{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}} {{Use Indian English|date=January 2016}} {{Infobox royalty | title = Ranahastin<br>Maharajadhiraja<br>Parmeshwara | succession = 3rd Pratihara king | reign = {{circa|780|800}} | predecessor = Devaraja | successor = Nagabhata II | dynasty = Pratihara | mother = Bhuyikadevi | religion = Hinduism<br> (Shaivism)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Siddhpur inscription of nagabhata |url=https://www.academia.edu/62738264/SIDDHPUR_COPPER_PLATE_INSCRIPTION_OF_NAGABHATA_II_SAMVAT |page=39}}</ref> }} '''Vatsaraja''' (780–800) or '''Vatsraja''' was an Emperor of the Pratihara dynasty in Northern India. He was grand-nephew of Nagabhata I and his mother was queen Bhuyikadevi.{{sfn|Rama Shankar Tripathi|1959|p=228}} He was the first ruler of Rajasthan to win victories over the distant regions of Kanauj and Bengal. His extensive conquests mark the rise of the Imperial Pratiharas.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sharma|first1=Shanta Rani|title=Origin and Rise of the Imperial Pratihāras of Rajasthan: Transitions, Trajectories and Historical Chang|date=2017|publisher=University of Rajasthan|location=Jaipur|isbn=978-93-85593-18-5|page=7-8|edition=first}}</ref>
==Reign== {{see also | Tripartite Struggle}}
After Nagabhata I, he was succeeded by his nephews, there have been two rulers namely Kakkuka and Devaraja before Vatsraja came to the throne. Kakustha or Kakkuka was the nephew of Nagabhata I and nothing much is known about him. The younger brother of Kakkuka, king Devasakti or Devaraja is described as having curbed the freedom of a multitude of rulers.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sharma|first1=Dasharatha|title=Rajasthan through the Ages|date=1966|publisher=Rajasthan State Archives|location=Bikaner|page=123|edition=first}}</ref>
After bringing much of Rajasthan under his control, Vatsaraja then embarked to become "master of all the land lying between the two seas." Contemporary Jijasena's Harivamsha purana describes him as "master of western quarter"<ref name="8129108909 p274-278">{{cite book|title=A History of Rajasthan |first1=Rima |last1=Hooja |publisher=Rupa & Company |year=2006 |location=Rajasthan |pages=274–278 |isbn=8129108909}}</ref> According to Radhanpur Plate Inscription and Prithviraja Vijaya, Vatsaraja led an expedition against the distant eastern kingdom of Bengal, ruled by the Palas under Dharmapala. According to above inscription Dharamapala, was deprived of his two white Royal Umbrellas, and fled, pursued by the Pratihara forces under Vatsaraja's General Durlabhraj Chauhan of Shakambhari. The Prithviraja Vijaya describes Durlabhraj Chauhan as having “washed his sword at the confluence of the river Ganga and the ocean, and savouring the land of the Gaudas”, The Baroda Inscription (AD 812) also refers to Nagabhata II's victory over the Gauda king Dharmapala. Through vigorous campaigning, Vatsraja had extended his dominions to include a large part of northern India, from the Thar Desert in the west up to the frontiers of bengal in the east.<ref name="8129108909 p274-278"/>
Vatsaraja took the title of Ranahastin after his Kannauj campaign, and minted coins with legends "Shri Rana Hasti". These coins were found in Rajputana, Saurashtra.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hooja|first1=Rima|title=A History of Rajasthan|publisher=Rupa & Company|year=2006|isbn=8129108909|location=Rajasthan |pages=277}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Institute|first=Ganganatha Jha Research|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xrotAQAAIAAJ&q=Rana+Hastin|title=The Journal of the Ganganatha Jha Research Institute|date=1970|publisher=Honorary Secretary, Ganganatha Jha Research Institute.|language=en}}</ref>
The statement of Jaina preceptor Uddyotana Suri, that the narrative ''Kuvalayamala'' was composed by him at Jalor in 778 when the ruling king was Vatsaraja, reveals that Vatsaraja ruled in Rajasthan.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sharma|first1=Dasharatha|title=Rajasthan through the Ages|date=1966|publisher=Rajasthan state archives|location=Bikaner|page=125|edition=first}}</ref> The evidence of the 795 CE inscription of his subordinate, brought to light by Shanta Rani Sharma, presents a detailed record of his victories over the Arabs, Indrāyudha and Bengal. It also presents evidence that contests the claim of the defeat of Vatsaraja by Dhruva.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sharma|first1=Shanta Rani|title=Origin and Rise of the Imperial Pratihāras of Rajasthan: Transitions, Trajectories and Historical Change|date=2017|publisher=University of Rajasthan|location=Jaipur|isbn=978-93-85593-18-5|page=79-89|edition=first}}</ref> According to the Gwalior inscription of his later descendant Bhoja, Vatsaraja had ‘subdued the entire world’, and was the ‘foremost among the most distinguished Kshatriyas’. It also mentions the defeat of the famous Bhandi clan by Vatsaraja. The Chahamana king Durlabharaja, described in the ''Prithviraja Vijaya'' as having bathed his sword at the confluence of the Ganga and the ocean, was a subordinate of Vatsaraja.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sharma|first1=Dasharatha|title=Early Chauhan Dynasties|date=1959|publisher=S.Chand &Co.|location=Delhi|page=30-31|edition=first}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Sharma|first1=Shanta Rani|title=Origin and Rise of the Imperial Pratihāras of Rajasthan: Transitions, Trajectories and Historical Change|date=2017|publisher=University of Rajasthan|location=Jaipur|isbn=978-93-85593-18-5|edition=First}}</ref>
== See also == * Mihira Bhoja * Osian ==References== {{reflist|30em}}
=== Bibliography === * {{cite book |author=Rama Shankar Tripathi |title=History of Kanauj: To the Moslem Conquest |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U8GPENMw_psC&pg=PA231 |year=1959 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0478-4 }} * {{cite book|last1=Sharma|first1=Dasharatha|title=Early Chauhan Dynasties|date=1959|publisher=S.Chand & Company|location=Delhi|edition=First}} * {{cite book|last1=Sharma|first1=Dasharatha|title=Rajasthan through the Ages|date=1966|publisher=Rajasthan State Archives|location=Bikaner|edition=First}} * {{cite book|last1=Sharma|first1=Shanta Rani|title=Origin and Rise of the Imperial Pratihāras of Rajasthan: Transitions, Trajectories and Historical Change|date=2017|publisher=University of Rajasthan|location=Jaipur|isbn=978-93-85593-18-5|edition=first}} {{s-start}} {{succession box | title = Gurjara Pratihara Emperor | years = 780–800 AD | before =Kakustha and Devaraja (760–780) | after =Nagabhata II (800–833) }} {{s-end}}
{{Gurjara-Pratihara kings}}
Category:8th-century Indian monarchs Category:Pratihara emperors Category:8th-century maharajadhirajas Category:People from Ujjain
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