History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c7.s2: 1—The Maukharis of Kanauj.

History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c7.s2

Language: English

1—The Maukharis of Kanauj.

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Corp. Ins. Vol. III, Aśirgad Seal, No. 47 (page 219), gives us a seal inscription of Śarvavarmā and this contains, in my view, the genealogy, of the kings of Kanauj. Unfortunately in these records the recorders never trouble themselves to mention the kingdom where the particular kings ruled. Perhaps they omit the name of the kingdom because they think it so well known, but this omission causes us at this distance of time a great deal of doubt and difficulty. It is from the Harsha-Charita that we know that the Maukharis ruled in Kanauj; for Grahavarmā came from there and was killed there and Rājyashri was also imprisoned there. This seal gives the following genealogy:—1. Mahārāja Harivarmā; 2. Mahārāja Ādityavarmā; 3 Mahārāja Iśvaravarmā, born of Harsha Guptā; 4. Mahārājādhirāja Iśānavarmā, born of Upaguptā; 5. Parama Māheśvara Mahārājādhirāja Śarvavarmā Maukhari. This line of the seal may be continued by the help of the Aphsad inscription of the later Guptas (p. 203, Corp. Ins., Vol. III); 6. Susthitavarmā, and by the aid of the Deo Barnak inscription (p. 217 ditto); 7 Avantivarmā. This Deo Barnak inscription is of one Jīvita Gupta and mentions the confirmation of the grant of the village of Vārunika (now Deo Barnak), a village about 25 miles south-west of Arrah, the chief town of the Shahabad district of Bengal to a sun-worshipper, first made by Bālāditya and subsequently confirmed by Śarvavarmā and again by Avantivarmā both styled Parameśvara. These two are evidently the kings of the Maukhari line of Kanauj. We may by the help of these inscriptions, give the Maukhari line of kings with the Gupta line as follows:—

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Three generations of the Guptas Kumāra, Dāmodara and Mahāsena are explicitly said in the Aphsad inscription to have fought with three generations of the Maukharis, Īśāna, Śarva and Susthita; the first two names of which we find in the Ashirgad seal inscription of Śarva also. Ādityavarmā is said, in the seal, to have married Harsha Guptā, and she appears to have been a sister of the contemporaneous Harsha Gupta. Mahāsena Gupta must be taken to have lived long or Susthita to have a short reign, hence his generation covers two of the Varmās which is not improbable, Grahavarmā and Mādhava Gupta, son of Mahāsena being contemporaneous with and almost of the same age as Harsha.

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It is possible to deduce a few salient facts about the history of this line of Maukhari kings from these three records, namely the Aphsad inscription, the Ashirgad seal and the Deo Barnak inscription (Corp. Ins., Vol. III, Nos. 42, 47 and 46). In the first place this line of kings became powerful in the days of Īśānavarmā who for the first time is called Mahārājādhirāja, the three before him being called Mahārājas only in the Ashirgad seal. The seal assigns the title Maukhari for the first time to his son Śarvavarmā. In the Aphsad inscription also while his father Īśānavarmā is mentioned by name, his son is called by the simple name of the Maukhari. Thus Śarvavarmā appears to have been a greater king than his father and he and probably his father also fought with the Huns. His dominions or rather overlordship extended south upto Ashirad where his seal was discovered and also east as far as Bengal where as stated in the Deo Barnak inscription he confirmed a grant given by Bālāditya of Magadha to a sun-temple which indicates that the dominion of Bālāditya's successors had been substituted by that of Śarvavarmā of Kanauj. The same grant was confirmed by the grandson of Śarvavarmā named Avantivarmā, the father of Grahavarmā brother-in-law of Harsha.

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We have now to consider the inscriptions of the Maukhari king named Anantavarmā given in Corp. Ins. Vol. III. In these the pedigree given extends only over three names and these are Yajñavarmā, Śārdūlavarmā and Anantavarmā. These seem to be a branch of the same family, for they call themselves Maukharis. But they are distinct from the Kanauj family and are of much less importance. For the greatest of the three Śārdūla is no more than a Mahāsāmanta (see Corp. Ins., Vol. III, No. 48: श्री-शार्दूल ऽति प्रतिष्ठित-यशः सामन्तचूडामणिः) while Śarvavarmā and Īśānavarmā are styled in the seal Mahārājādhirāja (see No.47 ibid). These Maukharis appear to be a later branch established in the Gayā district, where their inscriptions have been found and probably belong to a date later than that of Harsha.

Linked texts (1)

Harṣacarita — Bāṇabhaṭṭa, Sanskrit