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Vikramendravarman I (Vishnukundin)

Vikramendravarman I was a Vishnukundin king, the son of the great Madhavavarman by a Vakataka princess and the father of Indravarman. No grant of his own survives. The grants of his son and grandson say that his birth was graced by the two families of the Vishnukundins and the Vakatakas, and the Tummalagudem plates call him a great poet and a devoted Buddhist. D. C. Sircar thought he came to the throne late in life and reigned briefly, about 615–625.

Vikramendravarman I was a king of the Vishnukundins, the family that ruled the lower Krishna and Godavari country before the Eastern Chalukyas.12 No grant of his own has been found.3 He is known only from the family trees in the grants of his son and his grandson.124

Family

The Chikkulla plates of his grandson Vikramendravarman II give the line from father to son. It runs from the Maharaja Madhavavarman to Vikramendravarman I, then Indrabhattarakavarman, then Vikramendravarman II.1 The Ramatirtham plates of his son Indravarman give the same line: Madhavavarman, Vikramendra, Indravarman.2 So his father was the great sacrificer Madhavavarman.12

D. C. Sircar thought that Madhavavarman had at least three sons: Devavarman, Manchyanna-bhattaraka and Vikramendravarman I.5 Devavarman’s son was Madhavavarman II, who issued the second set of Ipur plates.6

A Vakataka mother

The Chikkulla plates say that Vikramendravarman I’s birth was “embellished by the two families of the Vishnukundins and Vakatas”.1 The Ramatirtham plates say that he became “an ornament of both families”.7 H. Krishna Sastri, in 1909, and E. Hultzsch, in 1914, took this to mean that his mother was a princess of the Vakataka royal family.87 The Tummalagudem plates, edited in 1974, say the same more plainly. They call him the son of the great queen of the Vakataka family.49

Who she was is not known. G. Jouveau-Dubreuil thought she was a daughter or granddaughter of Prabhavati, the Gupta princess who married the Vakataka king Rudrasena II.1011 Vincent Smith, as Sewell and Aiyangar report, made her a daughter of the Vakataka king Harishena.12 R. S. Panchamukhi and V. V. Mirashi also thought Harishena the likeliest.1314

A Buddhist poet

The second set of Tummalagudem plates belongs to the reign of his grandson Vikramendravarman II.4 It calls Vikramendra I a “great poet” (mahakavi) and a devout worshipper of Sugata, that is, the Buddha.49 S. Sankaranarayanan, who edited the plates, noted that this was new.15 Until then the Vishnukundins had been known only as Saivas and followers of the Vedic religion.15

A short reign

Sircar worked out the order of succession in 1939.63 He thought that Madhavavarman I lived to a great age, and that his elder son Devavarman died before him.6 So Madhavavarman was succeeded first by his grandson Madhavavarman II, and only then by Vikramendravarman I.63 Vikramendra, in his view, was then “considerably aged”.3 He agreed with Jouveau-Dubreuil that “His reign was probably short”.316 From Vikramendra I onwards, Sircar wrote, the throne passed regularly from father to son.3

Where the sources disagree

  • His mother. Jouveau-Dubreuil made her a daughter or granddaughter of Prabhavati.1011 Smith, Panchamukhi and Mirashi made her a daughter of Harishena.121314
  • His dates. Sircar placed him about 615–625.17 Sankaranarayanan dated the accession of Vikramendravarman II to 555–56, and the reign of Indrabhattarakavarman to 526–556.18 On that count Indrabhattarakavarman’s father, Vikramendra I, reigned before 526.18
  • His number. Sircar wrote “Vikramendravarman I (II?)” in his family tree. If the Vikramahendra of the Polamuru plates was really a Vikramendra, he would be the first king of that name.1920 See Vikramahendra.

Footnotes

  1. F. Kielhorn, “Chikkulla Plates of Vikramendravarman II”, Epigraphia Indica IV (1897), p. 197, translation (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  2. Hultzsch, “Ramatirtham Plates” (1914), p. 136, translation (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  3. Sircar, Successors of the Satavahanas (1939), p. 107 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  4. Gajjala Vasanta Lakshmi (ed.), Epigraphia Telanganica I: Pre-Kakatiya Telangana (2023), p. 18, reprinting S. Sankaranarayanan, “Two Vishnukundi Charters from Tummalagudem”, Epigraphia Andhrica II (1974), pp. 4–20. Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  5. Sircar, Successors of the Satavahanas (1939), p. 105 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩

  6. Sircar, Successors of the Satavahanas (1939), p. 106 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  7. E. Hultzsch, “Ramatirtham Plates of Indravarman”, Epigraphia Indica XII (1914), p. 134 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  8. H. Krishna Sastri, Annual Report on Epigraphy, Southern Circle, for 1908–09 (1909), Part II, para. 62, p. 109 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  9. Epigraphia Telanganica I (2023), p. 23, translation of Set II, lines 9–10. Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2

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

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

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

  13. R. S. Panchamukhi, “Tandivada Grant of Prithivi-Maharaja: 46th Year”, Epigraphia Indica XXIII (1936), p. 92 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2

  14. V. V. Mirashi, “Epoch of the Ganga Era”, Epigraphia Indica XXVI (1942), p. 336 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2

  15. Epigraphia Telanganica I (2023), p. 20, Sankaranarayanan (1974). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2

  16. Jouveau-Dubreuil, Ancient History of the Deccan (1920), p. 91 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  17. Sircar, Successors of the Satavahanas (1939), p. 112, chronological table (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩

  18. Epigraphia Telanganica I (2023), p. 19, Sankaranarayanan (1974). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2

  19. D. C. Sircar, The Successors of the Satavahanas in Lower Deccan (1939), p. 103 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩

  20. Sircar, Successors of the Satavahanas (1939), p. 104, genealogical table (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩

Dynasties

Vishnukundins

c. 500–630 CE

The Vishnukundins ruled the Krishna–Godavari country after the Salankayanas and before the Eastern Chalukyas. They are known from a few Sanskrit copper-plate grants and one stone inscription. Their kings worshipped the lord of Sriparvata, said their greatest ruler, Madhavavarman, had performed eleven horse sacrifices, and married into the Vakataka royal family. Their capital in the later grants was Lendulura (Denduluru near Vengi). Scholars have dated them anywhere from the 4th to the 8th century. Most later studies place the main line in the 6th century and end it with the Chalukya conquest of the early 7th, though D. C. Sircar dated its end to about 670.

References

Sources (9)
  1. 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 (No. 25). [Public domain]
  2. Sten Konow (ed.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XII (1913–14) (opens in a new tab), Archaeological Survey of India, 1914, pp. 134, 136. E. Hultzsch, Ramatirtham plates of Indravarman (No. 17). [Public domain]
  3. Madras Government (Assistant Archaeological Superintendent for Epigraphy), Annual Reports on Epigraphy, Southern Circle, for 1906-07 to 1909-10 (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1910, pp. 109. Annual Report on Epigraphy for 1908–09, Part II, para. 62. [Public domain]
  4. Gajjala Vasanta Lakshmi (ed.); Gautam Pingle (gen. ed.), Epigraphia Telanganica, Vol. 1: Pre-Kakatiya Telangana, Dr MCR Human Resource Development Institute, Government of Telangana, 2023, pp. 18–20, 23. Tummalagudem plates (reprint of Sankaranarayanan 1974); cite-only, paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]
  5. D. C. Sircar, The Successors of the Satavahanas in Lower Deccan (opens in a new tab), University of Calcutta, 1939, pp. 104–107, 112. Cite-only; paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]
  6. G. Jouveau-Dubreuil, Ancient History of the Deccan (opens in a new tab), The author, Pondicherry (translated by V. S. Swaminadha Dikshitar), 1920, pp. 73–74, 91. [Public domain]
  7. 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. Paraphrased. [Public domain in India]
  8. Hirananda Sastri and N. P. Chakravarti (eds.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XXIII (1935–36) (opens in a new tab), Manager of Publications, Delhi, 1936, pp. 92. R. S. Panchamukhi, Tandivada grant of Prithivi-Maharaja; paraphrased. [Public domain in India]
  9. N. P. Chakravarti (ed.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XXVI (1941–42) (opens in a new tab), Manager of Publications, Delhi, 1942, pp. 336. V. V. Mirashi, Epoch of the Ganga Era; paraphrased. [Public domain in India]

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