Rajuvula

Rajuvula (Greek ΡΑΖΥ Razy; Brahmi: Rā-ju-vu-la, Rājuvula;[4] Kharosthi: 𐨪𐨗𐨂𐨬𐨂𐨫 Ra-ju-vu-la, Rajuvula;[5] 𐨪𐨗𐨬𐨂𐨫 Ra-ja-vu-la, Rajavula;[6][7] 𐨪𐨗𐨂𐨫 Ra-ju-la, Rajula[8]) was an Indo-Scythian Great Satrap (Mahākṣatrapa), one of the "Northern Satraps" who ruled in the area of Mathura in the northern Indian Subcontinent in the years around 10 CE. The Mathura lion capital was consecrated under the reign of Rajuvula.[3] In central India, the Indo-Scythians had conquered the area of Mathura from Indian kings around 60 BCE. Some of their satraps were Hagamasha and Hagana, who were in turn followed by Rajuvula.

Rajuvula
Indo-Scythian king
Northern Satrap Rajuvula. Obv. Bust of king and Greek legend BASILEOS BASILEON SOTEROS RAZU, "Saviour King of Kings, Rajuvula".[1][2] Rev. Athena Alkidemos and Kharoshthi legend Chatrapasa apratihatachakrasa rajuvulasa "the Satrap Rajuvula whose discus (cakra) is irresistible". These coins are found near Sankassa along the Ganges and in Eastern Punjab. Possibly minted in Sagala.[3] The coins are derived from the Indo-Greek types of Strato II.[3]
Reignc. 10-25 CE
ReligionZoroastrianism, Buddhism
The Saptarishi Tila statue, possibly representing Kamuia Ayasa/ Kambojika, the Chief Queen of Mahakshatrapa Rajula. Found in the Saptarishi Mound, the same mound where the Mathura lion capital was found. c. 1st century CE.

Name

Rajuvula's name is attested on his coins in the Brahmi form Rājuvula[4] and the Kharosthi forms Rajuvula (𐨪𐨗𐨂𐨬𐨂𐨫),[5] Rajavula (𐨪𐨗𐨬𐨂𐨫),[6] and Rajula (𐨪𐨗𐨂𐨫),[8] which are derived from the Saka name *Rāzavara, meaning "ruling king"[9]

Biography

Rajuvula is thought to have invaded the last of the Indo-Greek territories in the eastern Punjab, and replaced the last of the Indo-Greek kings, Strato II and Strato III. The main coinage of Rajuvula imitated that of the Indo-Greek rulers he supplanted.[3]

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

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",[10] which was an older view supported by Bühler, Rapson, Lüders and others. But according to a later view propounded by Sten Konow,[11] and accepted by later scholars,[12] the principal donor making endowments was princess Aiyasi Kamuia, "chief queen of Rajuvula" and "daughter of Yuvaraja Kharaosta Kamuio".[13][14] Nadasi Kasa (or Nada Diaka) was daughter of Ayasia Kamuia.

According to an older view, Yuvaraja Kharaosta Kamuio was thought to be the son of Ayasi Kamuia who in turn was thought to be the widow of Arta whom Rajuvula later married.[15] Konow refuted this view, and concluded that Ayasia Kamuia, chief queen of Rajuvula, was the 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 the princess Aiyasi clearly proves that Aiyasi Kamuia was the daughter and not the 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.[16][17] Hence, Dr Konow's interpretation appears more convincing.

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

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

Several other inscription from Mathura mention Rajuvula, such as the Mora Well Inscription.[18][19]

Sodasa, son of Rajuvula, succeeded him and also made Mathura his capital.

Coinage of Rajuvula
  • Coin of Rajuvula with Greek legend and Athena Alkidemos.
    Coin of Rajuvula with Greek legend and Athena Alkidemos.
  • Coin of Rajuvula with lion and Herakles holding lion skin. Here the king's title is Mahakshatrapa' "Great Satrap". Coin probably minted in Taxila.
    Coin of Rajuvula with lion and Herakles holding lion skin. Here the king's title is Mahakshatrapa' "Great Satrap". Coin probably minted in Taxila.[3]
  • Billon drachm of the Indo-Scythian king Rajuvula (c. 10-25 CE). Weight: 2.21 gm, diameter: 12 mm
    Billon drachm of the Indo-Scythian king Rajuvula (c. 10-25 CE). Weight: 2.21 gm, diameter: 12 mm
  • A coin of a silver drachma of the satrap Rujuvula who governs the Jammu in India from ca 10/1 BC to 1/10 AD for the Indo-Scythians. A / Diademed bust of the satrap to the right in stereotyped style. Greek inscription BASILEPS SPTROS around. R / Pallas left and inscription Chatrapasa apratihatachakrasa in Kharoshti around, control mark in the field. Dimension: 13 mm Weight: 2.42 g. Workshop of Jammu.
    A coin of a silver drachma of the satrap Rujuvula who governs the Jammu in India from ca 10/1 BC to 1/10 AD for the Indo-Scythians. A / Diademed bust of the satrap to the right in stereotyped style. Greek inscription BASILEPS SPTROS around. R / Pallas left and inscription Chatrapasa apratihatachakrasa in Kharoshti around, control mark in the field. Dimension: 13 mm Weight: 2.42 g. Workshop of Jammu.
  • A coin bearing the face of Rajuvula
    A coin bearing the face of Rajuvula
  • Two coins from the reign of Rajuvula
    Two coins from the reign of Rajuvula
  • Coins of Strato (top) and Rajuvula (bottom) discovered together in a mound in Mathura.
    Coins of Strato (top) and Rajuvula (bottom) discovered together in a mound in Mathura.[20]

Notes
  1. Goyala, Śrīrāma (1995). The Dynastic Coins of Ancient India. Kusumanjali Prakashan. p. 40.
  2. Puri, Baij Nath (1968). History of Indian Administration. Bharatiya Vidya Rhavan. p. 93.
  3. The Dynastic Arts of the Kushans, by John M. Rosenfield, University of California Press, 1967 p.135
  4. Allan, John (1936). Catalogue of the Coins of Ancient India. London: British Museum. p. cxiii, 185-191. ISBN 978-8-170-69057-3.
  5. Fleet, J. F. (1907). "Moga, Maues, and Vonones". The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 39 (4): 1013–1040. doi:10.1017/S0035869X0003690X. JSTOR 25210494. S2CID 161830305. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  6. Cunningham, Alexander (1888). "Coins of the Indo-Scythians". The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Numismatic Society. 8 (3): 199–248. JSTOR 42682595. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  7. Gardner, Percy (1929). The Coins of the Greek and Scythic Kings of Bactria and India in the British Museum. London: Gilbert & Rivington Ltd. pp. 67. ISBN 978-0-900-83452-3.
  8. Konow, Sten (1929). Kharoshṭhī Inscriptions: with the Exception of Those of Aśoka. Kolkata: Government of India Central Publication Branch. p. 34, PLATE VII.
  9. Harmatta, János (1999). "Languages and scripts in Graeco-Bactria and the Saka Kingdoms". In Harmatta, János; Puri, B. N.; Etemadi, G. F. (eds.). History of civilizations of Central Asia. Vol. 2. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishing House. p. 411. ISBN 978-8-120-81408-0.
  10. 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.
  11. Corpus Inscrioptionum Indicarum, Vol II, Part I, pp xxxvi, 36, 47, Dr S Konow.
  12. 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.
  13. Mahaksha[tra]vasa Rajulasa agra-maheshi Ayasia Kamuia dhida Kharaostasa yuvarana mada Nada-diakasa [taye] sadha matra Abuhola[e]...Kharaosto yuvaraya Kamuio...
  14. See also: "Coins, Art, and Chronology: Cribb page 3". Archived from the original on 2006-01-25. Retrieved 2006-01-25. and
  15. See quote in: Aspects of Ancient Indian Administration, 2003, p 58, D.K. Ganguly.
  16. 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.
  17. Dr S. Konow convincingly argues that Yuvaraja Kharaosta is respectfully mentioned 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 the 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.
  18. Quintanilla, Sonya Rhie (2007). History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura: Ca. 150 BCE - 100 CE. BRILL. p. 261. ISBN 9789004155374.
  19. Chakravarti, N. p (1937). Epigraphia Indica Vol.24. p. 194.
  20. The journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Bishop's College Press. 1854. pp. 689–691 Plate XXXV.

References
  • Bopearachchi, Osmund (1991). Monnaies Gréco-Bactriennes et Indo-Grecques, Catalogue Raisonné. Bibliothèque Nationale de France. ISBN 978-2-7177-1825-6.
  • McEvilley, Thomas (2002). The Shape of Ancient Thought. Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies. Allworth Press and the School of Visual Arts. ISBN 978-1-58115-203-6.
  • Puri, B. N. (2000). Buddhism in Central Asia. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-0372-5.
  • Tarn, W. W. (1951). The Greeks in Bactria and India. Cambridge University Press.
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