Yashovarman (Chandela dynasty)

Yashovarman (IAST: Yaśovarman; reigned c. 925–950 CE), also known as Lakshavarman, was a king of the Chandela dynasty of India.

The Karhad copper-plate inscription of the Rashtrakuta king Krishna III states that "the hope about Kalanjara and Gurjara vanished from the heart of the Gurjara"; that is, the Gurjara-Pratihara king gave up all hopes of retaining control of Kalanjara and Chitrakuta.

Yashovarman may have captured the fort from the Rashtrakutas, which may explain why he continued to recognize the Pratihara sovereignty even after conquering Kalanjara.

It may not imply an actual conquest of these two fortresses, and may only mean that the Pratihara king became apprehensive about losing control over them.

[4] K. A. Nilakanta Sastri speculated that Yashovarman captured Kalanjara after allying with the Rashtrakutas and the Chedis (Kalachuris of Tripuri).

[9] The ruler of the Gauda region (in present-day West Bengal) is believed to be a Pala king, possibly Rajyapala or his successor Gopala III.

Although the Chandela-Kalachuri relations were friendly in the preceding years, it appears that the Kalachuri alliance with the Rashtrakutas led to a rivalry between the two kingdoms.

S. K. Mitra theorizes that the defeated king might have been Bala-Harsha, who ruled for a very short period, and whose name has been omitted from some of the records of his successors.

[14] Yashovarman's achievements in Mithila are not certain; he possibly defeated a tributary ruler who occupied a small territory on the Pratihara-Pala border.

He acquired a prestigious statue of Vaikuntha Vishnu from his overlord Devapala, and commissioned the Lakshmana Temple at Khajuraho.