The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v1.c8.s4.20

v1.c8.s4.20

There were apparently also political reasons which operated to induce the Vākāṭakas to forswear the imperial title *samrāṭ*. The mighty kingdom which Pravarasena I had raised during his lifetime became divided after his death into four sub-states, each governed by one of his sons. This division must have reduced the power and resources of the Vākāṭakas. In the meanwhile a new power, much stronger than any of the sub-states of the Vākāṭakas, had arisen in Nothern India and was claiming imperial position and status. None of the successors of Pravarasena I was strong enough to challenge that power and so to perform the Vājapeya sacrifice in order to assume the title *samrāṭ*. Within a short time the two houses contracted a matrimonial alliance, and a daughter of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II became the crowned queen of the Vākāṭaka king Rudrasena II in *c.* A.D. 385. This marriage must have put a stop to all feeling of jealousy and rivalry between the two houses. It must be further noted that the text of the Vākāṭaka charters was first determined by the imported Gupta secretariat officers working in the Vākāṭaka administration during the regency of Prabhāvatīguptā; they were naturally disinclined to give the title *mahārājādhirāja* to a protégé of their master. Later on, when Pravarasena II modified this draft on attaining his majority, he may have felt a natural disinclination to claim for his ancestors a title which had been claimed for themselves by his former protector and guide, Chandragupta II and his three predecessors. He decided to give the title *samrāṭ* to his namesake Pravarasena I, because he had become entitled to it by the performance of the Vājapeya sacrifice. It could not be continued in the case of his successors because they had not performed the said sacrifice. Pravarasena saw no objection in describing them as *mahārājas*, because that title still indicated independent status in the Deccan.