The Gurjara-Pratiharas and early medieval Rajasthan

In the early eighth century, Arab armies that had conquered Sindh pushed east and north into Rajasthan, Gujarat and Malwa. They were stopped — and for the next two centuries largely held at bay — by a new power that had emerged in Rajasthan: the Gurjara-Pratiharas. At their height under Mihir Bhoja in the ninth century, the Pratiharas ruled an empire stretching from the Sutlej to Bengal's borders and from the Himalayan foothills to the Narmada, with their capital at Kannauj. Their story begins in Rajasthan.

Who were they?

The name Pratihara means "door-keeper". Pratihara inscriptions trace the family to Lakshmana, who served as door-keeper to his brother Rama. The prefix Gurjara has been read in different ways — as an ethnic or tribal name, or as a regional term for the land called Gurjaratra, which included much of western Rajasthan.

Two early branches

It was the second, "imperial" branch that built the empire.

The rulers who mattered

The Arab frontier

The Pratiharas' greatest historical role was as a bulwark against Arab expansion. After the Arab conquest of Sindh in 712, raids reached deep into western India. Nagabhata I repelled them, and the Pratiharas remained hostile to the Arabs thereafter. Interestingly, the ninth-century Arab traveller Sulaiman described the Pratihara ruler (whom he called the king of "Juzr") as the greatest enemy of Islam in India — and also praised the security of his kingdom, saying it was among the safest in India from robbers.

The tripartite struggle

For much of the eighth to tenth centuries, three powers fought for control of Kannauj, the symbolic capital of north India since Harsha's time:

• the Gurjara-Pratiharas from the west;
• the Palas of Bengal from the east;
• the Rashtrakutas of the Deccan from the south.

The Pratiharas eventually held Kannauj the longest, but the long war exhausted all three powers and opened the way for smaller regional kingdoms.

Culture and architecture

The Pratihara period saw a flowering of temple architecture in Rajasthan, in an early form of what is sometimes called the Maha-Maru (or Maru-Gurjara) style.

Literature flourished too. Rajashekhara, at Mahendrapala's court, wrote the Karpuramanjari (a play in Prakrit), the Kavyamimamsa (on poetics) and other works.

Administration

Pratihara rule relied on a hierarchy of feudatories (samantas), many of whom later became independent dynasties — among them the Chauhans, Guhilas and Parmaras. The empire's structure, in other words, helped create the Rajput kingdoms that followed.

Decline

Repeated wars with the Rashtrakutas, the rise of feudatories, and finally Mahmud of Ghazni's attack on Kannauj in 1018 ended the empire. Its successors in Rajasthan were the regional Rajput kingdoms.

Practice

Prelims-style:

1. Which Pratihara ruler defeated the Arabs in the eighth century?
2. Who captured Kannauj and made it the Pratihara capital?
3. What title did Mihir Bhoja take?
4. Which poet was patronised by Mahendrapala I?
5. In which district are the Chand Baori and Harshat Mata temple?

Mains-style (50 words): What was the tripartite struggle?

Mains-style (100 words): Assess the contribution of the Gurjara-Pratiharas to early medieval Indian history.