Maitraka

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The Maitraka dynasty ruled Gujarat in western India from the c. 475 to 767. The founder of the dynasty, general Bhatarka, was a military governor of Saurashtra peninsula under Gupta empire, who had established himself as the independent ruler of Gujarat approximately in the last quarter of 5th century.

The Maitraka is stated to be not a tribal name but a cognomen only. The name is said to derive from Mithra, the Sun or Sun deity, also a synonym of Mihira, (old Persian Mihr). The Maitrakas, the worshippers of Mitra/Mithra i.e. Sun-worshippers,[1] identified with the Mihiras (Zoroastrians) are regarded by one school of scholars as of foreign (Iranian) origin [2] [3] [4] [5].

There is evidence that the Maitraka rulers had switched to Saivism, but when Chinese traveller Hieun-Tsang visited Vallabhi during second quarter of 7th century, he found its ruler to be a Buddhist follower. When I-Tsing, another Chinese traveller, visited Vallabhi in the last quarter of 7th century, he found Vallabhi as a great center of learning including Buddhism. Gunamati and Sthiramati were two famous Buddhist scholars of Vallabhi at the middle of 7th century. Vallabhi was famous for its catholicity and the students from all over the country, including the Brahmana boys, visited it to have higher education in secular and religious subjects. We are told that the graduates of Valabhi were given higher executive posts.

The Maitrakas ruled from their capital at Vallabhi. They came under the rule of Harsha in the mid-seventh century, but retained local autonomy, and regained their independence after Harsha's death.

Maitraka rule ended with the sacking of Vallabhi by the barbarians in 524, according to James Tod[6] and in second or third quarter of the 8th century by various other scholars[7]. There is no agreement among the scholars as to who these barbarians were.

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[edit] Ethnicity of Maitrakas

The ethnic affinities of the Maitakas are not clear.

Due to the faulty translation of the opening passage of the inscriptions of Vallabhi kings, it was erroneously held for a long time that Gupta Senapati Bhatarka had fought against the Maitrakas. The Maitrakas, therefore, were thought to be a particular family or clan of the Hunas [8]. Dr Hultzsch was the first to correct this mistake and point out that, according to proper construction of the passage, it really means that Bhatarka himself belonged to Maitakas and not that he fought against it [9] [10]. This view is now universally accepted among scholars. The earlier view of Maitrakas being from the Huna stock, originally prompted by wrong translation was therefore, subsequently dropped [11].

The Maitrakas are claimed to be of Zoroastrian origin [12]. See also: [1], [2]). Also refer to: p 132 from The Encyclopedia of World History Sixth Edition, Peter N. Stearns (general editor), © 2001 The Houghton Mifflin Company, at Bartleby.com.

The Sakas, Pahlavas and Kambojas had occupied south-west India including Sindhu, Saurashtra/Gujarat as a consequence of second century BCE tribal movement from Central Asia. This is attested from several ancient sources including the Puranas and other Sanskrit literature [3]

Based on above and other circumstantial evidence, the Maitraka dynasty of Saurashtra/Gujarat, to a first approximation, appears to belong either to the Pahlavas or the Kamboja stock...both being fire/Sun worshipping Iranians.

Now, the Kamboj of Karnal in (Haryana) have traditions which attest their original home to be Gajni, in Saurashtra:

  • At the Pheras (during marriage), their Parohits still proclaim Garh Gajni Nikaas, Lachhoti Ghaggar Vaas giving the evidence of their original home in Gajni. H. A. Rose and other scholars have identified this Gajni of the Kamboj traditions in Saurashtra [13].
  • They have yet another tradition which specifically localizes their Gajni in Saurashtra and further states that with the conspiracy of their wicked Parohit, their kingdom in Saurashtra was attacked and its capital Gajni was sacked by an enemy king in remote antiquity. The population was ruthlessly slaughtered along with their king and those who survived dispersed hither and thither, some came to Multan and Panjab [14].

Based on the ancient MSSs of Sisodia/Guhilot Rajputs of Mewar, James Tod has identified this Gajni with the port of Vallabhi (Kambay) in Saurashtra [15].

According scholars, the name Kambay (i.e. Khambat/Kambat)-- the Kambaya of the Arab geographers [16]--, is connected with the Kambojas and is an Apbhransh of well known Sanskrit term Kamboja[17]. There is yet another well-known ancient town called Kamboi (q.v.), located in Limkheda taluka in Patan district of modern Gujarat. The history of this Kamboi is also said to be very ancient. The town finds first mention in 10th century in the Daan Patras (gift letters) of the Chalukya rulers and is referred to as Kamboika [18], though the town is believed to have been in existence since remote antiquity. Scholars have identified Kamboi or Kamboika to be a corrupted form of Sanskrit Kambojika (Kamboja) [19] and linked it to ancient Kambojas.

Thus, both Kambay/Kambaya (Kambat/Khambat) as well as Kamboi of Saurashtra seem to have been connected with the Kamboja sections who, in alliance with the Sakas, Pahlavas had moved from north-west into Saurashtra/Gujarat around or prior to Christian era. (See : Invasion of India by Scythian Tribes) [20].

From the foregoing evidence, it thus appears that, to a second approximation, the Maitrakas were probably from the Kamboja background. The ancient Kambojas being Zoroastrian followers were naturally a fire/Sun worshipping people, and so were the Maitrakas as their name itself suggests and as the scholars like Dr Fleet, H. A. Rose and others have rightly suggested. Numerous ancient evidence attesting the Kamboja settlements in/around Saurashtra/Gujarat in post-Christian times gives sufficient credibility to this view. Thus, not only the sixth century Markendeya Purana (57.35) lists the Kambojas and Pahlavas among the countries of Udichya division i.e Uttarapatha, but 58th chapter of the same Purana also refers to yet other settlements of the Kambojas and Pahlavas and locates them specifically in the south-west of India as neighbors to the Sindhu, Sauvira and Anarta (north Saurashtra) countries [21]. Further also, not only the sixth century CE Brhatsamhita of Varaha Mihira locates the Kamboja kingdom in south-west India i.e around Gujarat/Surashtra [22] but also it refers to the kings of this Kamboja principality [23] [24], thus fairly and squarely attesting that this Kamboja of south-west India was a monarchy and therefore, was ruled by Kamboja kings. The above evidence from Brhatsamhita and Markendeya Purana, to all probability, alludes to the (Kamboja) Maitraka dynasty of Saurashtra.

The Sisodias/Guhilots of Rajasthan also have almost similar traditions about their origin and ancestorage as recorded by James Tod in his book [25].

One of the bardic chronicles of Sisodias of Mewar thus reads on the destruction of Gajni and the killing of Siladitya-VI and his defence forces: " The barbarians had captured Gajni. The house of Siladitya was left desolate. In its defence, his hero fell; of his seed but the name remains " [26].

This may suggest that the Maitrakas of Saurashtra may have also been the ancestors of Guhilots/Sisodias of Mewar. Furthermore, the ancestors of the Guhilots/Sisodias are also related to ancient Iranians (Guebres) and are said to have been fire and Sun worshippers before their switching to the worship of Mahadeo [27].

[edit] The Maitrakas of Gujarat

  • Bhatarka (c. 475- ?)
  • Dharasena I
  • Dronasimha (c. 500-c. 525)
  • Dhruvasena I (c. 525-c. 545)
  • Dharapatta (c. 545-c. 556)
  • Guhasena (c. 556-c. 570)
  • Dharasena II (c. 570-c. 606)
  • Siladitya I (c. 606-c. 616)
  • Kharagraha I (c. 616-c. 623)
  • Dharasena III (c. 623-c. 640)
  • Dhruvasena II (c. 640-c. 644)
  • Dharasena IV (c. 644-c. 651)
  • Dhruvasena III (c. 651-c. 656)
  • Kharagraha II (c. 656-c. 662)
  • Siladitya II (c. 662- ?)
  • Siladitya III
  • Siladitya IV
  • Siladitya V
  • Siladitya VI (c. 766-c. 767)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bombay, p 245, Bhau Daji (by Asiatic Society of Bombay, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, Bombay Branch); Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency – 1904, p 142, 476, by Bombay (India : State) .
  2. ^ Views of Dr Fleet, Dr V. A. Smith, H. A. Rose, Peter N. Stearns and other scholars
  3. ^ See: The Oxford History of India: From the Earliest Times to the End of 1911, p 164, Dr Vincent Arthur Smith
  4. ^ See also: History of India, 1907, 284 A. V. Williams (Abraham Valentine Williams) Jackson, Romesh Chunder Dutt, Vincent Arthur Smith, Stanley Lane-Poole, H. M. (Henry Miers) Elliot, William Wilson Hunter, Alfred Comyn Lyall.
  5. ^ Also: Journal of the United Service Institution of India, United Service Institution of India, p331.
  6. ^ Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, Vol I, 2002, pp 177, 187.
  7. ^ History and Culture of Indian People, Classical age, p 150, (Ed) Dr A. D. Pusalkar, Dr R. C. Majumdar.
  8. ^ Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland - Page 4, by Dr Fleet, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland.
  9. ^ Epigraphia Indica, III, 329.
  10. ^ See also: Indian Antiquaries, 1879, VIII.303; also see: Problems of Ancient Indian History in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland by Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, p 360, Dr J. F. Fleet.
  11. ^ History and Culture of Indian People, Classical Age, p 60, fn-2, Dr Pusalkar, Dr Majumdar; History of Indian Administration -1968, P 194, Baij Nath Puri.
  12. ^ See: The Oxford History of India: From the Earliest Times to the End of 1911, p 164, Dr Vincent Arthur Smith; History of India, 1907, p 284, A. V. Williams (Abraham Valentine Williams) Jackson, Romesh Chunder Dutt, Vincent Arthur Smith, Stanley Lane-Poole, H. M. (Henry Miers) Elliot, William Wilson Hunter, Alfred Comyn Lyall; cf: Glossaey of Tribes and Castes of North-West Frontier Province, Vol I, p 47, H. A. Rose
  13. ^ Glossary of Tribes, 1914, p 444fn, Sqq., H. A. Rose; Ancient Kamboja, People and Country, 1981, pp 119, 306; Hindu Polity, A constitutional History of India in Hindu Times, Part I & II, 1978, p 139, Dr K. P. Jayswal; The Kambojas Through the Ages, 2005, pp 416-17, S Kirpal Singh; cf: Political and Social Movements in Ancient Panjab, p 242, Dr Buddha Parkash etc
  14. ^ See: Glossary of Tribes and Castes, 1914, p 444fns and Sqq., H. A. Rose; Op cit., pp 416-17, S Kirpal Singh
  15. ^ See: Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, 2002, Vol-I, pp 178 ffn1, 202 ffn1
  16. ^ Asiatic Papers, pp 203, 204, Jivanji Jamshedji Modi; Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World: Early Medieval India and the Expansion of Islam, pp 68, 178, Andre Wink; Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms - 1903, P 150, Henry Yule, A. C. (Arthur Coke) Burnell, William Crooke.
  17. ^ See: Vanger Jatya Itihaas (Vangla), Rajanyakanda, Nagendra Nath Vasu; Also: Epigraphia Indica, Vol XXIV, pp 45-46; Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, pp 305, 332; cf: Ancient India, 1956, p 383, Dr R. K. Mukerjee; Encyclopedia of Religions Or Faiths of Man 1906, p 282, J G R Forlong etc.
  18. ^ See: Indian Antiquary VI, 1877, pp 191-92, G. Buhler.
  19. ^ From Sanskrit Kamboja, Pali Kambojika = > Kamboyika = > Kamboika = > Kamboi.
  20. ^ There may be an alternative view to it. Around 4th/5th c CE, prior to Huna invasion of India, the Hunas and Kambojas are attested to have been living as neighbors around Oxus in the west and east Oxus valleys respectively. This fact is confirmed from Sanskrit Drama Raghuvamsha of Kalidasa (See: Raghu 4/67-70). There are still more post-Christian era references which also attest this fact. It is thought that the Maitraka family of Vallabhi may have come to India in the wake of/ or in alliance with the Hunas (q.v.) as their military aide and later established a principality in Saurashtra/Kathiawar.
  21. ^ See: Markendeya 58.30-32; Geographical Data in Early Purana, 1972, p 134-135, Dr M. R. Singh; Ancient Kamboja People and the Country 1981, p 305, Dr Kamboj
  22. ^ nairrtyam dizi dezah Pahlava Kamboja Sindhu Sauvirah :Brhatsamhita verse ||14.17-19||.
  23. ^ Kambojau nrpati prabhajjane na stah :Brhatsamhita verse || 11.57 ||.
  24. ^ cf also: India as Seen in the Brhatsamhita of Varahamihira, 1969, Dr A. M. Shastri, Reader in Ancient Indian History & Culture, Nagpur University.
  25. ^ Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, 2002, Vol-I, pp 170-71, 174-194
  26. ^ See: Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, 2002, Vol-I, pp 178, 71, James Tod.
  27. ^ Annals And Antiquities of Rajasthan, Vol I, 2002, pp 93, 186-194, James Tod

[edit] External links

  • See also: Kambojas, Maitrakas and Guhilots/Sisodias--A PROBABLE REMOTE CONNECTION (discussion forum) [4]
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