46 Facts About Bhoja

Bhoja was the Paramara king of Malwa from 1010 until his death in 1055.

Bhoja ruled from Dhara, and fought wars with nearly all his neighbours in attempts to extend his kingdom, with varying degrees of success.

Bhoja is best known as a patron of arts, literature, and sciences.

Bhoja was a polymath, and several books covering a wide range of topics are attributed to him.

Bhoja is said to have constructed a large number of Shiva temples, although Bhojeshwar Temple in Bhojpur is the only surviving temple that can be ascribed to him with certainty.

However, several later legendary accounts state that Munja was initially jealous of Bhoja, and tried to prevent him from becoming a king.

Bhoja was appointed as the king by the royal ministers after Munja's death.

On hearing Bhoja's cultured manner of talking, Vatsaraja and his men abandoned the murder plan.

When he learned that Bhoja was still alive, he invited Bhoja to back to his court.

Some literary works suggest that Bhoja succeeded his uncle Munja as the Paramara king.

However, several other works as well as epigraphic evidence indicate that Bhoja succeeded his father Sindhuraja.

For example, Merutunga's Prabandha-Chintamani states that Bhoja ruled for 55 years, 7 months and 3 days.

Warder, who dismisses Merutunga as "completely unreliable" and his narratives as "essentially fiction", believes there is no evidence that Bhoja's reign began much earlier than 1010 CE.

Bhoja inherited a kingdom centered around the Malwa region, and made several attempts to expand it with varying results.

The Udaipur Prashasti inscription of Bhoja's brother compares Bhoja to the legendary king Prithu, and states that he "ruled the earth from Kailasha to Malaya hills and up to the mountains of the setting and the rising sun".

Bhoja invaded and captured Konkana sometime between 1018 and 1020 CE, during the reign of the Shilahara king Arikesari.

Bhoja celebrated this victory in a big way by making generous donations to Brahmins.

Sometime before 1019 CE, Bhoja formed an alliance against the Chalukyas of Kalyani with Rajendra Chola and Gangeyadeva Kalachuri.

Historian DC Ganguly believes that Bhoja achieved some early victories against the Chalukyas, but was ultimately defeated.

The Udaipur Prashasti states that Bhoja defeated a ruler named Indraratha.

The Udaipur Prashasti claims that Bhoja's mercenaries defeated the Turushkas.

However, there is no clear evidence to show that Bhoja fought against the Ghaznavids or any other Muslim army.

Bhoja might have contributed troops to the Kabul Shahi ruler Anandapala's fight against the Ghaznavids.

Bhoja is believed to have granted asylum to Anandapala's son Trilochanapala.

However, Bhoja was able to extend his influence among the Chandela feudatories, possibly after Vidyadhara's death.

Bhoja launched a campaign against the Kachchhapaghatas of Gwalior, possibly with the ultimate goal of capturing Kannauj, but his attacks were repulsed by their ruler Kirtiraja.

Bhoja did not retain control of Kannauj for a long time, if at all.

Bhoja re-established his control over Malwa soon after the departure of the Chalukya army.

The Udaipur Prashasti claims that Bhoja defeated one Togglala, who might have been Gangeya's predecessor Kokalla II.

Bhoja, who was an old man by this time, chose the second option.

Bhoja lost this contest, but refused to accept Karna's suzerainty.

Bhoja is best remembered for his intellect and patronage to cultural activities.

The Kashmiri writer Bilhana famously rued that Bhoja died before him, because of which he failed to seek the king's patronage.

Bhoja is said to have paid great attention to the education of his people, so much so that even humble weavers in the kingdom are supposed to have composed metrical Sanskrit kavyas.

Bhoja is said to have founded the city of Bhojpur, a belief supported by historical evidence.

Bhoja established the Bhoj Shala which was a centre for Sanskrit studies and a temple of Sarasvati in present-day Dhar.

Bhoja was renowned as a scholar-king, and several books are attributed to him.

The surviving works attributed to Bhoja include the following Sanskrit-language texts :.

Historical evidence suggests that Bhoja was a devotee of Shiva.

The Udaipur Prashasti inscription of the later Paramara rulers states that Bhoja "covered the earth with temples" dedicated to the various aspects of Shiva, including Kedareshvara, Rameshwara, Somanatha, Kala, and Rudra.

The Jain writer Merutunga, in his Prabandha-Chintamani, states that Bhoja constructed 104 temples in his capital city of Dhara alone.

Bhoja married multiple women as part of matrimonial alliances with other ruling dynasties.

In terms of the number of legends centered around him, Bhoja is comparable to the Vikramaditya.

Bhoja came to be featured in several legends as a righteous scholar-king, who was the ultimate judge of literary qualities and generously rewarded good poets and writers.

However, many of the popular legends about Bhoja do not have any historical basis.

For example, in Simhasana Dvatrimsika, Bhoja finds a throne of Vikramaditya, and each of the 32 divine figurines attached to the throne tell him a story about Vikramaditya.