Today we will be talking about one of the greatest king of India, Maharaj Vikramaditya. Not Chandragupta II but the actual king.
Vikramaditya is always told to be a mythical character from stories. And we know the historians who wrote Indian history are as reliable as the kheer Duryodhan gave to Bheem......FACTS.
They often pass it as that - Oh Vikramaditya was a title adopted by Chandragupta II, nothing much.
But as per the so call 'stories' the Vikramaditya we know about had his capital at Ujjain while the Guptas had their capital at Pataliputra.
Also the mention of a great king named Vikramaditya is in literary works that date pre-gupta empire like Brihatkatha and Gatha Saptsati.
Let me tell you who was the real Vikramaditya.
According to the Pratisarga Parva of Bhavisya Purana, he was the second son of Ujjain's King Gandharvasena of Paramara dynasty, born in 102 BC and died in 15 AD.
This great ruler was a Malwa-based King whose capital was Ujjain around first century BCE. He defeated the invasions of Shakas who were advancing from Sindh, and thus was also called Shakari (one who expelled Shakas)
He was the greatest ruler of his time known for his kindness, generosity and patronage of scholars.
An entire era was named after him, Vikram Samvat. He also introduced a calendar known as Vikrami calendar in 57 BCE, and the order of this calendar follows his victory over Shakas.
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The earliest mention of this Vikram Samvat (era) comes from the inscription of King Jaikadeva, who ruled near Okhamandal in Kathiawar State (Gujarat).
This is all the information about him that we know. Which is shame because an entire freaking era is named after this great king.
Throughout history, the kings who accomplished something great adopted the title Vikramaditya. In the known history there are about 14 kings who adopted this title.
Some famous ones are -
Shri Harsh Vikramaditya of Kashmir who also defeated Shakas and adopted this title. His reign was known as the Harsha era.
Chandragupt II, the second greatest ruler of Gupta Empire.
Chalukya king Pulekeshin's successors Vikramaditya I, II, III, IV, V
Last Satavahana King Yajna Shri Satakarani also defeated Shakas and called himself Vikramaditya.
So a King after whom an entire era is named after, a King whose name is adopted by many of the greatest rulers to show their valor is missing from our text books because some historians choose to think he is mythical.
Because in all honesty for such Anglophile historians, who developed India if not British ? Who was the greatest ruler if not Akbar ? Which era was the golden era if not Mughal ?
There needs to be more excavation and more research so we could know more about Maharaj Vikramaditya who was one of the greatest rulers of India.
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FUN FACT - There is often debate about Vikram-betal from Betal pachisi being based on whom. Some say it was based on Chandragupt II, because it was written by Kalidas, his court poet.
Some say that it is based on the real Vikramaditya whom we talked about today. (This is also reason why he is called mythical by some)
There is another theory that Vikram-betal is based on many kings who adopted the title Vikramaditya.
