History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c15.18

v1.c15.18

The embassy of Haṃsavega to Harsha, when the latter was on his way to fight with Śaśāṅka, is extremely significant, and it may tend to throw some light on the origin and ancestry of Śaśāṅka. In the mediaeval period all powerful kings of Bengal, from Dharmapāla to Lakshmaṇasena, had or claimed to have overrun Assam. It is interesting to note that Mahāsenagupta of Magadha had defeated Bhāskaravarman's father Susthitavarman on the Banks of Brahmaputra. Here lies the true cause of Bhāskara's attempts to ally himself with the king of Thanesar. Mahāsenagupta's son, Mādhavagupta, was the contemporary of Harsha and therefore of Śaśāṅka's as well. Śaśāṅka is known to have been a Śaiva from his coins, on which we find the figures of Śiva and Lakshmī. The figures of Lakshmī are exactly the same as those to be found on the coins of Kumāragupta II and Chandragupta III.¹ The Guptas were Vaishṇavas and the Śaiva figures on Śaśāṅka’s coins indicate a separate origin for him. But the policy he pursued, the exact type of the seated nimbate figures of Lakshmī and his alliance with Devagupta of Mālava possibly indicate that he belonged to the Gupta dynasty of Magadha in which we know of no Mahārājādhirāja before the time of Ādityasena. Śaśāṅka and Devagupta of Mālava probably tried to restore the prestige of the Gupta dynasties of India immediately after the death of Prabhākaravardhana, and Bhāskaravarman of Assam may have felt the weight of Śaśāṅka’s arms before he sent an ambassador to Harsha, to seek his alliance.