Second battle of Bhilsa
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| Second battle of Bhilsa | |||||||||
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| Part of Devapala's campaigns | |||||||||
 Pataria Jain temple in Badoh, Bhilsa | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Paramara dynasty | Delhi Sultanate | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Maharajadhiraja Devapala of Malwa Yuvraj Jaitugi-deva Rajkumar Jayasimha | Unnamed Delhite Adhipa † | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Negligable to none | Medium to heavy | ||||||||
  Second battle of Bhilsa Location of Bhilsa | |||||||||
The Second battle of Bhilsa was a battle fought between the Paramaras of Malwa under Devapala and the Delhi Sultanate under Iltutmish. It was a victory for Devapala, who reconquered Bhilsa and restored stability in the Paramara kingdom.
Background
[edit]Previously, Iltutmish had directly led an invasion of Bhilsa and Ujjain in 1234–35.[1] Iltutmish's army occupied Bhilsa, and destroyed a temple whose construction - according to Minhaj - had taken three hundred years.[2] At Ujjain, his forces damaged the Mahakaleshwar temple and obtained rich plunder, but made little effort to annex the Paramara territory.[3] The jyotirlinga at the site was dismantled and believed to be thrown into a nearby 'Kotiteerth Kunda' (a pond neighboring the temple) with the Jaladhari (a structure supporting the Lingam) stolen during the invasion.[4]
After Iltutmish's departure, he put an unnamed Delhite Adhipa in charge of the region conquered.
Battle
[edit]After the departure of Iltutmish, Devapala began preparing to revive the fortunes of the Paramara dynasty, and he marched on Bhilsa, decisively defeating and killing the Adhipa put in charge of it and reconquering the territory.[5][6]
Aftermath
[edit]After recovering Bhilsa, Devapala ruled over a stable realm. However, his successor, Jaitugi-deva was an ineffectual ruler who saw several military disasters, such as the sack of Dhar, the Paramara capital. Jaitugi's successor and younger brother, Jayasimha, took up the throne as Jayavarman II and expanded Paramara domains by fighting against the Chahamanas of Ranastambhapura[7] and his 1274 Mandhata inscription states that Jayavarman's army crossed the Vindhyas, and forced the forces of a southern ("Dakshinatya") king to retreat.[8] According to D. C. Sircar, this king was probably Ramachandra the Yadava king of Deogiri, who later defeated Jayavarman's successor Arjunavarman II.[9] However, H. V. Trivedi argues that this is unlikely, because during the early part of his reign, Ramachandra was engaged in a conflict with his own brother Amana. The Dakshinatya king referred to here is probably Ramachandra's uncle Mahadeva. The Sangur inscription of the Yadavas refers to Mahadeva's invasion of Malwa.[10]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ André Wink 1991, p. 156.
- ^ K. A. Nizami 1992, p. 222.
- ^ Satish Chandra 2004, p. 45.
- ^ Mahajan, Vidya Dhar (1965). Muslim Rule in India. S. Chand.
- ^ Trivedi 1991, pp. 188.
- ^ Sircar 1966, pp. 187–188.
- ^ Trivedi 1991, p. 193.
- ^ Trivedi 1991, p. 214.
- ^ Sircar 1959, p. 146.
- ^ Trivedi 1991, p. 215.