Between the Ghurid garrisons, the Chaulukya feudatories and the Guhila hills there are houses that answer to none of them in the sources we could reach.
The Bhatis live on tolls at Jaisalmer, a fort founded about 1156 (traditional) in open desert. The Pratihara chiefs hold Mandore, once the capital of central Marwar. A Paramara line holds the granite hill of Siwana. The Kachwahas hold the Dhundhar hills east of Sambhar on a record that is bardic before the fourteenth century. The Jadons of Bayana were beaten in 1195 to 1196 and survive in the hills south of it.
In Saurashtra the Chudasamas of Junagadh and the Jethwas of the Barda are Rajput houses of their own with Chaulukya overlords, and they are written in their own records. 'Rajput' here is a chroniclers' label for warrior clans with a lineage claim, not a nation: there is no single Rajput polity, no alliance, and no name for the whole.
Who rules
- Name
- see the lords' records (Bhatis of Jaisalmer, Pratiharas of Mandore, Kachwahas of Dhundhar, Jadons of Bayana, Chudasamas and Jethwas of Saurashtra)
- Title
- No single ruler: a scatter of houses
- Since
- not applicable
- Born
- not applicable
- Family
- The houses claim descent from the old warrior clans (Bhati and Jadon from the Yadavas; Kachwaha and Guhila from solar lines; Pratihara and Paramara from the older Gurjara-Pratihara and Paramara families) and these lines are bardic as well as epigraphic.
- Confidence
- low
The sources are Wikipedia on Bhati, Kachwaha and Chudasama; the rest is the campaign board's notes.
What the realm holds
- Jaisalmer, Lodhruva and the desert tolls (Bhatis)
- Mandore (Pratiharas)
- Siwana (Paramaras)
- The Dhundhar hills (Kachwahas)
- The Karauli hills (Jadon remnant)
- Junagadh and the Barda country (Chudasamas, Jethwas)
How it was acquired
Each house has its own history; see the records.
Allies and rivals
Rivalries are local and the houses rarely act together except under an outside threat: Kasahrada in 1178 and Abu in 1197 are the models.
The realm that morning
A belt of small powers between the great ones; the Ghurids have the Doab, Haryana, Ajmer and Bayana, the Chaulukyas have Gujarat and the Abu road.
Wealth
Desert tolls, cattle and camels, hill forts, salt flats.
Military
Horsemen from clans; no counts.
Threats
- Ghurid raids along the desert and mountain roads
- Chaulukya demands for homage
Where the sources disagree
- The word 'Rajputana' for the country does not occur in the period and we do not use it. Rajput clan histories (the 'thirty-six royal races') are bardic and later than the period.
Evidence: Three Wikipedia pages and the campaign board.
"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.
On the map: The real picture is a chain of wells, forts and tolls with desert between.
Primary sources for this realm
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
- 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
- Historical Inscriptions of Gujarat, Various (the Chaulukya and Vaghela chanceries), edited by G. V. Acharya (inscriptions of the 10th to 14th centuries; edited 1933 to 1942). The standard corpus of Gujarat's inscriptions. 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 Victory of Prithviraja, Jayanaka (a Kashmiri poet at the Chahamana court) (about 1191 to 1192, left unfinished). A court epic written at Ajmer in the months between Prithviraja III's victory at Tarain in 1191 and his defeat and death in 1192. Read online
- The Wishing-Stone of Narratives, Merutunga (a Jain monk of the Nagendra gaccha) (1305 (Vikrama 1361) at Vadhvan in Gujarat). A Jain collection of historical anecdotes about the kings of Gujarat and Malwa, a century after 1200. Read online
Sources and studies
- Wikipedia, 'Bhati'
- Wikipedia, 'Kachwaha'
- Wikipedia, 'Chudasama dynasty'
- OMNIA board notes for the place (a lead only; checked against the sources above)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.