Ancient History of the Deccan c4.s3: § 1. The Vâkâṭakas

Ancient History of the Deccan c4.s3

Language: English

§ 1. The Vâkâṭakas

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Till now, no one has thought of classing the Vâkâṭakas among the dynasties of Deccan; it was believed that it was a dynasty that had to be studied with the dynasties of the North. An example of this error is given by Kielhorn who classes the Vâkâṭaka inscriptions (nos. 618 to 624) under the rubric "Inscriptions of Northern India".

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Now then, I wish to make the following declaration: when trying to compile the ancient history of the Deccan, I have come to the conclusion that the Vâkâṭakas must be classed among the dynasties of the Deccan; and what is more, I can affirm that, of all the dynasties of the Deccan that have reigned from the III to be VI century, the most glorious, the most important, the one that must be given the place of honour, the one that has excelled all others, the one that has had the greatest influence on the civilisation of the whole of the Deccan, is unquestionably the illustrious dynasty of the Vâkâṭakas.

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The undermentioned documents: Chammak (Gupta Inscriptions, No. 55, p. 235), Siwanî (Gup'a Inscriptions, No. 56 p. 243), Dudia (Ep. Ind., Vol III, p. 258), Bâlâghât (Ep. Ind., Vol. IX, p. 268), Professor K. B. Pâṭhak's plates (Ind. Ant., Vol. XLI, 1912, p. 215), two inscriptions at Ajanṭâ (A. S. W. I. IV, pp. 53, 124 and 129), and the inscription in the Ghaṭotkacha cave at Guwârâ (A. S. W. I., vol IX, pp. 64 and 138) give us the following genealogy : Vindyaśakti

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Pravarasêna I.

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Gautamîputra

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Rudrasêna I.

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Prithivishêna I.

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Rudrasêna II.

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Pravarasêna II.

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| . . . . . | . . . . .
| |

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a son Narêndrasêna

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Dêvasêna Prithivishêna II.

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Harishêna

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The first Mahârâja, Pravarasêna I. was the son of Vindyaśakti, "the banner of the Vâkâṭaka race" mentioned in the Ajanṭâ (A. S. W. I., IV, p. 124) inscription without any royal title. Pravarasêna I. performed sacrifices, especially Aśvamedha. Gautamîputra, who died probably before his father, as is seen by his never being a Mahârâja, married the daughter of Bhavanâga, king of the Bhâraśivas, "who were besprinkled on the forehead with the pure water of Bhâgîrathî (the Gaṅgâ)". It is probable that Bhavanâga who reigned near the Ganges belonged to the family of the Nâgas of Padmâvati.

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We know nothing about Rudrasêna I. His son Prithivishêna reigned for a long time. Mr. Vincent A. Smith attributes an inscription (Gupta Inscriptions, No. 53 and 54, page 233) at Nâchnâ to this king; but when writing, Mr. Vicent A. Smith has not taken into account the Bâlâghat plates which show that there was a second Prithivishêna. Is the Nâchnâ stone dated in the time of Prithivishêna I. or Prithivishêna II? Judging from the form of the letters I would attribute it rather to the second : the small circle at the head of the letters seems to point rather to the V than to the IV century [for the History of the Vākāṭakas by Mr. Vincent A. Smith, see J. R. A. S. ; April 1914, page 317].

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The 8th verse of the Ajaṇṭā inscription says that Pṛithivī-ṣeṇa I. vanquished the king of Kuntala, i. e, the Kadamba king.

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The passage that follows it is so badly damaged that we can read nothing therein. The name of Rudrasēna II. is not visible; but it is not probable it has been omitted. In fact, this prince had the honour of marrying Prabhāvatī, daughter of Chandra-Gupta II. the illustrious emperor of the Gupta dynasty. Mr. Vincent A. Smith (J. R. A. S. ; 1914, p. 326) thinks that this marriage took place about 395 A. D. and we shall admit this date. It was at this time that Chandra-Gupta II. took possession of the kingdom of the Western Satrapas, and it is certain that the Vākāṭaka empire adjoined that of the Western Satrapas; and the conclusion of Mr. Vincent A. Smith, which is very important for the chronology of the dynasty, is probably the right one.

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Professor K. B. Pāṭhak's plates (Ind. Ant., 1912, page 215) is a grant of land issued by Queen Prabhāvatī, widow of Rudrasēna II, during the minority of her son the Yuvarāja Divakārasena. It seems therefore that Rudrasēna II. died shortly after his marriage and that about the year 400 A. D. the queen Prabhāvatī, the glorious daughter of the Gupta emperor was the regent of the Vākāṭaka kingdom. We have said that Pṛithivī-ṣeṇa I. vanquished the king of Kuntala; and Kuntala is the empire of the Kadambas : the town of Halsi, in Belgaum district, which was at one time called Palāśikā (Halasige) was originally in the Kuntala kingdom (Ep. Ind. Vol XIII., p. 299; Kadamba inscription, verses 58-62). The Vākāṭakas were the neigbours of the Kadambas and the Vākāṭaka kingdom extended up to the modern town of Kurnool on the banks of the Kṛishṇā. We know that the famous temple of Śrīśailam or Śrī-Parvata is in the Kurnool district; and a "story, as related " in the Sthala Māhātmya of the place, says that the princess " Chandravati, a daughter of the Gupta king Chandragupta " conceived a passion for the God on the Śrīśaila hill and " began offering every day a garland of jasmine (mallikā) " flowers to him" (Report on Epigraphy for 1914-1915-G. O.

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No. 1260, 25th Aug. 1915, Part II, No. 13, page 91). This information is very precious as throwing light on the origin of the dynasty of the Vishṇukuṇḍins that we shall study further. In fact, we shall see that this dynasty had for its tutelary deity, the God of Śrī-Parvata; and that the first king of this dynasty, Mādhavavarman married a Vishṇukuṇḍin princess. I think there can be no doubt that this princess was the daughter or the grand daughter of queen Prābhāvatī or Chandravati who was the daughter of the Gupta emperor, wife of Rudrasēna II. mother of Pravarasēna II. and a votary of the God of Śrī-Parvata. It is probably during the reign of Pravarasēna II. that the Vākāṭakas who reigned over almost the whole of the modern State of Hayderabad, succeeded in founding the dynasty of the Vishṇukuṇḍins by placing on the throne of Vēṅgī, Mādhavavarman I who was the husband of a Vākāṭaka princess and an adorer of the God of Śrī-Parvata.

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We do not know if the Yuvarāja Divakārasēna ascended the throne. We only know for certain that a son of Rudrasēna II. reigned under the name Pravarasēna II. The poet Bana in his introduction to Harshacharita mentions, among the most famous poets that had preceeded him, Pravarasēna who was the author of a work called Sētukavya. The capital of Pravarasēna was called Pravarapura and was probably founded by that king. It is certain that Pravarasēna II. reigned in the south of Jabalpur (Jubbulpore) in the country in which we now find the towns of Seuni (Seoni) and Elichpur (Ilichpur). The Narbadā separated his kingdom from that of the Guptas. Chammak (Charmāṅka) is situated on the banks of Mahānadī Gupta Insc., page 241). We have said that the Vākāṭka empire extended further south. In 450 A. D. the Vākāṭaka empire had the following boundaries : in the north it was separated by the Narbadā from the kingdom of Ujjain where reigned the illustrious emperor Kumāra-Gupta I. In the east was the vassal state of Raypur of which we shall speak further : the king Mahā-Sudēva had Śarabhapura for his capital. In the south-east was situated the kingdom of the Vishṇukuṇḍins over which Mādhavavarman I was reigning at Vēṅgī. In the south west, the river Bhīmā separated the Vākāṭakas empire from that of the Kādambas whose king Śāntivarman was the " master of the entire Karṇāṭa region";

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one of his capitals was Palâsikâ (Halsi in Belgaum). In the west the Traikûṭas occupied the coast province of Aparânta. Thus the Vâkâṭakas reigned over an empire that occupied a very central position and it is through this dynasty that the high civilisation of the Gupta empire and the Sanskrit culture in particular spread throughout the Deccan. Between 400 A. D. and 500 A. D. the Vâkâṭakas occupied a predominant position and we may say that "In the history of the Deccan the V century is the century of the Vâkâṭakas".

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The alphabet of the plates of this dynasty is very peculiar: it is "box-headed". We shall have occasion to revert to this subject when speaking of the Kadambas.

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According to the Ajaṇṭâ inscription, the son of Pravarasêna II, whose name has been lost, must have ascended the throne when he was 8 years old (Arch. Surv. West. Ind., Vol. IV., page 125) It is probable that this prince was dethroned by his younger brother Nârendrasêna. In fact, the Bâlâghat plates say that Nârendrasêna "appropriated or took away the family's fortune." Nârendrasêna was married to Ajjhitabhaṭṭârikâ, daughter of the king of Kunṭala. This marriage took place probably about 445 A. D. We have admitted that Rudrasêna II married the daughter of Chandra-Gupta II about 395 A. D. It is probable that the marriage of the grandson took place about 50 years after; we shall see later on that this king of Kunṭala was probably the Kadamba Kakusthavarman. The Bâlâghat plates say about Nârendrasêna that "his commands were honoured by the lords of Kôsala, Mêkala and Mâlava, and he held in check enemies bowed down by his prowess" This latter event took place after 467 A. D. It is impossible that Nârendrasêna should be able to give orders to the Mâlava king before this date; in fact, from 455 to 467 A. D., the king of Ujjain was the illustrious Skanda-Gupta Vikramâditya (Mr. Panna Lall in "The dates of Skanda-Gupta and his successors," Hindustan Review, Jan. 1918, argues that the reign of Skanda-Gupta ended about A. D. 467. See also, "Annals of the Bhandarkar institute 1918-19, Vol. I, Part I, page 69). From 484 to 494 A. D. the country situated between the Jamnâ and the Narmadâ was under the orders of Budha-Gupta.

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Prithivishêṇa II, son of Nârendrasêna, was reigning at the time when the Bâlâghat plates were engraved.

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It is impossible to know if Dêvasêna reigned at the same time as Prithivishêna II or after; it was probably at the end of the V century. The minister of Dêvasêna was Hastibhoja who probably dug the Ghaṭotkacha cave at Gulwârâ, eleven miles W. of Ajaṇṭâ.

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Harishêṇa, son of Dêvasêna reigned probably about 500 to 530 A. D. It is probable that this king made conquests in all directions, since the Ajaṇṭâ inscription mentions Kunṭala (the Kadamba kingdom) Avanti (Mâḷwâ), Kaliṅga, Kosala, Trikûṭa, Lâṭa and Andhra. These évents probably took place from 500 to 515 A. D. In fact it is about 500 A. D. that Râvivarman killed Srî-Vishṇuvarman, who was reigning at Pâlâśikâ; Harivarman might have contributed to the struggle against the king of Kunṭala. In the VI century we have not a single document of the Traikûṭas. It is therefore probable that they were destroyed by Harishêṇa at the begniming of this century. It is also probable that it was at the beginning of the VI century that Indra of Kaliṅga fought with Indra the Vishṇukuṇḍin; and possibly Harishêṇa had to interfere in the affairs of the Kaliṅga and the Ândhra (between the Gôdâvârî and the Krishṇa). Again, an inscription of Eran (Gupta Insc., p.93), dated 510-511 mentions a fight in which Bhânu-Gupta was allied with the king of Śarabha i.e. the king of Kosala. It is perhaps at this time that Harishêṇa fought with the kings of Avanti (Mâḷwâ) and Mêkala (the Narbadâ).

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It is probable that the Vâkâṭaka dynasty was replaced, in the middle of the VI century, by that of the Kaḷachuris who held possession of all the country between Nâsik and Ujjain in the second half of the VI century.

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§ 2. The kings of Śarabhapura.

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The seal of the Khariar plates (Ep. Ind. Vol. IX, page 171) bears the following genealogy: Prasanna

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Mânamâtra

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Mahâ Sudèva

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Dr. Von Konow in editing these plates, has observed that the word Mânamâtra was synonymous with Mânaṅka, the words Mâtra and Aṅka meaning "ornament," and the Uṇḍivâṭika plates give us the following genealogy (Ep. Ind. Vol. VIII, p. 163 and Ind. Ant. Vol. XXX): Mânaṅka

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Dêvarâja

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Bhavishya

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Abhimanyu.

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The king Dêvarâja had many sons of whom Bhavishya was one. Abhimanyu resided at Mânapuram (Mâna-town) which is identified with Mânpur (lat. 23°46′; long. 81°11′ E; see Gupta Inscriptions, page 136) near Bandhogarh in Rêwa. The Uṇḍivâṭika plates were issued to make a grant to the temple of [Pêṭha]-Paṅgaraka which has been identified with Pagara near Pachmarhî (Sohagpur Tahśil; Hoshangabad Dist; Central Provinces). The king Mânaṅka is described as being "the ornament of the Rashṭrakûṭas." We have thus the two following series:

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(Khariar plates) Mânamâtra

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Mahâ Sudêva

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(Undivâtika plates) Mânanka

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Dêvarâja

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Three documents, the Khariar (Ep. Ind., Vol. IX; page 170) Raipur (Gupta Inscriptions, page 196) and Sârangarh (Ep. Ind., Vol IX, page 281) copper plates, speak of king Sudêva (Mahâ-Sudêva-râja) who had Sarabhapura for his capital; this town cannot be identified; however, it is probable that this king reigned in the neighbourhood of the modern town of Raipur which is situated to the south of the Mahânadi and near its source. This kingdom was therefore situated between Kalinga in the east and the kingdom of the Vâkâtakas in the west. It is also very probable that the kings of Sarabhapura were the vassals of the Vâkâtakas.

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It is also from Sarabhapura that were issued the Arang plates (Gupta Inscriptions, page 191) which speak of the king Jaya (Jayarâja). This king was almost the contemporary of Sudêva, since the alphabets resemble each other. However it is impossible to know the relationship that existed between these two princes.

Linked texts (5)

Setubandha — Pravarasena II, Māhārāṣṭrī Prakrit
Harṣacarita — Bāṇabhaṭṭa, Sanskrit
Epigraphia Indica
Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum
Indian Antiquary