The Gahadavalas (गाहड़वाल) Dynasty - the last medieval Hindu dynasty of northern India (1089 - 1197)

The medieval history of India is dense to a point where it's impossible not to miss many intermediary kingdoms and dynasties. We are talking about the time when Islamic conquests had just started on the Indian subcontinent and there was one such dynasty in the Indo-Gangetic plain that fought for its independence but somewhere its name didn't get its deserving highlight. This dynasty was known as the Gahadavala Dynasty. 

Kashi or Banaras or Varanasi is known to be the epicentre of Hinduism and the land of moksha and divine knowledge. For centuries the Kingdom of Kashi had been part of various dynasties. Interestingly, medieval Kashi was also the capital of the Gahadavala Dynasty between 1089 to 1197 AD. The Gahadavalas fought two clans in both directions - to the west it would repel Ghaznavid raids while to its east it would stand against the rising Pala Empire. It also had to bear the burden of Kalachuri skirmishes from the south. The last surviving Hindu dynasty in the Gangetic plain, Gahadavalas would roughly encompass today's Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. 

Another interesting feature of the Gahadavalas was the takeover of the Rashtrakutas who originally spread from Deccan, but a fragment of its reign also lied in the Gangetic plain. With this, the city of Kanyakubja or today's Kannauj also served as the Gahadavala capital other than Kashi or Varanasi. Listing down below some of the towns belonging to the Gahadavala Dynasty and their modern names. 

• Hastinapura (in Meerut)
• Kartikkeypura (Bajinath, in Bageshwar district, Uttarakhand)
• Indrasthana
• Varana 
• Mathura
• Mahavana (Mahaban, in Mathura district)
• Chandavar (Chandawal, near Ferozabad district, Uttar Pradesh)
• Kanyakubja (Kannauj)
• Vodamayuta (Budaun, Uttar Pradesh)
• Ahicchatra (near Ramnagar, Bareilly district, Uttar Pradesh)
• Bari (in Sitapur district, Uttar Pradesh)
• Saketa (Ayodhya)
• Sravasti (Shravasti)
• Karakotakanagara 
• Kausambi (Kaushambi)
• Prayaga (Prayagraj)
• Kashi (Varanasi)
• Gokulaghatta 
• Kusinagara (Kushinagar)
• Pataliputra (Patna)
• Uddandapura (Odantapuri, in Nalanda district, Bihar)
• Gaya

Founded by Yashovigraha in the 11th century, the dynasty during his reign was concentrated on securing the independence of the kingdom, hence alliances were made with Islamic rulers. But the main credit goes to Parmeshwar Chandradeva, the first independent king of the dynasty who annexed Ayodhya, Kannauj and finally Kashi to its kingdom. It was during his reign that the Hindu holy places of Ayodhya and Kannauj were repelled by Islamic invasions, particularly the Ghaznavids and Ghurids. The successor Madanpala was also successful in repelling the invasions including the Palas from the east as well. His son Govindachanra prevented Varanasi from getting into the clutches of Fakhr-al-din Masud, the first ruler of the Ghurid branch of Bamiyan (in Afghanistan). Interestingly, although he repelled an Islamic invasion those who got converted to Islam were allowed to live in harmony with Hindus and Buddhists. Towards the end of the lineage - Vijaychandra, Jaichandra and Harishchandra - the decline of Gahadavalas had started as it was getting difficult to repel the constant Islamic invasions. In 1193/1194, the battle of Chandavar was fought between Jaichandra and Mohammad Ghori when the city of Varanasi was raided, but eventually, Ghori had to taste defeat. However, the last ruler Harishchandra was taken over by Shams ud-Din Iltutmish, who ruled the northern plains between 1211 to 1236, under the Delhi Sultanate. 

At the decline of the Gahadavala dynasty, the Islamic belt stretched from as far as Morocco in the west, slicing the Iberian peninsula and running over the coastline of northern Africa, stretching to the Indian state of Bihar in the east. At this time, the Islamic expansion was under the Almohads, the Ayyubids, the Khwarazm and Ghurid clans. Although the Gahadavalas had diplomatic ties (made by King Govindachandra) with the Cholas, Chalukyas and rulers of Kasmira (Kashmir), but his grandson Jaichandra couldn't unite these independent Hindu kingdoms that eventually led to the downfall of the last Hindu empire of north India. It would take roughly another 550 years for another Hindu ruler, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj to establish the Maratha Empire which would eventually take over the Mughals in northern India in the 18th century. 

It is interesting to look at the surrounding clans of the Gahadavalas in central, western and eastern India. To its west there were Yadus and Kacchapagatas, ruling today's Gwalior region of Madhya Pradesh. The southern border touched the territories of the Kalachuris and Chandellas while the eastern territories of Champaranya, and Magadha would touch the borders of Mithila / Tirabhukti, Gauda and Radha kingdoms. Among the Chandellas, the historic town of Khajuravahaka (Khajuraho) saw the building of the famous temple complexes during this era. To the extreme northeast, the clan of Karnatas boundaries with the Gahadavalas, which would be part of today's Nepal. The trio of Kathamandu (Kathmandu), Pattana (Patan) and Bhaktagrama (Bhaktapur) in the Nepala territory would be the opening of the Gahadavala boundary into the Himalayas. The extreme western edge would be the Yamuna river with its city of Indraprastha or Dhillika, which would be today's Delhi. 

Below here is a map of the Gahadavala Empire that ruled between 1089 to 1197 AD.