The Kingdom of Kannauj was a kingdom in Northern India during the Early Mediaeval Era. It was established by

Harivarman Hari-varman ( Gupta script: ''Ha-ri-va-rmmā'') was the founder of the Maukhari dynasty. He is the first ruler to be named in the known Maukhari records. Biography Hari-varman was the founder of the Maukhari dynasty. He is the first ruler to b ...

in 510 who was crowned Maharaja of Kannauj by the Magadhan Emperor. During the period, the city of Kannauj grew in prominence in North India. The kingdom was focal point of the Kannauj Wars, which resulted in its annexation by the Gurjara Empire. Kannauj became the most important city in North India during this period, and hence was contested by the three great powers of the subcontinent of the period the Gurjara Empire under the

Pratihara dynasty The Gurjara-Pratihara was a dynasty that ruled much of Northern India from the mid-8th to the 11th century. They ruled first at Ujjain and later at Kannauj. The Gurjara-Pratiharas were instrumental in containing Arab armies moving east of the ...

, the Bengal Empire under the

Pala dynasty The Pāla Empire (r. 750-1161 CE) was an imperial power during the post-classical period in the Indian subcontinent, which originated in the region of Bengal. It is named after its ruling dynasty, whose rulers bore names ending with the suffi ...

, and the Rashtrakutas of Manyakheta. The prestige of Kannauj sowly dwindled after the war and Delhi became the most important city of North India.

History

Maukhari dynasty

In 510, the Narsimhagupta, the Emperor of Magadha, crowned

as the Maharaja of Kannauj, creating a vassal state in the region and the House of Maukhari. His great-grandson,

Ishanavarman Iśanavarman ( Gupta script: , ''Ī-śā-na-va-rmmā'') was the first independent Maukhari ruler of Kannauj. He was a very powerful king, and adopted the title of ''Maharajadhiraja''. Early life Ishanavarman was the son of the powerful Maukhari ...

, declared independence from Magadha and proclaimed himself Maharajadhiraja of Kannauj. He defeated the kings of Gauda, Sulika and Andhra. The Emperor of Magadha, Kumargupta III defeated Ishanavarman but couldn't conquer Kannauj. His grandson, Grahavarman (r. 600–605) married Rajyashri, daughter of Prabhakarvardhana, King of Thanesar. Both the kings were killed in a war with Malavas and the

Kingdom of Gauda The Gauḍa Kingdom (Gauṛa Rājya) was a kingdom during the Classical era in the Indian subcontinent, which originated in the Gauda region of Bengal (modern-day West Bengal and Bangladesh) in 4th century CE or possibly earlier. Location an ...

, following which Harsha, the son of dead king of Thanesar, vowed to avenge the death of his father and brother-in-law and rescue his sister.

Pushyabhuti dynasty

Harshavarshana ascended the throne of Thanesar in 606 at the age of 16. He defeated and killed the king of Gauda and rescued his widowed sister. He was then crowned the Emperor of Kannauj by the representatives of multiple principalities and kingdoms of North India in a grand ceremony at Kannauj. He reigned until 647.

Arunasva

Harsha's rule was succeeded by that of Arunasva. Since Harsha had no heir, Arunasva usurped the throne. Arunavasa is known to have repelled the invasion by the Arab

Rashidun Caliphate The Rashidun Caliphate ( ar, اَلْخِلَافَةُ ٱلرَّاشِدَةُ, al-Khilāfah ar-Rāšidah) was the first caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was ruled by the first four successive caliphs of Muhammad after his ...

Varman dynasty

Arunavasa was succeeded by the rule of Yashovarman who established the Varman dynasty. Yashovarman led military campaigns in Bengal,

Indus Valley The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...

, the Deccan and

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

. He was succeeded by

Ama Ama or AMA may refer to: Ama Languages * Ama language (New Guinea) * Ama language (Sudan) People * Ama (Ama Kōhei), former ring name for sumo wrestler Harumafuji Kōhei * Mary Ama, a New Zealand artist * Shola Ama, a British singer * Ām ...

Dunduka Dunduka was a ruler of the state of Kannauj in North India during the early 8th century CE. Early life Dunduka was the son and successor of Āma, the king of Kannauj and surrounding areas during the late 8th century CE. Āma, his father, had lost ...

and Bhoja who were weak rulers.

Ayudha dynasty

In 770, Bhoja was deposed by Vajrayudha founding the

Ayudha dynasty The Ayudha dynasty was the short-lived, second dynasty of the Kannauj State from the late 8th to the early 9th century CE. History The successors of Yashovarman, the powerful king of Kannauj, were all weak rulers who did not demonstrate the skil ...

.Shyam Manohar Mishra (1977). Yaśovarman of Kanauj. Abhinav. pp. 120–121 OCLC 5782454 This triggered Kannauj Wars (770–854) for the control over the Kingdom of Kannauj between three great powers — the Gurjara Empire under the Rajput

, the Bengal Empire under the House of Pala, and the Rashtrakuta Empire. In 785, Vatsaraja, the Gurjara Emperor invaded Kannauj, made Indrayudha, the King of Kannuj his vassal. 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 Vidarbha (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �id̪əɾbʱə is a geographical region in the east of the Indian state of Maharashtra and a Proposed states and union territories of India#Maharashtra, proposed state of central India, comprising th ...

), Matsya (Jaipur and north-east Rajasthan), Madra (East Punjab),

Kuru Kuru may refer to: Anthropology and history * Kuru (disease), a type of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy associated with the cannibalistic funeral practices of the Fore people * Kuru (mythology), part of Meithei mythology * Kuru Kingdom, ...

(Haryana-Delhi-Western UP region),

Yadu This is a list of ancient Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes that are mentioned in the literature of Indic religions. From the second or first millennium BCE, ancient Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes turned into most of the population in the northern p ...

(possibly Mathura, Dwarka or Siṁhapura in the Punjab ( Katas Raj Temples)), Yavana, Avanti,

Gandhara Gandhāra is the name of an ancient region located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely in present-day north-west Pakistan and parts of south-east Afghanistan. The region centered around the Peshawar Vall ...

and Kira (

Kangra Valley Kangra Valley is a river valley situated in the Western Himalayas. 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 Nagabhata II (reign 795–833) was an Indian Emperor from Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty. He ascended the throne of Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty after his father Vatsraja. His mother was queen Sundari-Devi. He was designated with imperial titles - ''Par ...

, 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

invaded the Kingdom of Kannauj and conquered it and made the city of Kannauj its capital.

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 Bundelkhand (, ) is a geographical and cultural region and a proposed state and also a mountain range in central & North India. The hilly region is now divided between the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, with the larger portion lyin ...

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 A vassal state is any state that has a mutual obligation to a superior state or empire, in a status similar to that of a vassal in the feudal system in medieval Europe. Vassal states were common among the empires of the Near East, dating back to ...

in turn under Bengal and Gurjaratra.

List of kings

References

{{Reflist History of Kannauj Empires and kingdoms of India