The Powers that became independent in North India after the fall of Gupta dynasty, among them Maukhari of Kannauj and the north guptas of Magadh and Malwa were particularly important. The history of these two dynasties is slightly similar to each other. Initially both were feudatories of emperor gupta dynasty, and their mutual relations were friendly. But when both the dynasties became independent, the friendly relationship between these two dynasties turned into enmity (war), which was the 6th century the main event of North India is the century AD.
These two dynasties (Maukhari and Guptottara) had relations of both ways (friendship and war), details of which are as follows-
Friendship relations
In the beginning both Maukhari and Uttaragupta were under the emperor Gupta dynasty. The relations of the two remained friendly for three generations. The first ruler of Maukhari dynasty was Harivarma, who ruled in 510 AD. His contemporary was the King of Uttaragupta, Krishnagupta, who was the founder of post-Gupta dynasty. The Gupta Empire was decadent at this time. Hence, both the emperors helped each other in increasing each other’s power.
Harshagupta, who was the daughter of Uttaragupta Emperor Krishnagupta, was married to Adityavarma, son of Maukhari Naresh Harivarma. Thus, such relations established friendship between the two kings.
The next ruler of Maukhari dynasty was Adityavarma, who was the son of Harivarma. His contemporary was the ruler of Uttaragupta, Harshagupta, who was the son of Krishnagupta. Harshagupta’s sister was married to Adityavarma.
The third ruler of Maukhari dynasty was Ishwarvarma, who was the son of Adityavarma. His contemporary was the ruler of Uttaragupta, Jiveetagupta I, who was the son of Harshagupta. Ishwarvarma was married to Upagupta, daughter of king Harshagupta of the Uttaragupta dynasty. Upagupta was the sister of jiveetgupta I.
Thus we can say that the first 3 Maukhari rulers were such rulers of Maukhari dynasty, In whose time till 550 AD Maukhari and Uttaragupta relations were friendly.
Now it happened that both the dynasties were engaged in expanding their power. These two dynasties also supported each other for their expansion. At this time both these dynasties were in feudal status. This feudal status is revealed by his title.
Relations of war or conflict
6th century The powerful Gupta dynasty of mid Magadh disintegrated between, With this, there was a lot of chaos in North India. The new powers declared their independence in separate parts. These new powers also included Maukhari and Uttaragupta.
Ishanvarma was the first ruler to bring the Maukhari dynasty to a position independent of feudal status, while Uttaragupta declared his independence under the leadership of Kumargupta. Both the rulers assumed the title of Maharajadhiraja and became rival to each other in the expansion of the empire.
Now it happened that the friendship he had been having for three generations, now turned into enmity. The aim of both these dynasties was to increase their power and become the Chakravarti Emperor of North India.
The first direct conflict of the Maukhari and Uttaragupta
The first direct conflict between the two dynasties took place between Ishanvarma and Kumaragupt.
In this war, Ishanvarma was defeated and Kumaragupt won.
This defeat of the Moukharis destroyed their imperialist hopes.
After Ishanvarma, his son Sarvavarma became the ruler of Kannauj. And its contemporary became the ruler of Uttaragupta, Damodaragupt, who was the son of Kumaragupt. Both these rulers fought fiercely. Damodaragupt was defeated in this war. And the Maukhari ruler Sarvavarma established his authority over Magadh.
The article of Devabarnak shows that Sarvavarma had the right over Magadh. He donated the Varunik village which is located in Bihar. This place was earlier located in Magadh. After the Magadh dominion of Magadh, the kingdom of Uttaragupta was confined only to the Malwa region. That is why Mahanegupta, son of Damodargupt, has been called Malvaraj in Harshacharith.
After Sarvavarma, his son Avantivarma became the ruler of the Maukhari dynasty. His opponent was Mahasengupt, who was the son of Damodargupt. The scholarly writings reveal that Mahasengupt Maukhari accepted the subjection of king Avantivarma.
To strengthen his position against the Moukharis, Mahasengupt married his sister Mahasengupta with Vardhan king Rajyavardhana I of Thaneshwar. Prabhakarvardhan was the son of Mahasengupta.
Political history of the Maukhari dynasty.
Political history of the Uttaragupta dynasty.
After Avantivarma, his son Grahavarma became the ruler of the Maukhari dynasty of Kannauj. At this time Mahasengupt died in Malwa. And the ruler here was Devgupt. Grahvarma was married to Rajyashree, daughter of Naresh Prabhakar of Vardhan dynasty. Due to which full relations of friendship were established in both dynasties. Devgupt established a treaty with the Gauranresh of Bengal to strengthen his position.
As soon as Prabhakarvardhan died, Devagupt attacked Kannauj and killed Grahvarma. Grahvarma was the last powerful king of Maukhari dynasty of Kannauj. With his death, the independence of Maukhari dynasty also came to an end.
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