Viraprasu Bharatabhumi: A Saga of the Valiant Sons and Daughters of Mother India

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The book sings the saga of twenty-eight valiant sons and daughters of Mother India Sudas, Parikshit, Mahavira, the Buddha, Bimbisara, Mahapadmananda, Poros, Chandragupta Maurya, Asoka, Pushyamitra Sunga, Menander, Agathokleia, Maues, Kharavela, Gondopharnes, Naganika, V'ima Takshuma, Kanishka I, Gautamiputra Satakarņi, Rudradaman I, Samudragupta, Chandragupta II, Dhruvadevi, Skandagupta, Yasodharman, Mihirakula, Sasanka, and Harsha. Their contributions, too, have been largely instrumental in making India, what she is today. It also affords the reader, a glimpse of India's glorious past, spanning across countless centuries.

As the book is aimed, primarily, at the general reader, the authors have decided to dispense with the jargon of historian, as also with references, in the form of footnotes or endnotes: They felt that a select list of relevant works, in the form of Suggested Reading, at the end of each chapter, would serve the purpose, quite well.

Dr Prashant Srivastava (BA Honours, MA, PhD, DLitt) is Professor and Former Head of the Department of Ancient Indian History and Archaeology, University of Lucknow. He is the recipient of four gold medals (one for BA Honours; two for MA; and one for DLitt). He is the author of 17 books, including Joint Coin-types of Ancient India (NSI, Varanasi. 1990); Aspects of Ancient Indian Numismatics (Delhi. 1996; Delhi. 2022); Coins of Ancient India (Lucknow. 1997, jointly with Prof K K Thaplyal); Art Motifs on Ancient Indian Coins (New Delhi. 2004); Encyclopaedia of Indian Coins (Ancient Coins of Northern India, up to circa 650 AD) (2 volumes, Delhi. 2012); The Successors of the Mauryas (Delhi. 2017); Religious Systems of Ancient India (Delhi. 2020); Gleanings in World Mythology (Delhi. 2022); and Siva Myths in the Epics: The Ramayana of Valmiki and the Mahabharata of Vyasa (Delhi. 2024). He is one of the editors of History and Heritage: Essays in Honour of Professor K K Thaplyal (3 volumes, Delhi. 2007); A Bouquet of Indian Heritage: Research and Management (2 volumes, Delhi. 2015); and Indian Culture and Art: Continuity and Change (2 volumes, Delhi. 2015). He has contributed over 100 research papers and chapters in books, in reputed journals and publications, and about two dozen popular articles on ancient Indian history.

Dr Sushil Chand (MA, PhD) is formerly Subject Expert, in the Department of Ancient Indian History and Archaeology, University of Lucknow, and formerly Junior Research Fellow of the Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi. He wrote his PhD on Symbols as Vehicles of Religious Concepts and Ideas (from the Earliest Times to circa AD 550), for which the University of Lucknow awarded him the Gopal Das Memorial Gold Medal, in 2023. He has published six research papers, in reputed journals, and three chapters in edited works.

The book sings the saga of twenty-eight valiant sons and daughters of Mother India-Sudas, Parikshit, Mahavira, the Buddha, Bimbisara, Mahapadmananda, Poros, Chandragupta Maurya, Asoka, Pushyamitra Sunga, Menander, Agathokleia, Maues, Kharavela, Gondopharnes, Naganika, V'ima Takshuma, Kanishka I, Gautamiputra Satakarņi, Rudradaman I, Samudragupta, Chandragupta II, Dhruvadevi, Skandagupta, Yasodharman, Mihirakula, Sasańka, and Harsha. Their contributions, too, have been largely instrumental in making India, what she is today. Authors of such works, as the present one, are often open to charges of commission and omission, as also of ignorance, in their selection of historical personalities, for inclusion in the book. The present authors have been guided, as much by the significance of the contributions, made by the various characters, in the great drama, which is the history of our motherland, as by the availability of source material, and, of course! their personal preferences. The same is true of the number of words, allotted by them, to each historical personality included in this book. But the ultimate responsibility, on both the issues, is that of the first author, who happens to be the teacher of the second author, and has, at times, exercised his privileges. It must, however, be made amply clear that the teacher has not attempted to impose his style on the student, though, at places, some impact may, understandably, be discerned.

Over the centuries, Mother India has birthed a multitude of valiant sons and daughters, who have contributed, in one way or the other, in shaping her history and culture. The book presents a brief survey of the career and achievements of twenty-eight of such historical personalities. It also affords the reader, a glimpse of India's glorious past, spanning across countless centuries.

The first valiant progeny of Mother India, taken up in this work is Sudas, the hero of the Dasarajna, a singular event, apparently associated with the crossing of the Parushņi, and given much significance in the Rigveda. Then comes Parikshit, the first king of the Kaliyuga, who is believed to have undertaken a campaign of universal conquest, and performed two asvamedhas.

The sixth century BC saw religious and intellectual ferment, and boasts of such religious reformers in India, as Mahavīra and the Buddha, two former princes, who challenged the monopoly of the brahmaņas, over things spiritual and religious. Jainism claims a remote antiquity for itself, with a tradition of 24 tīrthankaras, starting with Rishabha, but it was the twenty-fourth tirthankaras, Mahavīra, who was instrumental in making it a popular religious system. Buddhism also developed the concept of former and future buddhas, but the credit for founding that religious system goes to the Buddha, that is Gautama. Within a few centuries, Buddhism spread to Central Asia, Mongolia, Nepal, Ceylon, Myanmar, the Malay Peninsula, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Tibet.