Kanauj

   Writing in the second decade of the 11th century, Abu Re-han Alberuni describes Kanauj as the sociopolitical center of the Ganga-Yamuna Doab. At the beginning of the century, it was the cap-ital of the Pratihara kingdom. Its ruler, Rajapala, submitted to Mah-mud of Ghazni in 1018. By the end of the century, Kanauj came to be ruled by the Gahadavalas. The last ruler of that dynasty, Jaichan-dra, was defeated and killed by Muizz al-Din Muhammad Ghauri in 1193, and Kanauj was annexed to the Ghaurid Empire. Subse-quently, Kanauj was always an important iqta'. Under Sikandar Lodi (1489-1517), the sarkar Kanauj yielded around 13.663 million Bahluli tankas per annum.