History of India, c. 150 A.D. to 350 A.D.: Naga–Vakataka Imperial Period c22.22

c22.22

It is noteworthy that the Abírán Śáh or the king of the Ābhīra country is in that list of kings. We know that the first Ābhīra king—Īśvarasena—founded the Ābhīra kingdom about 240 A.D. (§164 above). The Ābhīras before him were republican (§164). They appear again as republican in 350 A.D. in Samudra Gupta's time. The Ābhīra king in 293-294 A.D. was thus one of the descendants of Īśvarasena whose records are dated in his own royal years and not in the Śaka era. The Ābhīra king up to 294 A.D. was an independent sovereign ruling over a part of Aparānta (insc. at Nāsik) and the neighbourhood. He must have sent his envoy to Narseh like other kings (line 48). In the reign of P r a v a r s e n a I (284-344 A.D.) who is followed by Samudra Gupta, the Ābhīra kingdom must have been suppressed, evidently soon after 294 A.D.