Parmar Dynasty : Abu, Malwa, Vagad, Jalore, Kiradu

History of Parmar Dynasty

• The word ‘Parmar’ means- ‘one who kills the enemy’
• The sources of information about the Parmar dynasty are the ‘Parmar inscriptions’ and the book ‘Navasahasankacharitam’ written by poet Padmagupta/ Parimal.

Princely states of Parmar dynasty in Rajasthan

1. Parmar dynasty of Abu

• The place of origin of Parmaras in Rajasthan was Abu.
• Founder : Dhumraj

Prominent king of Parmar dynasty in Abu

1. Dhumraj

• He was the founder of Parmaras in Abu.
• He is also called the ‘Adipurush of Parmaras’.

2. Utpal Raj

• From this begins the genealogy of the Parmaras of Abu.

3. Dharani Varah

• He divided his kingdom into nine parts and hence his kingdom was called ‘Navkoti Marwar’.
• Chaulukya king Mulraj I of Gujarat attacked Abu. At that time Dhawal Rathore gave him shelter. This is mentioned in Hastikundi inscription.

Hastikundi inscription :-

• Time : 997 AD
• This inscription was found in Pali.
• This inscription belongs to Dhawal Rathore.

4. Dhandhuk

• The Chalukya king of Gujarat, Bhima I, attacked Abu and took over Abu and made Vimalshah the administrator of Abu.
• At this time, Bhoj Parmar of Malwa gave him shelter in Chittor.
• Vimalshah made a compromise between Dhandhuk and Bhima I.
• His daughter LahiniDevi renovated the Sun Temple and Saraswati Bawdi in Basantgarh (Sirohi).
• Saraswati Bawdi is also called Lahini Bawdi, because it was reconstructed by Lahini Devi.

Most of the Sun Temples in Rajasthan are located in Sirohi district.

Rishabhdev Temple (Delwara) :-

• Located : Delwara (Mount Abu, Sirohi)
• Constructed by : Vimalshah
• Other names :-
  1. Adinath Jain Temple (Lord Rishabhdev is also called Adinath.)
  2. Vimal Vasahi Temple (because it was constructed by Vimalshah)
• According to Colonel James Todd, this temple is the second most beautiful building in India after the Taj Mahal.

5. Vikramdev

• Title : Mahamandleshwar
• He took part in the conflict between Arnoraj Chauhan and Kumarpal Chalukya, information about which is available in ‘Dvyasraya Mahakavyam’ (Hemchandra Suri) and ‘Kumarpal Prabandh’ (Jinmandanopadhyay).

6. Dharavarsh

• He used to pierce three buffaloes with a single arrow, information of which is available in the statue of Dharavarsha and the inscription of Patanarayan temple (Sirohi, 1287 AD).
• In his statue in Achalgarh fort of Sirohi, he is shown piercing three buffaloes with a single arrow.

Prahladan Dev :-

• Elder brother : Dharavarsha
• Drama : Partha Parakrama Vyayoga
• He established a city named ‘Prahladan Pur’ in Gujarat.
• He protected Abu during the invasion of Prithviraj Chauhan.
• Information about Prahladan Dev is available in the book ‘Kirti Kaumudi’ (Someshwar).

Battle of Kayandra :-

• Time : 1178 AD
• Place : Kayandra (Sirohi)
• Middle : Mohammad Gauri (King of Ghazni) Vs Mulraj II Chalukya (King of Gujarat)
• Due to the young age of Mulraj II, his mother Nayika Devi ruled Gujarat. That is, the guardian of Mulraj II was his mother Nayika Devi.
• Allies of Mulraj II (Nayika Devi) :-
  1. Kelhan (Nadoul)
  2. Kirtipal (Jalore)
  3. Dharavarsh (Abu)
• Mohammad Gauri was defeated in this war.

7. Som Singh

• Senapati :-
  1. Vastupal
  2. Tejpal

Neminath Jain Temple (Delwara) :-

• Located : Delwara (Mount Abu, Sirohi)
• Construction :-
  1. Vastupal
  2. Tejpal
• Other names :-
  1. Lunvasahi or Lunavasahi Temple
  2. Devrani-Jethani’s Temple

8. Pratap Singh

• He had snatched Chandravati from Jaitra Singh of Mewar.
• Its minister Delhan got the Patanarayan temple rebuilt (renovated).

9. Vikram Singh

• During his rule, the Parmar kings of Abu started assuming the titles of ‘Rawal’ and ‘Maharawal’.
• Later, the Sonagara Chauhans of Jalore took over the western territory of the Parmar kingdom of Abu.
• Lumba Devda snatched Abu and Chandravati from the Parmars and established the Chauhan kingdom in Sirohi.

2. Parmar dynasty of Malwa

• Due to the presence of a caste called ‘Malva’ in this region, this region came to be known as Malwa.
• Malwa is located in Madhya Pradesh.
• The Parmaras of Malwa originated in Abu.
• Capital (in sequence) :-
  1. Dhar Nagari
  2. Ujjain
  3. Dhar Nagari

Prominent king of Parmar dynasty in Malwa

1. Krishnaraj

• Other Name : Upendra
• His son Dumbar Singh established the Parmar state in Vagad.

2. Munj Parmar

• He attacked the king of Mewar, Shakti Kumar.
• At this time he destroyed Ahad (Udaipur) and captured the fort of Chittor.
• At this time Dhawal Rathore helped Shakti Kumar.
• Information about this attack is found in the Hastikundi inscription.
• He was killed fighting against the Chalukya king of Karnataka, Tailap-II.
• Titles :-
  1. Kavi Vrish
  2. Utpalraj
  3. Shri Vallabh
  4. Amoghavarsha
  5. Vakpatiraj
  6. Prithvi Vallabh

Court Scholar

3. Sindhuraj

• Elder brother : Munj Parmar
• Title : Navsahsank

4. Bhoja Parmar

• He built the Tribhuvan Narayan (Shiva) temple in Chittor.
• He constructed the Bhojsar lake near Nagda in Udaipur.
• He built Bhojtal in Madhya Pradesh.
• He built a Sanskrit school named ‘Saraswati Kanthabharan’ in his capital Dhar city (Malwa, Madhya Pradesh).
• Later, the Turks demolished this school and built ‘Kamalmaula Mosque’ in its place.
• Lines from the books ‘Kurma Shatak’ and ‘Parijaat Manjari’ (Madan) were written on the walls of this school.
• Madan was the court scholar of King Arjun Varma of Malwa.
• Books :-
  1. Sringar Manjari Katha
  2. Kurma Shatak (Prakrit Language)
  3. Saraswati Kanthabharana
  4. Samaragana
  5. Vidujjan Mandal

3. Parmar dynasty of Vagad

• Founder : Dumbar Singh
• Capital : Arthuna (Banswara)

Prominent king of Parmar dynasty in Vagad

1. Dumbar Singh

• Father : Krishnaraja (King of Malwa)
• He established the Parmar kingdom in Vagad.

2. Mandalik

• He constructed the ‘Mandleshwar Temple’ in Panaheda (Banswara).

3. Chamundraj

• Father : Mandalik
• He built the ‘Mandleshwar Temple’ in Arthuna (Banswara) in 1079 AD.
• In 1179 AD, King Samant Singh Guhil snatched Vagad from the Parmaras.