A family of hill-lords of the Kaimur and Rohtas plateau on the south bank of the Ganges and Son, Chandi-worshippers, who held a fortress country (Khayaragarh in Shahabad; Japila, now Japla; Rohtasgarh) as vassals of Kashi.
Kharwar tradition says the Kharwar once ruled Rohtasgarh before moving to Palamu. They are a frontier power: they sit on the road between Varanasi, the Son crossing and the Magadha plain, and with the Gahadavala broken at Chandawar they are the nearest Hindu lords to Bakhtiyar's base at Bhagwat and Bhiuli (the Mirzapur country, a few days' ride to the west).
Who he is
- Name
- Indradhavala or Udayaraja (not pinned)
- Title
- Raja of the Khayaravala line (the family used "Rajadhiraja" in the days of Pratapadhavala)
- Since
- not known
- Born
- not known
- Family
- Pratapadhavala is the first strong ruler (middle of the 12th century; inscriptions at Tutrahi Falls in the Vikrama year 1214 and at Tarachandi in 1225, that is about 1157/58 and 1168/69 CE). Udayaraja and Indradhavala appear on one copper plate dated Vikrama 1254 (about 1197/98 CE). Shri Pratapa appears in a Rohtas inscription of Vikrama 1279 (about 1222/23 CE). Which of Udayaraja and Indradhavala reigns on 1 January 1200, and how they are related, the page does not say.
- Confidence
- low
English Wikipedia, Khayaravala dynasty; conversions by me (Vikrama minus 57 from Chaitra to December, minus 56 from January to March; the Chaitra-year reckoning of the north is assumed).
Overlord
The Gahadavala kings of Kashi and Kannauj, until their defeat at Chandawar in 1194 (English Wikipedia calls the Khayaravala a vassal state of the Gahadavalas, on the evidence of land grants). We found no source showing a Khayaravala submission to anyone after 1194.
What it holds
- Khayaragarh (the capital, in Shahabad district)
- Japila (Japla) in the south
- The Rohtas plateau and its fort (Rohtasgarh)
- The passes and falls of the Kaimur scarp (Tutrahi Falls, Tarachandi) with the shrines of Chandi
How it was acquired
Pratapadhavala rose in the middle of the 12th century as a Gahadavala vassal; grants from Kashi to the family are recorded.
Allies and rivals
The broken Gahadavala house (nic ground) and its heirs; the Pithipati and the Pala-line king across the Son; the Ghurid captain Bakhtiyar at Bhagwat and Bhiuli; the Kharwar and Chero hill peoples of Palamu behind them.
How things stand that morning
A hill-lord family whose overlord was beaten six years ago. They are neither conquered nor reported raided. The Rohtas plateau is a natural fortress, and the Ghurid captain at Bhagwat and Bhiuli has so far gone for the soft monasteries of the plain rather than the plateau. Which of the two last-named kings reigns is not known.
Wealth
Hill tolls and forest produce; the plateau's hard, irrigated valleys; the Son crossing tolls; gifts at the Chandi shrines.
Military
A plateau garrison and hill retinues. No numbers.
Threats
- Ghurid raiding from the west
- The loss of their Gahadavala overlord
- Hill rivals (Kharwar and Chero)
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.
- about 1222/23 (Vikrama 1279)Shri Pratapa, a Khayaravala, is named in a Rohtas inscription, showing the line survives into the 1220s.Depends on: The plateau holds. Stopped by: A Turkish siege of Rohtas.
Places of note
- Rohtasgarh: Plateau fortress, on the Kaimur scarp above the Son (the gazetteer gives Rohtas at 24.64 N, 83.91 E).
Where the sources disagree
- The assignment places them "near Japila, Rohtas". The Gahadavala heartland (Kashi, Kannauj) is the neighbouring researcher's; we include only the Khayaravala as the eastern edge of that country.
- English Wikipedia gives the dynasty as c. 11th to 13th century and the copper plate of Udayaraja and Indradhavala at Vikrama 1254 without a CE date; the CE dates are our conversions.
Evidence: Five inscriptions and a Kharwar tradition; nothing narrative.
On the map: The outline is a guess from the plateau; the fort and the falls are the real places.
Primary sources for Magadha and Anga
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- The Nasirean Generations (a general history of the Muslim dynasties), Minhaj-i Siraj Juzjani (completed 1260 at Delhi). The fullest narrative of the Ghurid conquest of northern India. Read online
- The Nasirid Generations: a General History of the Muslim Dynasties, Minhaj-i Siraj Juzjani (1259 to 1260, at Delhi). The Ghurid court's own history, by a man born in 1193 whose family served the sultans of Ghur and Ghazna. Read online
- Inscriptions of Bengal, vol. 3, Various (the Sena kings' chanceries), edited by N. G. Majumdar (copper plates of the 10th to early 13th centuries; edited 1929). The one-volume edition of the Sena copper plates, the main documentary evidence for Bengal around 1200. Read online
- Epigraphia Indica: inscriptions of the Chandelas, Paramaras, Gahadavalas, Chaulukyas, Senas and Eastern Gangas, Various (edited for the Archaeological Survey of India by J. Burgess, E. Hultzsch, F. Kielhorn, Sten Konow, F. W. Thomas and successors) (inscriptions of the 1180s to 1210s; the series ran from 1892). The main record series for the Hindu kingdoms of northern India around 1200. Read online
- The History of India as Told by its Own Historians: the Muhammadan Period, vol. 2, Various (Ibn al-Athir, Hasan Nizami, Awfi, Juzjani and others), edited by H. M. Elliot and John Dowson (the sources date from the 1190s to the 14th century; the collection was published in 1869). A one-volume anthology of the Arabic and Persian accounts of the Ghurid conquest. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.