History of India, c. 150 A.D. to 350 A.D.: Naga–Vakataka Imperial Period c17.s2.25

c17.s2.25

179. The Pallavas and the Vākāṭakas never come in conflict. The Early Pallavas never strike their own coin. Śiva S k a n d a-v a r m a n, the second king, introduced a new regal title. He called himself ‘Dharma-Mahārājādhirāja,’ i.e. ‘the rightful overlord of Mahārājas [Emperor]’ or ‘the Emperor by virtue of Dharma’. This title had not been used by the Sātavāhanas. It was an importation from the North, it was a Hindu edition or rather a Hindu counter-title of the Kushan ‘Daivaputra Shāhānushāhi’. Instead of being a Daivaputra, the Pallava king places his claim on his adherence to the orthodox law and the orthodox civilization, which was quite in conformity with the law of Hindu constitution. He was substituting Dharma for the divine Daivaputra. It should be noted that the Ikṣvākus never used this title and they were simply Rājans or ‘kings’ like their late masters the Sātavāhanas, following the old Hindu style.³ Thus we have a full effect of the northern imperial idea in the Pallava beginnings. When the Āryāvarta B r a n c h of V i n d h y a ś a k t i attains the imperial position just after or in the life-time of Śiva Skandavarman (I), the same idea of D h a r m a S o v e r e i g n t y on a bigger scale is found. The All-India S A M R Ā Ṭ had a Dharma *raison d’être* as fully set out in the Mahā-Bhārata.