A late Hindu kingdom
The Yajvapālas, also called Jajapella, established themselves at Narwar in the middle of the thirteenth century, taking advantage of the weakness of the Delhi Sultanate under the later Slave kings. Their inscriptions record Śaiva and Jain patronage and a series of clashes with Sultanate forces.
Their existence is a useful corrective to the picture of a north wholly under Sultanate control after 1200. Between the Ganga plain and the Deccan there were still Hindu kingdoms asserting themselves for another century, and Narwar, Gwalior and the Bundelkhand forts changed hands repeatedly.
The dynasty was ended by Alauddin Khalji's campaigns around 1300, in the same series of operations that took Ranthambore, Chittor and Malwa.
Further reading
- Jackson, Peter. The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History. Cambridge University Press, 1999
- Richards, John F. The Mughal Empire. Cambridge University Press, 1993
- Asher, Catherine B. India Before Europe. Cambridge University Press, 2006
- Gordon, Stewart. The Marathas 1600-1818. Cambridge University Press, 1993
- Stein, Burton. Vijayanagara. Cambridge University Press, 1989
See also
This entry was last revised on 1 August 2026.