CHAUHANS OF SAMBHAR

• The Chauhan were originated in Jangal Pradesh (Bikaner, Sambhar, and North Marwar) near sambhar.
• Sambhar was known Sapad lakshya whose capital was Aachatrapur.

      Vasudev Chauhan

• As mentioned in Bijoliya inscription, He is considered as the founder of the Chauhan dynasty in 551 A.D. He was the initiator of Sambhar Lake.
• His successors were – Jaikaj, Vigrahraj I, Chandra Raj I and Gop Chandra Raj.
• Chauhan’s favoured diety is Jeen Mata.

     Vigrah Raj II

• He became ruler in 956 A.D.
• He was regarded as most glorious king of this dynasty.
• He defeated Gujarat king, MulRaj Chalukya.
• Harshanath Inscription (Sikar) informs us about Aashapura Mata temple constructed by him in Bhadoch.

     Ajay Raj (1113 A.D. – 1133 A.D.)

• He was son of Prithvi Raj I.
• He established Ajmer city in 1113 A.D. and made its capital of his kingdom.
• He built Taragarh Fort at Ajaymeru (Gibraltar of Rajasthan).
• He issued silver coins by the name of Ajay Dev, Shri Ajay, Ajaypriyadarim.
• Name of Somal Devi (also known as Somlekha), his queen, was inscribed on some coins.
• Somalpur, a village was named after his wife. There is famous mosque of Badamshah Baba of Ubeshi community.
• Ajay Raj donated a gold pot to the Parshavnath Jain temple which tells us about the secular approach of the King.
• After giving his throne to his son Arno Raj in 1133, he went to live in forest of Pushkar.

   Arno Raj (1133 A.D. – 1155 A.D.)

• After his father’s death, he took over the crown.
• He defeated Turk invaders.
• He built Anasagar Lake in Ajmer. Shah Jahan built a marble building called Barahdari in Anasagar.
• He also built Varah temple at Pushkar.
• Two famous scholars, Dev Bodh and Daharmghosh belong to the time of his rule.
• His elder brother Jagdev killed him and imposed emergency rule from 1155-1158 A.D.

  Vigrah Raj IV (1158 A.D. – 1163 A.D.)

• He was a grandson of Ajay Raj. Also known as Beesaldev, was an important ruler of this dynasty.
• He was given a title of Kavi Bandhav by Jayanak Bhatt for his great writing skills.
• He built a Sanskrit school – Saraswati Kanthabharan in Ajmer.
• Qutub-ud-din-Aibak demolished this school and built Dhai Din ka Jhopda (first mosque of Rajasthan) in that place.
• Story of the drama ‘Harikeli’ which was written by the king Vigrah Raj IV, was painted on walls of Dhai Din ka Jhopda.
• His era was considered as golden era of Sapad Lakshya.
• Somdev was an important member of his court who wrote a drama called – Lalit Vigrah
• His court historian Narpatinalh dedicated his work Bisaldev Raso to him.
• He was succeeded by Apargagya, Prithvi Raj II and Someshwar.

 Prithvi Raj III (1177 A.D. – 1192 A.D.)

• He came to power after the death of his father Someshwar.
• He was born in 1166 A.D. (Vikram Sanvat 1223) in Anhilpatan, Gujarat.
• His mother Karpuri Devi was daughter of Delhi ruler Anangpal Tomar.
• While he was small, her mother had appointed Bhuvanmal as Commander. But after taking administration under himself, Prithvi appointed Pratap Singh as Prime Minister.
• To defeat and capture nearby kingdoms, he launched a mission called ‘Digvijay’.
• In 1182, he defeated his cousin, Nagarjun and Bhandnayakas. He also won against Parmal Dev of Chandel (Mahoba) and killed his sons – Alah and Udal.
• In 1184, his army fought war of Nagore against Prime Minister Jagdev of Gujarat’s Chalukya ruler – Bhimdev II.
• He was given title of Dalpangul, Vishwavijeta and ‘Rai Pithora’.
• Some of his famous court poets and writers were Jayank (author of Prithviraj Vijay), Vidyapati Gaur, Janarden Vishwaroop, Vagishwar and Prithvibhatt.
• Attack on Kannauj – Due to enmity between Prithvi Raj III and Ghadwal king Jaichand, Prithviraj abducted and married Sanyogita, daughter of Jaichand. To revenge upon this, Jaichand helped Mohammad Gauri (Turk invader) in war of Tarrain.
• According to various sources, Prithviraj defeated Mohammad Gauri, following number of times. ‘Prithviraj Raso’- 21 times, ‘Hammir Mahakvya’- 7 times,’Surjan Charitra’- 21 times.
• Fisrt war of Tarain (1191 A.D.) – It was fought in the field of Tarain, near Karnal of Haryana. Prithviraj won this battle with the help of delhi governor Govindraj. Gauri and his army fled from the place.
• Second war of Tarain (1192 A.D.) – in this battle, Mohammad Gauri defeated Prithivarj III. It is assumed that use of horse by Gauri helped him to win this. This led to decline of Chauhan dynasty. Gauri acquired delhi and offered Govindraj with the rule of Ajmer on the condition of heavy taxes in return.
• According to Hammir Mahakavya, after defeat, Prithviraj and his courtier Chandrabardai was taken to Mohammad Ghazni. Though, Prithviraj was blinded by Mohammad Gauri, he managed to kill Gauri with shabdbhedi baan. Whereas Prithviraj and Chandrabardai committed suicide.
• After the death of Chandrabardai, his son Jalhan completed the book Prithviraj Raso.
• In his book ‘Tabkate Nasiri’, Minhaz-us-Siraz had written that Prithviraj was killed in Sirsa while escaping the battle.
• While Hasan Nizami wrote in his book ‘Taj-ul-Masir’, Prithviraj was killed when he returned to Ajmer after a treaty.
• Mohammad Gauri also brought Khwaja Moinuddin Chisty along with him to India during reign of Prithviraj III.
• Qutub-ud-din-Aibak demolished Pithoragarh in Delhi which was built by Prithviraj III. It was replaced by first mosque of India – ‘Kuwwat-ul-islam’.