Naiki Devi

Naiki Devi (IAST: Nāikī Devī ) was the regent queen of Chaulukya dynasty[1][2] during her son Mularaja II's infancy from 1175. She was a queen of the Chaulukya king Ajayapala.[3]

Naiki Devi
SpouseAjaypala
IssueMularaja II
DynastyChandel (By birth) Chaulukya (By marriage)
FatherParamardi
MotherMalhana Pratihara
ReligionHinduism

Biography

Her earlier life is not known, according to Prabandhachintamani of Merutunga, she was daughter of one Paramardi. One theory identifies this Paramardi as the Kadamba king Permadi-deva, but according to historian Ashoke Kumar Majumdar, she was likely the daughter of the Chandela king Paramardi (reigned c. 1165-1203 CE).[3]

She was married to Chaulukya ruler Ajayapala and had son named Mularaja, who later became king after his father's death. When her son succeeded his father as king in 1175, she became regent during the minority of her son.

In 1175, Muhammad of Ghor crossed the Indus, capturing Multan and Uch before penetrating in present-day Gujarat through the Thar Desert in 1178. Muhammad of Ghor was routed by Mularaja II and his Rajput allies from Nadol, Jalore and Abu at the Battle of Kasahrada. The location of battle is identified as a village named Kayandra near foothills of Abu hills. Persian chroniclers Minhaj al-Siraj and Ferishta mentioned that Muhammad of Ghor was routed by Bhima II (Mularaja brother and successor), although the epigraphic evidences confirmed that Mularaja II was ruling at the time of Ghurid invasion.[4][5][6]

A later account of Merutunga states that Naiki devi took her son Mularaja in her lap and marched at the head of the Chaulukya army and defeated the Ghurid forces at Gāḍarāraghaṭṭa pass and secured for her son title of "vanquisher of the king of Ghazni". However, Ashoke Kumar Majumdar criticised the writing of Merutunga who used mythical stories to fascinate his readers.[7][8] In any case, Merutunga is dismissed as "completely unreliable" by modern scholars .[9][10]

The 2022 Gujarati historical film Nayika Devi: The Warrior Queen stars Khushi Shah as Naiki Devi.[11]

References
  1. Kulke, Hermann; Rothermund, Dietmar (2004). A History of India. Psychology Press. p. 117. ISBN 978-0-415-32919-4. When Gurjara Pratiharas power declined after the sacking of Kannauj by the Rashtrakutkas in the early tenth century many Rajput princes declared their independence and founded their own kingdoms, some of which grew to importance in the subsequent two centuries. The better known among these dynasties were the Chaulukyas or Solankis of Kathiawar and Gujarat, the Chahamanas (i.e. Chauhan) of eastern Rajasthan (Ajmer and Jodhpur), and the Tomaras who had founded Delhi (Dhillika) in 736 but had then been displaced by the Chauhans in the twelfth century.
  2. David Ludden (2013). India and South Asia: A Short History. Simon and Schuster. pp. 88–89. ISBN 978-1-78074-108-6. By contrast in Rajasthan a single warrior group evolved called Rajput (from Rajaputra-sons of kings): they rarely engaged in farming, even to supervise farm labour as farming was literally beneath them, farming was for their peasant subjects. In the ninth century separate clans of Rajputs Cahamanas (Chauhans), Paramaras (Pawars), Guhilas (Sisodias) and Caulukyas were splitting off from sprawling Gurjara Pratihara clans...
  3. Asoke Kumar Majumdar 1956, p. 131.
  4. Rima Hooja (2006). A History of Rajasthan (PB). Rupa & Company. p. 261. ISBN 978-81-291-1501-0. After occupying Uchchh in 1175 and annexing adjoining parts of Sindh, Muhammad of Ghor advanced against Gujarat in AD 1178, which was then ruled by the Chalukyan ruler Bhima II (?Mularaj II?). The bravery and spirited fight put up by him and his allies (among them Kelhan of Nadol, his younger brother, Kirtipal Chauhan, founder of the Jalore line, and the Parmar ruler of Abu, King Dharavarsha), forced the enemy back from the vicinity of Abu, in Rajasthan. According to the Sundha Inscription, this decisive battle took place at Kasahrada, near Abu
  5. Mohammad Habib (1981). K. A. Nizami (ed.). Politics and Society During the Early Medieval Period: Collected Works of Professor Mohammad Habib. People's Publishing House. p. 111. 111:"Rai Bhim Deo of Gujarat collected his Rajput veterans and after a stiff battle, in which most of the invaders were slain drove Shihabuddun away from his kingdom
  6. K. A. Nizami (1970). "Foundation of the Delhi Sultanat". In Mohammad Habib; Khaliq Ahmad Nizami (eds.). A Comprehensive History of India: The Delhi Sultanat (A.D. 1206-1526). Vol. 5 (Second ed.). The Indian History Congress / People's Publishing House. p. 157. OCLC 31870180. Western Rajputana was thus a better known area to the Muslim soldiers than the Gangetic Doab. Mu'izzuddin thought of repeating the exploits of Mahmud and of reaching southern India and its temple-treasures througlh Rajputana and Gujarat. Mưizzuddin's army must have been exhausted when it reached the foot of Mount Abu. This was his first encounter with an Indian ruler. The Rai of Nahrwala had a fairly strong army at his beck and call and a very large number of elephants. The battle was fought at Kavadra, a village near Mount Abu. Muizzuddin's army was completely routed in the conflict by Rajputs, but somehow he escaped with his defeated army from Gujarat. Minhaj says that Bhim Deo was Rai at this time m Epigraphic evicdence, corroborated by Hindu records, however, shows that Mularaja II was the ruler of Gujarat at the time
  7. Majumdar, Asoke Kumar (1956). Chaulukyas of Gujarat: A Survey of the History and Culture of Gujarat from the Middle of the Tenth to the End of the Thirteenth Century. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. pp. 131–135. Retrieved 2022-04-01.
  8. Majumdar, Ramesh Chandra (1977). Ancient India. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 334. ISBN 978-81-208-0436-4.
  9. Crouzet, François (1965), Studies in the Cultural History of India, Shiva Lal Agarwala, p. 237
  10. A. K. Warder (1992). Indian Kāvya Literature. Vol. VI: The Art of Storytelling. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-0615-3.
  11. "'Nayika Devi: The Warrior Queen' Depicts Chunky Panday As Evil Antagonist". ABP Live. IANS. 2022-03-16. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
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