Udal is the name of a legendary 12th century general who appears in the ''

Alha-Khand The term ''Alha Khand'' is used to refer to poetic works in Hindi which consists of a number of ballads describing the brave acts of two 12th century Banaphar heroes, Alha and Udal, generals working for king Paramardi-Deva (Parmal) of Mahob ...

'' epic. In the epic, Udal and his brother

Alha Alha (देवनागरी: आल्हा ; ISO: Ālhā ) was a legendary general of the Chandel king Paramardideva (also known as Parmal), who fought Prithviraj Chauhan in 1182 CE. He is one of the main characters of the '' Alha-Khand'' ...

serve in the army 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. ...

king Paramardi Deva (also known as Parmal or Parimal) of

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 ...

. They belonged to the

Banaphar Banaphar, also spelled Banafar and Banafer, is a clan native to the Indian subcontinent of mixed Ahir and Rajput descent. The legendary 12th century generals Alha Alha (देवनागरी: आल्हा ; ISO: Ālhā ) was a legendar ...

clan, which are of

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

and

Ahir Ahir or Aheer are a community of traditionally non-elite pastoralists in India, most members of which identify as being of the Indian Yadav community because they consider the two terms to be synonymous. The Ahirs are variously described as a ...

descent. According to the ''Alha-Khand'', Udal was born after the death of his father Dassraj, who was also a general, and was killed in the service of king Paramardi. The king subsequently raised Udal as his own son. The epic describes how Udal was killed while fighting the invading army of Rai Pithora, also known as

Prithviraj Chauhan Prithviraja III (IAST: Pṛthvī-rāja; reign. – 1192 CE), popularly known as Prithviraj Chauhan or Rai Pithora, was a king from the Chauhan (Chahamana) dynasty who ruled the territory of Sapadalaksha, with his capital at Ajmer in present- ...

, in a large battle at

; while the content of the ballads has been embellished, the battle has been attested by stone inscriptions at Madanpur, and took place at some point in 1182-1183.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahoba, Udal People from Mahoba Medieval India Chandelas of Jejakabhukti Rajputs Ahir history 12th-century Indian monarchs Rajput era History of Madhya Pradesh History of Uttar Pradesh by period Indian legendary characters