Sindhuraja

Sindhuraja (IAST: Sindhurāja) was an Indian king from the Paramara dynasty, who ruled the Malwa region in the late 10th century. He was the younger brother of Munja, and the father of Bhoja.

Background

No inscriptions issued by Sindhuraja have been discovered, although he is mentioned in several later Paramara inscriptions, including inscriptions of Bhoja. Much of the information about his life comes from Nava-Sahasanka-Charita, an euologistic composition by his court poet Padmagupta. The work is of little historical value.

Sindhuraja succeeded his brother Munja as the Paramara king. According to the 14th century poet Merudatta's Prabandha-Chintamani, Sindhuraja was the biological son of Simhadantabhatta (Siyaka), while Munja was an adopted child. However, historians doubt the authenticity of this claim. Merutunga also states that Munja was succeeded by Sindhuraja's son Bhoja. However, according to Nava-Sahasanka-Charita and epigraphic evidence, Sindhuraja was the successor of Munja.

Sindhuraja adopted the titles "Kumara-Narayana" and "Nava-Sahasanka". His other names include Sindhula and Sindhala. In the inscriptions of his successor Bhoja, he has been called "Sindhu-raja-deva".

Period of reign

The exact period of Sindhuraja's reign is not certain. His predecessor Munja died some time between 994 CE and 998 CE.

The Modasa copper plates (1010 CE) are the earliest historical record of his successor Bhoja's reign. The Chintamani-Sarnika (1055 CE) was composed by Bhoja's court poet Dasabala. Based on this, scholars such as Pratipal Bhatia assign Bhoja's reign to 1010-1055 CE, and therefore Sindhuraja's reign to 997-1010 CE. However, Merutunga's Prabandha-Chintamani states that Bhoja ruled for 55 years. Assuming this information to be correct, scholars such as Kailash Chandra Jain assume Bhoja's reign as 1000-1055 CE, and Sindhuraja's reign as 995-1000 CE.

Military career

Sindhuraja defeated the Chalukya king Satyashraya, and recovered the territories that Munja had lost to Tailapa II. In addition, the Udaipur Prashasti inscription of a later Paramara king mentions that Sindhuraja defeated a Huna king.

Sindhuraja also raided the territories the Shilaharas of Konkan. He also conquered Lata (southern Gujarat).

The Nava-Sahasanka-Charita credits him with several other victories. According to the text, he defeated the rulers of Kosala, and also achieved military successes against Vagada and Muralas (identity uncertain). These claims by Sindhuraja's court poet might be exaggerations. According to S. N. Sen, the ruler of Kosala might be identified with the Somavanshis of south Kosala. The Nava-Sahasanka-Charita also suggests that Sindhuraja assisted the Naga king of present-day Bastar in subduing a non-Aryan chief of Vajra (Wairagarh in present-day Chandrapur district). Tilaka-Manjari, a work composed by the Paramara court poet Dhanapala euologizes him as a great hero and "a lion for the line of rutting elephants of Indra".

According to the 12th century Vadnagar prashasti inscription of the Chaulukya (Solanki) dynasty of Gujarat, their king Chamundaraja led an army against Sindhuraja. When Sindhuraja saw Chamundaraja's army from a distance, he fled with his elephant forces, and lost his well-established fame. It appears that the ruler of Lata was a vassal of Chamundaraja. When Sindhuraja invaded Lata, Chamundaraja came to the rescue of his vassal, forcing Sindhuraja to retreat. The 14th century text Kumarapala-Charita states that Chamundaraja killed Sindhuraja in a battle. The text was written by the Jain writer Jayasimha Suri, who was patronized by the Chaulukyas of Gujarat. However, the historicity of this claim is doubtful, since it does not appear in the earlier sources.

Sindhuraja was succeeded by his son Bhoja.