Prithivishena I
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Prithivishena I (
IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Brahmic family, Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that ...
: ''Pṛthivīṣeṇa''; ) was a ruler of the Nandivardhana-Pravarapura branch of the
Vakataka The Vakataka dynasty () was an ancient Indian dynasty that originated from the Deccan in the mid-3rd century CE. Their state is believed to have extended from the southern edges of Malwa and Gujarat in the north to the Tungabhadra River in the ...
dynasty. He was the son and successor of Rudrasena I, the founder of the branch. Despite the expansion of the
Guptas 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 ...
during this time, the Vakatakas under Prithivishena seem to have retained considerable influence in Central India. Two inscriptions from the
Bundelkhand Bundelkhand (, ) is a geographical and cultural region and a proposed state and also a mountain range in central and North India. It corresponds to the Post-Vedic Chedi kingdom. The hilly region is now divided between the states of Uttar Prad ...
region, found at Nachna or Nachne-ki-Talai in the old Jaso State and at Ganj in the old Ajaigarh State, refer to a local king named Vyaghradeva who claims to have been a vassal of the Vakataka king Prithivishena. There is some controversy over whether the Vakataka king "Prithivishena" mentioned in these inscriptions is Prithivishena I or
Prithivishena II Prithivishena II (IAST: ''Pṛthivīṣeṇa''; ) was a ruler of the Nandivardhana-Pravarapura branch of the Vakataka dynasty. He succeeded his father Narendrasena as Maharaja. Prithivishena II is the last known king of the main Vakataka line, ...
, who ruled several generations later. D.C. Sircar considers it most likely that Vyaghradeva was a vassal of Prithivishena I because the paleographical peculiarities of the Nachna and Ganj inscriptions are more similar to earlier Vakataka inscriptions, and also because it was the Guptas and not the Vakatakas who the overlords of the Bundelkhand region in the late fifth century when Prithivishena II was supposed to be ruling. A.S. Altekar likewise maintains that Vyaghradeva was a vassal of Prithivishena I and not Prithivishena II. One of the most important events of Vakataka history took place during the later part of Prithivishena's reign when his son
Rudrasena II Rudrasena II () was a ruler of the Pravarapura-Nandivardhana branch of the Vakataka dynasty. While his reign was short, he notably married Prabhavatigupta, the daughter of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II. His early death led to Prabhavatig ...
married the Gupta princess
Prabhavatigupta 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 from about 390 to 410. She was a devotee of ...
. This marriage secured an alliance between the two most powerful royal houses in India at the time. It was probably the Gupta emperor
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 ...
who proposed the marriage of his daughter to the Vakataka prince, as he desired a cooperative ally on his southern border while his armies were operating in
Malwa Malwa () is a historical region, historical list of regions in India, region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic plateau, volcanic upland north of the ...
and
Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...
. Prithivishena's contemporary to the south was his cousin Vindhyasena of the Basim or Vatsagulma branch of the Vakataka dynasty. The relationship between the two branches of the dynasty appears to have been quite cordial at this time, with the main branch headed by Prithivishena probably enjoying a nominal overlordship over the Vatsagulma branch. Prithivishena likely provided material aid to Vindhyasena as the latter carried out the conquest of the Kuntala country, and thus the rulers of the main branch came to be known as "lords of Kuntala." In later Vakataka inscriptions, Prithivishena is described as a righteous conqueror and possessing the qualities of straightforwardness, honesty, humility, compassion, and purity of mind. He was called a ''dharmavijayin'' ("one who becomes victorious through virtue") and was compared to the epic hero
Yudhishthira Yudhishthira (Sanskrit: युधिष्ठिर, ud̪ʱiʂʈʰiɾᵊ IAST: ''Yudhiṣṭhira''), also known as Dharmaputra, is the eldest among the five Pandavas, and is also one of the central characters of the ancient Indian epic ''Ma ...
of the ''
Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...
''. Like his father Rudrasena I, Prithivishena was also a worshipper of
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 ...
. Prithivishena probably lived to old age and had a large family, for the Vakataka inscriptions describe him as a patriarch surrounded by sons and grandsons.Altekar (1960), pp. 171–172 Upon his death, he was succeeded by his son Rudrasena II.


References

{{reflist Vakataka kings 4th-century Indian monarchs