Kannauj Triangle War | ||||||||||
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![]() The Pratihar Empire, The Pala Empire, and The Rastrakuta Empire in their respective peaks[1] | ||||||||||
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Belligerents | ||||||||||
Pratihara Empire
| Rashtrakuta Empire |
Pala Empire
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Commanders and leaders | ||||||||||
Vatsaraja Nagabhata II Indrayudha |
Dhruva Dharavarsha Govinda III |
Dharmapala Chakrayudha |
The Tripartite Struggle (785–816), also called the Kannauj Triangle Wars, was a conflict in northern India involving the three Indian great powers of the era – Gurjaratra, Bengal, and Manyakheta under the Pratiharas, the Palas and the Rashtrakutas respectively. The war was fought over the control of the Kingdom of Kannauj.[3]: 20
Epigraphist Dineschandra Sircar however, added a different perspective to this struggle. According to Sircar, the struggle between the Pratihara and the Rashtrakuta had begun earlier than the struggle over the Kingdom of Kannauj. These two powers shared a common frontier in the Gujarat and Malwa regions. The frontier was a shifting one and far from permanent, causing enmity between the two powers. Even before the struggle over Kannauj started, Dantidurga, the founder of the Rashtrakuta Empire, had defeated Nagabhata I of the Pratihara dynasty, as evident from the Dashavatara Temple inscription of Dantidurga at Ellora and the Sanjan inscription of Amoghavarsha I, both belonging to the Rashtrakuta dynasty which states that Dantidurga (r. 735–756 CE) performed a religious ceremony at Ujjayani, and the king of Gurjara-desha (Gurjara country) acted as his door-keeper (pratihara),[4][5] suggesting that the Rashtrakuta king had subdued the Pratihara king who was ruling Avanti at that time.[6]
On the other hand, the conflict between the Palas of the Bengal Empire and the Ayudhas of the Kingdom of Kannauj was the continuation of an old power struggle that had started between Harshavardhana of the Kingdom of Kannauj and Sasanka of Gauda in the seventh century and would continue till the twelfth century. These regional struggles were escalated to a greater pitch over the issue of succession of the Ayudha dynasty. Also, the involvement of the four powers, i.e. the Pratihara Empire, the Pala Empire, the Rashtrakuta Empire, and the Kingdom of Kannauj meant that it was actually a four-power. After the attempts of conquering Kannauj by Vatsaraja and Nagabhata II were foiled by Rashtrakuta Kings Dhruva and Govinda III, leaving the city under Pala control, The Pratiharas succeeded in finally capturing the city of Kannauj during the reign of Mihir Bhoja, and the city remained their capital until the fall of the dynasty in 1036 CE.
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