Medieval Indian monarchies Hindu dynasties Chittorgarh district Chittorgarh Fort Rajput clans of Rajasthan Rajput history {{India-ethno-stub