History of the Pallavas of Kanchi c10.6

c10.6

Of the successors of Mayūraśarman, Kangavarman and Bhagīratha attributable to the second half of the fifth century A. D., probably carried on hostile operations against the Pallava kings of the period. Of the others it appears that Raghu, Kakutsthavarman, Śāntivarman and his two sons Mṛigēśavarman and Mandhātrivarman ruled during the sixth century A.D. and were evidently contemporaneous with Vīravarman, Skandavarman II, Simhavarman, and Skandavarman III of the Pallavas. The southern conquest of Prithvīsena, the Vākāṭaka king, who, according to the Ajanta inscription² is described as having defeated the Kuntalas, i.e. the Kadamba king, probably took place about the period, A.D. 350-360 and the Kadamba king must have been Kangavarman who is described in inscriptions as having been engaged in ‘lofty exploits and in terrible wars.’ Of the others we know that Kakutstha, who is ascribable to the first quarter of the fifth century, was the donor of the Tālgunda inscription. The marriage of Narēndrasēna, the grandson of Prabhāvati Gupta with the daughter of the king of Kuntala named Ajjhitabhaṭṭārika is probably to be attributed as Prof. Jouveau-Dubreuil suggests to Kakutstha's reign. Thus it turns out that Kakutsthavarman's boast, in the Tālgunda inscription, that he gave his daughter to Guptas and other kings would be correct if the Gupta-Vākāṭaka king, Narēndrasēna, was the son-in-law of this king. According to our arrangement of Pallava chronology he must have been a contemporary of Simhavarman II and it was probably during this period that the installation of the Western Ganga kings Ayyavarman and Mādhavavarman must have taken place. Of Śāntivarman who succeeded Kakutsthavarman on the Kadamba throne very little is known. Of his sons Mṛigēśavarman and Mandhātrivarman who together ruled for the rest of the fifth century we have some records. According to the Halsi plates dated in the eighth year of his reign Mṛigēśa uprooted the Gangas and was a very fire of destruction to the Pallavas.¹ We learn from another record² that his queen was called Prabhāvatī who was born in the Kaikeya family. Almost contemporaneous with the reigns of Śāntivarman, Mṛigēśavarman and Mandhātrivarman, A.D. 450-500, the younger branch of the Kadamba family Kṛiṣṇavarman I, the son of Kakutstha and the elder brother of Śāntivarman with Prince Dēvavarman as Yuvamahārāja ruled at Triparvata. Soon after the death of Mandhātrivarman the throne of the Kadambas passed to Ravivarman who, according to the Halsi plates, is said to have acquired regal power by the strength and prowess of his own arm which means that there was some trouble in his succession and that he had to fight for the throne. According to another record,¹ he is said to have slain Viṣṇuvarman, presumably a collateral cousin and descendant of Kṛṣṇavarman, and uprooted Caṇḍadaṇḍa of Kāñchī. Records dated in the fifth year of Ravivarman, and the thirty-fifth year have been discovered. He was followed by Harivarman at Vaijayanti till about A.D. 550 when the rise of Pulakēśin I probably put an end to, or obscured, his power. The subsequent history of the Kadambas does not concern us here. Kṛṣṇavarman, his son Ajavarman, Bhogivarman and Viṣṇuvarman are known to have ruled as kings from recent records. That the Kadambas continued to be powerful as late as the end of the eighth century is seen from the mention in the Vēlūrpāḷayam plates² that the Pallava king Dantivarman married Aggalanimmati, ‘the daughter of the celebrated king and a crest-jewel of the Kadamba family.’³