Seuna (Yadava) dynasty | ||||||||||
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Asia in 1200 AD, showing the Yadava Dynasty and its neighbors
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Capital | Devagiri | |||||||||
Languages | Kannada, Marathi, Sanskrit | |||||||||
Government | Monarchy | |||||||||
History | ||||||||||
• | Established | 850 | ||||||||
• | Disestablished | 1334 | ||||||||
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Today part of | India |
The Seuna, Sevuna or Yadavas of Devagiri (850–1334) was an Indian dynasty, which at its peak ruled a kingdom stretching from the Tungabhadra to the Narmada rivers, including present-day Maharashtra, north Karnataka and parts of Madhya Pradesh, from its capital at Devagiri (present-day Daulatabad in modern Maharashtra). The Yadavas initially ruled as feudatories of the Western Chalukyas. Around the middle of the 12th century, as the Chalukya power waned, they declared independence and established rule that reached its peak under Singhana II.
The Seuna dynasty claimed descent from the Yadavas and therefore, its kings are often referred to as the "Yadavas of Devgiri". The correct name of the dynasty, however, is Seuna or Sevuna. The inscriptions of this dynasty, as well as those of contemporary kingdoms, the Hoysala, Kakatiya dynasty and Western Chalukyas call them Seunas. The name is probably derived from the name of their second ruler, "Seunachandra".
The "Sevuna" (or Seuna) name was brought back into use by John Faithfull Fleet in his book The dynasties of the Kanarese districts of the Bombay Presidency from the earliest historical times to the Musalman conquest of A.D. 1318.
Scholars are divided regarding the origin of the Seuna dynasty. However, most archelogical evidence (edicts) point to Kannada origin.
Scholars such as C M Kulkarni,Colin Masica, and Shrinivas Ritti believe that the Seuna rulers were originally Kannada speaking people. Linguist Colin Masica believes that they originally used Kannada (along with Sanskrit) in their inscriptions, but, by the time of the Muslim conquest, they had begun to patronize Marathi, and Marathi phrases or lines began to appear in their inscriptions. Dr. Shrinivas Ritti speculates that the Seunas were originally from a Kannada-speaking region and migrated northwards owing to the political situation in the Deccan.