What is attested
Nikumbha rulers are recorded in inscriptions from the Bayana and Alwar region of eastern Rajasthan, where they held territory as feudatories from about the tenth century, and a related or identically named family is attested in the Khandesh country of the northern Deccan, associated with the temple at Patna near Chalisgaon.
The Patna inscription of the Nikumbha king Govana records the construction of a temple and a well, and gives a genealogy. Whether the two groups are the same family is not established.
The Nikumbhas are one of scores of such houses in early medieval India — attested by a handful of documents, holding a district or two, subordinate to whichever empire was ascendant. Their inclusion in a census of kingdoms is a matter of consistency: the same standard of evidence that admits the great dynasties admits these.
Further reading
- Hawley, John Stratton. A Storm of Songs: India and the Idea of the Bhakti Movement. Harvard University Press, 2015
- Nilakanta Sastri, K. A. The Colas. University of Madras, 1955
- Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta. A History of South India. Oxford University Press, 1955
- Basham, A. L. The Wonder That Was India. Sidgwick & Jackson, 1954
- Kulke, Hermann. A History of India. Routledge, 2004
See also
This entry was last revised on 1 August 2026.