Bhinmal (Bhīnmāl)
Bhinmal (previously Shrimal Nagar ) is an ancient town in the Jalore District of Rajasthan, India. It is 72 km south of Jalore. Bhinmal was the capital of the Rao king, then the capital of Gurjaradesa, comprising modern-day southern Rajasthan and northern Gujarat.
The town was the birthplace of the Sanskrit poet Magha and mathematician-astronomer Brahmagupta.
The original name of Bhinmal was Bhillamala. Its older name was Srimal, from which Shrimali Brahmins took their name Xuanzang, the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim who visited India between 631 and 645 AD during Harsha's reign, mentioned this place as Pi-lo-mo-lo. There are different views about the origin of its name. It is suggested that it may from its Bhil population, whereas Shrimalamahatmaya said the name arose because of the poverty caused by Islamic invaders, which caused most of its people to migrate from the area. It was the early capital of the kingdom of Gurjaradesa. The kingdom is first mentioned in Banabhatta's Harshacharita in the seventh century AD. Its king is said to have been defeated by Harsha's father Prabhakaravardhana, who died c. 605 AD. The surrounding kingdoms were Sindha (Sindh), Lāta (southern Gujarat) and Malava (western Malwa), indicating that the region included northern Gujarat and southern Rajasthan.
Xuanzang mentioned the Gurjara country (Kiu-che-lo) with its capital at Bhillamala (Pi-lo-mo-lo) as the second largest kingdom of Western India. He distinguished it from the neighbouring kingdoms of Bharukaccha, Ujjayini, Malava, Valabhi and Surashtra. The Gurjara kingdom was said to have measured 833 miles in circuit and its ruler was a 20-year old Kshatriya, distinguished for his wisdom and courage. It is believed that the king must have been the immediate successor of the Chavda dynasty ruler Vyāgrahamukha, under whose reign the mathematician-astronomer Brahmagupta wrote his treatise in 628 AD.
The chroniclers of Sindh (an Arab province from 712 AD onward) narrated the campaigns of Arab governors on Jurz, the Arabic term for Gurjara. They mentioned it jointly with Mermad (Marumāda, in Western Rajasthan) and Al Baylaman (Bhinmal). The country was first conquered by Mohammad bin Qasim (712-715) and, for a second time, by Junayd (723-726). Upon bin Qasim's victory, Al-Baladhuri mentioned that the Indian rulers, including that of Bhinmal, accepted Islam and paid tribute. They presumably recanted after bin Qasim's departure, which made Junayd's attack necessary. After Junayd's reconquest, the kingdom at Bhinmal appeared to have been annexed by the Arabs.
A new dynasty was founded by Nagabhata I at Jalore, near Bhinmal, in about 730 AD, soon after Junayd's end of term in Sindh. Nagabhata is said to have defeated the "invincible Gurjaras", presumably those of Bhinmal. Another account credits him for having defeated a "Muslim ruler". Nagabhata is also known to have repelled the Arabs during a later raid.
The Gwalior Inscription of Mihira Bhoja praises Nagabhata for destroying mlecchas (Arabs):
"स्तस्यानुजोसौ मघवमदमुषो मेघनादस्य संख्ये सौमित्त्रिस्तीव्रदण्डः प्रतिहरणविधेयः प्रतीहार आमोत् तहन्शे प्रतिहारकेतनभृति त्रैलोक्यरक्षास्पदे देवो नागभट : पुरातनमुनर्मूतिर्बभूवाद्भुतं । येनासौ सुक्कतप्रमाथिबलनम्लेच्छा।।
"In that family, which extended shelter to the triple world and bore the emblem of Pratihāra, the king Nāgabhața appeared as an incarnation' of the Old Sage in a strange way.Wherefore he seemed to break up the complete army of the kings of Mlecchas the destroyers of virtue,with four arms lustrous because of the glittering and terrible weapons." His dynasty expanded to Ujjain, and Nagabhata's successor Vatsaraja lost Ujjain to the Rashtrakuta prince Dhruva, who claimed to have driven him into "trackless desert". An inscription in Daulatpura from 843 AD mentions Vatsaraja having made grants near Didwana. Later, the Pratiharas became the dominant force of the Rajasthan and Gujarat regions, and established an empire centered at Kannauj, the former capital of Harshavardhana. Raja Man Pratihar ruled Bhinmal in Jalore when Parmara Emperor Vakpati Munja(972-990 CE) invaded the region – after this conquest he divided these conquered territories among his Parmara princes. His son Aranyaraj Parmar was granted the Abu region, and his son Chandan Parmar and nephew Dharnivarah Parmar were given the Jalore region. Raja Man Pratihar's son Dewalsimha Pratihar was a contemporary of Abu's Raja Mahipal Parmar (1000–1014 CE). Raja Devalsimha made unsuccessful attempts to free his country or re-establish Pratihar hold on Bhinmal. He finally settled for the territories to the southwest of Bhinmal, comprising four hills: Dodasa, Nadwana,Kala-Pahad and Sundha. He made Lohiyana (present-day Jaswantpura) his capital. Gradually their jagir included 52 villages in and around modern Jalore district. The Dewals participated in Jalore's Chauhan Kanhaddeo's resistance against Allauddin Khilji. Thakur Dhawalsimha Dewal of Lohiyana supplied manpower to Maharana Pratap and married his daughter to the Maharana, in return Maharana gave him the title of "Rana" which has stayed with them to now.
The town was the birthplace of the Sanskrit poet Magha and mathematician-astronomer Brahmagupta.
The original name of Bhinmal was Bhillamala. Its older name was Srimal, from which Shrimali Brahmins took their name Xuanzang, the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim who visited India between 631 and 645 AD during Harsha's reign, mentioned this place as Pi-lo-mo-lo. There are different views about the origin of its name. It is suggested that it may from its Bhil population, whereas Shrimalamahatmaya said the name arose because of the poverty caused by Islamic invaders, which caused most of its people to migrate from the area. It was the early capital of the kingdom of Gurjaradesa. The kingdom is first mentioned in Banabhatta's Harshacharita in the seventh century AD. Its king is said to have been defeated by Harsha's father Prabhakaravardhana, who died c. 605 AD. The surrounding kingdoms were Sindha (Sindh), Lāta (southern Gujarat) and Malava (western Malwa), indicating that the region included northern Gujarat and southern Rajasthan.
Xuanzang mentioned the Gurjara country (Kiu-che-lo) with its capital at Bhillamala (Pi-lo-mo-lo) as the second largest kingdom of Western India. He distinguished it from the neighbouring kingdoms of Bharukaccha, Ujjayini, Malava, Valabhi and Surashtra. The Gurjara kingdom was said to have measured 833 miles in circuit and its ruler was a 20-year old Kshatriya, distinguished for his wisdom and courage. It is believed that the king must have been the immediate successor of the Chavda dynasty ruler Vyāgrahamukha, under whose reign the mathematician-astronomer Brahmagupta wrote his treatise in 628 AD.
The chroniclers of Sindh (an Arab province from 712 AD onward) narrated the campaigns of Arab governors on Jurz, the Arabic term for Gurjara. They mentioned it jointly with Mermad (Marumāda, in Western Rajasthan) and Al Baylaman (Bhinmal). The country was first conquered by Mohammad bin Qasim (712-715) and, for a second time, by Junayd (723-726). Upon bin Qasim's victory, Al-Baladhuri mentioned that the Indian rulers, including that of Bhinmal, accepted Islam and paid tribute. They presumably recanted after bin Qasim's departure, which made Junayd's attack necessary. After Junayd's reconquest, the kingdom at Bhinmal appeared to have been annexed by the Arabs.
A new dynasty was founded by Nagabhata I at Jalore, near Bhinmal, in about 730 AD, soon after Junayd's end of term in Sindh. Nagabhata is said to have defeated the "invincible Gurjaras", presumably those of Bhinmal. Another account credits him for having defeated a "Muslim ruler". Nagabhata is also known to have repelled the Arabs during a later raid.
The Gwalior Inscription of Mihira Bhoja praises Nagabhata for destroying mlecchas (Arabs):
"स्तस्यानुजोसौ मघवमदमुषो मेघनादस्य संख्ये सौमित्त्रिस्तीव्रदण्डः प्रतिहरणविधेयः प्रतीहार आमोत् तहन्शे प्रतिहारकेतनभृति त्रैलोक्यरक्षास्पदे देवो नागभट : पुरातनमुनर्मूतिर्बभूवाद्भुतं । येनासौ सुक्कतप्रमाथिबलनम्लेच्छा।।
"In that family, which extended shelter to the triple world and bore the emblem of Pratihāra, the king Nāgabhața appeared as an incarnation' of the Old Sage in a strange way.Wherefore he seemed to break up the complete army of the kings of Mlecchas the destroyers of virtue,with four arms lustrous because of the glittering and terrible weapons." His dynasty expanded to Ujjain, and Nagabhata's successor Vatsaraja lost Ujjain to the Rashtrakuta prince Dhruva, who claimed to have driven him into "trackless desert". An inscription in Daulatpura from 843 AD mentions Vatsaraja having made grants near Didwana. Later, the Pratiharas became the dominant force of the Rajasthan and Gujarat regions, and established an empire centered at Kannauj, the former capital of Harshavardhana. Raja Man Pratihar ruled Bhinmal in Jalore when Parmara Emperor Vakpati Munja(972-990 CE) invaded the region – after this conquest he divided these conquered territories among his Parmara princes. His son Aranyaraj Parmar was granted the Abu region, and his son Chandan Parmar and nephew Dharnivarah Parmar were given the Jalore region. Raja Man Pratihar's son Dewalsimha Pratihar was a contemporary of Abu's Raja Mahipal Parmar (1000–1014 CE). Raja Devalsimha made unsuccessful attempts to free his country or re-establish Pratihar hold on Bhinmal. He finally settled for the territories to the southwest of Bhinmal, comprising four hills: Dodasa, Nadwana,Kala-Pahad and Sundha. He made Lohiyana (present-day Jaswantpura) his capital. Gradually their jagir included 52 villages in and around modern Jalore district. The Dewals participated in Jalore's Chauhan Kanhaddeo's resistance against Allauddin Khilji. Thakur Dhawalsimha Dewal of Lohiyana supplied manpower to Maharana Pratap and married his daughter to the Maharana, in return Maharana gave him the title of "Rana" which has stayed with them to now.
Map - Bhinmal (Bhīnmāl)
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Modern humans arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa no later than 55,000 years ago. Their long occupation, initially in varying forms of isolation as hunter-gatherers, has made the region highly diverse, second only to Africa in human genetic diversity. Settled life emerged on the subcontinent in the western margins of the Indus river basin 9,000 years ago, evolving gradually into the Indus Valley Civilisation of the third millennium BCE. By, an archaic form of Sanskrit, an Indo-European language, had diffused into India from the northwest. (a) (b) (c), "In Punjab, a dry region with grasslands watered by five rivers (hence ‘panch’ and ‘ab’) draining the western Himalayas, one prehistoric culture left no material remains, but some of its ritual texts were preserved orally over the millennia. The culture is called Aryan, and evidence in its texts indicates that it spread slowly south-east, following the course of the Yamuna and Ganga Rivers. Its elite called itself Arya (pure) and distinguished themselves sharply from others. Aryans led kin groups organized as nomadic horse-herding tribes. Their ritual texts are called Vedas, composed in Sanskrit. Vedic Sanskrit is recorded only in hymns that were part of Vedic rituals to Aryan gods. To be Aryan apparently meant to belong to the elite among pastoral tribes. Texts that record Aryan culture are not precisely datable, but they seem to begin around 1200 BCE with four collections of Vedic hymns (Rg, Sama, Yajur, and Artharva)."
Currency / Language
| ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
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| INR | Indian rupee | ₹ | 2 |
| ISO | Language |
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