History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c9.s1.t10.4

c9.s1.t10.4

Sarvavarman turned out to be a chip of the old block; and he thoroughly avenged his father's defeat by his successful engagements with the Guptas. We are told in the Aphsad inscription that Dāmodaragupta "breaking up the proudly-stepping array of mighty elephants, belonging to the Maukhari became unconscious (and expired in the fight)."³ Although the poet appears to make the conventional claim for his hero's victory, the result of the struggle was in effect certainly adverse to Dāmodaragupta, as he is reported to have been killed on the battlefield itself. Now, who was this rival of the Guptas with the unassuming epithet of “Maukhari”? There seems little doubt that it refers to Sarvavarman, for in the Asirgaḍh seal he alone is specifically mentioned as “Sarvavarman, the Maukhari.” The significance of this term, occurring in an inscription of the dynasty, would be lost unless we do suppose that owing to some reason it had become specially associated with Sarvavarman’s name. Besides, we have already seen that the rivalry between the Guptas and the Maukharis in the preceding generation had ended against Īśānavarman, and this must have made his successor smart keenly under the blow. Sarvavarman, therefore, tried to retrieve the disaster, and his efforts against his Gupta contemporary met with conspicuous success.¹