Vijayadhiraj Or Vijaypal Of Bayana was a Yadav ruler of Bayana. According to historical evidences he joined the Gazanavides army.
Bayana is situated in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan. It is adjoining to Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh. Bayana was formerly known as Shriprastha or Sripath while whole of the adjoining territory comprising of at least modern Bharatpur district was known as Bayana. Bhayan, Bhadam or Bhavan and Badhwan (Vardhma) each successive name preceding the former in respect of time. According to vividh Tirtha Kalpataru Bhadam territory had two Tirth as Kamnag and Siroh which can be identified with Kama and Sripath (Bayada) of modern Bharatpur district.
Bayana has a famous hill fortress, which is called Vijaymandir Garh or Bayana fort. This is said to have been constructed by the rulers Vijay Pal and his son Tirunpal (Tribhuvan Pal) respectively whom the Jat ruling family of Bharatpur, the Yadav Rajput ruling family of Karauli, the Khanjad as of Mewat and some of the Meo tribes claim as their ancestors.
That these rulers were historical personalities can be proved from the mention of these names not only in the bardic works but also in the persian work Tarikh-i-Subuktgin and contemporary inscriptions. As those rulers and their progeny seem to have played an important role in the politics of India of the time a connected history of the family is a desideratum.
Traditions connected with Vijaypal and his son assert that they belonged to the Yadava stock, which is amply attested by similar references about Vijaypal in Vijay Pal Raso, and about the king Tribhuvan Pal in the work Kavi-Priya of the Hindi poet Keshava.
The second assertion that the family migrated from Saurashtra to the Mathura mandal before or in the beginning of the 9th century A. D. also seems to be possible, for we not only hear of the Gurjar king dom of Nandipura being wiped out of existence by the so-called Arab invaders towards the middle of the 8th centuryA. D., but also of the migration of the Gurjara ruler from that region towards the other side of the desert certainly under pressure of the Rashtrakuta arms by the end of the century.[1]
Again, not only the inferences drawn from the reference about the contemporary sovereigns in Jinsen’s Hari Vansa Purana, but also from the text of the undated Bayana inscriptions of Nanna Raj go to prove this. However, we have no means to testify the genealogy of the family between Nanna Raj and Vijayadhiraj Vijay Pal under whom the family seems to have gained fresh eminence. We get information about the latter from the following sources, which prove the identity of the three names Vijay Dhiraj, Biji Rai and Vijay Pal.
From an inscription available from Bayana town (Sripath of inscrition), the so called capital of Vijay Pal Yadav, it is known that a certain Vijayadhiraj (or an A. D. as we know from Vijay Pal Raso, that Vijay Yadav set out on his Adhiraj named Vijay), was the ruler of the place in the year V. S. 1100/1143 conquests in the year 1093A. D., the identity of the two names become doubtless. On the same basis he can be identified under the misspelt name Birdal, A Ghazanavide officer Indian origin, who is said to have been appointed as the official interpreter between the Gazanavides and the Hindu Kators (Thakurs) on the heels of the Barbar Tilak Bin Jaiseni who is the first and the last heard in the year 1034 A. D. 1191 A. V.
Again there is every possibility that the same prince Vijayadhiraj of Bayana territory is the hero of the folk songs. Biji Rai Bhanja or Bija Sorath, for not only the expression ‘Biji Rai Bhanja’ appears to mean Biji Rai of the Bhayan Territory, but also some tradition heard in Bayana about Vijay Pal and his love affairs seem to be similar to the one represented in the above folk song. It is why we are tempted to connect this prince Vijay with Biji Rai, a known general of the Gazanavides,
Parentage and Early Career
Vijaypal Of Bayana or Biji Rai was a son of Jaita Pal, according to the Bayana Bhat’s list and that of Sohan Pal, according to the authors of Waqai Rajasthan and Muraqqa Mewat and of Jayandra Pal son of Brahma Pal son of Ichh Pal of Mathura according to some other Khyats.
It can be said with certainty that Adhiraj Vijay joined the Ghazanavide army during the life time of Mahmud Gaznavi, for we not only hear of a Biji Raj joining service under Mahmud, but also the fact is attested by a reference in Vijaypal Raso which mentions his success against allil Khan, who can be definitely identified with Ali Ariyanak, the man posted by Mahmud to look after his Indian empire and who, after loosing confidence of the court, is said to have lost his life at the hands of some Hindu general during the early years of Mahmud’s reign.[2]
This reference of Vijaypal Raso thus makes it clear that soon after Mahmud’s death, Vijaypal or Adhiraj Vijay had emerged as an important officer in the Gazanavide army.
The reign of Sultan Masud also saw incessant warfare in the northern and western border of the Gazanavide empire and we hear of Khurasan, Re, rukh Balkh Bukhara etc. in this connection. Hence Vijaypal Raso’s mention of Re, Rukh, Khurasan, Turan etc. possibly indicates that Vijay Pal had also served in these regions.
The Turkman rule established in this part of India by 1018 A. D. received a definite setback by the year 1034 A. D. However in between these two events i.e. death of Ahmed Niyaltghi and taking over of the charge of official interpretor, there happened some events which can be connected with Vijay Pal’s date of setting on conquests i.e. vs. 1093/1036A.D. Coincides with the precipitate action of Masud which envisaged a serious rebellion in India.
It seems that Sultan Masud was able to recover the allegiance of Vijaypal Of Bayana by appointing him As An official interpreter between the court and the Hindu states and the fact is mentioned in Tarikh-i-Subutgin. The successes ascribed to Vijay Pal in northern India are perhaps linked to him in this capacity, although Vijay Pal Raso’s list of conquests is inflated one.[3]
The events were moving fast on the western horizon of India and Masud was soon imprisoned and beheaded by his slaves in 1040 A. D. which is also the year when Vijay Pal is said to have got the fort constructed on A hill known as Mani Pahari near modern Bayana and it was named as Vijay Mandir Garh. Masud’s son and successor Shahabuddin Moulud firmly established himself and gave attention towards his Indian territories. For this purpose Abu Ali son of Abu Bakr Hasiri a former Kotwal, was appointed as the commander of Indian forces of the Gazanavides. Abu Ali invited Vijaypal Of Bayana to Gazani for consultations. We are not able to know the outcome of this invitation.[4]
REFERENCES
[1] Inscription of Vijaydhiraj (S. 1100), discovered at Bayana and now-a-days
preserved in Rajputana MuseumAjmer.
[2] Elliot. Tarikh-e-Subutgin, Calcutta edn., pp. 92-102.
[3] E.P. I., VI, pp. 243.
[4] Durga Prasad Sharma, Rise & Fall Of Vijay Adhiraj Of Vijaypal Of Bayana, Rajasthan History congress Proceedings 1968. pp 39-42
