History of India, c. 150 A.D. to 350 A.D.: Naga–Vakataka Imperial Period c17.s2.50

c17.s2.50

not mentioned as kings), and as already pointed out, in one of those later copperplates it is expressly stated that he was given the status of king on account of his marriage with a princess of the Nāga emperor. The name Virakūrcha does not recur, except once, in the whole series of the Pallava plates. The character and style of the copperplate mentioning the name of Virakorcha is very early. As we know all the names up to the father of Skandavarman I from the record of the grandson of Skandavarman II, it is evident that Virakorcha is to be placed at the top, as already discussed. About Virakorcha being the first king there cannot be any doubt; the rest of the tradition about the still earlier names is yet unconfirmed, except the fact that the ancestors of Virakorcha were generals of the Nāga emperors. The latter fact is true, as they do rise in the Nāga period. They owed allegiance to no Southern king and there was no Southern Nāga king near about Andhradeśa where they first come into political existence, while the Nāga empire was next-door to Andhra, in the Central Provinces.