Govindaraja III (r. c. 1012-1026 CE), also known as Gandu, was an Indian king belonging to the Shakambhari Chahamana dynasty. He ruled the Sapadalaksha country, which included parts of present-day

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 ...

in north-western India.

Reign

Govindaraja III, also known as Gandu, succeeded his brother

Durlabharaja II Durlabharaja II (r. c. 998-1012 CE ) was an Indian king belonging to the Shakambhari Chahamana dynasty. He ruled the Sapadalaksha country, which included parts of present-day Rajasthan in north-western India. Durlabha-raja was a son of the Chah ...

. According to ''

Prithviraja Vijaya ''Prithviraja Vijaya'' (IAST: Pṛthvīrāja Vijaya, "Prithviraja's Victory") is an eulogistic Sanskrit epic poem on the life of the Indian Chahamana king Prithviraja III (better known as Prithviraj Chauhan in the vernacular folk legends). It is b ...

'', his title was ''Vairi-Gharatta'' ("grinder of enemies").

Mahmud's invasion

Several sources suggest that the Muslim ruler

Mahmud of Ghazni Yamīn-ud-Dawla Abul-Qāṣim Maḥmūd ibn Sebüktegīn ( fa, ; 2 November 971 – 30 April 1030), usually known as Mahmud of Ghazni or Mahmud Ghaznavi ( fa, ), was the founder of the Turkic Ghaznavid dynasty, ruling from 998 to 1030. At th ...

invaded the Chahamana kingdom during the reign of Govinda. The ''

Prabandha Kosha ''Prabandha-Kosha'' (IAST: Prabandhakośa) is an Indian Sanskrit-language collection of ''prabandha''s (legendary biographical narratives). It was compiled by the Jain scholar Rajashekhara Suri in 1349 CE. It describes the lives of 24 people, inclu ...

'' states that Govindaraja defeated Mahmud. This claim is of doubtful accuracy, because this victory is not mentioned in earlier texts such as ''Prithviraja-Vijaya'', which are historically much more reliable. It might be possible that Mahmud chose to avoid a confrontation with a Hindu confederacy, of which Govinda was a part. According to the 16th-century Muslim historian

Firishta Firishta or Ferešte ( fa, ), full name Muhammad Qasim Hindu Shah Astarabadi ( fa, مُحَمَّد قاسِم هِندو شاہ), was a Persian historian, who later settled in India and served the Deccan Sultans as their court historian. He was ...

, Mahmud reached

Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the List ...

in December 1024 CE. From there, he marched to

Ajmer Ajmer is one of the major and oldest cities in the Indian state of Rajasthan and the centre of the eponymous Ajmer District. It is located at the centre of Rajasthan. It is also known as heart of Rajasthan. The city was established as "''Aj ...

, which was a part of the Chahamana territory. The residents of the city had abandoned it by the time he reached there. Mahmud initially wanted to sack the city, but gave up the plan realizing that besieging the fort would waste his time. He then marched away to

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

. After sacking Gujarat, he marched back to Multan via

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

, because a confederacy of Hindu rulers had organized an army to counter him. Govindaraja III was succeeded by his son Vakpatiraja II.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{Chahamanas of Shakambhari Chahamanas of Shakambhari 11th-century Indian monarchs