After the death of Harsha in 925 A.D., his son Yasovarman succeeded him. Yasovarman had made himself independent taking the advantage of the Gurjar Pratiharas. After making himself independent, he increased his power by defeating many royal dynasties. An inscription of Khajuraho praises the glory and fame of Yasovarman. A rock inscription indicates that Yasovarman had conquered Pala, Kosala, Kashmir, Khas, Kuru, Mithila and Malava kingdoms. Inscription of Khajuraho also indicates that he had snatched the statue of Baikunth from Devapala and established it in the temple of Khajuraho.

Khajuraho inscription also indicates that Yasovarman had defeated the king of Kalachri dynasty. The fort of Kalanjar was also conquered by Yasovarman as well. According to historians, Kalanjar was under the authority of the Pratihara. While others are of the opinion that Yasovarman had conquered the fort of Kalanjar from the Rashtrakutas.

Following were the main conquests of Yasovarman that can be mentioned below


• Pala kingdom: It was the period of the decline of Pala dynasty. The Pala king Gopala II was the contemporary of Yasovarman. Yasovarman had conquered the areas of Gauda and Mithila from the Pala king.


• Khas: The Khas king Chawduraj ruled over a part of Kashmir known as Lohar kingdom. Yasovarman is said to have defeated the king. But some historians doubt this victory and that`s because of its distance from the state of Yasovarman.


• Kosala state: The state of Kosala was divided into two parts. One of them was North kosala under the Pratihara dynasty and the other one i.e. South Kosala under kings of a Soma dynasty. Khajuraho inscription states that Yasovarman had defeated the king of Kosala and snatched his treasure. However, it is not clear from the said inscription as to whether he had conquered south or north Kosala or both of them.


• Kashmir: King Yasaskar, Sangramdeva and Purnagupta of Kashmir were the contemporary of Yasovarman. An inscription indicates that Yasovarman had conquered the warriors of Kashmir but no historical book is available which refers to his conquest. This portion of the inscription seems to have been written in praise of Yasovarman as well.


• Mithila: Mithila was under Gopala II and Yasovarman had probably conquered and brought it under his authority.


• Malava: In Malava Yasovarman`s contemporary was Parmara Siyak who was a Samanta of Rashtrakuta. King Yasovarman had also defeated him.


• Kuru: Khajuraho inscription states that Yasovarman attacked and conquered the state of Kuru.

The above mentioned conquests of Yasovarman obviously indicate that he was very powerful and ambitious ruler. He has been greatly praised by the historians for achieving so many conquest. He freed himself from the sovereignty of the pratiharas and adopted the title of `Maharajadhiraj`. He established his empire in the central India which continued to play an important role in this politics of India for a long time.

Yasovarman died near about 950 A.D.