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The Maitraka dynasty ruled the Kingdom of Valabhi in western India from approximately 475 to 776 from their capital at Vallabhi. With the sole exception of Dharapaṭṭa (the fifth king in the dynasty), who is associated with Solar deity, they were followers of Shaivism. Their origin is uncertain but they were probably Lunar dynasty.
Following the decline of the Gupta Empire, Maitraka dynasty was founded by Senapati (general) Bhaṭārka, who was a military governor of Saurashtra under Gupta Empire, who had established himself as the independent around 475 CE. The first two Maitraka rulers Bhaṭārka and Dharasena I used only the title of Senapati (general). The third ruler Droṇasiṁha declared himself as the Maharaja. During the reign Dhruvasena I, Jain councils was probably held. The next ruler Dharapaṭṭa is the only ruler considered as a sun-worshipper. King Guhasena stopped using the term Paramabhattaraka Padanudhyata along his name like his predecessors, which denotes the cessation of displaying of the nominal allegiance to the Gupta overlords. He was succeeded by his son Dharasena II, who used the title of Mahadhiraja. His son, the next ruler Śilāditya I Dharmāditya was described by Xuanzang, visited in 640 CE, as a "monarch of great administrative ability and of rare kindness and compassion". Śilāditya I was succeeded by his younger brother Kharagraha I.Mahajan V.D. (1960, reprint 2007). Ancient India, S.Chand & Company, New Delhi, , pp.594-6 Virdi copperplate grant (616 CE) of Kharagraha I proves that his territories included Ujjain. During the reign of the next ruler, Dharasena III, north Gujarat was included in this kingdom. Dharasena II was succeeded by another son of Kharagraha I, Dhruvasena II, Balāditya. He married the daughter of Harshavardhana. His son Dharasena IV assumed the imperial titles of Paramabhattaraka Mahrajadhiraja Parameshvara Chakravartin. Sanskrit poet Bhatti was his court poet. The next powerful ruler of this dynasty was Śilāditya II. During the reign of Śilāditya V, Arabs probably invaded this kingdom. The last known ruler of this dynasty was Śilāditya VI.
Maitrakas set up a Vallabhi University which came to be known far and wide for its scholastic pursuits and was compared with the Nalanda University. They came under the rule of Harsha of Vardhana dynasty in the mid-seventh century, but retained local autonomy, and regained their independence after Harṣa's death. After repeated attacks by Arabs from the sea, the kingdom had weakened considerably. The dynasty ended by 783 CE. Apart from legendary accounts which connect fall of Vallabi with the Tajjika (Arab) invasions, no historical source mention how the dynasty ended.
More than hundred temples of this period are known, mostly located along the western coast of Saurashtra.
Though Mitra and Mihira are synonyms for the sun, the Sanskrit literature does not use it in sense of sun-worshipers. Dharapaṭṭa is the fifth and the only king of all Maitraka kings connected with sun-worship. All other kings were followers of Shaivism.
The copperplate grants do not help in identifying their origin, they describe only that the dynasty was born from a war-like tribe whose capital was at Vallabhi and they were . Chinese traveler Xuanzang visited Vallabhi during the second quarter of the 7th century had described the ruler as a Kshatriya. Later Mahayana Buddhist work Manju-Shri-Mula-Kalpa had described them as Varavatya Yadava. The late Jain traditional work Shatrunjaya-Mahatmaya of Dhaneshwara describes Śilāditya as the Yadavas of Lunar dynasty.
Virji concludes that Maitrakas were a Kshatriya of Chandravanshi and their origin was probably from Mitra dynasty which once ruled region around Mathura (now in Uttar Pradesh, India). Several scholars like Benerjee, D. Shastri, D. R. Bhandarkar agree with her conclusion.
When I-Tsing, another Chinese traveller, visited Vallabhi in the last quarter of the seventh century, he found Vallabhi as a great center of learning including Buddhism. Gunamati and Sthiramati were two famous Buddhist scholars of Vallabhi in the middle of the seventh century. Vallabhi was famous for its liberalism and the students from all over the country, including the Brahmana boys, visited it to have higher education in secular and religious subjects. We are told that the graduates of Valabhi were given higher executive posts.
The of the region connect themselves with the last Maitraka ruler Śilāditya VI. Goddess Khodiyar is considered a contemporary figure of the period when the Vallabhi kingdom declined in the 8th century AD.
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