[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [General history and culture](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general) › [History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.tripathi-1937) › c9.s1.t2 # History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c9.s1.t2: Sources History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c9.s1.t2 - **Language:** English ### Sources ### [c9.s1.t2.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.tripathi-1937.c9.s1.t2.1) Unfortunately, our data for the history of Kanauj under the Maukharis² are very meagre, and so we have to depend mainly on guesswork supported by a few coins, epigraphic documents, and casual literary references. ### [c9.s1.t2.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.tripathi-1937.c9.s1.t2.2) ² The records of the dynasty use the term Mukhara and Maukhari in a loose way. The Jaunpur (\*C. I. I.\*, III, pp. 229, 230) and the Haraha inscriptions (\*Ep. Ind.\*, XIV. pp. 115, 119) call its kings "Mukhara," whereas Bāṇa uses both terms indiscriminately (see \*Hc.\* C.T., pp. 122, 194; \*Kādambarī\*, ed. Peterson (Bombay, 1900), p. 1, verse 4. ### [c9.s1.t2.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.tripathi-1937.c9.s1.t2.3) (a) The first record of some value is the seal of Sarvavarman found in Asirgaḍh, which is a hill-fort (formerly belonging to the Scindia) in the Burhanpur tahsil of the Nimad district of Central Provinces.¹ ### [c9.s1.t2.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.tripathi-1937.c9.s1.t2.4) ¹ C. I. I., III, No. 47, pp. 219-21. ### [c9.s1.t2.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.tripathi-1937.c9.s1.t2.5) (b) Next, we have what are known as the Nālandā seals.² They are several in number, and were discovered in the ruins of Nālandā in the Patna district of the Bihar Province. These records are preserved in a fragmentary state, and the lacunæ are evidently too many to yield us any substantial information. A seal of Sarvavarman, which Dr. Hīrānanda Śāstrī calls “a replica of the Asirgaḍh seal,” is, however, almost entire. ### [c9.s1.t2.6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.tripathi-1937.c9.s1.t2.6) ² Arch. Surv. Ind. Rep., Eastern circle, 1917-18, p. 44; Ep. Ind., XXI (April, 1931), pp. 73-74. ### [c9.s1.t2.7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.tripathi-1937.c9.s1.t2.7) (c) The third inscription was found in the Juma Masjid of Jaunpur in the United Provinces.³ It is supposed to detail the victories achieved by Īśvaravarman, but its value is somewhat vitiated by the dubious character of its testimony.⁴ ### [c9.s1.t2.8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.tripathi-1937.c9.s1.t2.8) ³ C. I. I., III, No. 51, pp. 228-30. ### [c9.s1.t2.9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.tripathi-1937.c9.s1.t2.9) ⁴ See Infra. ### [c9.s1.t2.10](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.tripathi-1937.c9.s1.t2.10) (d) The most important epigraph, however, is the one found at Haraha in the Bara Banki district of the United Provinces.⁵ Its object is to record the reconstruction of a dilapidated temple of Śiva by Sūryavarman, son of Īśānavarman, the reigning king of the Maukhari dynasty. It not only enumerates the achievements of Īśānavarman, but also contains a date which we shall discuss further at length, as it offers certain difficulties in interpretation. ### [c9.s1.t2.11](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.tripathi-1937.c9.s1.t2.11) ⁵ Ep. Ind., XIV; pp. 110-20, edited by Hīrānanda Śāstrī; Ind. Ant. XLVI, pp. 125-27, commented upon by Mr. N. G. Majumdar. ### [c9.s1.t2.12](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.tripathi-1937.c9.s1.t2.12) (e) The history of the Maukhari dynasty is also supplemented by inscriptions of a line known to historians as that of the Later Guptas. One of them was found at Aphsad in the Nawada subdivision of the Gaya district.¹ It throws a flood of light on Gupta-Maukhari relations, and without its help we should have been left to grope in the dark about these points. ### [c9.s1.t2.13](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.tripathi-1937.c9.s1.t2.13) ¹ C. I. I., III, No. 42, pp. 200-08. ### [c9.s1.t2.14](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.tripathi-1937.c9.s1.t2.14) (f) Another inscription, belonging to the time of Jivitagupta II, was found in Deo Baranārk in the Shahabad district.² It is the only epigraphic record in which the name of Avantivarman occurs. ### [c9.s1.t2.15](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.tripathi-1937.c9.s1.t2.15) ² Ibid., No 46, pp. 213-18. Also see \*Arch. Surv. Ind. Rep.\*, XVI, pp. 73-75. ### [c9.s1.t2.16](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.tripathi-1937.c9.s1.t2.16) (g) We may also mention here the hoard of Maukhari coins discovered in Bhitaura in the Fyzabad district of the United Provinces.³ It is considered that they furnish certain dates, and we shall try to determine later on how far we can fix the chronological position of these Maukhari kings by their help. ### [c9.s1.t2.17](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.tripathi-1937.c9.s1.t2.17) ³ \*J. R. A. S.\*, 1906, pp. 843-50. ### [c9.s1.t2.18](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.tripathi-1937.c9.s1.t2.18) (h) Further, we may take into account the evidence of Bāṇa. The \*Harṣacarita\* narrates the last stages of the Gupta-Maukhari feud, and tells how eventually the young Maukhari ruler was engulfed in the political whirlpool of the times. ### [c9.s1.t2.19](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.tripathi-1937.c9.s1.t2.19) (i) Lastly, the \*Mañjusrī-Mūlakalpa\* alludes to the Maukharis and their contemporary powers. This late Buddhist work, however, demands cautious and critical use. ## Cites (5) - [Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.tantra.kriya.tathagata.manjusrimulakalpa) — Sanskrit - [Harṣacarita](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.historical.aryavarta.harsacarita) — Bāṇabhaṭṭa, Sanskrit - [Kādambarī](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.novels.prasiddha.kadambari) — Bāṇabhaṭṭa, Sanskrit - [Epigraphia Indica](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.epigraphy.corpora.ei) - [Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.epigraphy.corpora.cii) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.tripathi-1937.c9.s1.t2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.tripathi-1937.c9.s1.t2) · Pramāṇa