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{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{use Indian English|date=October 2016}}
{{Infobox royalty
| title = '''Dharmamahārājadhirāja'''
| image =
| caption =
| succession = King of the [[Kadamba dynasty|Kadamba Kingdom]]
| reign = {{reign|{{circa|425}}|450 CE}}
| predecessor = [[Raghu (Kadamba king)|Raghu]]
| successor = {{plainlist|
* [[Santivarma]] (at [[Banavasi]])
* [[Krishnavarma I]] (at Triparvatha)
}}
| issue = [[Santivarma]] and [[Krishnavarma I]]
| spouse =
| house = [[Kadamba dynasty|Kadamba]]
| father = [[Bhageerath]]
| religion = [[Jainism]]
}}
{{Banavasi Kadamba Kings Infobox}}
'''Kakusthavarma''' ({{reign|{{circa|425}}|450 CE}}{{sfn|Karashima|2014|p=369}}) or '''Kakusthavarman''' was a ruler of the [[Kadamba dynasty]] in [[South India]]. He succeeded his brother [[Raghu (Kadamba king)|Raghu]] as king. Under Kakusthavarma's rule the Kadamba kingdom attained the height of its power and influence, and the Kadambas enjoyed close diplomatic relations with the great royal houses of India.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Moraes |first1=George |title=The Kadamba Kula |date=1931 |publisher=B.X. Furtado & Sons |location=Bombay |pages=25–26}}</ref> The [[Talagunda pillar inscription|Talagunda]] and [[Halmidi inscription]]s praise Kakusthavarma as a formidable Kadamba warrior.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/sep42005/sundayherald102257200592.asp|title=Bouncing off to Banavasi|work=Deccan Herald|accessdate=2007-04-13|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070213125920/http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/sep42005/sundayherald102257200592.asp  |archivedate = 2007-02-13}}</ref>

==Early life==
Kakusthavarma was born to King [[Bhageerath]], the third ruler of the Kadamba dynasty. Upon his father's death, Kakusthavarma's elder brother Raghu assumed the throne of the Kadamba kingdom, with Kakusthavarma as ''Yuvaraja'' or [[Crown Prince]]. Kakusthavarma held court as the heir apparent, perhaps at Palashika (present-day [[Halasi]]) from where he is known to have issued land grants.<ref name = "yuvaraja">{{cite book |author1=K.A. Nilakanta Sastri |editor1-last=Majumdar |editor1-first=R.C. |editor2-last=Altekar |editor2-first=A.S. |title=The Vakataka-Gupta Age |date=2007 |publisher=Motilal Banarsi Dass |isbn=9788120800434 |page=220}}</ref> In due course, he succeeded his brother on the Kadamba throne.

==Reign==
Kakusthavarma's reign is notable for the marriage alliances that he contracted with other powerful dynasties. Most importantly, Kakusthavarma married one of his daughters into the imperial [[Gupta Empire|Gupta]] family.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sastri |first1=K.A. Nilakanta |title=A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar |date=1961 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=111 |edition=Third}}</ref> It is also likely that Kakusthavarma married another one of his daughters to the [[Vakataka]] prince [[Narendrasena]], as the Vakataka records describe Narendrasena's wife Ajjhitabhattarika as a princess of the [[Kuntala country]] which probably corresponds to the Kadamba kingdom.<ref>{{cite book |author1=D.C. Sircar |editor1-last=Majumdar |editor1-first=R.C. |title=The Classical Age |date=1997 |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |page=184 |edition=Fifth}}</ref><ref>Sastri (1961), p. 109</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=A.S. Altekar |editor1-last=Majumdar |editor1-first=R.C. |editor2-last=Altekar |editor2-first=A.S. |title=The Vakataka-Gupta Age |date=2007 |publisher=Motilal Banarsi Dass |isbn=9788120800434 |page=106}}</ref>

Kakusthavarma appears to have been a great builder and avid patron of secular architecture as well as of religious causes. He is described as possessing numerous palaces adorned with ''[[gopura]]s''.<ref name = "yuvaraja"/> Kakusthavarma's son and successor, [[Santivarma]], records in his [[Talagunda pillar inscription]] that his father had constructed a great water tank near a [[Shiva]] temple at which [[Satakarni]] and other kings of the past had worshipped.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kielhorn |first1=F. |title=Talagunda pillar inscription of Kakusthavarman |journal=Epigraphia Indica |date=1905–1906 |volume=VIII |page=28}}</ref> Kakusthavarma himself appears to have had [[Jain]] religious tendencies, as in his grant at Halasi he begins with an invocation to Jinendra, the lord of the [[Jinas]], and likely patronized a Jain temple at this place.{{sfn|Desai|1957|p=110}}{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2016|p=526}}

==Successors==
Upon Kakusthavarma's death, the Kadamba kingdom appears to have been divided between his progeny. One of Kakusthavarma's sons, Santivarma, succeeded his father at [[Banavasi]] and ruled over the northern part of the Kadamba realm. Another one of Kakusthavarma's sons, [[Krishnavarma I]], seems to have founded a [[cadet branch]] of the Kadamba dynasty at Triparvatha, in the southern part of the Kadamba realm.<ref>Sastri (1997), pp. 272–273</ref>

==References==
===Notes===
{{reflist}}
===Sources===
* {{citation |last=Desai |first=P.B. |year=1957 |title=Jainism in South India and Some Jaina Epigraphs |place=Sholapur |publisher=Jaina Samshodhana Sangha }}
* {{citation |last=Karashima |first=Noboru |title=A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations |year=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-809977-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fpdVoAEACAAJ }}
* {{citation |last=Moraes |first=George M. |authorlink=George M. Moraes |year=1931 |title=The Kadamba Kula, A History of Ancient and Medieval Karnataka |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.22295 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |isbn=81-206-0595-0 }}
* {{citation |last=Singh |first=Upinder |author-link=Upinder Singh |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |url={{Google books|Pq2iCwAAQBAJ|plainurl=yes}} |publisher=[[Pearson Education]] |date=2016 |isbn=978-93-325-6996-6 |ref={{sfnref|Upinder Singh|2016}} }}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Kadamba kings]]
[[Category:5th-century Indian monarchs]]

Kakusthavarma - Revision history

CleanupBot at 07:13, 22 March 2026