Author: Yogendra Singh, initially published at Pragyata

Last days of Ancient India – or early Medieval India as some may want to call it – were like the fast rides on turbulent waves. The legendary tripartite struggle, the quest for Indian dominance, unbridled yet marvellous conflicts, rivers of sweet words and deep literature, stories of yore, and an enemy at the door waiting to decimate, to turn it all sour. Wherever we look, we find strong kings but one still stands apart as perhaps the greatest of them all. King Mihir Bhoja Pratihar – the torchbearer of Rajputs and the sword hand of Hinduism.

At his coronation in 836 CE, his family, clan, allied forces, feudatories and country, everything in tumult. The Arabs – who started with Qasim in Sindh, but were defeated repeatedly by Bhoja’s ancestors Nāgbhatta I^[1] & Nāgbhatta II ^[2][3] and forced to fall back – were waiting with their long suppurating wounds for a slight chance to enter India. Battered by repeated attacks by Raśtrakūtas^[4], first Dantidurga, then Dhruva followed by Govind III, the celebrated empire of Pratihār Rajputs was at an uncertain place. Pālas, their enemies on the East, was already flexing their strength under new ruler Devapāla and allies of other Rajput houses were showing feels of secession.

As his first act, he restored his authority over his homeland, raised the morale of the allied clans – which included Rajputs clans^[5] of Guhilots, Chalukyas, Jodhpur-Pratihāras and, at times, Chahmanas – and turned them into a compact and invulnerable hierarchy.

“His success in doing so can be seen even 1000 year later as many of the Rajput rulers who surrendered power in the great integration of 1947 and 1948, were descendants of the same feudatories and generals of Mihir Bhoja” as the historians wrote^[6].

Within years of Bhoja’s accession, Imrān Ibn-Mūsa, the Arab governor of Sindh, tried to extend his hold. But in their way stood the bulwark Bhoja, who being the true scion to his ancestor Nāgbhatta I’s legacy of crushing^[7][8] ‘large armies of the powerful Mleccha king’^[9] – countered the Arabs and made them flee out of Kutch between 833 & 842 CE. A few years later, Arabs lost the best part of the Sindh, having only two petty principalities with capitals Multān and al-Mansurah. Bhoja made Hindus who had converted to Islam to come back in the Hindu fold.

Balādhurī says that in the time of al-Hākim Ibn-Awānah,

“the people of al-Hind apostatised with the exception of the inhabitants of Qassah. A place of refuge to which the Moslems might flee was not to be found, so he built on the further side of the lake, where it borders on al-Hind, a city which he named al-Mahfūzah (the guarded), establishing it as a place of refuge for them where they should be secure and making it a capital.”

Rare were occasions when the Arabs – who, being the most powerful & overzealous force of those times, were eating everything in their way from Europe, Middle-east to Central Asia to Iran – were made to flee. Bhoja achieved this feat. Perhaps that’s the reason why he was revered even by his enemies and hence was called the greatest foe of the Mohammedan faith.

Sulaimān, who visited in 851 CE, refers to Bhoja in vivid terms in his Silsilat-ut-tawārikh.

“Among them is the king of Jurz. This king maintains numerous forces and no other Indian prince has so fine a cavalry. He is unfriendly to Arabs, still, he acknowledges that the king of Arabs is the greatest of kings. Among the princes of India, there is no greater foe of the Mohammedan faith than he. His territories form a tongue of the land (Saurāśtra?). He has great riches, and his camels and horses are numerous. Exchanges are carried on in his state with silver and gold in dust, and there are said to be mines (of these metals) in the country. There is no country in India more safe from robbers.”

Al-Masūdi, the Baghdādi visitor of early 10th century, refers to Bauüra (a corruption of title Varāha) as ‘the lord of the city of Kannauj’ and as ‘one of the Kings of Sindh’.

“He has large armies in the garrisons on the north and on the south, on the east and in the west; for, he is surrounded on all sides by warlike kings….Bauüra, who is the king of Kannauj, is an enemy of Balharā (Vallabha Rāja, the title of Rashtrakuta emperors), the king of India.”

He adds that Bhoja

“has four armies, according to the four quarters of the wind. Each of them numbers 7,00,000 to 9,00,000 men. The army of the north was against the prince of Multān, and with the Musalmans, his subjects, on the frontier. The army of the south fights against the Balharā, king of Mānkīr (Mānyakheta).”

He mentions that the kingdom of Bauura extended about 120 square parasangs in Sindh, each parasang being equal to eight miles.

Sindh was evidently rescued by Mihir Bhoja, for, according to Mas’ūdi, the Indus ran right through one of the cities within the kingdom of Pratihāras.

At one point Bhoja got defeated or failed in his adventures against Pāla Devapāla, Lāta’s Raśtrakūta Dhruva & Kalachuri Kokkalla. But he recovered in no time and defeated Pālas & Raśtrakūtas both, extending boundaries of his mighty empire. At the time of his death (885 CE) the banner of Ikshvāku Rajputs flew over an empire larger than those of the Guptas and Šri Harsha. It comprised of North India from the Himalayas to a little beyond the Narmada, from East Punjab and Sindh to Bengal. South was quiescent. The Pālas were no longer a power. The Arabs on the North-West frontier were kept at bay. Sindh had been wrested from them. Madhyadeśa was at the height of its power.

He had the reputation of a strong ruler, an able monarch and patron of Dharma, as it is clear from his title ‘Ādi-Varāha’, and defended not only his kingdom but also the whole of India from the powerful forces of Arab Muslim invaders. “He stood as a bulwark of defence against Muslim aggression and left this task as a sacred legacy to his successors” in the words of historians^[10].

Perhaps it is this same reputation of him that makes him the bone of content & claims in modern times. His identity is obfuscated, sometimes knowingly, for political purposes despite a living descendant Rajput Pratihār family of him present in Nāgod^[11]. Mihir Bhoja belonged to the Rajput Pratihāra clan which claimed Sūryavanshi Ikśvāku Raghukul ancestry from Śri Rāmchandra’s younger brother Lakśman Ji, as confirmed in Bhoja’s Gwalior inscription^[12], Jodhpur Pratihāra Bāuk’s Jodhpur inscription^[13] and Kakkuk’s Ghatiyāl inscription^[14]. It is said that because Lakśman Ji did the job of door keeping, his descendants adopted the clan name Pratihāra (the doorkeeper). Court poet Rājśekhar also gave epithets of ‘Raghukultilak’ and ‘Raghugrāmani’ for Mahendrapāla and ‘Raghuvanshmuktāmani’ for Mahipāla, both being successors of Bhoja.

It is claimed by few historians that since many contemporaries of Pratihāras called them as ‘Gurjaras’, they might have belonged to a different clan known today as Gujjar. But as egregious as it is, this claim is also contradicted by almost all sources. Many, including G.H. Ojha, D. Sharma, Shanta Rani Sharma and Ramlakhan Singh, have pointed out that the term Gurjara was used in geographic connotations and was used for rulers ruling the said geography.

“Drawing attention to the evidence presented earlier and other substantial data from the Aihole inscription, Bāna, the Skanda Purāna and the Yaśastilaka Campū (959 CE), Dasharatha Sharma opined that the Pratihāras were called Gurjara because they belonged to the geographical tract Gurjara”

Shanta Rani Sharma writes^[15]. This is also specifically confirmed in the term ‘Gurjara’ or ‘Gurjareshwar’ being attributed to kings of various clans. We find Chaulukya kings Bhimadeva I and his son Karna Trailokyamalla mentioned as Gurjara and Chaulukya Kumarpala as the lord of the Gurjara country^[16]. The Dohad inscription^[17] speaks of the Chaulukya king Jayasimha ruling over the Gurjara-mandala from Anahillapātaka. Similarly, the Somnāth Patan Praśasti^[18] of 850 CE mentions the Chaulukya prince Kumarpāla who is called the king of Gujjarmandala.

Even the Gujarat Sultanate’s Muslim sultan Muzaffar Shāh II was called ‘Gurjareshwar’ in Jagannatharya Temple inscription^[19]. The said inscription talks of Rāna Sāngā defeating ‘Gurjareshwar’ sultan (Mahmūńdkhānmatulam mlechhādhipam shambaram jitvā durjay-gurjareshwar-matah)^[20]. Sravan Belagola epigraph^[21] says Ganga Satyavakya Kongunivarman came to be known as ‘Gurjara-adhirāja’ by conquering the northern areas of Raśtrakuta king Krishna III^[22]. Ramlakhan Singh pointed out that “Apart from Gurjara Kshatriya, there are mentions of Gurjara Brahmins and Gurjara Vaishyas in Skand-Puran and inscriptions.” “Krishnadev Yadav’s one inscription from 1250 CE mentions of Gurjara-Brahmins” he further wrote^[23].

An inscription of Gallaka^[24], who was a subordinate ruler to the Imperial Pratihāra Vatsarāja ruling in 795 CE, as recorded by the inscription, explicitly refers to Nāgabhata I as one who had acquired victory over the invincible Gurjaras and was famed in the world. Concluding with this Shanta Rani Sharma said: “it cannot be gainsaid that the new light shed by Gallaka’s inscription conclusively disproves the Gūjara identification of the Pratihāras.”

It is unfortunate that the legacy of a ruler of such great strength, achievements and contribution like Mihir Bhoja is being tossed back & forth for short-sighted political gains. From the days of Junaid to those of Mahmud of Ghazni, the Rajput Pratihāras “stood as the bulwark of India’s defence against the aggression of the Muslims.” As the celebrated historians say.

Mihir Bhoja was one such rare kind of king who deserves not oblivion but only cherishing of his legacy and history.

References:

[1] History And Culture of Indian People Volume 4: Page number 19

[2] “Bhoja’s Gwalior Inscription” E.I. Vol 18 Page 108 Verse 11

[3] History And Culture of Indian People Volume 4: Page number 24 & 25

[4] A History of South India – K.A. Nilakanta Sastri: Page number 143, 144 & 145

[5] History And Culture of Indian People Volume 4: Page number 25 & 31

[6] History And Culture of Indian People Volume 4: Foreword

[7] https://twitter.com/KshatriyaItihas/status/1319198993033748480?s=19

[8] https://twitter.com/SurajPrSingh/status/1319208222490701825?s=19

[9] “Bhoja’s Gwalior Inscription” E.I. Vol 18 Page number 107 Verse 4

[10] History And Culture of Indian People Volume 4: Page number 32

[11] Pratiharo Ka Itihas – Ramlakhan Singh: Page number 99 & 100

[12] E.I. Vol 18 Page 100 Verse 3

[13] E.I. Vol 18 Page number 99 – 114

[14] E.I. Vol 09 Page 277 – 281

[15] Exploding the Myth of the Gūjara Identity of the Imperial Pratihāras by Shanta Rani Sharma – Indian History Review Sage Publications

[16] E.I. Vol 09 Page 74

[17] E.I. Vol 11 Page 55

[18] V.O.J. Vol 03 Page 09

[19] E.I. Vol 24 Page 68

[20] https://twitter.com/leo_gajendra/status/1317812219896233984?s=19

[21] E.I. Vol 5 Page 176 Line 8

[22] https://twitter.com/Lost_History1/status/1317765835281235968?s=19

[23] Pratiharo Ka Itihas – Ramlakhan Singh: Page number 6

[24] E.I. Vol 41 Page 49 – 57

history, islam, medieval, rajput

About Author: Yogendra Singh

Yogendra Singh is a History and Geopolitics undergraduate student from Betul, Madhya Pradesh. He is a three-time state topper in the Science Olympiad and the Art of Lecturing.

Author: Adityakrishna Deora, Published on TOI Voice

The birth anniversary of Rajput Emperor Mihirbhoj Parihar, one of the greatest rulers of the ninth century, is being celebrated across north India on October 18. Celebrations are particularly notable in historical towns of Pratihars (their descendants are now known as Parihar Rajputs) like Mandore, Bhinmal, Kannauj, Gwalior, and Nagod. Ironically, the celebrations have not been limited to prominent Rajput organizations like Akhil Bhartiya Kshatriya Mahasabha and Kshatriya Yuvak Sangh, but some groups from the Gujjar community too have joined in too. The last two decades have been witness to distortion of Rajput history where political parties led by RSS-BJP have reduced historical figures like Mihirbhoj Pratihar in order to garner votes of the Gujjar community. This distortion has led to Gujjars of NCR wrongly claiming they are descendants of the Gurjar-Pratihars, as explained in my previous article. 

The reign of the Imperial Pratihars is one of the golden chapters of our history where the Rajput dynasty had kept the marauding Islamic invaders at bay for more than two centuries. Emperor Bhoja I Pratihar (836–885 CE) alias Mihirbhoj Parihar followed his father Rambhadra and reconsolidated the Pratihar Empire in the ninth century. At its height, Bhoja’s empire extended to Narmada River in the South, Sutlej River in the northwest, and up to Bengal in the east. It extended over a large area from the foot of the Himalayas up to the river Narmada.   

The Barah Copper Inscription introduces Bhoja I or Mihirbhoj Pratihar as – Param Bhagavatī Bhakto Maharāja Śrī Bhojadeva. The Arab chronicler Sulaiman describes the army of the Mihirbhoj Pratihar as it stood in 851 CE, “The ruler of Gurjara maintains numerous forces and no other Indian prince has so fine a cavalry. He is unfriendly to the Arabs, still he acknowledges that the king of the Arabs is the greatest of rulers. Among the princes of India, there is no greater foe of the Islamic faith than he. He has got riches, and his camels and horses are numerous” 

Mihirbhoj Pratihar built the Sagar Tal at Gwalior and the inscription opens with adoration of Vishnu then it highlights the origin of the Pratihar clan. It mentions legendary kings like Ikshvaku and highlights that “In the same race was born Lakshmana, the brother of Rama. Saumitri (Lakshmana) was a devoted brother and served as a Pratihara (doorkeeper). It further states that “In that family, which bore the insignia of Pratihara, was born Nagabhata I who destroyed an army of a mlechchha king.”(Epigraphia Indica-18, p. 110. The Gwalior Prashasti of Bhoj I). One of Emperor Mihirbhoj’s wife, the mother of his successor Mahendrapala I (885–910), was a Bhati Chandrabhattarika – indicating that the Bhattis were firmly entrenched in Vallamandala (older name of Jaisalmer region). His other wife was Kalavati Chauhan, the sister of Guvaka I Chauhan (863-890 CE) of Sambhar Chauhan dynasty (RB Singh, History of Chauhans, p. 96-97, 116).

The prominent feudatories under the Pratihars were Rajput lineages like the Guhilots of Chatsu (Jaipur) survived by Guhilot Rajputs of today’s Sāttha-Chaurasi, the Guhilots of Mewar, Tomar Rajputs of Kurukshetra (identified by the Pehowa Inscription), the Chauhans of Sambhar and Dholpur, Pratihars of Mandore, Bhattis of Maand or Vallamandala, Chavdas of Patan, Kalchuris of Chedi and Chandels of Jejakabhukti (Bundelkhand).

Kannauj, the capital of Pratihars, was later be conquered by Raja Gopal Rathore (Rashtrakut) who was a feudatory of Emperor Chandradev Gaharwar. (R.C. Majumdar, The Struggle for Empire,Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, pp. 50-51). In 1911, the district Gazetteer of Farrukhabad (Kannauj was part of Farrukhabad) recorded a Parihar/Pratihāra Rajput population of 1,575 who owned 4235 acres (E R Neave; Farrukhabad: District Gazetteers of The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh; p. 72). 

The Imperial Pratihar dynasty also left behind many cadet branches near Kannauj, especially in the Chambal and Bundelkhand regions. Some of them were the Gwalior Pratihar, Hamirpur Pratihar, Chanderi Pratihar, Damoh-Nagod Pratihar dynasty. The Census of India, 1921, Volume-XX, Gwalior, Part-II, p.78 showed 1,754 Parihars in Gwalior district. Similarly, Volume XXII of the District Gazetteers of the United Provinces & Oudh, 1909, p. 71 counted 2,640 Parihar Rajputs in Hamirpur district. The Central India State Census series, Vol XXII, Nagod State, p. 13 counted 2451 Parihars in Satna District.

Apart from the plethora of inscriptional evidence and British era Gazetteers/Census records, noted anthropologist Prof FC Spaulding submitted a research paper to the Ohio State University in 1994. He made the distinction between Gujjar and Gurjara stating, “… there were no traditions, written, oral or otherwise, among the Gujars to suggest the existence of this medieval kingdom and of the contemporary Gujars’ link to it”. If we are to take this logic further, then if Pratihar and other Rajputs of ‘Gurjara’ (ancient word for the region comprising parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat) are Gujjar because of the demonym Gurjara associated with them, then shouldn’t it also apply to Gurjara Brahmins, Gurjara Jains, Gurjara Suthars, Gurjara Pasis as well?

That other communities are also celebrating the birth anniversary of Emperor Mihirbhoj Pratihar is welcome, as he is truly a national treasure and an important historical figure. Yet, this should not come at the expense of his lineage distorted for political gains. The appropriation of the ninth century Rajput emperor just before the UP assembly elections is another example of vote bank politics to appease backward castes at the expense of Rajput history.

One has often seen the terms ‘Gurjara’ and Gujjar’ being used interchangeably. Do both terms mean the same thing? If that were the case, then why are these two terms different instead of having just one standard term? A deep dive into history throws up clear answers and tell us the difference between Gurjara pradesh and Gujjar community.

If we go back into history, one of the first mentions of ‘Gurjara’ in Harshacharita, a Sanskrit work authored by King Harsha’s court poet Bana around 640 AD. The relevant verse describes the military success of king Prabhakarvardhan against kings of various regions including Sindhu, Gandhara, Malava and Gurjara (Glory that was Gurjaradesa, p. 3 )The Aihole inscription of Pulkeshi II from 634 AD also mentions Gurjara in similar vein as poet Bana, discussing

how Pulkeshi II defeated the kings of Malavas, Lata and Gurjara (No. 1, Epigraphica Indica Vol VI). That Gurjara denotes a region is made clear by another noted traveller Hiuen Tsang, who mentions visiting an area, Ku-che-lo which was also known as Gurjara, which was then ruled by Chavda Rajputs in 6 th to 7 th century AD (The History and Culture of Indian people Vol-3, p. 154). In recent times, the use of the title Gurjar Naresh, can be found in the princely state of Baroda. Even though the rulers of Baroda were Marathas, they used the title of Gurjar Naresh because they ruled over the territories of the erstwhile Gurjara region.

Has anyone ever heard of a Gurjara Brahmin? The Tasgaon plate inscription of Yadav ruler Krishna in 1172 AD mentions a Gurjara Brahmin named Satananda of Krishnatreya gotra. The text refers to Satananada who is a Brahmin from the Gurjara region. If Gurjara wasacaste, it would not have been confused with Brahmins.This reference also helps us understand why Gurjara was a region and not a caste ( Epigraphica Indica Vol XXVII, p.208-9 ).

However, the earliest mention of the word “Gurjara” is from the 8 th century Kuvalayamala Kaha written by Jain monk Udyotana Suri. It mentions Gurjaras alongside Saindhavs, Latas, Malvas, which clearly mean people from Gurjara, Sindh,Lata, Malwa respectively. The communities it mentions include Kshatriyas, Brahmins, Vaishyas, Bhils, Kiratas, Ordas, Gonda, Pulinda, Shabara but no Gujjars [Read here].

A literary work, Kumarpalaprabandha, written in the 12 th century by the court chroniclers ofone of the greatest rulers of the Chalukya dynasty, Kumarpala Solanki, mentions 36 clans of Kshatriyas but there is no Gujara in that list. The mention of Gujara comes in the form of Gurjaradharitri and Gurjaratraikdeshe as regions in Gujarat. It also mentions Vadhiyardeshe and Panchasargrame for the region around Patan in Gujarat ( Kumarpal Prabandh (12 th Century CE) ). Jammu and Kashmir has a Gujjar population of around 10 lakhs as per the 2011 Census. Yet the 12th century historical chronicle, Rajatarangini, written by Kalhana mentions many tribes including Khas, Bhutiyas and Dards but there is no mention of “Gurjara tribe”.

Other instances of Gurjara being used happens much later when the term is used for communities from a particular region e.g. Gurjar Kshatriyas, Gurjar Vanias, Gurjar Jains, and Gurjar Suthars. All of them can trace their origins from Gujarat and speak the Gujarati language. What is interesting to note is that even though they belong to the same region, they are neither related to the Gujjar community nor speak the Gojri language. These Brahmins include Srimali,Pareek, Gaur, and Vyas among others ( Check  http://www.pareeksamaj.com/…/brahmin…/gurjar-gour-samaj.html ).

It was only towards the 20 th century that the term ‘Gurjara’was revived by KM Munshi, who was India’s leading writer and historian. He was a Gurjar Vyas Brahmin who wonderfully captured the subject of distinction between Gurjara and Gujjar in his “Glory that was Gurjara Desa”.Many eminent Gujarati personalities from the 20 th century were members of the Gurjara Sabha whose aim was to revive Gurjara’s regional identity and promote Gurjara bhasha

(Gujarati). Both Mahatma Gandhi and Jinnah were key speakers at the Gurjara Sabha. On January 14, 1915, Jinnah lauded Gandhi and went to the extent of saying that, “Every Gurjar on earth is proud of Gandhi”(Read here). Another example of Gurjara referred as a region. So how did the regional identity “Gurjara” come to be appropriated by a particular caste unrelated to that region. The time has come to put facts in the public domain and ask valid questions.