The Kingdom of Kannauj was a medievalkingdom in northern India from 510, when it was established as a vassal state of the Magadhan Empire, and as an independent sovereign state after 550, until 1036, when it collapsed after Ghaznavid invasions.[2] During the reign of Harsha, and later under the Pratiharas, the Kingdom of Kannauj stood as the most powerful state in India, flourishing in the seventh century, and again in the ninth and tenth centuries.
Following his victory in 816, the king of the Gurjaras, Nagabhata II declared himself the king of Kannauj. For nearly half a century, between 890 and 944, the kings of Kannauj also bore the imperial title of 'Emperor of Aryavarta'. However, after this period, the empire began to fragment as its vassals gradually declared their independence, eventually reducing the kingdom to the Doab region by the late tenth century. Following invasions of the Ghaznavid Empire in the early eleventh century, the kingdom came to an end and the prestige of Kannauj slowly dwindled, and Delhi became the most important city of Hindustan (North India).
Names
The kingdom was also referred to as Middle Country or Middle India during diplomatic exchanges with Tang China,[5] as well as Madhyadesha in Sanskrit within India.
Magadhan emperorBudhagupta met the young Harivarman in 487 AD,[6] when he was choosing men for his public service. Harivarman, a warrior from Baghelkhand,[7] had a well-built physique, excellent archery skill, and a fierce face but a great calmness inside, a strict moral code and sensitivity to public sufferings.[8] Impressed by him, the emperor gave him the title Maharaja and granted him rule over the regions around Ayodhya, Kannauj and Antarvedi (Ganga-Yamuna Doab.[9]
The nobles and elites of the doab opposed his rule, but he eventually subdued them with military prowess and diplomacy, and soon assumed full control of his assigned provinces. His rule emphasised moral rightness and benevolence and he allied with other prominent families such as the later Guptas.[10]
Ishanavarman
His great-grandson, Ishanavarman, (550–560) was the first prominent king of Kannauj. He pursued a policy of aggression against the emperors of Magadha and thus declared his independence, proclaiming himself Maharajadhiraja of Kannauj.[11] He invaded the Andhra country and defeated the king of Andhra, Madhava Varma IV who had conquered and held suzerainty over a large region including modern day western Maharashtra and Karnataka.[12] The Emperor of Magadha, Kumargupta III defeated Ishanavarman in 554 AD, but shortly died thereafter in Prayag. Harivarman's reign was followed by that of Adityavarman and Ishvavarman.
Sharvavarman
Ishvavarman's son, Sharvavarman (560–575) invaded and conquered eastern portion of the Magadhan Empire, i.e., Magadha and Bundelkhand from Mahasenagupta who fled to Malwa (the remaining western portion of the empire) and established a rump state.[13] His reign was followed by that of Avantivarman.
Kannauj–Malwa War and Harshavardhan
Grahavarman
Avantivarman's reign was followed by Grahavarman (r. 600–605) who married Rajyashri, the daughter of Prabhakarvardhana, the King of Thanesar as a part of an alliance. Mahasenagupta's son Devagupta invaded the Kannauj and killed Grahavarman. Rajyavardhan the then king of Kannauj and brother of Rajyashri, defeated Devagupta but was himself killed by the king of Gauda.
Harshavardhan
Following these events, Harshavardhana, the younger brother of the dead king of Thanesar, vowed to avenge the death of his brother and rescue his sister. He repelled the invasion by the king of Gauda and rescued his widowed sister. He was then crowned the Emperor of Kannauj by the nobles of Kannauj in a grand ceremony at Kannauj attended by representatives of multiple principalities and kingdoms of North India. He carried out campaigns in Northern India to bring under his suzerainty the various kingdoms of northern India. He reigned until 647.
As per Hsüan Tsang, Harsha divided the income of his kingdom into four — a quarter for government expenses, another for salaries of public servants, a third quarter for the reward of intellectual attainments, and the last quarter for gifts. Although it seems to be very idealistic, but historians argue that there was a decay in urbant centres at that time.
Arunasva was succeeded by Yashovarman who established the Varman dynasty. Yashovarman led military campaigns in Bengal, Indus Valley, the Deccan and Kashmir. Conflicting records exist regarding his war with Kashmir. Though Kannauj records claim that he was victorious over Kashmir, Kashimri records claim that Yashovarman was defeated by the Kashmir king. He was succeeded by Ama, Dunduka and Bhoja who were weak rulers.
In 770, Bhoja was deposed by Vajrayudha founding the Ayudha dynasty.[17] This destabilised the political climate of eighth century northern India. Much of India at that time was under the rule of three great powers — the Gurjara Empire under the Rajput Pratihara dynasty, the Bengal Empire under the House of Pala, and the Manyakheta empire under a Rashtrakuta branch. The Kingdom of Kannauj constituted a vast prosperous region to the centre of northern India and seeing the instability of the kingdom due to the recent coup, the three powers were hoping to succeed to the throne of Kannauj.
Indrayudha
Indrayudha succeeded to the throne of Kannauj in 770. In 785, Vatsaraja, the Gurjara Emperor invaded Kannauj, made Indrayudha his vassal. Indrayudha continued rule over Kannauj under the suzerainty of the Gurjara emperor.
Chakrayudha
In response to this, Dharmapala, the Emperor of Bengal invaded Kannauj and deposed Indrayudha and replaced him with Indrayudha's brother, Chakrayudha whom he made his vassal at an imperial court at Kannauj attended by the rulers of Bhoja (possibly Vidarbha), Matsya (Jaipur and north-east Rajasthan), Madra (East Punjab), Kuru (Haryana-Delhi-Western UP region), Yadu (possibly Mathura, Dwarka or Siṁhapura in the Punjab (Katas Raj Temples), Yavana, Avanti, Gandhara and Kira (Kangra Valley).[18][19] This obviously led to war and the Gurjara Empire defeated Bengal and the Gurjara Emperor Vatsaraja occupied Kannauj. Rashtrakuta Emperor Dhruva defeated the Gurjara Empire and Vatsaraja fled his empire, while Dhruva returned to his empire. Bengal re-installed Chakrayudha as the King of Kannauj and its vassal.
After the death of Dhruva in 793, the Rashtrakuta Empire fell into a war of succession. In the Gurjara Empire, the son of Vatsaraja, Nagabhata II, seeking revenge and taking advantage of the succession crisis in the Rashtrakuta Empire, invaded Kannauj and defeated Dharmapala and made Chakrayudha his vassal. Before he could invade Bengal however, the new Rashtrakuta Emperor Govinda III invaded Kannauj and defeated the Gurjara armies, and Nagabhatta retreated back to his empire. Dharmapala and Chakrayudha acknowledged Govinda III as their overlords to earn his friendship after which Govinda went back and Kannauj came back under Bengal rule in 800. Kannauj remained a vassal of the Bengal Empire until 816 when the Gurjara Emperor Nagabhata II invaded the Kingdom of Kannauj and conquered it and proclaimed himself as the king of Kannauj after deposing the Ayudhas.
Following the deposition of the Ayudhas, and proclamation of Nagabhata II as king of Kannauj, the Pratiharas became the rulers of the Kingdom of Kannauj to which they added their dominions of Gurjaradesa as well. Nagabhata II was succeeded by Ramabhadra (r. 833–836).
Bhoja I
Rambhadra was followed by his son, Bhoja I (r. 836–885), one of the greatest rulers of Kannauj. He invaded the Kingdom of Lata around 840 but failed to conquer it. He led campaigns in other neighbouring regions and was successful in conquering included Travani, Valla, Mada, Arya, Gujarat, and Bundelkhand who acknowledged his suzerainty. He also managed to conquer Lata by the 870s.
The territories of Bhoja extended up till Kashmir in the north after Bhoja conquered Punjab by defeating ruling Thakkiyaka dynasty. After Devapala's death, Bhoja defeated the Bengal emperor Narayanapala and expanded his boundaries eastward into Bengal-held territories near Gorakhpur.
Bhoja also defeated the Arab invasions from Sindh into Kutch in 838 in the Battle of Sindhan, and conquered a portion of Sindh.
His reign was followed by that of his son Mahendrapala I (r. 890–910) who further expanded into the territories of the empire of Bengal. During the reign of Mahipala I (r. 913–944), the Manyakheta Rashtrakutas sacked Kannauj in 916, causing a weakening of the imperial power. This was also the period during which they used the title King of Kings ofAryavarta (ancient name for northern India/Hindustan).
Devapala I
Mahipala was followed his son, Devapala I (r. 944–954), during whose decade-long reign the empire began to crumble away. Simharaja, the King of Sambhar, also declared his independence in 944 (in modern-day Rajasthan). The Kingdom of Bundelkhand under Dhanga declared its independence in 950. Other kingdoms such as that of the Tomaras of Delhi and the Kingdom of Dahala declared their independence during the tenth century as well. This reduced the Kingdom of Kannauj to the Ganga Yamuna Doab region.
Rajyapala
In January 1019, Mahmud of Ghazni reached Kannauj. Surprisingly, Rajyapala, the then king of Kannauj, offered no resistance and fled his capital by crossing the Ganga River, ultimately seeking refuge in Bari. In his absence, Ghaznavid forces ransacked Kannauj, seizing a substantial amount of plunder.[20][21]
Ultimately, Rajyapala, after fleeing to Bari, decided to surrender to Mahmud, acknowledging the nominal suzerainty of the Ghaznavids. The seven forts of Kannauj fell in one day to the Ghaznavids. Following this development, Mahmud engaged in other campaigns within India after successfully asserting control over Kannauj.[22][23]
Rajyapala's surrender to the Ghaznavids had consequences, leading to some turn of events. The Bundelkhand king Vidyadhara, along with his allies, took matters into their own hands and killed Rajyapala.[23]
After Rajyapala's demise, his successors persisted in maintaining control over certain territories by relocating their capital to Bari, near Kannauj, until the demise of the last ruler Yasahpala in 1036.
Territorial extent
The Kingdom of Kannauj dominated the upper Gangetic basin and parts of middle Gangetic basin during its early stages. Following the coronation of Harshavardhan, the Kingdom of Thanesar, i.e., eastern Punjab and the Trans-Gangetic Plain was merged into the Kingdom of Kannauj. Harshavardhan's campaigns expanded the empire of Kannauj to include the entirety of the Gangetic plain and eastern Punjab, as well as the Bundelkhand and Malwa.
Under the Varmans, the Kingdom of Kannauj lost control over Malwa and later Bengal. Other territories were lost during the Kannauj Wars, and significant power and territory was lost as the kingdom transitioned into a vassal state under Bengal.
Under the Pratiharas, the Kingdom of Kannauj transformed once again into a vast realm, even larger than that of Harshavardhana. The empire including its vassals extended from Gujarat to Magadha during its initial rule. Later, it was reduced to a small dominion around the capital city.
^Rangan 2022. "They explain that Budhagupta had selected this youth for public service as early as 168 GS (487 CE) if not earlier. This view is largely based on an interpretation of an inscription called the "Shankarpur charter.""
^Rangan 2022. "A section of modern historians conclude that Harivarman was originally from Baghelkhand (in modern Madhya Pradesh)"
^Rangan 2022. "But as Budhagupta sat down to find out more about this ferocious looking man, he realized that behind this fierce exterior was a calm and composed man who believed in tact as much as in strength. He was a man who had a strong sense of morality. And behind that outer layer of toughness, he was also sensitive to the suffering of others.
Like Krishnagupta, Hari had a strong physique and was a master archer himself"
^Rangan 2022. "Budhagupta impressed by Harivarman, conferred on him the honorific title of "Maharaja" and assigned him the important regions of Ayodhya, Kanyakubja to the east of the river Ganga (in modern Uttar Pradesh) and Antarvedi or the Ganga-Yamuna Doab."
^Rangan 2022. "The Disaffected elites and closet enemies to the imperial throne Harivarman tooth and nail. However, the latter showed both diplomatic tact and martial prowess to subdue the trouble makers. Using a combination of his sharp political acumen, amiable personality and fierce martial reputation, Hari managed to quickly outsmart his opponents and assume full control of his assigned provinces."
^Bindeshwari Prasad Sinha (1977). Dynastic History of Magadha. Abhinav Publications. p. 177. ISBN978-81-7017-059-4. Dharmapāla after defeating Indrāyudha and capturing Kanuaj made it over to Cakrāyudha, who was a vassal king of Kanuaj subordinate to Dharmapāla ... Dharmapāla was thus acknowledged paramount ruler of almost whole of North India as the Bhojas of Berar, Kīra (Kangra district), Gandhāra (West Punjab), Pañcāla (Ramnagar area of U.P.), Kuru (eastern Punjab), Madra (Central Punjab), Avanti (Malwa), Yadus (Mathura or Dwarka or Siṁhapura in the Punjab), Matsya (a part of northeast Rajputana) were his vassals.
^Pratipal Bhatia (1970). The Paramāras, C. 800-1305 A.D. Munshiram Manoharlal. p. 29. ISBN978-81-215-0410-2. put Chakrayudha on the throne of Kanauj; and we may reasonably identify Upendrarāja with the chief of Avanti who with many other rulers of northern India approved Chakrāyudha's installation. These events may be assigned to about 791 A.D.
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