History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c14.s5.23

v1.c14.s5.23

No copperplate comes from his time but we have one from his son Dhruvasena. Bhaṭārka is therein styled Senāpati. He had four sons who seem to have successively ruled viz. 1 Dharasena. 2 Dronasiṅha 3 Dhruvasena and 5 Dharapatta. Dharasena is called Senāpati like his father, and Dronasiṅha is styled Mahārāja "invested with royal authority by the great Lord of the whole world." The Gazetteer looks upon this as ambiguous but this is plain enough as it shows that the kingship was formally acknowledged by the declining Gupta Emperors. The Valabhi family appears during the first reigns to have also recognised the Guptas as their overlords, and when that line was extinct then only they styled themselves Mahārājādhirāja. They till then also took the title of Mahasāmanta as Dhruvasena's grants still declare. Dharasena probably ruled from 526 A. D. to 535 A. D. His two brothers ruled before him and probably Dharapatta younger brother ruled after him. Gūhasena a son of the last, (539-569 A. D.) has left three copperplate grants and an inscription. He seems to have become the first independent sovereign and later grants mention his name first after Bhaṭārka Indeed we find the last Gupta Emperor Kumāragupta II ruled about 535 A. D. V. S. E. H. p. 312. Gūhasena is also called Gohila and according to Rajput fashion his descendents in collateral branches called themselves Gehlots (Gohila putra, Prakrit Gehlot).