Jaya-chandra (
IAST: Jayacandra, r. c. 1170–1194 CE) was a king from the
Gahadavala
The Gahadavala dynasty (IAST: Gāhaḍavālas), also Gahadavalas of Kanauj, was a Rajput dynasty that ruled parts of the present-day Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, during 11th and 12th centuries. Their capital was located at Varana ...
dynasty of northern India. He is also known as Jayachchandra (
IAST: Jayaccandra) in inscriptions, and Jaichand in vernacular legends. He ruled the Antarvedi country in the
Gangetic plains
The Indo-Gangetic Plain, also known as the North Indian River Plain, is a fertile plain encompassing northern regions of the Indian subcontinent, including most of northern and eastern India, around half of Pakistan, virtually all of Ba ...
, including the important cities of
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 ...
and
Varanasi
Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.
*
*
*
* The city has a syncretic t ...
. His territory included much of the present-day eastern
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
and some parts of western
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...
. The last powerful king of his dynasty, he was defeated and killed in 1194 CE, in a
battle near Yamuna against a
Ghurid
The Ghurid dynasty (also spelled Ghorids; fa, دودمان غوریان, translit=Dudmân-e Ğurīyân; self-designation: , ''Šansabānī'') was a Persianate dynasty and a clan of presumably eastern Iranian Tajik origin, which ruled from th ...
army led by
Muhammad of Ghor
Mu'izz ad-Din Muhammad ibn Sam ( fa, معز الدین محمد بن سام), also Mu'izz ad-Din Muhammad Ghori, also Ghūri ( fa, معز الدین محمد غوری) (1144 – March 15, 1206), commonly known as Muhammad of Ghor, also Gh ...
.
A fictional account of Jayachandra (as Jaichand) occurs in a legendary text ''
Prithviraj Raso''. The epic poem was likely written centuries after his death. According to this account, he was a rival of another Indian king,
Prithviraj Chauhan
Prithviraja III ( IAST: Pṛthvī-rāja; reign. – 1192 CE), popularly known as Prithviraj Chauhan or Rai Pithora, was a king from the Chauhan (Chahamana) dynasty who ruled the territory of Sapadalaksha, with his capital at Ajmer in presen ...
. His daughter
Samyukta
Samyukta, also known as Sanyogita or Sanjukta, was the daughter of Jaichand, the King of Kannauj, and one of three wives of Prithviraj Chauhan. The love between Prithviraj and Samyukta is one of India's most popular medieval romances, composed ...
eloped with Prithviraj against his wishes, and he allied with the foreign non-Hindu Ghurids to ensure Prithviraj's downfall. The name "Jaichand" became synonymous with the word "traitor" in folklore of northern India because of this legend.
Early life
Jayachandra was a son of the
Gahadavala
The Gahadavala dynasty (IAST: Gāhaḍavālas), also Gahadavalas of Kanauj, was a Rajput dynasty that ruled parts of the present-day Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, during 11th and 12th centuries. Their capital was located at Varana ...
king
Vijayachandra
Vijaya-chandra ( IAST: Vijayacandra, r. c. 1155-1169 CE) was an Indian king from the Gahadavala dynasty. He ruled the Antarvedi country in the Gangetic plains, which includes a major part of the present-day eastern Uttar Pradesh, including Vara ...
. According to a Kamauli inscription, he was crowned king on 21 June 1170 CE. Jayachandra inherited his grandfather
Govindachandra's royal titles: ''Ashva-pati Nara-pati Gaja-pati Rajatrayadhipati'' ("leader of three forces: the
cavalry, the
infantry
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...
and the
elephant corps") and ''Vividha-vidya-vichara-vachaspati'' ("patron of different branches of learning").
Military career
Jayachandra's inscriptions praise him using the conventional grandiloquent terms, but do not mention any concrete achievement of the king. The records of his neighbouring Hindu kings (
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 t ...
,
Chahamana
Chauhan, historically ''Chahamana'', is a clan name historically associated with the various ruling Rajput families during the Medieval India in Rajasthan.
Subclans
Khichi, Hada, Songara, Bhadauria, Devda etc. are the branches or subclan ...
,
Chandela
The Chandelas of Jejakabhukti was an Indian dynasty in Central India. The Chandelas ruled much of the Bundelkhand region (then called ''Jejakabhukti'') between the 9th and the 13th centuries. They belonged to the Chandel clan of the Rajputs.
...
and
Kalachuri) do not mention any conflict with him either. The
Sena king
Lakshmana Sena
Lakshmana Sena (reign: 1178–1206), also called Lakshman Sen in modern indian languages, was the ruler from the Sena dynasty of the Bengal region on the Indian subcontinent. His rule lasted for 28 years; and extended to much of the eastern re ...
is believed to have invaded the Gahadavala territory, but this invasion may have taken place after Jayachandra's death.
Ghurid invasion
The Muslim
Ghurid
The Ghurid dynasty (also spelled Ghorids; fa, دودمان غوریان, translit=Dudmân-e Ğurīyân; self-designation: , ''Šansabānī'') was a Persianate dynasty and a clan of presumably eastern Iranian Tajik origin, which ruled from th ...
s invaded Jayachandra's kingdom in the 1193 CE. The Muslim accounts describe Jayachandra as the ''Rāi of Banaras'' (king of
Varanasi
Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.
*
*
*
* The city has a syncretic t ...
). According to
Ibn Asir's ''
Kamil ut-Tawarikh'', Jayachandra was "the greatest king of India and possessed the largest territory", and his army had a million soldiers and 700
elephants.
The Hindu accounts (such as
Vidyapati
Vidyapati ( – 1460), also known by the sobriquet ''Maithil Kavi Kokil'' (the poet cuckoo of Maithili), was a Maithili and Sanskrit polymath-poet-saint, playwright, composer, biographer, philosopher, law-theorist, writer, courtier ...
's ''Purusha-Pariksha'' and ''
Prithviraj Raso'') claim that Jayachandra defeated the Ghurids multiple times. The contemporary Muslim accounts, on the other hand, mention only two battles: one relatively minor engagement and the
Battle of Chandwar, in which Jayachandra was killed.
The Ghurid ruler
Muhammad of Ghor
Mu'izz ad-Din Muhammad ibn Sam ( fa, معز الدین محمد بن سام), also Mu'izz ad-Din Muhammad Ghori, also Ghūri ( fa, معز الدین محمد غوری) (1144 – March 15, 1206), commonly known as Muhammad of Ghor, also Gh ...
had defeated the
Chahamana
Chauhan, historically ''Chahamana'', is a clan name historically associated with the various ruling Rajput families during the Medieval India in Rajasthan.
Subclans
Khichi, Hada, Songara, Bhadauria, Devda etc. are the branches or subclan ...
king
Prithviraja III
Prithviraja III (IAST: Pṛthvī-rāja; reign. – 1192 CE), popularly known as Prithviraj Chauhan or Rai Pithora, was a king from the Chauhan (Chahamana) dynasty who ruled the territory of Sapadalaksha, with his capital at Ajmer in present- ...
in 1192 CE. According to
Hasan Nizami
Hasan Nizami was a Persian language poet and historian, who lived in the 12th and 13th centuries. He migrated from Nishapur to Delhi in India, where he wrote ''Tajul-Ma'asir'', the first official history of the Delhi Sultanate.
Early life
Lit ...
's 13th century text ''Taj-ul-Maasir'', he decided to attack the
Gahadavala
The Gahadavala dynasty (IAST: Gāhaḍavālas), also Gahadavalas of Kanauj, was a Rajput dynasty that ruled parts of the present-day Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, during 11th and 12th centuries. Their capital was located at Varana ...
kingdom after taking control of
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 "' ...
,
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...
and
Kol. He dispatched a 50,000-strong army commanded by
Qutb al-Din Aibak
Qutb ud-Din Aibak ( fa, قطبالدین ایبک), (1150 – 14 November 1210) was a Turkic general of the Ghurid king Muhammad Ghori. He was in charge of the Ghurid territories in northern India, and after Muhammad Ghori's assassination in ...
. Nizami states that this army defeated "the army of the enemies of the Religion" (
Islam). It appears that the defeated army was not Jayachandra's main army, but only a smaller body of his frontier guards.
Jayachandra then himself led a larger army against
Muhammad of Ghor
Mu'izz ad-Din Muhammad ibn Sam ( fa, معز الدین محمد بن سام), also Mu'izz ad-Din Muhammad Ghori, also Ghūri ( fa, معز الدین محمد غوری) (1144 – March 15, 1206), commonly known as Muhammad of Ghor, also Gh ...
who marched from
Ghazni
Ghazni ( prs, غزنی, ps, غزني), historically known as Ghaznain () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana ( gr, Αλεξάνδρεια Ωπιανή), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan ...
with an army of 50,000 cavalry in 1194 CE.
According to the 16th century 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 ...
, Jayachandra was seated on an elephant when Qutb al-Din killed him with an arrow. The Ghurids captured 300 elephants alive, and plundered the Gahadavala treasury at the Asni fort. The identification of Asni is not certain, but most historians believe it to be the present-day Asni village in
Fatehpur district. Afterwards, the Ghurids ransacked the city of Kashi (Varanasi) and destroyed several temples there. According to Hasan Nizami, "nearly 1000 temples were destroyed and mosques were raised on their foundations". A number of local feudatory chiefs came forward to offer their allegiance to the Ghurids.
Jayachandra's son
Harishchandra
Harishchandra () is a legendary king of the Solar dynasty, who appears in several legends in texts such as the '' Aitareya Brahmana'', '' Mahabharata'', the '' Markandeya Purana'', and the '' Devi Bhagavata Purana''. The most famous of these s ...
succeeded him on the Gahadavala throne. According to one theory, he was a Ghurid vassal. However, in an 1197 CE
Kotwa inscription, he assumes the titles of a sovereign.
''Prithviraj Raso'' legend
Jayachandra is a prominent character in the
Braj
Braj, also known as Vraj, Vraja, Brij or Brijbhoomi, is a region in India on both sides of the Yamuna river with its centre at Mathura- Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh state encompassing the area which also includes Palwal and Ballabhgarh in Harya ...
language text ''
Prithviraj Raso''. According to the text, Jayachandra ("Jaichand") was a cousin of the
Chahamana
Chauhan, historically ''Chahamana'', is a clan name historically associated with the various ruling Rajput families during the Medieval India in Rajasthan.
Subclans
Khichi, Hada, Songara, Bhadauria, Devda etc. are the branches or subclan ...
king
Prithviraja III
Prithviraja III (IAST: Pṛthvī-rāja; reign. – 1192 CE), popularly known as Prithviraj Chauhan or Rai Pithora, was a king from the Chauhan (Chahamana) dynasty who ruled the territory of Sapadalaksha, with his capital at Ajmer in present- ...
("Prithviraj Chauhan"). Their mothers were sisters born to the
Tomara king of
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...
. This claim is directly contradicted by the more reliable contemporary text ''
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 ...
'', according to which Prithviraj's mother had nothing to do with the Tomaras.
The text states that Jaichand's wife was a daughter of king Mukunda-deva, the
Somavanshi king of
Kataka. Jaichand's father
Vijayachandra
Vijaya-chandra ( IAST: Vijayacandra, r. c. 1155-1169 CE) was an Indian king from the Gahadavala dynasty. He ruled the Antarvedi country in the Gangetic plains, which includes a major part of the present-day eastern Uttar Pradesh, including Vara ...
had defeated Mukunda-deva, who concluded a peace treaty by marrying his daughter to prince Jaichand.
Samyukta
Samyukta, also known as Sanyogita or Sanjukta, was the daughter of Jaichand, the King of Kannauj, and one of three wives of Prithviraj Chauhan. The love between Prithviraj and Samyukta is one of India's most popular medieval romances, composed ...
was the issue of this marriage. This narrative is historically inaccurate: the Somavanshi dynasty did not have any king named Mukunda-deva. Moreover, the Somavanshis had already been displaced by the
Gangas
The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
before Vijayachandra's ascension.
The text also talks of a conflict between Jaichand and Prithviraj. Neither Chahamana nor Gahadavala inscriptions mention any such conflict. The text claims that Jaichand assisted the
Chandela
The Chandelas of Jejakabhukti was an Indian dynasty in Central India. The Chandelas ruled much of the Bundelkhand region (then called ''Jejakabhukti'') between the 9th and the 13th centuries. They belonged to the Chandel clan of the Rajputs.
...
king
Paramardi
Paramardi (reigned c. 1165–1203 CE) was a king of the Chandela dynasty of central India. He was the last powerful Chandela king, and ruled the Jejakabhukti region (Bundelkhand in present-day Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh). Around 1182–11 ...
in a battle against Prithviraj. The Chandelas were defeated in this battle. The inscriptional evidence confirms that Prithviraj defeated Paramardi, but there is no evidence for a Gahadavala-Chandela alliance. That said, it is known that Paramardi's grandfather
Madanavarman
Madana-Varman (reigned c. 1128–1165 CE) was a king of the Chandela dynasty of India. He succeeded his father Prithvi-Varman as the ruler of the Jejakabhukti region (Bundelkhand in present-day Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh). He revived the ...
had friendly relations with the Gahadavalas. It is also possible that Gahadavalas may have supported the Chandelas, because the Chahamanas were a common rival of these two kingdoms. This hypothesis notwithstanding, there is no evidence to suggest that Jayachandra and Prithviraja were rivals.
''Prithviraj Raso'' further claims that Jaichand launched a ''
digvijaya'' campaign (conquest in all directions). At the end of this campaign, he conducted a
rajasuya ceremony to proclaim his supremacy. However, none of the Gahadavala inscriptions mention such a ceremony by Jaichand. The contemporary literary work ''Rambha-Manjari'', which presents Jaichand as a hero, does not mention this campaign either.
According to the text, Jaichand also conducted a
svayamvara (husband selection) ceremony for his daughter Samyukta. He did not invite Prithviraj to this ceremony, but Samyukta had fallen in love with Prithviraj, and decided to select him as her husband. Prithviraj came to the ceremony and eloped with the princess after a fight with Jaichand's men. This anecdote is not supported by any historical evidence either.
It is possible that Jaichand and Prithviraj were political rivals, as indicated by their non-cooperation against the Ghurid invaders. But the ''Prithviraj Raso'' goes on to claim that Jaichand not only refused to help Prithviraj against the Ghurids, but also formed an alliance with the invading Ghurid king
Muhammad of Ghor
Mu'izz ad-Din Muhammad ibn Sam ( fa, معز الدین محمد بن سام), also Mu'izz ad-Din Muhammad Ghori, also Ghūri ( fa, معز الدین محمد غوری) (1144 – March 15, 1206), commonly known as Muhammad of Ghor, also Gh ...
Although the account in
Prithviraj Raso is disputed by historians, the name "Jaichand" became synonymous with the word "traitor" in Indian folklore.
Inscriptions
Several inscriptions from Jayachandra's reign have been discovered, most of them in and around
Varanasi
Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.
*
*
*
* The city has a syncretic t ...
. One of the inscriptions has been discovered at
Bodh Gaya in present-day
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...
.
The inscriptions from Jayachandra's reign include the following:
Cultural activities
Jayachandra's court poet Bhatta Kedar wrote a eulogy titled ''Jaichand Prakash'' on his life, but the work is now
lost
Lost may refer to getting lost, or to:
Geography
*Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland
* Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US
History
*Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...
. Another lost eulogy on his life is the poet Madhukar's ''Jaya-Mayank-Jasha-Chandrika'' (c. 1183).
Religion
According to the 1167 CE Kamauli inscription, as a prince, Jayachandra was initiated as a worshipper of
Krishna
Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...
by the
Vaishnavite
Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...
guru
Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverential ...
Praharaja-Sharman. Nevertheless, after ascending the throne, Jayachandra assumed the dynasty's traditional title ''Parama-Maheshvara'' ("devotee of
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 ...
"). His Kamauli grant inscription states that he made a village grant and performed
tulapurusha ceremony in the presence of the god Kṛittivāsa (an epithet of Shiva).
An inscription discovered at
Bodh Gaya suggests that Jayachandra also showed interest in
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...
. This inscription begins with an invocation to
Gautam Buddha Gautama, Gautam or Gotama may refer to:
Ancient sages and philosophers
* Akṣapāda Gautama, a Hindu sage and founder of the Nyaya school of Hindu philosophy: see Nyāya Sūtras
* Indrabhuti Gautama, chief disciple of Mahavira
* Gautama Buddha, th ...
, the
Bodhisattava
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards Enlightenment in Buddhism, bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood.
In ...
s, and one Shrimitra (Śrimītra). Shrimitra is named as a perceptor (''
diksha
Diksha (Sanskrit: दीक्षा) also spelled diksa, deeksha or deeksa in common usage, translated as a "preparation or consecration for a religious ceremony", is giving of a mantra or an initiation by the guru (in Guru–shishya tradition) ...
-guru'') of Kashisha Jayachchandra, identified with the king Jayachandra. The inscription records the construction of a ''guha'' (cave monastery) at Jayapura.
See also
*
La Malinche
Marina or Malintzin ( 1500 – 1529), more popularly known as La Malinche , a Nahua woman from the Mexican Gulf Coast, became known for contributing to the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire (1519–1521), by acting as an interpreter, ad ...
,
Yanakuna
Yanakuna were originally individuals in the Inca Empire who left the ayllu system and worked full-time at a variety of tasks for the Inca, the ''quya'' (Inca queen), or the religious establishment. A few members of this serving class enjoyed high s ...
,
Benedict Arnold,
Vidkun Quisling
Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling (, ; 18 July 1887 – 24 October 1945) was a Norwegian military officer, politician and Nazi collaborator who nominally list of heads of government of Norway, headed the government of Norway during t ...
, similar terms associated with "traitors" in popular culture.
References
Bibliography
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{{Gahadavala dynasty
Gahadavala dynasty
12th-century Indian monarchs
1194 deaths