Simharaja (

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 ...

: Siṃharāja, r. c. 944-971 CE ) was an Indian king belonging to the Shakambhari Chahamana dynasty. He ruled the Sapadalaksha country, which included 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. He was the first Chahamana ruler to assume the title

Maharajadhiraja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, an ...

Early life

Most sources mention Simharaja as the successor of his father

Vakpatiraja I Vakpatiraja I (reigned c. 917–944 CE), also known as Vappayaraja, was an Indian king belonging to the Shakambhari Chahamana dynasty. He ruled the Sapadalaksha country, which included parts of present-day Rajasthan in north-western India. He ap ...

. However, 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 ...

inscription places one Vindhyanṛpati (or Vindhyaraja) between Vakpati and Simharaja. Historian H. C. Ray theorized that Vindhyanṛpati was a part of Vakpati's name. But 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 ...

, Vindhyanṛpati was probably an elder brother of Simharaja and had a very short reign.

Military career

Simharaja was the first ruler of the family to assume the title

("great king of kings"). This suggests that he became independent of the

Gurjara-Pratihara The Gurjara-Pratihara was a dynasty that ruled much of Hindustan, 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 ...

s, the overlords of his ancestors. According to the

Harsha Harshavardhana ( IAST Harṣa-vardhana; c. 590–647 CE) was a Pushyabhuti emperor who ruled northern India from 606 to 647 CE. He was the son of Prabhakaravardhana who had defeated the Alchon Huna invaders, and the younger brother of Rajyav ...

inscription, Simharaja killed the Tomara chief Salavana (or Lavana), whose soldiers either fled the battlefield or were imprisoned. The prisoners were released only when the common overlord of these two rulers came to Simharaja and secured their release. The overlord, who is called ''Raghukule Bhuchakravarti'' ("Emperor from Raghu's family") in the inscription, was probably a weak Gurjara-Pratihara emperor. Although the identity of this emperor is not clear; he might have been Devapala or one of his successors, such as Vijayapala or Rajyapala. Salavana probably belonged to the

Tomara dynasty The Tomara dynasty (also called Tomar in modern vernaculars because of schwa deletion) dynasty ruled parts of present-day Delhi and Haryana in India during 8th-12th century. Their rule over this region is attested to by multiple inscriptions ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

; historian R. B. Singh identifies him with Tejapala, who has been mentioned as the contemporary Tomara king in a Kumaon-Garhwal manuscript. He probably belonged to same family as Rudra, who had been killed by Simharaja's grandfather Chandana. Simharaja is also said to have defeated a Muslim general. The ''

Prabandha Kosha ''Prabandha-Kosha'' (IAST: Prabandhakośa) is an Indian Sanskrit-language collection of ''prabandha''s (legendary biographical narratives). It was compiled by the Jain scholar Rajashekhara Suri in 1349 CE. It describes the lives of 24 people, inclu ...

'' names the defeated general as Heji-ud-Din, and states that the battle took place at Jethan (possibly modern Jethana). The ''

Hammira Mahakavya ''Hammira Mahakavya'' (IAST: ''Hammīra-Mahākāvya'') is a 15th-century Indian Sanskrit epic poem written by the Jain scholar Nayachandra Suri. It is a legendary biography of the 13th century Chahamana king Hammira. While not entirely accurate fr ...

'' calls him Hetim, and states that Simharaja captured four of his elephants after killing him. The identity of the defeated general is uncertain, but he might have been a subordinate of the

Amir 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 ...

Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the List ...

. The ''Hammira Mahakavya'' further claims that Simharaja defeated the kings of Gujrata,

Lata Lata (Hindi: लता) is a Hindu/Sanskrit Indian female given name, which means "creeper" and "vine". Lata may refer to: Notable people named Lata *Lata Bhatt (born 1954), Indian singer. *Lata (born 1975), Musician. *Lata Mangeshkar (1929–20 ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

Chola The Chola dynasty was a Tamils, Tamil thalassocratic Tamil Dynasties, empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated ...

and

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 ...

. This is obviously a hyperbole, although Simharaja may have achieved some military successes against his neighbours.

Personal life

The ''

Prithviraja Vijaya ''Prithviraja Vijaya'' (IAST: Pṛthvīrāja Vijaya, "Prithviraja's Victory") is an eulogistic Sanskrit epic poem on the life of the Indian Chahamana king Prithviraja III (better known as Prithviraj Chauhan in the vernacular folk legends). It is b ...

'' suggests that like his father, Simharaja was a 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 ...

, and commissioned a large temple dedicated to

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

Pushkar Pushkar is a city and headquarters of Pushkar tehsil in the Ajmer district in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is situated about northwest of Ajmer and about southwest of Jaipur.Harshadeva temple, and granted four villages for its maintenance: Simhagoshtha, Trailkalakaka, Ishanakupa, and Kansapallika. The Kinsariya inscription describes him as ''naya-sutra-yuktah'', which probably indicates that he was knowledgeable about

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...

(see

Nyāya Sūtras The ''Nyāya Sūtras'' is an ancient Indian Sanskrit text composed by , and the foundational text of the Nyaya school of Hindu philosophy. The date when the text was composed, and the biography of its author is unknown, but variously esti ...

Last days

Simharaja was succeeded by his sons

Vigraharaja II Vigraharāja II (r. c. 971-998 CE ) was a king belonging to the Shakambhari Chahamana dynasty. He ruled the Sapadalaksha country, which included parts of present-day Rajasthan in north-western India. Early life Vigrahraja was born to the Cha ...

and

Durlabharaja II Durlabharaja II (r. c. 998-1012 CE ) was an Indian king belonging to the Shakambhari Chahamana dynasty. He ruled the Sapadalaksha country, which included parts of present-day Rajasthan in north-western India. Durlabha-raja was a son of the Chah ...

in that order. He had two other sons, Chandraraja and Govindaraja (not to be confused with the earlier Chahamana kings bearing same names). The Harsha inscription states that Vigraharaja revived the fortunes of his distressed family. This indicates that Simharaja suffered a tragic defeat at the end of his life. His enemies might have included the Pratiharas.

References

Bibliography

* * {{Chahamanas of Shakambhari Chahamanas of Shakambhari 10th-century Indian monarchs