Ancient History
Part II

As stated below, the region round Nagpur was flourishing in the early centuries of the Christian era, but the name of Nagpur is noticed for the fist time in a record of the tenth century A.D.A copper-plate inscription of the Rastrakuta king Krishna III dated in the Saka yerar 862 (A.D 940), discovered at Devaji in the Wardha district, records the grant of a village situated in the visaya (district) of Nagpura-Nandivardhana.

Nandivardhana, which was will-known as an ancient capital of the Vakatakas, is now represented by the village Nandardhan, about three miles from Ramtek. Nagpur, which was situated near it, may have marked the original site of the modern town of that name.

Tradition, however, gives the credit for settling the town of Nagpur to the Gond king Bakht Bulanda of Devagad. He is said to have included in the new town twelve hamlets, laid streets and erected a wall for its protection. It is not unlikely that Bakht Bulanda chose to call the new town by the name of Nagpur since it was associated with the place from ancient time.

Coming to historical times, we find that the country was included in the empire of the great Ashoka. The thirteenth rock edict of that great Emperor mentions the Bhojas as the people who follow his religious teachings. The royal family of Bhoja was ruling over vidarbha in ancient times. Since then the peonamed Bhojakata (modern Bhatkuli in the Amravati district) is mentioned in a great of the Vakatakas. An inscription probably issued by the Dharmamahamatra placed by Asoka in charge of Vidarbha, has been found at Devatek in the Chanda district. It records an order promulgated by the Dharmamahamatra interdicting the capture and slaughter of animals. It is dated in the fourteenth regnal year, evidently of Ashoka.

After the overthrow of the Maurya dynasty in circa B.C. 184, the imperial throne in Pataliputra (Patna) was occupied by the Senapati Pusyamitra, the founder of the Sunga dynasty. His son Agnimitra was appointed Viceroy of Malva and ruled from Vidisa, modern Besnagar, a small village near Bhilsa. Vidarbha, which had seceded from the Maurya Empire during the reign of one of the weak successors of Asoka was then ruled by Yajnasena. He imprisoned his cousin Madhavasena, Who was a rival claimant for the throne. The sister of Madhavasena escaped to Malva and got admision as a hand-maid under the name of Malavika to the royal palace. Agnimitra. Who had espoused the cause of Madhavasena and sent an army against the king of Vidarbha, fell in love with Malavika and married her. The Malava army defeated the king of vidarbha and released Madhavasena. Agnimitra then divided the country of Vidarbha between the two cousins, each ruling on one side of the Varada (modern Wardha) Eastern Vidarbha thus comprised Wardha, Nagpur, Bhandara, Chanda, Seoni, Chindvada and Balaghat districts. It was bounded on the east by the country of Daksina Kosala (Chattisgad). From the Mahabharata also we learn that the province of Venakata bordered on that of Kosala. The story of Malavika forms the plot of the play Malavikagnimitra of the great Sanskrit poet Kalidasa.

Kalidasa does not state to what royal family Yajnasena and Madhavasena belonged and these names do not occur anywhere else. Still it is possible to conjecture that they may have been feudatories of the Satavahanas. From the Hathigumpha inscription at Udayagiri near Bhuvanesvar, we learn that Kharavela, the king of Kalinga, who was a contemporary of Pusyamitra, sent an army to the western region not minding Satakarni. The latter evidently belonged to the Satavahana dynasty as the name occurs often in that family. Kharavela's army is said to have penetrated up to the river kanhabenna and struck terror in the hearts of the people of Rsika. The Kanhabenna is the river Kanhan which flows about 10 miles from nagpur. Kharavela's army, therefore, invaded Vidarbha. He knew that as the ruler of Vidarbha was a feudatory of king Satakarni, the latter would rush to his aid when Vidarbha was thus invaded, the people of Rsika (Khandes) which bordered Vidarbha on the west, were naturally terror-striken. No actual engagement seems however to have taken place and the army retreated to Kalinga perhaps at the approach of the Satavahana forces.