Solanki (clan)

For the English cricketer, please see Vikram Solanki

The Solanki or Chalukya is a Hindu Gurjar, Rajput dynasty of India, who ruled the kingdom of Gujarat from the 10th to the 13th centuries. The Solanki are a branch of the Chalukya clan of Gurjar and whose oldest known area of residence may be in present-day Karnataka.

In Gujarat, Anhilwara (modern Siddhpur Patan) served as their capital. Gujarat was a major center of Indian Ocean trade, and Anhilwara was one of the largest cities in India, with population estimated at 100,000 in the year 1000. The Solankis were patrons of the great seaside temple of Shiva at Somnath Patan in Kathiawar; Bhima Dev helped rebuild the temple after it was sacked by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1026. His son Karandev conquered the Bhil king Ashapall or Ashaval, and after his victory established a city named Karnavati on the banks of the Sabarmati River, at the site of modern Ahmedabad.

Establishment of the dynasty

Mulraj Solanki, who came to power in 942, established what came to be known as the Solanki dynasty. Ambitious as he was, he started expanding his frontiers and established his complete and total hold over Saurashtra and Kachchh by defeating Grahripu of Junagadh (Saurashtra) and Lakho Fulani of Kachchh. Mulraj Solanki's reign marked the start of a period during which Gujarati culture flowered as manifested in art, architecture, language and script. It is described as the golden period of Gujarat's chequered history. Mulraj himself adopted the title of Gurjaresh (King of Gurjardesh). The territory under the sway of the Solankis came to be known by different variations of the word Gurjar like Gurjardesh, Gurjara-Rastra and finally Gujarat.

Siddhraj Jaysinh

The one name stand out in the Solanki dynasty is Siddhraj Jaysinh also known as Siddhraj Solanki who ruled for 47 years from 1094 and considered as the most prominent Solanki king. Apart from Saurashtra and Kachchh, Siddhraj Jaysinh had also conquered the Malwa.

The popular conception of Siddhraj mixes greatness and medieval callousness. One of the most prominent legends of the Gujarat bards is woven round the siege of Junagadh by Siddhraj' Jaysinh. Siddhraj wanted to marry the princess Ranakdevi, but his vassal, Ra Khengar, the Chief of Junagadh, married her before he could do so. An enraged Siddharaj attacked the mountain-fortress of Junagadh. It fell after Ra Khengar's nephews betrayed him. Ranakdevi refused Siddharaj's advances for marriage after he had killed her husband and two sons. She was forcibly brought to Wadhwan where she committed the ritual of Sati at this place to protect her honour. It is believed that her curse made Bhogavo, a local river, waterless, forever. Some historians doubt the authenticity of the story.

Siddhraj is said to have ascended the throne of Patan after killing his uncle Mulraja Solanki. In condemnation of this act, the local Brahmins refused to participate in the inauguration of the new palace, commissioned by the late Mularaja. In response, Siddhraj invited Brahmins from North India to settle in the region.

He also features in the legend of Jasma Odan, a beautiful woman of the tank diggers' community-oudes, who were digging a new tank in Patan. Already married, she refused Siddhraj's advances and committed sati to protect her honour. It is believed that her curse made this tank waterless and the king without an heir to the kingdom of Gujarat.

Later generations

Siddhraj's successor was the king Kumarpal, who rebuilt the Somnath temple. Several scholars including the great Acharya Hemachandra flourished during the rule of Kumarpal.

After 1243, the Solankis lost control of Gujarat to their feudatories, of whom the Vaghela chiefs of Dholka came to dominate Gujarat. In 1297 Gujarat was conquered by the Delhi Sultanate.

Descendants of the Anhilwara Solankis ruled the state of Rewa, in the Bagelkhand region, the eastern part of present-day Madhya Pradesh. Vyaghra Deo, brother of the King of Gujarat, moved to Bagelkhand in the middle of the twelfth century, and obtained the fortress of Marpha, 18 miles northeast of Kalinjar. His son Karandeo married a Kalchuri (Haihaya) princess of Mandla, and received the fortress of Bandogarh as her dowry. Bandogarh served as the seat of the Solankis of Bagelkhand until its destruction by the Mughal emperor Akbar in 1597. After the destruction of Bandogargh, the Solankis moved their capital to Rewa. From 1812 to 1947 the Solanki rajas of Rewa ruled the princely state of that name, within British India. In 1947, the last Raja of Rewa acceded to newly-independent India.

Solanki rulers of Gujarat

• Mulraj I (942/960-995/997).
• Chamundaraj (c.995 -c.1010)
• Vallabharaj (c.1010)
• Durlabharaj (1009-1021).
• Bhimdev I (1021-1063). Son of Durlabharaj.
• Karandev I (1063-1093). Son of Bhimdev I.
• "Siddhraj" Jaysinh I (1093-1143)
• Kumarpal (1143-1173). Descendant of Karandev I.
• Ajavapal. Son of Kumarpal. (c.1171-c.1176)
• Mulraj II (c.1176-c.1178)
• Bhimdev II (c.1178-1242).
• Jaysinh II (c. 1223) -co-ruler of Bhimdev II
• Tribuvanpal (1242-1244)

External links

• List of rulers of Gujarat