Vallabhi

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Vallabhi
Vallabhipur
Town
India Gujarat location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Vallabhi
Coordinates: 21°53′16″N71°52′46″E / 21.8878°N 71.8795°E / 21.8878; 71.8795
CountryIndia
State Gujarat
Region Saurashtra
District Bhavnagar
Established319;1705 years ago (319)
Founded byMaharaja Kanak sen
Population
 (2011)
  Total15,852
Languages
  Official Gujarati
Time zone UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN
364310
Vehicle registration GJ-04

Vallabhi (or Valabhi or Valabhipur) is an ancient city located in the Saurashtra peninsula of Gujarat, near Bhavnagar in western India. It is also known as Vallabhipura and was the capital of the Kingdom of Valabhi, an early medieval state ruled by the Chandravanshi Maitraka Dynasty.

Contents

History

Five Bronzes recovered from Valabhipur Five Bronzes Valabhipur.jpg
Five Bronzes recovered from Valabhipur

Vallabhi was occupied as early as the Harappan period, [1] and was later part of the Maurya Empire from about 322 BCE until 185 BCE.

The Satavahana dynasty ruled the area, off and on, from the late second century BCE until the early third century CE. The Gupta Empire held the area from approximately 319 CE to 467 CE. [2]

The Great Council of Vallabhi, which codified the Śvētāmbaras Jain texts, was held there in 454 CE, [3] [4] during the decline of the Gupta Empire.

In the fifth century (CE), the first two Maitraka rulers, Bhatarka and Dharasena I, only used the title of Senapati (general). The third ruler, Dronasimha (Dronasena [5] ), declared himself Maharaja (literally "Great King"). [6] King Guhasena came after him. Unlike his predecessors, the king stopped using the term Paramabhattaraka Padanudhyata alongside his name, a term that denotes nominal allegiance to the Gupta overlords. He was succeeded by his son Dharasena II, who used the title Mahadhiraja. The next ruler was his son, Siladitya-I Dharmaditya, who was described by the Chinese scholar and traveller Xuanzang as a "monarch of great administrative ability and of rare kindness and compassion". Siladitya I was succeeded by his younger brother Kharagraha I. [7] [8] [9]

During the time of Kharagraha I, a copperplate grant was found from 616 CE that shows that his territories included Ujjain. During the reign of the next ruler, his son Dharasena III, north Gujarat was assimilated into the kingdom. Dharasena II was succeeded by another son of Kharagraha I, Dhruvasena II, Baladitya. He married the daughter of Harshavardhana and their son Dharasena IV assumed the imperial titles of Paramabhattaraka Mahrajadhiraja Parameshvara Chakravartin and Sanskrit poet Bhatti was his court poet. The next powerful ruler of this dynasty was Siladitya III. After him, Siladitya V ruled, and it is suspected that during his reign, there was an Arab Invasion. The last known ruler of the dynasty was Siladitya VII. [6] [7]

The rule of the Maitrakas is believed to have ended during the second or third quarter of the eighth century when the Arabs invaded. [10] [11]

List of Rulers

  1. Bhattarak Sen (c. 470-c. 492)
  2. Ghana Sen I (c. 493-c. 499)
  3. Drona Sen (title: Maharaja) (c. 500-c. 520)
  4. Dhruva Sen I (520-550 AD)
  5. Dhanapatta Sen (550-556 AD)
  6. Graha Sen (556-570 AD)
  7. Dhara Sen II (570-595 AD)
  8. Siladitya Sen I (Dharmaditya) (595-615 AD)
  9. Khagrahasena I (615-626 AD)
  10. Dhara Sen III (AD 626-640)
  11. Dhruva Sen II (Baladitya) (640-644 AD)
  12. Chakravarti Raja Ghana Sen IV (Titles: Parambhattarak, Maharajadhiraja, Parameshwar) (644-651 AD)
  13. Dhruva Sen III (651-655 AD)
  14. Khagraha Sen II (655-658 AD)
  15. Siladitya Sen II (658-685 AD)
  16. Siladitya Sen III (690-710 AD)
  17. Siladitya Sen IV (710-740 AD)
  18. Siladitya Sen V (740-762 AD)
  19. Siladitya Sen VI (Dhruvatta) (762-776 AD)

Valabhi inscriptions

Evolution of Brahmi numerals from the time of Ashoka, including the numerals from the Valahbi inscriptions c. 600 CE. Evolution of Brahmi numerals.jpg
Evolution of Brahmi numerals from the time of Ashoka, including the numerals from the Valahbi inscriptions c.600 CE.

Religious inscriptions are known from Valhabi, which were dedicated to the Brahmans as well as the Buddhist and Jains. [12] The Indologist Sylvain Lévi wrote an article entitled "Les donations religieuses des rois de Valhabi". [13]

The numerals used in the Valhabi inscriptions and on their coins, dated to c.600 CE, are often mentioned as an intermediary step in the evolution of Hindu-Arabic numerals. [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

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The Maitraka dynasty ruled the Kingdom of Valabhi in western India from approximately 475 to 776 from their capital at Vallabhi. With the sole exception of Dharapaṭṭa, who is associated with sun-worship, they were followers of Shaivism. Their origin is uncertain but they were probably Chandravanshi Kshatriyas.

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The history of Gujarat began with Stone Age settlements followed by Chalcolithic and Bronze Age settlements like Indus Valley civilisation. Gujarat's coastal cities, chiefly Bharuch, served as ports and trading centers in the Nanda, Maurya, Satavahana and Gupta empires as well as during the Western Kshatrapas period. After the fall of the Gupta empire in the 6th century, Gujarat flourished as an independent Hindu-Buddhist state. The Maitraka dynasty, descended from a Gupta general, ruled from the 6th to the 8th centuries from their capital at Vallabhi, although they were ruled briefly by Harsha during the 7th century. The Arab rulers of Sindh sacked Vallabhi in 770, bringing the Maitraka dynasty to an end. The Gurjara-Pratihara Empire ruled Gujarat after from the 8th to 10th centuries. While the region also came under the control of the Rashtrakuta Empire. In 775 the first Parsi (Zoroastrian) refugees arrived in Gujarat from Greater Iran.

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References

  1. Shirvalkar, Prabodh (2013). "Harappan migrations: A perspective about the Gujarat Harappans" (PDF). Heritage Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology. 1: 301–318. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 October 2022.
  2. Patel, Ambika (2007). "Material Culture and Technology of Early Historic Gujarat, Western India". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 68 (Part Two): 1377–1400.
  3. Stevenson, Margaret (1915). The Heart of Jainism. London: Oxford University Press. p. 13.
  4. Sarkar, Benoy Kumar (1916). The Beginning of Hindu Culture as World-power (A.D. 300-600). Shanghai: Commercial Press. p. 29. OCLC   613143923.
  5. "Göttingische gelehrte Anzeigen: Unter Aufsicht d. Akademie der Wissenschaften". 1839.
  6. 1 2 Roychaudhuri, H.C. (1972). Political History of Ancient India, University of Calcutta, Calcutta, pp.553-4
  7. 1 2 Mahajan V.D. (1960, reprint 2007). Ancient India, S.Chand & Company, New Delhi, ISBN   81-219-0887-6, pp.594-6
  8. Monroe, Paul (28 August 2014). Paul Monroe's encyclopaedia of history of education. p. 177. ISBN   9788177550917 . Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  9. "Hiuen Tsang's Gujarat travel: 'Valabhi was at par with Nalanda' - TOI Mobile". The Times of India Mobile Site. 14 September 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  10. History and Culture of Indian People, Classical age, p 150, (Ed) Dr A. D. Pusalkar, Dr R. C. Majumdar.
  11. Blankinship, Khalid Yahya (1994). The End of the Jihad State: The Reign of Hisham Ibn 'Abd al-Malik and the Collapse of the Umayyads. SUNY Press. pp. 187–189. ISBN   978-0-7914-1827-7 . Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  12. "M. Sylvain Levi (Les donations religieuses des rois de Valhabi) analyse, d'après les documents de l'époque, les donations faites, du VI au VIII siècle de notre ère, par les souverains de ce petit royaume bindou ou plutôt rajpoute, en faveur des communautés brahmaniques, bouddbiques et jainas, avec un éclectisme que Tauteur rappelle n'être pas rare dans l'Inde préislamique." Revue de l'histoire des religions (in French). Presses Universitaires de France [etc.] 1896. p.  345.
  13. Revue de l'histoire des religions (in French). Presses Universitaires de France [etc.] 1896. p.  345.
  14. Smith, David Eugene; Karpinski, Louis Charles (1911). The Hindu-Arabic numerals. Boston, London, Ginn and Company. p.  25.