Part 2.9 - Biography of Ajayapala (A.D. 1172-1175)

[Full title: History of Chaulukyas (9) Ajayapala (V.S.1229-1232] (A.D.1172-1175)]

The short reign of Ajayapala after the glorious reigns of Siddharaja and Kumarapala, comes as an anticlimax in the history of Gujarat. The reputation of this monarch also suffered in the hands of the Chroniclers. We have seen that Jayasimha Suri, Rajasekhara and Jina-mundana state that Kumarapala was poisoned by Ajayapala as he had accepted Hemacandra's advice to disinherit him. It is therefore necessary to note that the Chroniclers have always ascribed to Hemacandra a political role but whereas his earliest biographer Prabhacandra contended himself by limiting it to Hemacandra's efforts on behalf of the fugitive Kumarapala, the later Chroniclers not only developed the role but assumed that Hemacandra exercised considerable political power during the reign of Kumaranala, and also influenced him in nominating his successor. But neither Prabhacandra nor Merutunga, who was no means friendly to Ajayapala, apparently knew anything about the story of Kumarapala's murder by Ajayapala, or Hemacandra's advises to the king regarding this succession to the throne. These stories are only recorded by the late Chroniclers, and are not worthy of credit unless it can be corroborated by more trustworthy evidence.

58 We shall now see that the Chroniclers know little about Ajayapala and probably cared to know even less. There is no doubt that Ajayapala was a devout follower of the Brahmanical religion. Hence probably his reign was not studied with sufficient care by the Jaina Chroniclers; for, we shall show, that the story that Ajayapala was the persecutor of the Jainas was started at a late date and that probably he was the son and not the nephew of Kumarapala. All these misstatements about Ajayapala confirm the suspicion that the story of his poisoning Kumarapala was an invention of the Chroniclers. 125 126 Little is known of the event of the reign of the Ajayapala. Many copper-plates of his son Bhima II give him the epithet KaradikrtaSapadalaksa-kshmapala, which indicates that he had defeated the Cahamana king of Ajmir, who at this period was most probably Somesvara, the grandson of Siddharaja. Arisimha states that the king of Sapadalaksa sont Ajayapala a silver pavilion. 127 In the Kirtikaumudi it is stated that Ajayapala wrested from the king of Jangala, as a punishment, a gold pavilion and the Jangala King's furious elephants. 128 Balacandra Suri also states that: "By the strength of his army consisting of tall and ichor-oozing elephants he subdued the king of Jangala.³ 129 It is therefore evident that Ajayapala had defeated the king of Ajmir, and forced him to pay some tribute as a mark of submission.

59 The reign of Ajayapala does not seem to have been the unmitigated failure that it is generally said to have been. The Udayapura stone inscription shows that Malava up to Bhilsa was completely under his control and there is no reason to suppose that during his reign the Caulukya empire lost any territory. The army he left was strone enough to inflict a crushing defeat on the Muslim invaders even under the immature guidance of his son. The stable administration which could not put up such a resistance does not seem to have been the legacy of a capricious king guilty of the worst outrages. According to Merutunga Ajayapala was stabbed to death by one Vayajaladeva, a Pratihara. 130 But because there are strong reason to disbelieve his account of Ajayapala's reign, it is difficult to believe his account of king's death. It is known that he died between Tuesday, 25 th March and 6 th or 7 th April, A.D.1175.131