Prabhavatigupta
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Prabhavatigupta (died ) was a Gupta princess and Vakataka queen who was the consort of Maharaja Rudrasena II. Following the death of her husband, she effectively ruled the Vakataka Dynasty as
regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...
from about 390 to 410. She was a devotee of Lord
Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...
.


Early life

Prabhavatigupta was the daughter of
Chandragupta II Chandragupta II (r.c. 375–415), also known by his title Vikramaditya, as well as Chandragupta Vikramaditya, was an emperor of the Gupta Empire. Modern scholars generally identify him with King Chandra of the Iron pillar of Delhi, Delhi iron ...
, the ruler of the
Gupta Empire The Gupta Empire was an Indian empire during the classical period of the Indian subcontinent which existed from the mid 3rd century to mid 6th century CE. At its zenith, the dynasty ruled over an empire that spanned much of the northern Indian ...
, and queen Kuberanaga. She married Rudrasena II of the Vakataka dynasty during the reign of Rudrasena's father, Prithivishena I. Rudrasena had a short reign of only about five years before he died. Prabhavatigupta had three sons with Rudrasena - Divakarasena, Damodarasena, and Pravarasena – but none of them were adults at the time of their father's untimely death.


Regent of the Vakataka Realm

Divakarasena, the eldest son of Rudrasena and Prabhavatigupta, was the ''Yuvaraja'' or Crown Prince of the Vakataka kingdom. Since he was still a child, Prabhavatigupta assumed the reigns of government and ruled in his name. We know that Prabhavatigupta ruled for at least 13 years as a regent because her
Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...
grant is dated to the thirteenth year of her own rule, where she calls herself "Mother of the ''Yuvaraja'' Divakarasena". It seems that Prabhavatigupta retained control of the Vakataka government even after Crown Prince Divakarasena reached his sixteenth year and was no longer a minor, as there is no evidence that Divakarasena ever ascended his paternal throne as ''Maharaja''. Prabhavatigupta's continued political dominance may be either due to some special circumstances which prevented Divakarasena from ruling in his own name, or simply due to Prabhavatigupta's own love of power. Divakarasena was eventually succeeded by his younger brother Damodarasena around 410. It is possible that for a time, Prabhavatigupta acted as regent on his behalf as well. During Prabhavatigupta's time in power, Gupta influence over the Vakatakas reached its peak. Prabhavatigupta's inscriptions provide her own Gupta genealogy and emphasize her own natal connections. Her ''
gotra In Hindu culture, the term gotra (Sanskrit: गोत्र) is considered to be equivalent to lineage. It broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor or patriline. Generally, the gotr ...
'' is given as Dharana, which was the ''gotra'' of her father, rather than the Vishnuvriddha ''gotra'' of the Vakataka dynasty. Indeed, for the 20 or so years of Prabhavatigupta's regency, the Vakataka realm was "practically a part of the Gupta empire."


Later life

Prabhavatigupta remained active in public life for a few decades after the end of her regency. We find her making a grant in the 19th year of the reign of her son Pravarasena II (c.420–455), where she is called "mother of the illustrious ''Maharajas'' Damodarasena and Pravarasena". She was still alive four years later, when Pravarasena II made a grant for the spiritual welfare of both himself and his mother in this life and the next. In the Patna Museum Plate, all religious merit from Pravarasena's donation is said to accrue to the Queen Mother. Prabhavatigupta seems to have concerned herself deeply with religious matters. She is described as a devotee of Bhagavat (
Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...
), and she issued a charter from the feet of her tutelary deity Ramagirisvamin, identified with the deity at Ramtek near
Nagpur Nagpur (; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Nāgapura'') is the second capital and third-largest city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is called the heart of India because of its central geographical location. It is the largest and most populated city i ...
.


References

{{reflist Gupta dynasty Vakataka dynasty Indian female royalty 4th-century women regents 5th-century women regents History of Maharashtra Indian queens consort Regents of India 5th-century queens consort Women from the Gupta Empire 4th-century regents 5th-century regents