Gahadvala
| Gahadavala | ||||||||||||
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| Capital | Varanasi and Kanyakubja | |||||||||||
| Government | monarchy | |||||||||||
| History | ||||||||||||
| • | Established | 11th century | ||||||||||
| • | Disestablished | 12th century | ||||||||||
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| Today part of |
 India
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The Gahadavala (IAST: Gāhaḍavāla) dynasty, also called Gaharwar Rajputs in vernacular literature, ruled parts of the present-day Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in India during 11th and 12th centuries. Their capitals included Kanyakubja (Kannauj) and Varanasi in the Gangetic plain.
Chandradeva, the first monarch of the dynasty, established a sovereign kingdom sometime before 1090 CE, after the decline of the Kalachuri power. The kingdom reached its zenith under his grandson Govindachandra who annexed some of the Kalachuri territories, warded off Ghaznavid raids, and also fought the Palas. In 1194 CE, Govindachandra's grandson Jayachandra was defeated by the Ghurids, which effectively ended the dynasty's imperial power. The kingdom ceased to exist when Jayachandra's successors were defeated by the Delhi Sultanate in the 12th century.
Chandradeva, the first monarch of the dynasty, was a son of Mahichandra and a grandson of Yashovigraha. The Gahadavala inscriptions state that Yashovigraha "seized the earth and made her fond of the king's sceptre (or justice)". He did not bear any royal titles, so it appears that he was a petty chief with some military victories to his credit. He probably served a prominent king, possibly the 11th century Kalachuri king Karna. His son Mahichandra (alias Mahitala or Mahiyala) bore the feudatory title nṛpa, and is said to have defeated several enemies. He may have been a Kalachuri vassal.
According to the 1093 CE and 1100 CE Chandrawati inscriptions, the Gahadavalas occupied Kanyakubja after the descendants of Devapala had been destroyed. This Devapala can be identified as the mid-10th century Gurjara-Pratihara king of Kanyakubja. Chandradeva probably started his career as a feudatory, but declared independence sometime before 1089 CE.
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