Yādava Dynasty

▪ Indian dynasty

      rulers of a 12th–14th-century Hindu kingdom of central India in what is the modern Indian state of Mahārāshtra. Originally a feudatory of the Eastern Cālukyas of Kalyāni, the dynasty became paramount in the Deccan under Bhillama (c. 1187–91), who founded Devagiri (later Daulatābād) as his capital. Under Bhillama's grandson Siṅghana (c. 1210–47) the dynasty reached its height at the expense of the Hoysaḷas in the south, the Kākatīyas in the east, and the Paramāras and Cālukyas in the north.

      Later rulers continued expansionist wars with varying success. During the reign of the last Yādava king, Rāmacandra (reigned 1271–c. 1309), a Muslim army commanded by the Delhi sultan ʿAlāʾ-ud-Dīn Khaljī invaded the kingdom in 1294 and imposed tributary status. A later attempt to throw off the vassalage brought another Delhi army; Rāmacandra was imprisoned but was later released and remained loyal to Delhi until his death. In a further attempt, his son and successor died in battle, and the kingdom was annexed by the Khaljī (Khaljī dynasty) empire in 1317.

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