History of India, c. 150 A.D. to 350 A.D.: Naga–Vakataka Imperial Period c15.s1.19

c15.s1.19

57. Let us now take up the history of the word Vākāṭaka. The phrase ‘Vākāṭakānāṁ Mahārāja Śrī—so-and-so,’ does not mean that the king so-and-so is the king of a people called Vākāṭakas, but only means the Mahārāja so-and-so ‘of the Vākāṭaka Dynasty’. The plural form Vākāṭakānāṁ simply means ‘of the Vākāṭaka dynasty’,¹ as in the case of the Kadambas the expression Kadambānāṁ and in the case of the contemporary Pallavas, Pallavāṇa² (Pkt. ‘of the Pallavas’)—‘Bhāraddāyo Pallāvaṇa Sivakhaṁḍa-vamo’—where ‘of the Pallavas’ stands quite independently.³ This is, therefore, not a tribal but a personal dynastic name. The form Vākāṭaka means ‘of the place “Vākāṭa” or “Vakāṭa”’, as in Samudra Gupta’s inscription, Māhā-Kāntāraka, Kausalaka, Paiṣṭhāpuraka, etc. signify (‘of Mahakāntāra’, ‘of Kosala’, ‘of Piṣṭhapura’).⁴ The dynastic name Traikūṭaka is an exact parallel. I found an ancient village called Bāgāṭ, in the northernmost part of the Orchhā State, 6 miles E. of Chirgaon of the British district of Jhansi. Its neighbouring village—a village called Bijaur—is often mentioned with Bāgāṭ, as Bijaur-Bāgāṭ. It is situated in the Tahrauli tahsil of Orchhā. It is between two rivulets, Kaynā and Ḍugraī, which fall into the Betwā. It is a large and ancient Brahmin village, mainly peopled by Bhāgaur Brahmins. The village is believed to be of Droṇāchārya, the famous military Brahmin mentioned in the Mahā-Bhārata.