Thinking how to spend a weekend, I suddenly opened Matsya Purana to look into what’s written over the Satavahanas. Well, I always heard of this but it’s the first time I realized the Regnal lists of the Mahapuranas are genuine sources of Indian history. Yes, we were made to believe what’s there in the books is not to be taken seriously but the opinion would change immediately if one tries to spend some time on the topic. One would see inconsistencies, and one would see unexplained gaps but these regnal lists are solid enough to be considered as serious starting points of ancient history.

I have looked into Matsya Purana, Vishnu Purana and Garuda Purana, and I know for sure that Vayu Purana and Bhagavata Purana have the same information, and on the other hand, know that Brahmanda Purana and Bhavishyottara Purana contain the regnal lists. Of the ones I looked into, Matsya Purana, Vishnu Purana, Vayu Purana and Bhagavata Purana have got detailed lists but Garuda Purana, not so while Vishnu Purana doesn’t mention the regnal durations unlike Matsya Purana – and on the other hand, one would see inconsistencies between them in the names. It’s not as if the information is complete either – for instance, while Matsya Purana calls out 32 Brhadratha Kings, we have the names of only twenty. On the other hand, the Puranas also give a synopsis statement of each kingdom –  how many years the dynasty ruled, and the number of kings. There are some internal inconsistencies when you compare two Puranas. But these lists are robust enough to become the starting point of any serious historical study.

There are three ways one can leverage this information

  1. The regnal list in particular
  2. The duration of the dynasty
  3. The flow of history

The Puranas first mention the Ikshvaku line and declare that it disappeared into history. On the other hand, they build a regnal list for Ujjain transitioning into Magadha, starting with Brhadrathas and ending generally with blurred details after the Satavahanas.

Dynasty Matsya Purana Vishnu Purana
Bhradratha Dynasty 32 Kings, 1000 years 22 kings named
Pradyotya Dynasty 5 Kings, 52 Years 5 Kings, 138 Years
Sisunaka Dynasty 12 rulers, 360 years 10 rulers, 362 years
Nanda Dynasty 9 rulers, 100 years 9 rulers, 100 years
Maurya Dynasty 10 kings, 137 years 10 kings, 137 years
Sunga Dynasty 10 kings, 112 years 10 kings, 112 years
Kanvayanas 4 kings, 45 years 4 kings, 45 years
Andhras 19 kings, 460 years 36 kings, 456 years

As a general rule, there are no details are given of the kings – there are rare exceptions and that too, generally around the change of a dynasty. There is enough information, however, to make sense of what happened.

  • Sisunagas are called Kshatrabandhavas indicating that they are not of ruling lines
  • Matsya Purana calls Satavahanas Andhras and their successors Sriparvatiyas as Andhrabhrtyas while Vayu Purana and Vishnu Purana calls them Andhravhrtyas
  • Mahapadmananda was the first ruler who ruled the whole of the Aryavarta
  • The Kanvayanas are called virtuous and are held in esteem by neighbours – a clear indication they are petty rulers

Let me give the regnal lists of each kingdom –

Kuru Vamsa:

Vishnu Purana gives the list of Kuru kings thus. Three brothers of Janamejeya – Srutasena, Ugrasena and Bhimasena are noted. Satanika learnt Vedas under Yajnyavalkya and warfare from Krpa but dissatisfied with sensual life, he acquired spiritual knowledge under Saunaka and attained salvation. Nichakra changed the capital to Kausambi as Hastinapura was washed away by Ganga. The end of the line is mentioned through the verse

ब्रह्मक्षत्रस्य यो योनिर्वंशो राजर्षिसत्कृतः ।
क्षेमकं प्राप्य राजानं संस्थानं प्राप्स्यते कलौ ।।

List from Garuda Purana:

Parikshit, Janamejeya, Satanika, Asvamedhadatta, Adhisomaka, Krishna, Aniruddha, Usna, Chitraratha, Vrisniman, Susena, Sunita, Nrchaksu, Mukhabana, Medhavi, Nrpanjaya, Pariplava, Sunaya, Medhavi, Nrpanjaya, Hari, Tigma, Brhadratha, Satanika, Sudana, Udana, Anihara, Dandapani, Nimittaka, Kshemaka

Ikshvaku Vamsa:

Nothing much is mentioned about the kings except that Divakara ruled from Ayodhya in Madhyadesa and epithets for various kings like Amitrajit for Sumitra, and the sloka depicting the end of the line.

सुमित्रसुरथाज्जातो अन्यस्तु भविता नृपः।
एतेचैक्ष्वाकवः प्रोक्ता भविष्या ये कलौ युगे ।।

List from Vishnu Purana:

Brhadbala, Brhatksana, Uruksaepa, Vatsa, Vatsavyuha, Prativyoma, Divakara , Sahadeva, Brhadasva, Bhanuratha, Supratipa, Marudeva, Sunaksatra, Kinnara, Antariksa, Suvarna, Amitrajit, Brhadraja, Dharma, Krtanjaya, Rananjaya, Sanjaya, Sakya, Suddhaudana, Rahula, Prasenajit, Kshudraka, Kundaka, Suratha, Sumitra

Brhadrathas:

Though it is explicitly called out that this is the line of Jarasandha and Sahadeva, their names are generally not included because this list is for Kali Yuga only.

List from Matsya Purana

Ruler Reign(Years)
Sahadeva
Samadhi 58
Srutasrava 64
Apratipi 36
Niramitra 40
Suraksha 56
Brhatkarma 23
Senajit 50
Srutanjaya 40
Vibhu 28
Suchi 64
Kshema 28
Anuvrata 64
Sunetra 25
Nirvriti 58
Trinetra 28
Dyumatsena 48
Mahinetra 33
Achala 32
Ripunjaya 50

After the Brhadrathas, Vitihotras and Avantis became extinct, Pulaka deposed his master Ripunjaya and installed his son Balaka as the ruler. This Balaka went on a spree of conquest on his whim and not by right. The explicit reference to Balaka being installed before Kshatriyas clearly hints that he is not a Kshatriya. The regnal list, however, considers Pulaka as the ruler as well. The narrative notes they rule for 52 years but the years add up to 155.

Vishnu Purana states that the name of the minister is Sunika and his son whom he placed on the throne is Pradyotya whose sone is Pulaka. Balaka is not mentioned. Siryaka is named as Janaka.

List from Matsya Purana

Ruler Reign(Years)
Pulaka 23
Balaka 28
Visakhayupa 53
Siryaka 21
Nandivardhana 30

Compare this with Vishnu Purana – Pradyotya, Palaka, Visakhayupa, Janaka, Nandivardhana. Serious Question – what can we infer from the difference of these names?

Sisunaka “destroyed the glory” of the Pradyotyas and became the king in Girivraja while he made his son ruler in Varanasi. These rulers are termed as Kshatrabandhavas – a reference to the fact that they are servants and not of any ruling line. Now, this is where the lineages shift from Avanti to Magadha. And that’s why we don’t read anything about the famous Haryankas.

I am not going to bore you with the details and from now on, I will just present the names of the kings.

Sisunaga, Kakavarna, Kshemadharma, Kshatraujas, Vidmisara, Ajatashatru, Darbhaka, Udayasva, Nandivardhana, Mahanandi

Mahapadma was born to Mahanandi from a Sudra woman and is called out as an incarnation of Kali and exterminator of Kshatriya kings. Vishnu Purana calls him Mahapadmananda. He would become Ekachatra – or the Universal Emperor and the world would be full of Sudra kings after him. His eight sons followed him and they ruled for 12 years combined. While Matsya Purana calls his son Sukalpa, Vishnu Purana calls him Sumatya. Mahapadma’s line will be uprooted by Kautilya. Did Kautilya found a line or did he pass over the rule to someone else – the Mauryas, Matsya Purana gives no clarity but other Puranas tell he made Chandragupta the king. In Matsya Purana, the line starts with Ashoka – and he is called Shaka, and not Asoka!!

List of kings from Vishnu Purana

Chandragupta, Bindusara, Ashokavardhana, Suyasas, Dasaratha, Sangata, Salisuka, Somasarma, Satadhanva, Brhadratha

Pushyamitra, the commander-in-chief uprooted Brhadratha and his line ruled for 112 years – the rulers are called petty – a reference either to their caste or to their mode of capturing power or the extend of the territory Sungas ruled.

List of kings from Visnu Purana
Pushpamitra, Agnimitra, Sujyeshta, Vasumitra, Ardraka, Pulindaka, Ghosavasu, Vajramitra, Bhagavata, Devabhuti

Vasudeva, the minister deposed the dissolute Devabhumi and became the king. He is called the Kanvayana. He is followed by Bhumimitra, Narayana and Susarma. The line is also called Sungabhrtyas. They are specified as Dvijas. They are however respected by the neighbouring kings and were called as virtuous.

After this, the Andhra Sisuka along with the people of his tribe invaded the Kanvayanas and seized power. His brother Krishna followed him. Puloma who succeeded Chandasri Santikarna is called out as another of them indicating a break in succession. Curiously, unlike in the previous case, the total number of kings enumerated in the summary, 19 is far less than the total number of rulers listed in the Purana. Vishnu Purana, on the other hand, calls them Andhrabhrtyas. The founder of the line Sipraka of the Andhra tribe, a servant of Kanva Susarma and became the ruler.

List of kings from Vishnu Purana:

Sipraka, Krishna, Srikantakarni, Purnotsanga, Satakarni, Lambodara, Ivilaka, Meghasvati, Svati, Patumat, Arishtakarma, Hala, Puttalaka, Pravillasena, Sundara Satakarni, Chakora Satakarni, Sivasvati, Gomatiputra, Puliman, Sivasri Satakarni, Sivaskanda , Yajnasri, Vijaya, Chandasri, Puloma

After the Satavahanas, we have a confused mess of kingdoms with no names of kings. Vishnu Purana, for instance, calls out 79 kings ruling 1390 years followed by 11 Pauras ruling 300 years and Kailakila Yavanas ruling another 106 years. Tread carefully here because we don’t exactly have names.

But, you get the hang of what’s happening, right? While people claimed Indians wrote no history, here, we have a cohesive list of kings coming all the way from the time of Mahabharata – 3138 BC. Yes. If you look at the synchronisms,

From Parikshit’s birth to Mahapadma’s coronation, it is 1015 years.
From Mahapadma to the last Andhra king Puloma, it’s 836 years.

Now, if Parikshit’s reign started in 3102 BC, we would see Mahapadmananda’s reign starting in 2087 BC and the Satavahana rule ended in 179 BC. Now, fully knowing Satavahana rule ended around 250 AD we see a gap of what? 450 years. Now, lets try to find that gap in the middle.

Parikshit to end of Sisunagas – 3102-2087 BC
Nandas to end of Satavahanas – 586 BC-250 AD

Now, we have a gap of 1500 years in the middle lost to history. I see no problem there – Tibetan Annals note that there is another Buddha around 1800 BC. Now, assuming that these regnal lists start from 1800 BC and not exactly 3102, we can assume that the information from 3102-1800 BC is lost. And funnily, this coincides with the 4.2k year event – where civilizations collapsed. Is the information for the period from Mahabharata to the 4.2k year event is lost and people gathered the pieces after that, I won’t be surprised. Can I write this as,

Start of regnal history to end of Sisunagas – 1601-586 BC
Nandas to end of Satavahanas – 586 BC-250 AD

Off by about 200 years. Fine with me. When you write 2000 years of hard history and you miss by 200 years, who cares? All we need to do is correct. By the way, there is another quirk here. Srimukha Satakarni is generally dated to 250 BC and not 50 BC when the Kanvas were toppled. That will bring Mahapadmananda to 380 BC, a perfect match.

But then, this is just a conjecture. But, it’s a good starting point on the topic. Consider the king lists, compare them, come up with decent timelines(don’t change dates to suit your calculations as what everyone did till now), try to expand the horizon to understand what happened – inscriptions, numismatics, other literature, known synchronisms, etc.

By the way, the fun doesn’t stop here. You know the story of Yayati cursing his sons, right? Well, the story referring to Turu is the exact description of the Turushkas(Chapter 78).

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So, these are the Puranas I used for the lists. There are other Puranas which give similar information(main ones being Vayu Purana, Brahmanda Purana, Bhavishya Purana and Bhagavata Purana).

  1. Matsya Mahapurana Chapter 271
  2. Vishnupurana Book 4, Chapter 21-24
  3. Garuda Purana Chapter 141

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