Mihir Bhoja

Mihira Bhoja
Adivaraha
A 21st century statue of Mihir Bhoja in Delhi
6th Gurjara-Pratihara king
Reign	c. 836 – c. 885 CE
Predecessor	Ramabhadra
Successor	Mahendrapala I
Died	885 Narmada River
Issue	Mahendrapala I
Father	Ramabhadra
Religion	Hinduism

Mihira Bhoja (836–885 CE) or Bhoja I was a ruler of the Gurjara Pratihara dynasty of India. He succeeded his father Ramabhadra. Bhoja was a devotee of Vishnu and adopted the title of Adivaraha which is inscribed on some of his coins. One of the outstanding political figures of India in ninth century, he ranks with Dhruva Dharavarsha and Dharmapala as a great general and empire builder.

At its height, Bhoja's empire extended to Narmada River in the South, Sutlej River in the northwest, and up to Bengal in the east. It extended over a large area from the foot of the Himalayas up to the river Narmada and included the present district of Etawah in Uttar Pradesh.

When Mihira Bhoja started his career reverses and defeats suffered by his father Ramabhadra had considerably lowered the prestige of the Royal Gurjara Pratihara family. He invaded the Pala Empire of Bengal, but was defeated by Devapala. He then launched a campaign to conquer the territories to the south of his empire and was successful. After Devapala's death, Bhoja defeated the Pala King Narayanapala and the Rashtrakuta ruler Krishna II. He gradually rebuilt the empire by conquest of territories in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. The Chandelas of Bundelkhand acknowledged his suzerainty. Besides being a conqueror, Bhoja was a great diplomat. During his reign, the capital was in Kannauj (present-day Uttar Pradesh), during his period Kannauj was referred as Panchala.