Nagabhata II


Nagabhata II ascended the throne of the Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty after his father Vatsraja. His mother was queen Sundari-Devi. He was designated with imperial titles - Paramabhattaraka, Maharajadhiraja, and Paramesvara after conquest of Kannauj.

Reign

Nagabhata II finds a mention in the Gwalior inscription. He defeated the rulers of Andhra, Vidarbha, Kalinga, Matsyas, Vatsas and the Turks. He had defeated Saindhava ruler Ranaka I and conquered the western Saurashtra. He also defeated Chakrayudh at Kannauj. He was later defeated by the Rashtrakuta Emperor Govinda III and lost Malwa and Gujarat. However, he recovered Malwa from the Rashtrakutas, conquered Kanauj and the Indo-Gangetic Plain as far as Bihar from the Palas, and again checked the Muslims in the west. Kanauj became the center of the Pratihara state, which covered much of northern India during the peak of their power.
Nagabhata II was succeeded by Ramabhadra. Some earlier historians identified Nagabhata with Āma, who according to the Jain accounts, died in 832-833 CE. Based on this identification, Nagabhata's reign is theorized to have ended around 833 CE. Historian Shyam Manohar Mishra, who disagrees with this identification, places Nagabhata's death around 825 CE.