Mahindu (r. c. 994–1015 CE), also known as Mahendra or Mahindra, was an Indian king belonging to the Naddula Chahamana dynasty. He ruled the area around

Naddula Nadol is a census town in Desuri tehsil of Pali district, India. Ashapura Mataji temple and Shri Nadol Tirth attract pilgrims. History Nadol was originally called Naddula. The Chahamanas of Naddula (called Chauhans of Nadol in vernacular lege ...

(present-day Nadol in

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 ...

Reign

Mahindu succeeded his father Vigrahapala on the throne of Naddula. According to the Bijapur inscription of the Hastikundi Rashtrakuta prince Dhavala, a ruler named Mahendra helped him against Durlabharaja.

F. Kielhorn Lorenz Franz Kielhorn (31 May 1840, Osnabrück - 19 March 1908, Göttingen) was a German Indologist. He studied under Theodor Benfey at the University of Göttingen, where he became member of Burschenschaft Hannovera (fraternity), and under Ad ...

identified this Mahendra with Mahindu, the king of Naddula.

D. R. Bhandarkar Devadatta Ramakrishna Bhandarkar ( mr, देवदत्त रामकृष्ण भांडारकर; 19 November 1875 – 13 May 1950) was an Indian archaeologist and epigraphist who worked with the Archaeological Survey of India (AS ...

identified Durlabharaja as Durlabharaja Chaulukya. However, historian

Dasharatha Sharma Dasharatha Sharma (1903–1976) was an Indologist with particular interest in the history of the Rajasthan region of India. Born in the Rajasthani city of Churu, he studied in the city of Bikaner and at the University of Delhi. He had degrees ...

points out that Durlabharaja Chaulukya had not ascended the throne when this inscription was issued. Sharma, therefore, identified Durlabharaja as Durlabharaja Chahamana, Dhavala seems to have been a close ally of Mahindu, and helped him against the

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 th ...

king Munja.

Hemachandra's legend

''Dvyashrya-Kavya'', a legendary text by the Chaulukya court scholar

Hemachandra Hemachandra was a 12th century () Indian Jain saint, scholar, poet, mathematician, philosopher, yogi, grammarian, law theorist, historian, lexicographer, rhetorician, logician, and prosodist. Noted as a prodigy by his contemporaries, he gain ...

, states that Mahendra-raja organized a ''

swayamvara Svayamvara ( sa, स्वयंवर, svayaṃvara, translit-std=IAST), in ancient India, was a method of marriage in which a woman chose a man as her husband from a group of suitors. In this context, in Sanskrit means 'self' and means 'g ...

'' (husband-choosing ceremony) for his sister Durlabha-devi. Besides Durlabharaja, he invited the rulers of

Anga Anga (Sanskrit: ) was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe of eastern South Asia whose existence is attested during the Iron Age. The members of the Aṅga tribe were called the Āṅgeyas. Counted among the "sixteen great nations" in Buddhist texts ...

Andhra Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

Kashi Kashi or Kaashi may refer to: Places * Varanasi (historically known as "Kashi"), a holy city in India **Kingdom of Kashi, an ancient kingdom in the same place, one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas **Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Varanasi * Kashgar, a cit ...

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, ...

Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the town of Vrindavan, and from Govardhan. ...

and

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 Ujj ...

to this ceremony. Durlabha-devi chose Durlabharaja as her husband. Out of jealousy, the other invitees formed a confederacy and attacked his contingent, while he was returning to his capital. Durlabharaja defeated their combined army. Mahindu's younger daughter Lakshmi-devi married Nagaraja, the younger brother of Durlabharaja. On basis of this legend, historian R. B. Singh theorizes that the Chahamana-Chaulukya rivalry concluded with a matrimonial alliance. He also concludes that Mahindu was a powerful ruler, because of which several distant kings responded to the ''swayamvara'' invitation. Other historians doubt the historicity of this legend. According to A. K. Majumdar, the king of Naddula was a relatively insignificant ruler, and it is hard to believe that so many major rulers left their kingdoms to attend his ceremony at a time when northern India was under attacks from

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 ...

. Moreover, it is unlikely that Durlabharaja would have been able to defeat a confederacy of all these powerful kings.

Successors

Mahindu had two sons:

Ashvapala Ashvapala ( IAST: Aśvapāla, r. c. 1015–1019 CE) was an Indian king belonging to the Naddula Chahamana dynasty. He ruled the area around Naddula (present-day Nadol in Rajasthan). Reign Ashvapala was the son of his predecessor Mahindu (also ...

and

Anahilla Anahilla ( IAST: Aṇahilla, r. c. 1024–1055 CE) was an Indian king belonging to the Naddula Chahamana dynasty. He ruled the area around Naddula (present-day Nadol in Rajasthan). He defeated the Chaulukya king Bhima I, defeated a general of t ...

. He was succeeded by Ashvapala, followed by Ashvapala's son

Ahila Ahila (r. c. 1019–1024 CE) was an Indian king belonging to the Naddula Chahamana dynasty. He ruled the area around Naddula (present-day Nadol in Rajasthan). He defeated the Chaulukya invader Bhima I. Reign Ahila was the son of his predece ...

. Anahilla succeeded Ahila on the throne of Naddula.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{Chahamanas of Naddula Chahamanas of Naddula 10th-century Indian monarchs 11th-century Indian monarchs