The Vakataka–Gupta Age (circa 200–550 A.D.) c8.s8: 3. The Madra Republic
The Vākāṭaka–Gupta Age (circa 200–550 A.D.) c8.s8
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3. The Madra Republic
c8.s8.1
Towards the beginning of the 4th century A.D. the Gaḍaharas lost a portion of their kingdom in the central Punjab to the Madras. Emboldened by the success of the Yaudheyas, the Madras also made a bid for independence at this time and eventually succeeded in establishing their independent republic in the Ravi-Chenab doab; Sialkot was probably their capital. The Madras seem to have issued no coins; at least none have been found so far. The successful establishment of their republican state is however proved by the evidence of the Allahabad inscription of Samudra-gupta in which the Madra republic appears as the most north-western one.
c8.s8.2
Before the rise of the Kuṣāṇa empire there was an Audumbara republic occupying the districts of Kangra, Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur in the Punjab. Numerous coins of this republic have been found issued in the pre-Kuṣāṇa period but none in the post-Kuṣāṇa epoch. This circumstance may probably be explained on the assumption that the Audumbaras did not succeed in emerging as an independent state in the 3rd or the 4th century A.D. Probably they were merged in the Madra republic.