'Women are the most creative creatures to exist.'
We have a history of influential women, who have led from the front when their people needed.
For leadership, doesn't differentiate between gender.
When a queen takes charge, the calamity is bound...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
In ancient times there were many queens, but Prabhavati Gupta was one of her kind. She ruled the Vakatakas' kingdom singlehandedly, being a widow and with no king beside her, yet she was forgotten.
Prabhavati Gupta was born somewhere in the second century CE to the Gupta ruler Chandragupta II and one of his wife, Kubera Naga. At that time there were two strong kingdoms in India, Guptas in the North and Vakatakas in central India. They used to conquer various small kingdoms; but they rarely attacked each other, keeping in mind the devastating consequences it can lead to.
Then the two kings of these two kingdoms, Chandragupta II and Vakataka king - Pravarasena, decided upon a marriage agreement.
Vakataka Prince Rudrasen and Prabhavati were married with pomp and show in Gupta capital Pataliputra.
A few years later the old king died, making Rudrasen the heir, but fate was actually cruel to Prabhavati.
Five years later Rudrasen died too unexpectedly, making Prabhavati a widow.
Her only option now was to return to Pataliputra, but she went against it. She knew that if she went away some other family member may usurp the throne, killing her five years and two years old sons, Damodar Cena and Diwakarsena respectively. So she made herself the queen regent till his son became eligible to be the king.
She was expectant at handling her responsibilities.
She had the support of various trusted Gupta scholars in her councils.
About 20 years later, the Vakataka kingdom flourished peacefully under her leadership. Vakataka developed in courses of arts and science. She set up building projects, including the construction of various temples and also maintained a strong army, which fought alongside the Guptas and brought many kingdoms under it.
Her sons grew up as Vakatakas but she, unlike other women, even after her marriage, remained Gupta.
Another great tragedy of her life was the death of her first son, Damodarsena; at the time when he was old enough to become the new heir.
But, even after this tragedy she remained strong and kept the kingdom at its height till his second son became the heir.
She was a true strong queen and one of the best examples of women power.
