Nāgas of Padmāvatī

Between empires

In the interval between the Kushans and the Guptas, several branches of a Nāga family ruled in central India — at Padmāvatī, identified with Pawaya near Gwalior, at Vidiśā, at Mathurā and at Kāntipurī. They are attested by a substantial copper coinage bearing royal names ending in -nāga, and by references in the Purāṇic lists.

The Vākāṭaka charters call a related line Bhāraśiva and credit them with having performed ten horse sacrifices and with bearing the liṅga of Śiva on their shoulders — the phrase from which the name is explained. A Vākāṭaka king married a Bhāraśiva princess, and the Nāgas were evidently a family of the first rank.

Samudragupta

The Allahabad pillar inscription names Gaṇapatināga, Nāgasena and Nāgadatta among the kings of Āryāvarta whom Samudragupta violently uprooted — the treatment reserved for northern rulers, as against the capture-and-release policy applied in the south. The Nāga states were annexed outright.

A Nāga princess, Kubernāgā, was nonetheless married to Candragupta II, and their daughter Prabhāvatīguptā became the Vākāṭaka regent. Conquest and marriage alliance ran together in this period as complementary instruments rather than alternatives.