History of India, c. 150 A.D. to 350 A.D.: Naga–Vakataka Imperial Period c21.s2.5

c21.s2.5

The next important document is the seal of Gautamiputra (No. 25) which was discovered in the débris below the floor built in the Fourth Century A.D. The seal of Gautamiputra is artistically the best seal of Hindu India and Sir John Marshall rightly observes: ‘In respect of execution the seal excels any object of this class which has yet been discovered in India’ (p. 51). On account of the title Gautamiputra, Sir John Marshall thought that the ruler in the seal was an Āndhra king. But it is not correct. The system of being described by the mother’s name was prominent in Brahmin and Kshatriya families (more prominent in the former), e.g. in the inscriptions of the Śuṅga time (at Ayodhyā, Pabhosā, etc.). The Āndhra Sātavāhanas who were Brahmins similarly followed the custom. The Vākāṭakas, who were Brahmins originally and assumed their Kshatriya rôle under the imperial influence of the Nāgas and on account of marriages into their family, would naturally observe that custom. That Gautamiputra Vākāṭaka assumed it as his official name is a fact attested by the Vākāṭaka inscriptions. His name stands out with the implicit claim that he was from a Brahmin mother. There are several facts which establish the identity of the Gautamiputra of the seal with the Gautamiputra of the Vākāṭaka inscriptions. The Āndhras never employ Sanskrit while all the known Vākāṭaka inscriptions, like the seal, are in Sanskrit. The Āndhras were not *vrishadvaja* (‘having in their banner Śiva’s bull’). The dynasty of the Gautamiputra of the seal is different from that of the Sātavāhanas. He is called here ‘The Increaser of Śrī Vindhya [*Śrī-Vindhya-bardhana-Mahārājasya*¹ the Mahārāja who is the increaser (of the family) of Śrī Vindhya, which may be compared with *Cheti-rājā-Va(m)sa=vadhanasa* of the Hathigumphā inscription]. It means that he belonged to the family of Śrī Vindhya, i.e. of King Vindhyaśakti, the founder of the Vākāṭaka family and grandfather of Gautamiputra. On the coins of Rudrasena and Pṛithivisheṇa the same hill symbol appears which is to be found in the middle of this seal and which from the later seals of the Śivalinga of Kālañjara (No. 15) is to be identified as the Vindhya Hill. The Vākāṭaka coins have got the Vṛisha of Śiva on which Śiva is seated in Rudrasena’s coin. That corresponds with the ‘*Vrishadvaja*’ of this seal. The Vākāṭakas, according to the inscriptions, were Śaiva, and in the seal the prince claims that his royalty had been dedicated to Maheśvara (i.e. Lord Śiva) and his son Mahāsena. Probably the original *Iṣṭadevatā* of Vindhyaśakti was the famous Śiva Kālañjara¹ who is apparently the same as Kāleśvara appearing in a later seal (No. 14). The Āndhras never had Śiva as their Iṣṭadevatā, nor had they the title of Mahārāja which the owner of this seal bears.