Gahadavala dynasty

The Gahadavala dynasty, also called the Gahadavalas of Kannauj, was a Rajput house that ruled parts of present-day Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Its capital was Banaras, now Varanasi, on the Gangetic plain, and for a time it also controlled Kannauj. Chandradeva established a sovereign kingdom shortly before 1090, as Kalachuri power declined, and the realm reached its height under his grandson Govindachandra, who annexed Kalachuri lands, repelled Ghaznavid raids and fought the Palas. The Gahadavalas patronised temples and Sanskrit learning at Varanasi and maintained a strong cavalry army. In 1194 Jayachandra was defeated and killed by the Ghurid army under Qutbuddin Aibak, which destroyed the dynasty's imperial power. The last remnants were overcome by Iltutmish of the Delhi Sultanate, and Gahadavala territory passed to the Mamluk sultans. The dynasty's coins and inscriptions record grants to Brahmins and the upkeep of trade routes across the middle Ganges valley.