Prithvi-Varman (
IAST
The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during ...
: Pṛthvīvarman; reigned c. 1120–1128 CE) was a king of the
Chandela dynasty of India. He succeeded his nephew
Jayavarman as the ruler of the Jejakabhukti region (
Bundelkhand
Bundelkhand (, ) is a geographical and cultural region and a proposed state and also a mountain range in central & North India. The hilly region is now divided between the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, with the larger portion lyin ...
in present-day
Madhya Pradesh and
Uttar Pradesh).
Early life
Prithvivarman and his elder brother
Sallakshanavarman were sons of the Chandela ruler
Kirttivarman from the same mother, as stated in the Mau inscription. After Kirttivarman's death, Sallakshana and his son
Jayavarman ruled the Chandela king. After Jayavarman abdicate the throne and retired, Prithvivarman became the new king.
Career
Like his predecessors, Prithvivarman issued copper coins featuring the deity
Hanuman. He is also known from the four later Chandela inscriptions:
* Augasi copper-plate inscription of Madanavarman
*
Mau
Mau may refer to:
Places
Kenya
* Mau Escarpment
* Mau Forest
India
* Mau, Bhind, a town in Madhya Pradesh
* Mau, Mawal, Pune district, Marahrashtra
* Mau, Punjab, a village in Punjab
* Mau, Uttar Pradesh, India
* Mau district, Uttar P ...
inscription of Madanavarman
*
Ajaygarh inscription of Kalyanadevi (the wife of Viravarman)
* Ajaygarh inscription of Ganapati
These inscriptions do not mention any glorious achievements of Prithvivarman. However, this does not necessarily mean that he was a weak ruler; it is possible that he did not adopt an aggressive expansionist policy. The Mau inscription states that he handled the hereditary administration well. It also contains a conventional eulogy, describing him as someone who practiced the conduct of the "Golden age" by hating the ill-behaved persons, delighting those worthy, taking lawful wealth and spending it according to the sacred texts, and protecting all beings.
According to the Mau inscription, Prithvivarman appointed Gadadhara as his chief minister. Gadadhara had served as a ''pratihara'' (
chamberlain) to the previous king Jayavarman, and his father Ananta had served as a chief minister to the Chandela kings before Prithvivarman. An Ajaygarh inscription mentions Gokula of Gauda family as another hereditary minister of Prithvivarman.
Prithvivarman is given the usual royal titles ''Parama-bhattaraka Maharajadhiraja Parameshvara'' in the Augasi inscription. The Ajaygarh inscription of Kalyanadevi compares him to the legendary king
Prithu. He was succeeded by his son
Madanavarman.
References
Bibliography
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{{Chandelas of Jejakabhukti
Chandelas of Jejakabhukti
12th-century Indian monarchs