The Age of the Imperial Guptas c7.12

c7.12

Now, only a few Purāṇas are complete with all the five divisions. Such Purāṇas which contain the *Vamçānucarita* prove that the majority of them were finally redacted during the Gupta period. Seven only out of the existing eighteen Mahāpurāṇas contain accounts of the kings who have reigned or who, in the prophetic form in which the authors of these works have recast their narratives, will reign in the historical period. The historical genealogies in these works are based on very ancient and reliable sources. The accounts of kings were written from the songs of heralds (*Sūtas*) of the Vedic period who, like the *Chāraṇs* of mediaeval Rajputana, were the chroniclers of the genealogies of kings and their deeds. The *Sūtas* were Kṣatriyas. But, after the fall of the Kṣatriyas, these songs, called *Gāthās* and *Nārāśaṃsīs* fell into the hands of Brāhmaṇa compilers, who, ignorant of the past, confused the accounts and in many cases omitted particular genealogies or left them incomplete, in order to make room for modern legends to prove the sanctity of some new holy place. Pargiter, who has analysed the Pauranic accounts very carefully, has proved that the accounts of the dynasties which followed the Andhras, are given in a very summarised form; “When the Kingdom of the Andhras has come to an end there will be kings belonging to the lineage of their servants; 7 Andhras, and 10 Ābhīra kings; also 7 Gārdabhins, 18 Śakas. There will be 8 Yavanas, 14 Tuṣāras, 13 Muruṇḍas, 11 Maunas.