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Varman dynasty

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Kamarupa Kingdom
Varman dynasty
350 CE–655 CE
The traditional map of Kamarupa.
The traditional map of Kamarupa.
CapitalPragjyotishpura
Official languagesSanskrit, Kamarupi Prakrit, Old Assamese
Religion
Hinduism, Tribal religion[1]
GovernmentMonarchy
Maharajadhiraja 
• c. 350 – c. 374
Pushyavarman
• c. 518 – c. 542
Bhutivarman
• c. 600 – c. 650
Bhaskaravarman
Historical eraClassical India
• Established
350 CE
• Disestablished
655 CE
Preceded by		Succeeded by
Bhauma dynasty
Mlechchha dynasty

The Varman dynasty (350–650) was the first historical dynasty of the Kamarupa kingdom. It was established by Pushyavarman, a contemporary of Samudragupta.[2][3] The earlier Varmans were subordinates of the Gupta Empire,[4] but as the power of the Guptas waned, Mahendravarman (470–494) performed two horse sacrifices and the status of Kamarupa as an independent state remained unimpaired.[5] As per the Apsad Inscription of Adityasen, Susthivarman was defeated by Mahasengupta on the bank of Lauhitya.[6] The first of the three Kamarupa dynasties, the Varmans were followed by the Mlechchha and then the Pala dynasties.[7]

Origin

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The first king in this dynasty was Pushyavarman, possibly a contemporary of Samudragupta (c. 335/350-375 CE).[3] The kingdom which he established with much effort, grew in the periphery of the Gupta Empire, adopted the north Indian political model, and its kings took on names and titles of the Gupta kings and queens.[8] Nothing much is known directly about the initial kings till the sixth king, Mahendravarman, who established a rock temple and assumed the title of Maharajadhiraja (king-of-kings) in the last quarter of the fifth century.[8] The dynastic line from Pushyavarman first appear in the 7th century, in Dubi and Nidhanpur copperplate inscriptions issued by Bhaskaravarman and in the Harshacharita and not earlier in any inscription from his ancestors.[7][8] In these inscriptions Bhaskaravarman claims that he was a descendant of Narakasur, Bhagadatta and Vajradatta.[7] Modern scholars consider this claim to be a fabrication, Jae-eun Shin suggests that this genealogy was created in the context of Bharkarvarman's alliance with Harshavardhana, to help legitimise his sovereignty. The use of Naraka/Bhagadatta lineage to establish sovereignty continued under the Mlechchha and the Pala dynasties, a practice which is in keeping with the trend in the post-Gupta period in India.[8]

The name "Kāmarūpa" in later Brahmi script, in the Allahabad Pillar inscription of Samudragupta (350-375 CE).[9]

Chinese work She-Kia-Fang-Che describes Bhaskaravarman as a Kshatriya whose ancestors had come from China.[10] The ethnic origin of the Varman dynasty remains disputed. Some scholars have regarded it as probably the first Indo-Aryan dynasty of Assam,[11][12] whereas other historians have argued for an indigenous or non-Indo-Aryan origin. Kanak Lal Barua described Kamarupa as having been ruled by an indigenous line of kings claiming descent from Naraka, Bhagadatta and Vajradatta.[13] Jae-Eun Shin argues that the Varmans' adoption of the demon Naraka—rather than the conventional solar or lunar Kshatriya lineages—as their progenitor alludes to the dynasty's indigenous origin, although its rulers subsequently became patrons of Brahmanical religion.[14] Suniti Kumar Chatterji, using the racial terminology of his period, similarly described Bhaskaravarman as a Hinduised mleccha king of Indo-Mongoloid origin.[15] B. P. Singh characterised the state established in seventh-century Assam under Bhaskaravarman as a “Hinduized Indo-Mongoloid empire”.[16] Hugh B. Urban also infers that the Varmans descended from non-Aryan tribal populations that were gradually incorporated into Brahmanical kingship.[17]

Relics of Pragjyotishpura, the capital of Varmans

Capital

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The capital was moved at least once, the last time by Sthitavarman (566-590) with the older city not named but presumed to be Pragjyotishpura,[18] located at the south-eastern slope of the Narakasur hill near Dispur. The new capital was possibly some location in Guwahati.[19] Though the claim is not supported by any archaeological findings.

Politics and diplomacy

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The Varman's modeled themselves after the Gupta's and named themselves after the Gupta kings and queens.[20]

The dynasty

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The dynastic line, as given in the Dubi and Nidhanpur copperplate inscriptions:

Location of the Varmans and neighbouring polities circa 400-450 CE.[22]
ReignNamesuccessionQueen
1350-374Pushyavarman(unknown)
2374-398Samudravarmanson of PushyavarmanDattadevi
3398-422Balavarmanson of SamudravarmanRatnavati
4422-446Kalyanavarmanson of BalavarmanGandharavati
5446-470Ganapativarmanson of KalyanavarmanYajnavati
6470-494Mahendravarmanson of GanapativarmanSuvrata
7494-518Narayanavarmanson of MahendravarmanDevavati
8518-542Bhutivarmanson of NarayanavarmanVijnayavati
9542-566Chandramukhavarmanson of BhutivarmanBhogavati
10566-590Sthitavarmanson of ChandramukhavarmanNayanadevi
11590-595Susthitavarmanson of SthitavarmanSyamadevi
12595-600Supratisthitavarmanson of Susthitavarman(Bachelor)
13600-650Bhaskaravarmanbrother of Supratisthitavarman(Bachelor)
14650-655Avantivarman[23](unknown)(unknown)

Family tree

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Varman dynasty
Pushyavarman
(1)
r. c. 350-374
Samudravarman
(2)
r. c. 374-398
Balavarman
(3)
r. c. 398-422
Kalyanavarman
(4)
r. c. 422-446
Ganapativarman
(5)
r. c. 446-470
Mahendravarman
(6)
r. c. 470-494
Narayanavarman
(7)
r. c. 494-518
Bhutivarman
(8)
r. c. 518-542
Chandramukhavarman
(9)
r. c. 542-566
Sthitavarman
(10)
r. c. 566-590
Susthitavarman
(11)
r. c. 590-595
Supratisthitavarman
(12)
r. c. 595-600		Bhaskaravarman
(13)
r. c. 600-650

References

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  1. ↑ (A)ccording to the Yogina Tantra—a product of seventeenth-century Assam—the entire religion of Kamarupa is itself described as kirata dharma, that is, the religion of the northeast hill tribes,."(Urban 2011, p. 237)
  2. ↑ Sharma (1978), p. xxix.
  3. 1 2 Dutta, Satyabrat (2015). "Political Status of Assam in the Gupta Age". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 76: 137–140. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44156575.
  4. ↑ Majumdar, Ramesh Chandra; Altekar, Anant Sadashiv (1986). Vakataka – Gupta Age Circa 200-550 A.D. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 142. ISBN 9788120800267.
  5. ↑ Sen, Sailendra Nath (1999). Ancient Indian History and Civilization. New Age International. p. 303. ISBN 978-81-224-1198-0. The status of Kamarupa remained unimpaired as the grandson of Bhutivarman also performed two Asvamedha sacrifices
  6. ↑ Maity. Sachindra Kumar. Corpus Of Bengal Inscriptions Bearing On History And Civilization Of Bengal. p. 7. Again the Apsad Inscription of Adityasen refer to his grandfather Mahasengupta's defeat of Susthivarmand on the bank of Lauhitya. Susthivarman was the King of Kamarupa
  7. 1 2 3 Sircar, D C (1990), "Political History", in Barpujari, H K (ed.), The Comprehensive History of Assam, vol. I, Guwahati: Publication Board, Assam, pp. 94–171
  8. 1 2 3 4 Shin (2018).
  9. ↑ Fleet, John Faithfull (1888). Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Vol. 3. pp. 6–10.
  10. ↑ Sharma (1978), p. xiv.
  11. ↑ Kāmarūpa Anusandhāna Samiti (1984). Readings in the History and Culture of Assam. p. 179. The Varman dynasty, which was probably the first Indo-Aryan dynasty in Assam was overthrown by Salastambha, a man of Mleccha or non-Aryan (Mongolian) origin.
  12. ↑ Chaudhuri, Nishipada (1985). Historical Archaeology of Central Assam. B. R. Publishing Corporation. p. 83. ISBN 9780865907126. K. N. Dutta seems to be right in concluding that the Varman dynasty, which was probably the first Indo-Aryan dynasty in Assam, was overthrown by Salastambha, (Mongoloid) origin, who then made himself the king of Kamarupa.
  13. ↑ Barua, Kanak Lal (1933). Early History of Kamarupa: From the Earliest Times to the End of the Sixteenth Century. Shillong: The Author. p. 1.
  14. ↑ (Shin 2018:31–32)
  15. ↑ Chatterji, Suniti Kumar (1951). Kirata-Jana-Krti: The Indo-Mongoloids, Their Contribution to the History and Culture of India. Calcutta: Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal. pp. 90–91.
  16. ↑ Singh, B. P. (1987). "North-East India: Demography, Culture and Identity Crisis". Modern Asian Studies. 21 (2): 257–282. doi:10.1017/S0026749X00013809. JSTOR 312647.
  17. ↑ (Urban 2011, p. 234)
  18. ↑ "The older city is not given by name...(it) might have been Pragjyotisha."(Sharma 1978, pp. 30–31)
  19. ↑ "This verse refers to the act of abandoning the old capital city and building of a new metropolis on the bank of the holy river. The holy river seems to be none other than the Brahmaputra and the site of the city must have been located in the present Gauhati region."(Sharma 1978, p. 30)
  20. ↑ "the early kings of Kamarupa freely implemented the political model of north India, particularly following that of the Guptas, rather suggests their relative autonomy in the periphery. They adopted the imperial title of the Gupta, and the name of a Gupta king and queen, and performed a horse sacrifice...The resemblance between the names of Pushyavarman's son, Samudravarman, and daughter-in-law, DattadevI, on the one hand and those of Gupta emperor Samudragupta and his queen Dattadevl on the other may not be accidental. It was probably a conscious adoption."(Shin 2018, p. 30)
  21. Schwartzberg, Joseph E. (1978). A Historical atlas of South Asia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 145, map XIV.1 (j). ISBN 0226742210. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
  22. ↑ Schwartzberg, Joseph E. (1978). A Historical atlas of South Asia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 145, map XIV.1 (j). ISBN 0226742210. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
  23. ↑ "Though there exists no direct evidence, there are indirect evidence of a king who ruled for a short period after Bhaskaravarman, but was ousted by Salasthamba."(Sharma 1978, pp. xxxi–xxxii).

Bibliography

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