Yadava Dynasty

The Yadavas, also known as the Seuna dynasty, ruled a kingdom that stretched from the Tungabhadra to the Narmada rivers, covering present-day Maharashtra, north Karnataka, and portions of Madhya Pradesh, from their capital at Devagiri (modern-day Daulatabad).
They were once feudatories of the Western Chalukyas. As Chalukya hegemony declined in the middle of the 12th century, Yadava ruler Bhillama V declared independence.
The Yadava kingdom thrived until the early fourteenth century when it was captured by the Delhi Sultanate.

Bhillama was the first sovereign king of the Yadava (Seuna) dynasty in the Deccan.
Around 1175 CE, he captured the Yadava throne, deposing both his uncle’s successors and a usurper.
He ruled as a nominal vassal of the Chalukyas of Kalyani, attacking Gujarat’s Chalukya and Paramara domains.
After the Chalukya power collapsed, he declared sovereignty in 1187 CE and fought with Hoysala king Ballala II for control of the old Chalukyan realm in modern-day Karnataka.
In 1190, he took control of the Chalukyan city of Kalyani and established Devagiri (now Daulatabad) as the Yadava dynasty’s capital.
Bhillama was referred to as “Chakravartin Yadava” in the Mutugi inscription from 1189–90 CE (1111 Shaka).
He patronized the scholar Bhaskara, Nagarjuna’s tutor.

During his rule, the Yadava empire achieved its pinnacle. Neither the Hoysalas, the Kakatiyas, the Paramaras, or the Chalukyas ventured to challenge his Deccan supremacy.
Singhana attacked and defeated all of these powers.
Sarangadeva, the author of Sangita Ratnakar, was a musicologist in Singhana II’s court.
Sangeet Ratnakara is widely regarded as one of the most significant compositions in Hindustani and Classical music.
In Sinhana’s court, two famous astrologers thrived: Cangadeva (who founded an astrological college) and Anantadeva (who composed a commentary on Brahmagupta’s Brahmasphutasiddhanta and Varahamihira’s Brhajjataka).
Singhana II was succeeded by his grandson, Krishna.

Raja Ramchandra was the last independent Hindu ruler of the Deccan.
During the northern conflict against the Paramaras, Ramachandra appears to have fought alongside his northwestern neighbors, the Vaghelas of Gurjara.
He expanded his dominion by fighting the Paramaras, Hoysalas, Vaghelas, and Kakatiyas, all Hindus.
In 1296 CE, he faced a Muslim invasion from the Delhi Sultanate and made peace by agreeing to pay an annual tribute to Alauddin Khalji.
In 1308 CE, Alauddin Khalji sent a force to Ramachandra, led by his general Malik Kafur. Kafur’s army defeated Ramchandra’s army, imprisoning him in Delhi.
Ramachandra, a prominent Shiva (maha-maheshvara) devotee, anointed eight Shiva idols “with the milk of his glory”.