The Seuna, Sevuna or Yadava dynasty (850-1334 AD) 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 Maharashtra)
The Seuna dynasty claimed descent from Yadu, a legend in the Puranic mythological legends or Yadavas and therefore, its kings are referred to as the ''Yadavas of Devagiri''. The inscriptions of the dynasty, as well as those of the contemporary kingdoms, the Hoysala, Kakatiya dynasty and Western Chalukyas call them Seunas. The name is derived from the name of their second ruler, ''Seunachandra''. They were originally from Mathura and later moved to Dwarka in present state of Gujarat.
The Seuna rulers patronized the Marathi language. Infact Jijabai (mother of Shivaji, who founded the Maratha Empire belonged to the clan of Jadhavas, who claim to be descendants of the Yadavas.
Many rulers had Kannada names and titles such as ''Dhadiyappa'', ''Bhillama'' and ''Vasugi''. One of the early rulers Seunachandra II had a Kannada title, Sellavidega. They married into Rashtrakuta descendant families too. They were once the feudatories of the Rashtrakutas and then of the Western Chalukya. Over 500 inscriptions have been found in Karnataka.
Bhillama V (1173-1192 AD) took over the Chaluka capital of Kalyani in 1190 AD and founded Devagiri, now Daulatabad as the capital. As they were bordered by aggressive neighbours on all sides, Parmars of Malwa in the north, Kakatiya dynasty in the east, Hoysalas in the south and Solankis of Gujarat in the west, the citadel was built on a hill and enclosed by three lines of walls, each defended by moats and turrets, having a circumference of 4.4 km.
Singhana II (1200-1247 AD) is considered as the greatest ruler of the Yadava dynasty. During his rule the kingdom expanded from Narbada to the Tungabhadara
Ramachandra or Raja Ram, the grandson of Singhana II ruled from 1271- 1309 AD.
Ruins of the Daulatabad Fort
In 1294 AD, Ala-ud-din Khalji captured Devagiri but restored it to Ramachandra in return for payment of a high ransom and annual tribute. However, as the payments were not done Alauddin Khilji again invaded Devagiri in 1306 and conquered it. Ramachandra was appointed as the governor and given the title of ''Rai Rayan.''
Ramachandra's successor Singhana III challenged the supremacy of Khilji. Khilji again attacked and killed Singhana III. Subsequently Muhammad Tughluq, who was the Sultan of Delhi from 1325-1351 AD renamed the city as Daulatabad, and the empire was annexed in 1317 AD
Dramma, 1100-1200 AD, unpublished, weight 0.9 g, likely either of Lakshmideva, the queen of king Krishna
Obverse: lion facing right with a paw raised
Reverse: Devnagiri legend Shri La(kshmi) / ra Ba in two lines
Excellent revealation of the Yadava dynasty,which most of us were not aware of
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