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MAITRAKA-GURJARA PERIOD
(C. 470 A.D.—745 A.D.)
I
The Maitrakas: The Gupta emperor Budhagupta was on the throne in A.D. 477, after a decade of disorder subsequent to Skandagupta's death; and he ruled for about twenty years or more. Records of his governors in Malwa and Bengal testify to the continued solidarity of the Gupta empire, at least to a considerable extent.
Of all the states that arose out of the break-up of the Gupta empire in the West, the kingdom of Valabhi.proved to be the most durable. Bhațārka, a Gupta general (senā. pati) of the Maitraka clan was appointed by Skandagupta to help governor Parņadatta in maintaining peace and order against the impending Hūņa invasions. Bhațārká ruled the province comprising of Saurāṣtra and a part of Anarta from the new head-quarters at Valabhīpur. His descendants gradually made themselves powerful towards the end of the fifth century A.D.
Bhațārka was succeeded by his son Dharasena. Both of them called themselves Senapati ; but the next governor Droņasimha, a younger son of Bhațārka assumed the title Mahārāja ; and it is claimed in the official records of the family that the paramount ruler in person installed him in royalty by a regular ceremony. The paramount ruler, referred to, was most probably the Emperor Budhagupta.
Thus Dronasimha became a feudal chief rather than a governor, and though the family still paid nominal homage to the Gupta Emperor, the Maitrakas of Valabhi were well on the way to setting up an independent kingdom.
With the death of Budhagupta in C. 500, the power and glory of the Gupta Empire vanished. Whatever was left of it was split into two sectors, viz. the Western, consisting of Malwa and Avanti, and the Eastern, comprising Magadha and North Bengal. A considerable part of modern Gujarat formed part of the Western Section. The Gupta emperors maintained a military governor for Anartapura (Vadnagar ) in North Gujarat and at Bharukachha ( Broach ), which then included parts of modern North Konkan.
About 465 the Hūņas under Toramāņa entered India, and finally reached Ujjayini (C. 500). The then ruler of Malwa, whose sway extended over Central Gujarat, was forced to retire to Bengal. About 512 A.D., Mihirakula, the son of Toramāņa, was the most powerful ruler in North-West India. But in C. 520 he was defeated by Yasodharman Vişnuvardhana ; and in 533, Malwa was governed by his governor. In 550 Iśānavarman overthrew the descendants of Vişnuvardhana, made Kanauj the Imperial capital, and became the unchallenged master of North India.
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