Nagas of Vindhyatabi

Nagas of Vindhyatabi
2nd century A.D–4th century A.D
Capital	Vindhyatavi
Common languages	Sanskrit Prakrit
Religion	Shaivism (Hinduism)
Government	Monarchy
Maharaja, Ranaslaghin
History
• Established	2nd century A.D
• Disestablished	4th century A.D
Preceded by Succeeded by Murunda dynasty Kushanas? Gupta Empire Bhanjas
Today part of	India

The Nagas of Vindhyatabi were a royal dynasty ruling over Northern Odisha during the 2nd century A.D to 4th century A.D (possibly between 261 A.D to 340 A.D)^[1] from their seat at Vindhyatabi, also called Vindhyatavi (identified with modern-day Keonjhar).^[2]

History

This dynasty was probably a branch of the Naga house, from which many rulers were descended and who ruled many kingdoms and principalities for the short duration between the fall of the Kushan Empire and the rise of the Gupta Empire.^[3] A ruler of this dynasty, Manabhanja with title of Maharaja, "had added to his glory in a hundred clashes in war with the Devaputras". The Devaputras mentioned here are obviously the Kushanas.^[2][4] This suggests that the Nagas of Vindhyatabi joined hands with confederation of Indian rulers, led by the Bharashiva Nagas to overthrow the Kushan rule in India.^[5][6][2]

Satrubhanja was the greatest and most powerful ruler of this dynasty. He was the son of Maharaja Manabhanja and his queen Mahadevi Damayanti. He distributed a huge amount of wealth around a large part of northern, central and eastern India which provides an image of his territorial expanse.^[2][4]

Decline

Almost no Naga rulers of Vindhyatabi are known after Satrubhanja. Sitabhinji in Keonjhar district of Odisha has revealed that it was an ancient holy place of Shaivism promoted by the Naga rulers of Keonjhar as the cave arts found there provide a glimpse of a possible descendant of Satrubhanja who went by the name Disabhanja.^[7]

The Bhanjas emerged as leading chieftains succeeding the Nagas of the Vindhyatabi in the Kendujhar and Western Odisha region, inheriting their territories.^[8][9]

References

1. "ORIGIN, GENEALOGY AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE BHANJAS" (PDF). www.shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in. pp. 74, 75. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
2. Agrawal, Ashvini (1989). "Chapter II: THE POLITICAL CONDITION OF INDIA BEFORE THE RISE OF GUPTAS - EASTERN INDIA". Rise and Fall of the Imperial Guptas. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 60, 61. ISBN 81-208-0592-5.
3. Odishara Aithiya. Cuttack: Vidya Prakashan. 2011. pp. 166–185. ISBN 978-81-7703-101-0.
4. "ORISSA IN THE PRE-GUPTA AGE" (PDF). www.shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
5. H. V. Trivedi 1957, p. ii.
6. R. K. Sharma 2001, p. 156. sfn error: no target: CITEREFR._K._Sharma2001 (help)
7. "Call to Save Fading Sitabhinji Cave Art". Archived from the original on February 16, 2016.
8. Sinha, S.; Centre for Studies in Social Sciences (1987). Tribal polities and state systems in pre-colonial eastern and north eastern India. Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, K.P. Bagchi & Co. p. 44. ISBN 978-81-7074-014-8. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
9. YoshÄ«, A. (1983). History & Culture of Khijjingakotta Under the Bhanjas. Vikas Publishing House. p. 5. ISBN 9780706914337. Retrieved 2020-04-13.

Bibliography

• Ashvini Agrawal (1989). Rise and Fall of the Imperial Guptas. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-0592-7.
• Dilip Kumar Ganguly (1984). History and Historians in Ancient India. Abhinav. ISBN 978-0-391-03250-7.
• H. V. Trivedi (1957). Catalogue of the Coins of the Naga Kings of Padmavati. Department of Archaeology & Museums, Madhya Pradesh.