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find spot Provenance (from the French ''provenir'', 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody or location of a historical object. The term was originally mostly used in relation to works of art but is now used in similar senses i ...

s of inscriptions (blue). The neighbouring places are shown as triangles (gray)." width="400" height="400" zoom="5" longitude="74.01" latitude="25.30"> Gurjaradesa ("Gurjara country") or Gurjaratra is a historical region in India comprising the eastern

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 ...

and northern

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 ...

during the period of 6th -12th century CE. The predominant power of the region, the

Gurjara-Pratihara The Gurjara-Pratihara was a dynasty that ruled much of Hindustan, 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 ...

s eventually controlled a major part of North India centered at

Kannauj Kannauj ( Hindustani pronunciation: ənːɔːd͡ʒ is a city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city's name is a corrupted form of the class ...

. The modern state of "

" derives its name from the ancient Gurjaratra.

Early references to Gurjara country

''Gurjaradēśa'', or Gurjara country, is first attested in Bana's ''

Harshacharita The ''Harshacharita'' ( sa, हर्षचरित, ) (''The deeds of Harsha''), is the biography of Indian emperor Harsha by Banabhatta, also known as Bana, who was a Sanskrit writer of seventh-century CE India. He was the ''Asthana Kavi'', ...

'' (7th century CE). Its king is said to have been subdued by

Harsha Harshavardhana ( IAST Harṣa-vardhana; c. 590–647 CE) was a Pushyabhuti emperor who ruled northern India from 606 to 647 CE. He was the son of Prabhakaravardhana who had defeated the Alchon Huna invaders, and the younger brother of Rajyav ...

's father

Prabhakaravardhana Prabhakaravardhana (also known as Prabhakara Vardhana) was a king of Thanesar in northern India around the time of the decline of the Gupta Empire. According to the historian R. C. Majumdar, he was the first notable king of the Vardhana dynasty ...

(died c. 605 CE). The bracketing of the country with

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 ...

a (Sindh), Lāta (southern Gujarat) and

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 ...

(western Malwa) indicates that the region including the northern Gujarat and Rajasthan is meant.

Hieun Tsang Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...

, the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim who visited India between 631-645 CE during Harsha's reign, mentioned the Gurjara country (''Kiu-che-lo'') with its capital at

Bhinmal Bhinmal (previously Shrimal Nagar) is an ancient town in the Jalore District of Rajasthan, India. It is south of Jalore. Bhinmal was the capital of the Bhil king, then the capital of Gurjaradesa, comprising modern-day southern Rajasthan and nor ...

(''Pi-lo-mo-lo'') as the second largest kingdom of Western India. He distinguished it from the neighbouring kingdoms of

Bharukaccha Bharuch (), formerly known as Broach, is a city at the mouth of the river Narmada in Gujarat in western India. Bharuch is the administrative headquarters of Bharuch District. The city of Bharuch and surroundings have been settled since tim ...

(Bharuch),

Ujjayini Ujjain (, Hindustani pronunciation: �d͡ːʒɛːn is a city in Ujjain district of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the fifth-largest city in Madhya Pradesh by population and is the administrative centre of Ujjain district and Ujjain ...

(Ujjain),

(Malwa),

Valabhi Vallabhi (or Valabhi or Valabhipur, modern Vala; Devanāgarī: वल्लभी) is an ancient city located in the Saurashtra peninsula of Gujarat, near Bhavnagar in western India. It is also known as Vallabhipura and was the capital of the ...

and

Surashtra Saurashtra, also known as Sorath or Kathiawar, is a peninsular region of Gujarat, India, located on the Arabian Sea coast. It covers about a third of Gujarat state, notably 11 districts of Gujarat, including Rajkot District. It was formerly a s ...

. The Gurjara kingdom was said to have measured 833 miles in circuit and its ruler was a 20-year old

kshatriya Kshatriya ( hi, क्षत्रिय) (from Sanskrit ''kṣatra'', "rule, authority") is one of the four varna (social orders) of Hindu society, associated with warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term ''kṣatriyaḥ'' is used in the con ...

, who was distinguished for his wisdom and courage. It is known that, in 628 CE, the kingdom at Bhinmal was ruled by a

Chapa dynasty The Chavda (IAST:Chávaḍá), also spelled Chawda or Chavada was a dynasty which ruled the region of modern-day Gujarat in India, from c. 690 to 942. Variants of the name for the dynasty include Chapotkatas, Chahuda and Chávoṭakas. During ...

ruler ''Vyāgrahamukha'', under whose reign the mathematician-astronomer

Brahmagupta Brahmagupta ( – ) was an Indian mathematician and astronomer. He is the author of two early works on mathematics and astronomy: the ''Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta'' (BSS, "correctly established doctrine of Brahma", dated 628), a theoretical trea ...

wrote his famous treatise. It is believed that the young ruler mentioned by Hieun Tsang must have been his immediate successor. It appears that the Gurjara country at that time comprised modern Rajasthan. Following the death of

, his empire split up into small kingdoms. Gurjaradesa is believed to have become independent. The Arab chroniclers of

(an Arab province from 712 CE onward), narrated the campaigns of Arab governors on ''Jurz'', the Arabic term for Gurjara. They mentioned it jointly with ''Mermad'' (Marumāda, in Western Rajasthan) and ''Al Baylaman'' (Bhinmal). The country was first conquered by

Mohammad bin Qasim Muḥammad ibn al-Qāsim al-Thaqāfī ( ar, محمد بن القاسم الثقفي; –) was an Arab military commander in service of the Umayyad Caliphate who led the Muslim conquest of Sindh (part of modern Pakistan), inaugurating the Umayya ...

(712-715) and, for a second time, by Junayd (723-726). Upon bin Qasim's victory,

Al-Baladhuri ʾAḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Jābir al-Balādhurī ( ar, أحمد بن يحيى بن جابر البلاذري) was a 9th-century Muslim historian. One of the eminent Middle Eastern historians of his age, he spent most of his life in Baghdad and ...

mentioned that the Indian rulers, including that of Bhinmal, accepted Islam and paid tribute. They presumably recanted after bin Qasim's departure, which made Junayd's attack necessary. After Junayd's reconquest, the kingdom at Bhinmal appears to have been annexed by the Arabs.

Successor Gurjara kingdoms

A Gurjara kingdom was founded by Harichandra Rohilladhi at

Mandore Mandore is a suburb Historical town located 9 km north of Jodhpur city, in the Indian state of Rajasthan. History Mandore is an ancient town, and was the seat of the Pratiharas of Mandavyapura, who ruled the region in the 6th century CE ...

(''Mandavyapura'') in about 600 CE. This is expected to have been a small kingdom. His descendant, Nagabhata, shifted the capital to Merta (Medāntakapura) in about 680 CE. Eventually, this dynasty adopted the designation of "Pratihara" in line with the Imperial Pratiharas, to whom it became feudatory. They are often referred to as Mandore Pratiharas by historians. The Bharuch line of Gurjaras (

Gurjaras of Lata The Gurjaras of Lata, also known as Gurjaras of Nandipuri or Bharuch Gurjaras, was a dynasty which ruled Lata region (now South Gujarat, India) as a feudatory of different dynasties from c. 580 CE to c. 738 CE. Sources of Information All the ...

) was founded by Dadda I, who is identified with Harichandra's youngest son of the same name by many historians. These Gurjaras were always recognized as vassals (''sāmanthas'') though their allegiance might have varied over time. They are believed to have wrested a fair portion of the Lata province of the Chaulukyas and their kingdom also came to be regarded as part of Gurjaradesa. A final line of Gurjaras was founded by

Nagabhata I Nagabhata I (r. c. 730 – 760 CE) was a king who founded the imperial Gurjara Pratihara dynasty of northern India. He ruled the Avanti (or Malava) region in present-day Madhya Pradesh, from his capital at Ujjain. He may have extended his cont ...

Jalore Jalore () (ISO 15919 : ''Jālora'' ), also known as ''Granite City'', is a city in the western Indian state of Rajasthan. It is the administrative headquarters of Jalore District. It has a river known as Jawai Nadi. Jalore lies to south of Su ...

, in the vicinity of Bhinmal, in about 730 CE, soon after Junayd's end of term in Sindh. Nagabhata is said to have defeated the "invincible Gurjaras," presumably those of Bhinmal. Another account credits him for having defeated a "Muslim ruler." Nagabhata is also known to have repelled the Arabs during a later raid. His dynasty later expanded to

Ujjain Ujjain (, Hindustani language, Hindustani pronunciation: Help:IPA/Hindi and Urdu, �d͡ːʒɛːn is a city in Ujjain district of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the fifth-largest city in Madhya Prad ...

and called itself

Pratihara 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 rival kingdoms of Pratiharas, the

Rashtrakuta Rashtrakuta (IAST: ') (r. 753-982 CE) was a royal Indian dynasty ruling large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the sixth and 10th centuries. The earliest known Rashtrakuta inscription is a 7th-century copper plate grant detailing their ...

s and

Palas A ''palas'' () is a German term for the imposing or prestigious building of a medieval ''Pfalz'' or castle that contained the great hall. Such buildings appeared during the Romanesque period (11th to 13th century) and, according to Thompson, ...

, however continued to call them Gurjaras or kings of Gurjaras (''Gurjaresa''). The Pratiharas became the dominant force of the entire Rajasthan and Gujarat regions, establishing a powerful empire centered at

, the former capital of Harshavardhana.

Later references

Udyotana Suri's '' Kuvalayamala'' composed in

in 778 CE describes in detail the Gurjara country as a beautiful country, whose residents are also referred to as Gurjaras. They were differentiated from the ''Saindhavas'' (people of Sindh), ''Latas'' (in southern Gujarat), ''Malavas'' (people of

Malwa 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 syno ...

) and ''Meravas''. They were mentioned to be devotees of

dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

and clever in matters of peace as well as war. The term ''Gurjaratra'' is first mentioned in the Ghatiyala inscription of Kakkuka (Mandore Pratihara) in 861 CE. Kakkuka is said to have won the love of the people of Gurjaratra along with those Marumada, Valla and Travani. Later records suggest that this Gurjaratra mandala was in the region of

Didwana Didwana is the city, nearby of Nagaur, Nagaur city in Nagaur district of Rajasthan, India. The lion gateway of Marwar in Rajasthan and the archway of Merta, known as Abhanagri and Upakashi, is situated on the northern side of Didwana railway sta ...

in the old

Jodhpur State Kingdom of Marwar, also known as the Jodhpur State under the British, was a kingdom in the Marwar region from 1226 to 1818 and a princely state under British rule from 1818 to 1947. It was established in Pali by Rao Siha, possibly a m ...

. In later times, the term Gurjaratra is used to connote the present day Gujarat. Jinadatta Suri (1075-1154 CE) mentions a country of ''Gujaratta'' with its capital at

Anahilapataka Patan () is the administrative seat of Patan District in the Indian state of Gujarat and is an administered municipality. It was the capital of Gujarat's Chavda and Chaulukya dynasties in medieval times, and is also known as Anhilpur-Patan ...

(Patan) in northern Gujarat. 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 ...

s (Solankis) are also referred to as Gurjaras in inscriptions and their country as ''Gurjaradesa''.

Culture and science

Bhinmal was a great centre of learning. According to ''Kanhadade Prabandha'', it had 45,000 Brahmins who never tired of studying the ancient sacred books.

, the well-known mathematicians astronomer, was born in 598 CE in Bhinmal. He is likely to have lived most of his life in the town, during the empire of

. He wrote two texts on mathematics and astronomy: The

Brahma Sphuta Siddhanta Brahma ( sa, ब्रह्मा, Brahmā) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the trinity of supreme divinity that includes Vishnu, and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 21 ...

in 628, and the Khandakhadyaka in 665. He made seminal contributions to mathematics, including the first mathematical treatment of

zero 0 (zero) is a number representing an empty quantity. In place-value notation Positional notation (or place-value notation, or positional numeral system) usually denotes the extension to any base of the Hindu–Arabic numeral system (or ...

, rules for manipulating positive and negative numbers, as well as algorithms for algebraic operations on decimal numbers. His work on astronomy and mathematics was transmitted to the court of the Abbasid Caliph

Al-Mansur Abū Jaʿfar ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Manṣūr (; ar, أبو جعفر عبد الله بن محمد المنصور‎; 95 AH – 158 AH/714 CE – 6 October 775 CE) usually known simply as by his laqab Al-Manṣūr (المنصور) w ...

(r. 754-775 CE), who had the Indian astronomical texts translated into Arabic. Through these texts, the decimal number system spread through the Arab world and later Europe. The Sanskrit poet Magha, the author of ''Sisupalavadha,'' lived here in 680 CE. The Jain scholar Siddharshi Gani, a resident of Bhinmal wrote ''Upmitibahava prapancha katha'' in 905 CE. The ''Jain Ramayana'' was written by Jain monk Vijayagani in 1595 CE. Jain acharya Udyotana Suri wrote '' Kuvalayamala'' here.

References

; Sources * * * * ** * * * * * {{cite book , title=The Glory That was Gurjardesha, Part 3 , last=Munshi , first=K.M., publisher=Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan , year=1944 , location=Bombay Historical Indian regions Geography of Rajasthan Geography of Gujarat History of Gujarat

Early references to Gurjara country

Successor Gurjara kingdoms

Later references

Culture and science

See also

References