House of Maukhari | |
---|---|
Country | Kingdom of Kannauj |
Founded | 510 |
Founder | Harivarman |
Final ruler | Grahavarman |
Seat | Kannauj |
Titles | Maharaja of Kannauj Maharajadhiraja of Kannauj |
Dissolution | 605 |
The Maukhari dynasty (Gupta script: , Mau-kha-ri) was the ruling house of the Kingdom of Kannauj and controlled the vast plains of Ganga-Yamuna for over six generations from their capital at Kannauj. They earlier served as vassals of the Guptas. The Maukharis established their independence during the mid 6th century. The dynasty ruled over much of Uttar Pradesh and Magadha. Around 606 CE, a large area of their empire was reconquered by the Later Guptas of Magadha. [3] According to Xuanzang, the territory may have been lost to King Shashanka of the Gauda Kingdom, who declared independence circa 600CE. [4] [5]
The Maukharis were staunch Hindus. They tried to enforce and maintain the traditional social order [ better source needed ] among the people. Hinduism received state support, but Buddhism also managed to remain as a prominent religion. [6]
The Maukhari army consisted of elephants, cavalry and infantry. Ishanavarman in all probability would have taken much pains to reorganize the army and make it strong and worthy. The Maukhari strategy mainly focused on deploying elephant corps to crush the enemy armies. They were used against the Alchon Huns and the Later Gupta armies. [6] The Maukharis fought against the remnants of the Alchon Huns in the areas of the Gangetic Doab and Magadha, as documented in the Aphsad inscription, while the Aulikaras repelled them in the Malwa region. [7] The Aphsad inscription of Ādityasena mentions the military successes of kings of the Later Gupta dynasty against the Maukharis, themselves past victors of the Alchon Huns: [7]
"The son of that king (Kumaragupta) was the illustrious Dâmôdaragupta, by whom (his) enemies were slain, just like the demons by (the god) Dâmôdara. Breaking up the proudly stepping array of mighty elephants, belonging to the Maukhari, which had thrown aloft in battle the troops of the Hûnas (in order to trample them to death), he became unconscious (and expired in the fight)."
The Maukharis, rather than the Guptas, were therefore the key actors in repelling the Hunas. [9]
Kanyakubja, the Maukhari capital, grew in prosperity and importance as a great cosmopolitan city. After the demise of the Maukharis, it even became the capital of Emperor Harsha. Hence, Kanyakubja was largely contested by imperial powers. [10] : 20 [6] [11]
The first three Maukhari kings are mentioned in the inscriptions as Maharaja, but their successors assumed grander titles showing an increase in power and prestige. Ishanavarman was the first Maukhari ruler to adopt the title Maharajadhiraja (lit., King of Great Kings). [6]
The Maukhari kings were patrons of poets and writers and many literary works were composed during their reign. [6] Various seals and inscriptions are known, such as the Asirgarh seal inscription of Sharvavarman, [14] or the Haraha inscription of Isanavarman, discovered near the village of Harara in the Barabanki district, Uttar Pradesh and dated to Vikrama Samvat 610 (ie 554 CE), which record the genealogy of the Maukharis. [15]
With the end of Hunnic power, new contacts were established between India and the Sasanian Persia. Intellectual games such as chess and backgammon demonstrated and celebrated the diplomatic relationship between Khosrow I and a "great king of India." The vizier of the Indian king invented chess as a cheerful, playful challenge to emperor Khosrow. It seems that the Indian ruler who sent the game of chess to Khosrow was the Maukhari monarch Śarvavarman of Kannauj, between the beginning of Śarvavarman's reign in 560/565 and the end of Khosrow's reign in 579. [16] [18] When the game was sent to Iran it came with a letter which read: "As your name is the King of Kings, all your emperorship over us connotes that your wise men should be wiser than ours. Either you send us an explanation of this game of chess or send revenue and tribute us." [19] Khosrow's grand vizier successfully solved the riddle and figured out how to play chess. In response the wise vizier created the game backgammon and sent it to the Indian court with the same message. The Indian king was not able to solve the riddle and was forced to pay tribute. [19]
The Vardhana dynasty (also called "Pushyabhuti dynasty") ultimately succeeded the Maukhari dynasty, but it had originally only been a small polity around their capital Sthaneshvara (Thanesar). According to Hans T. Bakker, their ruler Aditya-Vardhana (or Aditya-Sena) was probably a feudatory to the Maukhari ruler Sharvavarman. His successor Prabhakaravardhana may have also been a feudatory to the Maukhari king Avantivarman in his early days. Prabhakara's daughter Rajyashri married Avantivarman's son Grahavarman. As a result of this marriage, Prabhakara's political status increased significantly, and he assumed the imperial title Parama-bhattaraka Maharajadhiraja ("the one to whom the other kings bow because of his valour and affection"). [20]
The known Maukhari rulers of madhya-desha include: [21] [22]
After the fall of Maukhari dynasty his descendants moved to Kuntalpur and later one of his descendant Kripal Dev moved to Kirtigadh in 661, where he defeated Baloch ruler of Kirtigadh and Makwanas ruled from (661 AD to 1089 AD). Last king was Kesar Dev Makwana, who died in battle against Hamir Soomra, ruler of Amarkot. [24]
The Barabar Cave inscriptions attest the existence of another Maukhari branch. This branch ruled as feudatories, probably that of the Later Guptas. The known rulers of this branch include: [25]
History of South Asia |
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The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire on the Indian subcontinent which existed from the mid 3rd century CE to mid 6th century CE. It was the seventh ruling dynasty of Magadha. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent. This period has been considered as the Golden Age of India by historians, although this characterisation has been disputed by some other historians. The ruling dynasty of the empire was founded by Gupta and the most notable rulers of the dynasty were Chandragupta I, Samudragupta, Chandragupta II, Kumaragupta I and Skandagupta.
The Pratihara dynasty, also called the Gurjara-Pratiharas, the Pratiharas of Kannauj or the Imperial Pratiharas, was a prominent medieval Indian dynasty. It initially ruled the Gurjaradesa till 816 and from then onwards, the Kingdom of Kannauj until 1036 when the kingdom collapsed due the Ghaznavid invasions. Cadet branches of the dynasty ruled other minor states in the subcontinent.
Shashanka was the first independent king of a unified polity in the Bengal region, called the Gauda Kingdom. He reigned in the 7th century, some historians place his rule between c. 600 and 636/7 CE, whereas other sources place his reign between 590 and 625 CE.
Mihirakula, sometimes referred to as Mihiragula or Mahiragula, was the second and last Alchon Hun king of northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent between 502 and 530 CE. He was a son of and successor to Toramana of Huna heritage. His father ruled the Indian part of the Hephthalite Empire. Mihirakula ruled from his capital of Sagala.
Toramana also called Toramana Shahi Jauvla was a king of the Alchon Huns who ruled in northern India in the late 5th and the early 6th century CE. Toramana consolidated the Alchon power in Punjab, and conquered northern and central India including Eran in Madhya Pradesh. Toramana used the title "Great King of Kings", equivalent to "Emperor", in his inscriptions, such as the Eran boar inscription.
Prabhakaravardhana was a king of Thanesar in northern India around the time of the decline of the Gupta Empire. According to the historian R. C. Majumdar, he was the first notable king of the Vardhana dynasty but the fourth ruler from the family, who are also referred to as the Pushpabhutis. He had been preceded by his father, Adityavardhana, grandfather Rajyavardhana I and great-grandfather, Naravardhana, but inscriptions suggest that Banabhatta, the seventh-century bard and chronicler of the Vardhanas, may have been wrong to call these earlier rulers kings and that they may instead have been mere feudatory rulers of minor significance.
The origin of the Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty of India is a topic of debate among historians. The rulers of this dynasty used the self-designation "Pratihara" for their clan, but have been described as "Gurjara" by some of their neighbouring kingdoms. Only one particular inscription of a feudatory ruler named Mathanadeva mentions him as a "Gurjara-Pratihara".
The Pushyabhuti dynasty, also known as the Vardhana dynasty, was the ruling dynasty of the Kingdom of Thanesar and later the Kingdom of Kannauj in northern India during the 6th and 7th centuries. The dynasty reached its zenith under its last ruler Harsha Vardhana, whose empire covered much of north and north-western India, extending till Kamarupa in the east and Narmada River in the south. The dynasty initially ruled from Sthanveshvara, but Harsha eventually made Kanyakubja his capital, from where he ruled until 647 CE.
The Later Gupta dynasty ruled Magadha in eastern India between the 6th and 8th centuries CE. The Later Guptas succeeded the Imperial Guptas as the rulers of eastern Malwa or Magadha, but there is no evidence connecting the two dynasties; these appear to be two distinct families. The "Later Guptas" are so-called because the names of their rulers ended with the suffix "-gupta", which they might have adopted to portray themselves as the successors of the Imperial Guptas.
The Alchon Huns, also known as the Alkhan, Alchono, Alxon, Alkhon, Alakhana, and Walxon, were a nomadic people who established states in Central Asia and South Asia during the 4th and 6th centuries CE. They were first mentioned as being located in Paropamisus, and later expanded south-east, into the Punjab and Central India, as far as Eran and Kausambi. The Alchon invasion of the Indian subcontinent eradicated the Kidarite Huns who had preceded them by about a century, and contributed to the fall of the Gupta Empire, in a sense bringing an end to Classical India.
Adityavardhana was a king of Thanesar in northern India around the time of the decline of the Gupta Empire. He was the third ruler of the Pushyabhuti dynasty, and father of Prabhakaravardhana. Adityavardhana's father was Rajyavardhana I and his grandfather, Naravardhana, the founder of the Srikantha dynasty of Tanesar.
The Vadathika Cave Inscription, also called the Nagarjuni Hill Cave Inscription of Anantavarman, is a 5th- or 6th-century CE Sanskrit inscriptions in Gupta script found in the Nagarjuni hill cave of the Barabar Caves group in Gaya district Bihar. The inscription is notable for including symbol for Om in Gupta era. It marks the dedication of the cave to a statue of Bhutapati (Shiva) and Devi (Parvati). The statue was likely of Ardhanarishvara that was missing when the caves came to the attention of archaeologists in the 18th-century.
The Gop's Cave Inscription, also called the Gop ki Gupha (Nagarjuni Hill Cave Inscription II of Anantavarman) or formerly the Gya inscription (referring to the nearby city of Gaya), is a 5th- or 6th-century CE Sanskrit inscription in Late Brahmi found in the Nagarjuni hill cave of the Barabar Caves group in Gaya district, Bihar, India.
The Panduvamshis or Pandavas were an Indian dynasty that ruled the historical Dakshina Kosala region in present-day Chhattisgarh state of India, during the 7th and the 8th centuries. They may have been related to the earlier Panduvamshis of Mekala: both dynasties claimed lunar lineage and descent from the legendary Pandavas.
The Battle of Sondani was a large military encounter fought in 528 CE, between the Alchon Hun king Mihirakula and a confederation of Indian rulers led by King Yashodharman of Malwa and King Narasimhagupta of the Gupta Empire.
Iśanavarman was the first independent Maukhari king of the Kingdom of Kannauj. He was a very powerful king, and adopted the title of Maharajadhiraja.
Sharvavarman was the Maukhari ruler of the Kingdom of Kannauj from 560 to 575 CE.
The Aphsad inscription of Ādityasena is an Indian inscription from the reign of the Later Gupta dynasty king Aditya-sena. The inscription was found in 1880 by Markham Kittoe in the village of Apasadha, Bihar, and is now located in the British Museum.
The Jhala also called Makwana and Makhwan is a Suryavanshi Rajput clan, mentioned among the 36 royal races in the Kumarapala-prabandha list that ruled over Jhalavad region of Gujarat and parts of Rajasthan. Harpal Dev Makwana was the founder of Jhala clan.
The Gauda–Gupta War was a conflict between Gopachandra on one side with Ishanavarman and Jivitagupta I on the other side. The war resulted in the defeat of the Gauda Kingdom.