Mahindu
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Mahindu
| succession = King of Naddula
| reign = c. 994–1015 CE
| dynasty = Chahamanas of Naddula
| predecessor = Vigrahapala
| successor = Ashvapala
| father = Vigrahapala
}}
Mahindu (r. c. 994–1015 CE), also known as Mahendra or Mahindra, was an Indian king belonging to the Naddula Chahamana dynasty. He ruled the area around Naddula (present-day Nadol in Rajasthan).
Reign
Mahindu succeeded his father Vigrahapala on the throne of Naddula.{{sfn|Dasharatha Sharma|1959|p=123}}
According to the Bijapur inscription of the Hastikundi Rashtrakuta prince Dhavala, a ruler named Mahendra helped him against Durlabharaja. F. Kielhorn identified this Mahendra with Mahindu, the king of Naddula. D. R. Bhandarkar identified Durlabharaja as Durlabharaja Chaulukya.{{sfn|R. B. Singh|1964|p=240}} However, historian Dasharatha Sharma points out that Durlabharaja Chaulukya had not ascended the throne when this inscription was issued. Sharma, therefore, identified Durlabharaja as Durlabharaja Chahamana,{{sfn|Dasharatha Sharma|1959|p=124}}
Dhavala seems to have been a close ally of Mahindu, and helped him against the Paramara king Munja.{{sfn|R. B. Singh|1964|p=241}}
= Hemachandra's legend =
Dvyashrya-Kavya, a legendary text by the Chaulukya court scholar Hemachandra, states that Mahendra-raja organized a swayamvara (husband-choosing ceremony) for his sister Durlabha-devi. Besides Durlabharaja, he invited the rulers of Anga, Andhra, Kashi, Kuru, Mathura and Ujjayini to this ceremony. Durlabha-devi chose Durlabharaja as her husband. Out of jealousy, the other invitees formed a confederacy and attacked his contingent, while he was returning to his capital. Durlabharaja defeated their combined army.{{sfn|Asoke Kumar Majumdar|1956|p=40}} Mahindu's younger daughter Lakshmi-devi married Nagaraja, the younger brother of Durlabharaja.{{sfn|R. B. Singh|1964|p=241}}
On basis of this legend, historian R. B. Singh theorizes that the Chahamana-Chaulukya rivalry concluded with a matrimonial alliance.{{sfn|R. B. Singh|1964|p=240}} He also concludes that Mahindu was a powerful ruler, because of which several distant kings responded to the swayamvara invitation.{{sfn|R. B. Singh|1964|p=241}}
Other historians doubt the historicity of this legend. According to A. K. Majumdar, the king of Naddula was a relatively insignificant ruler, and it is hard to believe that so many major rulers left their kingdoms to attend his ceremony at a time when northern India was under attacks from Mahmud of Ghazni.{{sfn|Asoke Kumar Majumdar|1956|pp=40-41}} Moreover, it is unlikely that Durlabharaja would have been able to defeat a confederacy of all these powerful kings.{{sfn|Krishna Narain Seth|1978|pp=133-134}}{{sfn|Mahesh Singh|1984|p=41}}
Successors
References
{{reflist}}
= Bibliography =
- {{cite book|author=Asoke Kumar Majumdar |title=Chaulukyas of Gujarat |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ffAdAAAAMAAJ |year=1956 |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |oclc=4413150 }}
- {{cite book |author=Dasharatha Sharma |title=Early Chauhān Dynasties |publisher=S. Chand / Motilal Banarsidass |year=1959 |isbn=9780842606189 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n4gcAAAAMAAJ }}
- {{cite book |author=Krishna Narain Seth |title=The Growth of the Paramara Power in Malwa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Q4dAAAAMAAJ |publisher=Progress |year=1978 |oclc=8931757 }}
- {{cite book |author=Mahesh Singh |title=Bhoja Paramāra and His Times |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Prakashan |year=1984 |oclc=11786897 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uPsgAAAAMAAJ }}
- {{cite book |author=R. B. Singh |title=History of the Chāhamānas |publisher=N. Kishore |year=1964 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TKs9AAAAIAAJ |oclc=11038728 }}
{{Chahamanas of Naddula}}
Category:Chahamana kings of Naddula