After
Nagabhata I, he was succeeded by his nephews, there have been two rulers namely Kakkuka and Devaraja before Vatsraja came to the throne. Kakustha or Kakkuka was the nephew of
Nagabhata I and nothing much is known about him. The younger brother of Kakkuka, king Devasakti or Devaraja is described as having curbed the freedom of a multitude of rulers. After bringing much of
Rajasthan under his control, Vatsaraja then embarked to become "master of all the land lying between the two seas." Contemporary Jijasena's Harivamsha purana describes him as "master of western quarter" According to Radhanpur Plate Inscription and
Prithviraja Vijaya, Vatsaraja led an expedition against the distant eastern kingdom of Bengal, ruled by the
Palas under
Dharmapala. According to above inscription Dharamapala, was deprived of his two white Royal Umbrellas, and fled, pursued by the Pratihara forces under Vatsaraja's General
Durlabhraj Chauhan of
Shakambhari. The
Prithviraja Vijaya describes
Durlabhraj Chauhan as having “washed his sword at the confluence of the river
Ganga and the
ocean, and savouring the land of the Gaudas”, The
Baroda Inscription (AD 812) also refers to
Nagabhata II's victory over the
Gauda king
Dharmapala. Through vigorous campaigning,
Vatsraja had extended his dominions to include a large part of northern India, from the
Thar Desert in the west up to the frontiers of
bengal in the east. The statement of Jaina preceptor Uddyotana Suri, that the narrative
Kuvalayamala was composed by him at Jalor in 778 when the ruling king was Vatsaraja, reveals that Vatsaraja ruled in Rajasthan. The evidence of the 795 CE inscription of his subordinate, brought to light by Shanta Rani Sharma, presents a detailed record of his victories over the Arabs, Indrāyudha and Bengal. It also presents evidence that contests the claim of the defeat of Vatsaraja by Dhruva. According to the Gwalior inscription of his later descendant Bhoja, Vatsaraja had ‘subdued the entire world’, and was the ‘foremost among the most distinguished Kshatriyas’. It also mentions the defeat of the famous Bhandi clan by Vatsaraja. The
Chahamana king
Durlabharaja, described in the
Prithviraja Vijaya as having bathed his sword at the confluence of the Ganga and the ocean, was a subordinate of Vatsaraja. == See also ==