Rahila (

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 ...

: Rāhila, reigned c. 885-905 CE) was a king of 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. ...

dynasty of India. He ruled in 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 Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

and

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 ...

). Rahila was the son of his predecessor

Vijayashakti Vijayashakti (IAST: Vijayaśakti) was a 9th-century ruler from the Chandela dynasty of Bundelkhand region in central India. In the Chandela records, he is generally mentioned with his elder brother and predecessor Jayashakti. The two are believe ...

. R. K. Dikshit dates his reign approximately to 885-905 CE. In an inscription of one of his successors, his title is given as ''nṛpati'' ("Lord of men"). No royal titles have been assigned to him, which suggests that he was a subordinate to the

Pratihara The Gurjara-Pratihara was a dynasty that ruled much of Northern India from the mid-8th to the 11th century. They ruled first at Ujjain and later at Kannauj. The Gurjara-Pratiharas were instrumental in containing Arab armies moving east of the ...

s, like other early Chandela rulers. Not much is known about Rahila's military career. He is mentioned in two

Khajuraho Khajuraho () is a city, near Chhatarpur in Chhatarpur district of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. One of the most popular tourist destinations in India, Khajuraho has the country's largest group of medieval Hindu and Jain temples, famous f ...

inscriptions of his successors. These eulogistic inscriptions praise him as a warrior, but do not provide much information of historical value. For example, the 954 CE Khajuraho inscription states that he gave enemies sleepless nights. Using analogies, it compares a battle to a

ritual sacrifice Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exis ...

, and states that Rahila was never tired of this sacrifice. The legendary text ''Paramala Raso'', which is of doubtful authenticity, contains a highly exaggerated account of Rahila's military campaigns. For example, it claims that he invaded Rameshvara with a cavalary of 2 million horses, and confiscated a thousand ships from the king of

Simhala Sinhalese people ( si, සිංහල ජනතාව, Sinhala Janathāva) are an Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group native to the island of Sri Lanka. They were historically known as Hela language, Hela people ( si, හෙ� ...

People

Rahila Banu Rahila (IAST: Rāhila, reigned c. 885-905 CE) was a king of the Chandela dynasty of India. He ruled in the Jejakabhukti region (Bundelkhand in present-day Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh). Rahila was the son of his predecessor Vijayashakti. R. ...

, Indian House Wife Rahila is believed to have commissioned several

public works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, sc ...

. Inscriptions at an Ajaygadh temple bear his name. The Rahilya Sagar lake in

Mahoba Mahoba is a city in Mahoba District of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in the Bundelkhand region, well known for the ninth century granite Sun temple built in Pratihara style. It is also well known for the 24 rock-cut Jain tirthankara image ...

, which has a temple on its bank, is named after him. ''Paramala Raso'' states that he established the Rasina (or Rajavasini) township, which is identified with Rasin village near Badausa. This village has a Chandela-style temple. According to ''Paramala Raso'', Rahila's queen was Rājamatī. The Kalachuri king Kokkala I married a Chandela princess Naṭṭā-devi. According to R. C. Majumdar, this princess might have been a daughter of Rahila's uncle

Jayashakti Jayashakti ( IAST: Jayaśakti) was a 9th-century ruler from the Chandela dynasty of Central India. In the Chandela records, he is generally mentioned with his younger brother and successor, Vijayashakti. The two are believed to have ruled the Ch ...

. However, R. K. Dikshit, believes that she was probably a daughter or sister of Rahila.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{Chandelas of Jejakabhukti Chandelas of Jejakabhukti 9th-century Indian monarchs 10th-century Indian monarchs