Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c9.s1.t12: Grahavarman

History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c9.s1.t12

Language
English

Grahavarman

c9.s1.t12.1

According to the *Harṣacarita*, Avantivarman was succeeded by his eldest son (sūnuragrajaḥ) named Grahavarman. He "a prince like the lord of planets, descended upon earth,"³ is further recorded to have won the hand of princess Rājyaśrī of Thāneśvar. Bāṇa gives a very vivid description of this marriage; how the royal palace was thronged with feudatories ready to do service, and how the nuptial ceremony was performed at the auspicious time with oriental splendour.⁴ It is not clear whether Avantivarman was alive at the time of this union. Bāṇa, at any rate, represents Grahavarman as opening the matrimonial negotiations, which probably shows that his father was then dead. On the other hand, we should be cautious in drawing any conclusion from Avantivarman's absence during the ceremonies, for he may have stayed behind deeming it imprudent to leave the capital unprotected. From the political point of view it was a very important alliance. It linked up the two powerful houses of the Maukharis of Kanauj and the Vardhanas of Thāneśvar, and was largely instrumental in shaping the course of history during that momentous period. The Later Guptas, who owing to their inveterate rivalry with the Maukharis, were courting the Vardhana alliance—as is evident from the marriage of Mahāsenaguptā—finally broke off all old relations and formed an *entente* with the Gauḍas. This policy at first seemed to augur well for the Guptas. Devagupta of Malwa¹ advanced against Kanauj with the support and co-operation of Saśāṅka, king of Gauḍa², just at the opportune moment when Prabhākaravardhana had died. Thus says Bāṇa : “On the very day on which the king’s death was rumoured, his majesty Grahavarman was by the wicked lord of Malwa cut off from the living along with his noble deeds.”³ Kanauj was seized and occupied; and Rājyaśrī was thrown into a dungeon “like a brigand’s wife with a pair of iron fetters kissing her feet.” Such brutal treatment meted out to a young lady—the wife of the dead monarch—incidentally throws light not only on the inhuman character of the Gupta king, but also on the immoral laws of war during that age. So far the Gupta-Gauḍa scheme was eminently successful, and Kanauj lay prostrate before their combined forces. We shall deal in the next chapter with its relief and subsequent fate.

c9.s1.t12.2

³ *Hc.* C. T., pp. 122-23.

c9.s1.t12.3

⁴ *Ibid.*, pp. 123-28.

c9.s1.t12.4

¹ See *Infra*, chapter III.

c9.s1.t12.5

² *Ibid.*

c9.s1.t12.6

³ *Hc. C. T.*, p. 173. Cf. “Yato yasmin ahani avanipatiḥ uparata ityabhūdvārtā tasmin-neva Devo Grahavarmā durātmanā Mālavarājena jīvalokaṃ ātmanaḥ sukritena saha tyājitah. Bhartridārikāpi Rājyaśrīḥ kālāyasnigaḍa yugalacumbitacaraṇā caurāṅganā iva saṃyatā Kānyakubje kārāyāṃ nikṣiptā.” (Hc., Cal. ed., pp. 424-25).

c9.s1.t12.7

SECTION C

Linked texts (1)