The Yadavas (Seunas) of Devagiri

Who rules

Name

Jaitugi (also written Jaitrapala, Jaitrapala I, Jaitugi I)

Title

Maharajadhiraja of the Seunas, lord of Devagiri

Since

late 1191 or 1192 (Bhillama V's last record is of August 1191, Jaitugi's earliest of December 1192)

Born

not known (c.1165 appears in an infobox with no source, so treat it as a guess)

Family

Seuna (Yadava) house of Sinnar and Devagiri, claiming descent from the Yadu line of Krishna; son of Bhillama V

Confidence

medium

Reigning king on 1 January 1200 on every reading. His last dated inscription is the Bijapur record of 25 December 1196 (sixth regnal year); nothing later is dated, so his death is a reconstruction (1200 on one reckoning, 1210 on another).

What the realm holds

• Devagiri: the basalt rock with its cut-back scarp and water-filled ditch, and the walled town below it (royal seat)
• Sinnar (Seunapura), the family's old seat in the Nasik hills, and Nasik with the head of the Godavari at Trimbak
• Paithan on the Godavari and the Jalna and Beed plateau country (Marathwada)
• Khandesh in the Tapti valley, held through the Nikumbha chiefs at Patna (near Chalisgaon), with Erandol, Bhamer, Songir and Thalner
• The Bhima valley: Pandharpur (a small shrine of 1189), Mangalvedha, Solapur country
• The Ghat country: Junnar, Shivneri, the Naneghat and the toll posts of the horse road from the Konkan
• West Berar (Achalpur or Ellichpur and the cotton of the Payanghat), thinly documented
• Bijapur and the Tardavadi country (Jaitugi's Bijapur record of 25 December 1196; the minister Sankama held Tardavadi-1000)
• Kalyani and the Bidar plateau: taken by Bhillama V about 1187; a Yadava hold in 1200 is inferred, not documented
• Overlordship claimed over Kakatiya Ganapati, the Silaharas of Kolhapur, the Rattas, the Silaharas of Thana and the Kadambas of Goa: real only in the Kakatiya case and, on the likely course, in the Thana case after about 1200

How it was acquired

Bhillama V displaced rivals at Sinnar about 1175, broke from the Chalukya succession by taking Kalyani about 1187 and (on Hemadri's much later word) founded Devagiri. Jaitugi inherited a kingdom cut back by Soratur and added the Kakatiya victory (campaign about 1194 on the Seuna article's reading; Mahadeva's death 1198-99).

Allies and rivals

Rival and neighbour: the Hoysala Ballala II, who holds the Malaprabha and Krishna line and boasts a victory over the Seunas in his 1192 and 1196 records. Dependent and friend: the Kakatiya Ganapati, freed by Jaitugi. Doubtful feudatories: Silaharas of Kolhapur (Bhoja II), the Rattas, the Sindas, the Guttas and the Kadambas of Hangal and Goa, all of whom answer to whoever is nearest. In the north the Paramaras of Malwa (Subhatavarman) and the Chaulukyas of Gujarat: the Managuli inscription claims victories over both, which historians treat as empty boast, though a general (Sahadeva) may have raided Malwa.

The realm that morning

A strong, boxed-in plateau kingdom on the morning of 1 January 1200. The south is closed at the Krishna and Malaprabha by the Hoysalas, the east is quiet because the Kakatiya settlement of 1199 holds, the north is a long open road into Khandesh and Malwa, and the west is the Ghat wall whose passes Jaitugi taxes. The court sits at Devagiri. The ruler's death is expected within a year on one reckoning (Wikipedia, Mahalingam) and ten years off on another (Altekar).

The kingdom is made of core districts, loyal chiefs (Nikumbha) and doubtful ones (Rattas, Silaharas, Sindas), not a solid block. Across the sheet lines: the Hoysala plateau, the Konkan Silaharas and the Kadambas of Goa and Hangal are sik's ground; Malwa (the Paramaras) and Gujarat (the Chaulukyas) are nin's.

Wealth

Black-cotton soil under jowar, bajra and cotton (the Payanghat of Berar above all), Paithan silks with gold and silver borders, market dues and the tolls of the Ghat passes on the Konkan horse road (no Deccan king breeds cavalry), Nasik and Godavari pilgrim traffic, Ghat iron. Gold pagodas (varaha, gadyana) circulate; the lotus-marked Yadava coin (padmatanka) is known from later sources and is not pinned for 1200.

Military

Hill forts and a cut-rock capital rather than a standing wall line: Devagiri, Naldurg, Songir, Shivneri, Lohagad, Purandar. The army is a plateau levy of feudatory contingents and the royal household, with elephants and imported horses; Jaitugi's generals Sankama and Sahadeva are named. No numbers are given here: the figure Wikipedia repeats for Soratur comes from a source we could not check.

Threats

• Ballala II of the Hoysalas: the Krishna and Malaprabha line is his by right of Soratur, and Yadava recovery is a generation's work
• The Kakatiya settlement: it rests on one release with no known terms and could unravel in a season
• The succession: a prince whose age is not known, and a king whose own death date is disputed
• Doubtful feudatories (Silaharas, Rattas, Sindas, the Konkan chiefs) who owe obedience only when the army is near
• Paramara and Chaulukya raiding on the northern road through Khandesh

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. During 1200, month not known (one reckoning); or not before 1210 (another)Jaitugi dies and his son Simhana (Singhana II) takes the throne.Depends on: Mahalingam's reckoning (Simhana succeeds in 1200 and is crowned a second time in 1210 after beating the Hoysalas); Altekar instead has Simhana heir from about 1200 and king in 1210. The first regnal year of Simhana is computed as 1200, 1207, 1208-09 or 1210 by different epigraphists. Stopped by: Jaitugi living to 1210 (Altekar); a succession quarrel; a Kakatiya or Hoysala attack that interrupts the court.

Later, on the likely course

1. 1201 onwardKakatiya forces under Ganapati's regency and his Natavadi brother-in-law reach the head of the Krishna delta (Kanaka Durga temple inscription of 1201 at Vijayawada).Depends on: The Yadava settlement on the Kakatiya western flank holding, so Warangal can look east. Stopped by: A Yadava move on the Telingana march; a Velanati or Hoysala coalition.
2. 1202, 1206, 1212-1213 (Simhana's reign)Yadava inroads into Hoysala country: Wikipedia's Singhana article dates inroads to 1202 and 1206, Anantapur, Bellary, Chitradurga and Shimoga by 1212 and Dharwad by 1213; Banavasi is taken before 1215.Depends on: A strong new king and the Hoysalas busy with the Pandyas and Cholas. Stopped by: Ballala II's resistance; a Hoysala-Kakatiya understanding.
3. 1209-10, about 1216 or 1219-20 (sources disagree)Simhana overthrows Bhoja II of Kolhapur and annexes the Silahara lands.Depends on: Yadava strength after Simhana's accession. Stopped by: A Silahara alliance with the Hoysalas or Goa.

Places of note

• Devagiri: Royal seat; the rock and its town.
• Sinnar: Old seat (Seunapura) and the Gondeshvara temple.
• Bijapur: Jaitugi's dated record of 25 December 1196.

Where the sources disagree

• Board 'devagiri-daulatabad' gives 19.943, 75.271; the fort's coordinates are about 19.943 N, 75.215 E (we use the latter).
• The campaign board entry says Bhillama raised Devagiri about 1187 as fact; it rests on Hemadri, who wrote a century later (Wikipedia, Bhillama V). The present rock-cut scarp and ditch are of uncertain date.
• The campaign board entry calendar says 'Jaitugi we dies during this year'; Wikipedia's Seuna and Jaitugi articles say c.1191-1200 or 1191-1210. We treat the death as the likely course of 1200 with its dependences, not as a fact.
• The campaign board entry says Ballala broke Bhillama at Soratur in 1189; Wikipedia's Ballala article places Soratur and Lakkundi about 1191 and the Bhillama article puts the battle after June 1189. Bhillama is dated to 1191 as his last year.
• The campaign board entry says Jaitugi killed Mahadeva and carried off Ganapati as settled; Wikipedia's Mahadeva article says Mahadeva died in battle in 1198-99 (the Pratapa-charita has him dying attacking Devagiri) and that the Yadava inscriptions of Simhana and Ramachandra claim the release of Ganapati.

Evidence: Wikipedia's Seuna, Jaitugi, Singhana II and Bhillama V articles (read) agree on the shape and give the dates quoted; few dated inscriptions survive for Jaitugi (December 1192 to 25 December 1196), so the extent of his rule in 1199-1200 is inferred. Hemadri, the main source for the dynasty's own story, wrote about a century later.

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

On the map: The core is drawn solid for legibility; in 1200 the Yadava hold is strong in Seunadesa and Khandesh, weaker in Berar and the Bhima valley and doubtful at Bijapur and Kalyani. The southern and eastern edges are marches, not lines.

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.

• Corpus of Inscriptions in the Telingana Districts, Various (Kakatiya chancery and temple scribes), edited by P. Sreenivasachar (inscriptions of the 10th to 15th centuries; edited 1940 to 1942). The Kakatiyas of Orugallu (Warangal) are known for 1200 almost entirely from inscriptions, and this Hyderabad Archaeological Series corpus is the main printed collection. Read online
• Epigraphia Carnatica: inscriptions of the Mysore country, Various (Hoysala chancery and temple scribes), edited by B. Lewis Rice and R. Narasimhachar (inscriptions of the 4th to 19th centuries; the series ran from 1886 to 1905, revised from 1972). The Hoysala kingdom of Veera Ballala II (reigning 1173 to 1220) is documented almost wholly by the inscriptions in this series, arranged by district and taluk with full English translations. Read online
• Inscriptions of the Silaharas, Various (Silahara chanceries), edited by V. V. Mirashi (inscriptions of the 9th to 13th centuries; edited 1977). Collects the records of the three Silahara houses: North Konkan (Thana), South Konkan, and Kolhapur.
• Sanskrit and Old Canarese Inscriptions relating to the Yadava Kings of Devagiri, Various (Yadava chancery), edited by J. F. Fleet (inscriptions of the 12th and 13th centuries; edited 1876). The first collected edition of the Yadava (Seuna) records, with texts and translations, from the Indian Antiquary. Read online