Maukhari dynasty
The Maukhari dynasty (Gupta script: , "Mau-kha-ri") was a post-Gupta royal Indian dynasty that controlled vast areas of Northern India for over six generations. They earlier served as vassals of the Guptas and later of Harsha's Vardhana dynasty. The Maukharis established their independence at Kannauj, during the mid 6th century. The dynasty ruled over much of Uttar Pradesh and Magadha. Around 606 CE, a large area of their empire was reconquered by the Later Guptas. According to Hieun-Tsang, the territory may have been lost to King Shashanka of the Gauda Kingdom, who declared independence  circa 600 AD. Religion. The Maukharis were staunch Hindus. They tried to enforce and maintain the traditional social order among the people. Hinduism received state support, but Buddhism also managed to remain as a prominent religion. Army. The Maukhari army consisted of elephants, cavalry and infantry. Ishanavarman in all probability would have taken much pains to reorganize the army and make it strong and worthy. The Maukhari strategy mainly focused on deploying elephant corps to crush the enemy armies. They were used against the Hunas and the Later Gupta armies. The Maukharis fought against the remnants of the Alchon Huns  in the areas of the Gangetic Doab and Magadha, as documented in the Aphsad inscription, while the Aulikaras repelled them in the Malwa region. The Aphsad inscription of Ādityasena mentions the military successes of kings of the Later Gupta dynasty against the Maukharis, themselves past victors of the Hunas: The Maukharis, rather than the Guptas, were therefore the key actors in repelling the Hunas. Administration. Kannauj, the Maukhari capital, grew in prosperity and importance and as a great cosmopolitan town. After the demise of the Maukharis, it even became the capital of Harsha. Hence, the city of Kanyakubja was largely  contested by imperial powers. The first three Maukhari kings are mentioned in the inscriptions as Maharaja, but their successors assumed more pompous titles showing the increase in power. Ishanavarman was the first Maukhari ruler to adopt the title Maharajadhiraja. Culture and international exchanges. The Maukhari kings were patrons of poets and writers and many literary works were composed during their reign. Various seals and inscriptions are known, such as the Asirgarh seal inscription of Sharvavarman, . or the of Isanavarman, discovered near the village of Harara in the Barabanki district, Uttar Pradesh and dated to Vikrama Samvat 610 (ie 554 CE ), which record the genealogy of the Maukharis. Contacts with the Sasanian Empire. With the end of Hunnic power, 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 was the Maukhari King Śarvavarman of Kannauj, between the beginning of Śarvavarman’s reign in 560/565 and the end of  Khosrow's reign in 579. 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." 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. Succession. The Vardhana dynasty (also called "Pushyabhuti dynasty") ultimately succeeded the Maukhari dynasty, but it had originally only been a small polity around their capital Sthaneshvara (Thanesar). According to Hans T. Bakker, their ruler Aditya-Vardhana (or Aditya-Sena) was probably a feudatory to the Maukhari ruler Sharva-varman. His successor Prabhakara-Vardhana may have also been a feudatory to the Maukhari king Avanti-Varman in his early days. Prabhakara's daughter Rajyashri married Avanti-Varman's son Graha-Varman. As a result of this marriage, Prabhakara's political status  increased significantly, and he assumed the imperial title "Parama-bhattaraka Maharajadhiraja". ("the one to whom the other kings bow because of his valour and affection"). Rulers. The known Maukhari rulers of "madhya-desha" include: Barabar branch of Maukhari rulers. The Barabar Caves inscriptions attest the existence of another Maukhari branch. This branch ruled as feudatories, probably that of the Later Guptas. The known rulers of this branch include: