{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}} {{Use Indian English|date=June 2024}} {{for|the legendary king of the Ikshvaku dynasty|Bhagiratha}} {{Infobox royalty | title = '''Dharmamahārājadhirāja''' | image = | caption = | succession = King of the Kadamba Kingdom | reign = c. 385 - 410 CE | predecessor = Kangavarma | successor = Raghu | spouse = | issue = {{plainlist| * Raghu * Kakusthavarma }} | house = Kadamba }} {{Banavasi Kadamba Kings Infobox}} '''Bhageerath''' (reigned c. 385 – 410 CE{{sfn|Karashima|2014|p=369}}) was a king of the Kadamba dynasty in South India. He succeeded his father Kangavarma on the Kadamba throne. ==Life== Bhageerath is praised as a "king loved by his kingdom just as a husband is held dear by his bride". In the royal pillar inscription at Talagunda, he is described as the "sole lord" of the lady that is the Kadamba country. According to historian George M. Moraes, this phrase is meant to imply that Bhageerath had strengthened and consolidated his kingdom and established himself as the sole monarch of the Kadamba lands, perhaps after vanquishing his foes.{{sfn|Moraes|1931|p=19}}
Several scholars identify Bhageerath with the unnamed "ruler of the Kuntala country" or ''Kuntaleshwara'' who received an embassy from the Gupta emperor Chandragupta Vikramaditya.{{sfn|Moraes|1931|pp=19-21}}<ref name = "vga">{{cite book |author1=K.A. Nilakanta Sastri |editor1-last=Majumdar |editor1-first=R.C. |editor2-last=Altekar |editor2-first=A.S. |title=The Vakataka-Gupta Age |date=2007 |publisher=Motilal Banarsi Dass |isbn=9788120800434 |page=220}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=R. Sathianathaier|editor1-last=Majumdar |editor1-first=R.C. |title=The Classical Age |date=1997 |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |page=272 |edition=Fifth}}</ref> This embassy was led by the famous poet Kalidasa, and was mentioned in the ''Sringaraprakasika'' of the poet Bhoja as well as in two other later works, the ''Kavyamimamsa'' of Rajashekhara and the ''Auchityavicharacharcha'' of Kshemendra. One of the primary purposes of this embassy seems to have been to negotiate a marriage alliance between the two royal houses.{{sfn|Moraes|1931|p=22}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sen |first1=Sailendra Nath |title=Ancient Indian History and Civilization |date=1999 |publisher=New Age Publishers |isbn=81-224-1198-3 |page=468}}</ref> The establishment of such diplomatic relations with the leading figures of India at the time shows the high status and prestige that King Bhageerath and his country must have enjoyed.{{or?|date=June 2024}}
Bhageerath had at least two sons, named Raghu and Kakusthavarma. Raghu, the eldest son, seems to have been greatly fond of war and relished personally partaking in battles, as his face is described as being "marked with the weapons of his enemies in combat with opposing warriors".{{sfn|Moraes|1931|p=23}} Kakusthavarma, the younger son, is known to have entered into marital relations with the Guptas,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sastri |first1=K.A. Nilakanta |title=A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar |date=1961 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=111 |edition=Third}}</ref> perhaps as a result of the Gupta embassy sent to his father's court.{{sfn|Moraes|1931|p=22}} Upon Bhageerath's death, Raghu ascended the Kadamba throne, while Kakusthavarma was appointed as ''Yuvaraja'' or Crown Prince and would eventually become king as well.<ref name = "vga"/>
==References== ===Notes=== {{reflist}} ===Sources=== * {{citation |last=Karashima |first=Noboru |title=A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations |year=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-809977-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fpdVoAEACAAJ }} * {{citation |last=Moraes |first=George M. |authorlink=George M. Moraes |year=1931 |title=The Kadamba Kula, A History of Ancient and Medieval Karnataka |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.22295 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |isbn=81-206-0595-0 }}
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Category:4th-century Indian monarchs Category:5th-century Indian monarchs Category:4th-century Hindus Category:5th-century Hindus Category:Kadamba kings