Vaghela dynasty
Vaghela Dynasty Vāghēlā rājavanśa | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1244–1304 | |||||||||
Old Gujarati | |||||||||
Religion | Hinduism (official) | ||||||||
Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
• 1244–1262 | Visala-deva (first) | ||||||||
• 1296–1304 | Karna-deva (Karna II) (last) | ||||||||
History | |||||||||
• Usurping of the Chaulukya throne by Visaladeva | 1244 | ||||||||
1304 | |||||||||
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Today part of | India |
History of Gujarat |
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The Vaghela dynasty ruled the Gujarat region in India in the 13th century CE, with their capital at Dholka. They were the last Hindu dynasty to rule Gujarat before the Muslim conquest of the region.
Early members of the Vaghela family served the
Origin
The Vaghelas
The Vaghelas called themselves Chaulukyas, and claimed same mythological descent as the Chaulukyas. The Khambhat inscription of the first Vaghela monarch Visaladeva gives the following account of the myth: Once Brahma was thinking who will destroy the sons of Diti (that is, the Daityas or demons). Suddenly, a warrior sprang from Brahma's chuluka. This hero, named Chaulukya, gave rise to the Chaulukya lineage, in which Arnoraja Vaghela was born.[5]
The dynasty's name "Vyaghrapalliya" and its shortened form "Vaghela" come from the name of a village called Vyaghrapalli (literally "tiger's lair").[5]
Early members
Arnoraja
Arnoraja, who was a son of Dhavala and Kumarapala's maternal aunt, was the first member of the Vaghela family to gain importance. He seems to have participated in a military campaign in Saurashtra while serving Kumarapala. The Muralidhar temple inscription, discovered in the Desan village of Bhiloda taluka, credits him with conquering Saurashtra. According to the 13th century writer Udayaprabha Suri, Kumarapala granted the Bhimapalli village to Arnoraja for his services. It is possible that Arnoraja received the village for his role in the Saurashtra campaign of Kumarapala. He probably served as a sub-commander in this campaign, although the Vahgela records later magnified his role. According to historian A. K. Majumdar, the Bhimapalli village might have been same as the Vyaghrapalli village from which the dynasty's name is derived.[5]
Arnoraja became prominent during the reign of Kumarapala's descendant Bhima II. Taking advantage of Bhima's young age, the provincial governors revolted against him.[5] Arnoraja remained loyal to the king, and appears to have defeated the rebels, including the vassal rulers of Medapata and Chandravati. Bhima had other loyal officers such as Pratapamalla and Jagaddeva, but the Vaghela records give the entire credit for suppressing the revolt to Arnoraja.[6]
Lavanaprasada
Lavanaprasada (alias Lavanyaprasada) was the son of Arnoraja and Salakhanadevi.[7] According to a legend mentioned by Merutunga, Lavanaprasada was born when Arnoraja was a samanta (feudal lord) in Kumarapala's service. When Kumarapala heard about the news of the child's birth in his court, he declared that Arnoraja's son will have a brilliant future.[6] As a feudatory of Bhima, Lavanaprasada held the ranks of Maha-mandaleshvara and Ranaka. His fief was Dhavalakakka (or Dholka).[6] The later Dabhoi inscription describes him as the king of Gurjara country.[8]
Viradhavala
Viradhavala was the son of Lavanaprasada and Madanarajni.[7] According to Merutunga's account, Madanarajni left Lavanprasada and started living with Devaraja, who was the husband of her dead sister. Madanarajni took Viradhavala with him, but the boy returned to his father Lavanaprasada when he grew up and became ashamed of the situation.[6]
During the reign of Bhima II, Lavanaprasada and Viradhavala repelled enemy invasions and saved the Chaulukya kingdom. Viradhavala probably died during the reign of Bhima, as his son Visaladeva had become the Mahamandaleshvara Ranaka by 1239 CE.[6]
Virama
Visaladeva's succession was contested by a man named Virama. According to the colophon of a 1239 CE (1296
According to the medieval chronicler Rajashekhara Suri, Virama was the younger brother of Visaladeva. Rajashekhara's account of Virama goes like this: Once, a
Rajashekhara's account of the dynasty contains many inaccuracies in general. Historical evidence indicates that Virama was actually a brother (or half-brother) of Viradhavala, and thus an uncle of Visaladeva. According to the Vaghela records, Visaladeva's brother was Pratapamalla.[9] Historian A. K. Majumdar dismisses Rajashekhara's account of Virama's death. According to Majumdar's theory, Udayasimha challenged the Chaulukya suzerainty, and Virama fought with him as a loyal subordinate of Bhima II. Virama was probably killed in a battle with Udayasimha, and not on the orders of Vastupala, as claimed by Rajashekhara.[11]
As sovereigns
During the reign of
Viradhavala's son Visaladeva ascended the throne of Gujarat sometime around 1244 CE. How he usurped the power is uncertain: it is possible the last Chaulukya king Tribhuvanapala died heirless or was defeated by Visaladeva.
Visaladeva's successor Arjunadeva ascended the throne around 1262 CE. Not much is known about the incidents of his reign, except that he suffered a defeat against the Yadavas.[15] His elder son Rama succeeded him, and ruled for a few months. Subsequently, his younger son Sarangadeva ascended the throne.[16]
Sarangadeva defeated the Paramaras and the Yadavas.
Decline
Around 1296 CE, Sarangadeva was succeeded by Rama's son Karna. In 1299, the Delhi Sultan Alauddin Khalji sent an army to ransack Gujarat. According to multiple medieval chronicles, Karna had abducted the wife of his minister Madhava and killed Madhava's brother. In revenge, Madhava instigated Alauddin to invade Gujarat.[20][21]
In 1304, Karna lost his throne permanently after a second invasion from Delhi. According to
Descendants
No concrete information is available about any descendant of Karna II. A 1498 CE inscription shows that a family of the Vaghela clan was ruling at a place called Dandahi, as subordinates of the Muslim ruler
Genealogy
A list of the known members of the Vaghela family is given below: all individuals are the sons of their predecessors, unless otherwise stated. The pre-sovereign members of the family include:[24]
- Dhavala, married a sister of Kumarapala's mother
- Arnoraja, married Salakhanadevi
- Lavanaprasada, married Madanarajni
- Viradhavala
- Pratapamalla
- Visaladeva
- Virama
- Viradhavala
List of rulers
The sovereign Vaghela rulers include:[24]
- Visala-deva (r. c. 1244 – c. 1262)
- Arjuna-deva (r. c. 1262 – c. 1275), son of Pratapamalla
- Rama (r. c. 1275), son of Arjunadeva
- Saranga-deva (r. c. 1275 – c. 1296), son of Arjunadeva
- Karna-deva (r. c. 1296 – c. 1304), son of Rama; also called Karna II to distinguish him from Karna Chaulukya
Coinage
During Vaghela rule, the Gadhaiya coins increasingly lost its intrinsic value which was stayed unchanged for two centuries under Chaulukyas. The 4.4 g billon coin of Chaulukya had stable silver content of 2.02 g of which reduced to 1.83 g during Visala-deva's coins and its successive issues has less content, as low as 0.73 g. During stable net content of silver, the Gadhaiya coins were used in international trade from Afghanistan to Deccan. As its intrinsic value decreased, its circulation shrank to the area of modern Kheda district and its surroundings. These coins followed the tanka coins of Delhi. The coins of Visala-deva are mentioned as Visalamalla priya dra (dra stands for dramma) or Visala priya dra or Visalapri dra in various literary sources and epigraphs. The coins of Saranga-deva and Karna-deva had an elephant facing left on obverses and legends on the reverses. The legends reads shri saranga-de.. and Shri karna/devasya or Shri karna/devasa. Another coins of Karna-deva has Kumbha (vase) on its obverse enclosed in border made of dots and lines while reverse has the same legend. Another type of his coins of copper depicted lion facing left on obverse and the same legend on reverse.[25]
Cultural contributions
A number of temples were built during their reign by wealthy merchants and ministers, Vastupala and Tejapala who also served as ministers and generals, including one of Dilwara Temples at Mount Abu and Girnar Jain temples.[26] In fact, Kirtikaumudi, the biography of Vastupala, written by Someshvara, a royal priest, is also an important source of the history of the dynasty.[27][25] Visala-deva constructed or restored the fort of Dharbhavati (Dabhoi) which is well known for its elaborate carvings and gates.[25] He built pratolis, temples and vapis in Darbhavati (Dabhoi) completed by about 1255 CE. Of its four gates, Hira Bhagol (with its adjacent temples) may have been built during Visaladeva's reign while three other gates may have been built by Tejapala, as indicated in Jain prabandhas.[28] The Satmukhi stepwell in Dabhoi is a temple built over a tank with seven wells ascribed to him.[29]
The Ra Khengar stepwell between Vanthali and Junagadh is stated to be constructed by Tejapala.[29] The Madhavav in Wadhwan was built in 1294 AD (Vikram Samvat 1350) by Nagar Brahmin Madhav and Keshav, the ministers in court of the last Vaghela ruler Karna. The kunda at Kapadvanj was built about this period.[28] The Batris Kotha stepwell in Kapadvanj may have belonged to the 13th century due to its similarity with the Madha and Vikia stepwells.[29]
Temples
The building activities of Vastupala and Tejpala are mentioned in inscriptions as well as in works of contemporary writers. These works include Someshvara's Kirtikaumudi, Jayasimhasuri's Shakunika-vihara-prashasti, Udayaprabhasuri's Dharmabhyudaya-mahakavya and Sukrita-kirtikallolini, Arisimha's Sukritasamkirtanam, Narendraprabhasuri's prashashti, Vijayasenasuri's Revantagiri-rasu and Palhanaputra's Abu-rasa. Later works include Merutunga's Prabandha-Chintamani (1309 CE), Jinaprabha's Vividh-tirtha-kalpa (early 14th century), Rajashekharasuri's Prabandha-kosha (1349 CE) and Jinaharshasuri's Vastupala-charitam (1441 CE).[28]
Early Vaghela phase
More than fifty temples were built by
Of all these temples built by the brothers, only few survives such as Vastupala-vihara at Girnar (1231 CE), Neminath Temple at Abu and the temple at Prabhas. Other extant temples of this period is Sambhavanatha temple at Kumbhariya, Jain marble temple at Sarotra and Panch-Pandava Temple on Shatrunjaya.[28]
Late Vaghela phase
The Vaghela princes had patronised the construction of temples and civic architecture. Lavanaprasada built Analeshwara and Salakshaneshwara temples for merit of his parents. His son Viramdeva had built Viramaeshwara temple. The temples of Rupanarayana and Balanarayana are mentioned in Kadi grant of 1261 CE.[28]
Jain merchant
The extant temples of this phase include the Kalika temple and Vaidyanatha Temple at
See also
- History of Gujarat
- Karan Ghelo, a historical novel about the reign of Karna II
References
- ISBN 0226742210.
- ^ Asoke Kumar Majumdar 1956, pp. 502–504.
- ^ H. G. Shastri 1989, p. 122–123.
- ^ Kuzhippalli Skaria Mathew (1986). Portuguese and the Sultanate of Gujarat, 1500-1573. p. 98.
- ^ a b c d e Asoke Kumar Majumdar 1956, p. 169.
- ^ a b c d e Asoke Kumar Majumdar 1956, p. 170.
- ^ a b Asoke Kumar Majumdar 1956, p. 171.
- ISBN 978-81-7017-316-8. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
- ^ a b Asoke Kumar Majumdar 1956, pp. 170–172.
- ^ Asoke Kumar Majumdar 1956, pp. 170–171.
- ^ Asoke Kumar Majumdar 1956, pp. 172–173.
- ^ Asoke Kumar Majumdar 1956, p. 163–164.
- ^ Asoke Kumar Majumdar 1956, p. 173.
- ^ Asoke Kumar Majumdar 1956, p. 174.
- ^ Asoke Kumar Majumdar 1956, p. 180.
- ^ Asoke Kumar Majumdar 1956, p. 181.
- ^ Asoke Kumar Majumdar 1956, pp. 181–182.
- ^ Asoke Kumar Majumdar 1956, p. 183.
- ^ Asoke Kumar Majumdar 1956, p. 184.
- ^ Asoke Kumar Majumdar 1956, pp. 192–193.
- ^ Aditya Behl 2012, p. 190.
- ^ Asoke Kumar Majumdar 1956, pp. 190–194.
- ^ Asoke Kumar Majumdar 1956, p. 197.
- ^ a b Asoke Kumar Majumdar 1956, p. 207.
- ^ a b c Amol N. Bankar 2012, pp. 23–29.
- ISBN 978-0-8108-6821-2. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
- ISBN 978-81-208-0056-4. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Dhaky, Madhusudan A. (1961). Deva, Krishna (ed.). "The Chronology of the Solanki Temples of Gujarat". Journal of the Madhya Pradesh Itihas Parishad. 3. Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Itihas Parishad: 66–69, 81–82.
- ^ a b c Jutta Jain-Neubauer 1981, p. 22.
Bibliography
- Aditya Behl (2012). Love's Subtle Magic: An Indian Islamic Literary Tradition, 1379–1545. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-514670-7.
- Amol N. Bankar (2012). "History and Coinage of the Vaghelas: The Last Hindu Rulers of Gujarat". Journal of the Oriental Numismatic Society (212). London: 23–29. ISSN 1818-1252.
- Asoke Kumar Majumdar (1956). Chaulukyas of Gujarat. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. OCLC 4413150.
- H. G. Shastri (1989). A historical and cultural study of the inscriptions of Gujarat: from earliest times to the end of the Caulukya period (circa 1300 A.D.). B.J. Institute of Learning & Research. OCLC 916953474.
- Jutta Jain-Neubauer (1981). The Stepwells of Gujarat: In Art-historical Perspective. Abhinav. ISBN 9780391022843.
- ISBN 978-0-674-72651-2.
- Someśvaradeva (1883). Kirtikaumudi: A Life of Vastupâla, a Minister, of Lavanaprasâda & Vîradhavala Vaghelâs. Government Central Book Department.