History of Gujarát, Volume I, Part I.

Chapter VI · THE TRAIKÚṬAKAS (a.d. 250–450.)

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The initial date must therefore have been started by the founder of the dynasty and the Kanheri plate proves the dynasty must have lasted at least 245 years. The Párdi plate is one of the earliest copper-plate grants in India. Neither the genealogy nor even the usual three generations including the father and grandfather are given, nor like later plates does it contain a wealth of attributes. The king is called ‘the great king of the Traikúṭakas,’ the performer of the aśvamedha or horse-sacrifice, a distinction bespeaking a powerful sovereign. It may therefore be supposed that Dahrasena held South Gujarát to the Narbadá together with part of the North Konkan and of the Ghát and Dakhan plateau.

About 1887 Pandit Bhagvánlál secured nine of a hoard of 500 silver coins found at Daman in South Gujarát. All are of one king a close imitation of the coins of the latest Kshatrapas. On the obverse is a bust of bad workmanship and on the reverse are the usual Kshatrapa symbols encircled with the legend:

महाराजेन्द्रवर्मपुत्रपरमवैष्णवश्रीमहाराजरुद्रगणः

Mahárájendravarmaputra Parama Vaishnava Śrí Mahárája Rudragaṇa.

The devoted Vaishnava the illustrious king Rudragaṇa son of the great king Indravarma.

Notes in this chapter

Note 1 · Cave Temple Inscriptions, Bom. Arch. Sur. Sep. Number XI. page 57ff. ↑Note 2 · J. B. B. R. A. S. XVI. 346. ↑Note 3 · Epigraphia Indica, II. 19. ↑Note 4 · Ind. Ant. XIII. 81ff. ↑Note 5 · Ep. Ind. II. 20. ↑Note 6 · Ind. Ant. VII. 248ff. Dr. Bhandárkar (Early Hist. of the Deccan, 42 note 7) has given reasons for believing this grant to be a forgery. ↑Note 7 · Ind. Ant. XVIII. 265ff. ↑Note 8 · J. B. B. R. A. S. XVI. 1ff.; Trans. Vienna Or. Congress, 210ff. ↑Note 9 · Ind. Ant. XIII. 70ff. and V. 109ff. ↑Note 10 · Trans. Vienna Or. Congress, 210ff. ↑Note 11 · Fleet’s Kánarese Dynasties, 27. ↑Note 12 · Fleet’s Kánarese Dynasties, 27. ↑Note 13 · Ind. Ant. XIV. 75 and Jour. B. B. R. A. S. XVI. 1ff. ↑Note 14 · Mr. Fleet (Corp. Ins. Ind. III. 9) and Sir A. Cunningham (Arch. Sur. IX. 77) agree in fixing a.d. 250 as the initial date of the Chedi era. Note 15 · Válmíki’s Rámáyaṇa, Ganpat Krishnaji’s Edition: Raghuvaṃśa, IV. 59. ↑Note 16 · For details see above page 48. ↑Note 17 · Initial Date.What then was the initial date of the Traikúṭakas? Ten Gujarát copper-plates of the Gurjjaras and Chalukyas are dated in an unk Note 18 · Of these the grant dated 421 speaks of Śíláditya Śryáśraya as Yuvarája or heir-apparent and as the son of Jayasiṃhavarmman. The plate furthe Note 19 · The second grant of the same Śíláditya is dated Saṃvat 443. In it, both in an eulogistic verse at the beginning and in the text of the genea Note 20 · The grant of Pulakeśivallabha Janáśraya dated Saṃvat 490, mentions Mangalarasaráya as the donor’s elder brother and as the son of Jayasiṃhav Note 21 · These considerations seem to show that the initial date of the Traikúṭaka era was at or about a.d. 250 which at once suggests its identity w Note 22 · Their Race or Tribe.Of the race or tribe of the Traikúṭakas nothing is known. The conjecture may be offered that they are a branch of the Áb Note 23 · At Karád, thirty-one miles south of Sátára, Mr. Justice Newton obtained a coin of this Rudragaṇa, with the coins of many Kshatrapas includin