Jayasimha I
Parama-bhattaraka Maharajadhiraja Parameshvara
Emperor of Malwa
Reignc. 1055 – c. 1070 CE
PredecessorBhoja
SuccessorUdayaditya
DynastyParamara
Mandhata is located in Madhya Pradesh
Mandhata
Mandhata
Location of Mandhata, where the only available inscription of Jayasimha has been found

Jayasimha (reigned c. 1055-1070 CE) was an Indian king from the Paramara dynasty, who ruled in the Malwa region of central India. He was the successor, and possibly a son, of the dynasty's most powerful king Bhoja. He appears to have ascended the throne with the support of the Kalyani Chalukya prince Vikramaditya VI, and appears to have been dethroned by Vikramaditya's rival brother Someshvara II.

Source of information

The only known inscription that mentions a Paramara ruler named Jayasimha is the 1055-56 CE Mandhata copper-plate inscription. It is very similar to Bhoja's inscriptions, and records the grant of the Bhima village to Brahmins. The inscription is dated 1112 Vikrama Samvat; the exact date corresponds to either 27 May 1055 CE (assuming Chaitradi year) or 13 July 1056 CE (assuming Karttikadi year). It mentions Jayasimha's predecessors as Bhoja, Sindhuraja and Vakpatiraja. Jayasimha's titles and name are given as "Parama-bhattaraka Maharajadhiraja Parameshvara Jayasimha-deva".[1]

No other Paramara inscription mentions Jayasimha. The Udaipur Prashasti and the Nagpur Prashasti of the later Paramara kings omit Jayasimha's name, and mention Bhoja's brother Udayaditya as the next king after Bhoja.[2]

Biography

Jayasimha was probably Bhoja's son.[3] At the time of Bhoja's death, a confederacy of the Kalachuri king Karna and the Chaulukya king Bhima I had attacked Malwa.[4] It is possible that Jayasimha and Udayaditya were rival claimants to the throne under these conditions.[5]

Bilhana, a court poet of the Kalyani Chalukya king Vikramaditya VI mentions that his patron had helped re-establish the rule of a king in Malwa. Bilhana does not name the king of Malwa, but it appears that he was Jayasimha.[5] P. N. Kawthekar theorizes Jayasimha sought help from the Chalukya king Someshvara I, who dispatched prince Vikramaditya to help Jayasimha ascend the throne.[5]

After the death of Someshavara I, there was a war of succession between the Chalukya princes Someshvara II and Vikramaditya VI. It appears that Someshvara II considered Jayasimha an ally of Vikramaditya, and therefore, allied with Karna to dethrone him.[6] Jayasimha may have been killed in the ensuing conflict. Later, Udayaditya ascended the Paramara throne, and salvaged the kingdom.[7]

References

  1. ^ H. V. Trivedi 1991, pp. 62–63.
  2. ^ H. V. Trivedi 1991, p. 63.
  3. ^ A. K. Warder 1992, pp. 177.
  4. ^ K. N. Seth 1978, pp. 182–184.
  5. ^ a b c P. N. Kawthekar 1995, p. 72.
  6. ^ K. C. Jain 1972, p. 354.
  7. ^ Arvind K. Singh 2012, p. 21.

Bibliography

  • A. K. Warder (1992). "XLVI: The Vikramaditya Legend". Indian Kāvya Literature: The art of storytelling. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-0615-3.
  • Arvind K. Singh (2012). "Interpreting the History of the Paramāras". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 22 (1): 13–28. JSTOR 41490371.
  • Harihar Vitthal Trivedi (1991). Inscriptions of the Paramāras (Part 2). Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Volume VII: Inscriptions of the Paramāras, Chandēllas, Kachchapaghātas, and two minor dynasties. Archaeological Survey of India. doi:10.5281/zenodo.1451755.
  • K. C. Jain (1972). Malwa Through the Ages, from the Earliest Times to 1305 A.D. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-0824-9.
  • K. N. Seth (1978). The Growth of the Paramara Power in Malwa. Progress.
  • P. N. Kawthekar (1995). Bilhana. Sahitya Akademi. ISBN 9788172017798.
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