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2021-08-11T17:46:51Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2015}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Vallabhi
| native_name = Vala
| native_name_lang = Gujarati
| other_name = Vallabhipur
| settlement_type = Town
| image_skyline =
| image_alt =
| image_caption =
| nickname =
| image_map =
| map_alt =
| map_caption =
| pushpin_map = India Gujarat
| pushpin_label_position = right
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map_caption =
| coordinates = {{coord|21.8878|N|71.8795|E|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = India
| subdivision_type1 = [[States and territories of India|State]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[Gujarat]]
| established_title = 
| established_date =
| founder = Maharaja Kanak sen
| named_for =
| government_type =
| governing_body =
| unit_pref = Metric
| area_footnotes =
| area_rank =
| area_total_km2 =
| elevation_footnotes =
| elevation_m =
| population_total =
| population_as_of =
| population_rank =
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_demonym =
| population_footnotes =
| demographics_type1 = Languages
| demographics1_title1 = Official
| demographics1_info1 = [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]
| timezone1 = [[Indian Standard Time|IST]]
| utc_offset1 = +5:30
| postal_code_type = 
| postal_code = 364310
| registration_plate = gj4
| website =
| footnotes =
| official_name =
}}

'''Vallabhi''' (or '''Valabhi''' or '''Valabhipur''', modern '''Vala''') is an ancient city located in the [[Saurashtra (region)|Saurashtra]] [[peninsula]] of [[Gujarat]], near [[Bhavnagar]] in western [[India]]. It is also known as Vallabhipura and was the capital of the Suryavanshi [[Maitraka Dynasty]].

==History==
[[File:Five Bronzes Valabhipur.jpg|thumb|Five Bronzes recovered from Valabhipur]]

The first two Maitraka rulers, Bhatarka and Dharasena I, only used the title of ''Senapati'' (general). The third ruler, Dronasimha(Dronasena <ref> https://books.google.com.bd/books?id=dUZKAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA1553&lpg=PA1553&dq=dronasena&source=bl&ots=LoPMEw5_yt&sig=ACfU3U1gY_wY3T3p-2Beiaqlqo4lhkgWAw&hl=bn&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwixl6XjjPfqAhXplEsFHYuuCGs4ChDoATADegQIARAB#v=onepage&q=dronasena&f=false </ref>), declared himself ''Maharaja'' (literally "Great King").<ref name="HRC">Roychaudhuri, H.C. (1972). ''Political History of Ancient India'', University of Calcutta, Calcutta, pp.553-4</ref> King Guhasena came after him. Unlike his predecessors, the king stopped using the term ''Paramabhattaraka Padanudhyata'' alongside his name, a term that denotes nominal allegiance to the Gupta overlords. He was succeeded by his son Dharasena II, who used the title ''Mahadhiraja''. The next ruler was his son, Siladitya-I Dharmaditya, who was described by a Chinese scholar and traveller [[Xuanzang]] as a "monarch of great administrative ability and of rare kindness and compassion". Siladitya I was succeeded by his younger brother Kharagraha I.<ref name="Mahajan">Mahajan V.D. (1960, reprint 2007). ''Ancient India'', S.Chand & Company, New Delhi, {{ISBN|81-219-0887-6}}, pp.594-6</ref><ref name="Google Books 2014">{{cite book|title=Paul Monroe's encyclopaedia of history of education|website=Google Books|date=28 August 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PVokBXLGdx0C|access-date=15 September 2014|page=177}}</ref><ref name="The Times of India Mobile Site 2014">{{cite web|title=Hiuen Tsang's Gujarat travel: 'Valabhi was at par with Nalanda' - TOI Mobile|website=The Times of India Mobile Site|date=14 September 2014|url=http://m.timesofindia.com/city/ahmedabad/Hiuen-Tsangs-Gujarat-travel-Valabhi-was-at-par-with-Nalanda/articleshow/42471893.cms|access-date=15 September 2014}}</ref>

During the time of Kharagraha I, a virdi copperplate grant was found from 616 CE that shows that his territories included [[Ujjain]]. During the reign of the next ruler, his son Dharasena III, north Gujarat was assimilated into the kingdom. Dharasena II was succeeded by another son of Kharagraha I, Dhruvasena II, Baladitya. He married the daughter of [[Harshavardhana]] and their son Dharasena IV assumed the imperial titles of ''Paramabhattaraka Mahrajadhiraja Parameshvara Chakravartin'' and Sanskrit poet [[Bhattikavya|Bhatti]] was his court poet. The next powerful ruler of this dynasty was Siladitya III. After him, Siladitya V ruled, and it is suspected that during his reign, there was an Arab Invasion. The last known ruler of the dynasty was Siladitya VII.<ref name="HRC"/><ref name="Mahajan"/>

The rule of the Maitrakas is believed to have ended during the second or third quarter of the eighth century when the [[Caliphate campaigns in India|Arabs invaded]].<ref>History and Culture of Indian People, Classical age, p 150, (Ed) Dr A. D. Pusalkar, Dr [[R. C. Majumdar]].</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Blankinship |first=Khalid Yahya |author-link=Khalid Yahya Blankinship |title=The End of the Jihad State: The Reign of Hisham Ibn 'Abd al-Malik and the Collapse of the Umayyads |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jz0Yy053WS4C |access-date=10 May 2015 |year=1994 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-7914-1827-7|pp=187–189}}</ref>

==Valabhi inscriptions==
[[File:Evolution of Brahmi numerals.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Evolution of Brahmi numerals from the time of Ashoka, including the numerals from the Valahbi inscriptions circa 600 CE.]]
Religious inscriptions are known from Valhabi, which were dedicated to the Brahmans as well as the Buddhist and Jains.<ref>"M. Sylvain Levi (Les donations religieuses des rois de Valhabi) analyse, d'après les documents de l'époque, les donations faites, du VI au VIII siècle de notre ère, par les souverains de ce petit royaume bindou ou plutôt rajpoute, en faveur des communautés brahmaniques, bouddbiques et jainas, avec un éclectisme que Tauteur rappelle n'être pas rare dans l'Inde préislamique." {{cite book |title=Revue de l'histoire des religions |date=1896 |publisher=Presses Universitaires de France [etc.] |page=[https://archive.org/details/revuedelhistoir32alphgoog/page/n356 345] |url=https://archive.org/details/revuedelhistoir32alphgoog |language=fr}}</ref> The Indologist [[Sylvain Lévi]] wrote an article entitled ''"Les donations religieuses des rois de Valhabi"''.<ref name=SL>{{cite book |title=Revue de l'histoire des religions |date=1896 |publisher=Presses Universitaires de France [etc.] |page=[https://archive.org/details/revuedelhistoir32alphgoog/page/n356 345] |url=https://archive.org/details/revuedelhistoir32alphgoog |language=fr}}</ref>

The numerals used in the Valhabi inscriptions and on their coins, dated to circa 600CE, are often mentioned as an intermediary step in the evolution of [[Hindu-Arabic numerals]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=David Eugene |last2=Karpinski |first2=Louis Charles |title=The Hindu-Arabic numerals |date=1911 |publisher=Boston, London, Ginn and Company |page=[https://archive.org/details/hinduarabicnume00karpgoog/page/n37 25] |url=https://archive.org/details/hinduarabicnume00karpgoog}}</ref>

==See also==

* [[Vala State]]
* [[Valabhi University]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Ancient Dharmic centres of Higher Learning}}

[[Category:Cities and towns in Bhavnagar district]]

Vallabhi - Revision history

imported>Yamaguchi先生: Removed unsourced claim(s).