Krishna as Narayan or yet another powerful political king

In one of a contrarian view, some historians consider Krishna as a "yet another king" who was master of Kutniti (diplomacy) & strategically worked to increase empire of Yadu dynasty in india as opposed to popular "head on war based strategies" adopted by most of the ancient dynasties. Some texts have compared Krishna to Shakuni of Mandar/ Hastinapur who tried to place Kuru dynasty back in power at Hastinapur. The concept of praying Kings as gods is evident (came from before 3000BCE ) in Mesopotamia culture and early proofs of praying Krishna as god came much later in the history. Indian ancient culture before that doesn't have evidence of praying Krishna as god.

Krishna was extremely powerful physically. But there were several others who were much more powerful or equal power during that time. Karana, Jarasandha, Balaram, Neminath to name a few. But all these were strategically removed from Krishna;s path during mahabharta war or other means such as taking diksha and becoming ascetic. 

Krishna started as a Gwala (Cow Herder) but established Yadu kingdoms in Dwarka, & after Mahabharta war between "relatives" put Yadu's slowly to rule Indraprastha, Anga, Maghada, Hastinapur and other nearby kingdoms. Krishna ruled several of these states as King during his life.  Krishna, Krishna's son Pradyumna; grandson Anirudha; great grandson Vajra all ruled in Yadu dynasty in nearby kingdoms under pact. Within 4-5 generations of Krishna's sons, Yadu dynasty fell over.

Krishna was the key political figure in overthrowing Kansa, the king of Surasena Kingdom. The kingdom of Surasena was the native kingdom of Yadava clans constituted by the Andhakas, Vrishnis and Bhojas. By overthrowing Kansa, Krishna re-established the old king Ugrasena on the throne and stabilized the kingdom from collapse due to factional fighting within the kingdom.

The next threat came from outside the country, from the Magadha Kingdom. The ruler of Magadha, Jarasandha, attacked Surasena many times and weakened its military. Krishna and other Yadava chiefs all tried their best to hold on. At last they had to flee from their native kingdom to the south and to the west.

Later, with the initiative of Krishna, the Yadavas who fled from Surasena formed a new kingdom called Dwaraka. Its capital was Dwaravati, a city well protected by mountains on all sides, in an island, not far from the Gujarat coast. This made it immune to attacks from land. The kingdom prospered by sea trade with seafaring kingdoms.

Krishna also established a tie-up of Yadavas with the Pandavas, a faction of Kurus, who were fighting against the established Kuru Kingdom. This tie up also benefited the Yadavas, strategically. With the help of the Pandavas they overthrew the Magadha king Jarasandha who was their biggest enemy. For this assistance, Krishna in turn helped the Pandavas to win the Kurukshetra War against the Kurus headed by Duryodhana. Thus the rule of the Pandava Yudhishthirawas re-established by Krishna at Indraprastha, the modern-day Delhi.

However, The Yadava chiefs fought the Kurukshetra War, on both sides, and even after the war ended, the enmity among the Yadava leaders continued. After 36 years, since the Kurukshetra War, another war broke among the Yadavas, in their own kingdom. This resulted in the absolute destruction of the Yadava kingdom in Dwaraka, with Balarama and Krishna also departing due to grief. This fight among Yadava is also attributed to a curse from Gandhari, mother of Duryodhana to Krishna.

But the help Krishna extended to the Pandava Yudhishthira, paid off. When the rule of Yudhishthira ended, he established the Yadava prince Vajra on the throne of Indraprastha along with the Kuru prince Parikshit, at Hastinapura. Thus the royal lineage of the Yadavas continued through Aniruddha's son, prince Vajra, great grandson of Krishna and grandson of Pradhyumna. Parikshit was the son of Abhimanyu and the grandson of Arjuna. Late Sri. Kulapati K.M.Munshi's famous narration of the life of Lord Krishna, Krishnavatara (Volumes 1 to 8) published by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is a very good read into the political aspects of Lord Krishna, painting Krishna not as the God Almighty but as a human Hero and a Great Leader. A very interesting read between the lines into the inner aspects of politics by Krishna as a human being. 

Krishna learned about concepts of Gita from another Monk (Mahabharata, Book 14, Chapter 16), which Krishna preached to Arjuna during the war.