Nagabhata I (r. c. 730 – 760 CE) was a king who founded the imperial Gurjara Pratihara dynasty of northern India. He ruled the Avanti (or Malava) region in present-day Madhya Pradesh, from his capital at Ujjain. He may have extended his control over the Gurjara country, which includes parts of present-day Gujarat and Rajasthan. He repulsed an Arab invasion from Sindh, probably led by Junayd ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Murri or Al Hakam ibn Awana. Early life Nagabhata has been named as the founder of the imperial Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty in the Gwalior inscription of his descendant Mihira Bhoja. The exact date of Nagabhata's accession is not known. His grand-nephew Vatsaraja is known to have been ruling in Avanti in 783–784 CE. Assuming a period of 25 years for each generation, Nagabhata can be presumed to have ascended the throne around 730 CE. The Gwalior inscription traces the dynasty's origin to the legendary hero Lakshmana. Nagabhata's historical antecedents are not fully known, but he ruled from Ujjain in the Avanti region. The Jain text Harivamsa (783–784 CE) states that his grand-nephew Vatsaraja was the king and a "son of Avanti soil" (Avanti-bhūbriti). It also describes the other neighbouring kingdoms leaving one in no doubt about its location. The 871 CE Sanjan copper-plate inscription of the Rashtrakuta ruler Amoghavarsha also suggests the association of the Gurjara-Pratiharas with Ujjain. Based on this, a number of historians, including R. C. Majumdar and Baij Nath Puri, hold the view that Ujjain, the capital of Avanti, was the original home of Nagabhata's dynasty. Dasharatha Sharma, on the other hand, theorized that Nagabhata originated from present-day Rajasthan. His theory is based on the identification of Nagabhata with Nāhada, who is mentioned in a medieval Jain prabandha (legendary chronicle) as a "soldier of fortune" and the first ruler of his family. The text states that Nāhada made Jābālipura (identified with Jalor) his capital and came into conflict with a Muslim ruler, whom he defeated. Sharma put forward the view that Jalor was the original home of the Gurjara-Pratiharas, from whence they might have emigrated. Military career Arab invasion According to the Gwalior inscription of his descendant Mihira Bhoja, Nagabhata repulsed a mlechchha invasion. These mlechchhas are identified with the Arab Muslim invaders. The 9th century Muslim historian Al-Baladhuri refers to Arab invasions of Uzain (Ujjain); this appears to be a reference to their conflict with Nagabhata. The invasion