Pushyamitras


The Pushyamitras were a tribe who lived in Central India during the 5th century CE. Living on the banks of the river Narmada, they are believed to have posed a serious threat to the Gupta Empire during the late period of Kumaragupta I's reign. Inscriptions covering the events between 455 and 467 CE emphasise the role of Skandagupta, Kumaragupta's successor, in defeating the Pushyamitras.
The Pushyamitras are only known from this inscription, of which the reading is sometimes disputed, as well as a single mention in the Puranas. Therefore their existence is sometimes doubted. The people Skandagupta fought could more probably have been a confederation including the Vakatakas. The dynasty of the Vakatakas ended around that time in a war, when, according to the Dashakumaracharita, attacking the area of Vanavasi to the south, they were in turn attacked from the rear resulting in the death of the last Vakataka king.