A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c11.44

c11.44

At this point, however, we shall go back to the Andhra country. Another opponent of Samudragupta was Hastivarman (c. 350), ruler of Vengi which may be identified with Peddavegi, near Ellore, in the Krishna district. Hastivarman’s family, known to historians as the Sālankāyanas from the gōtra to which it belonged, must have risen to power at the expense of the Brihatphalāyanas and possibly also of the Pallavas. The earliest known member of the dynasty is Devavarman whose father was evidently an independent king as he was given the title bhaṭṭāraka. Devavarman certainly ruled before Hastivarman, but the relationship between the two princes is not known. His only extant inscription is dated by the month and tithi (lunar day), a practice followed by later dynasties but different from the older Sātavāhana method of mentioning the particular fortnight of one of the three seasons into which the year was divided.