Maukhari dynasty
The Maukhari dynasty (Gupta script: _in_the_Asirgarh_seal.jpg.webp){kind=small}
, Mau-kha-ri) was a post-Gupta royal Indian dynasty that controlled vast areas of Northern India for over six generations. They earlier served as vassals of the Guptas and later of Harsha's Vardhana dynasty. The Maukharis established their independence at Kannauj, during the mid 6th century. The dynasty ruled over much of Uttar Pradesh and Magadha. Around 606 CE, a large area of their empire was reconquered by the Later Guptas.[4] According to Hieun-Tsang, the territory may have been lost to King Shashanka of the Gauda Kingdom, who declared independence circa 600 AD.[5][6]
Maukhari Empire | |||||||||||||||
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| c. 510 CE–c. 606 CE | |||||||||||||||
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| Capital | Kannauj | ||||||||||||||
| Common languages | Sanskrit | ||||||||||||||
| Religion | Hinduism Buddhism | ||||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||||
| Maharajadhirajas | |||||||||||||||
| Historical era | Classical India | ||||||||||||||
• Established | c. 510 CE | ||||||||||||||
• Disestablished | c. 606 CE | ||||||||||||||
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Religion
The Maukharis were staunch Hindus. They tried to enforce and maintain the traditional social order among the people. Hinduism received state support, but Buddhism also managed to remain as a prominent religion.[7]
Army
The Maukhari army consisted of elephants, cavalry and infantry. Ishanavarman in all probability would have taken much pains to reorganize the army and make it strong and worthy. The Maukhari strategy mainly focused on deploying elephant corps to crush the enemy armies. They were used against the Hunas and the Later Gupta armies.[7] The Maukharis fought against the remnants of the Alchon Huns in the areas of the Gangetic Doab and Magadha, as documented in the Aphsad inscription, while the Aulikaras repelled them in the Malwa region.[8] The Aphsad inscription of Ādityasena mentions the military successes of kings of the Later Gupta dynasty against the Maukharis, themselves past victors of the Hunas:[8]
"The son of that king (Kumaragupta) was the illustrious Dâmôdaragupta, by whom (his) enemies were slain, just like the demons by (the god) Dâmôdara. Breaking up the proudly stepping array of mighty elephants, belonging to the Maukhari, which had thrown aloft in battle the troops of the Hûnas (in order to trample them to death), he became unconscious (and expired in the fight)."
The Maukharis, rather than the Guptas, were therefore the key actors in repelling the Hunas.[10]
Administration
Kannauj, the Maukhari capital, grew in prosperity and importance and as a great cosmopolitan town. After the demise of the Maukharis, it even became the capital of Harsha. Hence, the city of Kanyakubja was largely contested by imperial powers.[11]: 20 [7][12]
The first three Maukhari kings are mentioned in the inscriptions as Maharaja, but their successors assumed more pompous titles showing the increase in power. Ishanavarman was the first Maukhari ruler to adopt the title Maharajadhiraja.[7]
Culture and international exchanges
The Maukhari kings were patrons of poets and writers and many literary works were composed during their reign.[7] Various seals and inscriptions are known, such as the Asirgarh seal inscription of Sharvavarman, .[15] or the Haraha inscription of Isanavarman, discovered near the village of Harara in the Barabanki district, Uttar Pradesh and dated to Vikrama Samvat 610 (ie 554 CE), which record the genealogy of the Maukharis.[16]
Contacts with the Sasanian Empire
With the end of Hunnic power, new contacts were established between India and the Sasanian Empire. Intellectual games such as chess and backgammon demonstrated and celebrated the diplomatic relationship between Khosrow I and a "great king of India." The vizier of the Indian king invented chess as a cheerful, playful challenge to King Khosrow. It seems that the Indian ruler who sent the game of chess to Khosrow was the Maukhari King Śarvavarman of Kannauj, between the beginning of Śarvavarman’s reign in 560/565 and the end of Khosrow's reign in 579.[17][19] When the game was sent to Iran it came with a letter which read: "As your name is the King of Kings, all your emperorship over us connotes that your wise men should be wiser than ours. Either you send us an explanation of this game of chess or send revenue and tribute us."[20] Khosrow's grand vizier successfully solved the riddle and figured out how to play chess. In response the wise vizier created the game backgammon and sent it to the Indian court with the same message. The Indian king was not able to solve the riddle and was forced to pay tribute.[20]
Succession
The Vardhana dynasty (also called "Pushyabhuti dynasty") ultimately succeeded the Maukhari dynasty, but it had originally only been a small polity around their capital Sthaneshvara (Thanesar). According to Hans T. Bakker, their ruler Aditya-Vardhana (or Aditya-Sena) was probably a feudatory to the Maukhari ruler Sharva-varman. His successor Prabhakara-Vardhana may have also been a feudatory to the Maukhari king Avanti-Varman in his early days. Prabhakara's daughter Rajyashri married Avanti-Varman's son Graha-Varman. As a result of this marriage, Prabhakara's political status increased significantly, and he assumed the imperial title Parama-bhattaraka Maharajadhiraja. ("the one to whom the other kings bow because of his valour and affection").[21]
Rulers
The known Maukhari rulers of madhya-desha include:[22]
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- Hari-varman[23]
- Aditya-varman
- Ishvara-varman (Iśvaravarman)
- Ishana-varman (Iśanavarman), r. c. 550-560 CE
- Sharva-varman (Śarvavarman), r. c. 560-575 CE
- Avanti-varman, r. c. 575-600 CE
- Graha-varman, r. c. 600-605 CE
Barabar branch of Maukhari rulers
The Barabar Caves inscriptions attest the existence of another Maukhari branch. This branch ruled as feudatories, probably that of the Later Guptas. The known rulers of this branch include:[24]
- Nrpa Shri Yajna-varman
- Nrpa Samantachudamani Shri Shardula-varman
- Ananta-varman
Lomas Rishi cave inscription of Anantavarman
Gopika Cave Inscription of Anantavarman
Vadathika Cave Inscription of Anantavarman
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References
- Tripathi, Rama S. (1989). History of Kanauj: To the Moslem Conquest. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 45 Note 1. ISBN 9788120804043.
- Schwartzberg, Joseph E. (1978). A Historical atlas of South Asia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 145, map XIV.1 (i). ISBN 0226742210.
- Schwartzberg, Joseph E. (1978). A Historical atlas of South Asia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 145, map XIV.1 (i). ISBN 0226742210.
- "Maukhari dynasty (Indian dynasty) - Britannica Online Encyclopedia". Britannica.com. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
- Reza, Mohammad Habib; Bandyopadhyay, S.; Mowla, Azizul. "Traces of Buddhist architecture in Gupta and post-Gupta Bengal: evidence from inscriptions and literature". Journal of Eurasian Studies. S2CID 163998400.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - Dasgupta, Biplab (2005). European Trade and Colonial Conquest, Volume 1. ISBN 9781843310280. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
- Lal, Avantika. "World History Encyclopedia: Maukhari Dynasty". World History Encyclopedia.
- GHOSE, MADHUVANTI (2003). "The Impact of the Hun Invasions: A Nomadic Interlude in Indian Art". Bulletin of the Asia Institute. 17: 145–146. ISSN 0890-4464.
- Madan, A. P. (1990). The History of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas. Harman Publishing House. p. 208. ISBN 978-81-85151-38-0.
- Willis, Michael (2005). "Later Gupta History: Inscriptions, Coins and Historical Ideology". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 15 (2): 140. ISSN 1356-1863.
- Sen, S.N., 2013, A Textbook of Medieval Indian History, Delhi: Primus Books, ISBN 9789380607344
- Tripathi, Rama S. (1989). History of Kanauj: To the Moslem Conquest. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 215. ISBN 9788120804043.
- "Siddham. The Asian Inscription Database IN00144 Asirgadh Seal Inscription of Sarvavarman".
- "Siddham. The Asian Inscription Database Śarvavarman".
- Vats, Madho Sarup (1946). "SOHNAG TERRACOTTA SEAL OF AVANTIVARMAN". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 9: 74–77. ISSN 2249-1937.
- Thomas, F. w (1918). Epigraphia Indica Vol.14. pp. 110–116.
- Eder, Manfred A. J. (2010). South Asian Archaeology 2007 Proceedings of the 19th Meeting of the European Association of South Asian Archaeology in Ravenna, Italy, July 2007, Volume II (PDF). Archaeopress Archaeology. p. 69. ISBN 978 1 4073 0674 2.
- Thomas, F. w (1918). Epigraphia Indica Vol.14. pp. 110–116.
- Bakker, Hans T. (2017). The Huns in Central and South Asia. How Two Centuries of War against Nomadic Invaders from the Steps are Concluded by a Game of Chess between the Kings of India and Iran.
- Canepa 2009, p. 181
- Hans Bakker 2014, p. 79.
- Ronald M. Davidson 2012, p. 34-35.
- Documented by the Shankarpur copper-plate inscription: see SIDDHAM: the asia inscriptions database: https://siddham.network/inscription/in00067/
- Bindeshwari Prasad Sinha (1977). Dynastic History of Magadha, Cir. 450-1200 A.D. Abhinav. pp. 109–110. OCLC 464639312.
Bibliography
- Hans Bakker (2014). The World of the Skandapurāṇa. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-27714-4.
- Ronald M. Davidson (2012). Indian Esoteric Buddhism: A Social History of the Tantric Movement. Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231501026.
External links
- Joseph Schwartzberg. The Historical Atlas of South Asia. Map of the “Age of Pusyabhutis & Calukyans, c. A.D. 550-700”. (Pg 26).