Sharvavarman

Shavavarman was the son of Ishanavarman. He and the chronology of his family are rather well known, because of a copper seal he created: the Asirgarh seal.{{cite journal |last1=Vats |first1=Madho Sarup |title=Sohnag Terracotta Seal of Avantivarman |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |date=1946 |volume=9 |pages=74–77 |jstor=44137039 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44137039 |issn=2249-1937}} The seal reads:

{{blockquote|File:6th century Asirgarh seal inscription, Sarvavarman, Hindu Maukhari dynasty, Sanskrit.jpg(There was) the illustrious Maharājā Harivarman, whose fame stretched out beyond the four oceans; who had other kings brought into subjection by (his) prowess and by affection (for him); who was like (the god) Chakradhara, in employing (his) sovereignty for regulating the different castes and stages of religious life; (and) who was the remover of the afflictions of (his) subjects. His son, who meditated on his feet, (was) the illustrious Mahârâja Âdityavarman, begotten on the Bhaṭṭârikâ and DêvîJayasvâminî. His son, who meditated on his feet, (was) the illustrious Mahârâja Îśvaravarman, begotten on the Bhaṭṭârikâ and Dêvî Harshaguptâ. His son, who meditated on his feet, (was) Mahârâjâdhirâja, the glorious Îśvaravarman, begotten on the Bhaṭṭârikâ and Dêvî Upaguptâ. His son, who meditates on his feet, (is) the most devout worshipper of (the god) Mahēśvara, the Mahârâjâdhirâja Śarvavarman, the Maukhari, begotten on the Bhaṭṭârikâ and Mahâdêvî Lakshamîvatî.|Fleet, John Faithful. Inscriptions of the Early Gupta Kings and Their Successors. Calcutta: Superintendent of Govt. Printing, 1888.{{cite book |last1=Fleet |first1=John Faithfull |title=Inscriptions Of The Early Gupta Kings And Their Successors |date=1960 |pages=219–221 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.463254/page/n474/mode/1up}}}}

Several other nearly identical seals of Sharvavarman were also discovered in Nalanda.{{cite book |last1=Sastri |first1=Hirananda |title=Epigraphia Indica Vol.21 |date=1931 |pages=72–75 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.56981/page/n103/mode/1up}} The content of the seals is identical, but small variations indicate that they come from different molds.

File:King Khosrow sits before the chessboard, while his vizir and the envoy of Qannuj are playing chess. Shahnameh, 10th century CE.jpg King Khosrow I sits before the chessboard, while his vizir and the Indian envoy of Kannauj are playing chess. Shahnama, 10th century CE.]]

Sharvarman was an important rival of the Late Guptas king Mahasenagupta (r. c. 562-601 CE) during the period 575-585 CE.{{cite book |last1=Schmidt |first1=Karl J. |title=An Atlas and Survey of South Asian History |date=20 May 2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-47680-1 |page=77 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vKZzCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT77 |language=en}}

With the end of Hunnic power in India, new contacts were established between India and the Sasanian Empire. Intellectual games such as chess and backgammon demonstrated and celebrated the diplomatic relationship between Khosrow I and a "great king of India." The vizier of the Indian king invented chess as a cheerful, playful challenge to King Khosrow. It seems that the Indian ruler who sent the game of chess to Khosrow may have been Śarvavarman, between the beginning of Śarvavarman's reign in 560/565 and the end of Khosrow's reign in 579,{{cite book |last1=Eder |first1=Manfred A. J. |title=South Asian Archaeology 2007 Proceedings of the 19th Meeting of the European Association of South Asian Archaeology in Ravenna, Italy, July 2007, Volume II |date=2010 |publisher=Archaeopress Archaeology |isbn=978-1-4073-0674-2 |page=69 |url=http://history.chess.free.fr/papers/Eder%202007-2.pdf}}{{cite book |last1=Bakker |first1=Hans T. |author-link=Hans T. Bakker|title=The Huns in Central and South Asia. How Two Centuries of War against Nomadic Invaders from the Steps are Concluded by a Game of Chess between the Kings of India and Iran |date=2017 |url=https://www.academia.edu/34156496}}{{cite book |last1=Cazaux |first1=Jean-Louis |last2=Knowlton |first2=Rick |title=A World of Chess: Its Development and Variations through Centuries and Civilizations |date=19 September 2017 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-2901-8 |page=342 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1u02DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA342 |language=en}} When the game was sent to Iran it came with a letter which read: "As your name is the King of Kings, all your emperorship over us connotes that your wise men should be wiser than ours. Either you send us an explanation of this game of chess or send revenue and tribute us."Canepa 2009, p. 181 Khosrow's grand vizier successfully solved the riddle and figured out how to play chess. In response the wise vizier created the game backgammon and sent it to the Indian court with the same message. The Indian king was not able to solve the riddle and was forced to pay tribute.

Sharvavarman was succeeded by his son Avantivarman, as indicated by the "Sohanag seal of Avantivarman".{{cite book |title=Indian History |date=1988 |publisher=Allied Publishers |isbn=978-81-8424-568-4 |page=413 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MazdaWXQFuQC&pg=PA413 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Kuppuswamy (Prof.) |first1=T. V. |title=History of Tamilakam. Darkness at Horizon |date=1995 |publisher=Shri Bhagavan Vedavyasa Itihasa Samshodhana Mandira |page=256 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lBhuAAAAMAAJ |language=en|quote="In the Sohanag seal of Avantivarman , Sharvavarman is shown as his father."}}

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• {{ODLA|last1=Canepa|first1=Matthew|title=Weh-andīōg-husraw (Rūmagān)|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-5066}}

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Category:6th-century Indian monarchs

Category:Kings of Kannauj

Category:Maukhari dynasty