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Vasishtha dynasty

Brahmin dynasty ruled in the Kalinga region of eastern India

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionDec 25, 2023
Entity authorityQ28171887 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Vasishtha (IAST: Vāsiṣṭha) dynasty ruled in the Kalinga region of eastern India in the fifth century CE. Their territory included parts of the present-day northern Andhra Pradesh. They were one of the three minor dynasties that emerged after the decline of the Gupta power in the area, the other two being the Matharas and the Pitrbhaktas.

Genealogy

The Vasishtha king Anantavarman is known from his Siripuram and Srungavarapukota copper-plate inscriptions. These epigraphs describe him as a son of Maharaja Prabhanjanavarman, and a grandson of Maharaja Gunavarman.

Thus, three rulers of the dynasty are known:

Maharaja Gunavarman

Maharaja Prabhanjanavarman

Parameshvara Anantavarman

Territory

The Siripuram and Srungavarapukota inscriptions of Anantavarman were issued from Devapura and Pishtapura respectively. In Siripuram inscription, his grandfather Gunavarman is described as the lord of Devapura. The city was presumably the capital of a region called Devarashtra (within Kalinga), which Anantavarman inherited from his ancestors. Devarashtra is identified as the present-day Yelamanchili taluka.

According to the Allahabad Pillar inscription, the Gupta emperor Samudragupta defeated the kings of Devarashtra and Pishtapura during his southern invasion. It appears that Gunavarman became a sovereign of Devarashtra after the decline of the Gupta rule in the region.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Vasishtha dynasty” as brahmin dynasty ruled in the Kalinga region of eastern India. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Vasishtha, dynasty and Brahmin.

Editorial reviewMost valuable as an event-and-institution map that identifies actors, dates and record creators for deeper historical inquiry. The current 196-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Vasishtha, dynasty and Brahmin providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Vasishtha dynasty”, the useful work is to connect “brahmin dynasty ruled in the Kalinga region of eastern India” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 25, 2023. The linked authority identifier is Q28171887. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.

Critical limits

Later summaries often reconcile disputed chronology or motive more neatly than the contemporary record permits. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.

Best used for
  • Event chronology
  • Institutional context
  • Locating named record creators
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  2. Expand the search: follow Vasishtha dynasty primary sources, Vasishtha dynasty archive and Vasishtha research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Vasishtha dynasty” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.