Gurjar

The coming of the Hunas has brought northern India once more into close contact with Central Asia, and a number of Central Asian tribes migrate into India.

(It has been suggested that the Gurjars, who gradually spread to various parts of northern India, may be identified with the Khazars of Central Asia.)

The last Hephthalite King, Yudhishthira, rules until about 670, when he is replaced by the Kabul Shahi dynasty.

Hephthalites are believed to be among the ancestors of modern-day Pashtuns and in particular of the Abdali Pashtun tribe.

The Hephthalites could also have been ancestors of the Abdal tribe, which has assimilated into the Turkmens and Kazakhs.

In India, the Rajputs form as a result of merging of the Hephthalites and the Gurjars with population from northwestern India.

Kannauj had become the center of the Gurjar Pratihara state, which covers much of northern India during the peak of their power, from about 836 to 910.

Rambhadra, who reigned 833 to about 836,had briefly succeeded Nagabhata II.

Bhoja I or Mihir Bhoja, who reigned from about 836–886, had expanded the Gurjar dominions west to the border of Sind, east to Bengal, and south to the Narmada.

His son Mahendrapala I, who reigns from 890 to 910, has expanded further eastwards in Magadha, Bengal, and Assam.

Bhoja II (910–912) had been overthrown by Mahipala I (912–914).

Several feudatories of the empire take advantage of the temporary weakness of the Gurjar Pratiharas to declare their independence, notably the Paramaras of Malwa, the Chandelas of Bundelkhand, and the Kalachuris of Mahakoshal.

The Gurjara Pratihara ruler Mahipala I is experiencing some family feuds, providing Indra III an opportunity to attack Kannauj.

From the writings of Kannada poet Adikavi Pampa, it is known that Indra III had sent his feudatory, Chalukya King Narasimha of Vemulavada (Andhra region) in pursuit of Mahipala I, the incumbent ruler, who flees the area.

The northern campaign of Indra III produce more dramatic results than during the rule of Dhruva Dharavarsha and Govinda III, as the Rashtrakutas will actually be able to hold Kannauj until 916.

The Rashtrakuta emperor Indra III, who will reign from 914 to 928, briefly captures Kannauj in 916, and although the Pratiharas regain the city, their position will continue to weaken in the tenth century, partly as a result of the drain of simultaneously fighting off Turkic attacks from the west and the Pala advances in the east.

The Rashtrakutas retake Malwa from the Pratiharas during the years 915 to 918.

Mahmud of Ghazni, in his farthest foray eastward, captures and plunders Kannauj in 1019, reducing the status of the once-mighty Pratiharas to that of minor chiefs.

The Solanki clan of Gurjars had ruled Gujarat, a major center of Indian Ocean trade from about 960 to 1243; their capital at Anhilwara (Patan) is one of the largest cities in India, with a population estimated at one hundred thousand in the year 1000.

After 1243, the Solkanis had lost control of Gujarat to their feudatories, of whom the Vaghela chiefs of Dholka come to dominate.

Virdhaval is the first Vaghela king; two of his ministers, Vastupal and Tejpar, build the exquisite Dilwara Temples on Mount Abu in Rajasthan, and temples at the Girnar and Shetrunjay hills.

Virdhaval is succeeded in 1262 by his son Vishaldev, who will go to build temples at Dabhoi and found Vishalnagar.