Vakataka was a dynasty (series of rulers who belong to the same family) that ruled over much of what is now Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh in India from the A.D. 200’s to the 500’s. At times, Vakataka rulers controlled most of the Deccan Plateau, and sometimes other parts of central and southern India. Their peak of power roughly coincided with that of the Gupta dynasty, who ruled over much of northern India, and the two dynasties were often closely associated. The Vakatakas were also one of the dynasties that patronized the Buddhist cave temples at Ajanta.
The Vakatakas came to power following the fall of the Satavahana dynasty, which had ruled over the Deccan before them. The first of the great Vakataka rulers was Pravarasena I, who ruled in the late 200’s and early 300’s. During his reign, the empire grew large, spreading across the Deccan and to the south. The empire was split into four kingdoms following his death.
The Vakatakas came under Gupta influence in the 300’s, with the marriage of King Rudrasena II to Prabhavati Gupta, the daughter of Chandragupta II, the Gupta king. Prabhavati Gupta ruled as a regent for her sons after her husband’s death, so the Vakataka territories were, in effect, part of the Gupta Empire. Gupta influence lessened after Prabhavati Gupta’s son, Pravarasena II, came to power in 410. The last of the great Vakataka kings was Harishena, who regained most of the territories that had been lost by previous rulers. But the dynasty collapsed with his death, and the Vakataka rulers were largely replaced by neighboring kingdoms and by the Chalukya dynasty.
