| Naiki Devi | |
|---|---|
| Spouse | Ajaypala |
| Issue | Mularaja II |
| Dynasty | Chandela (By birth) Chaulukya (By marriage) |
| Father | Paramardi |
| Mother | Malhana Pratihara |
| Religion | Hinduism |
Naiki Devi (IAST: Nāikī Devī ) was the regent queen of Chaulukya dynasty[1][2] during her son Mularaja II's infancy from 1175. She was a queen of the Chaulukya king Ajayapala.[3]
When Gurjara Pratiharas power declined after the sacking of Kannauj by the Rashtrakutkas in the early tenth century many Rajput princes declared their independence and founded their own kingdoms, some of which grew to importance in the subsequent two centuries. The better known among these dynasties were the Chaulukyas or Solankis of Kathiawar and Gujarat, the Chahamanas (i.e. Chauhan) of eastern Rajasthan (Ajmer and Jodhpur), and the Tomaras who had founded Delhi (Dhillika) in 736 but had then been displaced by the Chauhans in the twelfth century.
By contrast in Rajasthan a single warrior group evolved called Rajput (from Rajaputra-sons of kings): they rarely engaged in farming, even to supervise farm labour as farming was literally beneath them, farming was for their peasant subjects. In the ninth century separate clans of Rajputs Cahamanas (Chauhans), Paramaras (Pawars), Guhilas (Sisodias) and Caulukyas were splitting off from sprawling Gurjara Pratihara clans...