The literal meaning of Pratihar is gatekeeper. In the Gupta administration, the security officer of the palaces was called Pratihara. On becoming the ruler, the Pratiharas declared themselves to be the descendants of Ram’s brother Lakshman and related themselves to the Raghukul.
Initially, Pratihara was a post, the first mention of Pratiharas as a caste is found in the Aihole inscription.
Hiuen Tsang used the term Ku-che-la for the Pratiharas and the capital of their empire is said to be Po-lo-mo-li (Bhinmal- Jalore).
The important contribution of Pratiharas in history was that they did not allow the Arab invaders to advance beyond Sindh, due to which India could never be Islamised.
Mohanot Nainasi has mentioned 26 branches of Pratiharas, out of which the oldest branch is that of Mandore (Jodhpur).
Mandore (Jodhpur)
The founder of this branch was a Brahmin named Harishchandra. Harishchandra is called the father or the ancestor of the Pratiharas. Harishchandra has been given this title because he was a scholar of the Vedas.
Harishchandra’s wife Bhadra was a Kshatriya. Harishchandra’s son Rajil is considered the founder of the Mandore branch of the dynasty.
Rajil’s son Narbhatt shifted the capital from Mandore to Mehta. After this Shilluk, Jhot and Bhilladitya became rulers. Jhot was a skilled Veena player. Jhot and Bhilladiya attained Samadhi in the Ganges river. After this Kakk became the ruler who was a vassal of Kannauj Sakha’s Nagabhatt II.
Vishnu temple was built in Mandore by Bauk. Kukkuk had inscriptions written in Sanskrit and Prakrit language in Ghatiyaala village of Jodhpur which contains the history of Mandore branch.
The dynasty has been started by Rajil and it is written that moneylenders were settled and trade was encouraged.
Bhinmal (Ujjain-Kannauj)
The Pratiharas of this branch were actually consumed by the Gurjar Pratiharas because in Bhinmal they came from the Bhadoch branch of Gujarat.
Nagabhatta I (730-756 A.D.)
He was the founder of this branch. During Nagbhatt’s time, Arab invader Junaid attacked Bhadoch and defeated Jaibhatt III. Jaibhatt sought help from his relative Nagbhatt. Nagbhatt defeated Junaid and drove him to Sindh. But while returning, he handed over the area of ​​Bhadoch to his vassal Bhritbhatt Chauhan.
The Rashtrakuta ruler Dantidurga organized the Hiranyagarbhadan Yagna in Ujjain, in which Nagabhatta was present as the gatekeeper of the Yagna.
In Gwalior Prashasti, Nagabhatta has been given the title of Narayana and called the destroyer of Mallechho (Arab invaders), and his court was called Nagaloka.
After Nagabhatta I, Kukustha and Devaraj became rulers.
Vatsaraja (775-800 A.D.)
He is considered the real founder of the Pratihara power.
The tripartite struggle for control over Kannauj was initiated by Vanshraj.
Pratihara, Rashtrakuta (Maharashtra) and Pala dynasty (Bengal) wanted to capture Kannauj for two reasons-
- Being the capital of Harshavardhana, Kannauj was a symbol of political power.
- Being in the Ganga Yamuna Doab, the land of Kannauj was very fertile. At this time Kannauj was ruled by King Indrayudha of the Ayudha dynasty.
Vatsaraja defeated Indrayudha and also defeated Dharmapala, the ruler of the Pala dynasty. But the Rashtrakuta ruler Dhruva or Dharavarsha defeated Vatsaraja. This defeat of Vatsaraja is mentioned in the Radhanpur inscription and Sanjan copper plate (Gujarat). Uddyotana Suri has written in Kublaimala that the Pratihara ruler was defeated and he had to flee and take refuge in the desert. The word Desert was first used for the geographical unit of Rajasthan. During the time of Vatsaraja, the Mahavir Swami temple was built in Oshia (Jodhpur) which was the first Jain temple in western India. Jin Sen-Suri wrote a book called Harivansh Purana. Vatsaraja has been given the title of Ranhasthin i.e. like an elephant in war.
Nagabhatta (800-833 A.D.)
The tripartite conflict was still going on during his time. He defeated Kannauj ruler Chakrayudha. He defeated Pala ruler Dharmapala But the Rashtrakuta ruler Govind III defeated Nagabhatta II.
As soon as Govind III returned to Maharashtra, Nagabhatta II took over Kannauj and made Kannauj the capital of the Prathiharas.
Kannauj is written in the literature by the name of Maharaja Nagarbake.
Nagabhatta II is said to be the conqueror of Anart (Kathiawar – Guj.), Kirat (a state in the foothills of the Himalayas), Vatsa (Paryagraj), Matsya region, and Turushka (Arab invaders).
In the Buchkela / Bakula inscription (Jodhpur), Nagabhatta II has been given the title of Parambhattaraka Maharajadhiraja.
Nagabhatta II left the throne in favor of his son Ramabhadra and took Samadhi alive in the river Ganga, mention of which is found in Chandraprabhasuri’s book Prabhavak Charita.
Bhoja(836-885 A.D.)
He had killed his father Rambhadra, therefore he is called Pitrhanta among the Pratiharas. Baraha inscription (Kannauj) is the first inscription of his rule.
More information about Bhoj-I is obtained from Gwalior Prashasti whose author was Baladitya. In this, Bhoj Pratham has been given the title of Adivaraha and Mihir.
The contemporary Rashtrakuta rulers of Mihir Bhoj were Amoghavarsha and Krishna II. Krishna II attacked Mihir Bhoj. And Mihir Bhoj defeated Krishna II and snatched the Malwa region from the Rashtrakutas and developed Malwa as a political center, that is why after the fall of Prathiharas, the Parmar dynasty was established in Malwa.
Mihir Bhoj also defeated the Pal ruler Narayan Pal. It is mentioned in the Pehowa inscription (Punjab) that the area of ​​present-day Haryana was famous for the purchase and sale of horses.
Arab traveler Suleman came to India during the time of Mihir Bhoj. Suleman has written a book named Silsila-ut Tawarib. Suleman has called Mihir Bhoj the biggest enemy of Islam and addressed him as Baura. Baura is the Arabic pronunciation of Adivarah.
Suleman has written that there were many gold and silver mines in Mihirbhoj’s kingdom and his kingdom was safe from thieves and robbers.
Arab traveler Al-Masudi came to India during the time of Mahipal. Al-Masudi has written a book called Maruj-ul-Zahab. It is written in it that Arabs did not destroy a single Sun temple in Sindh. Whenever there was a fear of Mihirbhoj’s attack, they would threaten to destroy the Sun temple and Mihirbhoj would return with his army.
Al Biladuri has written in his book Futuh ul Baldan that due to the fear of Mihirbhoj, the Arabs established a city named Al Mahfooz in Sindh.
In the Daulatpur inscription (UP), Mihirbhoj has been given the title of Prabhas i.e. rising sun.
Mihirbhoj had issued silver coins similar to the Arab currency Dirham which are called Adidrambha coins and Shrimad Adivarah was written on them.
Mahendrapala – I (885-910 AD)
He is the first Pratihara ruler whose inscriptions were found in Bengal. Mahendrapal’s inscription from Pahadpur (Rajshahi district, West Bengal)
have received.
12 inscriptions of Mahendrapal have been found from Ahar (Udaipur).
Sanskrit scholar Rajashekhar was his court writer who wrote three plays in Sanskrit and one in Prakrit and three poetic works.
Drama
- Bal Ramayana: The story from Sita’s swayamvar to Rama’s return to Ayodhya.
- Bal Bharata (the fierce Pandavas): the story of Draupadi’s swayamvara, gambling, and the disrobing of Draupadi.
- Viddhashalabhanjika: The story of a ruler named Vidyadhar Malla and a queen named Mrigakalavati
- Karpuramanjari: It was composed by Rajashekhar in the Prakrit language at the behest of his wife Avantisundari. It mentions the story of a ruler named Chandrayal and the princess Kapoormanjari of Vidarbha (Maharashtra) which is considered to be the best work of Rajashekha.
Poetry
- Kavyamimamsa
- Harvilas
- Bhuvankosh
Rajasekhara gave Mahendrapal the titles of Raghukultilaka and Raghukulchudamani and addressed him as Nirbhayraja.
VN Pathak called Mahendrapal the last great Hindu ruler of Northern India.
Bhoja II [910-912 AD]
Mahipal [912-944 ADJ
- Rajasekhara in Balbharat has given Mahipal the titles of Raghukul Mukut and Raghukul Muktamani and has addressed him as the Maharajadhiraja of Aryavrata.
- Alamsudi had visited India during the time of Mahipala. During the time of Mahipala, the Rashtrakuta ruler Indra III had attacked and hence the Pratihara Empire had become weak.
- During the reign of a ruler named Devpal, he was defeated by the Guhila feudal lord Allat.
- During the reign of a ruler named Vijaypal, the Rashtrakuta ruler Krishna III attacked due to which many vassals of the Pratiharas became independent.
- Parmars of Malwa, Gahadwals of Kannej, Kachwahas of Mewar from Narwar (M.P.), Guhilots of Mewar and Chauhans of Shakambhari
- During the reign of the governor, Mahmud Ghaznavi attacked Kannauj on 20 December 1018 and the governor surrendered. Regarding this, the Chandela ruler Vidyadhar had a dispute with the governor and Vidyadhar attacked the governor and killed him.
- Trilochanapala shifted the capital from Kannauj to Bari (Uttar Pradesh).
- The last ruler of the Pratihara dynasty was Yashpal.