At a time when Arab imperialism was growing in the Middle-East region and Central Asia in the seventh century, they couldn’t make much headway beyond Sindh in the Indian subcontinent. The primary reason for this resistance was the rule of the Imperial Pratihars who created a bulwark of defence against the marauding Islamic invaders bringing peace and stability in the region.

Their domain united all the Rajputs of Northern India and their feudatories included the Guhilots (Sisodiya) of Mewar, Chauhans of Shakambhari, Chandelas of Jejakabhukti, Kachwahas of Gwalior, Tomars of Delhi and Solankis of Gujarat. Yet this dynasty fails to find an honourable mention in our history books. That is the one of the biggest untold tragedies of Indian history.

Mihir Bhoj’s SagarTal inscription linked Pratihāra (Padhiar or Parihar) to Lord Ram’s brother Lakshmana, but the earliest historically known Pratihar was Harishchandra. The Ghatiyala inscription of 861 AD refers to him as a vipra (learned man). The branch of Imperial Pratihars was founded by, Nagbhatt I of Bhinmal (Abu), near the Rajasthan Gujarat border.

Noted historian and freedom fighter KM Munshi wrote about the Imperial Pratihars as, ‘They all came from warrior clans between 550 and 700 AD in Gurjaradesa, of which the pivot was the region of Mount Abu’. He went on to write, ’the ultimate source of their greatness can be traced to the upsurgence of Gurjaradesa, modern Marwar, under Harichandra in c. 550 and the aggressive vigour which it acquired under Nagabhata I when he drove out the Arabs in c. 725 A.C.; their descendants survive today under the name of Rajputs’.

Some of our textbooks wrongly refer to them as “Gurjar-Pratihars”. As per noted historian Prof. SR Sharma, the Imperial Pratihars never identified themselves as ‘Gurjar Pratihar’. Even though the dynasty was founded in the ancient Gurjara region (parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat), it subsequently ruled from Ujjain in MP and later Kannauj in UP (Sharma, Shanta Rani; Origin and Rise of the Imperial Pratihars of Rajasthan; p. 30). Historically, the phrase ‘Gurjar-Pratihar, was used only once by an Imperial Pratihar feudatory called Mathandev of Rajorgarh (Alwar, Rajasthan) in an Inscription for himself. Famous indologist F Kielhorn and BD Chattopadhyay identified this Alwar clan as Badgujar Rajputs.

Origins: Mihirbhoj’s SagarTal Inscription

• The Sāgar Tāl inscription of Mihirbhoja (found near Gwalior, 9th century CE, in present-day Madhya Pradesh) is one of the most important epigraphic records of the Gurjara-Pratihāra emperor Mihir Bhoja (c. 836–885 CE).

• Dated to the 15^th regnal year of Mihirbhoja, it records the construction of a lake (tāl) at Sāgar (modern Sāgar Tal near Gwalior) under the suzerainty of Mihir Bhoja  — for public utility (irrigation, drinking water).

• The inscription derives the Pratihāras from Lakṣmaṇa (Soumitra), the younger brother of Rāma in the Rāmāyaṇa & rationalizes that since Lakṣmaṇa served as the pratihāra (door-keeper/guardian) of Rāma, the dynasty took its name Pratihāra.

• The link to Laxman, alludes to origins in the ancient Raghuvamshi kshatriyas of Kosala (Ayodhya), it hints that their original homeland was not Rajasthan or Gujarat, but the Gangetic heartland and that they weredescendants of ancient Kosala kshatriyas of Sramana-era — which undercuts later attempts by some modern writers to portray them as non-Kshatriya or as “tribal” upstarts.

Imperial Pratihāra Dynasty

It was under Bhoja I or Mihirbhoj Pratihar (836-885 CE) that their empire was at their peak, stretching from the foot of the Himalayas in the north to the Narmada River in the south, and from the Sutlej River in the northwest to Bengal in the east. After fighting for over two centuries, against the Islamic invasions of the west and Ghaznavid invasions in the Northwest, the dynasty eventually fell in decline resulting in the independence of several Rajput states like Mandore Pratihars, Delhi Tomars, Shakambhari Chauhans, Patan Solankis, and Chandels. Yasapala, the last Pratihara ruler of Kannauj, died in 1036. Later Kannauj was conquered by Gopal Rathore (Rashtrakut) , a feudatory of Emperor Chandradev Gaharwar.