History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c9.s1.t11.12

c9.s1.t11.12

Very little is known about Avantivarman. We do not even know what relationship he bore to Sarvavarman, but considering the fact that he came to the throne after the latter, and there is no case in the Maukhari dynasty of a brother succeeding a brother, it may be tentatively assumed that Avantivarman was a son of Sarvavarman. Bāṇa calls him the pride of the Mukhara race, which stood “at the head of all royal houses,” and was “worshipped, like Śiva’s footprint, by all the world.”⁴ There are also indications that he was a patron of Viśākhadatta, the celebrated author of the *Mudrārākṣasa*. This hypothesis is based on the reading Rantivarma or Avantivarman, instead of "Candraguptaḥ," in the *Bharatavākya*, which occurs in some manuscripts, as is noticed by Mr. Telang in his edition of the play¹. That the Maukhari rulers were patrons of literature is evident from the introductory stanza of the *Kādambarī* in which Bāṇa represents his *guru* Bhatsu or Bharva as being "honoured by crowned Maukharis."²