Nagabhata I (r. c. 730 – 760 CE) was the founder of the imperial

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 vict ...

in northern India. He ruled the

Avanti Avanti (in Italian, meaning 'ahead', 'forward', or 'before', and also an unrelated Sanskrit name) may refer to: Vehicles * Studebaker Avanti, a model of automobile built by Studebaker * Avanti II, a successor model made by Avanti Motor Corporati ...

(or

Malava Malwa () is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, it is also sy ...

) region in present-day

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

, from his capital at

Ujjain Ujjain (, , old name Avantika, ) or Ujjayinī is a city in Ujjain district of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the fifth-largest city in Madhya Pradesh by population and is the administrative as well as religious centre of Ujjain ...

. He may have extended his control over

Gurjaradesa Gurjaradesa, (, or Gurjaratra)* * is a historical region in India comprising the southern Rajasthan and northern Gujarat during the period of 6th–12th century CE. The predominant power of the region, the Gurjara-Pratiharas eventually cont ...

, which includes parts of present-day

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 ...

and

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 repulsed an Arab invasion from

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

, probably led by

Junayd ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Murri During the first half of the 8th century, a series of battles took place in the Indian subcontinent between the Umayyad Caliphate and Middle kingdoms of India, Indian kingdoms situated to the east of the Indus River, subsequent to the Arab con ...

Al Hakam ibn Awana Al-Hakam ibn Awana () was the Umayyad governor of Sindh in 731–740. He was appointed by Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik after the death of the governor Tamim ibn Zaid al-Utbi, Al-Hakam restored order to Sindh and Kush and built secure fortifica ...

Early life

Nagabhata has been named as the founder of the imperial

in the

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 ...

inscription of his descendant

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 ...

. The exact date of Nagabhata's accession is not known. His grand-nephew

Vatsaraja Vatsaraja (780–800) or Vatsraja was an Emperor of the Pratihara dynasty in Northern India. He was grand-nephew of Nagabhata I and his mother was queen Bhuyikadevi. He was the first ruler of Rajasthan to win victories over the distant regions ...

is known to have been ruling in Avanti in 783–784 CE. Assuming a period of 25 years for each generation, Nagabhata can be presumed to have ascended the throne around 730 CE. The Gwalior inscription traces the dynasty's origin to the legendary hero

Lakshmana Lakshmana (, ), also known as Laxmana, Lakhan, Saumitra, and Ramanuja, is the younger brother of Rama in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is considered as an incarnation of Shesha, the lord of serpents. Lakshmana was married to Urmila, and i ...

. He ruled from

in the

region. The Jain text '' Harivamsa'' (783–784 CE) states that his grand-nephew

was the king and a "son of Avanti soil" (''Avanti-bhūbriti''). It also describes the other neighbouring kingdoms leaving one in no doubt about its location. The 871 CE

Sanjan Sanjan or Sangan or Zangan () may refer to: *Sanjan (Khorasan), a historic city in present-day Turkmenistan *Sanjan, Gujarat, a town in Gujarat state, India, named by Zoroastrian immigrants after the Sanjan in Khorasan * Sangan, Pakistan, a town in ...

copper-plate inscription of the

Rashtrakuta The Rashtrakuta Empire was a royal Indian polity ruling large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the 6th and 10th centuries. The earliest known Rashtrakuta inscription is a 7th-century copper plate grant detailing their rule from Manapu ...

ruler

Amoghavarsha Amoghavarsha I (also known as Amoghavarsha Nrupatunga I) (r. 814 – 878 CE) is considered by many historians to be the greatest emperor of the Rashtrakuta dynasty. His reign of 64 years is one of the longest precisely dated monarchical reign ...

also suggests the association of the Gurjara-Pratiharas with Ujjain. Based on this, a number of historians, including

R. C. Majumdar Ramesh Chandra Majumdar (known as R. C. Majumdar; 4 December 1888 – 11 February 1980) was an Indian historian and professor known for promoting Hindu nationalist views. He principally studied the history of India. Early life and education ...

and Baij Nath Puri, hold the view that Ujjain, the capital of

, was the original home of Nagabhata's dynasty.

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 ...

, on the other hand, theorized that Nagabhata originated from present-day

. His theory is based on the identification of Nagabhata with Nāhada, who is mentioned in a medieval Jain ''

prabandha Prabandha is a literary genre of medieval Indian Sanskrit literature. The ''prabandha''s contain semi-historical anecdotes about the lives of famous persons. They were written primarily by Jain scholars of western India (Gujarat and Malwa) from 1 ...

'' (legendary chronicle) as a "soldier of fortune" and the first ruler of his family. The text states that Nāhada made Jābālipura (identified with

Jalor Jalore () (ISO 15919 : ''Jālora'' ), also known as Granite City, is a city in the western Indian state of Rajasthan. It is the administrative headquarters of Jalore district, Jalore District. It has a river known as Jawai Nadi. Jalore lies to ...

) his capital and came into conflict with a Muslim ruler, whom he defeated. Sharma put forward the view that Jalor was the original home of the Gurjara-Pratiharas, from whence they might have emigrated.

Military career

Arab invasion

According to the Gwalior inscription of his descendant

, Nagabhata repulsed a

mlechha Mleccha () is a Sanskrit term referring to those of an incomprehensible speech, foreigners or invaders deemed distinct and separate from the Vedic tribes. In Vedic Brahmanical discourse, the term is used to refer to foreigners (anāryans) who ...

invasion. These mlechchhas are identified with the Umayyad Arab Muslims. The 9th century Muslim historian

Al-Baladhuri ʾAḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Jābir al-Balādhurī () was a 9th-century West Asian historian. One of the eminent Middle Eastern historians of his age, he spent most of his life in Baghdad and enjoyed great influence at the court of the caliph al ...

refers to Arab invasions of Uzain (

); this appears to be a reference to their conflict with Nagabhata. The invasion was led by

or by

, a general and

governor of Sindh The governor of Sindh is the appointed head of the province of Sindh, Pakistan. The office of the governor as the head of the province is largely a ceremonial position; the executive powers lie with the Chief Secretary of Sindh, Chief Secretary ...

under the

Umayyad 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 membe ...

caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (; 6 February 743) was the tenth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 724 until his death in 743. Early life Hisham was born in Damascus, the administrative capital of the Umayyad Caliphate, in AH 72 (691–692 CE). Hi ...

.Rama Shankar Tripathi (1959). History of Kanauj: To the Moslem Conquest. Motilal Banarsidass. Al-Baladhuri mentions the conquests of several other places by these invaders, but about Ujjain, he only mentions that the city was invaded. This appears to be a tacit admission that the invasion was unsuccessful. The semi-legendary

Guhila Guhila, also called Guhil and Guhadatt, was the ruler of Idar and Mewar from 566-568 AD. He is known as the founder of the Guhila dynasty The Guhilas of Medapata colloquially known as Guhilas of Mewar were a Rajput dynasty that ruled the Ki ...

ruler

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 ...

is also said to have repulsed an Arab invasion. Historian R. V. Somani theorizes that he was a part of an anti-Arab confederacy formed by Nagabhata.

Rashtrakuta invasion

Nagabhata appears to have been defeated by the

ruler

Dantidurga Dantidurga (reigned 753–756 CE), also known as Dantivarman II was the founder of the Rashtrakuta Empire of Manyakheta. Reu (1933), p54 His capital was based in Gulbarga region of Karnataka. His successor was his uncle Krishna I who extende ...

. According to the Rashtrakuta records, the ruler of

was among the kings defeated by Dantidurga. The

inscription of Dantidurga's descendant

states that Dantidurga performed a religious ceremony at

Ujjayini Ujjain (, , old name Avantika, ) or Ujjayinī is a city in Ujjain district of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the fifth-largest city in Madhya Pradesh by population and is the administrative as well as religious centre of Ujjain ...

(Ujjain, the capital of Nagabhata). During this ceremony, the Lord of

Gurjara Gurjara, or Gurjar, may refer to; * Gurjar or Gurjara, an ethnic group of South Asia **Gujari language, spoken by the Gurjars * Gurjaras of Lata (500–738 CE), or Gurjara dynasty of Baruch, Gujarat *Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty, or Gurjara dynasty ...

(''Gurjaresha'') acted as a ''pratihara'' (door-keeper) of Dantidurga. The usage of the word ''pratihara'' seems to be a

word play Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, ph ...

, suggesting that the Rashtrakuta king subdued the Gurjara-Pratihara king who was ruling Avanti at that time.

Identification with Nagavaloka

The 756 CE

Hansot Hansot is a village in Bharuch district, Southern Gujarat, India. It is about southwest of the city of Bharuch, and south of the Narmada River. The village and its surrounding ''taluka'' were acquired by the British in 1775, and subsequently r ...

inscription of a

Chahamana The Chahamanas of Shakambhari (IAST: Cāhamāna), colloquially known as the Chauhans of Sambhar or Chauhans of Ajmer, were an Indian dynasty that ruled parts of present-day Rajasthan and neighbouring areas between the sixth and twelfth centuri ...

ruler Bhartrvaddha records the grant of a village during the reign of his overlord Nagavaloka.

D. R. Bhandarkar Devadatta Ramakrishna Bhandarkar (; 19 November 1875 – 13 May 1950) was an Indian archaeologist and epigraphist who worked with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Born in Marathi Gaud Saraswat Brahmin family, he was the son of emine ...

and other historians have identified Nagavolka with Nagabhata. If this assumption is true, it is possible that after the Rashtrakutas left, Nagabhata regained his power, and conquered the area around Bhrigukachchha (

Bharuch Bharuch () is a city at the mouth of the river Narmada in Gujarat in western India. Bharuch is the administrative headquarters of Bharuch District. The city of Bharuch and surroundings have been settled since times of antiquity. It was a shi ...

), where a Chahamana branch ruled under his suzerainty. According to historian B. N. Puri, Nagabhata may have conquered this region from

Chalukya The Chalukya dynasty () was a Classical Indian dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynas ...

feudatory

Avanijanashraya Pulakeshin The Chalukyas (IAST: Cālukya) of Navasarika (modern Navsari) were an Indian dynasty that ruled parts of present-day Gujarat and Maharashtra during 7th and 8th centuries, as vassals of the Chalukyas of Vatapi. They are also known as the "Ear ...

. Thus, besides Malwa, Nagabhata's kingdom may have comprised parts of present-day Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Other

The Ragholi copper-plate inscription of the Shaila dynasty ruler Jayavardhana states that his ancestor Prithuvardhana defeated a

ruler.

believed that the defeated ruler might have been Nagabhata. However, B. N. Puri disagrees with this theory, and believes that Prithuvardhana ruled around 694 CE, several years before Nagabhata's ascension. An inscription of Gallaka, a subordinate of Vatsaraja, in the year 795 regards Nagabhata I as the one who had acquired victory over the "invincible Gurjaras" and obtained fame. Thus, even though the dynasty is called Gurjara-Pratiharas, it is certain that the kings themselves were not from Gurjara tribe.

Successors

Based on the identification of Nagabhata with Nagavaloka mentioned in the 756 CE

inscription, Nagabhata appears to have ruled until around 760 CE. The Gwalior inscription suggests that he was succeeded by Kakustha and

Devaraja Devaraja () was a religious order of the "god-king," or Divinity, deified monarch in medieval Southeast Asia. The devarāja order grew out of both Hinduism and separate local traditions depending on the area. It taught that the monarch, king w ...

, who were sons of his unnamed brother.

References

; Sources * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nagabhata 01 8th-century Indian monarchs Pratihara emperors Hindu monarchs Indian military leaders Founding monarchs in Asia People from Ujjain