Paramardideva

Who he is

Name

Paramardideva (Paramardi)

Title

Maharajadhiraja Paramesvara, Kalanjaradhipati (also styled lord of Dasharna on the Kalanjara stone of 1201)

Since

about 1165

Born

not known

Family

Grandson of Madanavarman by his own stones. Chief queen Malhana (Malhan Devi) in the ballads only. Sons: Trailokyavarman (heir, inscriptions); Brahmajit and Samarjit in the ballads only. Brother-in-law Mahil Parihar in the ballads only.

Confidence

high

About twelve dated stones from 1165-66 to 1201, listed in the realm record.

What it holds

• Mahoba and the tank country (Kulpahar, Charkhari, Rath, Mau Sahaniya)
• Kalanjara and the Banda plain (Naraini, Tarahati, Chitrakoot pilgrim ground)
• Khajuraho, Chhatarpur and Rajnagar
• Ajaigarh, Panna and the Ken scarp
• Deogarh (Kirtigiri-durga), Dudhai, Lalitpur and the Betwa
• Erach, the Bangra hills near Jhansi and the Betwa and Dhasan crossings

How it was acquired

Inherited. Lost Mahoba to Prithviraja III in 1182 to 1183; back in his hands by 1183 (stone) and 1184.

Allies and rivals

See the realm record. Personal ties: his Brahmin minister Sallakshana; the Gahadavala king Jayachandra (dead 1194) was an ally by tradition.

How things stand that morning

Free, with the middle country whole. He keeps the court at Mahoba in the cold season and goes up to Kalanjara in the heat and in danger. He has no sign yet of the Ghurid approach.

Wealth

Tank irrigation, quarries, forest produce, river tolls, pilgrim income of Khajuraho and Kalanjara; gold coin of Srimat Paramardi.

Military

Forts at Kalanjara, Ajaigarh, Mahoba and Deogarh; Brahmin senapati commanders; elephants; no numbers.

Threats

• A Ghurid column from Kannauj, Kalpi or Gwalior
• Revolt of the scarp chiefs

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.

1. 28 October 1201He adds to the Nilakantha temple at Kalanjara (his stone).Depends on: Peace to that date.
2. 1202 or 1203Aibak besieges Kalanjara; Paramardi agrees to tribute and dies before paying; Ajayadeva holds the fort until the water fails.Depends on: Ghurid freedom of action. Stopped by: A sultan's call to Khurasan, or a payment.

Places of note

• Mahoba: working capital
• Kalanjara: rock fort
• Ajaigarh: fort of the Ken, stone of 1187
• Khajuraho: temples
• Bateshwar: Yamuna stone of 1195; the farthest northern trace of his name

Where the sources disagree

• The campaign board entry has Prithviraja sacking Mahoba in 1182 and "recovered within two years". Prithviraja's Madanpur stone is of VS 1239 (1182 to 1183); the Mahoba stone of 1183 shows Paramardi back in power in the next year.
• The campaign board entry note on Khajuraho says "the last of the great shrines, Duladeo, went up around 1125". Duladeo is put at about 1130 by others; either way a generation or two before 1200.

Evidence: Many dated stones, thin narrative; ballads excluded.

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

On the map: The parts show the king's seats and their near country. The rest of Jejakabhukti belongs to his officers and feudatories, who are not named in our sources.

Primary sources for Chandelas

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 Crown of Glorious Deeds, Hasan Nizami (Sadr al-Din Muhammad ibn Hasan Nizami of Nishapur) (begun about 1205 at Delhi, carried on to about 1217). The earliest history written in Muslim India and the only contemporary account of Qutb al-Din Aibak's campaigns. Read online
• 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
• 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
• Inscriptions of the Kalachuri-Chedi Era, Various, edited by V. V. Mirashi (inscriptions of the 7th to 13th centuries; edited 1955). Collects every known record of the Kalachuris of Tripuri (Dahala) and of Ratnapura (south Kosala), with text, translation and a long historical introduction. Read online
• Inscriptions of the Paramaras, Chandellas, Kachchhapaghatas and two minor dynasties, Various, edited by H. V. Trivedi (inscriptions of the 9th to 14th centuries; edited 1978 to 1991). The collected records of the Paramaras of Malwa (parts 1 and 2) and of the Chandelas of Jejakabhukti (part 3), re-edited from Epigraphia Indica and earlier journals with new finds.
• 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