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The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v1.c8.s8: Pravarasena II

The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v1.c8.s8

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Pravarasena II

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Pravarasena II ascended the throne in c. A.D. 410. Gupta influence continued to be exercised over the Vākāṭaka administration even after the termination of the regency of Prabhāvatīguptā. A literary tradition recorded in several works¹ states that during the first few years of his reign, Pravarasena was more interested in the pleasures of life than in the problems of administration, and so allowed the old regency arrangements to continue. Chandragupta II continued to have the dominant voice in the Vākāṭaka administration down to his death in c. A.D. 414. After that event, Pravarasena began to govern on his own account. Kumāragupta I was his maternal step-uncle and so Prabhāvatīguptā must have urged her son not to leave the conduct of the Vākāṭaka government in the hands of the new emperor, as they had been virtually in those of his predecessor.

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¹ Cf. Kāvyamīmāṁsā, p. 61, Śṛṅgāraprakāśa, IX

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Pravarasena was a man of literary tastes and composed early in his life the famous Prākṛit poem Setubandha, describing the victory of Rāma over Rāvaṇa.² The literary tradition which avers that the poem was considerably improved by Kālidāsa at the instance of Vikramāditya, i.e. Chandragupta II, though late, is probably well founded.³ Unlike his parents, Pravarasena II was a Vaiṣṇavite; it is interesting to note that the poem he composed describes the exploits of Rāma, an incarnation of Viṣṇu. This shows that there was not much bigotry then associated with the divisions Śaivite and Vaiṣṇavaite. Rāmagirisvāmin, the presiding deity on the hill at Rāmtek, was the tutelary deity of Pravarasena’s mother, Prabhāvatīguptā; it is then no wonder that her son should have written a poem describing the most glorious exploit of Rāmachandra.

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² Keith thinks (HSL, p. 97) that it is the Kashmir king Pravarasena who is the author of this poem. Bhāratacharita, ii, however, states that Pravarasena, the author of the poem, was the king of Kuntala. He must therefore be the Vākāṭaka ruler Pravarasena II, who had the epithet Kuntaleśa.

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³ Cf.

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Nearly a dozen copper plate grants of Pravarasena have so far come to light, and it is from the information supplied by them that we are enabled to reconstruct the history of the king’s predecessors. It is, however, unfortunate that even the latest charters issued by this ruler should make no references to his own political or military achievements. They never refer to any victory of his, nor do they ever mention the names of any of his enemies or

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Pibatu madhusugandhinyanāni priyānāṁ
Mayi vinihitabhāraḥ Kuntalānāmadhilaḥ

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Ahiṇavardāraddhā chukkhaskhalieshu vihidiaparitthaviā

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Setubandha, i, 9. and,

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Dhīrāṇaṁ kāvyacharchāchaturimavishaye Vikramādityavāchā
Yaṁ chaka Kālidāsaḥ kavikumudavidhuḥ setunāma prabandham

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from Rāmadāsa’s commentary on the Setubandha.

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allies. This might seem to indicate that he did not himself undertake any important military expeditions. He continued to govern his kingdom with the help of a number of feudatories and generals. Among the former Koṇḍarāya of Berar and Nārāyaṇarāya of the Betul District figure in his records. These feudatories had no power to make land-grants without the permission of the emperor.¹ The military element was, it would appear, dominant in Pravarasena’s administration. Five of his generals, Chakravarman, Chitravarman, Bappadeva, Nemidāsa, and Kātyāyana, figure in his records as important government officers. Chamidāsa was the prime minister of the state in the 23rd year of the king’s reign. Pravarasena had organized his administration very efficiently; we shall enlarge on this point in greater detail below in our chapter dealing with the Vākāṭaka administration.

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¹ See Chammak Plates, *CII*, iii, 235.

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The findspots of the charters of Pravarasena and the localities mentioned in them make it certain that the districts of Amraoti, Betul, Chhindwada, Nagpur, Bhandārā, and Bālaghāṭ were under his direct administration. The kingdom must of course have extended over a much wider territory, including most of the Madhya Pradesha, Berar, Khandesh, Bombay Mahārāṣṭra, and a considerable portion of the Hyderabad State. Of this territory, southern Berar, north-western Hyderabad, and southern Mahārāṣṭra were then governed by the Basim branch of the Vākāṭakas. It is curious to find that the Basim contemporary of Pravarasena II was also a ruler of the same name, who, like his namesake, was the second ruler of that name in his own family. Pravarasena II of the Basim branch was a senior contemporary of Pravarasena II of the main family, and ruled down to *c.* A.D. 415. He was succeeded by his son, whose name has not been preserved in the Ajanta record, but who was a boy of eight at the time of his accession. We have no definite information about the relations between the two branches at this time; but it seems very probable that Pravarasena II of the main line may have helped the council of regency at Basim by his advice and guidance. It is not impossible that for some time the two administrations may have been merged into one government. If we make this assumption, it will be easier to understand how Pravarasena II of the main branch came to be described as Kuntaleśa or the lord of Kuntala, though that province had actually been conquered a generation earlier, mainly by the exertions of Vindhyaśakti II of the Basim line.

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The earliest Vākāṭaka capital was probably Purikā, somewhere in Berar or the western Madhya Pradesha. This has not been identified so far. Later on the capital was changed to Nandivardhana, which may be either Nandpur, about thirty-four miles north of Nagpur, or Nagardhan (also spelt as Nandardhan), near Rāmtek, about thirteen miles north of Nagpur. The extensive fortifications near the former place, the ruins of which can still be seen, would seem to suggest that most probably Nandpur was the old Vākāṭaka capital.¹ Pravarasena, however, founded a new city, Pravarapura, named after himself, and moved his capital to it sometime before the 18th year of his reign.² It is unfortunate that modern research should still be unable to identify this capital. It has been suggested that Pavnar in the Wardha District, which has a strong fort overlooking a river, may be Pravarapura.³ Unless and until local investigations and excavations are made, it will not be possible either to confirm or to contradict this view.

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¹ See *JASB*, 1933, p. 159 for Wellstead's view that Nandpur is Nandivardhana, and *EI*, ix, 43 for Hiralal's view that Nagardhan is Nandivardhana.

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² One of the incomplete charters of Pravarasena (*EI*, xxiv, 264) is issued from the old capital Nandivardhana. Had it been dated, it would have been possible to decide more accurately the date of the change of the capital.

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³ This is the view of Rao Bahadur K. N. Dikshit; see *JASB*, N.S., xxix, 159.

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In *c.* A.D. 430 Pravarasena married his crown-prince Narendrasena to Ajitabhaṭṭārikā, the daughter of a king of the Kuntala country. This must have been a diplomatic move to strengthen the position of the house by establishing a matrimonial connexion with its southern neighbour. The marriage may have put an end to the jealousy which must have been created by the annexation of the southern Marāṭha country to the Vākāṭaka kingdom. The name of the father of the Kadamba princess is not known, but very probably he was Kakusthavarman, who is known to have married his daughters in Gupta ‘and other royal’ families. Among the ‘other royal’ families selected by him, the Vākāṭakas would naturally be one, for their prestige was certainly next to that of the Guptas. This marriage must have established an *entente cordiale* among the Kadambas, the Vākāṭakas, and the Guptas.

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The latest known date for Pravarasena is his 27th regnal year. We may therefore assume that he ruled for about thirty years and was succeeded by his son Narendrasena in *c.* A.D. 440.

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