Samprati

2021-08-15T06:15:15Z

2405:201:4026:E0D4:C8B8:89EA:D3:DB38: /* Samprati and Jainism */

{{use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{use Indian English|date=January 2016}}
{{Refimprove|date=December 2008}}
{{Infobox royalty
| succession = 5th [[List of Mauryan rulers|Mauryan emperor]]
| reign = {{circa|224|215 BCE}}
| religion = [[Jainism]]{{sfn|Cort|2010|p=199}}
| predecessor = [[Dasharatha Maurya]]
| successor = [[Shalishuka]]
| dynasty = [[Maurya Empire|Maurya]]
| father = [[Kunala]]
| mother = Kanchanamala
}}
{{Maurya}}
'''Samprati''' ({{reign|224|215 BCE}}) was an emperor of the [[Maurya dynasty]]. He was the son of [[Ashoka]]'s blind son, [[Kunala]],{{citation needed|date=July 2017}} and succeeded his cousin, [[Dasharatha Maurya|Dasharatha]], as emperor of the [[Maurya Empire]]. He was the only great Mauryan emperor after [[Ashoka]], and was a great patron of [[Jainism]].

==Claim to throne==
Kunala was the son of one of Ashoka's queens, Padmavati (who was [[Jain]]), but was blinded in a conspiracy to remove his claim to the throne. Thus, Kunala was replaced by Dasharatha as the heir to the throne. Kunala lived in [[Ujjain]] with his "Dhai Maa". Samprati was brought up there. Years after being denied the throne, Kunala and Samprati approached Ashoka's court in an attempt to claim the throne. Ashoka could not deliver the throne to his blind son, but promised Samprati would be heir apparent after Dasharatha. After Dasharatha's death, Samprati inherited the throne of the Maurya Empire.{{citation needed|date=August 2015}}

==Reign==
According to the Jain tradition he ruled for 53 years.{{citation needed|date=August 2015}} The Jaina text {{IAST|Pariśiṣṭaparvan}} mentions that he ruled both from [[Pataliputra]] and [[Ujjain]].<ref>Thapar, Romila (2001). ''{{IAST|Aśoka}} and the Decline of the Maurya'', New Delhi: Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|0-19-564445-X}}, p.187</ref> According to a [[Jain]] text, the provinces of [[Surashtra]], [[Maharashtra]], [[Andhra Pradesh|Andhra]], and the [[Mysore]] region broke away from the empire shortly after Ashoka's death (i.e., during Dasharatha's reign), but were reconquered by Samprati, who later deployed soldiers disguised as Jain monks.<ref name="Chandra1977">{{cite book|author=Moti Chandra|title=Trade and Trade Routes in Ancient India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rDL4kA7SWkEC&pg=PA75|year=1977|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-055-6|pages=75–}}</ref>

==Samprati and Jainism==
Samprati is regarded for his patronage and efforts to spread [[Jainism]] in east India. While in one source, he is described as nominally a Jain from birth (''Sthaviravali'' 9.53), most accounts emphasize his conversion at the hands of the [[Jain monasticism|Jain monk]] ''Shri Suhastisuri'',<ref>{{citation |last=Tukol |first=T. K. |author-link=T. K. Tukol |title=Jainism in South India |url=http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~pluralsm/affiliates/jainism/article/south.htm }}</ref> the eighth leader of the congregation established by [[Mahavira|Lord Mahavira Swami]].{{sfn|Cort|2010|p=199}} After his conversion he was credited with actively spreading Jainism to many parts of India and beyond, both by making it possible for monks to travel to barbarian lands, and by building and renovating thousands of temples and establishing millions of idols.{{sfn|Cort|2010|p=199-200}} He was a disciple of Suhastisuriji.{{sfn|Natubhai Shah|2004|p=46}}

==In literature==
Around 1100 CE ''Devachandrasuri'' of the ''Purnatalla Gaccha'' told the story of Samprati in his commentary on the ''Textbook on Fundamental Purity (Mulashuddhi Prakarana)'', in a chapter on the virtues of building temples.{{sfn|Cort|2010|p=202}} A century later, ''Amradevasuri'' of the ''Brihad Gaccha'' included the story of Samprati in his commentary to the ''Treasury of Stories (Akhyana Manikosha)''.{{sfn|Cort|2010|p=202}} In 1204, ''Malayaprabhasuri'', a disciple of ''Manatungasuri'' of the ''Purnima Gaccha'', wrote an extensive [[Prakrit]] commentary on his teacher's ''Deeds of Jayanti (Jayanti Carita)'', in which he included the story of Samprati as an example of the virtue of compassion (Caudhari 1973: 201-2).{{sfn|Cort|2010|p=202}} There are also some anonymous and undated medieval texts devoted solely to the story of Samprati, such as the 461-verse [[Sanskrit]] ''Deeds of King Samprati (Samprati Nripa Charitra)''.{{sfn|Cort|2010|p=202}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{citation |last=Sharma |first=Suresh K. |last2=Sharma |first2=Usha |title=Cultural and Religious Heritage of India: Jainism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VwsbJgJX84cC&pg=PA271 |date=2004 |publisher=Mittal Publications |isbn=978-81-7099-957-7 }}
* {{citation |last=Cort |first=John |author-link=John E. Cort |title=Framing the Jina: Narratives of Icons and Idols in Jain History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0IF2CAAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |date=2010 |orig-year=1953 |isbn=978-0-19-538502-1 }}
* {{citation |last=Shah |first=Natubhai |author-link=Natubhai Shah |title=Jainism: The World of Conquerors |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qLNQKGcDIhsC |volume=I |date=2004 |orig-year=First published in 1998 |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |isbn=81-208-1938-1 |ref={{sfnref|Natubhai Shah|2004}} }}

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[Maurya Dynasty]]||||}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Dasharatha Maurya]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Maurya Dynasty|Maurya Emperor]]|years=224–215 BCE}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Shalishuka]]}}
{{s-end}}

[[Category:Year of birth missing]]
[[Category:Year of death missing]]
[[Category:Mauryan emperors]]
[[Category:3rd-century BC Indian Jains]]
[[Category:3rd-century BC Indian monarchs]]
[[Category:Indian Jain monarchs]]

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Samprati