Ancient History
Part VII

In the last quarter of the twelfth century A.D. the Yadavas of Devagiri came into prominence. They had been ruling over Seunadesa in an earlier period as feudatories of the Later Chalukyas, but Bhillama, the son of Mallugi, declared his independence and soon made himself master of the whole territory north of the Krishna. He then founded the city of Devagiri, which the made his capital. His son Jaitrapala killed Rudradeva of the Kakatiya whom he had put into prison. Under Jaitrapala's son Singhana the power of the family greatly increased. He annexed the Kolhapur kingdom after defeating the Silahara king Bhoja in 1212. A.D. The first inscription of the Yadavas found in Vidarbha belongs to the reign of Singhana. It is dated in the Saka year 1133 and records the erection of a torana at Ambadaries of Singhana were won for him by his Senapati Kholesvara who hailed from Vidarbha. He defeated Lakmideva, the ruler of Bhambhagiri (modern Bhamer in Khandes), Paramara of Malva, and devastated the capital of the Hoyasalas. He even pressed as far as Varanasi in the north where he put Ramapala to flight. Kholesvara constructed several temples in Vidarbha and also established agraharas on the blanks of the Payosni and the Varada. The former agrahara is still extant under the name of the village Kholapur in the Amravati district.

Singhana was succeeded by his grandson Krishna, whose inscription has been found in the temple of Khandesvara on a hillock on the outskirts of the village Nandganv in the Amravati district. It is dated in the Saka year 1177 (A.D. 1245-55) and records the donations of some gadyanakas for the offerings of flowers at the temple of Khandesvara. After Karsna's death, the throne was occupied by his brother mahadeva superseding the claims of the former's son Ramachandra. Mahadeva annexed Konkan to his kingdom after defeating Somesvara of the Silahara dynasty. He left the throne to his son Amana, but the latter was soon deposed by Ramachandra, who captured the impregnable fort of Devagiri by means of a coup d'etat. He is the last of the independent Hindu Kings of Devagiri. He won several victories and in a grant of his minister Purusottama he is said to have driven out the Muhammedans from Varanasi and built a golden temple there, which he dedicated to Visnu. A fragmentary inscription of his time is built into the front wall of the temple of Laksmana on the hill at Ramtek. In the first half of it, it describes the exploits of Ramachandra's ancestors from Singhana onwards while in the second half it descrbes the temples, wells and tirthas on and in the vicinity of the hill which it names as Ramagiri. The object of the inscription seems to have been to record the repairs done to the temple of Laksmana by Raghava, the minister of Ramachandra. Another inscription of Ramachandra's reign was found at Lanji in the Balaghat district. It is fragmentary and has not yet been deciphered.

In A.D. 1204 Ala-ud-din Khilji invaded the kingdom of Ramachandra and suddenly appeared before the gates of Devagiri. Ramachandra was taken unawares and could not hold out long. He had to pay a large rasom to the Muslim conqueror. He continued, however, to rule till A.D. 1310 at leat ; for a copper-plate grant which his minister Purusottama made is dated in the Saka year 1232. He was then defeated and slain by Malik Kafur. Some time thereafter Harapaladeva, the son-in-law of Ramachandra, raised an insurrection and drove away the Muhammedans, but his success was short-lived. The Hindu Kingdom of Devagiri thus came to an end in A.D. 1318.

Like their illustrious predecessors, the Yadavas also extended liberal patronage to art and literature. During their age a peculiar style of architecture called Hemadpanti after Hemadri or Hemadpant, a minister of Mahadeva and Ramachandra, came into vogue. Temples built in this style have been found in all the districts of Vidarbha. In the Nagpur district they exist at Adasa. Ambhora, Bhuganv, Darsevani, Savner, Ramtek and some other palces. Several learned scholars flourished at their court. Among those who hailed from Vidarbha, Hemadri was the foremost. During the reign of Mahadeva he held the post of Srikaranadhipa or Head of the Secreatariat. He has appointed Minister and Head of the Elephant Force by Ramachandra. He was as brave as he was learned an liberal. He conquered and annexed to the Yadava kingdom the eastern part of Vidarbha called Jhadi-mandala, Hemadri is well known as the author of the Chaturvargacintamani comprising five parts, (1) Vratakhanda, (2) Danakhanda, (3) Tirthakhanda, (4) Moksakhanda, and (5) Parisesakhanda. Of these the third and fourth Khandas have not yet come to light. Hemadri's work is held in great esterm and has been drawn upon by later writers on Dharmasastra. Hemadri wrote on other subjects as will. He is the author of a commentary on Saunaka's Pranavakalpa and also of a Sraddhakalpa in which he follows Katyayana. His Ayurvedarasayana, a commentary on Vagbhata's Astangahrdaya, and Kaivalyadipika, a gloss of Bopadeva's Muktaphala are also well known.

Hemadri extended liberal patronage to learned men. Among his proteges the most famous was Bopadeva. He was a native of the village Vedapada (modern Bedod) on the bank of the Wardha in the Adilabad district of the former Hyderabad State. Bopadeva is said to have composed ten works on Sanskrit grammer, nin on medicine, one for the determination of the tithis, three on poetics and an equal number for the elucidation of the Bhagavata doctrine. Only eight of these are now extant. The Mugdhabodaha, his work on Sanskrit grammar is very popular in Bengal.

Marathi literature also flourished in the age of the Yadavas. Chakradhara, who propagated the Mahanubhava cult in that age, used Marathi as the medium of his religious teachings. Following his example. Several of his followers composed literary works in Marathi. They are counted among the first works of Marathi literature. Mukundaraja, the author of the vedantic works Vivekasindhu and Paramamrta, And Jnanesvara, the celebrated author of the Bhavarthadipika, a commentary on the Bhagavadgita are the most illustrious writers of that age.