Rajuvula

Billon drachm of the Indo-Scythian king Rajuvula (c. 10-25 CE). Weight: 2.21 gm, diameter: 12 mm
Obv: Bust of king Rajuvula, with Greek legend.
Rev: Pallas standing right (crude). Kharoshthi legend: "Apratihata cakrasa chatrapasa rajuvulasa" ("The satrap Rajuvula with the invincible discus")
A coin bearing the face of Rajuvula
Two coins from the reign of Rajuvula

Rajuvula was an Indo-Scythian Great Satrap (Mahakshatrapa) who ruled in the area of Mathura in northern India in the years around 10 CE. In central India, the Indo-Scythians conquered the area of Mathura over Indian kings around 60 BCE. Some of their satraps were Hagamasha and Hagana, who were in turn followed by Rajuvula.

Biography

Rajuvula is thought to have invaded the last of the Indo-Greek territories in the eastern Punjab, and killed the last of the Indo-Greek kings, Strato II and his son.

The Mathura lion capital, an Indo-Scythian sandstone capital from Mathura in Central India, and dated to the 1st century CE, describes in kharoshthi the gift of a stupa with a relic of the Buddha, by queen Nadasi Kasa, "the wife of Rajuvula" and "daughter of Aiyasi Kamuia",[1] which was an older view supported by Bühler, Rapson, Lüders and others. But according to later view propounded by Sten Konow,[2] and accepted by later scholars,[3] the principal donor making endowments was princess Aiyasi Kamuia, "chief queen of Rajuvula" and "daughter of Yuvaraja Kharaosta Kamuio".[4][5] Nadasi Kasa (or Nada Diaka) was daughter of Ayasia Kamuia.

According to an older view, Yuvarja Kharaosta Kamuio was thought to be son of Ayasi Kamuia who in turn was thought to be widow of Arta whom Rajuvula later married.[6] Konow refuted this view, and concluded that Ayasia Kamuia, chief queen of Rajuvula, was daughter and not the mother of Kharaosta Kamuio. The fact that the last name 'Kamuia' has been used both by Yuvaraja Kharaosta as well as princess Aiyasi clearly proves that Aiyasi Kamuia was the daughter and not mother of Yuvaraja Kharaosta Kamuio (Kambojaka), since such family-names or designations are naturally inherited from the father's side and not from the mother's.[7][8] Hence, Dr Konow's interpretation appears more convincing.

The capital also mentions the genealogy of several Indo-Scythian satraps of Mathura.

The Indo-Scythian Mathura lion capital, 1st century CE, mentioning Rajuvula and his wife, Nadasi Kasa (British Museum).

The presence of the Buddhist symbol triratana at the center of the capital suggests that Rajuvula was, at least nominally, following the Buddhist faith.

Sodasa, son of Rajuvula, succeeded him and also made Mathura his capital. <clear=all>

Indo-Greek Kings, territories and chronology
Based on Bopearachchi (1991)[9]
Greco-Bactrian kings Indo-Greek kings
Territories/
dates
West Bactria East Bactria Paropamisade
Arachosia Gandhara Western Punjab Eastern Punjab
326-325 BCE Campaigns of Alexander the Great in India
312 BCE Creation of the Seleucid Empire
305 BCE Seleucid Empire after Mauryan war
280 BCE Foundation of Ai-Khanoum
255–239 BCE Independence of the
Greco-Bactrian kingdom
Diodotus I
239–223 BCE Diodotus II
230–200 BCE Euthydemus I
200–190 BCE Demetrius I
190-185 BCE Euthydemus II
190–180 BCE Agathocles Pantaleon
185–170 BCE Antimachus I
180–160 BCE Apollodotus I
175–170 BCE Demetrius II
160–155 BCE Antimachus II
170–145 BCE Eucratides I
155–130 BCE Yuezhi occupation,
loss of Ai-Khanoum
Eucratides II
Plato
Heliocles I
Menander I
130–120 BCE Yuezhi occupation Zoilos I Agathokleia
120–110 BCE Lysias Strato I
110–100 BCE Antialcidas Heliokles II
100 BCE Polyxenos Demetrius III
100–95 BCE Philoxenus
95–90 BCE Diomedes Amyntas Epander
90 BCE Theophilos Peukolaos Thraso
90–85 BCE Nicias Menander II Artemidoros
90–70 BCE Hermaeus Archebius
Yuezhi occupation Maues (Indo-Scythian)
75–70 BCE Telephos Apollodotus II
65–55 BCE Hippostratos Dionysios
55–35 BCE Azes I (Indo-Scythian) Zoilos II
55–35 BCE Apollophanes
25 BCE – 10 CE Strato II and III
Rajuvula (Indo-Scythian)

See also

Notes

  1. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland, 1894, p 533, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland; See also: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland, 1907, p 1025, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland; Ancient India: From the Earliest Times to the First Century AD, 1964, p 158, Dr E. J. Rapson.
  2. Corpus Inscrioptionum Indicarum, Vol II, Part I, pp xxxvi, 36, 47, Dr S Konow.
  3. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 1990, p 141, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland; Political History of Ancient India, 1996, p 394, Dr H. C. Raychaudhury, Dr B. N. Mukerjee; Kunst aus Indien: Von der Industalkultur im 3. Jahrtausend V. Chr. Bis zum 19. Jahrhundert n ..., 1960, p 9, Künstlerhaus Wien, Museum für Völkerkunde (Vienna, Austria); History of Civilizations of Central Asia, 1999, 201/ 207, Ahmad Hasan Dani, Vadim Mikhaĭlovich Masson, János Harmatta, Boris Abramovich Litvinovskiĭ, Clifford Edmund Bosworth, Unesco; Aspects of Ancient Indian Administration, 2003, 58, D.K. Ganguly; District Gazetteers, 1959, p 33, Uttar Pradesh (India); Five Phases of Indian Art, 1991, p 17, K. D. Bajpai; History of Indian Administration, 1968, p 107, B. N. Puri; The Śakas in India, 1981, p 119, Satya Shrava; Ṛtam, p 46,by Akhila Bharatiya Sanskrit Parishad, Lucknow; Prācīna Kamboja, jana aura janapada =: Ancient Kamboja, people and country, 1981, Dr Jiyālāla Kāmboja, Dr Satyavrat Śāstrī; Indian Linguistics, 1964, p 549, Linguistic Society of India; A History of Indian Buddhism: From Sakyamuni to Early Mahayana, 1998, p 230, Akira Hirakawa; Cf: An Inscribed Silver Buddhist Reliquary of the Time of King Kharaosta and Prince Indravarman, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 116, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1996), pp. 439, Richard Salomon, University of Washington. The author Richard Salomon accepts Dr Konow's views as probably correct.
  4. Mahaksha[tra]vasa Rajulasa agra-maheshi Ayasia Kamuia dhida Kharaostasa yuvarana mada Nada-diakasa [taye] sadha matra Abuhola[e]...Kharaosto yuvaraya Kamuio...
  5. See also: and
  6. See quote in: Aspects of Ancient Indian Administration, 2003, p 58, D.K. Ganguly.
  7. See: Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, Vol II, part I, p 36 & xxxvi, Dr Stein Konow; Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 1990, p 141, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland; Prācīna Kamboja, jana aura janapada =: Ancient Kamboja, people and country, 1981, p 227/228, Dr Jiyālāla Kāmboja, Dr Satyavrat Śāstrī), The Kambojas Through the Ages, 2005, p 168, Kirpal Singh.
  8. Dr S. Konow convincingly argues that Yuvaraja Kharaosta is respectfully dmentioned twice (II A.1 and E.1) and in prominent positions in the Capital record, and this would befit only a senior relative of the family of the queen making the endowments, and not a junior member like a son or grand son. Moreover, the Aiyasi Kamuia expressly states a close relationship with Kharaosta and also claims that latter's concurrence for making the endowments has been obtained (See: Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum II, I, pp xxxv-vi, 36; An Inscribed Silver Buddhist Reliquary of the Time of King Kharaosta and Prince Indravarman, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 116, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1996), pp. 440, Richard Salomon, University of Washington; Prācīna Kamboja, jana aura janapada =: Ancient Kamboja, people and country, 1981, pp 227/228, Dr Jiyālāla Kāmboja, Dr Satyavrat Śāstrī; The Kambojas Through the Ages, 2005, p 168, Kirpal Singh.
  9. O. Bopearachchi, "Monnaies gréco-bactriennes et indo-grecques, Catalogue raisonné", Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, 1991, p.453

References

External links

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