|
The Indian Analyst
|
|
South Indian Inscriptions |
ABHIRAS
The foregoing account of the inscription in Ajantā cave XVII shows that the last of these princes was a contemporary and probably a feudatory of the Vākātaka Emperor Harishēna, who flourished from circa 475 A. C. to 500 A. C.1 He was preceded by ten other princes. The first of these may, therefore, be placed in circa 272-300A. C. He seems to have been placed in charge of a part of Khandesh by the contemporary Ābhīra Emperor
Some of these princes mentioned in this Ajantā inscription were evidently contemporaries of Svāmidāsa, Bhulunda and Rudradāsa, whose dates range from 316 A.C. to 366 A.C., but the latter names do not occur anywhere, in the genealogy of the Ajantā inscription. There were, therefore, two separate branches of the same family ruling in different Parts of Khandesh. One of them was ruling at Valkha as shown above.2 The capital of the other is not known.
After the fall of the Ābhiras, these princes of Khandesh seem to have transferred
their allegiance to the Vākātakas. A fragmentary verse in the inscription in Cave XVI at
Ajantā states that the Vākātakas Emperor Harishēna raided or exacted tribute from Trikuta3
which comprised the territory round Nasik. Khandesh, which lay between Vidarbha
and Trikūta, must have likewise submitted to the Vākātakas. This is also indicated by
the manner in which the Vākātaka Emperor Harishēna is mentioned in the inscription
in Ajantā Cave XVII. Further, the Daśakumāracharita which, in its last uchchhvāsa, gives
a narrative reflecting the last period of Vākātaka rule,4 viz., the reign of Harishēnaâs son,
mentions the ruler of Rishīka (i. e., modern Khandesh)5 as a feudatory of the king of
1 H. A. S., No.14, p. 9.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
