Waghela
| Vaghela dynasty | ||||||||||
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| Capital | Dholka | |||||||||
| Languages | Apabhramsa, Old Gujarati, Prakrit | |||||||||
| Religion | Hinduism, Jainism | |||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | |||||||||
| King | ||||||||||
| • | c. 1244-1262 CE | Visaladeva | ||||||||
| • | c. 1296-1304 CE | Karnadeva II | ||||||||
| History | ||||||||||
| • | Established | 1244 | ||||||||
| • | Disestablished | 1304 | ||||||||
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| Today part of |
 India
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The Vaghela dynasty was a short-lived Indian dynasty that ruled Gujarat from their capital Dholka during the 13th century CE. The Vaghelas were the last Hindu monarchs to rule large parts of Gujarat, before the Muslim rulers. Medieval bardic literature includes them among the Agnivashi Rajput dynasties.
Early members of the Vaghela family served the Chaulukyas in the 12th century CE, and claimed to be a branch of that dynasty. In the 13th century, during the reign of the weak Chaulukya king Bhima II, the Vaghela general Lavanaprasada and his son Viradhavala became very powerful, although they continued to nominally acknowledge the Chaulukya suzerainty. In the mid-1240s, Viradhavala's son Visaladeva usurped the throne. His successors ruled Gujarat until Karna II was defeated by Alauddin Khilji of Delhi Sultanate in 1304 CE.
The Vaghelas usurped power from the Chaulukya dynasty. According to the 14th century chronicler Merutunga, the earliest known member of the Vaghela family – Dhavala – married the maternal aunt of the Chaulukya monarch Kumarapala. The Vaghela court poet Someshvara described the Vaghela family as a branch of the Chaulukya family.
The Vaghelas called themselves Chaulukyas, and claimed same mythological descent as the Chaulukyas. The Khambhat inscription of the first Vaghela monarch Visaladeva gives the following account of the myth: Once Brahma was thinking who will destroy the sons of Diti (that is, the Daityas or demons). Suddenly, a warrior sprang from Brahma's chuluka. This hero, named Chaulukya, gave rise to the Chaulukya lineage, in which Arnoraja Vaghela was born.
The dynasty's name "Vyaghrapalliya" and its shortened form "Vaghela" come from the name of a village called Vyaghrapalli (literally "tiger's lair").
Arnoraja, who was a son of Dhavala and Kumarapala's maternal aunt, was the first member of the Vaghela family to gain importance. He seems to have participated in a military campaign in Saurashtra while serving Kumarapala. The Muralidhar temple inscription, discovered in the Desan village of Bhiloda taluka, credits him with conquering Saurashtra. According to the medieval chronicler Udayaprabha Suri, Kumarapala granted the Bhimapalli village to Arnoraja for his services. It is possible that Arnoraja received the village for his role in the Saurashtra campaign of Kumarapala. He probably served as a sub-commander in this campaign, although the Vahgela records later magnified his role. According to historian A. K. Majumdar, the Bhimapalli village might have been same as the Vyaghrapalli village from which the dynasty's name is derived.
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