Gurjaras of Nandipuri
| Gurjara of Lata | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
| Capital | Nándípurí (Nandod) Bhrigukacchapa (Bharuch) |
|||||||||
| Languages | Prakrit | |||||||||
| Religion | Sun-worshipers, Shaivism | |||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | |||||||||
| History | ||||||||||
| • | Established | c. 580 | ||||||||
| • | Disestablished | c. 738 | ||||||||
|
||||||||||
| Today part of | Gujarat, India | |||||||||
The Gurjaras of Lata, also kown as Gurjaras of Nandipuri or Bharuch Gurjaras, was a dynasty which ruled Lata region (now South Gujarat, India) as a feudatory of different dynasties from c. 580 CE to c. 738.
All the available information regarding the Bharuch Gurjaras comes from copperplates, all obtained from South Gujarat. Like the grants of the contemporary Chalukyas all the genuine copperplates are dated in the Traikúṭaka era which begins in 249–50 CE. The Gurjara capital seems to have been Nándípurí or Nándor, the modern Nandod near Bharuch. Two of their grants issue Nándípurítaḥ that is ‘from Nándípurí’, a phrase which seems to show the place named was the capital since in other Gurjara grants the word vásaka or camp occurs.
These copperplates limit the regular Gurjara territory to the Bharuch district between the Mahi and the Narmada rivers, though at times their power extended north to Kheḍá and south to the Tápti river.
Though the Gurjaras held a considerable territory in South Gujarát their plates seem to show they were not independent rulers. The general titles are either Samadhigata-panchamaháśabada ‘He who has attained the five great titles,’ or Sámanta Feudatory. In one instance Jayabhaṭa III who was probably a powerful ruler is called Sámantádhipati Lord of Feudatories. It is hard to say to what suzerain these Broach Gurjaras acknowledged fealty. Latterly they seem to have accepted the Chalukyas on the south as their overlords. But during the greater part of their existence they may have been feudatories of the Maitraka dynasty, who were probably Gurjaras who passed from Málwa to South Gujarát and thence by sea to Vallabhi leaving a branch in South Gujarát.
The origin of dynasty is not known. They probably originated from the neighboring dynasty, Gurjaras of Mandor or Bhinmal.
A grant made by Nirihullaka, the chieftain of a forest tribe in the lower valley of the Narmada, shows that towards the end of the sixth century CE that region was occupied by forest tribes who acknowledged the supremacy of the Kalachuri dynasty; a fact which accounts for the use of the Chedi or Traikúṭaka era in South Gujarát. Nirihullaka names with respect a king Śaṅkaraṇa, identified with Śaṅkaragaṇa (r. c. 575-600 CE) of Kalachuri dynasty and the Gurjara conquest must be subsequent to this date. Another grant, which is only a fragment and contains no king’s name, but which on the ground of date (Samvat 346 = 594–5 CE) and style may be safely attributed to the Gurjara dynasty, shows that the Gurjaras were established in the country within a few years of Śaṅkaragaṇa’s probable date.
...
Wikipedia