The Vakatakas and the Dasarna Country

Summary

This article critiques the assertion that the Vakataka realm was coextensive with the Dasarna country and addresses related conjectures made by D. B. Diskalkar. A verse in Lakshmidhara’s Krtyakalpataru mentions a pious lady named Vasundhara from Dasarna, daughter of a man named Vikrama. Diskalkar suggested that ‘Vikrama’ referred to the Gupta emperor Candragupta II (also styled Vikramaditya), that Vasundhara was Prabhavatigupta (Candragupta II’s daughter and queen of the Vakataka ruler Rudrasena I), and that the Vakataka kingdom was known as Dasarna. He further identified Dasarna with the Chhattisgarh division of Central Provinces and cited the place-name Vijaya-Dasanapura in Andhra inscriptions as the capital of a Vakataka principality. The author rejects these identifications. He argues that there is no reason to suppose that Vasundhara, daughter of an unspecified Vikrama, must be Prabhavatigupta; many individuals bore the name Vikrama, and evidence is lacking to connect this verse to the Vakataka queen. He also points out that Dasarna is an ancient geographical term referring to East Malwa and adjoining regions near Vidisa, bounded by the rivers Dasarna (modern Dhasan) and Vetravati (modern Betwa). Indian literature, such as Kalidasa’s Meghaduta, places Dasarna in this area. The Chhattisgarh region was historically known as Kosala (Dakshina Kosala), not Dasarna, and there is no evidence of Vakataka rule there. The place called Dasanapura that appears in some Pallava records has been identified with modern Darsi in the Nellore district and is unrelated to the Vakatakas. The author emphasises that the core of the Vakataka kingdom corresponded to the ancient janapada of Vidarbha (present-day Berar and neighbouring areas), where most of the dynasty’s inscriptions and monuments have been found. While the dynasty’s founder and some early rulers may have had connections with East Malwa and the Vindhyan region, their main base remained in Vidarbha. Later, a branch of the family established its capital at Vatsagulma (modern Washim). The Vakatakas flourished from the mid-third to the early sixth century, patronised the Ajanta cave complex and fostered the Vaidarbhi style of Sanskrit literature. The author concludes that equating the Vakataka kingdom with Dasarna or Kuntala is unfounded and that careful geographical and epigraphic analysis is necessary when identifying ancient place-names.