Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c9.s7.453

c9.s7.453

The *Purāṇas* style the first dynasty of Māhishmatī as Haihaya.⁶ This family is already known to the *Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra*⁷ and figures in the *Shoḍaśa-rājika* and other episodes of the epic. The Haihayas are said to have overthrown the Nāgas who must have been the aboriginal inhabitants of the Narmadā region.⁸ The *Matsya Purāṇa* mentions five branches of the Haihayas, namely Vītihotras Bhojas, Avantis, Kuṇḍikeras or Tuṇḍikeras and the Tālajaṅghas.¹ When the Vītihotras and Avantis (or the Vītihotras in Avanti) passed away, an *amātya*, minister or governor, named Pulika (Puṇika), is said to have killed his master and anointed his own son Pradyota in the very sight of the *Kshatriyas*.² In the fourth century B.C., Avanti formed an integral part of the Magadhan Empire.