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Rh after his accession seems to have been the invasion of Kanauj. The exact cause of this invasion has not been revealed to us by any of the records discovered up to date. Most probably the existence of the weak kingdom on his western frontier tempted him to lead an invasion into the heart of the middle country. The result of this invasion is already well known. Indrāyudha, the old king,—old he must have been as he was to some extent the contemporary of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa Dhruva and the Gurjara Vatsarāja,—was deposed. Dharmmapāla set up a nominee of his own, named Cakrāyudha, who was most probably the king of the Pañcāla Country. The last supposition is based on the fact that in the Khalimpur grant it is stated that the Elders of the Pañcāla Country rejoiced at his election. This selection finally proved to be a very costly one for Dharmmapāla. In the famous historical verse of the Khalimpur grant we find that the Kuru, Yadu, Yavana, Avantī, Gandhāra, Kīra, Bhoja, Matsya and Madra kings had to agree to the selection of Cakrāyudha as the king of Kanauj or Mahodaya. This means, in plain language, that Dharmmapāla had to defeat these kings, and then to force his nominee on them. Consequently we must acknowledge that Dharmmapāla conquered or overran Eastern Punjab and Sindh (Kuru and Yadu), Western Punjab and the North-Western Frontier Provinces (Yavana and Gandhāra), Kangra (Kīra), Malwa (Avantī), and North-Eastern Rajputana (Bhoja and Matsya). The Madras are mentioned in the Mahābhārata as living outside the pale of Aryan civilization, and most probably the country meant is some part of Afghanistan.

The accession of Cakrāyudha on the throne of Kanauj was not satisfactory to Nāgabhaṭa II, the king of the Gurjaras. We know from the 9th verse of the Gwalior inscription of Bhoja I, that Nāgabhaṭa II defeated Cakrāyudha. According to the 10th verse of the same inscription he is said to have defeated the King of Bengal also:—

Dūrvvāra-vairi-vara-vāraṇa-vāji-vārayān = augha-saṁghaṭana-ghora-ghan — āndhakāraṁ, Nirjjitya Vaṁgapatim = āvirabhūd = vivasvān = udyan = n-iva tri-jagad-eka-vikāśa-kośaḥ. — verse 10.

It is evident that Dhammapāla tried his best to support his protegee. In so doing he must have suffered a serious reverse at the hands of the Gurjara king. In this condition both Dharmmapāla and Cakrāyudha sought the help of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa Emperor Govinda III. This is proved by the 23rd verse of the unpublished grant of Amoghavarṣa I in the possession of Mr. S. R. Bhandarkar. Being solicited by the most influential king of Northern India and his subordinate, the king of one of the oldest cities in India, the Rāṣṭrakūṭa monarch led a campaign against the powerful Gurjaras. The result of this campaign has already been stated above while quoting the 23rd verse of the unpublished grant of Amoghavarṣa I.