Chandelas of Jejakabhukti | |||||||||||
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c. 831 – 1315 CE | |||||||||||
Coinage of Sallakshana-Varman (1120–1135 CE), Chandelas of Jejakabhukti
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![]() Territory of the Chandelas during the reign of Vidyadhara circa 1025 CE.[1] | |||||||||||
Capital | |||||||||||
Common languages | Sanskrit | ||||||||||
Religion | |||||||||||
Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||
Historical era | Medieval India | ||||||||||
• Established | c. 831 | ||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1315 CE | ||||||||||
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Today part of | India |
The Chandelas of Jejakabhukti was an Indian dynasty in Central India. The Chandelas ruled much of the Bundelkhand region (then called Jejakabhukti) between the 9th and the 13th centuries. They belonged to the Chandel clan of the Rajputs.[2]
The Chandelas initially ruled as feudatories of the Gurjara-Pratiharas of Kanyakubja (Kannauj). The 10th century Chandela ruler Yashovarman became practically independent, although he continued to acknowledge the Pratihara suzerainty. By the time of his successor Dhanga, the Chandelas had become a sovereign power. Their power rose and declined as they fought battles with the neighbouring dynasties, especially the Paramaras of Malwa and the Kalachuris of Tripuri. From the 11th century onwards, the Chandelas faced raids by the northern Muslim dynasties, including the Ghaznavids and the Ghurids. The Chandela power effectively ended around the beginning of the 13th century, following Chahamana and Ghurid invasions.
The Chandelas are well known for their art and architecture, most notably for the temples at their original capital Khajuraho. They also commissioned a number of temples, water bodies, palaces and forts at other places, including their strongholds of Ajaigarh, Kalinjar and their later capital Mahoba.
Discussion of the histories of various Rajput clans, such as the Chauhans, Kachhvahas, Chandelas, Pratiharas and Tomaras on the basis of a wide range of sources-literary, epigraphic, numismatic, bardic accounts and local traditions
When Gurjara Pratiharas power declined after the sacking of Kannauj by the Rashtrakutas in the early tenth century many Rajput princes declared their independence and founded their own kingdoms, some of which grew to importance in the subsequent two centuries. The better known among those dynasties were the Chaulukyas or Solankis of Gujarat and Kathiawar, the Chahamanas (i.e. Chauhans) of eastern Rajasthan (Ajmer and Jodhpur) and the Tomaras who had founded Delhi (Dhillika) in 736 but had been displaced by the Chauhans in the twelfth century. Rajput descent was also claimed by the Chandelas of Khujuraho and the Kalachuris of Tripuri
Other claiming to be Rajputs and descended from the solar and lunar lines, established themselves as local kings in various parts of western and central India. Among them were the Chandellas, prominent in the tenth century in Bundelkhand with their centre at Khajuraho and their territory known as Jejakabhukti