A Proud Maratha

After the decline of the Gupta Empire in the North, many small kingdoms rose throughout India. These kingdoms were constantly at war with each other. Taking advantage of the situation, the Shakas and the Pahlava Invaders established their own strongholds in Western India. Prabhakarvardhan was a king of one such kingdom of Thaneshwar. He had two sons, Rajyavardhan and Harshwardhan. His daughter, Rajyashri was married to King Grahavarman. After the death of King Prabhakarvardhan, Rajyavardhan ascended the throne. Meanwhile, the King of Malwa, Devadutta, attacked Grahavarman and killed him. Rajyashri was made a prisoner. To free his sister, Rajyavardhan marched out with his armies. Unfortunately he was murdered by King Shashanka of Gouda. The responsibility of ruling the kingdom fell on the shoulders of the young Harshwardhan. He ascended the throne at the tender age of 16. Upon ascending to the throne, he started training troops and established a large standing army. He marched upon ...

The son of Chandragupta 1 and the second ruler of the Gupta Dynasty, Samudragupta is known for his expansions and conquests. The major source of information about his reign is the Allahabad prashasti. He embarked on a series of campaigns in South and East India. He used to give the enemy Kings a choice. Either they could surrender peacefully and could retain their Empire or they could opt for a battle in which they would mostly be killed. He is depicted as a warrior with hundreds of battle scars. But that was not all. Apart from his military talents, Samudragupta was a master in playing the Veena. This is depicted in many of the coins minted during his reign. The beginning of his reign was accompanied by the conquest of the neighbouring Naga kingdoms. He won lands in Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, finally reaching Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu. He used to reinstate the defeated Kings on their thrones and would allow them to rule as his deputees. This proved his worth as a St...

A legendary king of the Satavahana Kingdom, Satakarni was a wise administrator and a fierce warrior. He was the son of King Sivasvati and Queen Gautami. He ruled over the Deccan. The major source of information about his reign comes from his coins and literary sources like Nashik prashasti. His major achievement was his victory over the Shakas and the Greek Kshatraps. He won against the Kings of Kalyandurg and Saurashtra. The King of Saurashtra was a powerful and ambitious man named Nahapana. Satakarni defeated Nahapana in a battle and executed him. He performs the legendary Raajasuya Yagya to consolidate his rule over the Deccan. In the Yagya, he gives the honour of Agra Puja to his mother, Raajmata Gautami Balashri, breaking all norms. From the day of his coronation, he started a new era, the Shalivahana era. The day of his coronation is nowadays celebrated as Ugadi. He also defended the country from the various invasions by Greek Invaders who wanted to re-establish Greek supre...

Ashoka was the son of Emperor Bindusara and his consort Subhadrangi {also called Dharma}. He succeeded Bindusara as the third Emperor of the Mauryan Empire. Legend has it that Ashoka murdered all his brothers brutally to secure the throne. But he was the most capable of Bindusara's sons. As a young man, he was appointed as the Governor of Ujjain and later Takshashila {Taxila}. He showed his worth by suppressing revolts in the provinces. But Bindusara wanted his eldest son, Sushima to succeed him. With the help of ministers like Radhagupta, Ashoka murdered Sushima and ascended the throne of Magadh. Ashoka's family was an expanded one. According to most Historians, Ashoka had five wives. The most important among them were Devi, Kaurwaki and Asandhimitra. He had a son, Mahendra and a daughter, Sanghamitra with his first wife, Devi. Ashoka is best known for the Kainga War. All the Indian states had surrendered to the Mauryan Empire except the kingdom of Kalinga {modern day O...

Chanakya was a teacher, an advisor and a minister of the first ruler of the Mauryan Empire - Chandragupta Maurya. He is credited with helping to establish the Mauryan Empire by defeating the mighty Nanda Empire. He is also known as Kautilya or Vishnugupta and is the author of the Arthashastra, a treatise on the rules of governing a kingdom and on managing the economy of a state. It is believed that Chanakya was insulted by Dhana Nanda, the King of Magadh. Chanakya had proposed to Dhana Nanda that if he formed an alliance with Porus and marched his armies to the frontiers of India to battle against the Greek Invaders under Alexander, they would have defeated his mighty army. But Dhana Nanda laughed at this and ordered Chanakya to be dragged out of his assembly. Chanakya swore revenge. Someday he would return with an army to defeat Dhana Nanda. Only then would he tie his Shikha. He wandered throughout India searching for a capable person to become the king of India. He found Chandra...

Alexander the Great, the Ruler of Macedonia had embarked on a campaign to conquer the world. After conquering Persia, his eyes turned towards the rich and fertile kingdoms of India. The first kingdom to bow before him was Gandhara. The king of Gandhara was Ambhi, a power hungry and corrupt ruler. Ambhi was jealous of his neighbour king Porus' expansions. In order to secure his own kingdom, he bowed before Alexander, offering him the kingdom of Gandhara along with it's armies and riches. Alexander was clearly not impressed by a spineless coward like Ambhi. He longed for a real battle. Panchala, ruled by the mighty Porus was the next kingdom in line. But Porus was not a man to go down without a fight. He refused the peace offerings of Alexander and mobilized his enormous army on the bank's of the Jhelum river. The army of Porus comprised of cavalry, elephants, chariots and infantry. Whereas Alexander relied on the strength of  the Macedonian phalanx.  Alexander's deci...

Hi Everyone. नमस्कार। Sumedhrao Malandkar here. Welcome to my blog. Here I shall be posting information about Indian History with special emphasis on Maratha History. Stay tuned to learn some interesting facts about Indian History. Jai Bhavani, Jai Shivray 🚩