Sarvasena II () was a ruler of the Vatsagulma branch of the

Vakataka dynasty The Vakataka dynasty () was an ancient Indian dynasty that originated from the Deccan in the mid-3rd century CE. Their state is believed to have extended from the southern edges of Malwa and Gujarat in the north to the Tungabhadra River in the ...

. He was the son and successor of

Pravarasena II Pravarasena II () was a ruler of the Nandivardhana-Pravarapura branch of the Vakataka dynasty. He was the son of Rudrasena II and Prabhavatigupta, the daughter of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II. He succeeded his brother Damodarasena as M ...

. Sarvasena ascended the throne when he was just eight years old. His identity was not known to early historians of the Vakatakas, because the preserved portion of the Ajanta inscription did not provide a name for the young son and successor of Pravarasena II of Vatsagulma. However, it is now clear that Sarvasena II was the successor of Pravarasena II and should be identified with the unnamed king of the Ajanta genealogy. Like his father, Sarvasena used the title of ''Maharaja'' instead of the title ''Dharma-Maharaja'' which was used by his more illustrious ancestors. Sarvasena is also not known to have issued any inscriptions of his own. For these reasons,

Hans Bakker Hans T. Bakker (born 1948) is a cultural historian and Indologist, who has served as the Professor of the History of Hinduism and Jan Gonda Chair at the University of Groningen. He currently works in the British Museum as a researcher in project ...

believes that Sarvasena was likely a subordinate of the main Vakataka branch ruling from Nandivardhana and Pravarapura.

Ajay Mitra Shastri Ajay Mitra Shastri (5 March 1934 – 11 January 2002) was an Indian academic, historian and numismatist associated with the Nagpur University. Early life and education A. M. Shastri was born on 5 March 1934 at Guna in Central India Agency, ...

, on the other hand, views Sarvasena as a more powerful ruler who had substantial influence over the kingdom of the Kadambas to the south. He proposes that Sarvasena II is to be identified with the King Sarvasena who is mentioned to have consecrated the Kadamba king Simhavarman, son of Vishnuvarman.Bakker (1997), p. 31, footnote 100 Sarvasena had a fairly long reign which seems to have been mostly peaceful. He is described as a good ruler in later Vakataka records, and his chief concern seems to have been the welfare of his subjects rather than warfare with his neighbors. Sarvasena was succeeded by his son

Devasena Devasena (, ) is a Hindu goddess of aspiration, and the consort of the war god Kartikeya (Murugan). She is also known as Devayanai, Deivanai, and Deivayanai in Tamil texts. Her name is also spelled as Teyvanai or Tevayanai (). Devasena is ...

, probably in the first half of the 450s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarvasena 02 Vakataka dynasty 5th-century Indian monarchs