Nala dynasty

A forest kingdom

The Nala kingdom lay in the hill and forest tracts between the Deccan and the Odisha coast, a region that most dynastic histories pass over because it was rarely held by the larger powers. Their charters record grants of villages and their capital is named as Puṣkarī, identified with a site in the Bastar region.

A gold coin hoard from Edenga in Bastar, bearing Nala royal names, established the dynasty's independent standing: gold issues are not the mark of a merely local chieftaincy.

Conflict with the Vākāṭakas

Vākāṭaka records refer to a conflict with the Nalas in which the Nala capital was sacked, and Nala inscriptions in turn describe a restoration of the kingdom by Skandavarman, who is said to have resettled the ruined city. The exchange gives a rare glimpse of the wars between second-rank dynasties, which are otherwise almost invisible.

The Nalas continued in reduced form into the seventh century before being absorbed by the Chalukyas and the rising powers of Dakṣiṇa Kosala.