History of India, c. 150 A.D. to 350 A.D.: Naga–Vakataka Imperial Period c17.s2.16.2

c17.s2.16.2

the Imperial Vākāṭakas, became kings of Andhradeśa which had become connected with the Vākāṭaka province of Mekalā. This Mekalā I have identified as a province of ‘Sapta-Kosalā,’ below the Maikal range of our maps, i.e. the British district of Raipur and the Indian State of Bastar. These Vākāṭaka sub-kings of Andhradeśa ruled in seven successions from the time of Vindhyaśakti the founder of the Vākāṭaka power, down to the time of Samudra Gupta’s conquest. We have thus one index here for identification. Another index is the caste and gotra of the Vākāṭakas. We know from their inscriptions that the Vākāṭakas were Brahmins and that they were Bhāradvājas. The third fact is that they belonged to Āryāvarta and their language was Northern, not Dravidian. The fourth fact that we have consists in the date of Vindhyaśakti and his dynasty. And the fifth fact that we have is that when Vindhyaśakti arose, the Nāga emperors were ruling over Āryāvarta and the Central Provinces, and that Vindhyaśakti himself came to the forefront on account of them and out of them, the Kilakilā Nāgas—tataḥ Kilakilebhyaś cha Vindhyaśaktir bhaviṣyati. The sovereigns and emperors of Vindhyaśakti were the Kilakilā Nāgas, i.e. the Bhāraśiva Nāgas (§ 11 ff.). Now let us see where we can find all these five marks of identification of these Andhra sub-kings of the Vindhyakas, in the Pallavas. The kings of the Andhra country up to c. 250 A.D.