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THE HOME OF THE VAKATAKAS
District of the former Hyderābād State. The progenitor of this family was Yajñapati. His
son Dēva, who was a contemporary of Vindhyaśakti and perhaps also of his Pravarasēna
I, is described in the Ghaṭōtkacha cave inscription as a very pious Brāhmaṇa, at whose
instance the whole kingdom including the king engaged itself in the performance of religious
rites. From Vākāṭaka inscription also we have evidence of a phenomenal religious
activity in this period. Pravarasēna I, who was the real founder of Vākāṭaka imperial power,
is said to have performed several sacrifices such as Agnishṭōma, Āptōryāma, Ukthya,
Shōḍaśin, Atirātra, Vājapēya, Bṛihaspatisava and Sādyaskra, besides four Aśvamēdhas.
No other early king of North or South India, except Mādhavavarman I of the Vishṇukuṇḍin
dynasty, is known to have performed so many Śrauta sacrifices. It is not unlikely that
he was encouraged in this by this pious Brāhmaṇa minister Dēva. Ravi, the grandson of
Dēva, is said to have established his sway over the whole territory (Kṛit-ādhipatyaṁ vishayē
samagrē). He was a contemporary of the Vākāṭaka king Sarvasēna who founded a separate
kingdom with Vatsagulma as its capital. Ravi may have assisted Sarvasēna in extending
the limits of his patrimony by making fresh conquests. The last two known member of
this family, Hastibhōja and Varāhadēva, were the capable ministers of the Vākāṭaka
kings Dēvasēna and Harishēṇa respectively. It will be seen that the two families–––
ministerial and royal– which were intimately connected with each other for several genera-
tions, rose to distinction in the same period. The ministerial family hailed from Vallūra
which, as shown above, may be identified with Vēlur in the Central Deccan. The original habitation of the gṛihapati Vākāṭaka cannot be determined owing to the unfortunate
mutilation of Inscription No. 126 at Amarāvatī, but it was also probably situated in the
Central Deccan. This also affords the most plausible explanation of how the Vākāṭakas
rose to power in Vidarbha or Central Deccan immediately after the downfall of the Sātavā-
hanas.
...The evidence adduced above will, I hope, convince readers that the original home
of the Vākāṭakas was in south India.
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