The Maitraka dynasty ruled the
Kingdom of Valabhi
The Kingdom of Valabhi was an early medieval India, early medieval kingdom in Western India from 475 to 776. It was founded by #Bhaṭārka, Bhatarka, a Senapati, general in the Gupta Empire, and ruled by the Maitraka dynasty.
Following the decli ...
in western India from approximately 475 to 776 from their capital at
Vallabhi. With the sole exception of Dharapaṭṭa (the fifth king in the dynasty), who is associated with
sun-worship, they were followers of
Shaivism
Shaivism (, , ) is one of the major Hindu denominations, Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Para Brahman, supreme being. It is the Hinduism#Demographics, second-largest Hindu sect after Vaishnavism, constituting about 385 million H ...
. Their origin is uncertain but they were probably
Chandravanshi Kshatriyas.
Following the decline 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 ...
, Maitraka dynasty was founded by ''Senapati'' (general) Bhaṭārka, who was a military governor of
Saurashtra under Gupta Empire, who had established himself as the independent around 475 CE. The first two Maitraka rulers Bhaṭārka and Dharasena I used only the title of ''Senapati'' (general). The third ruler Droṇasiṁha declared himself as the ''Maharaja''.
During the reign Dhruvasena I,
Jain council at Vallabhi was probably held. The next ruler Dharapaṭṭa is the only ruler considered as a sun-worshipper. King Guhasena stopped using the term ''Paramabhattaraka Padanudhyata'' along his name like his predecessors, which denotes the cessation of displaying of the nominal allegiance to the Gupta overlords. He was succeeded by his son Dharasena II, who used the title of ''Mahadhiraja''. His son, the next ruler Śilāditya I Dharmāditya was described by
Hiuen Tsang, visited in 640 CE, as a "monarch of great administrative ability and of rare kindness and compassion". Śilāditya I was succeeded by his younger brother Kharagraha I.
[Mahajan V.D. (1960, reprint 2007). ''Ancient India'', S.Chand & Company, New Delhi, , pp.594-6] Virdi copperplate grant (616 CE) of Kharagraha I proves that his territories included
Ujjain. During the reign of the next ruler, Dharasena III, north Gujarat was included in this kingdom. Dharasena II was succeeded by another son of Kharagraha I, Dhruvasena II, Balāditya. He married the daughter of
Harṣavardhana. His son Dharasena IV assumed the imperial titles of ''Paramabhattaraka Mahrajadhiraja Parameshvara Chakravartin''. Sanskrit poet Bhatti was his court poet. The next powerful ruler of this dynasty was Śilāditya II. During the reign of Śilāditya V, Arabs probably invaded this kingdom. The last known ruler of this dynasty was Śilāditya VI.
Maitrakas set up a
Vallabhi University which came to be known far and wide for its scholastic pursuits and was compared with the
Nalanda University. They came under the rule of
Harṣa of
Vardhana dynasty in the mid-seventh century, but retained local autonomy, and regained their independence after Harṣa's death. After repeated attacks by Arabs from the sea, the kingdom had weakened considerably. The dynasty ended by 783 CE. Apart from legendary accounts which connect fall of Vallabi with the Tajjika (Arab) invasions, no historical source mention how the dynasty ended.
More than hundred temples of this period are known, mostly located along the western coast of Saurashtra.
Origin

Early scholars like Fleet had misread copperplate grant and considered Maitrakas as some foreign tribe defeated by Bhaṭārka. Bhagwanlal Indraji believed that Maitrakas were foreign tribe while Bhaṭārka, who defeated them, belonged to the indigenous dynasty. Later readings corrected that Bhaṭārka was himself Maitraka who had succeeded in many battles. The earlier scholars had suggested the name Maitraka is derived from
Mithra, the
Sun or
solar deity, and their supposed connection to
Mihira and their sun-worshiping inclination.
Though
Mitra
''Mitra'' (Proto-Indo-Iranian language, Proto-Indo-Iranian: wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-Iranian/mitrás, ''*mitrás'') is the name of an Indo-Iranians#Religion, Indo-Iranian divinity that predates the Rigveda, Rigvedic Mitra (Hindu god), Mitrá ...
and Mihira are synonyms for the sun, the Sanskrit literature does not use it in sense of sun-worshipers. Dharapaṭṭa is the fifth and the only king of all Maitraka kings connected with sun-worship. All other kings were followers of
Shaivism
Shaivism (, , ) is one of the major Hindu denominations, Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Para Brahman, supreme being. It is the Hinduism#Demographics, second-largest Hindu sect after Vaishnavism, constituting about 385 million H ...
.
The copperplate grants do not help in identifying their origin, they describe only that the dynasty was born from a war-like tribe whose capital was at
Vallabhi and they were
Shaivas. Chinese traveler
Hieun-Tsang visited Vallabhi during the second quarter of the 7th century had described the ruler as a Kshatriya.
Later Mahayana Buddhist work ''Manju-Shri-Mula-Kalpa'' had described them as Varavatya Yadava. The late Jain traditional work ''Shatrunjaya-Mahatmaya'' of Dhaneshwara describes Śilāditya as the Yadavas of
Lunar race.
Virji concludes that Maitrakas were a Kshatriya of
Lunar race and their origin was probably from
Mitra dynasty which once ruled region around
Mathura
Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the states and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located south-east of Delhi; and about from the town of Vrindavan. In ancient ti ...
(now in
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...
, India). Several scholars like Benerjee, D. Shastri,
D. R. Bhandarkar agree with her conclusion.
Vallabhi
The Maitrakas ruled from their capital at
Vallabhi.
They came under the rule of
Harṣa in the mid-7th century, but retained local autonomy, and regained their independence after Harṣa's death.
When
I-Tsing, another Chinese traveller, visited Vallabhi in the last quarter of the seventh century, he found Vallabhi as a great center of learning including
Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
. Gunamati and Sthiramati were two famous Buddhist scholars of Vallabhi in the middle of the seventh century. Vallabhi was famous for its liberalism 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
Charanas of the region connect themselves with the last Maitraka ruler Śilāditya VI. Goddess
Khodiyar is considered a contemporary figure of the period when the Vallabhi kingdom declined in the 8th century AD.
Religion
The Maitrakas were follower of the
Shiva
Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...
except Dhruvasena I who was
Vaiṣnava and Dharapaṭṭa who was sun-worshiper. They all used title of ''parama-maheshwara'' before the names of king except those two. It is evident from the use of symbols like
Nandi, the Bull and
Trishula
The ''trishula'' () is a trident, a divine symbol, commonly used as one of the principal symbols in Hinduism. It is most commonly associated with the deity Shiva and widely employed in his iconography. Etymology
The name ''trishula'' ultimate ...
, the trident in their coins and inscriptions. There were presence of Vaishnavism and Goddess worship under their rule. There were large number of Buddhist Viharas in the Maitraka kingdom. Jains held their important
Valabhi council here. The Maitrakas were tolerant to all religions and made donations and grants to all of them without partiality.
See also
*
Chaulukya dynasty
References
Bibliography
*
*
* {{Cite book, url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.325015/page/n1, title=ગુજરાતનો રાજકીય અને સાંસ્કૃતિક ઇતિહાસ: મૈત્રક કાલ અને અનુ-મૈત્રક કાલ, publisher=Bholabhai Jeshingbhai Institute of Learning and Research, year=1974, editor-last=Parikh, editor-first=Rasiklal Chhotalal, editor-link=Rasiklal Parikh, series=Research Series - Book No. 68, volume=III, location=
Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...
, trans-title=Political and Cultural History of Gujarat: Maitraka Era and Post-Maitraka Era, editor-last2=Shastri, editor-first2=Hariprasad Gangashankar, editor-link2=Hariprasad Shastri, language=gu
Dynasties of India
History of Gujarat