History of India, c. 150 A.D. to 350 A.D.: Naga–Vakataka Imperial Period c14.s4.t1.24

c14.s4.t1.24

Virasena, like Nava, assumed full sovereignty from the first year of his reign. The Jānkhat record is dated in his own regnal years,¹ while the universal practice under the Kushan régime was to date records in the Kushan era. As in Śiva Nandi’s inscription, the title of ‘*Svāmin*’ is employed, which in the Hindu law and politics (Manu, IX, 294; VII, 167) means the ‘*sovereign-in-the-state*’. Virasena thus reverts here also to the orthodox system, as in his coinage. He adopts the ancient technical title and ignores the pompous royal style of the Kushans.