History of India, c. 150 A.D. to 350 A.D.: Naga–Vakataka Imperial Period c15.s1.15

c15.s1.15

56. That the Vākāṭakas were Brahmins admits of no doubt. They did *Bṛihaspati-sava* sacrifices, which are intended for and open to Brahmins only. About the exclusive character of *Bṛihaspati-sava* the tradition never changed. Their gotra, *Viṣṇu Vṛiddha*, is a Brahmin gotra, still surviving in the Maratha country.² Then, Vindhyaśakti is expressly called *dvija* or Brahmin [*dvijaḥ prakāśo bhuvi Vindhyaśaktiḥ*].³ As to the place of their origin, the Purāṇic description—the ‘Vindhyaka’ or ‘the Vindhyan’ dynasty—limits the problem to the Vindhyan country, and their further localization fixes the exact spot. The Vindhyakas, i.e. the Vākāṭakas, arose on the river or in the country called Kilakilā (*Kilakilāyām*). One might have thought of identifying this river with the Kiyān, the Ken of the maps, but no room for speculation is left, as my friend Rai Bahadur Hiralal has himself seen the Kilakilā—a small river near Panna—having a bad reputation for its unhealthy water.⁴ We are thus brought to the very area, Ajaygarh-Pannā where the earliest Vākāṭaka inscriptions are found, that is the district of Ganj-Nachnā. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa, in describing the Vidiśā Nāgas and Praviraka, calls the whole group ‘the Kilakilā kings’—that is, it treats Eastern Malwā [Vidiśā] and Kilakilā as one tract, or Eastern Malwā as included in Kilakilā. The location of the dynasty in Bundelkhand is thus unanimous.