Wishesh Magazine June 2016

INDIAN HISTORY
60
The Gurjara-Pratiharas were
instrumental in containing
Arab armies from moving
east of the Indus River.
Nagabhata I defeated the
Arab army under Junaid
and Tamin in the Battle of
Rajasthan. Under Nagabhata
II, the Gurjara-Pratiharas
became the most powerful
dynasty in northern India.
Nagabhata II was succeeded
by his son Ramabhadra,
who ruled briefly, and was
succeeded by his son Mihira
Bhoja I. Under Bhoja and his
successor Mahendrapala
I, the Pratihara Empire
reached its peak of
prosperity and power.
The extent the empire
reached west to the border
of Sindh, east to Bengal,
north to the Himalayas, and
south past the Narmada.
The expansion once again
triggered the power struggle
for the control of the Indian
Subcontinent, known as the
Tripartite Struggle, with the
Rashtrakuta Empire and
Pala Empire. During this
period, Imperial Pratihara
took the title Maharajadhiraja
of Aryavarta (Great King of
Kings of Northern India).
The power of the Pratiharas
was weakened by dynastic
strife. It was further
diminished as a result of a
great raid from the Deccan,
led by the Rashtrakuta ruler
Indra III, who at about 916
sacked Kannauj. Under a
succession of rather obscure
rulers, the Pratiharas never
regained their former
influence. Their feudatories
became more and more
powerful, one by one
throwing off their allegiance
until by the end of the 10th
century the Pratiharas
controlled little more than the
Gangetic Doab.
Harichandra is said to have
laid the foundation of the
Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty in
the 6th century. He created
a small kingdom at Bhinmal
around 550 A.D. after the fall
of the Gupta Empire. The
Harichandra line of Gurjara-
Pratiharas established the
state of Marwar, based
at Mandore near modern
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