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{{for|the Shunga emperor|Pushyamitra Shunga}}
[[File:Narmada river map.jpg|thumb|The Pushyamitras lived on the banks of the [[Narmada River]].]]
[[File:South Asia historical AD450 EN.svg|thumb|Political situation in India in 450 CE.]]
The '''Pushyamitras''' were a tribe who lived in [[Central India]] during the 5th century CE. Living on the banks of the river [[Narmada]], they are believed to have posed a serious threat to the [[Gupta Empire]] during the late period of [[Kumaragupta I]]'s reign. Inscriptions covering the events between 455 and 467 CE emphasise the role of [[Skandagupta]], Kumaragupta's successor, in defeating the Pushyamitras.<ref name=kulke>{{cite book|last1=Kulke|first1=Hermann|last2=Rothermund|first2=Dietmar|title=A History of India|date=2004|publisher=Routledge|location=New York [u .a.]|isbn=0415329191|page=96|edition=4.|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0415329191|accessdate=22 August 2015}}</ref>

{{quote|By whom, when [Skandagupta] prepared himself to restore the fallen fortunes of (his) family, a (whole) night was spent on a couch that was the bare earth; and then, having conquered the Pushyamitras, who had developed great power and wealth, he placed (his) left foot on a footstool which was the king (of that tribe himself).|source=Line 10, [[Bhitari pillar inscription of Skandagupta]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Tripathi|first1=Ram Prasad|title=Studies in political and socio-economic history of early India|date=1981|publisher=Neeraj Prakashan|page=37|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3TghAAAAMAAJ|language=en}}</ref>}}

The Pushyamitras are only known from this inscription, of which the reading is sometimes disputed (it could be "Yudhy-amitrdths-cha" rather than "Pushyamitrams-cha"), as well as a single mention in the [[Puranas]].<ref name="Shankar"/> Therefore their existence is sometimes doubted. The people Skandagupta fought could more probably have been a confederation including the [[Vakatakas]].<ref name="Shankar">Cultural Contours of India by Vijai Shankar Śrivastava [https://books.google.com/books?id=nKJiBUFrmfoC&pg=RA1-PA103 p.103]</ref> The dynasty of the Vakatakas ended around that time in a war, when, according to the ''[[Dashakumaracharita]]'', attacking the area of [[Vanavasi ]] to the south, they were in turn attacked from the rear resulting in the death of the last Vakataka king.

==See also==
* [[Vardhana dynasty]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Gupta Empire]]
[[Category:5th century]]
[[Category:Tribes of India]]

Pushyamitras - Revision history

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