Abhira dynasty

The Abhira dynasty was a dynasty that ruled over the western Deccan, where they perhaps succeeded the Satavahana dynasty. From 203 CE to roughly 270, or possibly 370, they formed a vast kingdom. They belonged to the ancient Abhira tribe.

This article is about the Abhira empire. For for other uses, see Abhira (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Abhira Kingdom.
203 CE–270 or 370
StatusEmpire
CapitalAnjaneri, Thalner, Prakashe, Bhamer, Asirgarh
Common languagesApabhraṃśa, Sanskrit, Prakrit
Religion
Hinduism
GovernmentMonarchy
Historical eraEarly Classical
• Established
203 CE
• Overthrow of the Abhiras by the Traikutakas. Reconquest of lost territories by the Saka kshtarapas and the rise of the Vakataka dynasty. Defeat of petty Abhira chieftains by Kadamba ruler Mayurasarman.
270 or 370
Preceded by		Succeeded by
Satavahana dynasty
Western Satrap Empire
Ikshvakus of Vijayapuri
Traikutaka dynasty
Vakataka dynasty
Western Satrap Empire
Kadamba dynasty
Today part ofIndia

Origin

The Purana texts associate the Abhira tribe with Saurashtra and Avanti regions. According to Balkrishna Gokhale, they "have been well-known since epic times as a martial tribe".[1] The Mahabharata describes them as living near the seashore and on the bank of the Sarasvati River, near Somnath in Gujarat.[2]

The origin of the Abhira tribe is steeped in obscurity. Although references to them exist in Ancient Indian literature, hardly any throw light on their origin. The Mahabhashya of Patanjali simply mentions them as something akin to a jāti, naming them separately from the Shudras.[3] Some sources state that Abhiras were Kshatriyas, and specifically Yaduvanshi.

Some Abhiras entered the military service of the Western Satraps (Sakas), and helped them in conquest of new territories.[4] Ashvini Agrawal says that "By 181 CE, the Abhiras had obtained much influence at the Kshatrapa court. Some of them were serving as generals."[5] The Gunda inscription of 181 CE refers to Abhira Rudrabhuti as the senapati (commander-in-chief) of the Saka ruler Rudrasimha I.[6] It refers to Rudrasimha as simply a ksatrapa, ignoring the existence of any mahaksatrapa. According to Sudhakar Chattopadhyaya, this indicates that the Abhira general was the de facto ruler of the state, though not assuming any higher title. The inscription saya Abhira Rudrabhuti was the son of the general Bapaka.[7]

History
The Abhiras and main South Asian polities circa 350 CE.[8]

Although Ishwarsena is often considered to be the first known Abhira king, H. S. Thosar agrees with K. Goplachari that the first was probably Sakasena, who ruled over much of the former Satavahana dynasty's territories, probably for about two decades around 209-228. He was likely the older brother of Ishwarsena, who succeeded him on his death. Both were sons of Mathari, the wife of Abhira Sivadatta. This theory differs from that held by other academics at the time of Thosar's writing in 1990: Sakasena was regarded by them as a member of the Satavahana dynasty.[4]

The Puranas refer to ten successive Abhira kings who ruled in the Maharashtra region but do not record their names. The duration of the Abhira rule is uncertain, with most of the Puranas giving it as 67 years, while the Vayu Purana gives it as 167 years. Records, which include inscriptions and coinage, are rare, fragmentary and geographically dispersed.[4]

The first certain ruler of the Abhira dynasty was Ishwarsena. The branch came to power after the demise of the Satavahana dynasty in the Nashik region of Maharashtra, with the help and consent of the Western Satraps (Sakas). They were known as Gavali rajas indicating that they were cowherds by profession before becoming kings. An Abhira king is known to have sent an embassy to the Sassanid Shahanshah of Persia, Narseh, to congratulate him on his victory against Bahram III.[4]

According to V. V. Mirashi, the following were the feudatories of the Abhiras-[9]

The Abhiras spoke Apabhraṃśa, and seem to have patronized Sanskrit. The Nasik cave inscription of Ishwarsena is written mostly in Sanskrit. Several guilds flourished in their kingdom, in which people invested large amounts for making endowments. This indicates peace, order and security in the kingdom of the Abhiras.[10]

Abhira Ishwarsena

Ashvini Agrawal thinks he was a general in the service of Rudrasimha I who deposed his master in 188 and ascended the throne. Ashvini Agrawal further says that Rudrasimha I soon deposed him and regained the throne in 190.[5] He (Ishwarsena) started an era which later became known as the Kalachuri-Chedi era.[11] Ishwarsena's coins are dated only in the first and second years of his reign and are found in Saurashtra and southern Rajputana.[12]

The Traikuta rule of Aparanta or Konkan begins in 248, exactly the time of Ishwarsena's rule; hence, some academics believe them to be same dynasty.[13]

Territory

The Abhiras ruled western Maharashtra which included Nashik and its adjoining areas,[14] Aparanta, Lata, Ashmaka,[15] and Khandesh[16] Their core territory included Nasik and the adjoining areas.[7] The Abhira territory also may have consisted of Malwa, which they gradually seized from the Kshahratas.[17]

Decline

After the death of Abhira Vashishthiputra Vasusena, the Abhiras probably lost their sovereign and paramount status.[4] The Abhiras lost most of their domains to the rising Vakatakas (north) and the Kadambas (south-west).[18] The Abhiras were finally supplanted by their feudatories, the Traikutakas. But still many petty Abhira chieftains and kings continued to rule until the fourth century, roughly until 370, in the Vidarbha and Khandesh region. They continued to rule, but without sovereignty, until they came into conflict with the Kadamba king Mayurasharma and were defeated.[4]

Descendants

According to H. S. Thosar's speculative paper on the dynasty, presented to the Indian History Congress, "The descendants of the Abhiras can still be recognized from their surnames such as Ahir, Ahire, Ahir-Rao etc."[4] Ganga Ram Garg believes that the modern-day Ahir caste are descendants of Abhira people and that the term Ahir is the Prakrit form of the Sanskrit term Abhira.[19]

References
  1. Gokhale, Balkrishna Govind (1962). Samudra Gupta: Life and Times. Asia Publishing House. p. 18.
  2. Garg, Gaṅgā Rām (1992). Encyclopaedia of the Hindu World. Concept Publishing Company. ISBN 978-81-7022-374-0. According to the Mahabharata (Sabha. 31), the Abhiras lived near the seashore and on the bank of the Sarasvati, a river near Somanāth in Gujarāt.
  3. Soni, Lok Nath (2000). The Cattle and the Stick: An Ethnographic Profile of the Raut of Chhattisgarh. Anthropological Survey of India, Government of India, Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Department of Culture. pp. 13–16. ISBN 978-81-85579-57-3. Some people say that the Abhira were Sudra, but it is wrong and Mahabharat mentions both of them distinctly. It says that both the Sudra and the Abhira were living on the bank of river Saraswati. The Abhira who ruled over the Deccan for some time, were, according to Patanjali's counting, a caste by themselves, not included among the Sudra (Ghurye 1961 : 62). The word 'Jati' is applied by the great grammarian Patanjali to such ethnic groups as the Abhira. By implication the Kshatriyas too were a 'Jati'. 'Varna' and 'Jati' would thus appear to be inter-changeable terms. It is clear that other groups than the four traditional ones were not only in existence, but had come to be recognised as jatis (Vyakaranamahabhashya : 1,2,72).
  4. Thosar, H.S. (1990). "The Abhiras in Indian History". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. Indian History Congress. 51: 56–65. JSTOR 44148188. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  5. Ashvini Agrawal (1989). Rise and Fall of the Imperial Guptas (Hardcover). Motilal Banarsidass. p. 58. ISBN 9788120805927.
  6. Salomon, Richard (1998). Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 90. ISBN 9780195099843.
  7. Chattopadhyaya, Sudhakar (1974). Some Early Dynasties of South India. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 216. ISBN 9788120829411. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  8. Schwartzberg, Joseph E. (1978). A Historical atlas of South Asia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 25, 145. ISBN 0226742210.
  9. Sudhakar Chattopadhyaya (1974). Some Early Dynasties of South India. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 128–130. ISBN 978-81-208-2941-1.
  10. Majumdar, M. R. (1960). Chronology of Gujarat. Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. p. 78.
  11. Arun Kumar Sharma (2004). Heritage of Tansa Valley. Bharatiya Kala Prakashan. pp. 33, 92. ISBN 9788180900297.
  12. Mirashi, Vasudev Vishnu (1955). Inscriptions of the Kalachuri-Chedi Era, Part 1. Government Epigraphist for India. p. xxx.
  13. Mookerji, Radhakumud (2007). The gupta empire (5th ed.). Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. p. 26. ISBN 9788120804401.
  14. Sudhakar Chattopadhyaya (1974). Some Early Dynasties of South India. p. 129. ISBN 9788120829411. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  15. Maharashtra (India). Gazetteers Dept (1977). Maharashtra State Gazetteers: Sholapur Gazetteer of India Volume 24 of Maharashtra State Gazetteers, Maharashtra (India). Gazetteers Dept. Director of Government Printing, Stationery and Publications, Maharashtra State. p. 40.
  16. Kapoor, Subodh (2002). Encyclopaedia of Ancient Indian Geography, Volume 1. Cosmo Publications. p. 2. ISBN 9788177552980.
  17. Krishnan, V. S.; Shrivastav, P. N.; Verma, Rajendra (1996). Rajgarh By Madhya Pradesh (India). Government Central Press. p. 18.
  18. Mitchiner, Michael (1978). The Ancient & Classical World, 600 B.C.-A.D. 650. Hawkins Publications. p. 634. ISBN 9780904173161.
  19. Garg, Gaṅgā Rām (1992). Encyclopaedia of the Hindu World. Concept Publishing Company. pp. 113–114. ISBN 978-81-7022-374-0.

Further reading
  • Digby, Simon (2004). "Before Timur Came: Provincialization of the Delhi Sultanate Through The Fourteenth Century". Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. 47 (3): 298–356. doi:10.1163/1568520041974657.
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