The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v1.c8.s5.11

v1.c8.s5.11

There are two inscriptions in Bundelkhand, one at Nachne-ki-talai and the other at Ganj,² wherein we find a king named Vyāghrarāja acknowledging himself to be the feudatory of the Vākāṭaka emperor Prithvishena. Unfortunately the record does not give the genealogy of Vyāghrarāja and so a great controversy has arisen about the identity both of this feudatory and of his overlord. We have shown already how this Vyāghrarāja cannot be identified with the ruler of the same name defeated by Samudragupta. Yet it is possible that the overlord of Vyāghrarāja may be not Prithvishena I but Prithvishena II, who ruled from c. A.D. 460 to 480. In that case Vyāghrarāja, his feudatory, may be the Uchchhakalpa ruler of that name. The Uchchhakalpas were certainly Gupta feudatories at this time and were using the Gupta era. It is therefore more likely that Vyāghrarāja of the above records was a feudatory of Prithvishena I. If such was the case, it will follow that Bundelkhand was within the Vākāṭaka sphere of influence during the reign of Prithvishena I. The point, however, cannot be finally settled till more evidence becomes available.