Karnata king at Simraungarh

Who he is

Name

Narasimhadeva on the usual reckoning; not pinned

Title

King (raja) of Mithila (Tirhut), of the Karnata (Simraon) dynasty

Since

1187 or 1188 (Wikipedia: 'succeeded in 1188 CE'; its History of Nepal page gives 1187-1227)

Born

not known

Family

Nanyadeva took the land on 10 July 1097; Wikipedia's Karnat dynasty page then names Gangadeva (who invaded Gauda after 1147) and Malladeva (who 'kept his stronghold' at Bheeth Bhagwanpur in the north-east of Mithila), with no dates and no order between them, and says Narasimhadeva 'succeeded his father' in 1188 without naming the father. The line ends with Harisimhadeva (reigned 1295 to 1324). The Gopalarajavamsavali names Ramasimhadeva as the Tirhut king of 1245.

Confidence

low

Vidyapati's Purusapariksa (fifteenth century) is the source; Wikipedia's Karnat dynasty page says he succeeded in 1188 and helped the Delhi sultan (probably Muhammad of Ghor), and that Lakshmana Sena's rise probably cost the Karnatas territory in Purnea. No dated inscription of his was found. The Northern India sheet gives the Karnata record; this one is for the seat and the tarai ground.

What it holds

• Simraungarh and the ground round it
• the tarai from the Gandak to the Kosi
• the Bagmati, Kamala and Kosi crossings
• the road to the Chandragiri ascent

How it was acquired

Nanyadeva took the land on 10 July 1097 (his Simraungarh pillar); Narasimhadeva succeeded in 1187 or 1188.

Allies and rivals

The Senas of Bengal under Lakshmanasena to the east; the Ghurid conquerors of the Ganges plain, with whom Narasimhadeva is said to have had dealings (Vidyapati's anecdote of his help to the Delhi sultan, Muhammad of Ghor, who took Delhi in 1193; the page finds no sign that the Karnatas were his subjects); the Nepal valley kings to the north, over whom Wikipedia's Karnat dynasty page says the Malla dynasty under Arimalla 'likely broke off from Karnata suzerainty' without giving a date, so the Karnata may still claim the valley's king on 1 January 1200, or may have lost the claim already; the Kirata hill peoples east of the Kosi.

How things stand that morning

Secure behind the earthworks and the tarai forest; the Ghurids hold the Ganges to the south and raid Bihar, but the Karnata country has not been attacked in any source read. His reign continues to 1225 or 1227 on the usual dating.

Wealth

Rice, elephants and timber of the tarai forest, learning (Maithili Sanskrit logic), the trade on the roads to Nepal.

Military

A warrior aristocracy and the earthworks; no number is known.

Threats

• the Ghurids, whose raiding of Bihar is dated about 1199 to 1200 or 1203
• the Senas
• forest fever in the monsoon

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

In 1200

1. Not pinned (at or after the Arimalla accession, 1200 or 1201)The Nepal valley's king ceases to be reckoned under the Karnata kings, if he ever was: Wikipedia says only that the Malla dynasty under Arimalla 'likely broke off from Karnata suzerainty'.Depends on: The Arimalla accession (itself 1200 or 1201) and whether the Karnata ever held the claim in practice; the page gives no date and no cause. Stopped by: If the Karnata king was never overlord of the valley, or if Narasimhadeva enforces the claim and the valley's king pays, there is no break to play.

Later, on the likely course

1. 1245 and 1324 (later)The Tirhut army of Ramasimhadeva reaches Gokarna in the Nepal valley in 1245; Simraungarh is stormed in 1324 and the last king takes his court up into the hills.Depends on: Later Karnata kings and the Tughluq campaign. Stopped by: Given for the campaign's calendar only.

Places of note

• Simraungarh: Capital: the great earthwork.

Where the sources disagree

• The campaign board entry simraungadh: 'founded by Nanyadeva on a date his own pillar puts at 10 July 1097' and 'not a rock but an engineered rectangle': consistent with Wikipedia (the Simraungadh page says 'about 7.5 km north-south and 4.5 km east-west', and gives Dharmasvamin's visit as 1236).
• The Northern India sheet keeps the Karnata realm record and says the king of 1200 'cannot be named with confidence': this record follows that and marks Narasimhadeva as the usual reckoning.

Evidence: The capital is excavated and surveyed and the founding inscription is dated (see the Simraungarh town record); the king of 1200 rests on a fifteenth century text and a reconstructed list, and no inscription of his reign was found.

"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.

On the map: The northern edge of the polygon (the Churia foot) is a claim, not a boundary. About 30 per cent of the polygon lies south of this sheet's ground, on the Northern India map's plain; it is drawn here only to place the capital and the Nepal border.