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]
Reign
c. 10-25 CE
Rajuvula (
GreekΡΑΖΥRazy;
Brahmi: Rā-ju-vu-la, Rājuvula;[4]Kharosthi: 𐨪𐨗𐨂𐨬𐨂𐨫Ra-ju-vu-la, Rajuvula;[5]𐨪𐨗𐨬𐨂𐨫Ra-ja-vu-la, Rajavula;[6][7]𐨪𐨗𐨂𐨫Ra-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.
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
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.
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 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
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
Two coins from the reign of Rajuvula
Coins of
Strato (top) and Rajuvula (bottom) discovered together in a mound in Mathura.[20]
^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.
^Corpus Inscrioptionum Indicarum, Vol II, Part I, pp xxxvi, 36, 47, Dr S Konow.
^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.
^See quote in: Aspects of Ancient Indian Administration, 2003, p 58, D.K. Ganguly.
^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.
^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.
Bopearachchi, Osmund (1991). Monnaies Gréco-Bactriennes et Indo-Grecques, Catalogue Raisonné. Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
ISBN978-2-7177-1825-6.
McEvilley, Thomas (2002). The Shape of Ancient Thought. Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies. Allworth Press and the School of Visual Arts.
ISBN978-1-58115-203-6.
Puri, B. N. (2000). Buddhism in Central Asia. Motilal Banarsidass.
ISBN978-81-208-0372-5.
Tarn, W. W. (1951). The Greeks in Bactria and India. Cambridge University Press.
^An Inscribed Silver Buddhist Reliquary of the Time of King Kharaosta and Prince Indravarman, Richard Salomon, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 116, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1996), pp. 442
[3]
^A Kharosthī Reliquary Inscription of the Time of the Apraca Prince Visnuvarma, by Richard Salomon, South Asian Studies 11 1995, Pages 27-32, Published online: 09 Aug 2010
[4]