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

At its zenith, his empire extended from Chittor in the north to upper Konkan in the south, and from the Sabarmati River in the west to Vidisha in the east.

[5] According to a Gujarati legend documented in Rasmala, Munja ordered Bhoja's murder, but later appointed him as the crown prince.

[6] Bhoja-Prabandha states that Munja ordered one Vatsaraja to kill Bhoja at the Mahamaya temple in Bhuvaneshvari forest.

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

The verse described how great kings like Mandhata, Rama and Yudhishthira died leaving behind all their property; it then sarcastically added that Munja would be the only one whom the earthly possessions would follow.

[8] The sarcastic verse, purportedly written by Bhoja to Munja, also appears as an antonymous extract in Sharngadhara-paddhati (1363 CE).

According to Bhoja-Prabandha, Munja left the Paramara administration in hands of Sindhuraja before departing on a military expedition.

[18] A. K. 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.

This is corroborated by epigraphic evidence: the Shiva temple ascribed to Bhoja in the Chittor fort has an idol which was named "Bhojasvamindeva" as well as "Tribhuvan Narayanadeva".

[22] This is an obvious exaggeration:[23] historical evidence indicates that Bhoja's empire extended from Chittor in the north to upper Konkan in the south, and from the Sabarmati River in the west to Vidisha in the east.

[25][26] Vallabha's successor Durlabha is said to have repulsed an attack by a confederacy that included the ruler of Malwa, but modern historians doubt the authenticity of this legend.

Others, including D. B. Diskalkar and H. C. Ray, believe that Bhoja was defeated by Jayasimha after some early successes, but ultimately emerged victorious against the Chalukyas after 1028 CE.

According to Georg Bühler, the struggle probably ended with some advantage for Bhoja, which might have been exaggerated into a great victory by the Paramara poets.

[40][41] The Ghaznavids, a Muslim dynasty of Turkic origin, invaded north-western India in the 11th century, led by Mahmud of Ghazni.

[45][46] Bhoja may have also been a part of the Hindu alliance that expelled Mahmud's governors from Hansi, Thanesar and other areas around 1043 CE.

[49] Bhoja also 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.

[51] The 1046 CE Tilakawada copper plate inscription states that Bhoja's general Suraditya stabilized his royal fortune by slaughtering one Sahavahana in a battle.

[55] During the last years of Bhoja's reign, sometime after 1042 CE, Jayasimha's son and successor Someshvara I invaded Malwa, and sacked his capital Dhara.

Nevertheless, the defeat was a major setback for the Paramaras, and pushed back the southern boundary of their kingdom from Godavari to Narmada.

[63] Sometime before 1031 CE, Bhima launched an expedition against the Paramara branch at Abu, forcing its ruler Dhandhuka to seek shelter with Bhoja.

Merutunga's Prabandha-Chintamani states that once two such soldiers attacked Bhoja in the vicinity of his capital Dhara, but the Paramara king escaped unhurt.

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

He 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.

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

[81] The Kurma-Sataka (Avanikūrmaśataka), which praises the Kurma (tortoise) incarnation of Vishnu, was found inscribed at the Bhoj Shala in Dhar.

[20] 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.

[96] 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.

[99] In order to enhance their imperial claims, the Paramaras promoted several legends associating Bhoja with the ancient legendary kings.