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EARLY RULERS
Bhavanāga have been found at Padmāvatī, the well-known capital off the Nāgas.1 From
Vākāṭaka records we learn that the Bhāraśivas were staunch Śaivas. They carried on their
shoulders the emblem of Śiva (perhaps his triśūla or trident) and believed that they owed
their royal position to that god’s grace.2 They performed as many as ten Aśvamēdhas
and were consecrated with the water of the Gaṅgā, which they had obtained by their
valour. The description plainly shows that the Bhāraśivas had driven away the Kushāṇas
from Central India and recovered from them the tīrthas of Prayāga and Kāśī, which are regarded as sacred by all devotees of Śiva. Bhavanāga, the Mahārāja. of the Bhāraśivas, was a
contemporary of Pravarasāna I. He gave his daughter in marriage to Gautamīputra, who
was probably the eldest son of the Vākāṭaka Emperor. This alliance with the powerful
Nāga family of the North appears to have greatly strengthened the power and prestige of
the Vākāṭakas ; for it is invariably mentioned in all grants of Gautamīputra’s descendants.
The Purāṇas credit Pravarasēna I (whom they call Pravīra) with a long reign of 60 years,
which is not unlikely in view of his performance of four Aśvamēdhas and several Vājapēya
sacrifices. He may have ruled from about 270 A.C. to 330 A.C.
...Pravarasēna I had a very pious, learned and active Prime Minister named Dēva,
who is eulogised in the Ghaṭōtkacha cave inscription. It is said that by his influence the
whole kingdom including the king engaged itself in the performance of religious duties.3 The phenomenal religious activity noticed in the reign of Pravarasēna I may have been
mainly due to the influence of this learned and pious statesman.
...According to the Purāṇas, Pravarasēna I had four sons, all of whom became kings.4 Until recently this statement of the Purāṇas appeared incredible; for, there was no evidence
that the Vākāṭaka family had branched off so early. The discovery of the Bāsim copperplate grant in 1939 showed for the first time that besides Gautamīputra mentioned in several
Vākāṭaka grants, Pravarasēna I had at least one more son named Sarvasēna.5 His name
has also been noticed in the inscription in Cave XVI at Ajaṇṭā.6 It seems therefore certain that the extensive empire of Pravarasēna I was divided among his four sons after his
death. The eldest branch probably continued to reign from the old capital Purikā. The
second son Sarvasēna established himself at the holy city of Vatsagulma, modern Bāsim
in the Akōlā District of Vidarbha. One of the remaining sons may have been ruling over
North Kuntala comprising the upper Kṛishṇā valley, and the other may have been put
in charge of Dakshiṇa Kōsala, if that was included in the dominion of Pravarasēna I.
No records of these two branches have yet come to light probably because they were
short-lived. The Kuntala branch may have been crushed out of existence by the Rāshṭrakūṭa family which was founded by Mānāṅka in the upper Kṛishṇā valley in circa 375
A.C.7 The branch ruling in Dakshiṇa Kōsala may also have been ousted by the Nalas and
others who rose to power about the middle of the fourth century A.C.8
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1 J.N.S.I., Vol. V, pp. 21 f.
2 Cf. No. 3, lines 4-5 etc.
3 Cf. सराजकं राष्ट्रमुपेत्य यस्मिन् धर्म्या: क्रिया: पार्थ इव प्रचक्रे ॥ No.26, line 5.
4 Cf. तस्त पुत्रास्तु चत्वारो भविष्यन्ति नराधिपा: । D.K.A., p. 50.
5 No. 23, line 4.
6 No. 25. line 6.
7 See my article ‘The Rāshṭrakūṭas of Mānapura’ in A.B.O.R.I., Vol. XXV, p. 36 f. Also S.I.,
Vol. I, pp. 178 f.
8 For the Nala kings see my article ‘Gold Coins of Three Kings of the Nala Dynasty’. J.N.S.I., Vol. I, pp. 29 f. For the family ruling in Dakshiṇa Kōsala, see Araṅg Plates of Bhīmasēna. II. Ep.
Ind., Vol. XI, pp. 342 f. As I have shown (ibid., Vol XXVI, pp. 227 f.), the date of this grant is G. 182
(501 A.C. ), not G. 282 as taken by the editor.
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