History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c7.s3.2

Language: English

v1.c7.s3.2.1

The fact is there is no other explanation possible. The Harsha-Charita plainly states that the two princes, Kumāra and Mādhava, called Guptas who were given by Prabhākaravardhana to his sons, Rājya and Harsha, to be their companions were मालवराजपुत्रौ or sons of the king of Mālava. This Mādhava Gupta who was the companion of Harsha is very probably the Mādhava Gupta of the Aphsad inscription for he is expressly described there to be desirous of the company* of Harsha. (श्रीहर्षदेवनिजसंगमवांछया च.) Moreover from the description of Mādhava as a tall imposing fair young man, given by Bāṇa in the Harsha-Charita in detail differing from that of Kumāra one is inclined to infer that Bāṇa had in his mind the fact that this Mādhava subsequently became a well-known king. But a difficulty presents itself here namely, how could the king of Mālava attack Grahavarmā, while the king's own brothers were the attendants of Rājya and Harsha, the brother-in-law of Grahavarmā? The guess of Dr. Hoernle seems to be acceptable that they were on inimical terms and it may be supplemented by the suggestion that Kumāra and Mādhava were not merely the younger brothers of Deva Gupta, but were his half-brothers or sons by another wife of Mahāsena Gupta. There is always ill-filling even in ordinary families between half-brothers, and in royal families in India such brothers are usually at deadly enmity.

v1.c7.s3.2.2

By this suggestion is also removed the difficulty of explaining why the sons of a king were given as companions of the sons of another king. Kumāra and Mādhava had no right to the throne being younger sons and their presence in Mālava was not very palatable to the eldest son and heir-apparent Deva Gupta who was most likely an impetuous man. In fine the story of the Mālavaraja in connection with Harsha may be told thus. A Gupta family starting from Kṛiṣhṇa Gupta reigned at Ujjain or some other place in Mālava and were the hereditary enemies of the Maukharis of Kanauj. They were connected by marriage with the Vardhana family of Thanesar, Prabhākaravardhana’s mother Mahāsena Guptā (mentioned in the Sonpat seal of Harsha) being a sister of Mahāsena Gupta of Malwa. The last had a long reign and had his eldest son Deva Gupta by one wife and two younger sons Kumāra and Mādhava by another wife. These he sent to his sister’s son Prabhākara to seek their fortune. Mahāsena Gupta died a little before, Prabhākara and Deva Gupta became king of Malwa. When Prabhākara died suddenly and Rājya and Harsha and Grahavarmā were left young and inexperienced, Deva Gupta, as usual with his family, suddenly attacked Grahavarmā and killed him. Rājya with Bhandi and Kumāra, half-brother of Deva Gupta, attacked Deva Gupta and defeated him and seized all his treasure and put his men and family in chains for his dastardly treatment of Rājyashrī.

v1.c7.s3.2.3

Rājya and Kumāra both being subsequently killed treacherously by Śaśānka Harsha became king of Thanesar and came and took from Bhandi the charge of the booty and prisoners and the army of elephants of the Mālava king. It seems probable that for the great crime of Deva Gupta the kingdom of Mālava was seized by Harsha for a time at least and not given to Mādhava to whom it properly belonged. It appears so clearly from the Harsha-Charita where Bāṇa says : अथालोच्य तत्सर्वमवनिपतिः स्वीकृत्य यथाधिकारमादिदेशाध्यक्षान् which means that the booty including the throne or सिंहासन was taken possession of by Harsha and handed over to his officers and not to Mādhava who must have been retained by Harsha as his companion during all the time he conquered Northern India and founded his empire. Subsequently, as Emperor, Harsha must have put Mādhava in possession of some eastern kingdom on the bank of the Ganges for the Aphsad inscription of Ādityasena and other inscriptions seems to indicate that Ādityasena’s country lay in Bengal. Since this family in Bengal had nothing to do with Deva Gupta his name does not appear in the genealogy of Ādityasena. For, as Mādhava did not succeed to Deva Gupta, his half-brother, at all, Deva Gupta’s name has properly been omitted. In the kingdom of Ujjain when Hiuen Tsang visited it there was a Brahmin king ruling.

v1.c7.s3.2.4

This Brahmin king may either have seated himself on the vacant throne being tolerated by Harsha or he may even have been appointed by Harsha the Emperor as Mātrigupta was appointed to Kashmir by Yaśodharma Vikramāditya of the Mandsaur inscription. Thus the difficulty created by the mention of a Brahmin king in Ujjain by Hiuen Tsang is also removed and reconciled with the story of the Harsha-Charita. Or we may take Deva Gupta’s capital to be some other town like Vidiśā which is also a portion of Malwa. Both Bāṇa and Hiuen Tsang are contemporary and reliable narrators and their statements can only be reconciled in this way.