Chahamanas of Shakambhari

The Chahamanas of Shakambhari, better known as the Chauhans of Sambhar or of Ajmer, were a Rajput dynasty that ruled parts of today's Rajasthan and neighbouring regions of north-western India from around the sixth century until 1192, with a brief revival to 1194. Their land was called Sapadalaksha. Long vassals of a larger empire, they became an independent power in the tenth century and reached their height in the twelfth, before their most famous king, Prithviraja III, was defeated by the Ghurids.

The dynasty's own inscriptions trace it to a legendary hero named Chahamana, variously said to have been born from the god Indra's eye, in the line of the sage Vatsa, or at a sacrifice performed by Brahma. A later and popular story counts the Chauhans among the "fire-born" Agnivanshi clans; it first appears in sixteenth-century versions of the poem Prithviraj Raso, and some colonial historians read it as evidence of foreign origins, though the earliest surviving copy of the poem does not contain the story at all. A 1170 inscription at Bijolia records an early king, Samantaraja, born at Ahichchhatrapura, probably Nagaur. Historian R. B. Singh suggests the family began as local rulers there before moving to Shakambhari, modern Sambhar, beside the great salt lake.

The earliest historical king is Vasudeva, placed in the sixth century, though his date is disputed. From the eighth century the Chahamanas served the Gurjara-Pratiharas as vassals. In the tenth century Vakpatiraja I took the title Maharaja, and his son Simharaja, as Pratihara power declined, called himself Maharajadhiraja, "king of great kings", marking full independence. The dynasty's earliest surviving inscription, from 973, belongs to his successor Vigraharaja II.

The Chahamanas fought repeatedly with their neighbours: the Chaulukyas of Gujarat, the Tomaras of Delhi, the Paramaras of Malwa and the Chandelas. Around 1040 the Paramara king Bhoja seems to have briefly taken Shakambhari. From the eleventh century raids by the Ghaznavids added a new threat. Ajayaraja II, who ruled from about 1110 to 1135, drove off a Ghaznavid attack and moved the capital to Ajayameru, today's Ajmer, which he founded or greatly enlarged.

Vigraharaja IV, who reigned from about 1150 to 1164, took Delhi from the Tomaras and fought the Ghaznavids again. His kingdom covered much of Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi, probably with parts of Punjab and the upper Gangetic plain. A 1164 inscription on the Delhi-Topra pillar claims he ruled from the Himalayas to the Vindhyas, an exaggeration but not without basis. He was also a patron of letters who composed the play Harikeli Nataka.

Prithviraja III, the best-remembered king of the line, raided the Chandela kingdom in 1182 to 1183 and in 1191 beat Muhammad of Ghor at the First Battle of Tarain. The next year Muhammad returned and won the Second Battle of Tarain; Prithviraja was defeated and afterwards executed. His son Govindaraja IV was made a Ghurid vassal and later held Ranthambore, where a branch of the family continued. Prithviraja's brother Hariraja rebelled, but was defeated in 1194 and, with members of his family, died by self-immolation.

The Chahamanas built many Hindu temples, including the Harshanatha temple and a Shiva temple at Pushkar, several of which were destroyed after 1192. They also supported Jainism: kings gave golden finials to Jain temples, and the Bijolia Parshvanath temples date from 1160. A building of Vigraharaja's reign was later turned into the Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra mosque in Ajmer.

The maps label this kingdom "Chauhans" and draw it from 600 to 1100, centred on Rajasthan. On the 1200 map its lands fall within the Delhi Sultanate.