Vallabha-raja (r. c. 1008 CE) was an Indian king who ruled parts of present-day

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

. He was a member of the

Chaulukya The Chaulukya dynasty (), also Solanki dynasty, was a dynasty that ruled parts of what are now Gujarat and Rajasthan in north-western India, between and . Their capital was located at Anahilavada (modern Patan). At times, their rule extended ...

(also called Chalukya or Solanki) dynasty. He ruled for less than a year, and died of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

while marching against an enemy.

Early life

Vallabha was a son of his predecessor, Chamundaraja. According to the 13th Jain scholar Abhayatilaka Gani, when Chamundaraja became incapable of governing the kingdom, his sister Vachinidevi appointed Vallabha as the new king. The 14th century writer Merutunga, on the other hand, claims that Vallabha ascended the throne after his father's death, and ruled for six months. Some of the Chaulukya inscriptions omit his name in the genealogical lists, probably because of his short reign. However, most inscriptions (including the

Vadnagar Vadnagar is a town and municipality in the Mehsana district of the state of Gujarat in India. It just about 35 km from Mehsana city. Its ancient name was Anartapura, and was also known as Anandapura. It was a Buddhist location visited by Xu ...

prashasti ''Prashasti'' (IAST: Praśasti, Sanskrit for "praise") is an Indian genre of inscriptions composed by poets in praise of their rulers. Most date from the 6th century CE onwards. Written in the form of poetry or ornate prose, the ''prashastis'' s ...

'') mention him as the successor of Chamundaraja. The 12th century Jain scholar

Hemachandra Hemachandra was a 12th century () Indian Jain saint, scholar, poet, mathematician, philosopher, yogi, grammarian, law theorist, historian, lexicographer, rhetorician, logician, and prosodist. Noted as a prodigy by his contemporaries, he gain ...

composed a benedictory verse devoted to him. Such verses were composed only for the Chaulukya kings, which indicates that Vallabha did indeed rule as a king, although for a very brief period.

Death

According to the later Jain chronicles, Durlabharaja marched against a kingdom, because its ruler had insulted his father Chamundaraja. However, he died of smallpox during this march. Some of these chronicles identify the enemy kingdom as

Malwa Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, it is also syno ...

, which was ruled by the

Paramara The Paramara dynasty (IAST: Paramāra) was an Indian dynasty that ruled Malwa and surrounding areas in west-central India between 9th and 14th centuries. They belonged to the Parmara clan of the Rajputs. The dynasty was established in either th ...

s. The 12th century writer

states that Chamundaraja left for a pilgrimage to

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

after his retirement. On the way, his royal umbrella was confiscated (presumably, by the ruler of a kingdom located on the way). He returned to Gujarat, and asked Vallabha to avenge this insult. The 14th century writer Merutunga mentions the same incident, but replaces Chamunda with Durlabha, and Vallabha with

Bhima I Bhima I (r. c. 1022–1064 CE) was a Chaulukya king who ruled parts of present-day Gujarat, India. The early years of his reign saw an invasion from the Ghaznavid ruler Mahmud, who sacked the Somnath temple. Bhima left his capital and took s ...

. Merutunga's version is known to have historical inaccuracies. The 12th century

inscription states that the kings of

were shaken when they heard about Vallabha's marches. It does not state that he actually reached Malwa. The 13th century writer Abhayatilaka Gani, who wrote a commentary on Hemachandra's work, states that Malwa was the kingdom against which Vallabha marched to avenge the insult against Chamundaraja. However, his conclusion was based on a particular verse in which Hemachandra states that Vallabha passed by the confluence of the Para and the Sindhu rivers. According to the 12th century text ''Sarasvati-Kanthabharana'', the country where these two rivers met was ruled by the Naga kings. Historian A. K. Majumdar speculates that Vallabha died not during a march against Malwa, but during a march to a northern kingdom, where he intended to secure allies for his upcoming campaign against Malwa. The 14th century writer Merutunga embellishes the earlier accounts by claiming that Vallabha not only reached Malwa, but also besieged the Paramara capital Dhara. The later writer Jayasimha Suri states that the king against whom Vallabha marched was Munja. These accounts by the later writers are not historically accurate. For example, it is known that Munja died in the 990s, around a decade before the said march, which took place around 1008 CE. Hemachandra's ''Dvyashraya'' makes it clear the Vallabha died before achieving any tangible success in the campaign. Some other works written under Chaulukya patronage, such as ''Sukrita Sankirtana'' by Arisimha and ''Sukrita-Kirti-Kallolini'' by Udayaprabha, claim that Vallabha defeated the king of Malwa. These claims are not supported by any historical evidence either. Only the fact that Vallabha marched against Malwa appears to be historically true. Vallabha suffered from a severe disease during the march, and asked his army to return to the Chaulukya capital. Hemachandra does not name this disease, but describes the symptoms of the disease from which Vallabha died. Based on these, Abhayatilaka Gani correctly identified the disease as

. After Vallabha's death, his brother Durlabharaja ascended the throne.

References

Bibliography

* * {{Chaulukya dynasty 11th-century Indian monarchs Chaulukya dynasty Deaths from smallpox