Vijayapala ( IAST: Vijayapāla; reigned c. 1035-1050 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 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 ...

). Vijayapala was born to the Chandela ruler

Vidyadhara Vidyadhara(s) (Sanskrit , literally "wisdom-holders") are a group of supernatural beings in Indian religions who possess magical powers. In Hinduism, they also attend Shiva, who lives in the Himalayas. They are considered ''Upadeva''s, or demi ...

. No inscription from his reign is available. He is mentioned in several Chandela inscriptions, but most of these contain only vague eulogies. For example, the Mau stone inscription declares that he killed all wicked men and put an end to the Kali Yuga. By the end of Vidyadhara's reign, the

Ghaznavid The Ghaznavid dynasty ( fa, غزنویان ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a culturally Persianate, Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turkic ''mamluk'' origin, ruling, at its greatest extent, large parts of Persia, Khorasan, much of Transoxiana and the northwest ...

invasions had weakened the Chandela kingdom. Taking advantage of this, the Kalachuri king Gangeya-deva conquered eastern parts of their kingdom. A fragmentary

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 ...

inscription claims that Vijayapala broke the pride of Gangeya in a battle. The Kachchhapaghatas of

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...

probably gave up their allegiance to the Chandelas during Vijayapala's reign. This is indicated by the use of high-sounding titles for the Kachchhapaghata ruler Muladeva in the Sas-Bahu inscription. Vijayapala's ''sachiva'' (chief minister) was Mahipala, who was the son of Vidyadhara's chief minister Shivanga. The decline of the Chandela kingdom started during Vijayapala's reign. His successor

Devavarman Devavarman may refer to: *Devavarman (Maurya) ( BC), Indian emperor *Devavarman (Champa) Devavarman (Chữ Nôm: 范天凯; Quốc ngữ: ''Phạm Thiên Khởi'') was a king of the Lâm Ấp from 510 to about 526. In 510, Emperor Wu of Liang ...

was his son from the queen Bhuvanadevi. The Nanyaura copper-plate inscription of Devavarman is dated 1051 CE. This indicates that Vijayapala's reign ended sometime before this year. Devavarman's successor Kirttivarman was also a son of Vijayapala.

References

Bibliography

* * {{Chandelas of Jejakabhukti Chandelas of Jejakabhukti 11th-century Indian monarchs