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Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Vol. I, Part I: History of Gujarat c7.s2: Chapter VIII. The Valabhis (A.D. 509--766)

Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Vol. I, Part I: History of Gujarát c7.s2

Language
English

Contents

Chapter VIII. The Valabhis (A.D. 509--766)

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THE VALABHIS¹

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(A.D. 509--766.)

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The Valabhi dynasty, which succeeded the Guptas in Gujarát and Káthiávád, take their name from their capital in the east of Káthiávád about twenty miles west of Bhávnagar and about twenty-five miles north of the holy Jain hill of Satruñjaya. The modern name of Valabhi is Valeh. It is impossible to say whether the modern Valeh is a corruption of Valahi the Prakrit form of the Sanskrit Valabhi or whether Valabhi is Sanskritised from a local original Valeh. The form Valahi occurs in the writings of Jinaprabhasuri a learned Jain of the thirteenth century who describes Satruñjaya as in the Valáhaka province. A town in the chiefship of Valeh now occupies the site of old Valabhi,¹ whose ruins lie buried below thick layers of black earth and silt under the modern town and its neighbourhood. The only remains of old buildings are the large foundation bricks of which, except a few new houses, the whole of Valeh is built. The absence of stone supports the theory that the buildings of old Valabhi were of brick and wood. In 1872 when the site was examined the only stone remains were a few scattered Lingas and a well-polished life-size granite Nandi or bull lying near a modern Mahádeva temple. Diggers for old bricks have found copper pots and copperplates and small Buddhist relic shrines with earthen pots and clay seals of the seventh century.

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¹ Mr. Vajeshankar Gavrishankar, Náib Diván of Bhávnagar, has made a collection of articles found in Valabhi. The collection includes clay seals of four varieties and of about the seventh century with the Buddhist formula Ye Dhárma hetu Prabhava : a small earthen tope with the same formula imprinted on its base with a seal; beads and ring stones many of several varieties of akik or carnelian and sphatik or coral some finished others half finished showing that as in modern Cambay the polishing of carnelians was a leading industry in early Valabhi. One circular figure of the size of a half rupee carved in black stone has engraved upon it the letters ma ro in characters of about the second century.* A royal seal found by Colonel Watson in Valeh bears on it an imperfect inscription of four lines in characters as old as Dhruvasena I. (A.D. 526). This seal contains the names of three generations of kings, two of which the grandfather and grandson read Ahivarmman and Pushyána all three being called Mahárája or great king. The dynastic name is lost. The names on these moveable objects need not belong to Valabhi history. Still that seals of the second and fifth centuries have been discovered in Valabhi shows the place was in existence before the founding of the historical Valabhi kingdom. A further proof of the age of the city is the mention of it in the Kathásarit-ságara a comparatively modern work but of very old materials. To this evidence of age, with much hesitation, may be added Balni Ptolemy's name for Gopnáth point which suggests that as early as the second century Valeh or Baleh (compare Alberuni's era of Balah) was known by its present name. Badly minted coins of the Gupta ruler Kumáragupta (A.D. 417-453) are so common as to suggest that they were the currency of Valabhi.

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The ruins of Valabhi show few signs of representing a large or important city. The want of sweet water apparently unfits the site for the capital of so large a kingdom as Valabhi. Its choice as capital was probably due to its being a harbour on the Bhávnagar creek. Since the days of Valabhi's prime the silt which thickly covers the ruins has also filled and choked the channel which once united it with the Bhávnagar creek when the small Ghelo was probably a fair sized river.

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∗ The ma and ra are of the okt style and the side and upper strokes, that is the kino and mátra of ra are horizontal.

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In spite of the disappearance of every sign of greatness Hiuen Tsiang's (A.D. 640) details show how rich and populous Valabhi was in the early part of the seventh century. The country was about 1000 miles (6000 *li*) and the capital about five miles (30 *li*) in circumference. The soil the climate and the manners of the people were like those of Málava. The population was dense; the religious establishments rich. Over a hundred merchants owned a hundred *lákhs*. The rare and valuable products of distant regions were stored in great quantities. In the country were several hundred monasteries or *sanghárámas* with about 6000 monks. Most of them studied the Little Vehicle according to the Sammatiya school. There were several hundred temples of Devas and sectaries of many sorts. When Tathágata or Gautama Buddha (B.C. 560-480) lived he often travelled through this country. King As'oka (B.C. 240) had raised monuments or *stúpas* in all places where Buddha had rested. Among these were spots where the three past Buddhas sat or walked or preached. At the time of Hiuen Tsiang's account (A.D. 640) the king was of the Kshatriya caste, as all Indian rulers were. He was the nephew of S'iláditya of Málava and the son-in-law of the son of S'iláditya the reigning king of Kanyákubja. His name was Dhruvapatu (*Tu-lu-h'o-po-tu*). He was of a lively and hasty disposition, shallow in wisdom and statecraft. He had only recently attached himself sincerely to the faith in the three precious ones. He yearly summoned a great assembly and during seven days gave away valuable gems and choice meats. On the monks he bestowed in charity the three garments and medicaments, or their equivalents in value, and precious articles made of the seven rare and costly gems. These he gave in charity and redeemed at twice their price. He esteemed the virtuous, honoured the good, and revered the wise. Learned priests from distant regions were specially honoured. Not far from the city was a great monastery built by the Arhat Achára (*'O-che-lo*), where, during their travels, the Bodhisattvas Gunamati and Sthiramati (Kien-hwni) settled and composed renowned treatises.¹

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¹ As suggested by Dr. Bühler (Ind. Ant. VI. 10), this is probably the Vihára called S'rí Bappapádiyavihára which is described as having been constructed by Achárya Bhadanta Sthiramati who is mentioned as the grantee in a copperplate of Dharasena II. bearing date Gupta 269 (A.D. 588). The Sthiramati mentioned with titles of religious veneration in the copperplate is probably the same as that referred to by Hiuen Tsiang. (Ditto).

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The only historical materials regarding the Valabhi dynasty are their copperplates of which a large number have been found. That such powerful rulers as the Valabhis should leave no records on stones and no remains of religious or other buildings is probably because, with one possible exception at Gopnáth,² up to the ninth century all temples and religious buildings in Káthiáváḍa and Gujarát were of brick and wood.³

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² Burgess' Káthiáwár and Kutch, 187.

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³ Stories on record about two temples one at Satruñjaya the other at Somanátha support this view. As regards the Satruñjaya temple the tradition is that while the minister of Kumarápáḷa (A.D. 1143-1174) of Anahilaváḍa was on a visit to S'atruñjaya to worship and meditate in the temple of Ádinátha, the wick of the lamp in the shrine was removed

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The Valabhi copperplates chiefly record grants to Brahmanical temples and Buddhist monasteries and sometimes to individuals. All are in one style two plates inscribed breadthwise on the inner side, the earliest plates being the smallest. The plates are held together by two rings passed through two holes in their horizontal upper margin. One of the rings bears on one side a seal with, as a badge of the religion of the dynasty, a well-proportioned seated Nandi or bull. Under the bull is the word Bhaṭārka the name of the founder of the dynasty. Except such differences as may be traced to the lapse of time, the characters are the same in all, and at the same time differ from the character then in use in the Valabhi territory which must have been that from which Devanāgarī is derived. The Valabhi plate character is adopted from that previously in use in South Gujarāt plates which was taken from the South Indian character. The use of this character suggests that either Bhaṭārka or the clerks and writers of the plates came from South Gujarāt.¹ The language of all the grants is Sanskrit prose. Each records the year of the grant, the name of the king making the grant, the name of the grantee, the name of the village or field granted, the name of the writer of the charter either the minister of peace and war sandhivigrahādhikṛita or the military head balādhikṛita, and sometimes the name of the dūtaka or gift-causer generally some officer of influence or a prince and in one case a princess. The grants begin by recording they were made either ‘from Valabhi’ the capital, or ‘from the royal camp’ Vijaya-skandhāvāra. Then follows the genealogy of the dynasty from Bhaṭārka the founder to the grantor king. Each king has in every grant a series of attributes which appear to have been fixed for him once for all. Except in rare instances the grants contain nothing historical. They are filled with verbose description and figures of speech in high flown Sanskrit. As enjoined in lawbooks or dharmaśāstras after the genealogy of the grantor comes the name of the composer usually the minister of peace and war and after him the boundaries of the land granted. The plates conclude with the date of the grant, expressed in numerals following the letter sam or the letters samra for samvatsara that is year. After the numerals are given the lunar month and day and the day of the week, with, at the extreme end, the sign manual svahasto mama followed by the name of the king in the genitive case that is Own hand of me so and so. The name of the era in which the date is reckoned is nowhere given.

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¹ The correctness of this inference seems open to question. The descent of the Valabhi plate character seems traceable from its natural local source the Skandagupta (A.D. 450) and the Rudradāman (A.D. 150) Girnār inscriptions.—(A. M. T. J.)

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So far as is known the dates extend for 240 years from 207 to 447. That the earliest known date is so late as 207 makes it pro-

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by mice and set on fire and almost destroyed the temple which was wholly of wood. The minister seeing the danger of wooden buildings determined to erect a stone edifice (Kumārapāla Charita). The story about Somanātha is given in an inscription of the time of Kumārapāla in the temple of Bhadrakali which shows that before the stone temple was built by Bhīmadeva I. (A.D. 1022 - 1072) the structure was of wood which was traditionally believed to be as old as the time of Krishna. Compare the Bhadrakāli inscription at Somanātha.

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THE VALABHIS.

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bable that the Valabhis adopted an era already in use in Káthiáwáda. No other era seems to have been in use in Valabhi. Three inscriptions have their years dated expressly in the Valabhi Samvat. The earliest of these in Bhadrakáli's temple in Somnáth Pátan is of the time of Kumárapála (A.D. 1143-1174) the Solanki ruler of Anahilaváda. It bears date Valabhi Samvat 850. The second and third are in the temple of Harsata Devi, at Verával. The second which was first mentioned by Colonel Tod, is dated Hijra 662, Vikrama Samvat 1320, Valabhi Samvat 945, and Simha Samvat 151. The third inscription, in the same temple on the face of the pedestal of an image of Krishna represented as upholding the Govardhana hill, bears date Valabhi S. 927. These facts prove that an era known as the Valabhi era, which the inscriptions show began in A.D. 319, was in use for about a hundred years in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. This may be accepted as the era of the Valabhi plates which extended over two centuries. Further the great authority (A.D. 1030) Alberuni gives Saka 241 that is A.D. 319 as the starting point both of the 'era of Balah' and of what he calls the Gupta-kála or the Gupta era. Beruni's accuracy is established by a comparison of the Mandasor inscription and the Nepál inscription of Amsuvarman which together prove the Gupta era started from A.D. 319. Though its use by the powerful Valabhi dynasty caused the era to be generally known by their name in Gujarát in certain localities the Gupta era continued in use under its original name as in the Morbí copperplate of Jáikadeva which bears date 588 "of the era of the Guptas."¹

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¹ The era has been exhaustively discussed by Mr. Fleet in Corp. Ins. Ind. III. Introduction.

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The Valabhi grants supply information regarding the leading office bearers and the revenue police and village administrators whose names generally occur in the following order:

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(1) *Ayuktaka*, } meaning appointed, apparently any superior
(2) *Viniyuktaka* } official.

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(3) *Drángika*, apparently an officer in charge of a town, as *dranga* means a town.

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(4) *Mahattara* or Senior has the derivative meaning of high in rank. *Mhátára* the Maráthi for an old man is the same word. In the Valabhi plates *mahattara* seems to be generally used to mean the accredited headman of a village, recognised as headman both by the people of the village and by the Government.

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(5) *Cháṭabhaṭa* that is *bhaṭas* or sepoys for *chaṭas* or rogues, police mounted and on foot, represent the modern police *jamádárs* *haváldárs* and constables. The *Kumárapála Charita* mentions that *Cháṭabhaṭas* were sent by Siddharája to apprehend the fugitive Kumárapála. One plate records the grant of a village 'unenterable by *cháṭabhaṭas*.'²

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² Nepaul Inscriptions. The phrase *achaṭa-bhaṭa* is not uncommon. Mr. Fleet (Corp. Ins. Ind. III. page 98 note 2) explains *achaṭa-bhaṭa-praveśya* as "not to be entered either by regular (*bhaṭa*) or by irregular (*chaṭa*) troops."

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(6) *Dhruva* fixed or permanent is the hereditary officer in charge of the records and accounts of a village, the Taláti and Kulkarni of modern times. One of the chief duties of the Dhruva was to see that revenue farmers did not take more than the royal share.¹ The name is still in use in Cutch where village accountants are called Dhru and Dhruva. Dhru is also a common surname among Nagar Brahmans and Modh and other Vániás in Cutch Gujarat and Káthiáváda.

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¹ Bühler in Ind. Ant. V. 205.

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(7) Adhikaranika means the chief judicial magistrate or judge of a place.

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(8) Dandapásika literally ‘holding the fetters or noose of punishment,’ is used both of the head police officer and of the hangman or executioner.

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(9) Chauroddharanika the thief-catcher. Of the two Indian ways of catching thieves, one of setting a thief to catch a thief the other the Payi or tracking system, the second answers well in sandy Gujarát and Káthiáváda where the Tracker or Payi is one of the Bárabalute or regular village servants.

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(10) Rájasthániya, the foreign secretary, the officer who had to do with other states and kingdoms rájasthánas. Some authorities take rájasthániya to mean viceroy.

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(11) Amátya minister and sometimes councillor is generally coupled with kumára or prince.

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(12) Anutpannadánasamudgráhaka the arrear-gatherer.

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(13) Saulkika the superintendent of tolls or customs.

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(14) Bhogika or Bhogoddharanika the collector of the Bhoga that is the state share of the land produce taken in kind, as a rule one-sixth. The term bhoga is still in use in Káthiáváda for the share, usually one-sixth, which landholders receive from their cultivating tenants.

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(15) Vartmapála the roadwatch were often mounted and stationed in thánás or small roadside sheds.²

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² Ind. And. VII. 68.

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(16) Pratisaraka patrols night-guards or watchmen of fields and villages.³

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³ Ind. Ant. VII. 68.

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(17) Vishayapati division-lord probably corresponded to the present subáh.

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(18) Ráshtrapati the head of a district.

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(19) Grámakúta the village headman.

Territorial Divisions

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The plates show traces of four territorial divisions: (1) Vishaya the largest corresponding to the modern administrative Division: (2) Áhára or Áharaní that is collectorate (from áhára a collection) corresponding to the modern district or zillah: (3) Pathaka, of the road, a sub-division, the place named and its surroundings: (4) Sthali a petty division the place without surroundings.⁴

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⁴ Of the different territorial divisions the following examples occur: Of Vishaya or main division Svábhágapuravishaye and Súryapuravishaye: of Áhára or collectorate Khetaka-ahára the Kaira district and Hastavapra-áhara or Hastavapráharaní the Háthab district near Bhavnagar: of Pathaka or sub-division Nagar-panthaka Porbandar-panthaka (Parsis still talk of Navsári panthaka): of Sthali or petty division Vatasthali, Lonapadrakasthali, and others.

Land Assessment

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The district of Kaira and the province of Káthiáváda to which the Valabhi grants chiefly refer appear to have had separate systems

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of land assessment Kaira by yield Káthiáváḍa by area. Under the Káthiáváḍa system the measurement was by pádávarta literally the space between one foot and the other that is the modern kadam or pace. The pace used in measuring land seems to have differed from the ordinary pace as most of the Káthiáváḍa grants mention the bhúpádávarta or land pace. The Kaira system of assessment was by yield the unit being the pitaka or basketful, the grants describing fields as capable of growing so many baskets of rice or barley (or as requiring so many baskets of seed). As the grants always specify the Kaira basket a similar system with a different sized basket seems to have been in use in other parts of the country. Another detail which the plates preserve is that each field had its name called after a guardian or from some tree or plant. Among field names are Kotilaka, Atimana-kedára, Khaṇḍa-kedára, Gargara-kshetra, Bhíma-kshetra, Khagali-kedára, Sámi-kedára.

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The state religion of the Valabhi kings was Saivism. Every Valabhi copperplate hitherto found bears on its seal the figure of a bull with under it the name of Bhaṭárka the founder of the dynasty who was a Saiva. Except Dhruvasena I. (A.D. 526) who is called Paramabhágavata or the great Vaishnava and his brother and successor Dharapaṭṭa who is styled Paramádityabhakta or the great devotee of the sun, and Guhasena, who in his grant of Sam. 248 calls himself Paramopásaka or the great devotee of Buddha, all the Valabhi kings are called Parama-máheśvara the great Saiva.

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The grants to Buddhist viháras or monasteries of which there are several seem special gifts to institutions founded by female relatives of the granting kings. Most of the grants are to Bráhmans who though performing Vaidik ceremonies probably as at present honoured Saivism. This Saivism seems to have been of the old Páśupata school of Nakulíśa or Lakulíśa as the chief shrine of Lakulíśa was at Kárávana the modern Kárván in the Gáikwár’s territory fifteen miles south of Baroda and eight miles north-east of Miyágám railway station a most holy place till the time of the Vághelá king Arjunadeva in the thirteenth century.¹ The special holiness attached to the Narbada in S'aivism and to its pebbles as lingas is probably due to the neighbourhood of this shrine of Karvan. The followers of the Nakulisa-Pasupata school were strict devotees of S'aivism, Nakulisa the founder being regarded as an incarnation of S'iva. The date of the foundation of this school is not yet determined. It appears to have been between the second and the fifth century A.D. Nakulisa had four disciples Kusika, Gargya, Karusha, and Maitreya founders of four branches which spread through the length and breadth of India. Though no special representatives of this school remain, in spite of their nominal allegiance to S'ankaracharya the Dasanamis or Atits are in fact Nakulisas in their discipline doctrines and habits—applying ashes over the whole body, planting a linga over the grave of a buried Atit, and possessing proprietary rights over S'aiva temples. The Pasupatas were ever ready to fight for their school and often helped and served in the armies of kings who became their disciples. Till a century ago these unpaid followers recruited the armies of India with celibates firm and strong in fighting. It was apparently to gain these recruits that so many of the old rulers of India became followers of the Pasupata school. To secure their services the rulers had to pay them special respect. The leaders of these fighting monks were regarded as pontiffs like the Bappa-pada or Pontiff of the later Valabhi and other kings. Thus among the later Valabhis Siladitya IV. is called Bavapadanudhyata and all subsequent Siladityas Bappapadanudhyata both titles meaning Worshipping at the feet of Bava or Bappa.

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¹ Kárván seems to have suffered great desecration at the hands of the Musalmáns. All round the village chiefly under pipal trees, images and pieces of sculpture and large lingas lie scattered. To the north and east of the village on the banks of a large built pond called Kaśikuṇḍa are numerous sculptures and lingas. Partly embedded in the ground a pillar in style of about the eleventh century has a writing over it of latter times. The inscription contains the name of the place Sauskritised as Káyávarohana, and mentions an ascetic named Vírabahadraráśi who remained mute for twelve years. Near the pillar, at the steps leading to the water, is a carved doorway of about the tenth or eleventh century with some well-proportioned figures. The left doorpost has at the top a figure of Śiva, below the Śiva a figure of Súrya, below the Súrya a male and female, and under them attendants or ganas of Śiva. The right doorpost has at the top a figure of Vishnu seated on Garuda, below the seated Vishnu a standing Vishnu with four hands, and below that two sitting male and female figures, the male with hands folded in worship the female holding a purse. These figures probably represent a married pair who paid for this gateway. Further below are figures of ganas of Śiva. In 1881 in repairing the south bank of the pond a number of carved stones were brought from the north of the town. About half a mile north-west of the town on the bank of a dry brook, is a temple of Chámunda Devi of about the tenth century. It contains a mutilated life-size image of Chámundá. Facing the temple lie mutilated figures of the seven Matrikás and of Bhairava, probably the remains of a separate altar

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This Bava is the popular Prakrit form of the older Prakrit or desi Bappa meaning Father or worshipful. Bappa is the original of the Hindustani and Gujarati Bava father or elder; it is also a special term for a head Gosavi or Atit or indeed for any recluse. The epithet Bappa-padanudhyata, Bowing at the feet of Bappa, occurs in the attributes of several Nepal kings, and in the case of king Vasantasena appears the full phrase:

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Parama-daivata-bappa-bhattaraka-maharaja-Sri-padanudhyata.
Falling at the illustrious feet of the great Maharaja Lord Bappa.

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These Nepal kings were S'aivas as they are called parama-mahesvara in the text of the inscription and like the Valabhi seals their seals bear a bull. It follows that the term Bappa was applied both by the Valabhis and the Nepal kings to some one, who can hardly be the same individual, unless he was their

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facing the temple with the matri-mandala or Mother-Meeting upon it. The village has a large modern temple of Siva called Naklesvara on the site of some old temple and mostly built of old carved temple stones. In the temple close by are a number of old images of the sun and the boar incarnation of Vishnu all of about the tenth or eleventh century. The name Naklesvara would seem to have been derived from Nakulisa the founder of the Pasupata sect and the temple may originally have had an image of Nakulisa himself or a linga representing Nakulisa. Close to the west of the village near a small dry reservoir called the Kunda of Rajarajesvara lies a well-preserved black stone seated figure of Chanda one of the most respected of Siva's attendants, without whose worship all worship of Siva is imperfect, and to whom all that remains after making oblations to Siva is offered. A number of other sculptures lie on the bank of the pond. About a mile to the south of Karvan is a village called Lingthali the place of lingas.

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common overlord, which the distance between the two countries and still more the fact that his titles are the same as the titles of the Valabhi kings make almost impossible. In these circumstances the most probable explanation of the Bappa or Báva of these inscriptions is that it was applied to Shaivite pontiffs or ecclesiastical dignitaries. The attribute *Parama-daivata* The Great Divine prefixed to Bappa in the inscription of Vasantasena confirms this view. That such royal titles as *Mahárájádhirája*, *Parama-bhattáraka*, and *Parameśvara* are ascribed to Bappa is in agreement with the present use of Mahárája for all priestly Bráhmans and recluses and of Bhattáraka for Digambara Jain priests. Though specially associated with Śaivas the title *bappa* is applied also to Vaishnava dignitaries. That the term *bappa* is in similar use among the Buddhists appears from the title of a Valabhi *vihára* Bappapádíyavihára The monastery of the worshipful Bappa that is Of the great teacher Sthiramati by whom it was built.¹

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¹ Compare Beal Buddhist Records, II. 268 note 76 and Ind. Ant. VI. 9. The meaning and reference of the title *Bappa* have been much discussed. The question is treated at length by Mr. Fleet (Corp. Ins. Ind. III. 186 note 1) with the result that the title is applied not to a religious teacher but to the father and predecessor of the king who makes the grant. According to Mr. Fleet *bappa* would be used in reference to a father, *báva* in reference to an uncle.

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The tribe or race of Bhatárka the founder of the Valabhi dynasty is doubtful. None of the numerous Valabhi copperplates mentions the race of the founder. The Chalukya and Ráshtrakúta copperplates are silent regarding the Valabhi dynasty. And it is worthy of note that the Gehlots and Gohils, who are descended from the Valabhis, take their name not from their race but from king Guha or Guhasena (A.D. 559-567) the fourth ruler and apparently the first great sovereign among the Valabhis. These considerations make it probable that Bhatárka belonged to some low or stranger tribe. Though the evidence falls short of proof the probability seems strong that Bhatárka belonged to the Gurjara tribe, and that it was the supremacy of him and his descendants which gave rise to the name Gurjara-rátra the country of the Gurjaras, a name used at first by outsiders and afterwards adopted by the people of Gujarát. Except Bhatárka and his powerful dynasty no kings occur of sufficient importance to have given their name to the great province of Gujarát. Against their Gurjara origin it may be urged that the Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsiang (A.D. 640) calls the king of Valabhi a Kshatriya. Still Hiuen Tsiang's remark was made more than a century after the establishment of the dynasty when their rise to power and influence had made it possible for them to ennoble themselves by calling themselves Kshatriyas and tracing their lineage to Puranic heroes. That such ennobling was not only possible but common is beyond question. Many so-called Rájput families in Gujarát and Káthiáváda can be traced to low or stranger tribes. The early kings of Nándipurí or Nándod (A.D. 450) call themselves Gurjaras and the later members of the same dynasty trace their lineage to the Mahábhárata hero Karna. Again two of the Nandod Gurjaras Dadda II. and Jayabhata II. helped the Valabhis under circumstances which suggest that the bond of sympathy

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THE VALABHIS, A.D. 509-766.

Origin of the Valabhis

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may have been their common origin. The present chiefs of Nándod derive their lineage from Karṇa and call themselves Gohils of the same stock as the Bhávnagar Gohils who admittedly belong to the Valabhi stock. This supports the theory that the Gurjjaras and the Valabhis had a common origin, and that the Gurjjaras were a branch of and tributary to the Valabhis. This would explain how the Valabhis came to make grants in Broach at the time when the Gurjjaras ruled there. It would further explain that the Gurjjaras were called sámantas or feudatories because they were under the overlordship of the Valabhis.¹

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¹ Whether the Valabhis were or were not Gurjjaras the following facts favour the view that they entered Gujarát from Málwa. It has been shown (Fleet Ind. Ant. XX. 376) that while the Guptas used the so-called Northern year beginning with Chaitra, the Valabhi year began with Kártika (see Ind. Ant. XX. 376). And further Kielhorn in his examination of questions connected with the Vikrama era (Ind. Ant. XIX. and XX.) has given reasons for believing that the original Vikrama year began with Kártika and took its rise in Málwa. It seems therefore that when they settled in Gujarát, while they adopted the Gupta era the Valabhis still adhered to the old arrangement of the year to which they had been accustomed in their home in Málwa. The arrangement of the year entered into every detail of their lives, and was therefore much more difficult to change than the starting point of their lives, which was important only for official acts. --(A. M. T. J.)

History

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The preceding chapter shows that except Chandragupta (A.D. 410) Kumáragupta (A.D. 416) and Skandagupta (A.D. 456) none of the Guptas have left any trace of supremacy in Gujarát and Káthiáváḍa. Of what happened in Gujarát during the forty years after Gupta 150 (A.D. 469), when the reign of Skandagupta came to an end nothing is known or is likely to be discovered from Indian sources. The blank of forty years to the founder Bhaṭárka (A.D. 509) or more correctly of sixty years to Dhruvasena (A.D. 526) the first Valabhi king probably corresponds with the ascendancy of some foreign dynasty or tribe. All trace of this tribe has according to custom been blotted out of the Sanskrit and other Hindu records. At the same time it is remarkable that the fifty years ending about A.D. 525 correspond closely with the ascendancy in north and north-west India of the great tribe of Ephthalites or White Huns. As has been shown in the Gupta Chapter, by A.D. 470 or 480, the White Huns seem to have been powerful if not supreme in Upper India. In the beginning of the sixth century, perhaps about A.D. 520, Cosmas Indikopleustes describes the north of India and the west coast as far south as Kalliena that is Kalyán near Bombay as under the Huns whose king was Gollas.² Not many years later (A.D. 530) the Hun power in Central India suffered defeat and about the same time a new dynasty arose in south-east Káthiáváḍa.

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² Montfauçon’s Edition in Priaulx’s Indian Travels, 222-223. It seems doubtful if Cosmas meant that Gollas’ overlordship spread as far south as Kalyan. Compare Migne’s Patrologiæ Cursus, lxxxviii. 466; Yule’s Cathay, I. clxx.

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First Valabhi Grant, A.D. 526.

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The first trace of the new power, the earliest Valabhi grant, is that of Dhruvasena in the Valabhi or Gupta year 207 (A.D. 526). In this grant Dhruvasena is described as the third son of the Senápati or general Bhaṭárka. Of Senápati Bhaṭárka neither copperplate nor inscription has been found. Certain coins which General Cuninghham Arch. Surv. Rept. IX. Pl. V. has ascribed to Bhaṭárka have on the obverse a bust, as on the western coins of Kumāragupta, and on the reverse the Śaiva trident, and round the trident the somewhat doubtful legend in Gupta characters: Rājño Mahākshatri Paramādityabhakta Śrī S'arvva-bhaṭṭarakasa. Of the king the great Kshatri, great devotee of the sun, the illustrious S'arvva-bhaṭṭaraka.

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This S'arvva seems to have been a Rāshtrakūṭa or Gurjjara King. His coins were continued so long in use and were so often copied that in the end upright strokes took the place of letters. That these coins did not belong to the founder of the Valabhi dynasty appears not only from the difference of name between Bhaṭṭaraka and Bhaṭṭārka but because the coiner was a king and the founder of the Valabhis a general.

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Of the kingdom which Senāpati Bhaṭṭārka overthrew the following details are given in one of his epithets in Valabhi copperplates: ‘Who obtained glory by dealing hundreds of blows on the large and very mighty armies of the Maitrakas, who by force had subdued their enemies.’ As regards these Maitrakas it is to be noted that the name Maitraka means Solar. The sound of the compound epithet Maitraka-amitra that is Maitraka-enemy used in the inscription makes it probable that the usual form Mihira or solar was rejected in favour of Maitraka which also means solar to secure the necessary assonance with amitra or enemy. The form Mihira solar seems a Hinduizing or meaning-making of the northern tribal name Meḍh or Mehr, the Mehrs being a tribe which at one time seem to have held sway over the whole of Káthiáváḍa and which are still found in strength near the Barda hills in the south-west of Káthiáváḍa.¹ The Jethvá chiefs of Porbandar who were formerly powerful rulers are almost certainly of the Mehr tribe. They are still called Mehr kings and the Mehrs of Káthiáváḍa regard them as their leaders and at the call of their Head are ready to fight for him. The chief of Mehr traditions describes the fights of their founder Makaradhvaja with one Mayúradhvaja. This tradition seems to embody the memory of an historical struggle. The makara or fish is the tribal badge of the Mehrs and is marked on a Morbí copperplate dated A.D. 904 (G. 585) and on the forged Dhíníki grant of the Mehr king Jáíkádeva. On the other hand Mayúradhvaja or peacock-bannered would be the name of the Guptas beginning with Chandragupta who ruled in Gujarát (A.D. 396-416) and whose coins have a peacock on the reverse. The tradition would thus be a recollection of the struggle between the Mehrs and Guptas in which about A.D. 470 the Guptas were defeated. The Mehrs seem to have been a northern tribe, who, the evidence of place names seems to show, passed south through Western Rájputana, Jaslo, Ajo, Bad, and Koml leaders of this tribe giving their names to the settlements of Jesalmir, Ajmir, Badmer, and Komalmer. The resemblance of name and the nearness of dates suggest a connection between the Mehrs and the great Panjáb conqueror of the Guptas Mihirakula (A.D. 512-540?). If not them-

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¹ The Mehrs seem to have remained in power also in north-east Káthiáváḍa till the thirteenth century. Mokheráji Gohil the famous chief of Piram was the son of a daughter of Dlan Mehr or Mair of Dhanduka, Rás Mála, I. 316.

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The Maitrakas, A.D. 470-509

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selves Hūṇas the Mehrs may have joined the conquering armies of the Hūṇas and passing south with the Hūṇas may have won a settlement in Kāthiāvāḍa as the Kāthis and Jhāḍejās settled about 200 years later. After Senāpati Bhaṭārka's conquests in the south of the Peninsula the Mehrs seem to have retired to the north of Kāthiāvāḍa.

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The above account of the founder of the Valabhis accepts the received opinion that he was the Senāpati or General of the Guptas. The two chief points in support of this view are that the Valabhis adopted both the Gupta era and the Gupta currency. Still it is to be noted that this adoption of a previous era and currency by no means implies any connection with the former rulers.¹ Both the Gurjjaras (A.D. 580) and the Chālukyas (A.D. 642) adopted the existing era of the Traikūṭakas (A.D. 248-9) while as regards currency the practice of continuing the existing type is by no means uncommon.² In these circumstances, and seeing that certain of the earlier Valabhi inscriptions refer to an overlord who can hardly have been a Gupta, the identification of the king to whom the original Senāpati owed allegiance must be admitted to be doubtful.

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¹ All the silver and copper coins found in Valabhi and in the neighbouring town of Sihor are poor imitations of Kumāragupta's (A.D. 417-453) and of Skandagupta's (A.D. 454-470) coins, smaller lighter and of bad almost rude workmanship. The only traces of an independent currency are two copper coins of Dharasena, apparently Dharasena IV., the most powerful of the dynasty who was called Chakravartin or Emperor. The question of the Gupta-Valabhi coins is discussed in Jour. Royal As. Socy. for Jan. 1893 pages 133-143. Dr. Bühler (page 138) holds the view put forward in this note of Dr. Bhagvānlāl's namely that the coins are Valabhi copies of Gupta currency. Mr. Smith (Ditto, 142-143) thinks they should be considered the coins of the kings whose names they bear.

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² The three types of coins still current at Ujjain, Bhilsa, and Gwālior in the territories of His Highness Sindhia are imitations of the previous local Muhammadan coinage.

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All known copperplates down to those of Dharasena (A.D. 579 the great grandson of Bhaṭārka) give a complete genealogy from Bhaṭārka to Dharasena. Later copperplates omit all mention of any descendants but those in the main line.

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Senāpati's Sons

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Senāpati Bhaṭārka had four sons, (1) Dharasena (2) Droṇasiṃha (3) Dhruvasena and (4) Dharapaṭṭa. Of Dharasena the first son no record has been traced. His name first appears in the copperplates of his brother Dhruvasena where like his father he is called Senāpati. Similarly of the second son Droṇasiṃha no record exists except in the copperplates of his brother Dhruvasena. In these copperplates unlike his father and elder brother Dhruvasena is called Mahārāja and is mentioned as 'invested with royal authority in person by the great lord, the lord of the wide extent of the whole world.' This great lord or paramasvāmi could not have been his father Bhaṭārka. Probably he was the king to whom Bhaṭārka owed allegiance. It is not clear where Droṇasiṃha was installed king probably it was in Kāthiāvāḍa from the south-east of which his father and elder brother had driven back the Mehrs or Maitrakas.³

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³ As the date of Droṇasiṃha's investiture is about A.D. 520 it is necessary to consider what kings at this period claimed the title of supreme lord and could boast of ruling the whole earth. The rulers of this period whom we know of are Mihirakula,

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The third son Dhruvasena is the first of several Valabhis of that name. Three copperplates of his remain: The Kukad grant dated Gupta 207 (A.D. 526),¹ an unpublished grant found in Junágadh dated Gupta 210 (A.D. 529), and the Valch grant dated Gupta 216 (A.D. 535).² One of Dhruvasena's attributes *Parama-bhaṭṭāraka-pādānudhyāta*, Bowing at the feet of the great lord, apparently applies to the same paramount sovereign who installed his brother Dronasimha. The paramount lord can hardly be Dhruvasena's father as his father is either called *Bhaṭārka* without the *parama* or more commonly *Senápati* that is general. Dhruvasena's other political attributes are *Mahárája* Great King or *Mahásámanta* Great Chief, the usual titles of a petty feudatory king. In the A.D. 535 plates he has the further attributes of *Mahápratihára* the great doorkeeper or chamberlain, *Mahádaṇḍanáyaka*³ the great magistrate, and *Mahákírtakritika* (?) or great general, titles which seem to show he still served some overlord. It is not clear whether Dhruvasena succeeded his brother Dronasimha or was a separate contemporary ruler. The absence of 'falling at the feet of' or other successional phrase and the use of the epithet 'serving at the feet of' the great lord seem to show that his power was distinct from his brothers. In any case Dhruvasena is the first of the family who has a clear connection with Valabhi from which the grants of A.D. 526 and 529 are dated.

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¹ Ind. Ant. V. 204.

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² Ind. Ant. IV. 104.

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³ In a commentary on the Kalpasútra *Daṇḍanáyaka* is described as meaning *Tantrapála* that is head of a district.

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In these grants Dhruvasena's father Bhaṭārka and his elder brothers are described as 'great *Máheśvaras*' that is followers of Śiva, while Dhruvasena himself is called *Paramabhágavata* the great Vaishnava. It is worthy of note, as stated in the A.D. 535 grant, that his niece Duḍḍá (or Lulá?) was a Buddhist and had dedicated a Buddhist monastery at Valabhi. The latest known date of Dhruvasena is A.D. 535 (G. 216). Whether Dharapaṭṭa or Dharapaṭṭa's son Guhasena succeeded is doubtful. That Dharapaṭṭa is styled *Mahárája* and that a twenty-four years' gap occurs between the latest grant of Dhruvasena and A.D. 559 the earliest grant of

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Yaśodharman Vishnuvardhana, the descendants of Kumáragupta's son Puragupta, and the Gupta chiefs of Eastern Málwa. Neither Toramáṇa nor Mihirakula appears to have borne the paramount title of *Parameśvara* though the former is called *Mahárájádhirája* in the Eran inscription and *Avanipati* or Lord of the Earth (= simply king) on his coins: in the Gwálior inscription Mihirakula is simply called Lord of the Earth. He was a powerful prince but he could hardly claim to be ruler of "the whole circumference of the earth." He therefore cannot be the installer of Dronasimha. Taking next the Guptas of Magadha we find on the Bhitári seal the title of *Mahárájádhirája* given to each of them, but there is considerable reason to believe that their power had long since shrunk to Magadha and Eastern Málwa, and if Hiuen Tsiang's Báláditya is Narasimhagupta, he must have been about A.D. 520 a feudatory of Mihirakula, and could not be spoken of as supreme lord, nor as ruler of the whole earth. The Guptas of Málwa have even less claim to these titles, as Bhánugupta was a mere *Mahárája*, and all that is known of him is that he won a battle at Eran in Eastern Málwa in A.D. 510-11. Last of all comes Vishnuvardhana or Yaśodharman of Mandasor. In one of the Mandasor inscriptions he has the titles of *Rájádhirája* and *Parameśvara* (A.D. 532-33); in another he boasts of having carried his conquests from the Lauhitya (Brahmaputra) to the western ocean and from the Himálaya to mount Mahendra. It seems obvious that Yaśodharman is the *Paramasvámi* of the Valabhi plate, and that the reference to the western ocean relates to Bhaṭārka's successes against the Maitrakas.--(A.M.T.J.)

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EARLY GUJARAT.

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Guhasena favour the succession of Dharapaṭṭa. On the other hand in the A.D. 559 grant all Guhasena’s sins are said to be cleansed by falling at the feet of, that is, by succeeding, Dhruvasena. It is possible that Dharapaṭṭa may have ruled for some years and Dhruvasena again risen to power.

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Of Guhasena (A.D. 539?-569) three plates and a fragment of an inscription remain. Two of the grants are from Vaḷeh dated A.D. 559 and 565 (G. 240 and 246)¹: the third is from Bhávnagar dated A.D. 567 (G. 247).² The inscription is on an earthen pot found at Vaḷeh and dated A.D. 566 (G. 248).³ In all the later Valabhi plates the genealogy begins with Guhasena who seems to have been the first great ruler of his dynasty. Guhasena is a Sanskrit name meaning Whose army is like that of Kārttika-svāmi: his popular name was probably Guhila. It appears probable that the Gohil and Gehlot Rajput chiefs of Káthiávada and Rájputána, who are believed to be descendants of the Valabhis, take their name from Guhasena or Guha, the form Gehloti or Gehlot, *Guhila-utta*, being a corruption of Guhilaputra or descendants of Guhila, a name which occurs in old Rájput records.⁴ This lends support to the view that Guhasena was believed to be the first king of the dynasty. Like his predecessors he is called Mahárája or great king. In one grant he is called the great Saiva and in another the great Buddhist devotee (*paramopásaka*), while he grants villages to the Buddhist monastery of his paternal aunt’s daughter Duḍḍá. Though a Saivite Guhasena, like most of his predecessors, tolerated and even encouraged Buddhism. His minister of peace and war is named Skandabhaṭa.

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¹ Ind. Ant. VII. 66; IV. 174.

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² Ind. Ant. V. 206.

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³ Ind. Ant. XIV. 75.

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⁴ Kumárápála-Charita, Abu Inscriptions.

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The beginning of Guhasena’s reign is uncertain. Probably it was not earlier than A.D. 539 (G. 220). His latest known date is A.D. 567 (G. 248) but he may have reigned two years longer.

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About A.D. 569 (G. 250) Guhasena was succeeded by his son Dharasena II. Five of his grants remain, three dated A.D. 571 (G. 252),⁵ the fourth dated A.D. 588 (G. 269),⁶ and the fifth dated A.D. 589 (G. 270).⁷ In the first three grants Dharasena is called Mahárája or great king; in the two later grants is added the title Mahásámanta Great Feudatory, seeming to show that in the latter part of his reign Dharasena had to acknowledge as overlord some one whose power had greatly increased.⁸ All his copperplates style Dharasena II. Parama-máheśvara Great S’aiva. A gap of eighteen years occurs between A.D. 589 Dharasena’s latest grant and A.D. 607 the earliest grant of his son S’íláditya.

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⁵ Ind. Ant. VIII. 302, VII. 68, XIII. 160.

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⁶ Ind. Ant. VI. 9.

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⁷ Ind. Ant. VII. 90.

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⁸ This change of title was probably connected with the increase of Gurjara power, which resulted in the founding of the Gurjara kingdom of Broach about A.D. 580. See Chapter X. below.

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Dharasena II. was succeeded by his son S’íláditya I. who is also called Dharmáditya or the sun of religion.

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The S’atruñjaya Máhátmya has a prophetic account of one S’íláditya who will be a propagator of religion in Vikrama Samvat 477 (A.D. 420). This Máhátmya is comparatively modern and is not worthy of much trust. Vikrama Samvat 477 would be A.D. 420 when no Valabhi kingdom was established and no S'iláditya can have flourished. If the date 477 has been rightly preserved, and it be taken in the S'aka era it would correspond with Gupta 237 or A.D. 556, that is thirty to forty years before S'iláditya's reign. Although no reliance can be placed on the date still his second name Dharmáditya gives support to his identification with the S'iláditya of the Máhátmya.

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His grants like many of his predecessors style S'iláditya a great devotee of S'iva. Still that two of his three known grants were made to Buddhist monks shows that he tolerated and respected Buddhism. The writer of one of the grants is mentioned as the minister of peace and war Chandrabhaṭṭi; the Dútaka or causer of the gift in two of the Buddhist grants is Bhaṭṭa Adityayaśas apparently some military officer. The third grant, to a temple of S'iva, has for it Dútaka the illustrious Kharagraha apparently the brother and successor of the king.

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S'iláditya's reign probably began about A.D. 594 (G. 275). His latest grant is dated A.D. 609 (G. 290).¹

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¹ Ind. Ant. XI. 306.

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S'iláditya was succeeded by his brother Kharagraha, of whom no record has been traced. Kharagraha seems to have been invested with sovereignty by his brother S'iláditya who probably retired from the world. Kharagraha is mentioned as a great devotee of S'iva.

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Kharagraha was succeeded by his son Dharasena III. of whom no record remains.

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Dharasena III. was succeeded by his younger brother Dhruvasena II. also called Báláditya or the rising sun. A grant of his is dated A.D. 629 (G. 310).² As observed before, Dhruvasena is probably a Sanskritised form of the popular but meaningless Dhruvapaṭṭa which is probably the original of Hiuen Tsiang's T'u-lu-h'o-po-tu, as A.D. 629 the date of his grant is about eleven years before the time when (640) Hiuen Tsiang is calculated to have been in Málwa if not actually at Valabhi. If one of Dhruvasena's poetic attributes is not mere hyperbole, he made conquests and spread the power of Valabhi. On the other hand the Navsári grant of Jayabhaṭa III. (A.D. 706 - 734) the Gurjjara king of Broach states that Dadda II. of Broach (A.D. 620 - 650) protected the king of Valabhi who had been defeated by the great S'rí Harshadeva (A.D. 607 - 648) of Kanauj.

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² Ind. Ant. VI. 13.

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Dhruvasena II. was succeeded by his son Dharasena IV. perhaps the most powerful and independent of the Valabhis. A copper-plate dated A.D. 649 (G. 330) styles him Parama-bhaṭṭáraka, Mahárájádhirája, Parameśvara, Chakravartin Great Lord, King of Kings, Great Ruler, Universal Sovereign. Dharasena IV.'s successors continue the title of Mahárájádhirája or great ruler, but none is called Chakravartin or universal sovereign a title which implies numerous conquests and widespread power.

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Dharasena IV. A.D. 649-649

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Two of Dharasena IV.'s grants remain, one dated A.D. 649 (G. 326) the other A.D. 649 (G. 330). A grant of his father Dhruvasena dated A.D. 634 (G. 315) and an unpublished copperplate in the possession of the chief of Morbí belonging to his successor Dhruvasena III. dated A.D. 651 (G. 332) prove that Dharasena's reign did not last more than seventeen years. The well known Sanskrit poem Bhaṭṭikāvya seems to have been composed in the reign of this king as at the end of his work the author says it was written at Valabhi protected (governed) by the king the illustrious Dharasena.¹ The author's application to Dharasena of the title Narendra Lord of Men is a further proof of his great power.

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¹ Kávyamidam rachitam mayá Valabhyám, Śrí Dharasena-narendra pálitáyám.

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Dharasena IV. was not succeeded by his son but by Dhruvasena the son of Derabhaṭa the son of Dharasena IV.'s paternal grand-uncle. Derabhaṭa appears to have been ruler of Valabhi itself but of some district in the south of the Valabhi territory. His epithets describe him as like the royal sage Agastya spreading to the south, and as the lord of the earth which has for its two breasts the Sahya and Vindhya hills. This description may apply to part of the province south of Kaira where the Sahyādri and Vindhya mountains may be said to unite. In the absence of a male heir in the direct line, Derabhaṭa's son Dhruvasena appears to have succeeded to the throne of Valabhi. The only known copperplate of Dhruvasena III.'s, dated A.D. 651 (G. 332), records the grant of the village of Peḍhapadra in Vanthali, the modern Vanthali in the Navánagar State of North Káthiáwáḍa. A copperplate of his elder brother and successor Kharagraha dated A.D. 656 (G. 337) shows that Dhruvasena's reign cannot have lasted over six years.

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The less than usually complimentary and respectful reference to Dhruvasena III. in the attributes of Kharagraha suggests that Kharagraha took the kingdom by force from his younger brother as the rightful successor of his father. At all events the succession of Kharagraha to Dhruvasena was not in the usual peaceful manner. Kharagraha's grant dated A.D. 656 (G. 337) is written by the Divirapati or Chief Secretary and minister of peace and war Anahilla son of Skandabhaṭa.² The Dūtaka or causer of the gift was the Pramāṭṛi or survey officer Śríná.

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