| Battle of Kakadadaha | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Chandelas of Jejakabhukti | Ghurid Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Hazabbar-ud-Din Hasan Arnal † Ghurid Fortmen of other Chandela forts † | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unkown | Unknown, but heavy as Per Garra Copper Plate | ||||||||
The Battle of Kakadadaha [1] (around 1203-1204 AD) was a military expedition undertaken by the Chandelas under the leadership of king Trailokyavarman against the Ghurid Empire . The campaign aimed to reclaim the Jejakabhukti country and the fortress of Kalanjara, which had been lost to the Ghurids in the Siege of Kalinjar (1202-3 CE). The battle took place at Kakadadaha, (in Lalitpur) where the Chandel forces decisively defeated the Ghurid army. Trailokyavarman killed the Ghurid ruler and successfully restored Chandel rule over the capital Kalanjara and his entire ancestral kingdom.
Prithviraj Chauhan (Prithviraja III) was killed after Second Battle of Tarain against the Ghurids in 1192. After defeating the Chahamanas (Chauhans) and the Gahadavalas, the Ghurid governor of Delhi planned an invasion on Chandel kingdom i.e. Jejakabhukti. [2] A force led by Qutb al-Din Aibak, and accompanied by strong generals such as Iltutmish, besieged the Chandel fort of Kalanjara in 1202. [3]
Taj-ul-Maasir, written by the Delhi chronicler Hasan Nizami, states that Parmar (Paramardi Varman) initially offered some resistance, but then fled to the safety of the fort. Subsequently, he surrendered before ruler of Delhi, and agreed to be his vassal. [2] He promised to pay a tribute to the Sultan, but died before he could execute this agreement. His dewan Aj Deo (Ajaya-Deva) continued to resist the ruler of Delhi after his death. The dewan was finally forced to surrender as the water reservoirs within the fort dried up during a drought. Taj-ul-Masir further states that after the Sultanate's victory, temples were converted into mosques and 50,000 Hindu men were taken as slaves. Qutb al-Din Aibak appointed Hazabbar-ud-Din Hasan Arnal as the governor of Kalanjara, and also captured Mahoba. [4]
After the fall of Kalinjar, to the Muhammadan invaders, Chandelas withdrew to Ajaygarh (also known as Jayadurga or Kirttidurga), a Chandela fort.
Around 1203-1204 AD, the Chandel forces, led by Trailokyavarman, advanced toward Kalinjar. Both the Chandelas and the Ghurids forces met at the village of Kakadadaha for battle. The encounter turned into a fierce battle, in which the Chandelas faced the Ghurid army. The Chandela forces gradually gained the upper hand, and Hazabbar-ud-Din Hasan Arnal, the Ghurid governor of Kalanjara was killed during the fight. The battle ended in a decisive Chandel victory, allowing Trailokyavarman to recapture Kalanjara fort and Jejakabhukti.
R.K. dikshit states that the "Muslim historians, who gtoat over the victory of the faithful against the infidel defenders of Kalanjara in A.D. 1203, maintain a sinister silence over its subsequent loss. The victory meant no respite from further aggression. The Musalmans could not easily reconcile themselves to the loss of the famous fort, but only one episode is known to us in that long drawn out struggle" The Garra plates have referred to a war of Trailokyavarman against the Muslims (Turushkas) which must have been fought sometimes before the issue of the charters in A.D. 1205. The battle was fought at Kakadadaha, and a notable casualty was Rauta Paape, whose services were posthumously rewarded by the grant of two villages to his son. It is just possible, as suggested by Dr. Ray, that Trailokyavarman recovered Kalanjara as a result of his victory in this war. [5]
After the victory at Kakadadaha, Trailokyavarman became the king and establish his rule over Jejakabhukti with the support of his elder brother (who was the legal successor of the Chandela throne as per oral traditions) and the Chandel clan of Jejakabhukti. During his rule, the kingdom again became prosperous and politically stable, maintaining independence and regional influence until the 14th century. As North India faced unprecedented turmoil in 13th century Ad, Jejakabhukti became a safe haven under the powerful Chandel kings, Kalanjaradhipati Trailokyavarman defeated the Turks and provided refuge and patronage to Brahmins from 6 different places Migrated to Kalinjara. His inscriptions, dated from 1205 to 1241, confirm that his kingdom included areas such as Lalitpur, Chattarpur, Ajaigarh state, Panna state, and Rewah State. In 1211–1212, he conquered Rewah in Baghelkhand and likely the entire Dahala-mandala region (Kalachuri Kingdom) from the Kalachuri ruler Vijayasimha. [6]