BHOJ

Bhoj :

Param-bhattarak Maharajadhiraj Parameshvar

Statue of Raja Bhoja in Bhopal

King of Malwa

Reign : c. 1010–1055 CE

Predecessor : Sindhuraj

Successor : Jaysimha I

Dynasty : Parmar

Father : Sindhuraj

Religion : Hinduism

Bhoj (reigned c. 1010–1055 CE) was an Indian king from the Parmar dynasty of Rajputs. His kingdom was centered around the Malwa region in central India, where his capital Dhar-nagar (modern Dhar) was located. Bhoj fought wars with nearly all his neighbours in attempts to extend his kingdom, with varying degrees of success. At its zenith, his kingdom extended from Chittor in the north to upper Konkan in the south, and from the Sabarmati River in the west to Vidisha in the east.

Bhoj is best known as a patron of arts, literature, and sciences. The establishment of the Bhoj Shal, a centre for Sanskrit studies, is attributed to him. He was a polymath, and several books covering a wide range of topics are attributed to him. He is also said to have constructed a large number of Shiva temples, although Bhojeshwar Temple in Bhojpur (a city founded by him) is the only surviving temple that can be ascribed to him with certainty.

Because of his patronage to scholars, Bhoj became one of the most celebrated kings in the Indian history. After his death, he came to be featured in several legends as a righteous scholar-king. The body of legends clustered around him is comparable to that of the fabled Vikramaditya.

Early life :

Bhoj's father and predecessor was Sindhuraj. According to Bhoj-Prabandha, his mother's name was Savitri. Bhoj's reputation as a scholar-king suggests that he was well-educated as a child. The Bhoj-Prabandh states that he was educated by his guardians as well as other learned scholars.

According to Bhoj-Prabandh, early in his life, Bhoj suffered from intense headaches. Two Brahmin surgeons from Ujjain made him unconscious using an anaesthetic powder called moh-churn, opened his cranial bone, removed a tumor, and then made him regain his consciousness by administering another powder called sanjivani.

Legend of persecution by Munj :

According to Tilak-Manjari, composed by Bhoj's contemporary Dhanpal, Bhoj's feet had auspicious birthmarks indicating that he was fit to be a king. His uncle Munj (and his father's predecessor) loved him greatly, and appointed him as the king.

However, several later legendary accounts state that Munj was initially jealous of Bhoj, and tried to prevent him from becoming a king. For example, the 14th century Prabandh-Chintamani states that during the reign of Munj, an astrologer prophesied Bhoj's long reign. Munj, who wanted his own son to become the king, ordered Bhoj's killing. Bhoj was appointed as the king by the royal ministers after Munj's death. According to a Gujarati legend documented in Rasmala, Munj ordered Bhoj's murder, but later appointed him as the crown prince.

Bhoj-Prabandh states that Munj ordered one Vatsraj to kill Bhoj at the Mahamaya temple in Bhuvaneshvari forest. On hearing Bhoj's cultured manner of talking, Vatsraj and his men abandoned the murder plan. They faked Bhoj's death, and presented to Munj a fake head and a verse from Bhoj. The verse described how great kings like Mandhat, Ram and Yudhishthir died leaving behind all their property; it then sarcastically added that Munj would be the only one whom the earthly possessions would follow. The verse moved Munj to tears, and made him realize his mistake. When he learned that Bhoj was still alive, he invited Bhoj to back to his court. To repent for his sin, he also went on a pilgrimage to Dharmaranya, where he established a town called Munjpuram. The sarcastic verse, purportedly written by Bhoj to Munj, also appears as an antonymous extract in Sharngadhar-paddhati (1363 CE).

These stories of Bhoj's persecution by Munj are essentially mythical. This legend is not found in the works composed by the contemporaries of Munj, Sindhuraj and Bhoj. For example, the Nav-sahasank-charit makes no mention of this story. The legend appears to be the poetic imagination of later composers. Ain-i-Akbari also contains a variation of this account, but completely distorts the legend, naming Munj as the one who was persecuted by Bhoj. This account is also completely unreliable from a historical point of view.

Anointment :

Some literary works suggest that Bhoj succeeded his uncle Munj as the Parmar king. These works include Tilaka-Manjari, Prabandha-Chintamani, and Rasmala. However, several other works as well as epigraphic evidence indicate that Bhoj succeeded his father Sindhuraja. Padmagupta, the court poet of Sindhuraja and Bhoj, also supports this fact. According to Bhoj-Prabandh, Munj left the Parmar administration in hands of Sindhuraja before departing on a military expedition. Munj unexpectedly died in this campaign, and as a result, Sindhuraja succeeded him as the king. Sindhuraj's court poet Padmagupt, in his Nav-Sahasank-Charit, states that Munj "placed the world in Sindhuraj's hands" before leaving for Ambika's town. This indicates that he left the administration in Sindhuraj's hands before leaving for his fatal expedition against Tailapa II. Udaipur Prashasti inscription seems to confirm this.

Period of reign :

The Modasa copper plates (1010–11 CE) are the earliest historical record of Bhoj's reign. The Chintamani-Sarnik (1055 CE) was composed by Bhoj's court poet Dasbal. An inscription of Bhoj's successor Jaysimha I is also dated 1055 CE. Thus, 1055 CE can be taken as the last year of Bhoj's reign. Based on these evidences, scholars such as Pratipal Bhatia assign Bhoj's reign to 1010–1055 CE.

However, some scholars assign the beginning of Bhoj's reign variously between 1000 CE and 1010 CE, based on their interpretations of inscriptions and legendary texts. For example, Merutunga's Prabandh-Chintamani states that Bhoj ruled for 55 years, 7 months and 3 days. Based on this, scholars such as D. C. Ganguly and K. C. Jain assign Bhoj's reign to 1000–1055 CE. However, as K. M. Munshi states, dates are "the weakest point in Merutunga's narratives". A. K. Warder, who dismisses Merutunga as "completely unreliable" and his narratives as "essentially fiction", believes there is no evidence that Bhoj's reign began much earlier than 1010 CE.

Names and titles :

In the Parmar inscriptions, Bhoj is mentioned as Bhoj-dev. In some modern north Indian languages such as Hindi, he is also known as "Bhoj" (because of schwa deletion). Bhoj's inscriptions mention his titles as Param-bhattarak, Maharajadhiraj and Parameshvar. Ganaratna Mahodadhi (1140 CE), a work on grammar by Vardhaman, suggests that "Tribhuvan Narayan" or "Triloka Narayan" ("Lord of the three worlds") was also a title of Bhoj. This is corroborated by epigraphic evidence: the Shiv temple ascribed to Bhoj in the Chittor fort has an idol which was named "Bhojsvamindev" as well as "Tribhuvan Narayandev".

Military career :

Inscriptions from Bhoj's reign have been found in present-day Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan states of India

While Bhoj became famous as a benevolent king and a patron of arts and culture, he was also renowned as a warrior. He inherited a kingdom centered around the Malwa region, and made several attempts to expand it with varying results. The Udaipur Prashasti inscription of Bhoj's brother compares Bhoj to the legendary king Prithu, and states that he "ruled the earth from Kailash to Malaya hills and up to the mountains of the setting and the rising sun". This is an obvious exaggeration: historical evidence indicates that Bhoj's kingdom extended from Chittor in the north to upper Konkan in the south, and from the Sabarmati River in the west to Vidisha in the east.

Several legends mention conflicts between the ruler of Malwa and the Chaulukyas, during the reign of the Chaulukya kings Vallabh-raj and Durlabha-raja. Vallabh is said to have died of smallpox during an expedition against the Parmars. This incident may have happened during the early part of Bhoj's reign, or during the reign of his father Sindhuraj. Vallabh's successor Durlabha is said to have repulsed an attack by a confederacy that included the ruler of Malwa, but modern historians doubt the authenticity of this legend.

Bhoj's first military aggression appears to be his invasion of the Lata region (in present-day Gujarat), around 1018 CE. Bhoj subjugated the Chalukyas of Lata, whose ruler Kirtiraja may have served as his feudatory for a brief period. Bhoj's invasion of Lata brought him close to the Shilahara kingdom of northern Konkan, which was located to the south of Lata. Bhoj invaded and captured Konkan sometime between 1018 and 1020 CE, during the reign of the Shilahara king Arikesari. He celebrated this victory in a big way by making generous donations to Brahmins. His 1020 CE inscription states that he organized a Konkan-Grahan Vijay Parv ("Konkan Victory Festival"). The Shilaharas probably continued to administer Konkan as Bhoj's vassals. By the end of his reign, Bhoj had lost this territory to the Chalukyas of Kalyani.

Sometime before 1019 CE, Bhoj formed an alliance against the Chalukyas of Kalyani with Rajendra Chola and Gangeyadev Kalachuri. At this time, Jayasimha II was the Chalukya king. The triple alliance engaged the Chalukyas at their northern and southern frontiers simultaneously. The extent of Bhoj's success in this campaign is not certain, as both Chalukya and Parmar panegyrics claimed victory. Historian D. C. Ganguly believes that Bhoj achieved some early victories against the Chalukyas, but was ultimately defeated. Others, including D. B. Diskalkar and H. C. Ray, believe that Bhoj was defeated by Jayasimha after some early successes, but ultimately emerged victorious against the Chalukyas after 1028 CE. According to Georg Bühler, the struggle probably ended with some advantage for Bhoj, which might have been exaggerated into a great victory by the Parmar poets.

The Udaipur Prashasti states that Bhoj defeated a ruler named Indraratha. Modern historians identify this king with Indranath, the Somavamshi king of Kalinga. This king was defeated by Rajendra Chola: Bhoj may have played a secondary role in the Chola campaign as part of an alliance.

The Ghaznavids, a Muslim dynasty of Turkic origin, invaded north-western India in the 11th century, led by Mahmud of Ghazni. The Udaipur Prashasti claims that Bhoj's mercenaries defeated the Turushkas (Turkic people). There are some legendary accounts of Bhoj's military successes against the foreign invaders identified with the Ghaznavids. However, there is no clear evidence to show that Bhoj fought against the Ghaznavids or any other Muslim army. Bhoj might have contributed troops to the Kabul Shahi ruler Anandapala's fight against the Ghaznavids. He is believed to have granted asylum to Anandapal's son Trilochanapal. Several medieval Muslim historians state that Mahmud avoided a confrontation with a powerful Hindu ruler named Param Dev after sacking the Somnath Hindu temple. Modern historians identify Param Dev as Bhoj: the name may be a corruption of Parmar-Dev or of Bhoj's title Parameshvar-Paramabhattarak. Bhoj may have also been a part of the Hindu alliance that expelled Mahmud's governors from Hansi, Thanesar and other areas around 1043 CE.

Bhoj's attempt to expand his kingdom eastwards was foiled by the Chandel king Vidyadhar. However, Bhoj was able to extend his influence among the Chandel feudatories, possibly after Vidyadhara's death. The Kachchhapaghatas of Dubkund, who were the northern neighbours of the Parmars, were originally Chandela feudatories. However, their ruler Abhimanyu accepted Bhoj's suzerainty.

According to the Udaipur Prashasti inscription, Bhoj defeated the Gurjar king. The identity of this king is debated by the historians, but he is generally identified as a weak Gurjar-Pratihar ruler of Kannauj. Bhoj did not retain control of Kannauj for a long time, if at all.

The 1046 CE Tilakawad copper plate inscription states that Bhoj's general Suraditya stabilized his royal fortune by slaughtering one Sahavahan in a battle. Some earlier historians identified Sahavahan as a king of Chamba, but this identification is doubtful, considering the distance between Chamba and Malwa, and the fact that the ruler of Chamba was not powerful enough to destabilize Bhoj's kingdom. Sahavahan might been a general of one of Bhoj's rivals, possibly the Kalachuri king Karna.

Bhoj defeated and killed Viryaram, the Shakambhari Chahman ruler. Encouraged by this success, he also waged a war against the Chahmans of Naddul. But in this second campaign, his army was forced to retreat, and his general Sadh was killed.

During the last years of Bhoj's reign, sometime after 1042 CE, Jaysimha's son and successor Someshvar I invaded Malwa, and sacked his capital Dhar. Multiple Chalukya inscriptions dated between 1058 and 1067 CE state that the Chalukyas plundered the important Parmar cities, including Dhar, Ujjayini and Mandapa. Bhoj re-established his control over Malwa soon after the departure of the Chalukya army. Nevertheless, the defeat was a major setback for the Parmars, and pushed back the southern boundary of their kingdom from Godavari to Narmada.

Although the Bhoj and Kalachuri king Gangeya were part of an alliance against the Chalukyas, Bhoj defeated Gangeya. It is not certain when they turned into enemies. According to one theory, Bhoj defeated Gangeya before his Chalukya campaign, in which Gangeya must have fought as a Parmar vassal. A contradictory theory is that the two turned enemies after their Chalukya campaign, sometime between 1028 CE and 1042 CE. The Udaipur Prashasti also claims that Bhoj defeated one Togglal, who might have been Gangeya's predecessor Kokalla II.

Death :

During the last year of Bhoj's reign, or shortly after his death, the Chaulukya king Bhima I and the Kalachuri king Karna attacked his kingdom. According to the 14th century author Merutung, Bhoj had once thought of subjugating Bhima, but Bhima's diplomat avoided a Parmar invasion by instigating Bhoj against the Chalukyas of Kalyani instead. Sometime before 1031 CE, Bhim launched an expedition against the Parmar branch at Abu, forcing its ruler Dhandhuka to seek shelter with Bhoj. Hemachandra, who was patronized by the Chaulukyas, states that Bhoj's general Kulachandra once sacked the Chaulukya capital while Bhima was fighting a war at the Sindh frontier. Bhim later dispatched his soldiers to raid Malwa several times. Merutung's Prabandh-Chintamani states that once two such soldiers attacked Bhoj in the vicinity of his capital Dhar, but the Parmar king escaped unhurt.

Merutung also states that Karna once challenged Bhoj to either a war or a palace-building contest. Bhoj, who was an old man by this time, chose the second option. Bhoj lost this contest, but refused to accept Karna's suzerainty. As a result, Karna, in alliance with Bhim, invaded Malwa. According to Merutung, Bhoj died of a disease at the same time the allied army attacked his kingdom. Several literary works written under Chaulukya patronage suggest that Bhim subjugated Bhoj while Bhoj was still alive. However, such claims are not corroborated by historical evidence.

Cultural contributions :

The incomplete Bhojeshwar Temple in Bhojpur, Madhya Pradesh

Bhoj is best remembered for his intellect and patronage to cultural activities. Noted poets and writers of his time sought his sponsorship. The Kashmiri writer Bilhan famously rued that Bhoj died before him, because of which he failed to seek the king's patronage. Several later kings also emulated Bhoj. For example, Krishnadevray of the Vijayanagara Empire styled himself as Abhinav-Bhoj ("the new Bhoj") and Sakal-Kal-Bhoj ("Bhoj of all the arts").

Bhoj was himself a polymath. Under his rule, Malwa and its capital Dhara became one of the chief intellectual centres of India. He is said to have paid great attention to the education of his people, so much so that even humble weavers in the kingdom are supposed to have composed metrical Sanskrit kavyas.

Bhoj is said to have founded the city of Bhojpur, a belief supported by historical evidence. Besides the Bhojeshwar Temple there, the construction of three now-breached dams in that area is attributed to him. The temple originally stood on the banks of a reservoir 18.5 long and 7.5 miles wide. This reservoir was formed through construction of 3 earth-and-stone dams during Bhoj's reign. The first dam, built on Betwa River, trapped the river waters in a depression surrounded by hills. A second dam was constructed in a gap between the hills, near present-day Mendua village. A third dam, located in present-day Bhopal, diverted more water from the smaller Kaliasot river into the Betwa dam reservoir. This man-made reservoir existed until 15th century, when Hoshang Shah emptied the lake by breaching two of the dams.

Bhoj established the Bhoj Shala which was a centre for Sanskrit studies and a temple of Sarasvati in present-day Dhar. According to folklore, the Bhopal city was established by and named after him ("Bhojpal"), but it is possible that the city derives its name from another king called Bhupal (or Bhupal).

Literary works :

Bhoj was renowned as a scholar-king, and several books are attributed to him. Because these books cover an enormous range of topics, it is not certain if he actually wrote all these books or if he only commissioned these works, acting as a patron of their actual writers. But it is known that he was an expert on poetry, and the treatise Shringara-Prakasha was definitely authored by him.

According to Ajad, who wrote a commentary titled Padak-prakash on Sarasvati-Kanthabharan, Bhoj wrote 84 books. The surviving works attributed to Bhoj include the following Sanskrit-language texts :

• Bhujabala-bhima (Bhujabalabhima), a work on astrology

• Champu-Ramayana or Bhoj-Champu (Campuramayana), a re-telling of the Ramayana in mixture of prose and poetry, which characterises the champu genre. The first five kandas (chapters) are attributed to Bhoj. The sixth and seventh chapters were completed by Lakshmana and Venkatadhvarin respectively.

• Charucharya (Carucarya), a treatise on personal hygiene

• Govind-vilas, poem

• Nam-Malik, a compiled treatise on lexicography

• Raja-Martand (Rajamartand) or Patanjali-Yogsutra-Bhashya, a major commentary on the Yog Sutras of Patanjali; includes an explanation of various forms of meditations

• Raja-Mrigank-Karan (Rajamrigankakaran), a treatise on chemistry, especially dealing with the extraction of metals from ores, and production of various drugs.

• Samarangan-Sutradhar (Samaranganasutradhar), a treatise on architecture and iconography. It details construction of buildings, forts, temples, idols of deities and mechanical devices including a so-called flying machine or glider.

• Sarasvati-Kanthabharan (Sarasvatikanthabharan), a treatise on Sanskrit grammar for poetic and rhetorical compositions. Most of it is a compilation of works by other writers. Some of the poetic examples provided by him in this work are still appreciated as the highest cream of Sanskrit poetry.

• Shalihotra (Salihotra), a book on horses, their diseases and the remedies

• Shringar-Prakash (Srngaraprakas), treatise on poetics and dramaturgy

• Sringar-Manjari-Katha (Srngaramanjarikatha), a poem composed in akhyayika form

• Tattva-Prakash (Tattvaprakash), a treatise on Shaivite philosophy. It provides a synthesis of the voluminous literature of the siddhant tantras

• Vidvajjana-Vallabha, treatise on astronomy

• Vyavahar-Manjari (Vyavaharamanjari), a work on dharmasastra or Hindu law

• Yukti-Kalpataru, a work dealing with several topics including statecraft, politics, city-building, jewel-testing, characteristics of books, ship-building etc.

The Prakrit language poems Kodanda-Kavya and Kurma-Sataka are also attributed to Bhoj. The Kodanda-Kavya (Koda??akavya) was found inscribed on stone slab fragments at Mandu. The Kurma-Sataka (Avanikurmasataka), which praises the Kurma (tortoise) incarnation of Vishnu, was found inscribed at the Bhoj Shala in Dhar.

Sangitraj, attributed to Kalasen or Kumbh, names Bhoj as an authority on music, which suggests that Bhoj also compiled or wrote a work on music.

Religion :

The Samadhishvar Shiv Temple in Chittor Fort is identified with the Tribhuvan-Narayan or Bhoj-svamin temple attributed to Bhoj. The original temple has been renovated several times since its construction.

Historical evidence suggests that Bhoj was a devotee of Shiv. His writings qualify Shiva as "Jagadguru" ("World teacher"), and his inscriptions begin with verses praising Shiv. The Udaipur Prashasti inscription of the later Parmar rulers states that Bhoj "covered the earth with temples" dedicated to the various aspects of Shiv, including Kedareshvar, Rameshwar, Somnath, Kal, and Rudra. The Jain writer Merutung, in his Prabandh-Chintamani, states that Bhoj constructed 104 temples in his capital city of Dhar alone. However, the Bhojeshwar Temple in Bhojpur is the only surviving shrine that can be attributed to Bhoj with certainty. Several historians, including G. H. Ojha and R. Nath, have identified the Samadhishvar Shiv Temple in Chittor with the Tribhuvan Narayan Shiv or Bhoj-svamin temple attributed to Bhoj; the temple has been restored several times since its construction.

The Jain legends state that Bhoj converted to Jainism. According to this account, his court poet Dhanapala convinced the king to give up Vedic animal sacrifices. The poet also openly ridiculed Bhoj's other religious beliefs, including his worship of Kamdev-Rati and cow. Gradually, Dhanpal convinced Bhoj to become a Jain.

These accounts of Bhoj's conversion to Jainism are irreconcilable with historical evidence. In a Bhoj-Prabandlha legend, a Brahmin named Govind calls Bhoj a Vaishnavite. It is possible that Bhoj patronized other faiths despite being a Shaivite.

Personal life :

Bhoj married multiple women as part of matrimonial alliances with other ruling dynasties. His chief queen was Liladevi or Lilavati. His other queens included Padmavati (princess of Kuntal), Chandramukhi (princess of Ang) and Kamal.

Inscriptional evidence suggests that he was succeeded by Jaysimha, who was probably his son. Jayasimha's Mandhata grant of 1055 CE mentions his predecessors as Bhoj, Sindhuraj and Vakpati. However, this inscription does not specify the relationship between Bhoj and Jaysimha, and it is the only epigraph that mentions a Parmar king named Jaysimha. The Udaipur Prashasti and Nagpur Prashasti inscriptions of the later Parmar kings give a detailed genealogy of the Parmar kings, but do not mention Jayasimha. These two inscriptions name Udayaditya as the next ruler after Bhoj. Udayaditya is now known to be Bhoj's brother.

Legacy :

In terms of the number of legends centered around him, Bhoj is comparable to the fabled Vikramaditya. Sheldon Pollock describes Bhoj as "the most celebrated poet-king and philosopher-king of his time, and perhaps of any Indian time". Bhoj came to be featured in several legends as a righteous scholar-king, who was the ultimate judge of literary qualities and generously rewarded good poets and writers. Most of these legends were written three to five centuries after his death.

Apart from epigraphic records, much of the information about Bhoj comes from these legendary accounts, including Merutung's Prabandha-Chintamani (14th century), Rajvallabh's Bhoj-Charitra (15th century), and Ballal's Bhoj-Prabandh (17th century). However, many of the popular legends about Bhoj do not have any historical basis. For example, the Bhoj-Prabandh anachronistically describes the ancient poet Kalidas as a contemporary of Bhoj.

In order to enhance their imperial claims, the Parmars promoted several legends associating Bhoj with the ancient legendary kings. For example, in Simhasan Dvatrimsik (popularly known as Singhasan Battisi), Bhoj finds a throne of Vikramaditya, and each of the 32 divine figurines attached to the throne tell him a story about Vikramaditya. A Bhavishya Purana legend describes Bhoj as a descendant of Vikramaditya and Shalivahan. According to this legend, the malech (foreign) influence had corrupted Indian culture by the time of Bhoj's ascension. Bhoj marched up to the banks of the Indus river, and defeated several malecha kings. The poet Kalidas, who accompanied him, magically turned into ashes a malech named Mahamad, whose followers came to be known as Muslim (The character Mahamad is based on Muhammad possibly combined with Mahmud of Ghazni). After returning to his capital, Bhoj established Sanskrit language among the top three varnas and Prakrit language among the Shudras. During his 50-year reign, Aryavart (the land between the Himalayas and the Vindhyas) became a blessed land where the varna system was established. On the other hand, caste mixture took place beyond the Vindhyas (that is, in South India). Again, this is an imaginary account not supported by any historical evidence.

Source :

https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Bhoja