ISANAVARMAN

flourished AD 554 chief of the Maukhari family of northern India, originally a feudatory of the Gupta Empire, who by the middle of the 6th century had declared his independence from the Guptas and set himself up as a king in the Ganges Valley. Little is known of Isanavarman except that during the second half of the 6th century he and his successors were involved in continuous conflict with the kings of the later Gupta line; they seem to have ruled the greater portion of the modern state of Uttar Pradesh and to have had some control over Magadha (southern Bihar state). There is some evidence of Maukhari raids in the Deccan. Their capital was Kanyakubja (modern Kannauj), and they played an important role in the development of this city. Isanavarman's only notable successor was Grahavarman, who was defeated and killed by the Guptas soon after his accession and whose capital was occupied. His brother-in-law, Harsa, however, drove out the Guptas around 606 AD and thus gained control of the Maukhari kingdom. After this, the Maukhari family disappeared into obscurity.