Prithvirāja II (r. c. 1165–1169 CE) was an Indian king from the

Chauhan dynasty Chauhan, a name derived from the historical Chahamanas of Shakambhari, Chahamanas, a clan name associated with various ruling Rajput families in the present-day Indian state of Rajasthan from seventh century onwards. Subclans Khichi Chauhan, ...

. He ruled parts of north-western India, including present-day

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 ...

. He is also known by other names, including Prithvi-bhatta, Prithvi-deva and Pethad-deva.

Early life

Prithviraja was a son of the Chahamana king Jagaddeva. The rule of Jagaddeva was followed by that of his brother

Vigraharaja IV Vigraharāja IV (r. c. 1150–1164 CE), also known as Vigraharāja the Great and also Visala-deva (or Visaldev), was a king from the Chahamanas of Shakambhari, Chahamana (Chauhan) dynasty in north-western India, and is generally considered as ...

, and then Vigraharaja's son Aparagangeya. According to an inscription found at the Ruthi Rani temple at Dhod, Prithviraja defeated the king of Shakambhari. This indicates that Prithviraja de-throned Aparagangeya, and became the Chahamana king.

Reign

Prithviraja appears to have faced Muslim invasions from the west. According to the 1168 CE

Hansi Hansi, is a city and municipal council in Hisar district in the Indian state of Haryana. It appears that at one time Hansi was larger, more prosperous and more important than Hisar. The town has several important buildings of archeological impor ...

stone inscription, he assigned his maternal uncle Kilhana as the in-charge of the Asika Fort (modern Hansi), anxious to save it from Hammira (

Emir Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...

). The "Hammira" can be identified with

Ghaznavid The Ghaznavid dynasty ( ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a Persianate Muslim dynasty of Turkic ''mamluk'' origin. It ruled the Ghaznavid Empire or the Empire of Ghazni from 977 to 1186, which at its greatest extent, extended from the Oxus to the Indus Va ...

king

Khusrau Malik Abu'l-Muzaffar Khusrau Malik ibn Khusrau-Shah (), better known simply as Khusrau Malik (; also spelled Khosrow), was the last Sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire, ruling from 1160 to 1186. He was the son and successor of Khusrau Shah (r. 1157–1160) ...

, who controlled

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

at the time. The Hansi inscription also states that Kilhana burnt a town called Panchapura.

Dasharatha Sharma Dasharatha Sharma (1903–1976) was an Indologist with a particular interest in the history of the Rajasthan region of India. Born in the Rajasthani city of Churu, he studied in the city of Bikaner and at the University of Delhi. He had degree ...

identifies Panchapura with modern Panjaur. The ruler of Panchapura accepted Prithviraja's suzerainty, and surrendered to him an expensive pearl necklace. The

Bijolia Bijoliya is a census town in Bhilwara district in the state of Rajasthan, India and is surrounded by nature and waterfalls and is famous for Tapodaya Teerth Kshetra and Mandakini Temple. Geography Bijoliya Kalan is located at . It has an avera ...

rock inscription states that Prithviraja secured an elephant named Manahsiddhikari from a ruler named Vasantapala. Dasharatha Sharma identifies this Vasantapala with a king mentioned in the play ''Lalita-Vigraharaja-Nataka''. According to this play, Vasantapala was the father of Vigraharaja's lover Desaladevi. Sharma theorizes that Aparagangeya was Desaladevi's son. Thus, Vasantapala was probably an enemy of Prithviraja, and was subdued by him. Prithviraja probably died heirless, because of which he was succeeded by his uncle Someshvara.

Religion

Prithviraja's queen was Suhavadevi or Sudhava. Both were devout

Shaivite Shaivism (, , ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the supreme being. It is the second-largest Hindu sect after Vaishnavism, constituting about 385 million Hindus, found widely across South Asia (predominantly in ...

s. Prithviraja gifted villages and precious metals (including gold) to

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. He also granted the Morajhari village to the Parshvanatha Jain temple at Bijolia.

Inscriptions

Inscriptions dated to Prithviraja's reign have been found at following places: *

, 1167 CE (1224 VS) * Dhod, 1168 CE (1225 VS) * Menal, 1168 CE (1225 VS) and 1169 CE (1226 VS)

References

Bibliography

* * {{Chahamanas of Shakambhari Chahamana kings of Shakambhari 12th-century Indian monarchs