Gurjara Pratihara dynasty

The origin of ancient and history of the Gurjara Pratihara kings is not known. The Gurjara Pratihara kings consider themselves to be descendants of Surya dynasty. They believe that Lakshman of Ramayana was the ancestor of this dynasty. However, modern historians denied this information. No mention of the Gurjara Pratihara dynasty is found in any Indian text before the 6th century. It is believed that the Gurjar Pratiharas entered India during the Hun invasion and mingle with the Indian people and Indian culture. At first they settled in the Jodhpur region west of the Aravalli mountains. This place was called Gurjarta at that time. Later they split into two branches and forms two separate kingdoms of Broach and Malab.

The name Gurjar Pratihar is said together, it is sometimes called in two parts. An inscription of the Pratihara dynasty know that the Pratihara kings were a branch of the Gurjaras. During the reign of Harshavardhana, a branch called Pratihara ruled in a country independently. one upon a time in the Ramayana, Lakshmana was serve as Ramachandra's doorkeeper. That is why they are called Pratihara. Modern historians believe that ancestor of the Gurjara Pratihara king, was feudatory king of the Rashtrakuta dynasty was a vassal of the. When the Rashtrakuta kings performed Yajna, many of the Gurjara clan used to act as doorkeeper. Here doorkeeper meaning Dwarapalas. The word Pratihara comes from act of gatekeeper.

Harichandra was the founder of Gurjara Pratihara dynasty. His empire was founded around the capital Bhinmal. Source, description of Hiuen Tsang. Nagabhata new-created the Pratihara Empire in Malabe. The new capital of empire was called Ujjain. During this period there were two independent Pratihara empire in two places. The powerful king is Nagabhata stopped the Arab invasion of the Sindh region.

The three-power struggle of Gurjara-Pratihara period

A king conquers another place by war and increases its power. Here, three powerful empires fought over one important place in Towards the end of the eighth century. This war was going on for a long time.

ANS:- The end of the 8th century India had three powerful independent states. The names of these three independent states are Gurjar-Pratihar dynasty, Pala dynasty of Bengal, Rashtrakuta dynasty of Deccan. There was happening almost a war between these three independent states. The reason for the war was to capture Kanauj. because, the dynasty that captures Kanauj will rule the whole of northern India. The three powerful dynasty was struggle between among themselves to capture Kannauj, so this war is called Trishakti Sangram. This war lasted for almost one hundred years. Vatsaraj was the king of Gurjara Pratihara dynasty who was the first to join this three-power struggle.

Vatsaraja ascended the throne of the Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty in 775 AD. Vatsaraja united the various branches of the Gurjara nation and established the powerful Pratihar kingdom. His empire was expansion across regions in Malab and Rajputana. Wanting to expand the kingdom to the north east, there was a war with the Pala king Dharmapala of Bengal. Although the time and place of the battle is not clear, it is confirm that Dharmapala was defeated in this battle. After some time the Rashtrakuta king of South India attacked Vatsaraja and Vatsaraja defeated by Dhruva and exiled him to Rajputana. As a result, the began three-power struggle in Gurjara Pratihara period in Indian history