Samantaraja (

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 ...

: Sāmantarāja, r. c. 7th century CE ) was an Indian king belonging to the Chahamana dynasty of Shakambhari (modern Sambhar). He ruled parts of 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 ...

in north-western India. The exact period of Samanta is not certain. According to

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 ...

, his reign ended around 725 VS (c. 668 CE). On the other hand, Historian R. B. Singh assigned Samanta's reign to the period c. 684-709 CE and identifies

Manik Rai Manik Rai is a legendary 7th century rajput king from Ajmer, India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most ...

as Samantaraja, the 7th century Chahamana ruler of Shakambhari. The 1170 CE

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 of his descendant

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 ...

states that Samanta was born at Ahichchhatrapura in the

gotra In Hindu culture, the term gotra (Sanskrit: गोत्र) is considered to be equivalent to lineage. It broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor or patriline. Generally, the gotra fo ...

sage Sage or SAGE may refer to: Plants * ''Salvia officinalis'', common sage, a small evergreen subshrub used as a culinary herb ** Lamiaceae, a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint or deadnettle or sage family ** ''Salvia'', a large ...

Vatsa. Ahichchhatrapura is identified with modern

Nagaur Nagaur is a city and municipal council in Nagaur district of the state of Rajasthan in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Nagaur District. The Nagaur city lies about midway between Jodhpur and Bikaner. Nagaur is famous for spices ...

Vasudeva According to Hindu scriptures, Vasudeva (Sanskrit: वसुदेव, IAST: ''Vasudeva''), also called Anakadundubhi, (''anakas'' and ''dundubhis'' both refer to ''drums'', after the musicians who played these instruments at the time of his b ...

, an ancestor of Samanta, is known from the historical records, but the relationship between the two is not certain. Historian R. B. Singh theorizes that after Vasudeva, the Chahamanas were overshadowed by the

Vardhana The Pushyabhuti dynasty ( IAST: Puṣyabhūti), also known as the Vardhana dynasty ruled in northern India during 6th and 7th centuries. The dynasty reached its zenith under its last ruler Harsha Vardhana (c. 590–647 CE), and the Empire of Ha ...

s, and Samanta restored the Chahamana rule at Shakambhari. The medieval bardic legends state that

restored the fortunes of the Chauhan (Chahamana) family by the grace of the goddess Shakambhari. Singh identifies

as Samanta. Samanta was succeeded by Naradeva.

References

Bibliography

* * {{Chahamanas of Shakambhari Chahamanas of Shakambhari 7th-century Indian monarchs