The Origin of the Aulikaras
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The Origin of the Aulikaras The Mālava People the yūpa is definitely a testimony of Mālava power and con- fidence. It is also noteworthy that the inscription speaks of The Aulikaras, as well as most or all of the associated lin- Nandisoma as belonging to a Mālava dynasty of royal sages eages, probably started out as hereditary leaders among (rājarṣivaṃśe mālavavaṃśe prasūtasya), which may be in- the warrior communities (kṣatragaṇa) of the Mālava dicative of a major shift in at least some Mālava tribes from tribe. This nation originated far to the north, occupying an oligarchic (or “republican”) gaṇa system of society to a the territory around the river Ravi in the Punjab in Maurya kingdom. However, as already pointed out ( Venkataramayya times and migrating gradually to the south.2 In the late 1953, 82; Altekar 1948, 260), neither Nandisoma nor his an- centuries BCE and the early centuries CE their centre of cestors bear any royal, feudatory or military title,5 so rāja power was Mālavanagara, modern Nagar in the Bharat- may simply indicate a kṣatriya status rather than kingship in pur district of Rajasthan. Their presence here is attested the established sense. to by numerous coins, many of which bear legends such The names ending in soma are reminiscent of Gauri’s as mālavānāṃ jayaḥ or mālavagaṇasya jayaḥ (Jain 1972b, ancestor Puṇyasoma6 and Kumāravarman’s ancestor Vīra- 6). They are also referred to, in the form mālaya, in the soma. The name of Bhṛguvardhana, in turn, evokes the Nasik Inscription of Uṣavadāta (early second century vardhana names of the Later Aulikaras, as well as that of CE), which mentions Śaka aid to the Uttamabhadra tribe Aparājitavardhana of the Mukhara gotra.7 Another very against the Mālavas.3 This inscription does not say what early pair of inscribed yūpa fragments, dated ca. 227 CE area the Mālavas and Uttamabhadras inhabited, but it (Kṛta 284), was found in Barnala (ब蔼नाला, 26°22’44”N does mention Uṣavadāta bathing at Pushkar afterwards, 76°28’19”E, Sawai Madhopur district, Rajasthan). The so their territory must have been near modern Ajmer. mutilated inscription of one of these mentions a king The end of the second century CE saw a protracted war whose name ends in vardhana,8 apparently of the Sohartṛ of succession in the Śaka kingdom between Jīvadāman and gotra. Yet another inscribed yūpa (ca. 238 CE, Kṛta 295), his uncle Rudrasiṃha I (Majumdar and Altekar 1954, 31–32). one of four recovered from Badwa (बडवा, 25°05’42”N This probably provided an opportunity for the Mālava tribes 76°20’26”E, Baran [formerly Kota] district, Rajasthan), to increase their territories and level of independence. From mentions a mahāsenāpati of the Mokhari family named the third century onward, inscribed sacrificial pillars (yūpa) Balavardhana. Finally, a later (ca. 371 CE, Kṛta 428) yūpa commemorate Mālava chieftains both in the south and from further northeast in Bijayagadh (around 26°53’32”N north of modern Rajasthan (to the southwest and northeast 77°16’20”E, close to Bayana, Bharatpur district, Rajast- of Nagar). The earliest of these are the yūpas of Nandsa han) commemorates a king called Viṣṇuvardhana, son of ( , 25°14’56”N 74°16’49”E, Bhilwara district, Rajasthan; Yaśovardhana, names that seem to be echoed in the name Figure 2), which preserve two copies of an inscription (one of of Yaśodharman Viṣṇuvardhana. Though this resonance of the copies being written lengthwise, the other crosswise on early Mālava names with those used later on by the Auli- the same pillar) commemorating a tremendous sixty-one day karas and their associates does not necessarily prove a sacrifice (°aikaṣaṣṭirātram atisatram) held by Nandisoma, familial connection, it does at least suggest a shared herit- son of Jayasoma, grandson of Bhṛguvardhana, great-grand- age of naming practice. Interestingly, no names in varman son of Jayatsena,4 who bore the clan name Sogi or Sogin. It are found on any of the known yūpa inscriptions, though has been suggested (Altekar 1948, 260) that this sacrifice, con- this was an ending much favoured by the Early Aulikara ducted in the Kṛta year 282 (ca. 225 CE), was in celebration of a victory against a Śaka ruler. Whether or not this is correct, 5 Although a fragmentary yūpa inscription (sans extant date) from 2 Sircar (1954a, 371–73) and Mirashi (1980, 417–20, 1982b, 110–12) the same site speaks of a mahāsenāpati named Bhaṭṭisoma, who was both provide good summaries of the early history of the Mālavas. also a Sogi like Nandisoma. 3 Line 3, bhaṭārakāaṃñātiyā ca gato smiṃ varṣāratuṃ mālaye 6 In addition, the commissioner of the Chhoti Sadri inscription hi rudham utamabhādraṃ mocayituṃ. Senart (1906, 79) translates, (A7, also composed under Gauri) was named Bhramarasoma, and his “[a]nd by the order of the lord I went to release the chief of the Uttama- father was Mitrasoma. bhadras, who had been besieged for the rainy season by the Mālayas.” 7 See page 241 about Aparājitavardhana. 4 Readings corrected by Venkataramayya (1953); Altekar’s (1948) 8 The first member of the name is illegible but probably consisted original versions of the names (Śrīsoma instead of Nandisoma and of two akṣaras. The title “king” (rājño), also applied to this person’s Jayanartana instead of Bhṛguvardhana) are occasionally used in his- father, is read only from faint traces in both instances (Altekar 1942, torical literature, but these readings can now be rejected. 120 n. 9). Open Access. © 2019 Dániel Balogh, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110649789-005 20 The Origin of the Aulikaras Figure 2: The Nandsa yūpa of Nandisoma. Photo by the author, 2018. rulers. There is, however, a reference in the Mahābhārata Aulikaras, beginning with the Mandsaur inscription of to a presumably early Mālava chief with a varman name.9 the time of Naravarman (A1), dated in the year 461 of the Mālava Era (ca. 404 CE). The name Aulikara (or Olikara, see page 24) is first attested in the Bihar Kotra stone and Mālavas in Malwa – Aulikaras in Daśapura cave inscriptions of the same ruler (A2 and A3), both dated ME 474 (ca. 417 CE). Bihar Kotra lies directly to the north In the early fifth century CE, the Mālavas make their appear- of Bhopal and is also the location of some graffiti (B1) that ance in the region that today bears their name (see the map may – just possibly – indicate the presence of some of Nar- in Figure 3). A yūpa fragment found in Nagari near Chittor- avarman’s ancestors in the area. The Gangdhar inscription garh10 may indicate their presence close to Daśapura at an (A4) of the time of Naravarman’s son Viśvavarman was early time, but the fragmentary state of this yūpa inscrip- also found east of Mandsaur, about a third of the way from tion does not allow the drawing of any concrete conclu- there to Bihar Kotra. These provenience data suggest that sions.11 Their earliest datable records are those of the early the initial heartland of the Early Aulikara family may have been within or adjacent to the region of Daśārṇa or Ākara. Another inscription possibly relevant to the earliest 9 MBh 7.165.115, mālavasyendravarmaṇaḥ. history of the Aulikaras is the Narsinghgarh rock inscrip- 10 Nagari is the site of the ancient town of Madhyamikā, which was tion of Aparājitavardhana (C1).12 Narsinghgarh is a town evidently under Aulikara and/or Naigama control in the early sixth century. It is the findspot of the Nagari Inscription of Kṛta 481 (C2) on the northern side of the same rock massif as Bihar and the presumed place of origin of the Chittorgarh inscriptions of Kotra, and the inscription concerns a donation to the the Naigamas (A13, A14). 11 The fragment was found and reported by D. R. Bhandarkar (1920, 120). All he could decipher from the text is the term yūpa and the 12 This inscription has not been published before, and only a pre- mention of a vājapeya yajña performed by somebody’s sons (putrair). liminary partial edition is included in this book. Mālavas in Malwa – Aulikaras in Daśapura 21 Figure 3: The territory of the Aulikaras. Findspots of Aulikara and associated inscriptions shown with green labels; other sites relevant to the Aulikaras or helpful for orientation shown in red. Topographic base map from maps-for-free.com; river courses overlaid from india-wris. nrsc.gov.in. local Buddhist monastery by a chieftain (without a royal Whether the earlier Aulikara homeland was further to title) who calls himself Aparājitavardhana of the Mukhara the east or not, Naravarman’s domain evidently included gotra. As noted above, third-century Mālava yūpa inscrip- Mandsaur, his son Bandhuvarman probably had his seat tions include a record of a leader with a vardhana name there, and all other Aulikara-related epigraphs hail from belonging to the Mokhari family. The Narsinghgarh Mandsaur or nearby. The country of the Aulikaras was thus, inscription has no date but was most likely engraved in at least from the time of Naravarman onward, located in the the late fourth or the early fifth century. If this is so, then land known as Western Malwa in modern terms and Avanti Aparājitavardhana flourished in the same geographical by its ancient name. In the days of the Later Aulikaras and area and roughly the same time period as Siṃhavarman the Naigamas, they also controlled lands in the south- and Naravarman. He may have controlled the Narsingh- eastern stretches of modern Rajasthan, which were proba- garh region as a vassal of the early Aulikaras (he acknowl- bly not included in the traditional definition of Avanti and edges a paramabhaṭṭāraka in his inscription) or he may may have been referred to historically as Pāriyātra (see page have been kin to them,13 in which case the Aulikaras and 162) or perhaps as Uparamāla (Cecil 2016, 110).