Sindhuraja

Sindhuraja (IAST: Sindhurāja) was an Indian king from the Paramara dynasty, who ruled the Malwa region in the late 10th century. He was the younger brother of Munja, and the father of Bhoja. No inscriptions issued by Sindhuraja have been discovered, although he is mentioned in several later Paramara inscriptions, including inscriptions of Bhoja. Much of the information about his life comes from Nava-sahasanka-charita, an eulogistic composition by his court poet Padmagupta. The work is a fusion of history and mythology. Sindhuraja succeeded his brother Munja as the Paramara king. According to the 14th century poet Merutunga's Prabandha-Chintamani, Sindhuraja was the biological son of Simhadantabhatta (Siyaka), while Munja was an adopted child. However, historians doubt the authenticity of this claim. Merutunga also states that Munja was succeeded by Sindhuraja's son Bhoja. However, according to Nava-Sahasanka-Charita and epigraphic evidence, Sindhuraja was the successor of Munja. Sindhuraja adopted the titles "Kumara-Narayana" and "Nava-Sahasanka". Padmagupta also uses the titles Avantishvara (lord of Avanti), Malava-raja (king of Malava), and Paramamahibhrta for him. His other names include Sindhula and Sindhala. In the inscriptions of his successor Bhoja, he has been called "Sindhu-raja-deva". The exact period of Sindhuraja's reign is not certain. His predecessor Munja died some time between 994 CE and 998 CE. The Modasa copper plates (1010 CE) are the earliest historical record of his successor Bhoja's reign. The Chintamani-Sarnika (1055 CE) was composed by Bhoja's court poet Dasabala. Based on this, scholars such as Pratipal Bhatia assign Bhoja's reign to 1010-1055 CE, and therefore Sindhuraja's reign to 997-1010 CE. However, Merutunga's Prabandha-Chintamani states that Bhoja ruled for 55 years. Assuming this information to be correct, scholars such as Kailash Chandra Jain assume Bhoja's reign as 1000-1055 CE, and Sindhuraja's reign as 995-1000 CE.