गुप्त अभिलेख संग्रह (जे. एफ. फ्लीट - गुप्त सम्राटों एवं परवर्ती नरेशों के ऐतिहासिक पाषाण व ताम्रलेख)

THE GUPTA INSCRIPTIONS; INTRODUCTION. 15
Harshagupta's grandson, Kumâragupta. Dâmôdaragupta, again, in the same inscription,
is mentioned as breaking-up the forces of the Maukhari king, which had previously over-
come the army of the Hûṇas. And the Susthitavarman who was conquered in battle by
Mahâsênagupta, doubtless belonged to the same lineage. Other references to the
Maukharis are to be found in the Harshacharita of Bâṇa, and in the Nêpâl inscriptions.¹
Nos. 48, 49, and 50, give us another minor branch of the Maukhari lineage, of evidently
much less importance, belonging to the neighbourhood of Gayâ.
The second of the contemporaneous families introduced by the Aphsaḍ inscription,
is that of the Kings of Kanauj, to which belonged the great Harshadêva or
Harshavardhana. Of this king I am able to give a brand-new inscription, in the Sônpat
seal, No. 52, page 231. This is the first epigraphical record of this family that has ever
been obtained; and it is of extreme interest in carrying back the genealogy to two genera-
tions before Harshavardhana's well-known father, Prabhâkaravardhana; and in shewing
that the latter was the first paramount sovereign in the family. The verse in the Aphsaḍ
inscription which mentions Harshavardhana, under the name of Harshadêva, is partly
obliterated; but it refers to Mâdhavagupta either as a feudatory of the Kanauj king, or as
seeking an alliance with him. A connection between the two families appears to be
established in Mahâsênaguptâ,² the wife of the Mahârâja Âdityavardhana, who was the
grandfather of Harshavardhana; it can hardly be doubted that she was a sister of
Mahâsênagupta of Magadha, the father of Mâdhavagupta. Another point of importance
in this Sônpat seal, is, that it shews that the father of Prabhâkaravardhana was neither
Pushpabhûti or Pushyabhûti, who is mentioned by Bâṇa, in his Harshacharita, in connec-
tion with this family; nor king Sîlâditya of Mâlava, who is spoken of by Hiuen Tsiang,
but the feudatory Mahârâja Âdityavardhana. That Sîlâditya of Mâlava was the father
of Prabhâkaravardhana, was assumed by Mr. Fergusson.³ And Prof. Max Müller has
asserted the same relationship in respect of Pushpabhûti;⁴ but Dr. F. E. Hall⁵ only speaks
of Pushpabhûti as an ancestor, more or less remote, of Harshavardhana; and Dr. Bhag-
wanlal Indrajî,⁶ who writes the name Pushyabhûti, only speaks of Harshavardhana as
belonging to the Pushyabhûti dynasty.
No. 53, page 233, to No. 56, page 243, are inscriptions of the Vâkâṭaka Mahâ-
râjas. Their date is determined by the marriage of Rudrasêna II. with Prabhâvatiguptâ,
the daughter of the paramount sovereign Dêvagupta, who, it can hardly be doubted, was
Dêvagupta of Magadha,⁷ the son of Âdityasêna, mentioned in the Dêô-Baraṇârk inscrip-
tion, No. 46, page 213, and belonging to the period of about A.D. 680 to 700. This brings
¹ Ind. Ant. Vol. IX. p. 163 ff.
² See page 232, note 3. ³ Jour. R. As. Soc. N. S. Vol. IV. p. 87.
⁴ India; What can it teach us?, p. 288.
⁵ Vâsavadattâ, Preface, p. 51; in his analysis of the Harshacharita.
⁶ Ind. Ant. Vol. XIII. p. 74. ⁷ See page 215, note 7.