A new site, built from published sources. Spotted a mistake? Please tell us
Telugu Historyతెలుగు చరిత్ర

Vakatakas

Dynasty of the northern Deccan and central India, about the 3rd to the 6th century, with its heartland in Vidarbha (Berar) north of the Telugu country. Its kings married into the Gupta imperial family, and one of their princesses married the Vishnukundin king Madhavavarman. G. Jouveau-Dubreuil (1920) thought the Vakatakas ruled almost the whole of the later Hyderabad State and placed the first Vishnukundin on the throne of Vengi. A modern history of Telangana (2022) counts only the Adilabad, Nizamabad and Karimnagar country inside their lands. The Ajanta inscription credits their last great king, Harishena, with the conquest of Andhra.

Swipe sideways to see the whole chart; tap a bar for details.

Each bar is a ruling power in its region; time runs left to right. Dashed = approximate dates. Select a bar for details.

200250300350400450500550600Mauryas & Satavahanas (300 BCE – 225 CE)Ikshvakus, Vishnukundins & early kingdoms (225–624 CE)Ikshvakus, Vishnukundins & early kingdomsEastern Chalukyas & the Deccan powers (624–1163 CE)TelanganaSatavahanasVakatakasIkshvakusVishnukundinsCoastal AndhraSatavahanasPallavasIkshvakusVishnukundinsSalankayanas of VengiEastern Gangas of KalingaEastern Chalukyas of VengiChalukyas of BadamiRayalaseemaSatavahanasPallavasTelugu Cholas of Renadu200250300350400450500550600
Show as a list

Mauryas & Satavahanas 300 BCE – 225 CE

Telangana
Satavahanas (c. 220 BCE – 225 CE)
Coastal Andhra
Satavahanas (c. 220 BCE – 225 CE)
Rayalaseema
Satavahanas (c. 1–225 CE)

Ikshvakus, Vishnukundins & early kingdoms 225–624 CE

Telangana
Vakatakas (c. 300–500 CE) · Ikshvakus (c. 225–352 CE) · Vishnukundins (c. 375–612 CE)
Coastal Andhra
Pallavas (c. 250–630 CE) · Ikshvakus (c. 225–350 CE) · Vishnukundins (c. 500–630 CE) · Salankayanas of Vengi (c. 300–470 CE) · Eastern Gangas of Kalinga (c. 537–1434 CE) · Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi (c. 615–973 CE) · Chalukyas of Badami (c. 615–642 CE)
Rayalaseema
Pallavas (c. 300–900 CE) · Telugu Cholas of Renadu (c. 550–800 CE)

Eastern Chalukyas & the Deccan powers 624–1163 CE

Coastal Andhra
Pallavas (c. 250–630 CE) · Vishnukundins (c. 500–630 CE) · Eastern Gangas of Kalinga (c. 537–1434 CE) · Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi (c. 615–973 CE) · Chalukyas of Badami (c. 615–642 CE)
Rayalaseema
Pallavas (c. 300–900 CE) · Telugu Cholas of Renadu (c. 550–800 CE)
Kingdoms and empires Uncertain or debated dates Held another region first This page

Reigns

Each bar is one ruler’s reign; time runs left to right. c. = approximate date.

250275300325350375400425450475500525Vindhyasakti · c. 275–300 CE · c. 25 yrsVindhyasaktic. 275–300 CE · c. 25 yrsPravarasena I · c. 300–330 CE · c. 30 yrsPravarasena Ic. 300–330 CE · c. 30 yrsRudrasena I · c. 330–340 CE · c. 10 yrsRudrasena Ic. 330–340 CE · c. 10 yrsPrithvisena I · c. 340–390 CE · c. 50 yrsPrithvisena Ic. 340–390 CE · c. 50 yrsRudrasena II · c. 390–395 CE · c. 5 yrsRudrasena IIc. 390–395 CE · c. 5 yrsPravarasena II · c. 395–420 CE · c. 25 yrsPravarasena IIc. 395–420 CE · c. 25 yrsDevasena · c. 445–465 CE · c. 20 yrsDevasenac. 445–465 CE · c. 20 yrsHarishena · c. 465–500 CE · c. 35 yrsHarishenac. 465–500 CE · c. 35 yrs
  1. Vindhyasaktic. 275–300 CE · c. 25 yrs
  2. Pravarasena Ic. 300–330 CE · c. 30 yrs
  3. Rudrasena Ic. 330–340 CE · c. 10 yrs
  4. Prithvisena Ic. 340–390 CE · c. 50 yrs
  5. Rudrasena IIc. 390–395 CE · c. 5 yrs
  6. Pravarasena IIc. 395–420 CE · c. 25 yrs
  7. Devasenac. 445–465 CE · c. 20 yrs
  8. Harishenac. 465–500 CE · c. 35 yrs
Reign · c. = approximate date

Approximate reign years from the table of Vakataka kings in Sewell and Aiyangar (1932), which gives 'the dates of the late Dr. Vincent Smith and others'. The table notes that V. S. Sukthankar thought these dates too early. Jouveau-Dubreuil (1920) placed Harishena later, about 500 to 530. Only the kings in Sewell's main line are charted.

The Vakatakas were a royal family of the northern Deccan and central India, between the 3rd and the 6th century.12 Their lands lay north of the Telugu country, in Vidarbha (Berar) and the country south of the Narmada.34 They matter to Telugu history for three reasons: their kings may have held northern Telangana, one of their princesses married the Vishnukundin king Madhavavarman, and their last great king claimed to have conquered Andhra.235

The family

The family tree comes from copper-plate grants and two inscriptions at Ajanta, which G. Jouveau-Dubreuil listed in 1920.1 The first king of the line was Vindhyasakti, “the banner of the Vakataka race” in the Ajanta inscription.6 His son Pravarasena I was the first to take the title maharaja (great king) and performed horse sacrifices.6

The table in Sewell and Aiyangar’s Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932) dates Vindhyasakti to about 275–300.7 It ends with Harishena, about 465–500.7 A note to the same table says that V. S. Sukthankar thought these dates too early.7

James Fergusson and James Burgess wrote in 1880 that the family “was probably a subordinate kingdom, extending over Berar and parts of the Narmada and Central Provinces”.4 Jouveau-Dubreuil held the opposite view.1 He called the Vakatakas the most important of all the dynasties of the Deccan from the 3rd to the 6th century.1

The Gupta marriage

Rudrasena II married Prabhavati-gupta, daughter of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II.89 A grant of hers was found in Poona and published in Epigraphia Indica in 1920.8 It calls her the chief queen of Rudrasena II and mother of the young prince Divakarasena.8 The grant was issued from the camp at Nandivardhana.8

Jouveau-Dubreuil dated the marriage to about 395.9 He thought Rudrasena died soon after it, and that Prabhavati ruled for her son about 400.9

How far south did they rule?

The sources differ widely on the Vakataka hold over the Telugu country.

  • Jouveau-Dubreuil wrote that the Vakataka kingdom “extended up to the modern town of Kurnool on the banks of the Krishna”.9 He also wrote that they “reigned over almost the whole of the modern State of Hayderabad”.3 In his account of their borders in 450, the Vishnukundin kingdom of Vengi lay to their south-east.3
  • The Sewell table says the Vakatakas pushed south into Kuntala (the Kanarese country) and held parts of Bellary and Mysore.7
  • A. K. Goel and his co-authors (2022) placed the Vakataka lands from where their 37 inscriptions were found.2 They counted over thirty districts of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Telangana.2 In Telangana they named only Adilabad, Nizamabad and Karimnagar.2

The marriage with the Vishnukundins

The Chikkulla plates of the Vishnukundins call Vikramendravarman, grandson of Madhavavarman, a king “whose birth was embellished by the two families of the Vishnukundins and Vakatas”.10 Sewell and Aiyangar report the usual reading: Madhavavarman married a daughter of the Vakataka king.11

  • Vincent Smith, as reported by Sewell and Aiyangar, made her a daughter of Harishena.11 In this account Harishena’s influence won Madhavavarman the Vengi country.11
  • Jouveau-Dubreuil thought she was a daughter or granddaughter of Prabhavati.3 He believed the Vakatakas founded the Vishnukundin dynasty by putting Madhavavarman on the throne of Vengi.3

Harishena and Andhra

Harishena was the last strong Vakataka king.512 The Ajanta inscription, as Jouveau-Dubreuil reported it, names Kuntala, Avanti (Malwa), Kalinga, Kosala, Trikuta, Lata and Andhra among his conquests.5 Goel and his co-authors took this Andhra to be the Godavari–Krishna country.12

Jouveau-Dubreuil dated these wars to about 500–515.5 He thought Harishena may have interfered in Kalinga and Andhra, “between the Godavari and the Krishna”.5 The editor of the 1932 Sewell volume gave another view: “Andhra” might mean the country of the Salankayanas, further west than Vengi.11

The end

Jouveau-Dubreuil thought the Kalachuris replaced the Vakatakas in the middle of the 6th century.5 Goel and his co-authors wrote that the Kalachuris dealt the final blow, and that the rising Chalukyas took over their lands in the second quarter of the 6th century.12

Where the sources disagree

  • Dates. Vincent Smith’s dates put Harishena about 465–500 (Sewell and Aiyangar).7 Jouveau-Dubreuil placed him about 500–530.5 Sukthankar thought the whole series too early.7
  • Rule in Telangana. Almost the whole of the Hyderabad State (Jouveau-Dubreuil, 1920), or only the three northern districts of Adilabad, Nizamabad and Karimnagar (Goel and others, 2022).32
  • The Andhra of Harishena. The Godavari–Krishna country (Goel and others; Jouveau-Dubreuil), or the old Salankayana country west of Vengi (the 1932 editor).12511

Footnotes

  1. G. Jouveau-Dubreuil, Ancient History of the Deccan (1920), p. 71 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  2. Goel et al., History of Telangana – Land and People, vol. 1 (2022), p. 239. Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  3. Jouveau-Dubreuil, Ancient History of the Deccan (1920), p. 74 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  4. James Fergusson and James Burgess, The Cave Temples of India (1880), p. 306 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  5. Jouveau-Dubreuil, Ancient History of the Deccan (1920), p. 76 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  6. Jouveau-Dubreuil, Ancient History of the Deccan (1920), p. 72 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  7. Sewell and Aiyangar, Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 398, table of the Vakataka kings (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased except for short phrases. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  8. K. B. Pathak and K. N. Dikshit, “Poona Plates of the Vakataka Queen Prabhavati-Gupta: the 13th Year”, Epigraphia Indica XV (1919–20), p. 40 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  9. Jouveau-Dubreuil, Ancient History of the Deccan (1920), p. 73 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  10. F. Kielhorn, “Chikkulla Plates of Vikramendravarman II”, Epigraphia Indica IV (1896–97), p. 197, translation (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  11. Robert Sewell and S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 20 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  12. A. K. Goel, D. Satyanarayana, Rekha Pande and Ravulapati Madhavi, History of Telangana – Land and People, vol. 1 (2022), p. 238. Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

Photos

References

Sources (6)
  1. G. Jouveau-Dubreuil, Ancient History of the Deccan (opens in a new tab), The author, Pondicherry (translated by V. S. Swaminadha Dikshitar), 1920, pp. 71–76. [Public domain]
  2. F. W. Thomas (ed.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XV (1919–20) (opens in a new tab), Government of India, Calcutta, 1925, pp. 40. K. B. Pathak and K. N. Dikshit, Poona Plates of the Vakataka Queen Prabhavati-Gupta. [Public domain]
  3. James Fergusson and James Burgess, The Cave Temples of India (opens in a new tab), W. H. Allen, London, 1880, pp. 305–306. [Public domain]
  4. F. Kielhorn (articles); E. Hultzsch (ed.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. IV (1896–97) (opens in a new tab), Archaeological Survey of India, 1897, pp. 197. F. Kielhorn, Chikkulla Plates of Vikramendravarman II. [Public domain]
  5. Robert Sewell (ed. S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar), The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (Collected till 1923) and Outlines of Political History (opens in a new tab), University of Madras, 1932, pp. 20, 398. Paraphrased. [Public domain in India]
  6. A. K. Goel, D. Satyanarayana, Rekha Pande and Ravulapati Madhavi, History of Telangana – Land and People: From Stone Age to 1323 CE, Volume 1, Dr MCR Human Resource Development Institute, Government of Telangana, 2022, pp. 238–239. Cite-only; paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]

Spotted an error on this page? Tell us

Last updated: