Key Facts
- Duration
- c. 1187–1317 AD
- Capital
- Devagiri (present-day Daulatabad)
- Northern boundary
- Narmada River
- Southern boundary
- Tungabhadra River
- Annexed by
- Khalji dynasty, Delhi Sultanate (1308)
Imperial Zenith Metrics
Historical Trajectory
Phase I: Rise
The Yadavas began as feudatories of the Western Chalukyas in the Deccan region. As Chalukya power declined around the mid-12th century, the Yadava king Bhillama V seized the opportunity to declare independence and establish an autonomous kingdom centered at the strategically located fortress-city of Devagiri. This assertion of sovereignty allowed the dynasty to expand control over present-day Maharashtra and adjacent regions.
Phase II: Zenith
The dynasty reached its greatest extent under Simhana II, whose rule saw the kingdom stretch from the Narmada River in the north to the Tungabhadra in the south, encompassing much of modern Maharashtra, northern Karnataka, and parts of Madhya Pradesh. This period marked flourishing political authority across the western Deccan, with Devagiri serving as a prosperous administrative and cultural hub.
Phase III: Decline
The Yadava kingdom declined in the early 14th century under sustained pressure from the Delhi Sultanate. The Khalji dynasty launched campaigns into the Deccan and formally annexed the kingdom in 1308, ending Yadava independence. The dynasty's fall opened the Deccan to further northern Muslim expansion and marked the end of the last major Hindu successor state to the Western Chalukyas in the region.
Notable Imperial Reigns
Selected rulers mapping the empire’s trajectory