Bhima Naga

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Author: Laxman Burdak, IFS (R)

Bhimanaga (210-230 AD) (भीमनाग) (230-250 AD) of Padmavati was a Nagavanshi king of Bharashiva family in Nava Naga dynasty.[1]

Origin of word

Mention by Panini

Jat clans

History

Dr Naval Viyogi[2] writes about the Re-establishment of Nagas in Kantipuri: The Bharsivas, in the later days of imperial Kushanas or about 150 A.D. reached Kantipur on the Ganges, they performed there Ashwamedha and coronations at or near Banaras where is located the place known as Nagwa, the present site of the Hindu University seems to be associated with their name. From Kantipur, they moved westwards under Virasena, who strikes coins extensively and whose coins are found from Ahichchhatra, regains Padmavati and Mathura.


Nava Nagas Rulers at Kantipuri: [3]


Nava Nagas Rulers at Padmavati:[4]

The Naga Rulers of Padmavati

There were many potteries and coins of the 'Naga' kings, ancient temples and monuments discovered during excavations in the village.

During 3-4th centuries AD Nagas became powerful in Central India. The Nagas had their main centres at Kantipuri (modern Kutwar, Morena district), Padmavati (Pawaya, near Gwalior) and Vidisa. The coins of the Nagas have been discovered in thousands from these places and preserved at Gwalior Museum.[5]

Dilip Kumar Ganguly[6] writes that ....The Nagas established their rule at Vidisha, Padmavati (modern Padam Pawaya, Mathura and Kantipura, which has been identified by KP Jayaswal as Kantit between Mirzapur and Vindhyachal, but located more properly at Kutwal or Kutwar in Morena district Madhya Pradesh.

The existence of several Naga principalities, as alluded in Puranas, is strikingly attested by Samudragupta's Allahabad pillar Inscription which mentions Nagadatta, Nagasena, Ganapatinaga, and Nandi, all Naga princes among the kings of Aryavarta slain by Samudragupta. Several Naga coins have been discovered from places like Kutwar (Morena), Narwar (Shivpuri) and Padam Pawaya (Gwalior) in Madhya Pradesh and Mathura in Uttar Pradesh. Padam Pawaya has yielded the largest number of such coins, including those of Bhimanaga, Devanaga, Brihaspatinaga, Ganapatinaga, Skandanaga, Vasunaga, Vyaghranaga, Prabhakarnaga, Bhavanaga, Ravinaga, Vibhunaga and Vrishabha.

Dr Naval Viyogi[7] writes that ....The Nagas had, under the evident pressure of the Kushanas left Padmavati. We have the definite statement in the Puranas that Vinvasphani ruled at Padmavati and ruled upto Magadha. [8] Therefore, we may take it that about 80-100 AD the Naga dynasty takes shelter, away from the trunk road between Mathura and Vidisa, into the inner jungles of the central provinces. [9]

The Bharsivas, re-issuing from the jungles of Hoshangabad and Jabalpur seem to have reached the Ganges through Baghelkhand. They established their capital at Kanti or Kantipuri. [10] Now it is a large mud fort about a mile long on the Ganges. The fort was destroyed in the muslim period and the king's seat was removed into the neigbouring hills at Vijaypur and at Manda, where the family, now in two branches: resides. The local tradition at Kanti is that long before 'the Gahadwala' the fort belonged originally to the Bhar Kings. The 'Bhar' kings here are evidently a corruption of the 'Bharsiva' kings [11] or Bharshiva.

Dr Naval Viyogi[12] writes that ....The Bharsivas, in the later days of imperial Kushanas or about 150 A.D. reached Kantipuri on the Ganges, they performed there Ashwamedha and coronations at or near Banaras where is located the place known as Nagwa, the present site of the Hindu University seems to be associated with their name. From Kantipuri, they moved westwards under Virasena, who strikes coins extensively and whose coins are found from Ahichchhatra, regains Padmavati and Mathura.

It is stated in the Vayu and Brahmand Puranas that rule of Navanaga was not only confined to Samayukta Prant alone but also to the east and the western Bihar also because their capital was in Mathura as well as in Champavati-Bhagalpur. [13]

The Puranas, give to the Padmavati and the Mathura Nagas or in view of the Vishnu, to the Padmavati, Kantipuri-Mathura Nagas,-seven successions. This is fully borne out by the names gathered from the coins and inscriptions.

Dr Naval Viyogi[14] writes that ....According to Vakataka [15] inscriptions (Fleet G I. PP-237) Gautamiputra, son of the Emperor Pravarsena and father of Rudrasena I, did not succeed, but Rudrasena I, both as the grand-son of Pravarsena and as the grandson of the Bharsiva-Maharaja Bhavnag, succeeded. The Nava Naga ruled from three capitals Padmavati, Mathura and Kantipuri. But Rudrasena I ruled from Purika.

Sometimes before Samudragupta, (335-375 AD) the Naga kings were ruling over Eran. As,[16] Padmavati, Kantipuri and Mathura were three centres of their rule, the Eran- Vidisa was fourth. Naga coins have been recovered in a very large number from this region. All these four kingdoms were inter-related with each other and perhaps, they all unitedly encountered the attacks of Kushanas and Scythians and pushed them back from their motherland.

Chandragupta died in 335 AD and was succeeded by his son Samudragupta, a tireless conqueror. He took the kingdoms of Shichchhatra and Padmavati early in his reign. He then took the Kingdom of Kota and attacked the tribes in Malavas, the Yaudheyas, the Arjunayanas, the Madras and the Abhiras. By his death in 380, he had incorporated over twenty kingdoms into his realm, his rule extended from the Himalayas to the river Narmada and from the Brahmaputra to the Yamuna. He gave himself the titles King of Kings and World Monarch. He performed Ashwamedha yajna (horse sacrifice) to underline the importance of his conquest.

Jat History

Ram Sarup Joon[17] writes .... Naga dynasty belonged to Madrak Jat gotra of Yadav Vansh and was devotees of Shiva. They had a number of ruling dynasties such as Takshak Nag, Bachak Nag, Kilkil Nag, Karkotaka, Kaliramna etc all of which are Jat gotras. Mathura, Padmavati and Kantipur were capitals of Naga dynasty. Nagas of Padmavati were called Taank, which is also a Jat gotra, and are found in 24 villages near Sonipat.

The Naga dynasty had its hold in the present Gwalior - Bhopal divisions of Madhya Pradesh from about beginning of third to the middle of fourth century AD. Their centres were at Padmavati (Pawaiya near Gwalior) and Kantipuri (Kutwār district Morena ). Several thousand copper coins have been discovered at these sites and other sites. The successors of Satvahanas in the Tripuri region were Bodhis. Names of five Bodhi rulers are known from the recent excavations at Tripuri. [18] Eran can be called to be the oldest historical town of Sagar district in Madhya Pradesh. In earlier coins and inscriptions its name appears as Airikiṇa. From an early inscription at Sanchi we know that the residents of Eran had made some gifts to the famous Stupa situated there. The word erakā probably refers to a kind of grass which grows at Eran in abundance. [19]

External links

References

  1. ↑ Dr Naval Viyogi: Nagas, the Ancient Rulers of India, p.333
  2. ↑ Dr Naval Viyogi: Nagas, the Ancient Rulers of India, p.333, 334
  3. ↑ Dr Naval Viyogi: Nagas, the Ancient Rulers of India, p.333, 334
  4. ↑ Dr Naval Viyogi: Nagas, the Ancient Rulers of India, p.333, 334
  5. ↑ K. D. Bajpai:The History of Gopāchala, p.24
  6. ↑ History and Historians in Ancient India, By Dilip Kumar Ganguly, p.28
  7. ↑ Nagas: the Ancient Rulers of India, p.332
  8. ↑ V.P. (Wilson) II P-659.
  9. ↑ Jayaswal KP. P-16.
  10. ↑ Jayaswal KP. P-29.
  11. ↑ ibid
  12. ↑ Nagas: the Ancient Rulers of India, p.333
  13. ↑ 25. Jayaswal KP. P-32.
  14. ↑ Nagas: the Ancient Rulers of India, p.334
  15. ↑ Jayaswal KP. P-17.
  16. ↑ Jayaswal KP. P-15.
  17. ↑ Ram Sarup Joon: History of the Jats,p.105
  18. ↑ K D Bajpai, Indian Numismatic studies, p. 16
  19. ↑ K D Bajpai, Indian Numismatic studies, Ch 5, Pl I,4

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