RobertSwale: minor enhance content additionally and updated info for clarity

2026-02-23T08:50:41Z

minor enhance content additionally and updated info for clarity

184.164.9.52: /* Conflict against the Western Satraps */

2021-06-14T19:02:04Z

Conflict against the Western Satraps

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{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2017}}
{{about|an ancient Indian tribe, the Malavas|the kingdom in Indian Epic Literature|Malava Kingdom}}
{{Infobox country
| common_name = Malavas
| conventional_long_name = Malavas
| year_start = 4th century BCE
| year_end = 7th century CE
| image_map =South Asia historical AD375 EN.svg
| image_map_caption = Malavas/Malwas (in the north-west) and their contemporaries around 375 CE
| government_type =
| capital =
| p1 =Avanti (Ancient India)
| s1 =Aulikaras
| s2 =Chalukyas
| s3 =Maitraka dynasty
| religion =
| common_languages =
| today = [[India]]
}}
The '''Malavas''' or '''Malwas''' were an ancient [[India]]n tribe. Modern scholars identify them with the [[Mallian Campaign|Malloi]] who were settled in the [[Punjab region]] at the time of [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]]'s invasion in the 4th century BCE. Later, the Malavas migrated southwards to present-day [[Rajasthan]], and ultimately to [[Madhya Pradesh]] and [[Gujarat]]. Their power gradually declined as a result of defeats against the [[Western Satraps]] (2nd century CE), the [[Gupta Empire|Gupta]] emperor [[Samudragupta]] (4th century), and the [[Chalukyas of Vatapi|Chalukya]] emperor [[Pulakeshin II]] (7th century).

The [[Malwa]] region in central India is named after them. The [[Malava era]], which later came to be known as Vikram Samvat, was probably first used by them.

== Before Common Era ==
The Malavas are mentioned in several ancient Indian texts, including the ''[[Mahabharata]]'' and ''[[Mahabhashya]]''.{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1978|p=148}} According to the [[Mahabharata]], the hundred sons of the [[Madra]] king Ashvapati, the father of Savitri were known as the ''Malava''s, after the name of their mother, Malavi.{{sfn|Bela Lahiri|1974|pp=262-278}} Although Malavas are not specifically mentioned by Panini, his sutra V.3.117 mentions a group of tribes called ''ayudhajivi samgha''s (those who live by the profession of arms) and the ''Kashika'' includes the Malavas and the Kshudrakas in this group of tribes. The Malavas are also mentioned in the ''Mahabhashya'' (IV.1.68) of [[Patanjali]].{{sfn|B. C. Law|1973|pp=60-65}}

The location of the original homeland of the Malavas is not certain, but modern scholars generally connect them with the "[[Mallian Campaign|Malli]]" or "Malloi" mentioned in the ancient Greek accounts, which describe [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]]'s war against them.{{sfn|D. C. Sircar|1971|p=205}}{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1978|p=147}} At the time of Alexander's invasion in the 4th century BCE, the Malloi lived in present-day [[Punjab region]], in the area to the north of the confluence of the [[Ravi River|Ravi]] and the [[Chenab River|Chenab]] rivers.{{sfn|D. C. Sircar|1971|p=205}}

== Southward migration ==
Later, the Malavas (or at least a large population of them) migrated to present-day Rajasthan, possibly as a result of the [[Indo-Greek Kingdom|Indo-Greek]] occupation of Punjab.{{sfn|D. C. Sircar|1971|p=205}} They were probably headquartered at Malavanagara (present-day Nagar Fort), where several thousands of their coins have been discovered.{{sfn|D. C. Sircar|1971|p=206}} These coins bear the legend ''Malavanam jayah'' ("victory of the Malavas"), and have been dated between 250 BCE and 250 CE.{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1978|p=148}} Several inscriptions dated in the [[Malava era]] have been found in various parts of Rajasthan, which suggests that the Malava influence extended to a wider part of Rajasthan.{{sfn|D. C. Sircar|1971|p=206}}

It is also said that the Malavas, originally residing in the Punjab region, migrated to Central India/Rajasthan due to the Huna invasion. {{sfn|Kapur Singh|1959|p=340}}

The Malavas ultimately migrated to the [[Malwa]] region in central India: this region was named after them some time after the 2nd century CE.{{sfn|P. K. Bhattacharyya|1977|p=147}}

===Conflict against the Western Satraps===
[[File:Gangdhar inscription of Vishvavarman.jpg|thumb|[[Gangadhar Stone Inscription of Viśvavarman]], king of the [[Aulikaras]], a branch of the Malavas, and contemporary of [[Kumaragupta]], 423 CE.<ref name="CII"/>]]
Around 120 CE, the Malavas are mentioned as besieging the king of the [[Uttamabhadras]] to the south, but the Uttamabhadras were finally rescued by the [[Western Satraps]], and the Malvas were crushed.{{sfn|Parmanand Gupta|1989|p=33}} The account appears in an inscription at the [[Nashik Caves]], made by the [[Nahapana]]'s viceroy [[Ushavadata]]:

{{quote|... And by order of the Lord I went to release the chief of the Uttamabhadras, who had been besieged for the rainy season by the Malayas, and those Malayas fled at the mere roar
(of my approaching) as it were, and were all made prisoners of the Uttamabhadra warriors.|Inscription in Cave No.10 of the [[Nashik Caves]].<ref>Epigraphia Indica Vol.8 [https://archive.org/details/EpigraphiaIndica p.78-79]</ref>}}

=== Conflict with the Guptas ===

In the 4th century CE, during the reign of the [[Gupta Empire|Gupta]] emperor [[Samudragupta]], the Malavas most probably lived in Rajasthan and western Malwa.{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1978|p=147}} The [[Allahabad Pillar]] inscription of Samudragupta names the Malavas among the tribes subjugated by him.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=119}} The [[Aulikaras]] who ruled in the Malwa region may have been a Malava clan, and may have been responsible the name "Malwa" being applied to the region.{{sfn|P. K. Bhattacharyya|1977|p=147}}

== Post-Gupta period ==

Post-Gupta records attest to the Malava presence in multiple regions, including present-day [[Madhya Pradesh]] and [[Gujarat]].{{sfn|D. C. Sircar|1971|pp=207-208}}

=== Present-day Gujarat ===

[[Xuanzang]] (also 7th century) locates Malava (transcribed as "Mo-la-p'o") in present-day Gujarat, describing Kheta ([[Kheda]]) and Anandapura ([[Vadnagar]]) as parts of the Malava country.{{sfn|D. C. Sircar|1971|pp=206-207}} Xuanzang suggests that this Malava country was a part of the [[Maitraka]] kingdom.{{sfn|D. C. Sircar|1971|p=208}} Like Banabhatta, he describes Ujjayini ("Wu-she-yen-na") as a distinct territory, but unlike Banabhatta, he locates Malava to the west of Ujjayini. The 7th century [[Aihole inscriptions|Aihole inscription]] of the [[Chalukyas of Vatapi|Chalukya]] king [[Pulakeshin II]], who defeated the Malavas, also locates them in present-day Gujarat.{{sfn|D. C. Sircar|1971|pp=206-207}} The 9th century [[Rashtrakuta]] records state that their emperor [[Govinda III]] stationed governor Kakka in the [[Lata (region)|Lata]] country (southern Gujarat) to check the advance of the [[Gurjara-Pratiharas]] into Malava.{{sfn|D. C. Sircar|1971|p=208}}

=== Present-day Madhya Pradesh ===

Although the region that ultimately came to be known as [[Malwa]] included the [[Ujjain]], the post-Gupta records distinguish between the territory of the Malavas and the region around Ujjain. [[Banabhatta]]'s ''Kadambari'' (7th century) describes [[Vidisha]] in present-day eastern Malwa as the capital of the Malavas, and Ujjayini (Ujjain) in present-day western Malwa as the capital of the distinct [[Avanti (India)|Avanti]] kingdom.{{sfn|D. C. Sircar|1971|p=206}} This Malava king was defeated by the [[Pushyabhuti dynasty|Pushyabhuti]] king Rajavardhana around 605 CE, as attested by Banabhatta's ''[[Harshacharita]]'' as well as the Pushyabhuti inscripitions.{{sfn|D. C. Sircar|1971|p=208}} The distinction between these Malava and Ujjain regions is also found in the writings of the 9th century Muslim historian [[Al-Baladhuri]], who states that [[Junayd ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Murri|Junayd]], the Arab governor of [[Sindh]], raided Uzain (Ujjain) and al-Malibah (Malava) around 725 CE.{{sfn|D. C. Sircar|1971|p=209}}

From 10th century onward, historical records use the term "Malavas" to refer to the [[Paramara dynasty|Paramaras]], who ruled the present-day Malwa region. It is likely that the Paramaras were not descended from the ancient Malavas, but came to be called "Malavas" after they started ruling the Malwa region named after the ancient Malavas.{{sfn|D. C. Sircar|1971|p=209}} In the Yadava-prakasha's ''Vijayanti'' (c. 11th century), Avanti (the area around Ujjain) and Malava are stated to be identical. Thus, it appears that the present-day definition of Malwa became popular in the later half of the 10th century.{{sfn|D. C. Sircar|1971|p=210}}

== Malava era ==

The era, which later became known as the [[Vikrama Samvat]] is associated with the Malavas. Initially it was mentioned as the ''Krita'' era and then as the ''Malava'' era. Most probably this era was mentioned as the ''Vikrama'' era for the first time in the Dholpur stone inscription of Chahamana ruler Chandamahasena in 898 CE.{{sfn|Bela Lahiri|1974|pp=262-278}}

==Rulers==
* [[Vishvavarman]] circa 423 CE.<ref name="CII"/>
* [[Bandhuvarman]], his son and feudatory of [[Kumaragupta]].<ref name="CII"/>

==See also==
* [[Malwa]]
* [[Malwa (Punjab)]]

== References ==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name="CII">Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Vol 3 [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.358795 p.72]</ref>
}}

=== Bibliography ===

{{ref begin}}
* {{cite book |author=Ashvini Agrawal |title=Rise and Fall of the Imperial Guptas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hRjC5IaJ2zcC&pg=PA315 |year=1989 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0592-7 }}
* {{cite book |author=B. C. Law |title=Tribes in Ancient India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YApuAAAAMAAJ |year=1973 |publisher=Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute }}
* {{cite book |author=Bela Lahiri |title=Indigenous states of northern India, circa 200 B.C. to 320 A.D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vdu1AAAAIAAJ |year=1974 |publisher=University of Calcutta }}
* {{cite book |author=D. C. Sircar |title=Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AqKw1Mn8WcwC&pg=PA205 |year=1971 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0690-0 }}
* {{cite book |author=P. K. Bhattacharyya |title=Historical Geography of Madhya Pradesh from Early Records |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=njYpsvmr2dsC&pg=PA147 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=1977 |isbn=978-81-208-3394-4 }}
* {{cite book |author=Parmanand Gupta |title=Geography from Ancient Indian Coins & Seals |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LzHpZ5N5MhcC&pg=PA33 |year=1989 |publisher=Concept |isbn=978-81-7022-248-4 }}
* {{cite book |author=Tej Ram Sharma |title=Personal and Geographical Names in the Gupta Inscriptions |url=https://archive.org/details/personalgeograph00sharuoft |page=[https://archive.org/details/personalgeograph00sharuoft/page/258 258] |year=1978 |publisher=Concept |oclc=249004782 }}
* {{cite book |author=Kapur Singh |title=Parasharprasna: Or the Baisakhi of Guru Gobind Sing (an Exposotion of Sikhism) |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Parasharprasna/SoP5mUhwU6AC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=huna+parmars&dq=huna+parmars&printsec=frontcover |page=340 |year=1959 |publisher= Hind }}
{{ref end}}

[[Category:History of Malwa]]
[[Category:Ancient peoples of India]]

Malavas - Revision history

RobertSwale: minor enhance content additionally and updated info for clarity

184.164.9.52: /* Conflict against the Western Satraps */