Valabhi, a city of ancient India was the capital of the _________ dynasty from the 5th to 8th Century CE.

Correct — B. Valabhi, in the Saurashtra peninsula of present-day Gujarat, was the capital of the Maitraka dynasty — option (b) — which ruled western India from the fifth to the eighth century CE.

The Maitrakas began as tributary chiefs of the Guptas. Bhatarka, a Gupta general, founded the line, and it became independent as Gupta power receded. Dhruvasena II is the best remembered of its rulers.

Valabhi itself grew into a large Buddhist monastic centre, and seventh-century Chinese pilgrims describe it as a seat of learning.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Chalukya — The Chalukyas of this period ruled the Deccan from Vatapi, modern Badami in Karnataka. Their kingdom lay well south and east of Saurashtra.
• (c)
  Vakataka — The Vakatakas were a Deccan power centred on Vidarbha in central India, remembered for their patronage at Ajanta. Their line had ended before the Maitraka period at Valabhi was over.
• (d)
  Pallava — The Pallavas ruled from Kanchipuram on the Tamil coast — the opposite corner of the subcontinent from Saurashtra — and their capital was never Valabhi.

When Gupta authority broke up in the sixth century, the empire's own subordinates became the next generation of kingdoms.

The Maitrakas took western India, ruling from Valabhi in Saurashtra. The Maukharis rose at Kannauj in the Ganga valley. The Pushyabhutis rose at Thanesar and, under Harshavardhana, absorbed Kannauj.

Valabhi matters for more than politics. It held one of the great Buddhist monastic establishments of the period, and Chinese pilgrims writing about Indian centres of learning name it beside Nalanda.

Key facts

• Valabhi, in Saurashtra in modern Gujarat, was the Maitraka capital from about the fifth to the eighth century CE.
• Bhatarka, a general of the Guptas, founded the Maitraka line.
• Dhruvasena II was among the most important Maitraka rulers.
• Valabhi was a major Buddhist monastic and learning centre in the seventh century.

Common traps

• Attaching Valabhi to the Chalukyas because both are western Indian powers of the same centuries.
• Confusing the Maitrakas of Valabhi with the Maukharis, who rose at Kannauj.

No directly related past PYQ was found.