Fragmentation of the Gurjara-Pratihara

Timeline

1. 1121–1124Kannauj–Kanauj old Pratihara core region · Gangetic plainBy the 1120s, the Pratihara central authority had been gone for decades; only local princes remained around its old capital Kannauj, and the former empire's tax and military mobilization systems had collapsed into feudal fiefs and fortress-held territories.
2. 1124–1128Delhi (Indraprastha/Dhillika) · North IndiaTomara rulers based in Delhi controlled Yamuna river crossings and trade routes, repeatedly clashing with Chahamana, Gahadavala, and other North Indian states at frontier fortresses and river-valley passes; no single power could rebuild empire-level hegemony.
3. 1128–1130Doab (Ganges–Yamuna interfluve) · Gangetic plainBy 1130, no single power in North India could dominate the Gangetic plain. The feudal competition following the Pratihara fragmentation provided political soil for later Ghaznavid and Ghurid invaders to exploit local rivalries.