Maharaja Samkshobha
| Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R) |
Maharaja Samkshobha (or Sakshobha) was a ruler of Parivrajaka dynasty in parts of central India during 5th and 6th centuries. The kings of this dynasty bore the title Maharaja, and probably ruled as feudatories of the Gupta Empire. The dynasty is known from inscriptions of two of its kings: Maharaja Hastin and Maharaja Samkshobha.
Genealogy
The earliest known member of the Parivrajaka dynasty is Susharman, who is known only from the Khoh inscription of Samkshobha. The inscription describes Susharman as a learned ascetic from Bharadvaja gotra, and compares him to the legendary sage Kapila. It states that he knew "the whole truth" and fourteen branches of science.[1]
Maharaja Devadhya was a descendant of Susharman, and was succeeded by his son Maharaja Prabhanjana. Prabhanjana was succeeded by his son Maharaja Damodara.[2]
Maharaja Hastin was son of Damodara.
History
Maharaja Samkshobha succeeded his father Maharaja Hastin, and inherited the entire ancestral territory, including the 18 kingdoms. Like his father, he also made land grants for religious merit. He maintained the orthodox varna and ashrama systems.[3]
Unlike his father who invoked Shiva, Samkshobha's Khoh inscription opens with an invocation to the god Vasudeva. He is the last known of the dynasty, which probably ended with him. The end of the Parivrajaka rule probably coincided with the end of the Gupta rule, which was followed by the Aulikara rule in central India.[4]
Khoh Copper-plate Inscription of the Maharaja Samkshobha (528-529 CE)
- Ôm! Reverence to the divine (god) Vâsudêva! Hail! In two centuries of years, increased by nine; in the enjoyment of sovereignty by the Gupta kings; in the glorious augmenting and victorious reign; in the Mahâ-Ashvayuja samvatsara; on the thirteenth lunar day of the bright fortnight of the month Chaitra,— on this (lunar day), (specified) as above by the samvatsara and month and day,—
- (Line 3.)— By the Mahârâja, the illustrious Samkshôbha,— who is born in the family of the kingly ascetic Susharman, who had learned the whole truth of the fourteen sections of science; who was a great sage, (being) indeed (an incarnation of) Kapila; who knew all the first principles; (and) who was of the Bharadvâja gôtra;— who is the great-grandson of the son of the Mahârâja, the illustrious Dêvâdhya;— who is the great-grandson of the Mahârâja, the illustrious Prabhañjana;— who is the grandson of the Mahârâja, the illustrious Dâmôdara;— who is the son of the Mahârâja, the illustrious Hastin, who was the giver of thousands of cows, and elephants, and horses, and gold, and many lands; who was earnest in paying respect to (his) spiritual preceptor and (his) father and mother; who was extremely devoted to the gods and Brâhmans; who was victorious in many hundreds of battles; who sought to govern properly the kingdom of Dabhâlâ, which had come (to him) by inheritance, together with (all the country) included in the eighteen forest kingdoms; (and) whose fame was renowned through many good qualities;— who is intent upon establishing the religious duties of the castes and the different periods of life;— who is a most devout worshipper of the Divine One;— who is extremely devoted to (his) ancestors;— (and) who causes the happiness of his own race,—
- (L. 11.)—(By him),— for the purpose of increasing the religious merit of (his) parents and of himself,— at the request of Chhôdugômin, and (with the object of) causing him to ascend the steps of the ladder that leads to heaven,— half of the village of Ôpâni, in the Maninâga pêtha, is granted by a copper-charter, with the exception of (the right to fines imposed on) thieves and mischief-doers, for the purpose of observing the bali, charu, and sattra, at the temple, which (he) has caused to be built, of the divine (goddess) Pishtapurî, and for the purpose of renewing whatever may become broken or torn.
- (L. 15.)— Therefore, even in future times, no obstacle (to the enjoyment of this grant) is to be caused by those who are born in
Our family, or by my feudatories. This injunction having been given, he who behaves otherwise,— him I will consume with a great contempt, even when I have passed into another body.
- (L. 18.)— And it has been said by the venerable supreme sage, Vyâsa, the arranger of the Vêdas,—" O Yudhishthira, best of kings, carefully preserve land that has previously been given to the twice-born; (verily) the preservation (of a grant) (is) more meritorious than making a grant! The earth has been enjoyed by many kings, commencing with Sagara; whosoever at any time possesses the earth, to him belongs, at that time, the reward (of this grant that is now made, if he continue it)! The giver of land enjoys happiness in heaven for sixty thousand years; (but) the confiscator (of a grant), and he who assents to (an act of confiscation), shall dwell for the same number of years in hell! (There is) no gift better than a gift of land, and the preservation (of a grant) (is) better than making a grant; all kings, commencing with Nriga, have attained heaven (by) preserving land that had been granted!"
- (L. 23.)— And (this charter) has been written by Îshvaradâsa, the grandson of Jîvita, (and) the son of Bhujamgadâsa. The order (is that) of his own mouth. (The month) Chaitra; the day 20 (and) 9. [5]
(107) Betul Plates Of Samkshobha 518 AD
[p.75]: These plates apparently belong to the Jubbulpore District, but they somehow came into the possession of a Betul malguzar. The inscription refers to the Parivrājaka king Samkshobha, and is dated in the Gupta year 199 on the 10th day of Kartika, the Jupiter's, year being Maha Margasirsha. Dr. Kielhorn thinks its English equivalent to be Monday the 15th October A. D. 518, but it may possibly correspond to Saturday the 15th September 518. Maharaja Samkshobha is stated to have been born in the family of Susharman, and was the son of Maharaja Hastin, who was son of Damodara, who again was the son of Prabhanjana whose father was Devāḍhya. Samkshobha was a ruler over the Dabhālā and eighteen forest kingdoms, and he is stated to have granted parts of two villages Prastaravāṭaka (प्रस्तरवाटक) and Dvāravatika (द्वारावतिक) in the province of Tripuri to a Brahman.
Dabhala is identical with Ḋahala, the old name of the Jubbulpore country, and the 18 forest kingdoms apparently lay towards Chhattisgarh and Baghelkhand. Tripuri is the well-known Chedi capital at Tewar, which at the time of this grant was only the head-quarters of a province of the same name and included the tract now covered by the Jubbulpore District.
Prastaravataka (प्रस्तरवाटक) and Dvaravatika (द्वारावतिक) have been identified with Paṭparā (a deserted village) and Dwārā, near Bilahri, about 9 miles from Kaṭni Murwārā. The Parivrajaka (परिव्राजक) Maharajas seem to have had their capital somewhere in the Nagaud State, on the borders of the Murwara tahsil, and a number of their grants have been found there giving the same genealogy as in our inscription.1
1 See Fleet's Gupta Inscriptions page 93 ff,
References
- ↑ Moirangthem Pramod (2013). "The Parivrajaka Maharaja" (PDF). Asian Journal of Multidimensional Research. 2 (4). ISSN 2278-4853. p. 935.
- ↑ Ashvini Agrawal (1989). Rise and Fall of the Imperial Guptas. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-0592-7. p. 259.
- ↑ Moirangthem Pramod 2013, p. 97
- ↑ Moirangthem Pramod 2013, p. 97
- ↑ Fleet, John F. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum: Inscriptions of the Early Guptas. Vol. III. Calcutta: Government of India, Central Publications Branch, 1888, 115-116.