History of India, c. 150 A.D. to 350 A.D.: Naga–Vakataka Imperial Period c17.s2.88

c17.s2.88

§ 186. Virakorcha Kumāra Viṣṇu I must have had a fairly long career. He was an aśvamedhin and the conqueror of Kāñchī. Probably it was his suzerain or his father who conquered the Ikṣvākus and Andhra, and he conquered the Cholas and occupied Kāñchī. His son Śiva Skanda, to be the yuvarāja and the sub-governor of Kāñchī, must have been at least 18 or 20 in the 10th year of Virakorcha. The capture of Kāñchī was accomplished from the Andhra throne. Virakorcha's marriage and his recognition as a sub-king could not be simultaneous, for in his tenth year Śiva Skanda was old enough to be the governor of Kāñchī. At his marriage, Virakorcha was probably only an adhirāja and not a Mahārāja, and would have got the higher title on the conquest of Kāñchī. Placing the conquest of Andhra about 250-260 A.D., we may date the conquest of Kāñchī at 265 A.D., and the tenth year of Virakorcha as Mahārāja would be about 275 A.D. when Śiva Skanda would be about 20. To verify this initial date we have a guide in the date of Viṣṇu Gopa I; let us see if our proposed date stands verified by his date.