Jayasimha was an early Chudasama king known only from the ballads and folklore of

Saurashtra region 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 ...

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 ...

, India.

In bardic legends

The bards explain that the names Dyas and Gario are both titles, Dyas meaning the giver and Gario (Grahario) the seizer. They say that the real name of this chieftain was Jayasimha but that his seizing on

Kanauj 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 ...

obtained for him the title of Gario and his munificence caused him to be known as Dyas. His seizure of Kanauj is thus explained: Jayasimha was a connection of the celebrated Jayachandra of Kanauj and is said to have been left by that chieftain in charge of Kanauj when Jayachandra went forth to war with

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 present- ...

. On Jayachandra's return defeated. Jayasimha refused to permit him to enter and retained possession of the place. For this achievement, he was called Grahario or Gario. Subsequently terms were arranged between Jayachandra and Jayasimha and the latter returned to Sorath conquering

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...

on his return journey and defeating the Raja of

Mewar Mewar or Mewad is a region in the south-central part of Rajasthan state of India. It includes the present-day districts of Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Pratapgarh, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Pirawa Tehsil of Jhalawar District of Rajasthan, Neemuch and Man ...

. Jayasimha afterwards joined 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 Bhimdev in his warfare with Prithviraj and is alluded to in the ''

Prithviraj Raso The ''Prithviraj Raso'' (IAST: Pṛthvīrāja Rāso) is a Braj language epic poem about the life of Prithviraj Chauhan (reign. c. 1177–1192 CE). It is attributed to Chand Bardai, who according to the text, was a court poet of the king. Th ...

'' as Chudasama Jayasimha according to the ''

Ras Mala ''Râs Mâlâ: Hindoo Annals of the Province of Goozerat, in Western India'' is a 1856 historical work by British colonial administrator Alexander Kinloch Forbes. Divided in two volumes, the work has four sections documenting the history and chron ...

'' of Alexander Kinloch Forbes. On the death of this chieftain his queen committed sati. He was succeeded by his son Raisimha. The historical accuracy of these bardic legends is doubtful.

Dates and succession

It is difficult to decide the correct dates of the king as the information about him is derived only from bardic tales and folklore. According to the ''Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency'', Jayasimha reigned from 1152-1180 CE and he was succeeded by Raisimha (1180-1184 CE) followed by Gajaraja/Mahipala (1184-1201 CE). Though these dates are not reliable.

References

{{Chudasama dynasty Chudasama dynasty 12th-century Indian monarchs Legendary monarchs