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Later Mauryan dynasty

The Rājataranginī mentions Jalauka as the successor of Asoka in Kasmira, while Tāranātha mentions another successor Virasena who ruled in Gandhāra and he was as Dr. Thomas suggests, probably the predecessor of Subhagasena.[1]

Maurya kings continued to rule in western India as well as Magadha long after the extinction of the imperial line. King Dhavala of the Maurya dynasty is referred to in the Kanaswa inscription of A.D. 738. Professor Bhandarkar identifies him with Dhavalappadeva, the overlord of Dhanika mentioned in the Dabok (Mewar) inscription of A.D. 725.” Maurya chief of the Konkan and Khandesh are referred to in the early epigraphs. A Maurya Prince of Magadha named Pürnavarman is mentioned by Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang.[2] In 7th century A.D. Hiuen Tsang, wrote about small dominions in eastern India for he relates that shortly before his visit Purnavarman, king of Magadha, a descendant of Ashoka who had restored the Bodhi-tree, which had been destroyed by Sasanka, apart from this he also mention Mauryan ruler named Narendragupta of Karnasuvarna(Bengal).[3] During the sixth century Kolaba along with the Northern Konkan coast was probably ruled by Mauryas and Nala Chiefs as Kirtivarman (550-567), the first of the Calukyas who conquered Konkan is described as the night of death to the Nalas and Mauryas [Indian Antiquary VIII. 24.].

From an inscribed stones of the fifth and the sixth century discovered in the Thānā district of North Konkan, it describes that a Mauryan King Suketuvarman was ruling in Konkan. Konkan was given in charge of a Maurya family.[4][5][6]

It is interesting to see that More is a name quite common among Marathas. Probably here can be traced the name Maurya. Two small landing places of the name of More in Elephanta and in Karanja can be taken as relics of the Maurya power formerly existing in Konkan. The Mauryas of the Konkan, previously subdued, were overwhelmed and the city of Puri (either Gharapuri, i.e., the island of Elephanta near Bombay, or Rajpuri near Janjira), which was located in the Arabian Sea and was probably the Maurya capital, was invaded by Pulakesin's battleships and was captured.[7]

Rediscovery

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Coins of the Kalacuri king Krşņarāja have been found in the island of Bombay. But the country was not directly administered by the Kalacuris. They gave it to a feudadtory family called the Mauryas.The Kaņaśva inscription dated A.D. 738-39 mentions the Maurya king Dhavalappa, who was probably holding the fort of Chittorgarh.This family probably succumbed to the attack of the Arabs, who are credited with a victory over them. Another Maurya family was ruling at Valabhi (modern Valā) in Saurāştra. A later scion of it named Govindaraja Maurya was reigning from Väghli in Khāndeśa as a feudatory of the Mahamandaleśvara Seunacandra II. The family ruling in North Konkan in the sixth and seventh centuries A.D. was related to any of the branches of the great Maurya family. The first notice of the Maurya family ruling in North Konkan occurs in the description of the conquests of the early Chalukya king Kirtivarman I (A.D. 566-598). In the Aihole inscription where he is described as the Night of Destruction to the Nalas, Mauryas and Kadambas. The Kadambas were described as subclan of Southern Mauryans who where completely lost.[8]

The Mauryas of Konkan region

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Suketuvarman is known from a solitary stone inscription found at Vada to the north of Thana near Bombay but now preserved in the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay. The epigraph, which is damaged and written in the southern characters of about the 4th or 5th century A.D. and refers to a king named Suketuvarman of the Maurya dynasty. He appears to have been ruling near about Thana during that period.[9]

The Mauryas of Western coastline

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Two copper plate grants discovered in the Goa territory on the west coast reveal the existence of two kings named Chandravarman and Anirjitavarman who belonged to the Maurya dynasty as per their inscription. As both the grants are dated in the regnal years of the ruling kings, from the palaeographical point of view, they may be assigned to the 6th or 7th century A.D., the grant of Chandravarman being slightly earlier than that of Anirjitvarman. Both these rulers, who assume the epithet of Mahārāja in their records. The charter of Chandravarman records the donation, by the king, of some lands to the Mahāvihāra situated in Sivapura which is identified with the village bearing the same name near Chandor in Goa. The grant of Anirjitavarman, registers certain gifts, made by the king, to a Brāhmaņa named Hastyärya. It is issued from a a place called Kumāradvīpa which appears to be located somewhere in the Goa territory. These two records show that Candravarman and Anirjitvarman were ruling somewhere in the Goa territory about the 6th-7th century A.D.[10]

The Mauryas of the Mathura region

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Dindirāja alias Karka fragmentary stone inscription from Mathura city in Uttar Pradesh which, on palaeographical grounds, is referred to the latter half of the 7th century A.D., mentions four members of the Maurya dynasty viz. Krşņarāja in his family, Chandragupta his son, Aryarāja and, probably his son, Dindirāja alias Karka.[11][12]The last named ruler of this Mauryan branch appears to have burnt the city of Kanyakubja (Kannauj). The Maurya kings mentioned in this record seem to have held sway over the south-western areas of Uttar Pradesh. The Jaina tradition represents king Yasovarman (circa 728-53 A.D.) of Kannauj as a descendant of Chandragupta Maurya. This may refer to Yasovarman's relations with Karka-Dindirāja who, in all probability, was the grandson of a Maurya ruler named Chandragupta of 7th century A.D.[13]

The Mauryas of the Rajasthan region

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King Dhavala or Dhavalātman inscription" from Kanaswa in the old Kota, State of Rajasthan, dated in the Mälava year (i.e. Vikrama Samvat) 795 or 738. A.D., refers to the Brahmana Sivagana as a feudatory of king Dhavala of the Maurya lineage. Dr. D.C. Sircar has suggested, on grounds of palaeographical resemblance and geographical proximity, that the Mauryas of the Mathura region mentioned above may be connected with the Maurya king Dhavala of the Kanaswa record.[14] It has also been suggested that the Mauryas who are stated to have been defeated by the Tājika (i. e. Arab) army in the Navsari plates of the Gujarat Chalukya chief Pulakeśin, dated 738 A.D., were probably these Mauryas of the Malwa Rajasthan region.[15]

Dhavala inscription from Dabok about 8 miles to the east of Udaipur in Rajasthan, mentions a Guhila chief Dhanika of Dhabagarta and his lord Dhavalappa Deva. Bhandarkar was inclined to identify Dhavalappa of this epigraph with the Maurya king Dhavalātman of the Kanaswa inscription referred.[16] It is possible that they were related to the Mauryas of the West Coast region and might have extended their suzerainty over Rajasthan which then formed part of Harsa's (606-47 A.D.) dominion. As pointed out by Dr. Sircar, the date of the Dabok record as read by him shows that Harsa must have lost parts of Rajasthan before his death in 647 A.D., though the Mauryas of Rajasthan must have owed allegiance to him before.[17][18]

Jhalrapatan (Jhalwar District Rajasthan) inscription dated 689 A.D. mentions a Maurya ruler named Durgagana.[19] Further, Bappa, son of Guhila or Guhadatta, founder of the Guhila family, supplanted his uncle known as the Mori (i.e. Maurya) ruler of Chitor in whose service he was before.[20]

The Mauryas of Khandesh region

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Govindarāja stone record from Väghli in the Khandesh District, Maharastra State, dated Saka 991 or 1069 A.D. refers to a Maurya chief Govinda or Govindaraja as a subordinate of the early Yadava king Seuņachandra II. The epigraph mentions twenty princes or chiefs who were predecessors of Mauryan King Govindaraja, the earliest member being Kikața. It is also stated that originally the capital of the Mauryas was at Valabhī in Surashtra.[21]

Modern Assertion

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Ashoka appointed the princes of the royal blood as viceroys in the outlying provinces of his vast empire to carry on the administration.Four such Mauryan princes viceroys ruling at Taxila, Ujjain, Tosali and Suvarnagiri are known from lithic records of Ashoka edicts. So Mauryan lineage kings spreaded from the time of Ashoka.The Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang (7th century A.D.) mentions a Maurya ruler of Magadha named Pürņavarman. While some of the later Mauryan rulers enjoyed independent status, others were either semi-independent or feudatories or even petty chiefs. Future discoveries may throw further light on these later Mauryas.

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References

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  1. ↑ Hemchandra Raychaudhuri, M. A. (1932). Political History of ancient India. p. 238.
  2. ↑ Hemchandra Raychaudhuri, M. A. (1932). Political History of ancient India. p. 240.
  3. ↑ Rapson, E. J. (1935). The Cambridge History Of India Vol.i. p. 513.
  4. ↑ "Konkan was given in charge of a Maurya family. A grant of the Maurya prince Suketuvarman, who ruled in this period, has been discovered in the Thānā district of North Konkan." MLBD Varanasi. Literay And Historical Studies In Indology Of Dr. Vasudev Vishnu Mirashi MLBD Varanasi. p. 128.
  5. ↑ "A stone inscription from Vada in the north of the Thana District mentions a Maurya king named Suketuvarman ruling in Konkan." Vasudev Vishnu Mirshi (1955). Corpus Inscriptionium Indicarum Vol Iv Part 1 (in Multilingual). Government Epigraphist For India, Ootacamund. p. 75.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  6. ↑ "We have discussed above about the Saka era. From the point of view of its early history as well as for the history of the later Mauryas of Konkana the Vala (or Vada) inscription of Suketuvarman, dated Saka 322, is one of utmost importance. The inscription was actually found at the place of this name in the Thane District of Maharashtra though wrongly attributed to Vala in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. It aims at registering the installation of the deity Koțiśvara by one Simhadatta, son of Anankiparadatta in the Saka year 322, and some grants to the divinity by one Isuprakki, the Vallabha-Talavara of the Maurya Dharma- mahārāja Suketuvarman of the Bhojas. The inscription adds one more name to the list of the Mauryas of Konkaņa." Dikshit, K. N. (1995). puratattva: Bulletin of the Indian archaeological society number 25 1994-95. Indian Archaeological Society,New delhi. p. 32.
  7. ↑ https://gazetteers.maharashtra.gov.in/cultural.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/KOLABA/his_early.html
  8. ↑ Maharashtra State Gazetteers (1967). Ancient History of Maharashtra. p. 140.
  9. ↑ N. V. SundaraRaman, Chairman; P. Setu Madhava Rao, Member; V. B. Kolte, Member; C. D. Deshpande, Member; B. R. Rairikar, Member; Sarojini Babar, Member; V. T. Gune, Member; P. N. Chopra, Member; V. N. Gurav, Member-Secretary (1908). Central Provinces District Gazetteers: Nagpur District. Bombay, Times Press. p. 65.
  10. ↑ epigraphia-indica. p. 295.
  11. ↑ "Jhalarpatan inscription (AD 689) of Durgagana, the Kudarkot inscription of about the second half of the seventh century, the Nagar inscription (AD 684) of Dhanika, and the Kanaswa inscription (AD 738) of Sivagana." The inscription was composed "in adoration of a god whose epithets kal- anjana-rajah-punja-dyuti, (ma)havaraha-rupa and jangama have only been preserved". It leaves "no doubt that the reference is to the god Vishnu since the expression mahavaraha-rupa certainty speaks of the Boar incarnation of the deity." The hero of the prasasti is a king named Dindiraja of the Maurya dynasty.Ed Sitaram Goel (1993). Hindu Temples Vol. II (Ed Sitaram Goel). p. 80-81.
  12. ↑ D. C. Sircar (1969). Pracyavidya-Tarangini. p. 208-209.
  13. ↑ Epigraphia indica (1957-1958). Servants of Knowledge. The director general archaeological survey of india. p. 207-212.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  14. ↑ Epigraphia Indica, Vol-32, Issue no.-1-42. p. 209.
  15. ↑ Ray, H. C. (1935-11-18). The Dynastic History Of Northern India Vol. 2. p. 540.
  16. ↑ BARNETT, L. D. (1958). ANTIQUITIES OF INDIA. PUNTHI PUSTAK, CALCUTTA. p. 73.
  17. ↑ "The second inscription of Dhanıka, dated A.D. 725, was discovered at Dabok in Mewar .It mentions Śrī Dhanıka as ruling over DHAVALAGARTTA as a feudatory chief under paramabhattāraka-mahārājādhırājā paramēśvara-Śrī-DHAVALAPPADEVA According to Prof DR Bhandarkar, the paramount ruler mentioned in the record is the same as the king DHAVALA of the Maurya dynasty referred to in the Kansuvām inscription of AD 738" Mookerji, Radha Kumud (1945). Bharata- Kaumudi Studies In Indology In Honur Of Dr Radha Kumud Mookerji Part-i. {{cite book}}: Text "294" ignored (help)
  18. ↑ "The Mauryas are referred to in a record at Jhalrapatan dated A.D. 690. Another record in Kotah State, dated A.D. 738-39, refers to the local prince as a friend of king Dhavala of Maurya lineage..As already noted above, the Mauryas fell a victim to the Arab aggression, and it was probably after this catastrophe that Bappa defeated them and took possession of Chitor." Munshi K. M. (1954). The Classical Age Vol-iii (1954). Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p. 162.
  19. ↑ "This inscription is dated in the 796th year of the Lords of Malava. It is probable that the Jhalrapathan inscription, which is dated in the 747th year of an unnamed era, is to be referred to the same method of computing time. The slight difference in the alphabet to which attention has been drawn is of the kind that might develop in the fifty years which, on this hypothesis, would separate the two. Neither the Sivagaņa of our inscription nor the Durgagana of the Jhalrapathan inscription is spoken of as a sovereign monarch: and when we find one spoken of as ruling at Kotah, under a Maurya Emperor, in the year 796 of the Lords of Malava, and the other referred to as ruler in the year 747, of a town only seventy miles to the south, which has always been very closely connected with Kotah, it seems natural to suppose that "Durgagana," and "Sivagana," are of the same stock. If this be so, it is to be noted that the want of any reference on the Jhalrâpâthan inscription speaks of an era which at the time had wide and undisputed currency. "Peterson, Peter (1885). The Auchityalamkara of Kshemendra, with a note on the date of Patanjali, and an inscription from Kotah; two papers read before the Bombay branch of the Royal Asiatic society, with a preface in reply to Professor Bhandarkar. University of California. Bombay, Printed at the Education society's press, Byculla.
  20. ↑ BANERJEE, ANIL CHANDRA (1958). MEDIEVAL STUDIES. A. MUKHARJEE AND COMPANY , CALCUTTA. p. 23-30.
  21. ↑ epigraphia-indica. p. 418.
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