Asharaja (

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during ...

: Āśārāja, r. c. 1110–1119 CE) was an Indian king belonging to the Naddula Chahamana dynasty. He ruled the area around

Naddula Nadol is a census town in Desuri tehsil of Pali district, India. Ashapura Mataji temple and Shri Nadol Tirth attract pilgrims. History Nadol was originally called Naddula. The Chahamanas of Naddula (called Chauhans of Nadol in vernacular lege ...

(present-day Nadol in

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

), before being dethroned by his nephew Ratnapala. He then accepted the suzerainty of his family's rival, the

Chaulukya The Chaulukya dynasty (), also Solanki dynasty, was a dynasty that ruled parts of what are now Gujarat and Rajasthan in north-western India, between and . Their capital was located at Anahilavada (modern Patan). At times, their rule extended ...

king

Jayasimha Siddharaja Jayasiṃha ( ), who assumed the title Siddharāja (), was an Indian king who ruled western parts of India. He was a member of the Chaulukya (also called Solanki) dynasty. Jayasimha's capital was located at Anahilapataka (modern Patan) in pres ...

. He participated in Jayasimha's successful war against the

Paramara The Paramara dynasty (IAST: Paramāra) was an Indian dynasty that ruled Malwa and surrounding areas in west-central India between 9th and 14th centuries. They belonged to the Parmara clan of the Rajputs. The dynasty was established in either th ...

king

Naravarman Naravarman (reigned c. 1094-1133 CE), also known as Naravarma-deva, was an Indian king from the Paramara dynasty, who ruled in the Malwa region of central India. The Paramara power greatly declined during his reign, as a result of multiple milit ...

. His son Katukaraja seized the Naddula throne after his death.

Reign

Asharaja was the youngest son of the Chahamana king

Jendraraja Jendraraja ( IAST: Jendrarāja, r. c. 1070–1080 CE) was an Indian king belonging to the Naddula Chahamana dynasty. He ruled the area around Naddula (present-day Nadol in Rajasthan), and achieved military successes against the Chaulukyas. Rei ...

. He is also known as Ashvaka (Aśvaka) and Ashvaraja (Aśvarāja). He succeeded his elder brothers

Prithvipala Prithvi-pala ( IAST: Pṛthvīpāla, r. c. 1080–1090 CE) was an Indian king belonging to the Naddula Chahamana dynasty. He ruled the area around Naddula (present-day Nadol in Rajasthan). He achieved military successes against the Chaulukyas, ...

and

Jojalladeva Jojalla-deva (r. c. 1090–1110 CE) was an Indian king belonging to the Naddula Chahamana dynasty. He ruled the area around Naddula (present-day Nadol in Rajasthan). The Chahamana records claim that he invaded the Chaulukya kingdom, and occupied ...

on the Chahamana throne. According to the Sundha Hill inscription, he once rescued Prithvipala, when the latter had been surrounded by a

Turushka Turushka (or Turuṣka) may refer to: * a Sanskrit word for olibanum * a term often used for Turks in some ancient sources; see * Turushka dynasty, a ruling dynasty of ancient South Asia See also * Turushkaf, a village in Arabkhaneh Rural ...

(possibly

Ghaznavid The Ghaznavid dynasty ( fa, غزنویان ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a culturally Persianate, Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turkic ''mamluk'' origin, ruling, at its greatest extent, large parts of Persia, Khorasan, much of Transoxiana and the northwest ...

) army. According to his 1110 CE

Sewari Sewari or Sewadi is a village located in the Bali Tehsil of Pali district of Rajasthan state, amidst the Aravalli Range The Aravalli Range (also spelled ''Aravali'') is a mountain range in Northern- Western India, running approximately in ...

inscription, Asharaja bore the title ''

Maharajadhiraja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, an ...

'' ("king of great kings"). He was in control of the Naddula throne at least until 1115 CE, when his son Katukaraja was styled as the heir apparent (''yuvaraja''). However, by 1119 CE, his nephew (Prithvipala's son) Ratnapala had become the Chahamana king, as attested by a

inscription. Ratnapala probably forcibly dislodged Asharaja, because of which Asharaja chose to become a vassal of the rival

king

. Beginning with Asharaja's reign, the Naddula kingdom started declining because of family feuds. Asharaja's 1143 CE Bali inscription states that he subsisted on the feet (that is, was a vassal) of Jayasimha. As a Chaulukya subordinate, Asharaja participated in Jayasimha's war against the

king

. The Nanana inscription of Asharaja's descendant Alhana boasts that when Asharaja arrived at the Paramara capital Dhara, Naravarman hid himself in the fort. The Sundha Hill inscription also states that Jayasimha was pleased with the Asharaja's assistance in the Paramara territory of

Malava Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, it is also synony ...

. Asharaja commissioned the Chandaleshvara temple as well as other temples dedicated to

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

. He granted the Pinchchhavalli village to the Tripurusha temple. He also built several gardens, free kitchens, ''prapa''s (water fountains or cisterns), tanks, wells and

stepwell Stepwells (also known as vavs or baori) are wells or ponds with a long corridor of steps that descend to the water level. Stepwells played a significant role in defining subterranean architecture in western India from 7th to 19th century. So ...

s. During his reign, prince Katukaraja made a donation to a

Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

shrine at

. Asharaja had at least two queens: Delhana-devi and Chandala-devi. Delhana was the daughter of one Rudrapala, and the mother of

Alhanadeva Alhana-deva (IAST: Alhaṇadeva, r. c. 1148–1163 CE) was an Indian king belonging to the Naddula Chahamana dynasty. He ruled the area around Naddula (present-day Nadol in Rajasthan), as a vassal of the Chaulukya king Kumarapala. During his re ...

. Asharaja's son Katukaraja appears to have grabbed power in Naddula by dislodging Ratnapala's son Rayapala, with support from the Chaulukya ruler Kumarapala. He is styled as a ''Maharajadhiraja'' in his 1144-45 Sewari inscription. Katukaraja's younger brother Alhanadeva succeeded his the Chahamana king, and ruled as Kumarapala's vassal. Jayatasimha, another son of Asharaja, is named as the heir apparent (''yuvaraja'') of the Samipati ''bhukti'' (province) in the 1144-45 CE inscription.

References

Bibliography

* * {{Chahamanas of Naddula Chahamanas of Naddula 12th-century Indian monarchs