The Maurya dynasty ruled the coastal Konkan region in present-day Goa and Maharashtra states of India, between the 4th and the 7th centuries. [1] [2] Their capital was Puri, which is variously identified as Gharapuri (Elephanta), Salsette, or Rajapuri (near Janjira). [3] The dynasty is known only from a few records, and there is very little clarity on its genealogy, chronology, territory, administration and political status. [4]
Historian D.C. Sircar (1942) theorized that the Mauryas of Konkana and the Mauryas of Rajasthan "apparently" claimed descent from the imperial Maurya prince-viceroys of Ujjayini and Suvarnagiri. [5] Later writers have repeated this theory, [6] although no concrete evidence of imperial Maurya rule has been discovered in the Goa region. [7]
The 400 CE Vada inscription from the reign of the Maurya king Suketu-varman, dated to the Shaka year 322, suggests that the Mauryas ruled the northern Konkan region in present-day Maharashtra at the end of the 4th century. [1] Historian Ajay Mitra Shastri theorizes that Suketavarman was probably a Traikutaka vassal, [1] while historian V.T. Gune theorizes that the Mauryas were probably Kalachuri vassals. [8]
According to one theory, the Maurya capital Puri was located on the Elephanta Island. [3] As early as 1322 CE, European visitors mention the name Porus or Pori, referring to a king or a city, and identitying it with the Elephanta Island or the nearby Thane. Gharapuri, another name for the island, is attested in a book by Edward Moor (1810). [9] The names of Morbandar or Moreh-bandar ("Mor or Maurya port") and Raj-bandar ("royal port"), two small villages on the Island, may be relics of the Maurya rule on the island. [10] [3] Historian S.J. Mangalam has attributed some lead coins discovered on the Elephanta Island to the Mauryas, although numismatist P. L. Gupta has disputed this. [11] Some scholars dispute the identification of Puri with Elephanta, arguing that the island is too small and of uneven terrain to support a capital city, and that the archaeological remains found there are mainly religious in nature. [3]
During 6th-7th century, the Mauryas seem to have extended their rule to southern Konkan (the present-day northern Goa), where the Bhojas of Goa may have been their feudatories. [8] Inscriptions of kings Anirjita-varman and Chandra-varman, who ruled from the Kumara-dwipa island (modern Cumbarjua), have been discovered in this area. [8] Historians have dated these inscriptions to 5th-6th century on palaeographical grounds. [6] The dynasty of these kings is not certain, with some historians identifying them as Mauryas, [6] while others identifying them as Bhojas. [12] For example, Chandravarman's inscription is fragmentary and only few letters are visible in the first line. D.C. Sircar, who read these letters as "māryya", comments that they could have formed another word or a part of another word, including "...m āryya", "mauryya", or "praṇayinā". [5]
The Vada stone inscription, issued during the reign of Suketu-varman, refers to the construction of Hindu temples such as Koteshvara (or Kotishvara), Vasishtheshvara, and Siddheshvara at Vataka (modern Vada). [13] For example, it states that Simha-datta, the son of Kumara-datta, installed an image of the god Kotishvara. [3] No remains of these temples exist now, although the Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency records the existence of an old temple at Vada in the 19th century. [13]
The Bandora (Bandiwade) copper-plate inscription of Anirjita-varman records the grant of tax-exempt land in Dvadasa-desha (modern Bardez) to Hastyarya, a learned Samavedi Brahmin of Hariti gotra . [6] [8] The grant included one hala (a unit) of khajjana coastal wetland. The donee was expected to convert this wetland into a cultivated field by constructing a bund to prevent the salty sea water from entering the land. In addition, the grant included some forest land, which the donee was expected to convert into a field by employing four batches of workers to clear the forest. [6] The king also granted the donee some land previously belonging to an unnamed Rashtrakuta, with a garden, an irrigation tank, and a site for building a house. [14] The grant addresses the residents of a desh (an administrative unit comprising 12 villages) and officials of the present and the future. [6] This suggests that the donee held considerable power in the village administration. [15]
The Shiroda copper-plate inscription of Chandra-varman records the grant of a land to a Buddhist maha-vihara at Shivapura (modern Shiroda). [6]
Chalukya records describe the Maurya capital Puri as the "Goddess of the fortune of western ocean", suggesting that they were a local maritime power. [16] The Maurya economy apparently featured both sea trade and inalnd trade. There is some evidence of customs posts set up at Tana (near Ponda), Curdi, and Cortalim. However, there is not enough historical data to quantify or analyze such trade in detail. [15]
Agriculture was likely an important revenue base for the state, as the contemporary inscriptions refer to reclamation of coastal wetlands and forests for agriculture. The inscriptions attest to the existence of the khajjana system (later known as khazan ), which involved construction of embankments to prevent the sea water from entering the coastal paddy fields. [14] The kings made land grants to the Brahmins, who legitimized their royal status in return. [17]
The Maurya rule likely ended as a result of Chalukya invasions from the south. The Aihole inscription of the Chalukya king Pulakeshin II describes his father Kirttivarman I (r. c. 566–592) as "the night of doom" for the Mauryas and other dynasties. [18] The Chalukya records suggest that Kirttivarman defeated the Mauryas and appointed a new governor for the former Maurya territory. [19] Bhojas, the former vassals of the Mauryas, may have accepted the Chalukya suzerainty. [16]
The Mauryas probably continued to hold power as Chalukya vassals during the reign of Kirttivarman's brother and successor Mangalesha, but declared independence during the Chalukya war of succession between Mangalesha and Pulakeshin II. After consolidating his power in southern Deccan, Pulakeshin II successfully besieged the Mauryan capital Puri, ending their rule. [2] His Aihole inscription states: [20]
In the Konkanas by the impetuous waves of the forces directed by him the rising wavelets of pools in the form of the Mauryas were violently swept away. When, radiant like the destroyer of cities he was subduing Puri, the glory of the western sea, with hundreds of ships in appearance like an array of rutting elephants , the sky, dark-blue like a new lotus and overspread with an army of thick clouds, resembled the sea, and the sea was like the sky.
The fact that the Mauryas survived Kirttivarman's invasion and Pulakeshin II required a large force to subdue Puri suggests that the Mauryas were a formidable power before the Chalukya conquest. The 710 CE inscription of the Chalukya vassal Bhogashakti attests to his family's rule over the "Puri-Konkana" country comprising 14,000 villages. [3]
Pulakeshin II popularly known as Immaḍi Pulakeśi, was the greatest Chalukyan Emperor who reigned from Vatapi. During his reign, the Chalukya Empire expanded to cover most of the Deccan region in peninsular India.
Kirttivarman I was a ruler of the Chalukya dynasty of Vatapi in India. He ruled parts of present-day Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.
Pulakeshin was the first sovereign ruler of the Chalukya dynasty of Vatapi. He ruled parts of the present-day Maharashtra and Karnataka states in the western Deccan region of India. Pulakeshin established the city of Vatapi, and performed the Ashvamedha sacrifice to assert his sovereign status. The dynasty established by him went on to rule a major part of peninsular India in the subsequent years.
Mangalesha was a king of the Chalukya dynasty of Vatapi in Karnataka, India. He succeeded his brother Kirttivarman I on the throne, and ruled a kingdom that stretched from southern Gujarat in north to Bellary-Kurnool region in the south, in the western part of the Deccan region. It included parts of present-day Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh.
Vikramaditya I was the third son and followed his father, Pulakeshi II on to the Chalukya throne. He restored order in the fractured empire and made the Pallavas retreat from the capital Vatapi.
Prithvi-vallabha, or Vallabha-rāja, was a title adopted by several kings that ruled in present-day India, including the Chalukyas of Vatapi, the Rashtrakutas and their successors.
This article details the history of Raigad district. Raigad District is a district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is located in the Konkan region. The Kulaba district was renamed after Raigad, the fort which was the former capital of the Maratha ruler Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The fort is surrounded by dense forest in the interior regions of the district, on a west-facing spur of the Western Ghats of Sahyadri range. The name was changed during the regime of Chief Minister A. R. Antulay on 1 January 1981.
The Chalukya dynasty was a Classical Indian dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynasty, known as the "Badami Chalukyas", ruled from Vatapi from the middle of the 6th century. The Badami Chalukyas began to assert their independence at the decline of the Kadamba kingdom of Banavasi and rapidly rose to prominence during the reign of Pulakeshin II. After the death of Pulakeshin II, the Eastern Chalukyas became an independent kingdom in the eastern Deccan. They ruled from Vengi until about the 11th century. In the western Deccan, the rise of the Rashtrakutas in the middle of the 8th century eclipsed the Chalukyas of Badami before being revived by their descendants, the Western Chalukyas, in the late 10th century. These Western Chalukyas ruled from Kalyani until the end of the 12th century.
Bhojas of Goa were a dynasty that ruled Goa, parts of Konkan, and some parts of Karnataka from at least the 3rd century AD to the 6th century. They were feudatories to the Mauryas of Konkana, and possibly to the Chalukyas of Vatapi who expelled the Mauryas. The Bhoja seat of power was located at Chandrapura or Chandraura in Goa.
The Kalachuris, also known as Kalachuris of Mahishmati, were an Indian dynasty that ruled in west-central India between 6th and 7th centuries. They are also known as the Early Kalachuris to distinguish them from their later namesakes, especially the Kalachuris of Tripuri. Their territory included parts of present-day Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra. Their capital was located at Mahishmati. Epigraphic and numismatic evidence suggests that the earliest of the Ellora and Elephanta cave monuments were built during the Kalachuri rule.
The Chalukyasof Navasarika were an Indian dynasty that ruled parts of present-day Gujarat and Maharashtra during 7th and 8th centuries, as vassals of the Chalukyas of Vatapi. They are also known as the "Early Chalukyas of Gujarat".
Jayasimha was the first ruler of the Chalukya dynasty of Vatapi in present-day India. He ruled the area around modern Bijapur in the early 6th century, and was the grandfather of the dynasty's first sovereign ruler, Pulakeshin I.
Ranaraga was an early 6th century ruler of the Chalukya dynasty of Vatapi in present-day India. A vassal ruler, he was the father of the dynasty's first sovereign ruler, Pulakeshin I.
Adityavarman was a king of the Chalukya dynasty of Vatapi in southern India. He was a son of Pulakeshin II, who was defeated and probably killed when the Pallavas invaded and captured the Chalukya capital Vatapi. The immediate history of the dynasty after Pulakeshin's death is not clear, but inscriptions of Adityavarman and his son suggest that Adityavarman ruled a weakened Chalukya kingdom for a short period, before his younger brother Vikramaditya I defeated the Pallavas and restored the Chalukya power.
Chandraditya was a king of the Chalukya dynasty of Vatapi that ruled in the Deccan region of south India. His father Pulakeshin II was a powerful emperor, who was defeated and most probably killed during a Pallava invasion.
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Abhinavaditya was a king of the Chalukya dynasty of Vatapi in southern India. He appears to have succeeded his father Adityavarman on the weakened Chalukya throne, in the period following the death of his grandfather Pulakeshin II. He appears to have died heirless, and was probably succeeded by his uncle Chandraditya.
Revatidvipa or Govapuri was a province under the Chalukya dynasty, encompassing parts of modern-day Goa and Maharashtra, India. Revatidvipa was an important trading port of the dynasties that controlled it, including the Chalukyas. It was conquered by the Rashtrakuta ruler Krishna I in 753 AD.
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The Khazan is a traditional farming system of Goa, India. It comprises mainly rice-fish fields established on relciamed coastal wetlands, salt marshes and mangrove forests. It involves construction of levees and sluice gates to prevent sea water from entering the fields.