There were many branches of the Chahamanas. The first of these braches lived in the kingdom of Mahishmati situated at the bank of river Narmada. In the seventh century A.D. a Rajput dynasty of the Chahamanas established its kingdom in Sambhar area. Shakambhari was under its capital Jaipur and hence this dynasty was actually called Chahamanas dynasty of Sakambhari.

Guvaka, First king of the Chahamanas Dynasty
He is also known as Govidraj I. He was the samanta of Nagabhata II and according to Nagavaloka he had been honoured in the court of Nagabhata.It is learned from `Prithviraj-vijay` that Guvaka had married his sister Kalavati with king Nagabhata II of Kannauj. According to Gwalilor inscription Guvaka had fought against the Muslims on behalf of Nagabhata, and had defeated Sultan Beg Varisa.

After Guvaka, his son Chandraraj II, grandson Guvaka II and grand son-in-law Chandana ruled over his kingdom. Chandana had defeated and killed Tomara king Rudradeva. At that time Tomara dynasty ruled over Delhi. This indicates that after Rudradeva, Chahamana dynasty established its authority over Delhi.

Chandana was succeeded by his son Vakapatiraj I and started opposing the Pratihara dynasty i.e. Mahipala I. Vakapatiraj was a Shaiva and had built a Siva temple in Pushkar.

Singhraj , the first maharajadhiraj of Chahamanas dynasty
Vakapatiraj was succeeded by his son Singhraj. He was the first of the Chahamana dynasty who adopted the title of maharajadhiraj. This also indicates that he had declared himself independent from the Pratihara dynasty. Harsha inscription indicates that Singhraj had defeated Tomara leader Salban and had made many princes and samantas as his prisoner. Pratihara king had come to Singhraj for the release of the said provinces and samantas. Singhraj was a very generous and charitable man. He had donated several villages to the temple of Harshnath.

Vigraharaj II of Chahamanas dynasty
Singhraj was succeeded by his son Vigraharaj. He was a very powerful ruler. He had attacked king Mookerjee I of Chalukya dynasty and after conquering Sarasvat Mandala and later he had extended his empire up to river Narmada. But according to `Hamir mahakavya` of Nayachandra, Suri Vigraharaj had killed Moolaraj. This does appear to be correct. However, it is certain that Vigraharaj had built a temple of Ashapuri Devi in Bhriguka at the bank of river Narmada.

Durlabhraj of Chahamanas Dynasty
After the death of Vigraharaj his younger brother Durlabhraj ascended the throne and he defeated Chahamanas of Naddul branch and incorporated Rasoshittan Mandal into his empire. It is said that his empire extended to Jaipur in the east, Jodhpur in the west, Sikar in the north and Ajmer in the south.

Govindaraj II of Chahamanas Dynasty
Durlabhraj was succeeded by his son Govindaraj. During his reign the attack of Mahmud Ghaznavi had started and they were getting prominence.

After him two other kings, Vakapati II and Viram came. The latter was defeated by king Adahilla of Naddul branch of Chahamana.

After Viram three other rulers, Chamundaraj, Singh and Durlabhraj came one by one. Durlabharaj was killed while fighting against the mlechchas. Other kings who came after him were Vir Singh and Vigradharaj. Vigradharaj is said to have given military help to Parmara king Uditaditya against Chalukya king.

Vigradharaj was succeeded by Prithviraj I. He ruled in 1105 A.D. He was succeeded by his son Ajairaj who was a famous ruler of his time. He founded Ajmer and also attacked Malava and made the senapati of Parmar king Narvarman as his prisoner.

Arnoraj of the Chahamanas Dynasty
Ajairaj was succeeded by his son Arnoraj. Jaisingh Siddhraj attacked Arnoraj but later he returned the kingdom of Arnoraj and married his daughter Kanchandevi with him. Jaisingh Siddharaj`s son also fought against Arnoraj. Arnoraj entered into a treaty with king Ballal of Ujjain and attacked Siddharaj`s son Kumarpal. Arnoraj had also conquered the king of Kushavarna and had successfully faced the attack of the Muslims. Near about 1155 A.D. Arnoraj`s son Jugdeva killed his father and ascended the throne. But only after a few days his younger brother Vigradharaj usurped the throne from him.

Vigraharaj IV of Chahamanas Dynasty
He ruled from 1153 to 1163 A.D. He was a powerful king and is also known as Bisaldeva. He conquered Delhi from the kings of Tomar dynasty and attacked Chalukya king Kumarpala and to avenge his father`s defeat, he destroyed the areas of Pallika and Naddul.

He fought many wars against the Muslims and conquered the area between Yamuna and Sutlej from them. About him some information can be get from the following passage in an inscription that he attacked up to Sivalika region and got written his inscription on a pillar of Asoka. He burnt Jwalapur after attacking the Parmar king. Thus he built up a big empire and adopted the titles of `maharajadhiraj` and `parmeshwara`.

Besides being a good warrior he also was a great poet. A drama named `Harikeli` was written by him. His poet laureate Somdeva and the drama of `Lalitvigraha`. He also established Sanskrit college, which was later on converted into a mosque by Altutumash.

Prithviraj II and Someshwara of the Chahamanas
After the death of Bisaldeva his son Aparangeya succeeded him as a king. But he died at an early age and was succeeded by Prithviraj II. To check the attacks of the Muslims he had appointed his maternal uncle Guhila Kilahana as the ruler of Punjab.

After the death of Prithviraj II, his uncle Someshwara succeeded him as a king. He was the son of Arnoraj and his mother Kanchandevi was a princess of Chalukya dynasty. Someshwara had extended his empire to Gwalior, Kannauj and to Hissar and Sarhind in the west.

Prithviraj III, the Chahamanas
He was the son of Someshwara and ascended the throne at the age of 15 years. Because of his minor age, his mother Karpurdevi looked after the administration of the state for one year.

He has been immortalized by `Prithvi-raj-raso` of Chandra-bardai and `Prithviraj vijaya`. Immediately after taking the reign of administration into his hands he had to light against his cousin brother Nagarjiva who was the son of Vigraharaj IV. Nigarjiva was defeated and tried to run away. He was caught and given rigorous punishment. Thereafter Prithviraj conquered Parmardi. In 1187 he attacked Gujarat and made a treaty with. Chalukya king Bhima II.

The end of Chahamana, Dynasty
Prithviraj III was succeeded by his brother Hariraj Chahaman. But according to Hassan Nizami, Mohammad Gauri had appointed Prithviraj`s son as the ruler of Ajmer. During this time Kutubuddin was the ruler of Muslim empire in India. Probably Prithviraj`s brother Hariraj had revolted against the Muslims. It appears that Kutubuddin might have suppressed this revolt and might have appointed Prithviraj`s son on the throne on his assurance for allegiance to him. According to a historian Kutubuddin returned Delhi after making administrative arrangements at Ajmer. Hariraj again established his authority over Ajmer with the help of Senapati Skanda of Prithviraj and dethroned Prithviraj`s son. Kutubuddin again attacked Ajmer and it is said that finding no way out Hariraj burnt himself along with his family in the fort of Ajmer. Ajmer was thus occupied by Kutubuddin and thus in 1194 A.D. the Chahamana dynasty of Ajmer and Delhi came to an end.