Prithvirāja II (r. c. 1165–1169 CE ) was an Indian king from the Chahamana dynasty. He ruled parts of north-western India, including 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 ...

. He is also known by other names, including Prithvi-bhatta, Prithvi-deva and Pethad-deva.

Early life

Prithviraja was a son of the Chahamana king Jagaddeva. The rule of Jagaddeva was followed by that of his brother

Vigraharaja IV Vigraharāja IV (r. c. 1150–1164 CE), also known as Visaladeva, was a king from the Chauhan (Chahamana) dynasty in north-western India. He turned the Chahamana kingdom into an empire by subduing the neighbouring kingdoms of Chaulukya, Naddu ...

, and then Vigraharaja's son

Aparagangeya Amaragangeya (r. c. 1164-1165 CE ), also known as Aparagangeya, was an Indian king from the Chahamana dynasty. He ruled parts of north-western India, including present-day Rajasthan. Amaragangeya was a son of the Chahamana king Vigraharaja IV. ...

. According to an inscription found at the Ruthi Rani temple at

Dhod Dhod Assembly constituency is one of constituencies of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly in the Sikar (Lok Sabha constituency). Dhod Constituency covers all voters from parts of Sikar tehsil, which include ILRC Dhod, ILRC Sihot Bari, ILRC S ...

, Prithviraja defeated the king of Shakambhari. This indicates that Prithviraja de-throned Aparagangeya, and became the Chahamana king.

Reign

Prithviraja appears to have faced Muslim invasions from the west. According to the 1168 CE

Hansi Hansi, is a city and municipal council in Hisar district in the Indian state of Haryana. It appears that at one time Hansi was larger, more prosperous and more important than Hisar. The town has several important buildings of archeological import ...

stone inscription, he assigned his maternal uncle Kilhana as the in-charge of the Ashika Fort (modern Hansi), anxious to save it from Hammira (

Emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...

). The "Hammira" can be identified with

Ghaznavid The Ghaznavid dynasty ( fa, غزنویان ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a culturally Persianate, Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turkic ''mamluk'' origin, ruling, at its greatest extent, large parts of Persia, Khorasan, much of Transoxiana and the northwest ...

king

Khusrau Malik Abu'l-Muzaffar Khusrau Malik ibn Khusrau-Shah ( fa, ابوالمظفر خسروملک بن خسروشاه), better simply known as Khusrau Malik (; also spelled Khosrow), was the last Sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire, ruling from 1160 to 1186. He w ...

, who controlled

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

at the time. The Hansi inscription also states that Kilhana burnt a town called Panchapura.

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 ...

identifies Panchapura with modern Panjaur. The ruler of Panchapura accepted Prithviraja's suzerainty, and surrendered to him an expensive pearl necklace. The

Bijolia Bijoliya is a census town in Bhilwara district in the state of Rajasthan, India and is surrounded by nature and waterfalls and is famous for Tapodaya Teerth Kshetra and Mandakini Temple. Geography Bijoliya Kalan is located at . It has an aver ...

rock inscription states that Prithviraja secured an elephant named Manahsiddhikari from a ruler named Vasantapala. Dasharatha Sharma identifies this Vasantapala with a king mentioned in the play ''Lalita-Vigraharaja-Nataka''. According to this play, Vasantapala was the father of Vigraharaja's lover Desaladevi. Sharma theorizes that Aparagangeya was Desaladevi's son. Thus, Vasantapala was probably an enemy of Prithviraja, and was subdued by him. Prithviraja probably died heirless, because of which he was succeeded by his uncle

Someshvara Someshwara or its variant spellings ''Someshwar'', ''Someshvara'' and ''Someshvar'' may refer to: * Soma (deity), a Vedic Hindu deity * Shiva, a Hindu deity People * Someshvara I, 11th century Indian king from the Western Chalukya dynasty * Somes ...

Religion

Prithviraja's queen was Suhavadevi or Sudhava. Both were devout

Shaivite Shaivism (; sa, शैवसम्प्रदायः, Śaivasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Supreme Being. One of the largest Hindu denominations, it incorporates many sub-traditions rangin ...

s. Prithviraja gifted villages and precious metals (including gold) to

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...

s. He also granted the Morajhari village to the Parshvanatha Jain temple at Bijolia.

Inscriptions

Inscriptions dated to Prithviraja's reign have been found at following places: *

, 1167 CE (1224 VS) *

, 1168 CE (1225 VS) * Menal, 1168 CE (1225 VS) and 1169 CE (1226 VS)

References

Bibliography

* * {{Chahamanas of Shakambhari Chahamanas of Shakambhari 12th-century Indian monarchs