Kannauj is an ancient city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and a municipal board home to the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district. Known as Kanyakubja during the ancient Vedic period, it was successively the capital city of the Mahajanapada Panchala Kingdom and then of the Ayudha dynasty. At times known as Mahodaya under the Pratihara dynasty, in the later medieval era, it formed the core of the Kingdom of Kannauj and was ruled by multiple successive royal families or as part of greater imperial polities.