| Conventional Long Name: | Vaghela Dynasty |
| Native Name: | Vāghēlā rājavanśa |
| Status: | Dynasty |
| Event Start: | Usurping of the Chaulukya throne by Visaladeva |
| Year Start: | 1244 |
| Event End: | Alauddin Khalji's conquest of Gujarat |
| Year End: | 1304 |
| Image Map Caption: | The Vaghelas and neighbouring South Asian polities, circa 1250 CE.[1] |
| P1: | Chaulukya dynasty |
| S1: | Gujarat under Delhi Sultanate |
| Capital: | Dhavalakka (modern Dholka) |
| Common Languages: | Apabhramsa, Prakrit, Old Gujarati |
| Religion: | Hinduism (official) |
| Government Type: | Monarchy |
| Leader1: | Visala-deva (first) |
| Year Leader1: | 1244–1262 |
| Leader2: | Karna-deva (Karna II) (last) |
| Year Leader2: | 1296–1304 |
| Today: | India |
Early members of the Vaghela family served the Chaulukya dynasty in the 12th century CE, and claimed to be a branch of that dynasty. In the 13th century, during the reign of the weak Chaulukya king Bhima II, the Vaghela general Lavanaprasada and his son Viradhavala gained a large amount of power in the kingdom, although they continued to nominally acknowledge Chaulukya suzerainty. In the mid-1240s, Viradhavala's son Visaladeva usurped the throne, and his successors ruled Gujarat until Karna Vaghela was defeated by Nusrat Khan[3] of the Delhi Sultanate in 1304 CE, and lost Gujarat.
The Vaghelas usurped power from the Chaulukya dynasty. According to the 14th century chronicler Merutunga, the earliest known member of the Vaghela family – "Dhavala" – married the maternal aunt of the Chaulukya monarch Kumarapala. The Vaghela court poet Someshvara described the Vaghela family as a branch of the Chaulukya family.
The Vaghelas called themselves Chaulukyas, and claimed same mythological descent as the Chaulukyas. The Khambhat inscription of the first Vaghela monarch Visaladeva gives the following account of the myth: Once Brahma was thinking who will destroy the sons of Diti (that is, the Daityas or demons). Suddenly, a warrior sprang from Brahma's chuluka. This hero, named Chaulukya, gave rise to the Chaulukya lineage, in which Arnoraja Vaghela was born.
The dynasty's name "Vyaghrapalliya" and its shortened form "Vaghela" come from the name of a village called Vyaghrapalli (literally "tiger's lair").
Arnoraja, who was a son of Dhavala and Kumarapala's maternal aunt, was the first member of the Vaghela family to gain importance. He seems to have participated in a military campaign in Saurashtra while serving Kumarapala. The Muralidhar temple inscription, discovered in the Desan village of Bhiloda taluka, credits him with conquering Saurashtra. According to the 13th century writer Udayaprabha Suri, Kumarapala granted the Bhimapalli village to Arnoraja for his services. It is possible that Arnoraja received the village for his role in the Saurashtra campaign of Kumarapala. He probably served as a sub-commander in this campaign, although the Vahgela records later magnified his role. According to historian A. K. Majumdar, the Bhimapalli village might have been same as the Vyaghrapalli village from which the dynasty's name is derived.
Arnoraja became prominent during the reign of Kumarapala's descendant Bhima II. Taking advantage of Bhima's young age, the provincial governors revolted against him. Arnoraja remained loyal to the king, and appears to have defeated the rebels, including the vassal rulers of Medapata and Chandravati. Bhima had other loyal officers such as Pratapamalla and Jagaddeva, but the Vaghela records give the entire credit for suppressing the revolt to Arnoraja.
Lavanaprasada (alias Lavanyaprasada) was the son of Arnoraja and Salakhanadevi. According to a legend mentioned by Merutunga, Lavanaprasada was born when Arnoraja was a samanta (feudal lord) in Kumarapala's service. When Kumarapala heard about the news of the child's birth in his court, he declared that Arnoraja's son will have a brilliant future. As a feudatory of Bhima, Lavanaprasada held the ranks of Maha-mandaleshvara and Ranaka. His fief was Dhavalakakka (or Dholka). The later Dabhoi inscription describes him as the king of Gurjara country.[4]
Viradhavala was the son of Lavanaprasada and Madanarajni. According to Merutunga's account, Madanarajni left Lavanprasada and started living with Devaraja, who was the husband of her dead sister. Madanarajni took Viradhavala with him, but the boy returned to his father Lavanaprasada when he grew up and became ashamed of the situation.
During the reign of Bhima II, Lavanaprasada and Viradhavala repelled enemy invasions and saved the Chaulukya kingdom. Viradhavala probably died during the reign of Bhima, as his son Visaladeva had become the Mahamandaleshvara Ranaka by 1239 CE.
Visaladeva's succession was contested by a man named Virama. According to the colophon of a 1239 CE (1296 VS) manuscript, Virama held the title Mahamandeshvara Ranaka as a subordinate of Bhima II. The capital of his principality was located at Vidyutapura.
According to the medieval chronicler Rajashekhara Suri, Virama was the younger brother of Visaladeva. Rajashekhara's account of Virama goes like this: Once, a bania (merchant) made a costlier gift to a Vaishnava shrine than Virama did. This annoyed Virama, who tortured the bania. As a punishment, Viradhavala banished Virama to a place named Viramagrama. After Viradhavala's death, the minister Vastupala helped Visaladeva succeed his father. Virama tried to contest this succession, but was unsuccessful. He retired to Javalipura (modern Jalore), where he sought shelter from his father-in-law Udayasimha. However, Vastupala pressured Udayasimha to have Virama murdered.
Rajashekhara's account of the dynasty contains many inaccuracies in general. Historical evidence indicates that Virama was actually a brother (or half-brother) of Viradhavala, and thus an uncle of Visaladeva. According to the Vaghela records, Visaladeva's brother was Pratapamalla. Historian A. K. Majumdar dismisses Rajashekhara's account of Virama's death. According to Majumdar's theory, Udayasimha challenged the Chaulukya suzerainty, and Virama fought with him as a loyal subordinate of Bhima II. Virama was probably killed in a battle with Udayasimha, and not on the orders of Vastupala, as claimed by Rajashekhara.
No concrete information is available about any descendant of Karna II. A 1498 CE inscription shows that a family of the Vaghela clan was ruling at a place called Dandahi, as subordinates of the Muslim ruler Mahmud Begada. The rulers of the Rewa State also claimed descent from the Vaghelas through one Bhimadeva.
A list of the known members of the Vaghela family is given below: all individuals are the sons of their predecessors, unless otherwise stated. The pre-sovereign members of the family include:
The sovereign Vaghela rulers include:
During Vaghela rule, the Gadhaiya coins increasingly lost its intrinsic value which was stayed unchanged for two centuries under Chaulukyas. The 4.4 g billon coin of Chaulukya had stable silver content of 2.02 g of which reduced to 1.83 g during Visala-deva's coins and its successive issues has less content, as low as 0.73 g. During stable net content of silver, the Gadhaiya coins were used in international trade from Afghanistan to Deccan. As its intrinsic value decreased, its circulation shrank to the area of modern Kheda district and its surroundings. These coins followed the tanka coins of Delhi. The coins of Visala-deva are mentioned as (dra stands for dramma) or or in various literary sources and epigraphs. The coins of Saranga-deva and Karna-deva had an elephant facing left on obverses and legends on the reverses. The legends reads .. and or . Another coins of Karna-deva has Kumbha (vase) on its obverse enclosed in border made of dots and lines while reverse has the same legend. Another type of his coins of copper depicted lion facing left on obverse and the same legend on reverse.